Born In The 80s

The huge positive from the opening few games of this season is that we have players in the squad who can score goals. We have 3 genuine match winners in Lallana, Lambert and Ramirez. We all know that defensively we need to be more compact, but we have the attacking to game to match the vast majority of teams in this division. I have faith that defensively we will improve as the season goes on.

As a footballer, he just seems to get better and better. It's shocking to think that he has spent the vast majority of his playing career in the lower branches of the football league. He looks so comfortable at this level. Without a shadow of a doubt the best 1 million SFC has ever spent. He is also a fantastic bloke.

What i'd give for a Fellaini red card tonight!

One reason - ridiculous ticket prices. The price we are being asked to pay now is an absolute joke.

He tried to sell Gareth in the transfer window before Assou-Ekotto got injured. Deal was agreed with a championship club but it was Gareth who wanted to stay at Spurs and fight for his place.

This one looks absolutely horrible on paper - could be our traditional premier league season spanking. Wouldn't be surprised to see Arsenal score 5, and they have yet to concede a goal this season... Puncheon must start by the way. Would be totally wrong to drop him after arguably his best performance in a saints shirt to date. Ramirez will start on the bench, and rightly so in my opinion.

Oh dear. You've just proved in that statement that you know next to nothing about defending.

The centre half depth chart goes as follows... 1 - Hooiveld 2 - Fonte 3 - Seaborne (not played in over a year, and certainly not prem class) 4 - Richardson (a RB who has barely played a game at CB) 5 - Stephens *****ested kid) In the premier league you need a minimum of 4 capable CBs just to get through the season. Forwards in this league are on a different planet to the championship, in terms of speed, ability, strength and perhaps most importantly, intelligence. Strikers know how to con refs into getting defenders yellow/red cards and the way Hoovield and in particular Fonte play, they are both going to pick up a lot of cards. That's not even mentioned potential of injury... CB is such a crucial position i believe we need another 2 in before the end of the window. This should be priority even ahead of signing Ramirez.

I can't possible believe this is true. As you say massively injury-prone, currently crocked and he's hardly a centre back either. Sure he has played there, but these days he operates as a holding midfielder (think Mowbrey was even thinking about pushing him forward into an attacking midfielder). For me we need 2 OUT AND OUT centre backs - time is rapidly running out.

"There was an error locking your seats". Surely they haven't sold out in 15 minutes??

59 pages, Jesus! Think a lot of people need to just chill the **** out and use their time on other things! For what i can see (admittedly i may have missed something in this ridiculous thread), nothing has really happened today. I really don't understand the obsession with wanting to know every single turn in a potential transfer. Maybe the opening post in this thread should give updates on where the transfer is at. I.e. if the player or anyone from either club comes out and says something, or an important tweet etc. I've logged in twice today to check for updates, and on both occasions it's be virtually impossible to sift through page after page of utter ********!

You seem to have changed your tune. Who told you he was off to Spurs?

Lawro is completely right (probably for the first time). He's not going to be coming here. I'm amazed at the number of saints fans that think we're going to get him. It's not the first time a transfer has rumbled on and on like this. We're being used to put him in the shop window. If Liverpool, or someone like them, come in for him he will go there.

Got 0-1 Wigan written all over it!

Chalk me down as one more in the "this will never happen" camp. Saints will never spend 20 million on one player. This sounds to me like a bit of a smokescreen for the Matty Phillips deal. Don't get your hopes up on Ramirez, it's not going to happen.

I've just read that one of the players heading to pompey is ex-Sheff Utd man Lee Williamson. The same Lee Williamson who rejected a new contract offer from United not long ago. Why would he go to Pompey when there is already interest for him? Surely they can't be paying him more money??

Get a life? I find it bizarre that people can spend their whole day posting drivel on an internet messageboard. You tend to complain a lot about this place, but yet you still manage to rack up over 11,000 posts on a 'mong' board. Not sure what that makes you. I think you need to get out more mate...

Hahaha! Says the guy with over 11,000 posts on it...

I've wanted a sin bin rule for ages. I agree with Patrick Bateman's post entirely. I think football is too scared of change. I've watched many games that have been destroyed by referees sending players off, as they are following the 'letter of the law'. Take the last man rule. So many reds have been given to players who make a legitimate attempt to play the ball, but just mistime their tackle and bring the striker down. For me the penalty for that needs to be stronger than just a yellow, but much less severe than a red (and a penalty for the foul). Then you slap a 3 game ban on him as well? All for a mistimed tackle?? Madness, IMO. A sin bin, would be perfect. 15 minutes out the game as a punishment, then back on. I'd also like to see sin bin used for a 'professional foul'. You hear this term used a lot. "##### will be quite happy to take a yellow in that situation". These deliberate fouls, like were defenders pull down pacy forwards on the halfway-line and 'take' a yellow, should carry much greater punishment. Again, 15 mins in a sin bin would be ideal. Moral of the story is, there needs to be something between, a yellow card (technically just a warning nowadays) and a red card (sent off and banned for 3 games).

Those prices are an utter joke. I knew it would be a steep hike in match prices from the championship, but 50 quid? To watch a league game?? It's disgusting and i certainly won't be attending any games this year with prices like that. It's one thing paying that for a cup final at Wembley, but i'm amazed anyone can justify shelling out that for a league game that is live on sky. Hang your heads in shame, City. Definitely can't see us selling out this one. People just won't be able to afford it.

Far far too attacking. That team would lose 5-1. Now we're in the big league, there is going to be far greater emphasis on tactics when we're coming up against the top sides (especially away from home). It would be foolish to go into this game with 2 strikers. I'd suggest/predict something more like this... ----------------Davis Clyne ---- Fonte --- Jos ----- Fox ----Morgan --- Davis -- Cork----- Guly-----------------------Lallana ------------Lambert---------- Question mark at Guly and Cork's positions. Perhaps you could play Jay Rod in place of Guly, but i very much doubt Adkins is stupid enough to go into a game with Man City with such an attacking mindset.

When does Cork get back from the Olympics? Will he be available for the City game? Competition for places is good in the middle - interesting to see who Adkins goes with as his preferred 2.

Totally agree with Alpine. Pietersen wanting to miss two home test matches to play in the IPL is a totally different scenario to the Anderson/Broad and Strauss situations. In Anderson and Broad's case, they were both desperate to play in that test match, but Flower pulled them out to give them a chance to rest for the ODI series. In Strauss's case, if i remember correctly, he had had a seriously gruelling time captaining all forms of the game and the ECB decided he needed a rest. In this case, we have a player who himself is asking to be left out for no other reason than to earn a few extra dollars, and to me that is not on. I was utterly astounded when i read that Pietersen was given a months holiday last month in the middle of the domestic season. If he wasn't playing for England, he should have been playing for his county, or at the very least training with his county. Giving him all that time off has caused a problem, as i think now he believes he is pretty much untouchable and can demand what he likes. England won't want to ditch him as he is a seriously good player, but i just wonder what the other players make of his prima donna attitude (some of whom refused IPL money to make sure they were fit for the start of the english summer). It's no surprise to me that Pietersen is behaving like a big time Charlie. He was like it at Hampshire as well. I'll always remember one game he played in towards the end of his career at the rose bowl where he had to ask the interviewer 'which one Chris Wood was' when he was asked a question about him! The guy cares about no one but himself.

This has got to be a joke, surely?? Many, many people write idiotic things on the internet (most of whom are taking the mick, or looking for a reaction). Why should this lad, who has never been in trouble with the police before, be turned into a hardened criminal with 3 years inside? I know you're probably just baiting, but your post really makes you look like a tit. I can't believe there would be one person who would genuinely believe that 3 years is "justice". It actually makes me sick.

Isn't Elia off to West Ham?