spyinthesky

The club needs to get KWP and Tyler Dibling on extended contracts as they could both go for free at the end of this season

Who's on the bench?

And dont forget Sir Michael de Channon buggering off to Man City only to return to Saints in glory. As an aside I played for Southampton schoolboys in the year below Martin Chivers who was eventually sold to Spurs for a record fee of £125k!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Same as Bazanu/Pickford and the likes. McCarthy and Lumley are better at claiming crosses but they are taller, which helps, but less nimble on their feet.

Should be a decent size crowd, I think Everton's game against Doncaster was almost a sell out Presumably the home fans want to be able to enjoy the 'Goodison' experience before moving to their new stadium. Dont think that we would take more than a 1,000 to the game

But he made up for his earlier gaff with a game saving stop when the Cardiff player was through on goal. The other two gls oawere unstoppable.

I sincerely hope Dibling progresses to enhance the raw talent he obviously has. He has quite a bit to learn but one thing he does do, which is lacking in Smallbone and Aribo, is look to turn on the ball and make forward progress when the ball is played to him when facing his own goal. Both Smallbone and Aribo will pass the ball backwards or sideways as they dont possess the same level of skill as Dibling.. Tyler has to learn to release the ball when running into crowded spaces but he has the capability to do this so fingers crossed he will turn into an excellent prospect. Problem is, of course, he will then be sold on to a club with more money but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Jeyyy, Like many on here I have been touched by your story and really hope you enjoy your visit to Southampton and, hopefully, the result at St Marys. As pointed out the International Boat Show is on in the city and this presents problems with availability (and cost!!) of accommodation.

When I played for Saints A back in the late 60's we used to play at the BTC Club at Stoneham Lane with kit that was probably 10 years old. Played in the same team as Bobby Stokes and a few others who made the grade including Paul Bennett who was also at Wembley on that famous day in 1976. Prior to that I think the younger lads used to play at the pitch in the grounds of Rownhams House which was owned by a transport company who were sponsors of the Saints. Bit different now!!!

Cant see Fraser coming back. We have a bloated squad already and although the Wee Man did well for is in the Championship he is not Prem standard unfortunately.

Team for Saturday?????????? Subs 1. GK ???????? ????????? 2. Sugawara 3. KWP Taylor 4. Downes Ugochukwa 5. Bednerak Stephens 6. THB 7. AA SAA 8. Smallbone Rodrigues 9. Archer 10. Aribo 11. BBD Edioze Assuming seven subs on the bench which means no place for Manning/Dibling/Wood/Edwards/Bree and Alcarez or Charles who are likely to be off. However it may be that the two new signings will need more than a week to bed in.

Possible team for Cardiff 1. Lumley (or McCarthy if new 'keeper signed 2. Bree 3. Manning Taylor 4. Ugochukwu 5. Wood Stephens 6. Edwards 7. Amo Ameyaw Armstrong 8. Fernandes 9. Alcarez (as a false 9) Archer 10. Dibling Smallbone/Aribo 11. Edioze BBD On paper a reasonable side to beat a Cardiff side who have not started the season well. However Cardiff will be well motivated to put this right and the proposed line up has not played together before and mixed personnel team performances pre season and at Gillingham last year indicates that it may be a step too far. However remember us going down to Newport in the recent past with a team that included a few squad players like Elyounoussi and winning 7-0.

They do, pal. However an average cost of a house in 1966 was £2,000 and now £250,000 ie a 12,400% increase Assuming Ron Davies was £55,000 versus Mara at £10.2m = 18,900% uplift However the point you make is relevant to you whippersnappers.

Just goes to show how transfer 'values' have increased beyond respectable amounts. Martin Chivers was sold to Spurs for a fee of £125,000 which was a record in the mid 1960's. We then bought in Ron Davies for £55,000 who had a wonderful goal scoring record for us/ Mara, valued at around £10m??? For a player who has done bugger all for us. Insane!!

Whats the current situation re Bella Kotcha? Has Mara actually gone? I guess the club would like to get rid of Sulemana but nothing can be done until his injury clears up. Presumably he will be on the fringes of the squad until January when someone may come in for him. No news on a contract for KWP and I guess we have to await feedback on Shea Charles's position. Lots going on in the next couple of weeks.

Or someone who can actually cause problems in the air and head the ball with purpose towards the goal!! Ross Edwards would be a good shout. Whatever happened to him, I wonder?

I have to admit to feeling sorry for McCarthy. He did a lot to get us promoted last season and is a reasonable keeper. Unfortunately he does not have the foot skills to play RussBall and that was evident on Saturday as well as most, if not all, of pre season games. So that, sadly, is down to the Manager and indeed those holding the purse strings. What supporters must not do and there is form here in past years, is to offer up a negative vibe is McCarthy is selected for next Saturdays game. Confidence in any player is crucial and to adversely affect this by jibes and comments during the game is completely the wrong thing to do. On a separate matter, in all the time I have been a Saints fan, only one GK has come through the ranks to play more than a few games for the Saints and that was Bob Charles in the 1960's who must have been the inspiration for Tubby Morton, the original net minder at Melchester Rovers!!

I went to school in Fareham and although it was primarily a Pompey focused town eg the Pompey News had a far bigger circulation there than the Daily Echo, there was a far amount of Saints fans at school and we used to have good natured Pompey v Saints games (which we generally won!!) Up until 1960 Pompey had been the top club on the South Coast (from around the mid 1930's) whereas Saints had been in the ascendency from the Southern League days of the 1880/1890's. Many people from the Southampton area used to get the train down to Pompey to see First Division football without any issues at all. Things changed when Saints went up to Div 2 as Pompey were relegated from Div 1 and we immediately won more games than they did. I remember going down to Fratton Park for the first meeting there, which we won 5-2 if I remember correctly. Both sets of supporters mixed reasonably well although our young supporter who used to run round the perimeter of the pitch in Saints kit got tripped up by the adult Pompey mascot in a sailor suit and a supporter threw sand in the lads eyes when he went down which wasnt at all friendly. Not long long after Pompey supporters came down to The Dell for John Hollowbread's testimonial game and caused some problems and the rivalry then ramped up as football hooliganism started being 'fashionable' in the early mid 1960's. I have a vague recollection of some Saints fans going down mob handed to a Pompey game one evening and causing problems at Fareham station (possibly a Pompey supporting lad was badly injured) and the rivalry moved on from there, especially when the so called 657 mob commenced operation. Ironically the so called 'Scummer' name which, supposedly comes from the laughingly ridiculous Southampton Company Of Union Men (S,C,U,M) was actually first used in the autumn of 1976 when workers in the Commercial Docks in Pompey, broke an agreement not to accept Brittany Ferry ships transferring from Plymouth and TGWU members, primarily from Southampton but also including members from Weymouth, Poole and Plymouth, laid siege to Pompey Docks for several days and Hampshire Police were called in to provide protection. All the information can be found about this can be found in the archives of the Daily Echo and the Portsmouth News so it it pukka info. I know quite a few people from Pompey and by and large they are OK. However most, if not all, have a real chip on their shoulder about Southampton as a city and a football club which seems to reflect an inferiority complex which I find it hard to understand. Pompey has always reminded me of a northern town transplanted on the South Coast but without any humour.

Nic old chap, anyone who uses the terms 'gotten' or the awful 'from the get go' (and appreciate this criticism can't be levelled at you for the moment) needs to have a lie down and ban themselves from watching US inspired TV, Media and Cinema. Kind regards.

I am pretty sure there has been ongoing discussions between the club and the Council at least from the Cortese days. As far as I am aware the Council owns the freehold of a lot of land around the stadium and they certainly would like to 'gentrify' the Itchen waterfront. However the Aggregate companies on the waterfront adjacent to St Marys have long leases and the ships would need to find a new home to operate. In this respect there could be options over at Dibden Bay if that ever gets developed.

I think NHS staff do great work for not a lot of money although as I understand it, those on salaries of between £32k and £49k pay 9.8% and £49k to £63k pay 10.7% and + £63k pay 12.5% However the employers contribution is now around 20% on a Defined Benefit Basis so this is really a level that very few other pension providers offer and is a significant amount of Treasury outlay.

Dear old George rose from his grave and moved into TV retiring from Dock Green when he was 80 in 1976, after his last job at Wembley providing security for the Saints team after their FA Cup win.

Respect for the police evaporated when George Dixon retired!!

Keegan. European Footballer of the Year No way can that be beaten. But under McMenemy we had Osgood, Ball, Shilton, Watson. Ivan Golac was a good un too. Ronnie Eklund was another but unfortunately didnt last long

Christophe, What sort of attendances are to be expected in the 3rd Division? Will your home crowds be bigger than most? What's the latest on Girondins?