The Kraken

The Echo didn't need to miss the reporting altogether. They could have run a pre-feature article explaining that the club were officially announcing full details of the plans the following day, and that all details would be contained in the following day's edition. It probably would have increased their circulation figures for both days. I'd suggest the mojority of people who buy the paper don't also read read the online editions or other online news sources so it would be less of a concern to them that the news was a day older than it perhaps could have been. Unfortunately the Echo chose to chase a minor scoop, and despite being asked to hold off for official details and (perhaps more importantly) comments from the club they stole the club's thunder to make the big announcement. Right or wrong, it wouldn't have hurt the Echo to wait 24 hours before going to press. What has happened since is childish from both parties.

It really isn't. This coming part of the season was always going to be hugely important, either for this campaign and/or next year. Unlike you I won't be giving up this season's promotion push until its mathematically impossible, but it is looking increasingly unlikely that it won't happen this year. However, from now until the end of the season is when the side really need to start finding their consistency, putting strings of consistently strong performances together and getting back that winning mentality. If we make the playoffs this year then great; but if not we need to finish the season as one of the top form teams of the division so that the summer is spent making small modifications to a winning team rather than wholesale changes. Then we can hit the next season running. So to that end, our form from here on in means everything. This season's expectations have divided opinion amongst many on here, but there is very little doubt that pretty much everyone (including Pardew, Cortese etc) views the initial goal of this project to get out of League 1 within two seasons. Not getting promoted in half that time is ibviously a bone of contention for some, but I for one am still looking at the bigger picture.

I've seen him play a few times as I've got mates who are Palace fans but, watching him again on TV right now, Danns definitely looks like just the sort of player we could do with right now. Very busy but skillful, composed and with an eye for goal. Shame.

And released from the club (contract expired) at the end of the 2008/09 season were: Svensson, Hatch, McNish, Davies, Smith. But you'd probably only count Ryan Smith as an actual first team player. Whatever; it's a fairly hefty turnaround of players!

Cheers John; Saints' Soccerbase page is really not very well maintained; I had to fill in a couple of gaps myself but clearly missed those. It's quite interesting when you hear Pardew say our squad is too big; yet by those calculations we actually have a smaller squad than when we were relegated. Not that our relegation side was anything that should be used as a benchmark, or course....

So the Echo estimate we've spent £3M, which coincidentally is the same amount we received for sales of players in the summer. Out have gone 8 players: McGoldrick, Dyer, Surman, Wright-Phillips, Euell, John, Rasiak, Paterson. In have come 10 players: Murty, Harding, Lambert, Hammond, Jaidi, Fonte, Seaborne, Otsemebor, Barnard, Puncheon. Currently out on loan are: Poke, White, Lancashire, Thomson, McKlaggon. Currently at the club on loan are: Waigo, Antonio. It certainly shows what an overhaul of the club we've seen in the past 6 months or so.

This strikes me as being an excellent suggestion. Quite frankly, the more the merrier should we get to Wembley; to suggest that some fans are less welcome than others is completely absurd. There just needs to be an element of fairness to the distribution of tickets, and this would seem the best way. That way anyone who has been to just a handful of games can pretty much be guaranteed a ticket, and those that haven't take their chances. Up to 40,000 tickets available though; can't see this being a problem.

I think it'll just be a classic style collared shirt with red and white stripes. That's what is typically associated with the club down the years, and what the first "Southampton FC" team wore. I wouldn't have minded the above as an away or 3rd shirt, but it certainly doesn't strike me as being traditional to our history. Although Arsenal's plum coloured home shirt was a step away from the usual and I liked the idea of that....

Perhaps something like this (based upon the Umbro England kit....)

And also comment about how much nicer Norwich's kit is, and why couldn't we have one as good as that.

I don't know enough about Puncheon, but the one thing I'd have thought we were missing was a CM player who will weigh in with a few goals; a League 1 Lampard, if you like. If Puncheon is that man then great, I think we have all we need. Otherwise that's the only place I can see where we may be a bit light.

I agree. One particluar (doom-laden) poster often refers to Saints as the "Man City of League 1". So let's have a look at City (all figures from Soccerbase). 2006/07 season, finished 14th. Throughout close season and January transfer window City bought: Bianchi, Geovanni, Petrov, Corluka, Elano, Caicedo, Benjani, Bojinov. Total spend £32M (+ Corluka undisclosed). End of 2007/08 season, finished 9th. Throughout close season and January transfer window City bought: Jo, Ben-Haim, Kompany, Wright-Phillips, Berti, Zabaleta, Robinho, Bridge, Bellamy, De Jong, Given. Total spend £92M (+ Ben Haim, Zabaleta, de Jong and Given undisclosed). End of 2008/09 season, finished 10th. Throughout close season and January transfer window City bought: Barry, Santa Cruz, Taylor, Tevez, Adebayor, Toure, Slyvinho, Lescott, Viera. Total spend £93M (+ Tevez undisclosed). Current position 6th. Moral of the story; success takes time and spending vast amounts on players is no guarantee of immediate success. Even if we are supposedly the Man City of League 1 it's clearly still going to take time for the team to settle and the class to consistently shine through.

As an aside, I thought the three club rule only applied to permanent moves and not loans. It seems I'm wrong with that. And if that's the case, then it would mean that Saints can't loan out Lancashire to anyone but Grimsby. Doesn't make an awful lot of sense to count loan moves to me.

Difficult; it's not that the rules are stopping him from earning a playing contract, but that he can't play in regular first team games. Now obviously his attraction to clubs with that in mind is very low, but the rules are not strictly preventing him from being taken on by and working for a club. I guess it's similar to the Cantona and Rio Ferdinand suspensions; they still continued to earn a wage from their clubs (I think one of them even signed a new contract in the middle of the suspension period) so they were employed as footballers, they just couldn't play in first team games. Don't get me wrong, in this case I think it's a thoroughly daft rule and there should certainly be the ability to bypass the rule in certain exceptions. As said above it's surprising that his contract has finished in now and not the summer; perhaps his contract was paid up in full to allow him to leave. If it's Yeovil he's off to they may allow him to train with them until the end of he season and then sign him in the summer.

They could be in huge trouble even before then; if they fail to pay their players on time this month hte players are entitled to give 14 days notice and then sign as free agents for other clubs.

I'm guessing its because Pardew and Waigo both signed a contract securing his services on loan until the end of the season. Sounds a bit simple when you break it down to the facts, doesn't it?

Sorry, but I don't agree with all of that. To say we have some "big weaknesses" is going a bit far. Yes, you can't deny we're in a run of form that at the moment does us no favours. Our "poor" midfield contains Lallana who has scored 12 goals this season. Name me another midfielder who has done the same and gets criticised for being part of a poor midfield? Schneiderlin and Hammond are definitely good enough at least for this level. Antonio and Papa Waigo too. That's not a poor midfield. Wotton, yes I'd agree that he is nowhere near good enough for first team. And Lloyd James too, in my opinion, is not good enough for a CM berth in League 1. But our first choice midfield is, by comparison in this league, very good. Granted, I'd rather us sign another centre midfielder to provide a totally solid spine to the team, but describing our midfield as "poor" is just not on in my opinion.

Do you really not see the disparity here? You make the example of Man City, who (by your admission) have had 2 years spending big money to get where they are now, just about challenging for top 4. Yet you criticise Saints for getting through administration, losing a number of the better players from the club, and having had to try and totally rebuild the club within a very short time. Yes, we've spent much more money that clubs around us. Yet you seem to allow Man City two years to challenge for 4th place, but less than a quarter of that time before allowing the club you seemingly support to get onto similar grounds.

Tell us about your trip down there?

Spot on.

SSN now announcing it on their rolling breaking news feed: "Southampton have agreed a deal with Plymouth for winger Jason Puncheon".

Not great, but not a terrible result. Leeds look to be a team in freefall; they lost 3-0 today, that's 3 league defeats on the spin after such an amazing start. Yet I'd still back their class to shine through over the season. As I would ours.

I agree 100%. Spot on. You just can't argue with logic like that.

Had a chat in the pub tonight about this with a mate of mine; he used to work in an estate agent in the Hundred and mentioned the Red Lion, he said that when he was there you could still see the writing on the building of the old pub.

Go on then, I'll give it a go. That's all I know. Got to love Romsey; I went to Romsey school (when it was good).