Southampton Banter Archive January 01 2014

 

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(single word yields best result)

01 Jan 2014 22:46:18
Aslong as Saints don't go down this season that's all that matters to me I know we are building a strong strong squad for next season a squad that can challenge any premiership team and cope with Europe. We are ahead of the five year plan so far so I am going to be patient and wait for the quality squad poch and Cortese are putting together! I would like us to really go for the F. A cup though as I know we are more than capable of winning! COYR!

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I would hope that our 'project' is relatively long term.

So, year 1 - survive (we've done that)

Year 2 & 3 - stabilise around upper mid table and build our strengths

Year 4 on - be able to consistently push for top 4 in EPL and to qualify for CL with a squad (not just a team) that has the depth and strength where we would genuinely expect to beat the likes of Arsenal or Chelsea etc as opposed to nicking a point.

I still reckon that to have come from the bottom of League 1 to close the top of the Premiership in such a short time is incredible - but we ain't top quality yet, nowhere near really.

We've been 'lucky' that the start to this season was kind to us and allowed us to bag some good points early on.

As mikeysfc says, anything 17 or better will do, I reckon 8th, 9th or 10th will be an excellent achievement but we should already be looking to what team we should have for 2014 - 2015.

And if that means some 'names' are no longer with us, much like our stripes, we will have to move on and trust in 'The Project' (and Don Cortese).

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Hi Block34,

I believe you're pretty much spot on with regards to our 'project', but not too sure on timescale.

Why do I say this? Personally I thought that he might set another 5 year project, since I believe that to get into the CL is as difficult as our previous target of getting from Div 1 to the PL.

But, recently at the 'Leaders in Football Conference' where Cortese was a guest speaker, he stated that over the next three years he expected to increase profit by 100%.

Now I know he's a very clever man, but how the hell is he going to do that without CL football?
I know that there will be a lot of sponsorship coming into the club, along with increased revenues, so I suppose it could be possible.

. All I know is that it's going to be a very exciting ride.

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{Ed001's Note - online streaming rights are expected to be worth far more than the current TV deals for the top few Prem clubs, those with a huge worldwide fanbase. While Southampton might not be in that league yet, in terms of their value, it still has to be seen as a huge potential increase in income, which is to be brought in over the next few years. That alone could see an increase of 50-75% in income.}

Cheers Ed001!
I'm also aware that our main sponsor's contract (aap) is up at the end of this season. While only being a small amount relatively, currently our deal is only £1m a season - a fraction of the big clubs.

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01 Jan 2014 22:17:28
To everyone on this site:

Please be more positve about the team! We're fans, remember?

No more moaning about mistakes by the players, poor results or any other negative things.

Southanpton are doing really well, stay positve guys :)

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01 Jan 2014 20:38:53
Gaston coming back and playing well in the team is nearly as good as a signing, we just need to keep him fit and playing well, as even his work rate was good today, we've had a difficult month, but the level of performance hasn't dropped off at all, we have been dominating games and playing well, without picking up the points and with "easier fixtures coming up like West Brom and Sunderland, then all of February look like winnable games to me, we have out classed the sides lower down in the league when we have played them this season and we can continue to do that, whilst we have shown we can compete with the big teams to, with a bit of luck and hopefully our young side can continue to develop and improve we can finish in the top 8 and maybe even the top 6, COYR!

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Dream on

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I agree about Gaston but there were far too many times where he failed to see the simple option and lost the ball today. let's hope with more game time he can prove the doubters wrong

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how can anyone say gaston played well. he was poor, passing/selection/ too weak, don't get me wrong i'm not here slating players but sooo many deluded fans on here at least stupid talk of champions league has vanished just a shame too many players had off day today prob bar chambers. let's hope we can go on little run and wrap up 8th/9th

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I agree that Gaston coming back would be as good as a signing. I've stated previously that I've seen signs that he's hitting form recently. At Everton, Gaston was fantastic! Against Chelsea, Gaston was good first half, but definitely tired in the second - due to a lack of match fitness. He certainly seemed to get caught in possession a fair bit later on in the game.

I understand people being cynical regarding Gaston - we've seen so little quality from him in over a year, but people forget that he is so young (22) and has had huge personal problems. Most kids this age, facing what Gaston has had to face would have fallen apart.

Personally I am hugely excited about Gaston's potential.

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I agree with St Christopher and I never said we'd get champions league football, but I still think top 6 is achievable. If you look at Newcastle, Tottenham and Everton there all teams I think we can compete with for that 6th place don't you think?

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Personally I believe that 6th might be a stretch too far for us this year. The league seems to be far stronger this year. Both Liverpool and Everton are genuine contenders for CL. Tottenham are starting to show signs they could come good, and Arsenal have a new lease of life.

With this in mind, anything above 9th would be a great season for us.

As for next year, we'll be looking to progress, but breaking into the top 6 will be extremely difficult.

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Newcastle will drop off because they usally do around this time of year where as Southampton are going to pick up results after getting beaten in a few top team games Everton are a bit like Southampton with a little less depth so Saints will finish above Everton and Newcastle but Totenham are a different Story

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The post above with no name is me

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01 Jan 2014 17:36:31
I don't want to sound critical but for the last 3 years I have been singing the praises of Corky over Schniederlin. For those 3 years I have been in the minority. Seriously. Is there anyone out there who thibks Morgan should be in the side ahead of Cork?

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Yes, Morgan is one of the best all round midfield players in the league, Cork is solid and I think merit his place ahead of Vic but not Morgan.

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Morgan is one of the best midfielders in the country, i'd go as far to say europe even and judging by the last month I think it's critical that wanyama plays, he's the main reason we weren't conceding many

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I love Corky, a great underated player not sure if he's better than Morgan but I prefer him to Wanyama tbh

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I love Corky, but its fair to say we have dramatically missed Wanyama. He adds a huge amount of physical presence, freeing up our attacking players.

While Corky is a quality player, he lacks the physical presence. Games against West Brom last year highlighted the fact that our central midfield was lightweight.

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Wanyama has played against all the weak teams, am I the only one who remembers this? And please Manchester United have been poor all season and we fluked it at Liverpool. He's massively overated, I could do what he does.

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01 Jan 2014 16:43:18
Would love a massive summer signing just to give the club a boost over this miserable spell

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Summer?

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01 Jan 2014 15:55:27
how good have Gaston and Chambers looked today! Kelvin's done brilliantly, Lallana should have had a couple. Given that Chelsea usually drop off during the second half, we're looking good!

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OOoops. oh well. Thought the team looked very leggy in the second half. Pleased too see Gaston play, but his lack of game-time took effect.

It's not all doom and gloom. The fixtures now get easier, and we'll soon have players coming back from injury.

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I saw that too, after 60 or so mins it should have been Gaston to come off instead of Cork, we were too vulnerable without a covering midfielder

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Boruc is back training now so apart from Wanyama we're pretty much back to full strength and we're back to the 'easier' fixtures now

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Boruc has been back in training for a couple of weeks, so we shouldn't jump to any conclusions, but yes he shouldn't be too far away.

On another note, yesterday was the best I've ever seen Davis play in the Premier League. To put it bluntly I've felt he has been awful. He's seemed to lack any kind of confidence.

That said, he looked like a decent keeper yesterday.

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01 Jan 2014 15:05:50
lovren's made some horrendous mistakes in the first 5 mins today

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01 Jan 2014 14:26:07
What are all these posts about people wanting to get rid of Ricky? I don't understand the logic there at all and we have no reason to sell him as he's one of our top players, yet some of our stupid fans think we should get shot of him just because he's 31 and has got a couple less goals then he did this time last year, he has also assisted more according the stats, which IMO makes up for it, so again why would we sell a fan favorite and integral part of our squad??

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I don't think they are denying he is a big player for the team and squad. There is thought to the speculation, if a large offer came in would it not be better to take the money and invest for the future.

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We have billionaire owners, so no longer do we have to sell to buy, the money is already there to invest if we need it, so there is no sense in selling one of our most influential players

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If Andy Carrol was worth 35 million and 18 million then Rickie is worth 10

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01 Jan 2014 12:53:45
If Southampton need a good young CB they need to sign Fabien Schar of FC Basel, Basel are my local club in Switzerland, but i'm still a massive Saints fan, everytime I go watch Schar he's solid defensivley and good on the ball and shines when playing the bigger teams in the Champions League

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01 Jan 2014 12:47:10
Why is Mourinho always bitching about something? I read that in his opinion they have an injury crisis for today (with 3 first teamers out) whilst Southampton are at maximum strength (with minimum 2 first teamers out). SHut up Mourinho, your an person, you've got no money to spend, you had to go back to Chelsea because everyone in Spain AND Italy hated you, and I hope your team loses today and you slip up and land face-first in some mud.
Happy new year everyone!

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3-0, up the Blues, Jose put the wannabees in their place

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01 Jan 2014 01:03:30
Happy new year to all the southampton fans.
Onwards and upwards COYR

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3 points today? let's have all four stands supporting our boys today.

COYS

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