kwsaint

To be fair, the King Power expansion does look stunning. Maybe they can return the favour and give us the plans so that we can expand the Kingsland. If they did that to the Kingsland then the views from the top tier over Southampton Water and the Isle of Wight would be good. https://www.givemesport.com/1621191-leicester-city-leaked-images-of-clubs-king-power-stadium-expansion-look-stunning

Don't think that the government is mandating everyone to have the vaccination. It's just that not having the vaccine has consequences for individuals that choose this option. So anyone working in a care home either has the vaccine or doesnt work there, as the consequences of passing the virus on to old people can be fatal if for any reason they havent had it either. It's perfectly reasonable for a responsible government to make this decision. If the evidence was clear that making everyone attend games be double-jabbed would greatly cut down transmission, then a sensible government would make it a condition of entry. The problem is that it really isnt clear if it would work. This present government tends to float ideas to see what the reaction would be, rather than act in a more structured way which just causes confusion and irritation.

The discriminatory argument is irrelevant. I have been to East Africa and had to produce a Yellow fever vaccination certificate to travel. The freedoms of the individual get trumped by the decision of democratically elected governments to make decisions in the best interests of the population as a whole. There is no such thing as absolute freedom without consequence and those who claim that it is an infringement of their human rights clearly dont understand how human rights work. It's really a matter of whether insisting on vaccine passports will actually work, both from a health perspective and also practically. You can still be a carrier having had the double vaccine, although likely to get it more mildly and inflict a lesser viral load on others. Plus as has been mentioned, lots of under 18s won't have been jabbed. So there is bound to be some transmission at mass gatherings of people. It's just a balancing act of trying to reduce risk. My personal view is that clubs should close all concessions and get people to move through the concourse area as quickly as possible as that is where the highest risk of transmission is. Not sure that insisting that everyone is double jabbed will make that much difference at outside sporting events, although for indoor events and night clubs it would probably make sense.

Would feel OK in the stands, but the close confines of the concourse would be a concern. More than likely would put a mask on going in to the stadium, get through the concourse as quickly as possible (no pre-match cup of tea) and then take it off once in a seat. Not being an SNP fan, but Nicola Sturgeon has judged the situation much better than Boris and his chums (again). My personal view would be to open stadiums to full capacity, but keep concessions in the stadium closed to keep concourse clear - and to make mask wearing compulsory going in and then removed in the stands (which is what I plan to do). It's having lots of people in a confined indoor space that is the problem. Outside is fine as you get such a low viral load even if you come into contact with someone with Covid. Doubtless some would disagree with the above

Moyes nearly came to Saints in the early 2000's from Preston. Sticking point was that he wanted to bring his own backroom staff, Rupert Lowe wanted to keep the existing staff. He ended up having a good stint at Everton. I seem to remember RLs decision to promote from within working out really well in 2004/2005. Next season won't be pretty. There is a big gulf between the top half and the bottom half. We are firmly in the bottom half. It all depends on how the transfer window goes in my view. Hang on to Ings, and bring in a couple of reinforcements, then we may well be just about OK. Poor window, lose Ings, and we are in trouble.

Winchester City

Tough watch, but essential viewing. The abuse that Higgins, Bennell and others inflicted stays with these guys for life, but these people never think of the effect that their actions have on the victims. Child safeguarding is much better than it was 30+ years ago, but this stuff still happens and we all need to keep our eyes open. Sadly it hasnt gone away. (JustinSFC - Watch the first 10 mins of either of the first two programmes and then come back and tell us if you still think the same)

West Ham in 1980

Thanks for posting the links. I was about to start a thread on the same topic. The problem was widespread across football, and I suspect to a much lesser extent still is. Fully agree with the Kraken that this needs a wide audience, even though it is going to make for unpleasant viewing. The damage done to the victims lasts the rest of their life. (Mods - can we please bump this thread to the main forum?)

What we are all forgetting is that Saints are a very young side. Had to look these up: KWP (23), Tella (21), Bednarek (24), Dialla (21), Adams (24). Minamino and JWP are 26. Salisu didnt play yesterday but is also 21. The approach has been to replace the deadwood by either progressing academy players or bringing in good young players from abroad or UK - because that is all that we can afford to do. We all know that we need to get cover at full back in the summer, but hopefully the players that we have will continue to develop. This season has been very up and down, but I think that we will continue to progress next season. But I think that we need to keep RH to do this.

Go on YouTube. You should find some ideas there. Agree with FFF - do it properly and don't rush it or bodge it. The previous owner of our house had built his own extension and we had to sort a number of things out where he hadn't done them properly - a builder friend of mine did check it out before we bought the house so we knew about them. Main issue will be making sure that it doesn't leak from where it is attached to the side of the house.

Are you thinking of when we beat Brighton 3-0 in the 2011/12 Championship season? Peter Walton was the ref for that game and was shockingly bad. We got two penalties - one was outside the box (Fonte) and the other was when Lambert went down when hardly touched. But he missed two stonewall penalties - both for assaults on Lambert from crosses. Brighton were a horrible Gus Poyet team at the time so didn't deserve much sympathy. In the return game they again targeted RL and contrived to get him sent off.

We surely have to stick with Ralph. When he arrived we had blown the VVD money on a random set of misfits (Lemina, Elyanoussi, Hoedt, Carillo), had no money to spend on new players, and had to get rid of a number of players to trim the wage bill. We could easily have gone down and run into all sorts of problems. We are still in the Premier League, and on our day able to give the top teams a run for their money. We can see what he is trying to do, and can also see his frustration. There are clearly issues around having a Plan B, and what to do when we are behind and teams have shut up shop. And we do need an old head on the pitch - what we could do with an Alan Ball or Jimmy Case now. But this is a really odd season. No proper pre-season, and the games are coming thick and fast. Players look jaded. And it's not just us, Liverpool have exactly the same problem. Think that we just have to see the season through - we won't go down - and build again next season. Just have to be patient.

Think we have short memories. Even with the two 9-0s the current situation is preferable to the dire football served up by Puel's last few games, Pellegrino and Hughes. Get some of the injured back and things will start to look brighter. It's just going to be tough for the next few weeks

My first thought when I saw the tackle was that it reminded me of Oscar Gobern at Bournemouth in 2011. No malicious intent, just complete disconnect between brain and foot

It's 50 years ago tomorrow that I saw my first game at the Dell. A 2-1 win against Stoke. Can't remember much about the game, other than Gordon Banks was playing in goal for Stoke, and Ron Davies scored for Saints. I couldn't get over just how high Ron Davies could jump. What are your earliest memories of games at the Dell?

The daily death total on TV is actually slightly understating the deaths caused by Covid, not overstating it. Actuaries are looking at excess deaths. Their modelling projects how many deaths they expect each month, factoring in things such as winter flu. Anything above that can be reasonably assumed to be as a result of Covid, either directly or indirectly as a result of people not getting quick enough treatment for cancer etc. We actually hit the 100,000 figure before Christmas. I had a chat with a friend in between lockdowns who patiently explained it to me. But the daily totals on the news are not that far out - maybe 10% low. My guess is that while we are fairly accurately reporting Covid deaths, many other countries are under recording big time. The one thing that I have not heard mention is what is being done to reduce the risk of viruses jumping species to humans in future. While not wishing to join the conspiracy nutters who think the Chinese did this deliberately, it is generally accepted that Covid-19 started in a Wuhan wet market where levels of hygiene are very poor. It's not the first time that this has happened (SARS, Bird Flu had the same origins), but certainly the worst for a while. The Chinese government are currently sowing disinformation to say that it didn't start with them. It would be good for them to face up and clean up their act.

My recollection was that the records played were generally what was in the charts at the time. So watching a seventies edition of TOTP2 would give you an idea. Not sure that there was ever that much thought that went into it. But I also remember that they played a big band version of O When the Saints go Marching In before and after each game. Bringing that back would be great

Not sure that we have much money to spend without selling anyone. Agree that a loan move for Brandon Williams could work.

We dont have the depth of squad to break into the top 6. But we do look like a top half side. Scraping into 7th and getting into europe would make it a fantastic season. I think that is realistically the best that we can hope for this season. But given the dross served up in recent years and the number of bad signings i am just enjoying watching a decent team and a bunch of players who seem happy to play for saints.

Still think that there is a decent footballer in there somewhere, but his attitude was always terrible. Always blaming everyone else, and not being prepared to put the hard graft in and learn his trade. We are well rid. If he is finally growing up and Saints get at least a bit of the money back, then all the better. No way would he ever fit in a RH team.

It dates back to 1922. Part of the settlement that established the Irish Free State allowed for freedom of movement between UK and Ireland. Given the historical connections between the two countries it made sense to do this - and it's a necessary part of the Good Friday agreement. This arrangement predates the UK joining the EEC as it was, and will continue after we leave the EU.

This. Odious individual.

We are overachieving given our resources. We are only just getting over the debacle of the Puel/Pellegrino/Hughes years and the money that was wasted. Agree with all the comments about the differences in bench quality - unfortunately it's a fact of life at the moment while we are still rebuilding. RH has done an amazing job with what he has to work with - although we could do with a Plan B at times. TBH if we manage to finish 7th and scrape a Europa league place it will have been a great season Games like yesterday will happen from time to time. Just annoying that it was against Man U - as it always seems to be. The media frenzy and plastics on social media is really irritating.

Fantastic footballer. Won the 86 world cup for Argentina almost by himself. But was a messed up human being. Didn't even have the decency to admit to the handball in the 86 quarter final. Fails the pub test for me. i.e. not someone you would really want to have a drink with.