East Kent Saint

I will be very disapointed if the Saints were to sell to state backed Chinese money . It could be the begining of the end for real supporters . So many clubs have sold out and very few have happy endings , the Prem has all but sold the soul of English football .

You have to take into account the effect of ticket prices which have caused large increase in the average age of fans in the Prem , plus alot of non home fans in the home areas etc It is the team that should get the crowd going ......

Not only scored a brilliant goal but was tackling back and defending all in one match , perhaps this is Gaston's break through or another false dawn ........

The tannoy was much improved in block 28 ! BUT the team was only announced once and there was no mention of subs for either side ????? nor did the subs appear on the screens.

VVD again got his head to everything , so much so I worry about him getting brain damage , Fonte now in sweeping up role ! Redmond was outstanding today , Austin struggled when running the length of the pitch to try and score a breakaway goal !!! but a great penalty . Turned into a great match after a the first half ....

Think I'll try a PDF version next time so I don't get eye strain !! Will subsequent issues be for charity as well ?

Everyone seems keen to find someone guilty on this thread without any actual evidence . Seems you all want a lynching regardless of any facts just like the old days or all those countrys where you just have to accuse someone of something for them to be killed .

Big Sam has a fair bit of previous such as pressurising players to change agents to his agent and dodgy transfer dealings at previous clubs . He should have been happy to earn £3M a year. I'm not a great fan of entrapment as you are trying to get people to commit a crime ie you are part of that illegal activity even though you claim to be acting in the public interest . If Sam had not been approached by these people then presumably he would not have offered to carry out said plan so his involvement is a direct consequence of the entrapment operation . However given his previous the FA should probably not appointed him in the first place !!!

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Too early for football , cricket season not finished yet plus it is bakingly hot !!! It takes a month or so before the season gets going properly but each year we get overheated about the window etc . It is difficult to care too much , City with their millions just so a country with a poor human rights record can rehabilitate itself in the international world . Man U also with it's millions and Chelsea rehabilitating an Oligarch with all his billions handed to him by a corrupt regime . Wasn't football a winter sport ?

Yeah but last season Pelle scored with an overhead kick (Sunderland ?) made no contact with defender but disallowed for dangerous play ! Costa kicks defender in head and scores OK says ref and **** Sutton . So as usual one rule for us and another for the others !

Re refs , last season Pelle scores from overhead kick which is ruled out for dangerous play and makes no contact with the defender . Yesterday Costa scores with overhead kick , kicks defender in the head but goal given !!

The penalty could have gone either way , if it was in the first few minutes it would probably not been given ! For their first goal if Classie was 6" taller he would probably blocked it ! (IMHO etc).

One of his better England games , team much the same in performance as the Euros . What's Rooney up to ? Adam showed some good moves and it would have been good if the previous effort that hit the post had gone in ! Big Sam has work to do , sort out Rooney, give Kane a long rest improve tactics etc ....

Don't forget agents fees , Pogba's agent got £20M on top of transfer fee etc . also see Comments in Times today by Palace chairman re mid table clubs who have to recycle players to stay afloat etc. You will never get the whole story from accounts , it is also pointless to keep saying where is that £20M ? and when that is explained to then say what about the TV money and when ......etc etc

Arsenal said they wouldn't loan him to a likely top 4 competitor , that's Saints ruled out then ! so more likely to be Palace (where you can still smoke in the grounds) or maybe Bournemouth .

Have you tried the paypal route? , it worked for me after other attempts failed.

As clear from Wanyama article , players have a career mapped out in their head , assisted by agents ,so the have zero allegiance to Southampton (or any mid table club) they all have Man u/city Barca /Real in mind as their final destination . Leicester showed you can do it for a season (like Blackburn Ipswich etc but you have to be a BIG club with 33 players on loan a la Chelsea to compete long term . In the mean time we should treat matchdays as a good day out !!!!

Shaw and Wanyama interviews in Guardian today . Shaw mainly about his leg , Wanyama mainly about him and his ambitions Saints don't rate a mention , journo mentions he was kept at Saints for another season !

I think the "window" was introduced to stop clubs poaching players throughout the season ! It doesn't stop tapping up but at least you know the player is at the club for 6 months. On the downside (Mane, Wanyama ) only play when they feel like it !!

Seem to remember a lot of posters saying get Classie and Rojo not so long ago.

Chambers was tracked by Arsenal for some time before he left , Wenger tried to sign him in the Jan window IIRC .

I think Ron Atkinson was the first user of "early doors" presumably from the theatre / Cinema days . Worst for me has always been Motson and his " the last thing Saints need to do is to concede a goal now , oh 0-1"

The point is sport used to be on terestrial television for anyone to see , you did not have to subscribe to exclusive services. By signing their sport up this means that alot of people who used to watch Rugby , cricket etc on a regular basis now don't . We even remember the Saints home games being shown all season on southern soccer , on sunday afternoons !!! Yes football now has a global audience but I think alot of people in this country do not have the same interest in cricket or rugby as we do not see it on TV on a regular basis. This of course is just sport evolving but alot of us used to like the coverage we used to get ! Ticket prices mean , as I said , that the average age of people watching live prem matches has gone up ie the youngsters can't afford it. We did think of seeing the Patriots when we were in the USA but were put off by the $175 ticket price !!!

To prove the Point yesterday , Artur gets yellow for dissent then second yellow for arm on shoulder and is sent off without hesitation !