eddie

would also stick middlesborough on that list. repesenting everything about the current english game: - lots of history - had a couple good trips to europe - had the all important cup win - big fanbase - probably unknown to most folks abroad - go up and down between championship and the premiership with no sight of dropping far down, no chance of reaching champions league spots, just a bit of milling about in the middle giving fans something to shout about when they've got a chance at promotion, and complain about when they're about to be relegated

source? that's unbelievable. why not use bamford or wickham if they're looking for extra goals?

not sure... don't think so was just making a general comment about how the masses came to all be familiar with the same melodies and songs, at least back in the day. a few modern ones are based off top of the pops era tunes.

a lot of these songs started because they were tunes that folks used to hear in church, back in the day that most folks went to church not just saying this because it has "saint" in the song - you'll find a lot of tunes have their origins there what with standard melodies, using the same hymnbook, not surprising that several teams now have established songs that are the same totally agree though - daylight robbery that spurs use the song

sorry what is the knee issue? has this been a recurring problem in his career or something? can't remember much talk of it last few years but memory getting worse...

this is utterly bizzare. we just won at old trafford for f*cks sake. I'm genuinely not having a go, I'm giving you some advice. I think venting frustration at the club (a club that I think you probably do care about , I am not saying you don't) is a good thing, a right response to people using our money but not getting what we pay for. but come on. we win at old trafford in the dying moments of the game, don't just be discouraging and negative until the manager, players and club can 'prove themselves to you', which is what is seems like. we aren't changing our minds depending on the result. but how many games, and in what manner of win, does it need to be to prove to you that we've turned a corner? I think we went through a bad patch, playing well and arguably not getting quite a few results we should have. pelle especially, along with maybe stek, wanyama and JWP, were off form. Not too mention yoshida's regularly appearance at fullback. but other than that, what is really wrong? Not a great deal. these things happen in football. wanyama seems to be back in form, JWP at least has earned his place for a bit, cedric seems more confident, forster is back and we have austin. How can you not say that we have turtned a corner?

looks like young is out for this game. rumours are he'll play that youth player that got played against liverpool. definitely put tadic out on the right to expose his inexperience

fancy a result here. another 1-0 to saints or else a late 1-1 draw

yes and that the rangers fan saying austin doesn't hold the ball up so well

Would fancy having a stab at a fully fit Rodriguez on the left, Tadic on the right, mane in the middle, austin up front. does that work?

quoted from last year's HCdAJFU thread can confirm having seen wass play a few times he's very very good. evian is just across the lake from where I am where he used to play not so long ago. he's an excellent player. no idea why I'm reposting as I doubt we'll get him but isn't that the point of this thread anyway? could definitely do a job for us. very strong, physical and fast. he must be around 6ft. got a class touch and I've seen him play on the right side as well as centre of the park

villa, sunderland, swans (or if not swans, bournemouth) tempted to jump to my usual conclusion: villa / swans will buy a couple jan transfers in and go on a run as they are 'bigger teams' and big sam will keep sunderland up but based on what I've seen of those 3 teams this season even last few weeks, they look like they think they're going down. would be crazy if 3 newly promoted stay up all 3 seem to be doing alright and getting necessary wins. plus, watford have pantillimon, norwich now have naismith both of which are cracking buys mid-season that will lift the team. newcastle will almost certainly avoid drop with the amount they're investing in club. ashley realises it's christmas in money terms if he keeps them in at least until next season. then even if they are relegated 16/17 they still get something like 120m even when in championship.

heck is going on up there? shelvey left already, and serious bids put in by other bottom teams for ayew, montero and apparently gomis also being sought . are they overhauling their squad? montero, ayew and shelvey arguably three of their best. madness to let them go if it happens. realise bids don't mean done deals, but those clubs who've bid must have had some positive noises that their bid stood a chance..

I think he's saying that saints tendancy to sell young talent over past five years isn't so uncommon, as lots of other clubs have done it too..?

to be fair to him, he probably isn't on glorious wages compred to gaston. whereas the gaston experiment, waiting until he come good, was costly, I'm more inclined to give juanmi a run in and see what he can do. I doubt he'll devalue much less than 5 million.

I read it. good post. find it crazy to think just how fast football developed at end of last century and even 10-15 years ago compared to how settled it seems now. the amount of managers in the current crop who earned their badges together and worked together at a very small pool of clubs in europe, combined with the globalisation of the premier league and how much pressure there is on delivering results and not 'tinkering' around too much when all eyes are on you has meant that even Koeman's choice to go 5 at the back seems somehow cutting edge and risky. people are talking about stoke similarly being a reformed team, when in reality all they have bought is the xhakiri and bojan, couple changes at the back but still a regular back 4 in reality, and suddenly it's a world away from crouch-ball tactics. strange when 50 yeasr ago football was a totally different game or so the old man tells me the pressure now on having a settled system is immense. seems to be one of the reasons rodgers was shown the door.

haha. when I heard arsenal signed elneny from basel for only 5m I thought that should have been us. looks like a steal.

don't understand this comment. he's not exactly a lightweight south american flair player - he's a strong 6ft 2 winger. apparently one of highest passing rates and also puts in a defensive shift for a winger. I think he would have been probably pretty good fit for saints, just not the kind of player we need at the mo as he doesn't bring goals http://outsideoftheboot.com/2015/03/30/scout-report-lucas-ocampos/ http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2012/12/21/nh-x-five-potential-breakthrough-stars-of-2013-1-lucas-ocampos/

ah. I see your ridiculous assertion and I raise you that he has a vendetta against saints because he was born in a japanese city that roughly translates as "ports mouth" in english. he's come to saints, laying low and bringing it down it from the inside out. or maybe he's just not a very good player

got to be. only other one would be hughes. played in 3 different top european leagues and still scored goals. for some big clubs as well

other way round I'd think. long starting and pelle off the bench. start with long because the more the game goes on the more WB will sit back deeper and deeper with no space behind. long will surely be useless at that point except on the break. it's when there's no space that you want pelle and an option for the fullbacks to cross into him. if there's ever a chance there will be a bit more open play, it will surely be at the start. alternatively, maybe we play our strongest 11 and hope that we get a goal to coax them out. it is harsh on targett, only because bertrand is also excellent.

100%. there's definitely a correlation. just it's never guaranteed. absolutely we had successful spells as a direct result of buying decent quality. I think rather than using my money which isn't guaranteed to improve the squad (even if they are scouted as being better), I'd prefer to change things by using different forms of 'having my stake in the club'. like voicing my opinion i n meet the fan events or joining in fan actions if needs be. and if it gets really sh!t then give it a break watching games for a while. and at this moment in time, I am actually convinced that it is not a question of squad quality that is wrong. I think there is no reason why the current crop cannot be coached and organised in a way that challenges for the top half of the table. Mayube it's a change of tactics, mentality, training regime or integration of u21s, no idea. but thats the reason I don't think it's worth any financial sacrifice as a saint

Sorry, the question it wasn't very clear. my point isn't that the proceeds from the gates would be used to spend on players. it's a bit of a ridiculous question, but I wanted to know hypothetically how much extra would you pay if you were guaranteed signings of a good level. I said 'at the gate' just because that's where our money most visibly goes to the club, unless you have a season ticket which I havent yet. i agree that raising ticket prices has many other effects like meaning more out-of-towners come along when on holiday rather than local workers who tend to make atmosphere a little better. but in principle I'm asking how m uch do you really care about 'new signings' (rather than the manager coaching in a different way, or the academy producing not just full backs but being more keyed into the first team) ? and in part, the wallet is where your care can be really demonstrated. anyway. maybe it was a farcical quesiton. I only ask as for all my cynicism and criticism of the club at the moment, wamting something to change, I wouldn't want to pay more on the weekends I would go. the reason isn't because I don't enjoy saints winning, and am willing to spend my money on what I enjoy, but rather that seasons seem to just go up and down no matter what investment in the squad.

ah thanks - v helpful. the rule passed me by definitely be a nice evening if romeu/clasie and pelle have good games.

oh. I thought he missed the palace game for the red, no? don't think he was on the bench