Norm

My s in l is on that flight today! Arrives in at 2.30. Mind you, he hates football (a rugby/cricket man) so not much point in asking him to keep an eye on fellow passengers:rolleyes: Seems his flight is now out of Milan and he is positive that se saw Adam Lallana in the airport there.

I'm not sure if this was written to get a laugh but it got one from me lol

David is to email it to me.

Duncan, we did speak at the end (re email address?). I did forget the part where John spoke about the Saints V Coventry game which took us up. As he said, even though Cov were going down, the atmosphere at the end was wonderful.

John Sillett with young fan, Harry.

Just home from a most enjoyable 90 minutes of football banter and stories from Terry & John. The event was 'chaired' by David Bull and he introduced Duncan, John and Terry to the attendees. Duncan spent a few minutes about the book. I bought mine earlier today at Waterstones West Quay and left the damn thing at home (brain went into reverse today). Among the questions to John, "Who was better of the two, Sir Stan or Tom Finney?" He replied that Tom Finney was the complete player and that he was indeed the best player he ever played against. He also said that George Best was 'an unbelieveable player'. He had everything and that he danced through ankle deep mud pitches. Asked how he signed Terry when Terry was given a free by Saints. It seems that TP 'phoned John and said he was available and John invited him for a drink at The Swan, Newbury. They met, chatted and John produced four sign on forms, which TP signed and that TP did not even ask what the wage was! It seems that Fred Kemp was at Hereford at the time but moved on as TP joined (story there). Terry enabled two of the Hereford forward to then go on a goal scoring spree. John, "Terry Paine was a great player to sign for Hereford!". John spoke of his £25 per week wage against todays wages of £50k plus and stated it was greed. How can players sniff at £75k??? Terry. Asked who was his role model/football hero as a young player. He replied that he didn't really watch a lot of football as a young man but the one player he did admire was Sir Stanley Matthews. He told of the time he played against Sir Stan at the Dell and was instructed (by Ted Bates) to stick with Stan when he had the ball but he was nutmegged a few times, such was the skill of Sir Stan! Asked, di anyone at the Dell take you under their wing as a young man? "No, not really. I was so full of confidence from playing in a very successful youth team, that I settled into things quickly. If I needed to, I went to see Don Roper and one or two older/senior players" He spoke warmly of Ted Bates but told several funny stories about Ted and money! Also of the trip to Butlins on a New Years Eve and the after effects of the trip. It seems the match the following day, the team rather 'died' due to the excess at Butlins! Terry felt that Ted had a knack with forwards but his choice of defenders was rather week. TP thought hard re the question, "Who was the best CF you played with". Reeves, O'Brien, Davies et al. He said that if he had to pick one, it had to be Big Ron. He spoke of the skills of the others but Big Ron was ahead of them all. TP spoke of how well NA had done so far and hoped that he would be able to finish the job he has started. Best full back he faced? Ray Wilson by far the best. Best game for Saints? When he scored at LO. Because of how important it was to Saints. Most memorable England game? His first cap v Ckz. / The Rest of the World game because of the quality of the opponents!/ His hat trick against N Ireland. Not much if any was spoken about present day Saints. TP and John stayed and signed copies of Duncans lovely book (not mine, daft sod, Norman!) and posed for photos. Both looked really well and full of banter. As I said earlier, a good way to spend 90 minutes.

Oh! I tend to look at things as half full. I thought.................Oh.

Bailey, thanks for the reply and I can now skip off with the sure confidence that by 9.01pm, he will be a Saint.

Signed? All done? I'm off to the Q & A with Terry Paine shortly, just won't get a chance to come on here until 9pm.

My info from Spain is that if he comes to England, he wants a top four club. If he stays in Spain, he wants to play for a club in the champs league.

Seems he could be on his way to Malaga.

Having started with 4-3-3, I've made the call – and that's my responsibility – to put Adam out wide and Jay up front with Rickie in a 4-4-2. "But, in the next ten-minute period, we allowed Wigan far too much possession of the football and let them pass the ball about. "We have to give ourselves an opportunity to go and score goals, but we ended up chasing it a little bit too much," Nigel surmised. We were chasing shadows in the second half! If it was seen that it was not working, was it impossible to change it again? I get the point re not having the players etc.

Quote, ' had drank a little more than authorised but I was still in a state that allowed me to drive my car'. Wrong! If you were over the legal limit, you were not in a state to drive your car. Let me know if you need a number for a taxi after the hearing. Think I will pass on the hug, thanks.

This is not a dig at NA but if it was obvious to the vast majority on Saturday, why was it not seen by those that matter (ie coaches and Manager)?

1-3 Saints win.

Oh dear. There we were, all sailing along on the crest of a wave and opps......................................... Now deep in Davy Jones Locker:uhoh:

Hope there is a good turn out for the launch of the book.

Not wanting to spoil your 'housewarming party'* Mike, but Dibden has a very fair point. But as you say in your reply, that works both ways! * Settling in period.

I'm flattered to be included in the same sentence as GS, as he is my idol.

Fibber.

lol

Feedback from my pal in Spain, Very good. I liked him last year in championship. A new puyol. Needs more minutes in first team. But with the older players in front of him he lacks of chances. Ajax wants him but he wants to stay or go to play in england. He does not rate holland to go on loan. I told him that he can get flights from barcelona to southampton almost daily...

No! Don't do it! On second thoughts....................................................

Duncan, is Terry doing a Q & A session on Thursday eve? If so, any 'old timer' out there want me to put a question to him?

Art! Come on, every player has a shelf life. If the club think it the best interest of the team, so be it. And yes, you will still be there on your patio on the cote d'azur sipping your G&T's shouting at radio solent.