shurlock

Back from the game - Kelvin had very little to do to be honest. We probably shaded the possession and got into the better positions, though we didn't really test their keeper. Apart from a lovely ball by James in the 1st half which Mills should should have kept down with his header, we were pretty awful in our crossing. Thought Mills, Schneiderlin, Murty and Harding all had good games and I was much happier with Lallana's willingness to use the width of the pitch and stay on the right. Like some of the otherd, I would say we are three players short - a CB, a central midfielder and a forward- basically the spine of the team, starting with i) a CB (positionally, Lancashire is dogs**t and intent on ballwatching), then ii) a targetman and iii) a bit more steel in the middle (but there's no reason why Gillett and Schneiderlin can't do a job, though both are prone to injuries). Bring in some experience in these positions and I'm cautiously optimistic.

the rats are jumping Meanwhile the skates are too stupid to see it

dimitri mascarenhas

The issue this season is not finances but who is willing to start the season in L1 on -10? I wonder what kind of player -young/exeperienced, championship/L1- would be willing to do this, bearing in mind we have stability, ambition (albeit the extent of that ambition is unknown) and a first-class setup (including manager). For instance, Leeds were able to get Swansea fav Andy Robinson despite the fact that Swansea were L1 champions and what turned out to be a division above Leeds (he joined Leeds before their loss in the 2008 playoff finals). I reckon any current L1 player -barring perhaps Leeds- would be willing to move to us; I also think we would have a decent shout for most players in the smaller championship sides - blackpool, doncaster, perhaps barnsley.

We need a big lump for this division and someone with pace/guile to play off them - so lallana, patterson may play decent supporting roles but they/we need a focal point. fryatt got most of the goals for leicester, but all the heavylifting was done by steve howard.

We're f**ked. Saga and Rasiak will be leaving - Ipswich striker Pablo Counago has also rejected a move to Swansea (despite a fee being agreed), putting them back on Swansea's radar.

Officially only 1 week - so need to sweat just yet.

The skates are in an ugly, ugly bind -massively indebted, selling the only real assets they have, the players and without a 20th century let alone 21st century stadium (which they would struggle to fill), no sustainable vision for the future. Now the cowboys and chancers (Redknapp, Gaydamak etc) have crashed the place and f**ked off, no serious investor is likely to go anywhere near them - there are so many clubs, many established championship clubs that require less upfront investment and offer a better chance of long-term premiership football. The party binge is coming to an end – its going to be a hellava of a clean up.

Sorry my c*ck up. I meant Holmes on the left is still my first choice over Mills and Lallana on the right (who doesnt have natural width). Left midfield has been a problem ever since the one-man-show that was gareth bale left. We've made things worse by wasting the likes of Skacel as LB and playing strikers -BWP etc- as wingers. Surman's departure has only added to the problem. With Holmes injured more often than he's fit and McLaggon and Gobern still learning the ropes, its a position that could be looked at. Hopefully, Mills will do a job, though some natural, scary pace wouldn't go amiss (given there's not much of it elsewhere in the team).

Think Holmes is first choice on the left TBH. Agree about the width, especially since Lallana has had tendency to go narrow on the right. We need one natural wide player, at least.

That's how I read the comment - more interested in bigging up Stern's contribution. Won't be too fussed if we lose Rasiak -Stern holds the ball up better. Either way, we need pace to play off Stern (and Rasiak for that matter) - while he's put in one or two decent performances, still can't see Patterson starting every game.

Any news on Thomas?

classic

Marcus Hahnemann, Sami Hyypia, Lucas Neil, Lars Jacobsen, Stephen Kelly, Sean Davis, Lee Bowyer, Mehdi Nafti, Jermaine Pennant, Darius Vassell, Michael Owen...- all Bosmans this summer and still 3-4 weeks to go. Christ you could almost field a slightly aged but strong premiership team of them....oh yeh, like we did under McMenemy in the pre-Bosman days. Nobody complained then Bosman has nothing to do with talent or lack of it. Its just a reflection of where power lies in the game. In theory, better players are more likely to go on Bosmans because they don't need the security and inflexibility of a long-term contract, confident that owing to their ability, there'll always be teams interested in them.

Released by Crewe, on trial with the skates, part of their fantasy football takeover

Don't forget that 90%+ of transfers in L1 are frees. The record signing to date has been Huddlefield's 500K for Robbie Simpson, followed by Norwich's 250K for Owain Tudor Jones, followed by Mk Dons 200K for Jermaine Easter and then one or two signings around the 100K mark. You don't need to spend alot of money in this division; and many of the frees - Kisnorbo etc- are arguably better than the biggish money signings.

Excellent player but refused to sign a new contract due to the drop in division. In fact, gave the impression that the championship was below him.

[quote name= have a look for yourselves - Keith Gillespie??? http://www.givemefootball.com/pfa-transfer-list Of course, pards took him on loan at Charlton. Didn't hang on to him very long, though.

F**k me - disturb me at 4am with cold sweats that this has all been a dream, that pompey are being taken over by a billionaire, that somebody from the forum is rummaging through rod stewart's dustbin for possible correspondences with bono, no, a fantasist tyre-kicker and fry still adorns the OS, grimly ready to administer us our last rites. Do i miss them -what do you think

I agree- there are lots of subtle but positive vibes from Pards. He's been brutally honest about our frailties but its wholly contructive - hence the 'we' and the belief in collective responsibility (successful though he was, even WSG always struck me as a bit of an outsider, a bit too obsessed with the sound of his own voice). Certainly, Pards honesty is a far, far cry from the redknapp-type criticisms that seemed made with a view to preparing an exit strategy, a self-defense if things went tits up. As you say, there's no need to appease the fans and board. Pards is not a stooge like JP or an operator like Burley, though I guess he can do this only because ML, Cortese and Oldknow have given him the space and license to impose himself on the club. All we need now is more quality in the side and I'm sure the results will follow.

Many of Saints recent legends -marian, niemi, claus, killer etc- are foreign. They always gave their all to the club - its hard to think of a similar number of english players. Says it all really.

For better or worse, the whole club-country debate has been changed by players -Scholes, Carragher- who've decided to retire early to concentrate on their club careers. Its clear where their loyalties lie. I prefer football to cricket as a sport; but prefer the england cricket team to the england football team by a country mile.

+1 good post

absolutely, though there's also the simple fact that dyer is a c**t.

Saints- the sacrifices and the amount of raw emotion ive sweated for us over the years makes it a no brainer. You get caught up in the carnival atmosphere of the national team but in the same way as tourists do. Wins and losses dont lodge themselves in the pit of my stomach like saints.