East Kent Saint

Mane was pretty average when he started at Saints , barn door and banjo were his watch words . He developed into a good player and all was OK until the exodus of players to of all places L pool. He and Wanyama in their final seasons played in fits and starts , they seemed to play well in big matches against potential new employers and were lacklusture or damed awkward in run of the mill matches . Yes good players who did well for Saints but completely unprofesional about leaving Saints . Mane excellent on his day and Wanyama who was a brutal defender but couldn't pass more than 10 yards without overhitting it !

Each time Saints got promoted I thought Rickie lacked the pace for the next level only to be proved wrong ! Playing for England he was always moving into space but it was rarely spotted . Koeman obviously wanted mega bucks to spend on players and he now has his wish so this is the season to judge his decision to move .

A lot of journalism is now done by surfing the other news web sites , doing minimal rewriting and posting the story as their own . This has been driven by the gradual decline in newspapers , national and local , as advertsing moves to the internet . Journalists don't like this total de skilling but have been forced into it just to keep their job.

Didn't make it at Chelsea , poor at Villa then started to look good at Saints , got into the England squad but is now desparate to leave ! Is it the England bit that goes to our players heads ? Lallana a classic example that even the ref had a go at him. When we were doing well , plaudits from pundits etc we had a good team spirit , this seems to have gone out of the window . Redmond another that the club have got noticed by the England set up who now spends all his time moaning at other players and failing to do the business himself. Tadic another constant moaning non deliverer. Perhaps we need a better coaching set up to get the players back on track.

It's all about money , Everton's new owners are obviously pushing the boat out , Saints did not have the cash to do this so we are where we are . If Everton are slightly higher in the league at the end of the season they will get a bit of extra cash but not being a glamour club they may not be better off overall. The excesses of City, PSG, Barca , etc are way out of our league as we are not backed by a dodgy regime wishing to rehabilitate their reputation through the football business . I know human rights in China are a joke so I am depressed that we are having to take their money , even indirectly .

Not forgetting the goal keeper with a broken neck (Troutman?) NO not Fraser !

AT LAST someone who deserves a contract extension , not a bargaining chip but a genuine reward for service .

I feel the club have done what they could to hang on to VVD but he seems determined to go , even Barca couldn't hang on to Neymar , you would have thought that Barca was the pinacle of the football pyramid as well. If VVD was forced to stay I can't see that working , Morgan was OK but Wanyama and Mane only put any effort in when we were playing their target clubs if not getting red cards/turning up late etc.

The Noble tackle was not looked at by the ref as another WH player was already on the deck so he was just waiting for a break to get attention for that player so missed the studs to shin contact !

Bertrand can be a good player but he needs to be mentally right on the day. Not saying his head is turned just that he needs to think the team is working with him. It could be the reason Chelsea let him go after unsuccessful loans .

FACTS are you mad ????

If you say so Batman ! I was remembering Sir Alex not having funds followed by the chosen one and the mad dutchman !

First I'm sure Kat would have prefered Markusto still be running the club . It sounds like he was running part of the business (printing I think) for sentimental reasons which is why it soon got closed down when he died. Kat has kept Saints going since it fell in her lap so fair play to her , running a football club is a thankless task . There are plenty of examples now and in the past of owners milking the club , selling off training grounds , spending loads of money then bailing out etc. On the whole Kat has done a good job. Man U has struggled to keep up with the top 4 after being saddled with a massive debt , it is only now getting the required investment to start competing for a top 4 spot . Debt is also seen by companies as a good way of saving tax etc . Trump has built a whole empire on debt and hasn't paid tax for years also refusing to pay back Deutsche Bank $3 billion when he couldn't afford to !! (settled out of court apparently) . So thanks Kat , and for keeping a 20% stake to keep pressure on Gao. I am not keen on being sold to the Chinese , they have been buying up large parts of the world inc large chunks of Africa to grow food for China . I feel it's abit like the rest of the world felt when UK took over large parts of the world and then again when USA did it . Hopefully Saints will start scoring goals at home again and we can put all thisto the back of our minds (tiny or not).

To be fair Guan this forum is fairly tame compared with some I've read . Keyboard warriors are a modern pheonenom , it seems no one , however eminent in their speciality , are shouted down / abused / subject to death theats / from the great internet , mainly ignorant , using public .

Apart from MoPo who says they need some signings if they are going to compete this season . Spurs are hamstrung as they are spending all the money on a new stadium .

Mane couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo when he first started , it was only later that he showed some talent and towards the end we only saw that when were playing a potential transfer target team !!!! Loved his 15 min hat trick though.

IF he went to Chelski could we get a few back the other way as they have several teams worth of players !

Les Read came here with not much of a reputation but the club have prospered and are still in the prem for now .I'm fairly sure Les does not decide how much the club can spend in anyone season . I think he would be better descibed as a leader of a local council whose budget is decided in Westminster and even if he raises £M in transfer fees is NOT allowed to spend it on new players ( or council houses as we used to know them) . All the very big money is being spent by clubs with external money , much of which has the sole intension of rehabilitating very dodgy countries around the globe to divert attention from their corrupt or repressive regimes or people from this country who have amassed their money exploiting young females then employ a female to front their operation. Supporting local football instead hasn't worked for me as the fans seem to have the same Sky watching mentality of instant success and the "board " are all self serving bar stewards" who don't know what they are doing by not buying a top proven striker to score loads of goals etc etc.

Well Poch is now moaning at Spuds that they need to bring in players to compete ! guess new stadium and hard headed chairman means they will have to manage with what they've got , a bit like us (apart from new stadium and hard headed chairman)

Said to be having talks with manager this week (BBC gossip summary) so make or break then .....

He's gone to Billericay ! (another vanity project club)

signing a long contract is just one of the new ways of clubs trying to prevent players running down their contracts and leaving for a reduced fee with 1 year to go or on a free when it finishes. So a tactic to keep the transfer value of the player high . It does not imply anymore that the player wants to stay at a club for years as we used to think ! Perhaps Sakho will be part of the deal so he can get his international career back on track (before moving on in 2 seasons time of course)

He needs to go now to get a BIG payday before the Sky bubble bursts , Saints should survive the bubble due to sensible management , Man C could implode if the mid east goes wrong . Petrol/Diesels being scrapped is another nail in the mid east coffin . Who predicted Trump , Brexit , 2008 crash ?? Get top dollar now and buy in a a few on normal contracts to weather the storm . (says mister glass half full as I haven't finished it yet)

As Morgan found out , just because you look good playing for Saints it doesn't mean you will even get to play for a BIG new team ...... so financial gain but career suicide ? Matt Le Tissier knew which side of his bread was buttered , unlike er that bloke who went to Arsenal for £500000 whose name is on the tip ....

Barcelona are ready to offer £80m for Liverpool and Brazil midfielder Philippe Coutinho so £70 for VVD afterall = good business !!!