Bermuda Saint

I am sure you looked to see who we play next now!, come on, just a little smile? He has just come out of one of the best European academies (Feyenoord ) and played for one (Barcelona), he seems like a smart man who would have learned a few things along the way to help our great academy. here is what i wrote before: RK has a great CV, he comes from a club that is better than the Saints in producing WC talent. He brings so much to the table that we can use to launch ourselves to even higher heights. His reputation with working with young talented players (Saints have a few of those kicking around) and bringing them into the first team will continue to provide the first team with fresh hungry players. Here is some facts about Feyenoord that I found very interesting. More players at the ongoing World Cup have come through they Feyenoord Academy than the academy of any other club. Nine players at Brazil 2014 came through the Feyenoord Academy. All told, eleven members, nearly half of the 23 members of the Netherlands’ World Cup squad, either came up through Feyenoord’s youth academy or spent a significant amount of time at the club in the early stages of their professional careers. Four of them (Stefan de Vrij, Bruno Martins Indi, Terence Kongolo and Jordy Clasie) are first-team regulars at De Kuip. Robin van Persie, Jonathan de Guzman, Leroy Fer and Georginio Wijnaldum played in various age groups at Varkenaard before making the step up to the first team and then leaving for pastures new. RK knows what WC players are, he has played, coached and managed them through the years. I trust his judgement of good players. If he can continue to use his connections and bring in good players from the Dutch league and other European teams at a fraction of the price we have sold our players then I see us being stronger not weaker.

any hope for you now? the sky is not falling........try enjoying life and football, be thankful we are not WH fans.

Quote Originally Posted by saint lard View Post It's just getting worse....I honestly thought it couldn't get any worse under the tenure of Adkins. Come Sept 1st our squad is going to be ooh so mediocre. Last season will feel nothing but a dream. Cortese gone,Pochettino gone....the dream has gone. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I see the BooHoo crew is back out! stabbing the hand that feeds them. They seem so lost of all hope! Well maybe I can give a little hope back to the boohoo crew. let's wipe our tears and blow your runny nose, the old dream is dead! no don't cry again!. The new dream is just beginning! We had a great 5 years where we took some academy players mixed with a few good seasoned players, climbed up the league, shed the weaker players as we stepped up divisions and added better players to strengthen the squad. It resulted in our highest PL finish. But those players-assets wanted to move on, hard pill to swallow, but it is a reality, there is very little one can do when the big clubs come calling. That dream has died, go away and morn as long as you like, as long as it takes you to get over it. Then come back with some fresh points of view. The new dream starts. People we have a great new manager. This new dream starts with Roko, for without a quality manager that can spot and nurture young talent we will never be successful again. But he has shown he can develop world class players and we have 7 academy players in the first team!! here is our new dream team!! 5 are only 19, this is great news, we have a new crop of SFC academy players that if given a few years to develop can eclipse what the lallana, shaw, chambers group did. This will not be easy, they don't have the lower leagues to hone their skills like lallanna had. We have to give them time to develop, to make mistakes, unfortunately the PL is a harsh place to learn, they will have to grow thick skin for all the numpties that will want instant success and skill from teenagers. But if we get behind this new crop of hopefuls, give them time and patience to grow into the PL, we will have another squad full of home grown players that can reach for the top 7. This dream has a shelf life too. If, in a few year, our 19 year old are now 22 and setting the prem alight, we will have the big clubs coming in again. If our revenue income has not substantially increased to allow us to pay higher wages, we will again be at the mercy of the big boys. If we can increase revenue we maybe able to keep players wages high enough to see a SFC academy team make it to the top. For this I hold Kreuger responsible, not transfers, not speaking poorly for the club, not knowing football, he was brought in to increase our international profile, increase our fan base, increase off field revenue! So let's get behind this new dream, our club is about producing some of the best English footballers out there, what is to say they are not already here and ready for our support! Lets not stray too far from what we are about, identifying, teaching and coaching young players to become first team players. If we as fans can't believe in this strategy, then the last 5 years have proved we can continue to produce top footballers, and integrate them into a competitive team. Even some of the academy players that were with this new lot that were released are getting great reviews (ben reeves and mcqueen). A further testament to our academy.......... Saints go marching on!

Brek Shea, wow that one is from left field! I had him in my fantasy team, mainly because he was so cheap! this one is "thinking out of the box", why him? hmmmmm. A highly regarded young MLS player, He was drafted 2nd overall by FC Dallas in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft, had several MOM and team of the week honors during his 2011 season, scoring 11 in 31 games. Full USA international ( Jürgen Klinsmann thinks he is good). Came to PL and done nothing to date. So, can we resurrect his career? a full USA intl that comes good would be a gold mine! the USA market is huge and must be in the forefront of Kreugers mind. He will be cheap and wages will be reasonable. Worth the gamble, if he becomes a star he will be worth 100x the fee. North Americans are getting all the pl soccer (i know its football to us). We have been attracting many admirers for our style and academy, new fans are looking for clubs to identify with. Manu are no longer a easy choice, and many like the underdogs with talent like SFC. This "out of the box" transfer may end up as a stoke of genius.

Too funny, i spend time trying to put positive, constructive ideas forward and the main point being bantered is my stupid liverhampton name for the scousers that were lucky to have won that game. Back to my point!! I am guessing that JWP is the new academy prodigy in which we will build a team around. My opinion in whether he will live up to this exulted position is still out! he is technically good, but still has many areas to improve, at 19, he has the next few years to grow into an outstanding CM. But if the development squad is right, well done!! it was a long term vision they had for JWP and his quality at youth level justified them putting him in the PL first team to continue his development. I think JWP will be the one that we will not sell. I am guessing the club have that much hope for this kid to be our flag bearer. He will be the Mr. Saint that we will build a team around with his fellow academy mates and top notch foreign talent (Tadic, Wayama if we can keep them for 2 or more years etc). Do you think JWP will become the next MLT? Will our club grow enough in the next few years to allow us to increase our wage structure to keep players? Is this an old dream that has been repeated over and over (bale,ox,lalla,LS,CC.........nightmare)?

WOW, what a start to the season, many questions answered for me on that field! Even with a narrow loss to liverhampton, I can’t keep the grin off my face. We were good, very good at times. The soccer pundits in Canada wanted to blab about Liverpool’s accomplishments but had to recognize what a good performance we put in and how unlucky we were not to come away with points. They echoed many people’s fears (too many on this site) about a team that had been decimated of it’s most talented players and coach, and feared how they would fare in the coming season, but they saw what we all saw…A team that is continuing on our path of playing good attacking football with a new group of talented players to go with the already solid group. I have been very optimistic of our direction since the appointment of Roko, and tried to encourage the pessimistic on here that we will be ok, we are still heading in the right direction, lots of drama to come! but with a good new coach and new players fitting in we can only improve as we gel and new players get used to the PL. I have seen the future, we all have, I just didn’t understand the importance of this young man. JWP is the new Mr. Saint, the one that will lead our new generation of academy products into the light of the poaching CL clubs. If he can fulfill his potential, continue his progression into the English national team then he will be the next to be tempted away. JWP must be given time to mature, he doesn’t have the luxury of honing his skills in the lower divisions like lalla, spidy, clyne. Etc…..he will have to prove himself against the world class players. Tough task, but his academy coaches, English Intl. youth managers, Mopo and Roko have seen enough to put this boy in the starting 11. I have to trust their judgment, the fans need to get behind him and support him because he could be the leader of our next golden generation. We have heard good things about our academy products, many on the verge of first team football, if this is the case (our academy coaching has been right so far) then they must be good, very good but are still very young! Most good footballers are maturing into their skills around their early 20’s, that leaves a few years for our academy products to ripen into the type of players that are confident in their game. With patient integration with our established foreign players we will continue to have a sustainable model. If the stars line up just right and we manage to hold onto our best players for a few years to let this team mature into it's full potential, we may win a cup or reach that top 6. The future is still bright, the future is red and white!

This is not for the pessimist. This is an optimistic opinion of a saints supporter who has supported the club for the past 50 years!. This is not a ***** session about the board, player’s loyalties or coaches. This is a “SAINTS ARE AWSOME!” and “SAINTS GO MARCHING IN! ……to the top 6” positive post. Saints have come from league 1 to 8th place in the PL in 4 years Saints have a billionaire owner that has supported and nurtured the club into a TOP half PL team, invested in the youth and infrastructure. Have produced world class players through our now famous youth academy Play an attractive style of football, based on skilled players who are suited to the pressing, passing, ball retention and attacking play that can be such a joy to watch. Hiring progressively better coaches that have moved the team forward for the past 5 years. Three English Saints players being called up to the Senior National Squad. 7 Saints players chosen for the WC. These are some of the reason we have to be happy over the past 5 years. The road was not all smooth sailing and this year is no exception. There seems to be a lot of negative things that have gone on since our great achievements of last year, But I think all of them can be seen as positives if we continue to move forward in a smart, calculated and unified direction. NC leaving – Seen as the tyrant who captained the ship through rough waters with unwavering abandonment to personal fiscal prudence, protocol, and club traditions to obtain a lofty dream of reaching the top 4. (Thanks NC, but we march on without you, we did not implode, the Board and owners took the helm and sailed on to new challenges). MP leaving – Progressive coach that had introduced the best pressing game that the PL has seen. Le ad us to the highest position ever . (His Judas exit has resulted in the hiring of the best CV manager we have ever hired. A very good piece of business by the board. RK has proven he is a winner with an attractive progressive playing/coaching style that will suit Saints philosophy.) Three of our best players are leaving and maybe more – hard to optimistic about this one, but it is not as bad as it seem. We did lose a dream here, the dream of this squad that has matured from LG1 to PL will stick together to see this project out is dead! Good time it was! but a new era has to be ushered in. (We sell those highly prized English assets because they no longer want to play for us, sad but life goes on, get top dollar and reinvest in new exciting players for far less, adding quality and depth. ) The future looks bright! RK has a great CV, he comes from a club that is better than the Saints in producing WC talent. He brings so much to the table that we can use to launch ourselves to even higher heights. His reputation with working with young talented players (Saints have a few of those kicking around) and bringing them into the first team will continue to provide the first team with fresh hungry players. Here is some facts about Feyenoord that I found very interesting. More players at the ongoing World Cup have come through the Feyenoord Academy than the academy of any other club. Nine players at Brazil 2014 came through the Feyenoord Academy. All told, eleven members, nearly half of the 23 members of the Netherlands’ World Cup squad, either came up through Feyenoord’s youth academy or spent a significant amount of time at the club in the early stages of their professional careers. Four of them (Stefan de Vrij, Bruno Martins Indi, Terence Kongolo and Jordy Clasie) are first-team regulars at De Kuip. Robin van Persie, Jonathan de Guzman, Leroy Fer and Georginio Wijnaldum played in various age groups at Varkenaard before making the step up to the first team and then leaving for pastures new. RK knows what WC players are, he has played, coached and managed them through the years. I trust his judgement of good players. If he can continue to use his connections and bring in good players from the Dutch league and other European teams at a fraction of the price we have sold our players then I see us being stronger not weaker. We have approx. 60 mill from the sale of three players along with the promised transfer budget added to players sales we could have 80-100mill war chest to replenish our team. That can buy a lot of proven or promising talent. The Dutch looked good at WC, heck a lot of teams looked good, I thought the overall play and player level was very high. This gives me optimism that we can replace our want away stars with better, yes better than them. There was so much talent on display and we are now in the best financial, league and coaching position that we have ever been to attract that talent. Tadic is a great example, this boy has been rated as one of the best midfielders in the whole of the Dutch league! That is damn good even if you don’t rate the dutch league. The Dutch league had 10 players in the Dutch WC squad and they sure as hell played better than England, so real quality can come from this league. If the RK factor can bring in a few more players from his native Holland and any other players around the world that his name alone can be enough to get players to sign then that will be great! But I feel we will struggle to sign the last few pieces of the puzzle because we will do what we have been doing for the past two years( and rightly so!). Bidding on players that are CL level, that means we usually are not first choice for the player and will have to wait to see what the big boys do with their transfers. The optimist once again shines through even though as a fan I will be frustrated (but prepared) to wait until the close of the transfer window to see how well we have done in the transfer market, and with a great coach, lots of money and a reputation that is growing that we play good attractive football that can match the best the PL has to offer, I expect to be very happy with who we have acquired and what is to come from the new future ahead. Last year I was wondering how we could ever make the dream of being a top 4 a reality, maybe not a regular fixture, but a sneak in there one year. We had a talented side that reached as high as 3rd and had one of the best defensive records in all of Europe early in the last season. To progress we needed a few more quality pieces to push on. That takes a lot of money. Well, now we have the money after a few key sales, and now if we are good and lucky in the transfer market, we can improve this team all round and challenge for the top 6. So all my fellow happy chappy, may we all sing “when the Saints go marching in…..to European and cup glory!!!” . The future looks bright, keep your chin up, COYR!

A Message from the Board As a member of the board (I pick up the tea cups), I feel I must respond to all Saints fans that have wailed, moaned and cried about our clubs meltdown and lack of direction. Well you are right, we did have a melt down and lacked direction. We were scrapping in another relegation battle and eventually lost our battle and our 27 years in the top flight, a humbling tumble down the leagues to land in the basement of league 1 and to that we apologies to the fans. But we had seen the writing on the wall, the emergence of mega clubs and their new obscenely rich owners were perverting the market place, we could no longer afford or attract the quality of players it would take to be competitive in the PL for any sustained period. We had seen the academy as our saving grace. Build a world class youth academy and tried to raise your own crop of stars, these seeds were laid in the R. Lowe era. The focus on the academy was one of the few things they got right. The rest led to administration and almost the extinction of the club. Along comes our hero, ML, he has a dream and money to revive SFC, He appoints a no nonsense Chairman, NC, and his deputy Reed. They put a 5 year plan together and plot to achieve this goal. A mandate of the style we will play from first team right through to the academy was imposed. Mangers that employed this “playing football the right way” were hired and fired. AP and NA were fired controversially, and then like now fans screamed out for clarification and a report to our every move. But that is not our way. We do as much as we can confidentially and quietly out of the media. This is not to anger our supporters, we have been given the job of leading this club, we will do this for the benefit of SFC. As a board we all basked in the success of the next two years. Hard decision were made along the way. ML has died and KL takes over, again the fans cried “THE SKY IS FALLING”. Investment continues into the squad as we prepare for our second season in the PL. New coach MP continues to improve the squad and results. The world is our oyster and top 4 is being dreamed of. Then the wheels start coming off. NC is not happy and leaves. MP threatens to leave too, players not happy. “THE SKY IS FALLING”. KL and Reed try to steady the ship by appointing Kreuger to the team? Not as a football man, but as a motivator, a PR guy, a salesman, someone who will open up new advertising and worldwide fan appeal bringing new forms of revenue. But now we have a hint of what’s to come. MP wants out, our best players are being courted by some of the biggest clubs in the world. Reed said to me “the dream is dead”, oh and two sugars please. But went on to say “a new era has begun!”. We had many late nights with a pint and crisps in our last campaign trying to figure out how we were going to get to that next level. NC wanted KL to pay up or shut u…..he was fired…so it was obvious we were not doing a MC and use her billions to buy a title. She had supported a big purchase here and there if we could justify the expense. But we found it hard to attract the level of players we wanted to get us into that next level. Last season again the fans cried “THE SKY IS FALLING” because of our late signings and lack of information leaked about our dealings. But this is the nature of our club standing. If we want world class signings we usually have to wait for the big boys to make their moves. This leaves us haggling at the last minute, not because we haven’t tried to wrap thing up early, but the players are usually CL quality and want to play for a CL team. This year will be no different. MP leaves and the want away players (they asked us to leave, we didn’t ask them to leave) are sold at record breaking prices, again the fans cried “THE SKY IS FALLING”. I read a few fans state we should have not sold any players until we have a replacement. Here is how I see it – we were getting way over market value for LS and AL, we got our asking price and rid of players who no longer wanted to play for SFC. MU and LP could not be toyed with, they are huge clubs that will walk with their generous offers and pick another world class talent. We cannot wait till we get replacements as I said before, we are not a big club, we have to wait in the transfer market to obtain the high valued targets we have because bigger clubs want them too. We appoint a very high profile manager with a very good CV. He doesn’t want any player that is not committed to SFC. He will continue to play “football the right way” and has a record for developing youth. We are committed to reaching the highest levels of football, but have taken on a practical approach and with a little bit of luck, we can have the combination of a great coach and talented players, that will stick together for a few years to see what they can obtain together as a team before the Mega bucks vultures come swooping again. 1) Invest in academy and produce PL footballers, schooled in our brand of play. 2) Use them! Give them time to develop in PL games 3) Buy a few foreign affordable “next great player” 4) Buy a few English or championship players. 5) Buy one or two marquee proven game changers. 6) Hire a coach that fits the style of SFC and has a history of nurturing the youth into great players. 7) Keep as much SFC board business as quiet as possible until deals are final Ting-a ling, ting- a ling, that’s Reed wanting another cuppa, keep your bell on man! I hope the SFC supporters can be patient a little longer. We hope to get a few in early using RK connections and the rest will be down to the wire as we continue to chase after world class, sought after players. I know it is hard to believe but the “SKY IS NOT FALLING”, in the Board we trust………

new rumour. Gerard Deulofeu (20) is coming to SFC in summer transfer for 7mill. source - me why - because his is one of the best young attacking midfielders, if we could buy him outright from Barcelona, I think he would be perfect. Like what I see when he plays for Everton. I think our coaching and style of play would be something he is suited to. I wonder how much it would cost to get him in a saints shirt? This would be the young, exciting attacking midfielder type of prospect I hope we are looking for. We need a Big money gamble on a striker, a cb and keep the team we have and we will be pushing higher next year. This will be a critical transfer summer for MP, he has had a chance to sum up all of his squad and will now need to add a few critical pieces to keep us moving forward. Will he go to his Spanish bag of trick (yes) or will he stick with the PL?

Welbeck (23)I hope MU panic and try to buy their way back into the top 4, If they splash big on another world class striker I would like us to try to get Welbeck (23), If we can get him, Jrod (24) and Lallanna (25) playing together it will be a win for SFC and a win for England. Lukaku (20) is a great shout if we could pull it off, it would mean loosing Shaw, but we have a ready made LB back up in Matt Targett. Benteke (23) is also an excellent striker, but would take over 25 mil to get. I think if a CL club doesn't come in for him, we might be able to pry him away from Villa. Ings (21) is a good shout as an investment for the near future, he has had one good season, and is now an England under 21, looks like a very promising player, one we will have to have patience with (like Jrod) as he adjust to the PL. But I think he has shown enough (possible Championship player of the year) to warrant a good looking over by the scouts. His back story also fits in well with Saints, he has played with JRod and is a Saints supporter, so i feel he would leave everything on the pitch. Has healed well from some pretty serious knee injuries but still has not lost any pace. If Burnley go up, they will not want to sell. These are all good young Strikers playing in England, all have great work ethic, personalities and skill to fit SFC. But is this what MP wants? we have RL(32),JR(24) and SG (18). Our big money addition was Osvaldo (28), an International player in his prime, I think this is what he wants, the finished article that can add experience to our side. VERY hard to find, but not impossible.

Welbeck (23)I hope MU panic and try to buy their way back into the top 4, If they splash big on another world class striker I would like us to try to get Welbeck (23), If we can get him, Jrod (24) and Lallanna (25) playing together it will be a win for SFC and a win for England. Lukaku (20) is a great shout if we could pull it off, it would mean loosing Shaw, but we have a ready made LB back up in Matt Targett. Benteke (23) is also an excellent striker, but would take over 25 mil to get. I think if a CL club doesn't come in for him, we might be able to pry him away from Villa. Ings (21) is a good shout as an investment for the near future, he has had one good season, and is now an England under 21, looks like a very promising player, one we will have to have patience with (like Jrod) as he adjust to the PL. But I think he has shown enough (possible Championship player of the year) to warrant a good looking over by the scouts. His back story also fits in well with Saints, he has played with JRod and is a Saints supporter, so i feel he would leave everything on the pitch. Has healed well from some pretty serious knee injuries but still has not lost any pace. If Burnley go up, they will not want to sell. These are all good young Strikers playing in England, all have great work ethic, personalities and skill to fit SFC. But is this what MP wants? we have RL(34),JR(24) and SG (18). Our big money addition was Osvaldo (28), an International player in his prime, I think this is what he wants, the finished article that can add experience to our side. VERY hard to find, but not impossible.

I am with the optimist camp!!! really can't see KL selling, She is getting involved not distant, showing an interest, enjoying her fathers vision come to fruition. Saints are becoming a success, money has been well spent.can't see MP leaving, he has been handed a coaches gift, a club with money and young talent that are taking the PL buy storm. England call ups for his players, a team that can push for top six in the hardest league in the world, his positive reputation is growing. I can see him milking this cow for a little longer. If we continue to see improvement, it will keep everyone interested in our unfolding story of marching from div 1 to the top tier of the PL. Our players will stay, big money from other clubs will not change this story as long as we keep improving. We are a good side, most of them have been there through this journey, slaying each target from div 1 on up, building a strong team ethic. This is Lallana's team, he is the Captain! I think they see what I can see, a team of players that can beat the best teams in the league. If all of these players are so valuable then surely they can see the quality in their own teammates. This is not like the sale of Wallcott, Ox and Bale, they were not in a team that was capable of beating the top PL teams. Now we are, they are so close, they have shown they can hold their own, out posses almost every team, control most matches. A bit more improvement and there will be no need to go to MU, we will be beating MU!! Shaw, Spidey, clyne, lovren and any of our other first 11 to be snatched up must all realize their success is partly to do with their team mates excellent play, they can continue to improve as a tight knit group, none with big enough ego's to think they were too good for their teammates. If I were them I would be interested to see how far we could improve over the next few years, all are young enough to get a big money move in a few years time to fulfill their ambitions and wallets if Saints cant. The pessimist in you is still optomistic for me! Shaw - Chelsea - £30m (Clyne steps in) - If Clyne can truly switch to LB and continue his excellent play then Shaws deprture wil not have to much affect, and Chamber has proven he is a quality RB. We will be thin on cover but £30m will buy some quality lb/rb replacements. Lallana - Liverpool - £25m (Ramirez steps in) - would be the hardest to replace, but our play-maker in the making "Ramirez" has shown glimpses of brilliance that he could provide enough quality to keep Saints creative and dribbling juices flowing. If not 25 mill will get a quality AM (think Draxler) Schneiderlin - Arsenal - £15m (Cork steps in) - Cork has proven he can operate in CM with MOTM performances this year. Reed, JWP, Davis all can keep our CM level to a high standard. 15 mill would buy some quality CM to fill the void. With a potential (your guesstimate) to bring in 70 mill of sales from 3 players and still have a strong first 11. If we then spent that money wisely with KL continuing to invest her money on top of that 70 mill for 5 or 6 new players We could arguably be better of than we are now. Now let me take off those rosy glasses because even the pessimistic view is looking really goooooood.....

Ramos from Hertha Berlin has some of the attributes that are suitable to our high work rate, can he score buckets of goals?, who knows? there are many that will suit our style , some that don't, just based on their speed and work rate. I did not pick Ramos from Hertha Berlin, someone suggested him, I took a quick look, thought he looked like he had potential (many do) but he would not be my choice,Lukaku would be mine and many others agree, but he is probably not a realistic target. Yes I can have an opinion on Bony, He looks like a good old fashion big center forward, big target man, good with his back to goal etc. He could play for Saints because he is proven he can score some goals in PL, but he would have to add some things to his game to suit our style or we would have to change our play to accommodate him. From what i have seen of him, he doesn't look like the type of player to use a lot of energy closing down and harassing the defenders to win the ball high up the pitch. No slight to Bony, many physically big world class strikers don't have this in them. But our attacking press has added a new dimension to our front line, YOU HAVE TO BE FIT AND MOBILE enough to defend from the front and still be expected to "bomb on" in attacks. This is where our Big man RL is suffering, his age and stamina is not there to stay in the whole game trying to do both (press and attack).

Adams skill has been obvious to even a blind man! SFC have know this for a long time, they saw his ball skills, knew he had an engine that would not stop and would mature into the player that all of England can now see. Was given the captaincy this year (many fans were against this) because they new this was the man who we would be building a team around for the next 5 years. They were making it as hard as possible for those poaching teams to steal one of our brightest player. SFC have been a feeder club for too long! and have decided a new era has to be ushered in, SFC coaches know what we have in the academy, know what they are developing. They have given Adam a team that he call call his!! will he be a MLT and stay for his entire career? for now i think so, even if RM come calling, he is sold on this project, he is working with some of the best young footballers in England, and as long as we continue to show improvement, he will be loyal and stay. If after two years (he will be 27) we have not cracked the CL then I think he will make that move, but for now our young stars are on the Saints train and moving on up! Another obvious thing to SFC that will happen if our academy continues to produce high quality English players is starting to unfold now......we will be the backbone of the England Intl team. We already have a possible 4 players going this year, we have many more in the England under 18/21 squads. If it is obvious to an amateur like me that one of Spain's greatest attributes was not only having great players, but great players playing for the same club team, Barcelona has 7 players in Spain's Intl squad, playing together week in week out, all on the same page. This is a recipe for success, and one that I hope is not lost on England. In fact all of England should be supporting SFC, trying to keep these players together instead of breaking them up and distributing them amongst the teams of the world. We have shown we have the right philosophy and ability to nurture talent to the highest level, why not even assist us in keeping our players together for the sake of England WC and European dreams!. With this dream in mind, I would like us to be aggressive in bringing in more of England's young stars. I think Wellbeck is a great shout, will he come to us? maybe, MU are in turmoil, we can almost guarantee him more playing time. Steven Caulker is definitely attainable. Ruddy or Foster are also within our means. Could we temp Walcott and Ox back probably not. Will we go after the stars of the under 21 national team? will Zaha,Will Hughes, Redmond, Ings, Butland, Jack Robinson feel like they can be part of the Saints train? A few more of these stars could truly bring a revolution to the English National squad. It is a dream of mine and should be a dream of all England supporters. Lets add to our group of England stars, not sell them off to the highest bidders. It is in the best interest of England's National footy pride :0)...march on Saints! march on!!

Adams skill has been obvious to even a blind man! SFC have know this for a long time, they saw his ball skills, knew he had an engine that would not stop and would mature into the player that all of England can now see. He was given the captaincy this year (many fans were against this) because they new this was the man who we would be building a team around for the next 5 years. They were making it as hard as possible for those poaching teams to steal one of our brightest player. SFC have been a feeder club for too long! and have decided a new era has to be ushered in!. SFC coaches know what we have in the academy, know what they are developing. They have given Adam a team that he call call his!! will he be a MLT and stay for his entire career? for now i think so, even if RM come calling, he is sold on this project, he is working with some of the best young footballers in England, and as long as we continue to show improvement, he will be loyal and stay. If after two years (he will be 27) and we have not cracked the CL then I think he will make that move, but for now our young stars are on the Saints train and moving on up! Another obvious thing to SFC that will happen if our academy continues to produce high quality English players is starting to unfold now......we will be the backbone of the England Intl team. We already have a possible 4 players going this year, we have many more in the England under 18/21 squads. If it is obvious to an amateur like me that one of Spain's greatest attributes was not only having great players, but great players playing for the same club team. Barcelona has 7 players in Spain's Intl squad, playing together week in week out, all on the same page. This is a recipe for success, and one that I hope is not lost on England. In fact all of England should be supporting SFC, trying to keep these players together instead of breaking them up and distributing them amongst the teams of the world. We have shown we have the right philosophy and ability to nurture talent to the highest level, why not even assist us in keeping our players together for the sake of England WC and European dreams!. With this dream in mind, I would like us to be aggressive in bringing in more of England's young stars. I think Wellbeck is a great shout, will he come to us? maybe, MU are in turmoil, we can almost guarantee him more playing time. Steven Caulker is definitely attainable. Ruddy or Foster are also within our means. Could we temp Walcott and Ox back? probably not. Will we go after the stars of the under 21 national team? will Zaha,Will Hughes, Redmond, Ings, Butland, Jack Robinson feel like they can be part of the Saints train? A few more of these stars could truly bring a revolution to the English National squad. It is a dream of mine and should be a dream of all England supporters. Lets add to our group of England stars, not sell them off to the highest bidders. It is in the best interest of England's National footy pride :0)

I am no expert, I just love the game and the Saints, having been born on an island thousands of miles from Southampton but with both parent being being born in Southampton, I have taken a lot of sh*t for 40 years from the plastic fans around me that choose the big clubs, MAN U, LIV and ARS. We have endured many years of mediocrity, but now is our time to shine. When I mention "our style", in truth it is MP style, which has been a progression from AP-NA-MP, all with the ethos of playing football "the right way", quick passing on the ground, playing out from the back, selecting players who are comfortable on the ball, etc. Each one tweeking what the previous had started. We watch, support and learn. MP has inherited a talented group of players, and added many of his philosophies to our team play. Some are - the high pressing style (must all work hard to close down the passing lanes or open players), using our fullbacks as attacking wingers ( we are blessed in this area) and playing a high defensive line (speed in our centerbacks is a must). Ramos from Hertha Berlin looks like a good fit, at 28 he is mature and is now playing some of his best football of his career, 2013/14 app-23, gs- 14, ass-3, athletic and quick, good header and should be reasonably priced. But having not watched him play I don't know if he has it in him to press from the front or have the ability to dribble around players. Bony is a good player, I just don't think he has the athleticism to press and harass the CB/GK. "Our style is pretty sideways passing and then fluffing our chances." lol, seems so true recently, our mostly patient passing build up play leave so much time for the opposition defenses to get organized in front of their goal. Speed and dribbling ability is a must to break this down, RL does not have this, Jrod is still learning (funny NC said Jrod would be our highest goal scorer this year and he was right, this is with Ricky coming off last years as top scorer and Osvaldo coming in with high hopes).

DOES NOT FIT OUR STYLE!!

I have said it before, if MP stays we will be looking for a striker that has stamina and mobility! the poster that said "someone who is even a lazy sod, doesnt track back but waits for the ball to come to him" is not in tune with the style MP wants. We press as a team, and it starts from the strikers. I don't think Bony is a good fit for this reason as well, and question if Remey will do the hard work of pressing the opposing teams CB. Lukaka and Benteke are both good fits in that they are young and mobile enough to fit our style, but will cost too much to pry them away. Michu also looks to have the stamina to play our pressing style, but Swansea would not let him come to us for cheap, if at all. But these are the obvious choices in the PL that even we can see are quality, therefore don't you think the big clubs will be also be in for them. The rumor mill suggest we are in for Rafa Silva (20) of Braga. This looks more realistic , he can play across the front and would not break the bank, will have the energy for our pressing style and can mature with the other young stars we have. This continues with our ethos of buying young players that have bags of potential to become superstars. So that opens a world of players we will have never heard of, or even considered, it means we have to gamble on getting that gem before the big clubs snatch up the obvious. I have been encouraged by the signing of Osvaldo, not for what he became, a big numpty, but for our ambition to get a ready made, mature (age wise) goal scorer. We broke our transfer record to do that, may we hope that KL has the ambition to do that again. It would be foolish to tackle the PL with all kids (but not impossible), and we have shown we are no fools, the purchase of Ossie has hinted that MP wants some experience up front to complement the younger players. So I hope we can find and afford both, a young superstar in the making and a more mature proven goal scorer, but both will be expected to work hard at the pressing game, it is the style we have committed to under MP.

Good question, sit down have a cup-a-tea and have a read for a few min......We need a striker!. RL is at the end of his career. Osvaldo was an indication we knew we needed a Striker of proven quality and the board came through. There must be a replacement being lined up. We should use this seasons positive performance and top ten position to tempt the players who would do well here. What do we need? tall, strong, quick feet, fast, fit, silky, bullish........all of the above and can score 20+ a season. Well guess what , so are every club looking for that perfect striker so we have to be realistic. Now great footy managers, what do we get? would you go for the big front man or the tricky small striker? hmmm, we have been playing with our own big target man RL for a few years and done very well. A simple big man replacement would seem the easy answer. So my realistic choices would be three players from the BPL that have shown they can score goals at this level and we have seen their quality first hand on a weekly basis.The first two won't be cheap, but if we were to show true CL aspirations then 25mill should be our target. Benteke (age 23- we are a better team than AV ), Lukaka (age-20, very unlikely if Chelsea want to keep him, but if they want LS that bad, here is the makeweight,oh ya, throw Thibaut Courtois in there too) and maybe Demba Ba (28- already rumored to be available for transfer in the summer but his knees are a concern, but a rotation with RL may see us good for a few seasons). Three big, fast, tricky strikers who could lead our front line. All athletic enough to keep up the pressing style. BUT..... is this what MP wants?? since he has been here and imposed his aggressive pressing, ball retention, methodical build up style. He has diminished RL from an out and out target man to a more involved play maker, more intricate ball movement. If we are emulating the Barcelona model in style of play and youth academy, we can see that Barca do not play with a big, strong front man, they opt for more sublime skilled players, one that is just as comfortable in midfield (with the stamina of a midfielder) as they are upfront (this is a positive for RL, MP has been blessed with a big striker that can mix it up in midfield, his touch and passing ability is awesome, but he is no longer a full season player). So MP choice - Osvaldo - a player who's got ability, agility and is more in-tune to the tikka takka ball movement. These are clues that a similar player is to be scouted, we don't seem concerned about POWER and PACE, we seem to be leaning toward STAMINA and GRACE. It is imperative that whom ever it be, must be willing to close down from the front, our style depends on the strikers maintaining this pressure, otherwise it all fails and we get exposed. I suspect Osvaldo was not a great fit for this, as most strikers conserve their energy when the ball needs to be won. This they feel is their right as the goal scorer of their team, they can let a defender waltz pass them and let the rest of the team worry about getting it back. We cannot make that mistake again on a premadonna striker who is not worthy of the grunt work of closing down opposition, Jrod and RL (especially RL at his size and age) has suffered some of their goal tally because they have spent so much energy on pressing from the front. We seem to be in the lookout for a Suarez, Sergio player (ohhh that would be so nice) Sooooo, who of the more mobile nimble strikes of the world would you like? the one in the BPL that we could entice is not so attractive as the Big strikers i have mentioned. How about - Remy (can score , but would he do the hard work of pressing from the front? are we more attractive than Newcastle to the player? Fabio Borini? seems like he could develop into class. Nothing stands out to me in the BPL. Maybe we can get lucky in the world footballing pot. It would be interested to see if my theory will prove right of wanting a smaller more mobile front man than the big brute force, back to goal, hold up type of player . But what would we pay? BIG, big question on our decision to buy a striker. $15 mill on Dani, could see 25 mill being our upper limit. This 20+ mill could get us a world top ten (20-25 years old) rising super star or a second tier seasoned pro with defined abilities. The world seems full of young stars that could be the next best thing, between 17 - 20 years. But here is where I worry, because the mega clubs like MC, PSV, RM and especially Chelsea (Chelsea now have a whopping 19 young players out on loan) are making it their business to buy most of the young talent and stock piling them, our LS maybe next! They are capturing the raw gems of the footballing world, giving them hope to rise to the first team, which rarely happens and then sells them on for a huge profit (Kevin de bruyne, bought for 7mill, sold for 18 mill 2yrs later), great business for them, but a worrying trend for the smaller clubs to hold onto their youth, not something new, but it seems to be accelerating with these mega rich clubs. Not only can they buy the best in the world, splashing around 100's of millions, but they now buy every young superstar to add or discard as they please. If we have a real belief of reaching the CL we will only get there with LUCK! our style, team effort and improving abilities of our young players will get us close but not to the promise land, we will need a few more superstars!. Will we see SFC buying the ready made ones?, they are 30+ mill (probably not), so we will have to take a chance on a rising star, one with promise, one that hasn't been snatched up in the Mega rich club's trawl nets, in other words "a whole lotta LUCK!!". check out FIFA 2014 wonder kids pick, we have three on there, these are considered by some to be the best kids on the planet! amazing! and we have more to come! GK: Fabrice Ondoa (17, Barcelona B, 80) RB: Calum Chambers (18, Southampton, 80) RCB: Kurt Zouma (18, St-Etienne, 85) LCB: Karim Rekik (18, PSV, 85) LB: Luke Shaw (18, Southampton, 85) CM: Leon Goretzka (18, Schalke, 85) CM: James Ward-Prowse (18, Southampton, 85) CM: Tonny Vilhena (18, Feyenoord, 85) RW: Zakaria Bakkali (17, PSV, 90) LW: Bruma (18, Galatasaray, 88) ST: Aleksandar Mitrovic (18, Anderlecht, 87)

I will keep it simple, we need a striker. RL is at the end of his career. Osvaldo is an indication we knew we needed a Striker and the board came through. There must be a replacement being lined up. We should use this seasons positive performance and top ten position to tempt the players who would do well here. What do we need? tall, strong, quick feet, fast, fit, silky, bullish........all of the above and can score 20+. Well guess what , so are every club looking for that perfect striker so we have to be realistic. Now great footy managers, what do we get? would you go for the big front man or the tricky small striker? hmmm, we have been playing with our own big target man RL for a few years and done very well. A simple big man replacement would seem the easy answer. So my realistic choices would be three players from the BPL that have shown they can score goals at this level and we have seen there quality first hand on a weekly basis. Benteke (age 23- we are a better team than AV ), Lukaka (age-20, very unlikely if Chelsea want to keep him, but if they want LS that bad, here is the makeweight) and Demba Ba (28- already rumored to be available for transfer in the summer). Three big, fast, tricky strikers who could lead our front line....... BUT is this what MP wants?? since he has been here and imposed his aggressive pressing, ball retention, methodical build up style. He has diminished RL from an out and out target man to a more involved play maker, more intricate ball movement. If we are emulating the Barcelona model in style of play and youth academy, we can see that Barca do not play with a big, strong front man, they opt for more sublime skilled players, one that is just as comfortable in midfield (with the stamina of a midfielder) as they are upfront (this is a positive for RL, MP has been blessed with a big striker that can mix it up in midfield, his touch and passing ability is awesome). So MP choice - Osvaldo - a player who's got ability, agility and more intune to the tikka takka ball movement. These are clues that a similar player is to scouted, we don't seem concerned about POWER and PACE, we seem to be leaning toward STAMINA and GRACE. It is imperative that whom ever it be, must be willing to close down from the front, our style depends on the strikers maintaining this pressure, otherwise it all fails and we get exposed. I suspect Osvaldo was not a great fit for this, as most strikers conserve their energy when the ball needs to be won. This they feel is their right as the goal scorer of their team, they can let a defender waltz pass them and let the rest of the team worry about getting it back. We cannot make that mistake again on a premadonna striker who is not worthy of the grunt work of closing down opposition, Jrod and RL (especially RL at his size and age) has suffered some of their goal tally because they have spent so much energy on pressing from the front. We seem to in the lookout for a Suarez, Sergio player (ohhh that would be so nice) Sooooo, who of the more mobile nimble strikes of the world would you like? the one in the BPL that we could entice is not so attractive as the Big strikers i have mentioned. how about - Remy (can score , but would he do the hard work of pressing from the front? are we more attractive than Newcastle to the player? Fabio Borini? seems like he could develop into class. Nothing stands out to me in the BPL. Maybe we can get lucky in the championship or world footballing pot. I would be interested to see if my theory of wanting a smaller more mobile front man than the big brute force type of player.

Yes our style does make it harder to score goals. We have the pressing game, which puts pressure on the ball in the opponents half, if we win it there they are already have most of their players ready to get into defending positions. We also like to retain possession which means we approach the other team in a methodical way. They will usually have two solid banks of 4 defending, leaving it up to us to break them down. It takes very skilled individuals and team efforts to get through a well organized defensive team, look at the WH vs Chelsea game as a perfect example. Our possession stats are so high that we can even out posses even the masters of it (ie Arsenal). We also don't seem to want to take long shots from good central positions, many times i have seen us try to thread that final path into the box, great to see but leaves more room for errors. I have been screaming for our midfielders to take some long shots, it will pull the defenders out to you more! We have shown some great counter attacking football (which doesn't happen very often as we retain most of the possession) but our fleet footed striker - Jrod- has shown some weakness in one vs one with the keeper. But I can't fault the lads effort. He keeps getting better and the whole team will as they mature and learn how to break down these deep lying teams.

sure I would take him back, he has unfinished business with his team, he seemed like a smart guy, if he could incorporate the pressing style of Poch into his managerial/coaching bag then why not. His tactical changes during our run up the leagues was impressive, seemed to understand formation changes to counteract the other team during games. He was great with the sport science and a very positive influence on players and Club. Now this would only make sense if we can rely on our youth and buying from the English market. He is not a big enough name in world football (not even an ex player of any stature, like Poch-ex international Argentinian defender) that would encourage world class players to come here. SFC itself is not a big enough club to entice the best players on reputation alone. But whom ever it would be if Poch leaves, I would hope they keep our intense, team pressing style, I am addicted to it, I enjoy seeing those big team premadonnas squirm because they are getting no respect and time on the ball, and have to work extra hard to match our intensity, no free ride when ya play us!!

We need Poch, his pressing style is the best around. I heard other team saying they will and can do it, Fulham coach before the game. ha. Chelsea game against city, commentators saying how well Chelsea press high up the field ? I have watched other teams try it and not pull it off consistently like we do, it is a fine line to getting this pressing game right. if one player does not pick up the free man or close down the pass then it will fail! You will see Ricky or who ever is forward squeeze the defender with the ball to play it forward, no back pass to keeper, then our midfield will close down the pass or man receiving the ball, any free player close to the ball is then closed down. This is one of the reason we can hang with the big boys, we don't give them time on the ball. NA and Pardew both had a philosophy of keeping the ball down and passing the ball, this started us on the way to playing nice football, confidence on the ball and possession has also been nurtured. BUT Poch has added that intense pressing game that I have never seen in the PL done so well. I would love him to stay, to continue to integrate the youth into the squad, to buy the players he feels can handle this type of high intensity pressing game, then have the composure to retain possession. RL is our weak link in this style, but his intelligence allows him to still be a great player for us (his years as a midfielder is showing with his great vision and passing ability, one of the best passer in the team!looks very comfortable when he drops deeper to quarterback the attack). If we are to buy quality players in the summer, They must have stamina, must, must, must, have STAMINA, and be willing to work hard doing the press as a team!!! Davis is a perfect example, his work rate is phenomenal, he is still running box to box at the end of games. Now Poch is not the second Christ coming, he is still young and still learning, so will make mistakes. But if he does leave (don't see why when he has almost everything he wants, coaching in the best league in the world, talented young group of players that has adapted his pressing style brilliantly, and more youth to come, and an owner that has backed some crucial buys when needed). Only a megga club could turn his head and that might happen, but until then "in POCH do I trust".

This is from another rumour site which I follow and they seem to have some good insight and up to date info. Remember it is only a rumour, but this is the type of player I would like (no slow lazy berbatov, no miss-firing Cisse, no poor attitude ince, no unproven ings) and the kind of player MP would get, no mention in all the rags about this player (Southampton out of the blue style) and exciting young player that ticks all the right boxes............Luis Muriel!!! Luis Fernando Muriel Fruto (born 16 April 1991) is a Colombian striker. He currently plays for Italian Serie A club Udinese. He has been considered to be one of the most promising strikers in world football. Often receiving praise from European dominants, Manchester United, Arsenal and Barcelona. During his first season with Udinese, Muriel won the Serie A Young Footballer of the Year along with Stephan El Shaarawy. is technique with the ball as led to many comparisons to that of Brazilian legend Ronaldo. Muriel's acceleration, speed, dribbling, ball control, aim for goal and passing accuracy are his key attributes. here are the rumours...lets hope this has some truth it........ 27 Jan 2014 20:13:21 "Saints have flown in a striker from Udinese Calcio tonight & he will be at the game tomorrow" "Wouldn't mind it being Muriel or Nicolas Lopez both Lacey and young." "Udinese are hoping Di Natale stays on for another season but they are not sure if he will. He is 30 but a class goalscorer with a lethal eye at goal, according to the club website." "This was an exciting post to see! Luis Muriel would be a great investment if it's him, valued at 12 million so a swap of some sort with Osvaldo would be fair. Di Natale is a fantastic goal scorer but doesn't provide the same investment for the long term. Nicolas Lopez only signed for them from Roma back in the summer and the fact that he's only 20 makes him the most unlikely as we have our own youngsters on the fringes of the first team."

Here is some insight into what may have happened, don't know if this information was posted earlier, but could not read the 13 pages of mostly member infighting, not sure what to think about the Ossie/Fonte bust up. but I hope they can all be professionals and get on with winning games. "Why is everyone so quick to blame Osvaldo? He may have threw the first punch but who's to say it was him who instigated it? Apparently Fonte had some pretty harsh, unwarranted, words to say about Dani, behind his back, which if true, would have fully deserved a punch in the face." "My girlfriend works as catering staff at the training ground, she didn't see what happened, but saw the aftermath and saw Fonte and Osvaldo talking and shaking hands as well as Fonte admitting he'd gone too far with what he said. The players were talking about it like it was nothing and it isn't going to effect anyone beyond suspensions. Sometimes things like that happen and everyone is happier afterwards, much the same as having an argument with the Mrs." "Everyone is fine, no injuries apart from Fonte's split lip, it is being investigated by the club though, so it's probable Fonte will get a suspension too" "There is a hell of a lot more behind the Fonte/Osvaldo thing than anyone thinks. Fonte had been niggling at him a lot during training and made a comment along the lines of it being lucky Osvaldo had his suspension as it kept his pregnant girlfriend from sleeping around. let's not be so quick to put all the blame on Dani because their isn't one man who wouldn't stand up and defend their wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/whatever if that was said about them." "There is not tension, the daily echo says osvaldo isn't liked and automatically it's becomes gospel, he's quite a popular figure actually and the dressing room understand what's happened and it isn't going to affect anything beyond Osvaldo's suspension and Fonte's likely suspension." "Apparently, according to an eye witness, the incident, which took place on Wednesday, happened during an intense 11-a-side training match between members of the first-team squad. Osvaldo and Fonte had been niggling at each other during the practice match, and the situation came to a head when the former took umbrage at a particularly robust challenge. Osvaldo immediately confronted Fonte in an aggressive manner, sparking a nose-to-nose argument between the two. But before players could separate the two, Osvaldo left his team-mates 'shocked and furious' by aiming a head butt straight into Fonte's face. The impact immediately drew blood from Fonte's face; the pair grappled before team-mates launched themselves into the brawl to separate them. Fonte is understood to have sustained a black eye and a broken nose, but those injuries are yet to be confirmed. Pochettino immediately suspended the training session to deal with the aftermath of the unsavoury clash, which has seen Osvaldo suspended for two weeks by Southampton. The incident has seen Osvaldo's already low popularity among the the Saints squad plummet to rock-bottom."