cambsaint

After Saints had virtually said they would no longer negotiate with Levy, one wonders where this is coming from. Is it from Wanyama's agent trying to pressurise Saints, which is likely to make them dig their heels in and may well be counterproductive, or is it Spuds getting their ar*e licking London based journo's to try to unsettle things. It makes you wonder what the attraction of playing at Milton Keynes for a couple of seasons is, unless they are offering much higher wages than we would ever pay. I just hope that if a deal is done with the appalling Levy, who appears to be blacklisted by a number of other teams, that it is an all upfront cash deal or nothing at our valuation.

Regarding the corner incident, I think he wanted to show the viewers just how stupid and poor sighted the Chelsea fans were. It made me laugh at the stupid tw*ts going berserk over nothing. I think the standard of refereeing is pretty good overall. My wife always laughs at me when I call the ref incompetent, blind, bent or a cheat, and says ypu always say that. Seriously though the game is now so fast that it is an incredibly difficult job especially with the amount of cheating that goes on.it's very easy to come to a different conclusion with several camera angles, slo-mo and super slo-mo. Even then it frequently comes down to a matter of opinion and I often think the so called pundits are wrong. I think that we could experiment on the lines of cricket and allow managers say two appeals per half, after the game has stopped and allow the ref to request replays on the big screen for penalties, cards, and goals. Whether these should be in slow-motion or in real time could be a matter of opinion. It wouldn't matter if the appeal was upheld or not each manager would only have two appeals per half to discourage minor appeals. The only problem being that refs may come to depend on the appeals rather as they have in cricket. Certainly wouldn't want to see the endless slo-mos you often see in Rugby. What I would like to see is only the captain allowed to politely query a decision, and any other player being booked if they approached the referee, and to make asking for a card an automatic red-card offence. I remember many years ago I used to ref in inter-faculty matches. often at this level if I let things go, and was queried I just used to ask the captains if they wanted me to blow for every minor offence rather than play advantage, and warn them that if I did the match would probably last three hours. They usually got the point! It was very difficult even at that level, if I were young again I would consider having a go at refereeing because I love the game but was never very good at it. Only problem was that when I was young I tried never to miss a home game and loved watching top class games.

Hope they get him on 8 out of 10 cats do countdown. A must for Rachel Riley watchers, and even an oldie like me loves it. And its on at ten pm

Cambridge United, for obvious reasons, although I hardly ever go now but was a regular when my son followed them, but I managed to persuade him that Saints were far better! I'd go to see them play p*****, but fortunately last year I had something else on and missed a Utd loss. The thought of paying to watch Utd lose to *** is awful. I'll never forget when four of us found ourselves in Shrewsbury in about 1975/6 and saw a fixture list in the pub saying that P**** were playing. We went along and watched Shrewsbury thrash them, A great day out as it was a bonus to our reason to being there!

While I agree that the chant was pathetic, the game had become utterly pointless by that time, and I suppose a kind of mass hysteria sets in. We actually left five minutes early to avoid the worst of the traffic. I was surprised that so many home supporters stayed to the end. Remember that many of this kind of things are only funny to those involved. Certainly not worth a thread.

On the basis of what I saw last night, I think it's entirely possible. He looked very composed on the ball last night and provided one superb pass and several other good ones. On the basis of last night you would pick him over Juanmi every time. At 24 he could yet mature into an excellent player.

Just got back. What a farce-a total mismatch MKD were pathetic, Saints bossed the match from the beginning. My son and I agreed that we could never have imagined watching a 6-0 thrashing completely unexciting and boring. Saints played well, Mane looked a different class to everyone else, Rodriguez took his goals well and it must have been the perfect way to get match fit, Long scored a couple. Ramirez showed some very classy touches and one superb pass, Van Dijk looked very comfortable on the ball and has an excellent touch. Not too much to take away from a walkover though, ten to twelve wouldn't have flattered Saints Impressive stadium, no atmosphere but not even half full. I've never felt such a sense of anti-climax after such a good Saints win.

Norwich home is virtually if not completely sold out by seasons. It's a very pleasant City and the North Norfolk Coast is very beautiful as are the Broads. Isolated from the rest of England though, 60 miles to Cambridge, and Peterboghorror, and a fair way to Ipswich. Communications much improved recently by the dualling of A11 through Thetford Forest. In Medieval times it was the second City of England, immensely rich and second most populous due to Wool Trade, which accounts for the magnificence of many the village Churches round there. (In those days the mega-rich didn't buy a Ferrari to show off their wealth they built a better church than their neighbour.). Excellent Uni, and culture, and a very picturesque city which by and large avoided the attention of the Luftwaffe leaving a lot standing. Road system the easiest to get lost in in England Imo-a nightmare. There is a saying-"Narrmal furr Narrfolk" -which is an insult referring to the inbreeding that occurred in such an isolated area..

Money may stop them going to clubs like Liverpool Spurs Everton and the like. It would of course have a knock on effect through entire squad, and we would have to be able to afford higher wages across squad. Elite clubs -don't bother just agree to sell at a time convenient to us so it doesn't wreck plans and get as much as loot as poss.

I had a Toyota Celica GT4 (a la Carlos Sainz) in the early nineties-what a car- only a Mini-Cooper in the early 70s compares. A real Jekyll and Hyde car, driven sensibly it was a lazy comfortable 2L, foot down and turbo cutting in-Wow, the number of fancy Mercs and BMWs that discovered they were slower than they thought was amazing. The first time somebody wanted a traffic lights drag, I was doing over 40 at the other side of the junction while their wheels were still spinning. That was a long time ago of course -early nineties. I'm twenty-five tears older and hopefully a lot wiser and much more sensible now (I actually obey speed limits) and you wouldn't dare do the speeds through France that my son and I did one holiday. Still can't really believe how quickly we got from Nantes to Paris. However it would probably seem slow now. The biggest joke was that it was an 18 month old ex motability car- how you could be disabled and get in and out and drive one of those things beggars belief.

Too late for any sensible Prem team to let key players go unless for silly money. Best tactic imo is if one of the Mega Clubs is interested look for a replacement ( we just can't compete with wages and CL football) and let them go for a sensible fee next window or season with mutual agreement; but if a club with ides above their station (Spuds, Liverpool) come asking , find a replacement first and screw them for a ludicrous fee and preferably make the player put in a request so the buying club has to pay bonuses due and percentage of fee.

Perhaps we should reclassify The Daily Snail "reporters" (sic) as PR employees of THFC, and refuse them admittance to the press box and make them come as PE employees. The so called health reportage of The Snail is loathed and derided by many health professionals as frequently scaremongering and inaccurate, as is their reportage of the migration issue; so one would hardly expect accuracy from them. PS To lessen my irritation at the Saints' situation, I have just watched Dafne Schippers in the womens' 100m heats-what a woman!

Saints would have to have a death wish to sell anybody this transfer window. I wouldn't be surprised to see Mane go to Man U next year if still wanted, and it all to be quietly agreed. Only a fool would sell this transfer window as no time to make replacements, and we cannot cope with any more upset this window. It is a moot point whether Wanyama will look as good without Schneiderlin at his side, but we'll see next window.

It has probably brought a touch of realism. we were well beaten by a good team with a good manager who had three players of real quality playing at the top of their game. In the second half after reorganisation we weren't disgraced. But why on earth did RK think it unnecessary not to allow for a quick breakout from a corner. With the pace of Konu and Lukaku it was suicidal. I am absolutely disgusted with some of the ridiculous criticism of Targett, his professional foul saved a certain goal earlier. IMO he was fortunate only to get a yellow. You can't sell two top class defenders, miss out on signing one from a loan, and suffer two key defensive injuries, and get away with it with the top half Prem teams. We need to buy well, and it's not impossible on a budget, look at Palace. What is difficult is not to get screwed over when everybody in the game knows your desperate for a central defender.

Over two weeks ago.

If the Yellow and Blue weren't so iconic and reminiscent of our greatest moments, then I wouldn't be too bothered about the green. However for me and I suspect most of my generation the yellow and blue is as sacred as red and white stripes. The mention of black and yellow brings back memories as it was the same colour as my Manchester University engineering faculty scarf, so it served two purposes.

I'm seriously considering putting a few quid on Man U to win the EPL and possibly even The Champions League now. I rate Morgan that highly and believe that with the two SCH's in front of any defence very few will score many against them.

The way to improve is to carry on the way we are and show that we are a financially stable club, with the best youth scheme in England, and a committed financial backing from Ms Liebherr. If we can do that and stay in the top eight or nine , challenging for an Europa cup place, then we will persuade sponsors, players and agents that we are here to stay. We need to consolidate our fan base, probably expand the stadium and improve our commercial side. This will take a few years and if so we should be the equal of Liverpool and Tottenham who are probably wondering just how they can break into the top four on a sustained basis. At the moment we are in the same position as clubs like Everton and Aston Villa. When I first started supporting Saints we were in the third division south and Portsmouth were considered the big club and almost everyone from Winchester went there rather Soton. I think that as impoverished schoolboys it was much cheaper for us to watch Saints in those days. I'm very content where we are, in the second tier of the EPL and long may it stay that way. Realistically I see no way we can break into the top four as long as it stays as it is. Also remember that Arsenal or Chelsea could probably take any Spurs player they wanted, and Man U could certainly take any Liverpool player they wanted and they are rivals amongst supporters ( although it's now a money game for the owners.) Apart from the early eighties when football wasn't ruled by money, and Saints could come second and Man U be relegated its our best ever period.

I've lived in many pleasant parts of the country, and South Hampshire where I was brought up still has it all as far as I'm concerned. Beautiful countryside, excellent climate, New Forest, the Solent for sailing. Winchester which is where I was brought up seems now to be one of the most fashionable places to live, and is easily accessible to 'The Slagheap of the South Midlands' (which is what we used to call London), if you wish to go there. It also contains Southampton Football Club. What more could one want except perhaps Yorkshire CCC? If my children weren't in stable jobs here I'd return like a shot!

Its a very good idea for me. I live in Cambridge and don't enjoy the best of health so a round trip to St Marys is now out of the question as none of my family live in Winchester anymore. Hopefully I'll now be in with a chance of getting tickets for matches within easy travelling distance. I notice with regret that there is no seniors discount, and I just wish that like many cricket clubs they would offer a reduced membership to those living say over 100 miles away. Before anybody suggests that I should try to get to away games, then as well as health problems I'm on a relatively low pension and couldn't justify spending over £100 to watch a match regularly. I have to make do with Sky, but the extended highlights on Saturday night keep me in touch with the club I love. I still cannot understand how as a reasonably mature, intelligent professional my mood on Saturday night is largely determined by the weekend's result.

Don't see Liverpool or Spurs or Saints for that matter breaking in to the top four for many years. Realistically the top four are pretty much sewn up unless a mega-rich buyer comes in who can within the confines of FFP upset the status quo. This means that any player with serious interest in playing CL football has to get into the top four-v difficult or go to Europe. Europe wouldn't be a problem for Schneiderlin but Clyne's background suggests he may find it difficult to settle abroad ( Bale is reportedly finding learning Spanish v difficult).

I think the dirtiest players are the most malicious or the ones who make career threatening tackles. I don't put Wanyama in that category. Also no account is made for the ratio of bookings to tackles. surely also a red card should be heavily weighted as some yellows are pretty innocuous and are tactical rather than nasty. Also if you're built like a brick outhouse then skinny little runts just bounce off you making it look worse.

I think the best footballers of any age all had the same degree of inborn skills, and if brought up in today's era would have been very good players. Some of the hard men may have become rugby players now they can make a good living from the game. It's like comparing the old Grand Prix cars which weren't as fast as a modern sports saloon, but they were the best of the day. Players like Best, Gascoigne and MLT all had skills that most other players could only dream of, and would still be superstars providing they kept fit. It's obvious to me that superstar sportsmen and women all have some kind of inbuilt ability that others don't. Cricket is probably the only game today that you can directly compare abilities as bowling speeds and balls haven't changed so the hand/eye co-ordination is still the same. Even with modern fitness and coaching the ablilities of the great West Indian fast bowlers have never been equalled or bettered, and you know for certain that the greats of yesterday would have been great today, and I am confident that it applies to all sports.

Revenge is a dish best eaten cold! Listening to their former players talking about Sterling was the funniest thing I've heard for a long time! The Germans have a perfect word for it-Schadenfreude!

Regret i didnt log down far enough to see there was an existing thread.