cambsaint

Living over 150 miles away, and having not been to many games in the past few years due to three serious illnesses inc prostate ca, although son and I have had memberships and being a fan from early sixties and made most games work permitting until I moved away for a new job, I regret that I shall presumably miss this one. Its a pity as Wembley has good blue badge facilities and I could actually get there. I have fond memories of watching the last League Cup Final with my late father, he didn't go to many as he couldn't stand and worked most Saturdays, (another reason I can't go to matches as I can no longer stay with my parents- I used to make a handful of home matches every season when they were in Winchester). I'd love to watch this one with my son but haven't got much hope of doing it. And I agree that it is very unfair that away matches aren't taken into consideration as that is the reason son has membership and I had apart from this year when I had a knee replacement, which meant there wasn't much point,as I have only just become mobile again.

The tension in the second half reminded me of 1976, waiting for the whistle. young Sims run was brilliant for such a young player and Long remembered how to score In the words of Claude--"Fantastique" repeated about 10 times in a minute or so.

Perhaps not great biy definitely "Fantastique". He was obviously delighted in his interview as I lost count of the number of fantastiques he said.

The old memories that stand out for me are the transformation of the streets around Highbury from working class to million £ ++ houses for the metropolitan wa88kers. In about 67 when we even saw a lady in apron and hair scarf polishing her doorstep red after a match while avoiding Arsenal thugs by going a roundabout way to Finsbury Park. In 64 my cousin took me to Burnley, and to a rural Winchester lad it looked like the dark satanic mills of a Lowrie painting, as did Blackburn in 67. Not sure that they have changed much except the mills have closed to be replaced by warehouses. For a birthday I and my son watched a European Cup tie in the Eternal City Rome, my favourite city in Europe. IMO nowhere can beat it, and superb public transport. I rather liked Blackpool FC where an uncle retired to in the early sixties. Stoke before the evil witch ruined the Potteries was an interesting place from an industrial archeology point of view, with the pot banks, coal mines and steelworks all nearby. Norwich and Ipswich are quite interesting places, Norwich more so, but if you look above the modern shopfronts in Ipswich you see some excellent architecture. In the sixties the Dell would probably have been interesting for away supporters with views of the docks and ships funnels as you walked to the Station. Also much closer to the City Centre than most. An interesting post, but in my away going hay-day you spent too much time avoiding the home team's thugs to enjoy many views.

Badly bruised heels and feet can take a long time to heal and are very painful, as I can personally verify. When young and fit I bruised a heel and couldn't walk properly let alone run or play any games for a whole uni term Even with the intensive care and physio a pro footballer will get a badly bruised foot may take weeks and the foot is very complicated with many small bones that can break easily I'm amazed Vardy got away with it as on TV it looked like a deliberate hack, with no chance of getting to the ball !

I certainly don't think he's out of his depth. It may be that either other clubs find the diamond too easy to defend against, or that we don't have the right players to make a success of it. I will however be very upset (to say the least) if we don't bring a specialist striker in this window. We need a short term fix for a striker and a central defender. The long term can be dealt with in the summer.

The cost of going to matches must have made it difficult for a lot of younger fans. How many school kids can go to Prem matches on their own these days, unless they have very generous parents. In my day almost all of the noise came from under 25s. More mature family men are unlikely to sing themselves hoarse especially in an area like Southampton where the catchment area is mainly ABand C (horrible way to categorise people, I know) but I avoid terms like working class as everybody who can afford football is a worker, or retired. Now I'm an unfit seventy year old when I get to games with my son, I'm certainly not going to do more than a couple of verses of "Oh when the Saints" for old times sake. I see quite a lot of more mature fans on the few occasions I get to away matches, (unfortunately I no longer have any family living in Southampton I can stay with, like I used to when my parents were alive.) A lot of the atmosphere at the Dell in my youth used to come from the stands stamping their feet on the wooden floor as well which is gone now, mainly because of the appalling acoustics of two open ends. "

Yorkshire is only twenty miles away. There are some nice pubs in Bronte country west of Colne! Its proximity to Yorkshire is the only good thing about Burnley. Surprisingly my cousin and his friends who lived in West Yorkshire near Skipton used to support Burnley rather than Leeds or Bradford. I went there with him in about 64 (before the Mills closed) and it was amazing to a Winchester lad, just like a Lowry painting.

On TV it looks as if he finds it difficult to get down to low shots near his body. Has this weakness been spotted and is he being targetted. I know he can be a marvellous shot stopper as last year at The Emirates he saved a shot from Sanchez that was little short of amazing and the equal of anything I saw Shilton do. I was sitting right in line with the shot and couldn't believe he had saved it. I suspect he is short of confidence, but should come good, Remember the old saying form is temporary but class is permanent. Goal keepers like batsmen at cricket get no second chances. I detest the crowd getting on the back of players, but its regrettably not a new thing at Southampton, I can remember Sydenham getting a lot of stick back in the sixties and there seems to be a disappointing tendency to get on players backs. Even Channon got a hard time when he was young. I worry that Redmond's confidence could be destroyed as he is still very young. Support the team

Realistically we cannot keep him anu longer than he wants to stay. I am sure he will interest Real Madrid, Barca, as well as the usual PL suspects. If we are lucky we will get about £50 mill and he will earn over £150K a week. We obviously cannot keep him at those levels. Remember that Levy is struggling to keep a £80K a week ceiling, so we must be realistic, be grateful we had him for a couple of his formative years, in which he has become one of the best if not the best CB in the PL We must also thank him for doing the decent thing and signing a long contract so he won't go on the cheap. I can never understand why fans get emotional about players moving on. The players have about ten years to maximise their income and cannot be blamed for placing themselves and their family first. Most of those who criticise players such as Lallana would move a for a couple of thousand a year let a few million. I hope he will stay this season, and we may be fortunate as he doesn't have to go for the first bidder but can wait till the club he reall fancies come in for him. I expect he'll be in Spain next season. As for loyalty, never expect any loyalty from an employer these days. There is no marality left anymore.

Last night on 505 one of the ex-footballer pundits said: "They're not going to win the league at this point in time. Firstly it is impossible to win the league at about 20.00 on a Friday in August, and if he meant "this season" why didn't he say that. "At this point in time" is a very long winded and extremely stupid way of saying "now", and I just cannot understand its attraction to the semi-literate; even more annoying is that occasionally otherwise intelligent people use it. One of my other pet hates is :"I've seen them given." A particularly silly way of describing a close decision, that usually comes down to the opinion of the referee. A semantic pedant, and I'm very glad to see that I'm not alone.

I opened this thread as I thought it was reminiscing about when we hammered Wolves 9-3 in sept 65. The highest number of goals I have ever seen in a league football match.

I really don't know why supporters always blame the club. If a player really wants to go then unless he is an honourable individual like Schneiderlin who I expect had an agreement he could go next window, then it isn't really worth keeping them. Mane has a particular talent, but I don't think he's a team player. Pity he's going because he was very exciting to watch when on song, but his body language often left much to be desired. I'm sure we can recruit another good player, perhaps not as individually talented, but more of a team player. It appears to be a very good price though.

Shame there were no other bidders I bet we put him around. If so we could have told Levy that after Alderwiereld he is persona no grata at St Marys and told not to bother. Just hope that we've got the balls to demand 100% cash up front.

RIP I'm surprised he was only 70, just two years older than me. I really wonder if heading those heavy sodden leather balls has led to so many old players dying relatively young.

You cannot get much more terse than that. I have never read a statement quite so negative than that. He has really irritated the club executive.

After Alderwiereld, will we ever negotiate with Spuds again. I hope not, keep him till January as a marker to others and let other clubs know that he will be available, and only accept hard cash in full up front if Spurs are only buyer, and stick him on the bench and make him train with youngsters if he won't find another club. Screw Levy.

Alderley Edge was always a beautiful large village. I used to walk there in the mid sixties. Many old Hampshire and New Forest market towns (like Winchester where I grew up) have turned into equally as bad, and probably worse "new money chavtastic jokes." I rather like the phrase though and I think it sums up the ruination of the Winchester I knew and loved perfectly. However perhaps Saints are playing hardball and threatening to keep Koeman to his contract, put him out on gardening leave until the window has closed (if that's legal) unless Everton agree to a no poaching clause. While appointing a new manager. I think that's legal, certainly its done in The City.

I cannot understand the emotions of most posters. As they say re property there are three factors to take into account when considering future employment offers: What is best for you and your family. What is best for you and your family. What is best for you and your family. As for employer/employee loyalty I found out the hard way that there is no such thing. I'm certain that RK like any sensible mature man will make his decision according to the above criteria. As far as I'm concerned the main reason for not going to Everton would be the nightmarish prospect of having to live in the area. However at £6mill a year he can afford a chauffeur to drive him in from somewhere reasonably civilised in Cheshire or North Wales. It still wouldn't hold a candle to South Hampshire though. Hysterical and bitter comments are pretty pointless, as the only thing that breeds respect in football is success.

What will be will be. There is little point in speculating on events that one has absolutely no control over. There are four factors, how much are Saints prepared to pay him, which club wants him and how much are they prepared to pay in wages and transfer fees, and whether Mane and his agent are satisfied. We all know that if a mega-club in the CL pays top dollar he'll be off like a shot. Best just to wait and see.

I believe that Levy operates a wage ceiling policy, which is apparently under pressure from the up and coming young players. Whether Wanyama would get the wages he wants from Spurs is possibly doubtful. The last figure I read was £80K a week, although whether this is true or still applicable after CL qualification is open.

While I have always thought myself pro Europe, and started off as a remainer, I have regrettably come to the conclusion that I cannot support membership of any organisation which allows the parliaments of other countries which may well have strong vested interests to control British immigration and social security policy. I shall be voting Brexit although with great reluctance, although I cannot imagine the major countries in Europe wanting to see a large duty on luxury car imports and substantial duties on other car, white good and agricultural imports from Europe. It is my belief that the sensible negotiations will only begin properly if there is a small vote in favour of Brexit. Also the prospect of substantial falls in house value is reason alone to vote Brexit! It will allow young people once again to get on an orderly house ownership ladder and stop them wasting their money with grasping landlords.

As my nearest club Norwich has been relegated, and Ipswich didn't make it to the play-offs, I very selfishly want Hull to go up. This means that I can stay at my cousins in N Yorkshire for both Hull and Middlesboro as well as my summer holiday with him during Scarboro cricket festival! Amazingly Burnley was his home club as although he lived in Yorks there was an easy bus to Burnley and he didn't like Leeds.

You must be one of a very few people who consider the BBC is right leaning. Because of the abysmal performance of Corbyn, and the demise of the Liberals, they are one of the few reasonable critics of the government.