Cabrone

I don't agree with the idea of paying clubs if they leave the premier league full stop as it reduces competitiveness and simply closes that league up. That said, if the payments must persist then why not pay clubs as they get promoted - not relegated. That way they get a chance to compete in the prem straight away and Coke teams are not disadvantaged when prem teams come down.

Home W=17 ; D=4 ; L=2 Away W=11 ; D=6 ; L=6 Points=94 ; 1st place finish.

Neil Danns would be an excellant signing - good strong box to box CM who would add a huge amount to the team. As for Tyson..........I think he's a bit hyped up TBH.

We finished just 3 points off an auto place last season (if you add the 10 points back) and that was after starting with an incomplete team that had a terrible 10 game start. League 1 has lost Norwich, Leeds and Millwall - the best 3 teams in the league last year - and replaced them with arguably lesser teams. The players have now gelled into a team that knows how to win in this league and which has added some very good signings so far. We also have a chairman who is amenable to investing in the team if we need to strengthen further. We have a decent manager with top flight experience. That's why the bookies are putting us down as nailed on certs - and I agree with them!

Rupert Lowe to be hired as half time entertainment. Apparently he's going to be wheeled around the perimeter in stocks and supporters can throw rotten fruit at him.

Good news, if he stays fit he'll score a load this season. I can see a super sub\rotation role with Lee Barnard.

Might need to add a GK to the list of wanted positions if KD rumours turn out to be true?? Far too early to panic besides which we can't do anything anyway. I'm sure the club know exactly what they want and are making plans to acquire it.

I think it's because: 1. Being as the PL is awash with money the clubs would rather buy in proven talent than take the time and effort - not to mention the gamble - of nurturing their own. 2. Football is competitive, clubs want the best players and therefore the clubs with the most money will compete for the best players. Being as the PL is one of the richest leagues in the world it's almost inevitable that the clubs will go for the best players, which, in most part are not british. It's effectivley an arms race. I would think a cap on number of non UK players per team would open things up for English, Scottish, Welsh, N.Irish (and maybe S.Irish) players. Would force clubs to take on homegrown players and develop them more. If possible I'd also be interested in a wage cap with clubs encouraged to use all money saved to cut ticket prices. If these rules were brought in i) The dominance of the giants would be reduced - leading to a more competitive PL (which is desperately needed IMO) and also ii) Cheaper tickets would hopefully encourage more fans to fill stadiums. Some of the crowds at places like Wigan and Blackburn have been poor. Isn't that the basic way the Bundeslige operates and aren't they filling up their grounds? Whatever happens it will be no quick fix but we really really do need to look at the moneyed bloatfest that the PL has become.

My prediction: Saints 4 England 1 Saints: Lambert * 2 Connolly Upson O.G England: Defoe Expect the FA to come to SMS and beg Saints to represent England ...

I'd imagine that these sentences will make a lot of wannabe thugs think twice before wanting to cause trouble and I guess that is exactly why these idiots got the sentences that they did. No sympathy for them, they weren't kids and they knew what they were doing. If they didn't want to go to jail then maybe they should have behaved themselves in the first place, something that really isn't difficult for the vast majority of fans.

Interesting idea but I wouldn't be keen to sit in a stand that is as far from the pitch as that one is. I like the game to be as close to the fans as possible - really adds to the atmosphere (thats why I loved the Dell). I'm struggling with the point of building yet another stadium out of Southampton just 10 short years after building the last one. It would be out of town - affecting attendances (IMO) and as someone said earlier it would have a massive carbon impact too. Surely if SMS can be expanded then why not upgrade it to a 40-45K stadium and maybe make some cosmetic changes to make it look a bit more interesting? If it ain't broke don't fix it.

Can't agree with that - Lambert\Connolly\Fonte are better and several others in the team are at least as good IMO. He's a decent midfielder at this level and may go on to become decent at a higher level but I won't be losing any sleep if he goes. I've seen much better players than Schneiderlin go and we survived OK.

Millwall because they are the best of the 4. That said we'll beat all of them next season anyway.

TBH the vast majority are perfectly satisfied if the latest poll is anything to go by. Link

AP should definitely stay, looking at the final table I'd say he's done a good job. We finished on 73 points but remove the -10 and we are on 83 = mid playoff position, 3 points off automatic. If we'd have beaten say Brentford at home and Stockport away last August we'd be up now. However the delayed team rebuild due to the takeover shenanigins + our idiot of an ex chairman torpedo'd us this season. Our form after those first 10 games was automatic promotion form and we'll only get better next season. I fully expect AP to automatically promote us next season.

I hope this isn't true - we need stability and I'm confident that AP will deliver promotion next season. Although I have had some gripes about some of his team selections (far too timid at times) overall I think he's done a good job - certainly good enough to have another go next season.

Really can't see a problem myself. AP has got the luxury of a couple of games to take a good look at some of the lesser known players and that's exactly what he's doing. Besides, RL could do with a rest after all the graft he's put in this season.

LOL. MLT was one of the most gifted players on the planet in his prime - comparing any player against him is pretty unfair. Rickie Lambert is doing a superb job for us and I'm really enjoying watching him smash the goals in........but comparing him (and > 99% of all other Saints players) to Le Tiss is crazy talk.

Great result today and great to be still in it. Looking at the fixtures I hope Exeter play like they are on fire at home over the next few weeks......

You've gained a lot of points on us by being a lot more consistent away to the lesser teams but on the other hand we have done much better than you away to the top teams. I think if you go into the game against Exeter needing a victory you will come unstuck. Exeter are a fully paid up member of the league 1 awkward squad - just the sort of team that will stick a spanner in your plans. I'm happy that they are your last opponents and not ours.

Wow, had this one as the banana skin and we blew them away. Absolutely superb result. I'm wondering if Huddersfield are starting to wobble - they came agonisingly close to messing up on what I thought was going to be one of their more straightforward fixtures. They still have to play a Millwall team on fire who are also fighting hard for auto. Exeter and Colchester will be tricky games too. Not the kind of games I'd want to go into under pressure to get wins. Huddersfield must now be feeling SFC breathing down their necks - the question is do they have the bottle to hold us off? If Saints can keep on playing like this it may well be a photo finish for 6th place.

We were well beaten by them at SMS last season but the team this season is completely different. 3-1 or 2-1 to us.

Well this is a business and every player has his price. However the good news is that SFC can now dictate the terms if Wolves want him. Although Lallana is a decent player at this level he could be replaced if needs be. That said I personally hope he stays as I think both club and player would benefit if he remains at SFC.

So - we need Brentford to do us a real favour and win on Sat, then we need Millwall to go up there (fighting for an automatic place) and get a win, then we need Colchester to get a draw against them then we need to win all our games............. ...I won't bother to check out the ticket prices at Wembley just yet.

9/1 is very generous, I'd have us at anywhere between 20/1 and 25/1 to get to playoffs. Can't see us winning all our games and even if we did I can't see Huddersfield dropping enough points (but I live in hope). The difference between them and us is that they seem to be able to turn over the lesser teams on the road. It's something we have to improve on next season.