who's going up to the pl next season then?

i mean at the end of 2011/12 obviously.

leicester?
cardiff?
reading?
leeds?
west ham?
birmingham?
derby?
southampton?
brighton?
forest?
hull?

sorry ralph,

burnley?

It's probably one of the toughest Championships yet.

Really looking forward to it tbh.

I'd be happy with mid table again.

SO no choices then ian?

i reckon:-

auto - birmingham,leeds

play offs - hull

Depends who teams sign during the Summer I think Jon.

And which manager they have.

I can see West Ham going straight back up under Allardyce.

I really can't see Leeds doing it mate...unless you spend Millions.

Very tough league, with a lot of crap football played in it.

spudski wrote:

I really can't see Leeds doing it mate...unless you spend Millions.

Agreed!

A big hole in the midfield needs to be plugged ... Nunez may be a ready replacement for Kilkenny, but Johnson needs to be replaced (not that sad to see the back of him tbh) with a proper defensive midfielder.

A reliable left-back, centre-back, and a deal to bring back Lichaj from Villa to fill the right back role is also essential.

But this is mega-money ....... and our resident Santa is ultra-tight

At the moment, Auto for me would be:

Birmingham / Leicester (assuming they recruit a few more players as I expect them to do)

Playoffs:

Leeds / Hull / Reading / West Ham, or Brighton.

interesting re:leeds.

i can only see them being stronger but kilkenny will be missed.
they will sign up some good ones i am sure and i think they may do it but i am not over confident.
need to keep snodgrass and gradel though.
defence needs an overhaul.


leicester is a tricky one but i would expect play offs at least.

News reports today (for what credit can be given to them) lead me to believe that Snodgrass will be sold this summer ... to the highest bidder.

Expect Schmeichel to follow him out the door.

All in the name of Stadium development ... .

Gonna keep me powder dry until I am ready to shoot on this one.
Wanna see what happens in the tranny market. You know what I mean.

ESSGEE wrote:

Gonna keep me powder dry until I am ready to shoot on this one.
Wanna see what happens in the tranny market. You know what I mean.

Have you signed anybody yet? We've signed Will Hoskins from Bristol Rovers, but Glen Murray left on a free to Palace. So it was one 20 goal man in and one out. Not sure if I've seen Hoskins play but must be reasonable to have scored 20 for Rovers last season. Rovers do unearth some good strikers, I think that's where you got Lambert from.

Yes, Lambert was a Pirate, Gully.
Was most impressed with David Connolly at the tale end of the season though.
He had been a long time out because of injury, but looked incredibly sharp, and really made things happen in what looked like a tired forward line.

Nothing happened of note yet.
Looking forward to seeing the new kit.
Yet another Subbuteo team I am gonna have to commission, I suppose.
Unless they come up with a real chavvy number.

ESSGEE wrote:

Nothing happened of note yet.
Looking forward to seeing the new kit.
Yet another Subbuteo team I am gonna have to commission, I suppose.
Unless they come up with a real chavvy number.

I can't remember looking forward to a new season so much as this one. Will be interesting to see how we play next year. If we can hang on to Poyet I think we could surprise a few people. Playing possession football really worked for us last year but you need a strong midfield to make it work.

could be any one of 17 sides

definite no chance clubs are...

Barnsley
Blackpool
Coventry
Derby
Doncaster
Palace
Peterborough

these 7 will contest the relegation spots the rest...who knows ...

ESSGEE wrote:

Gonna keep me powder dry until I am ready to shoot on this one.
Wanna see what happens in the tranny market. You know what I mean.

tranny's eh?
could be an interesting changing room at st marys then!

oh and johnson off to norwich mr brown.

well if they sell of the (relative) crowns jewels they will please most non leeds fans and go down to league 1!

ah yes li'l old Southampton are back..after our last meeting we are looking forward to the trip south.....

subbuteo forever 207 wrote:

oh and johnson off to norwich mr brown.

well if they sell of the (relative) crowns jewels they will please most non leeds fans and go down to league 1!

Norwich must be on a buying spree they have today paid £1.5m for Brighton's Elliot Bennett. Apparently they are also interested in Snodgrass.

They'll be coming straight back down then

possibly the most delusional fans I've ever met

Gullseye wrote:

Norwich must be on a buying spree they have today paid £1.5m for Brighton's Elliot Bennett. Apparently they are also interested in Snodgrass.

With Bennett bought for £1.5m, that may mean they're not going to fork out £3.5m+ for Snodgrass ... a better player in the same position.

if we sell snograss then we are filked!

Champions - West Ham
Second - Birmingham
Play Offs - Leeds / Cardiff / Brighton / Leicester
PO Winner - Cardiff City

I hope.

Have not made any predictions yet but Brighton's chances are looking better. Following Poyet's signing of Craig Mackail-Smith today we now have three players who scored 69 goals between them last season. Can't remember us ever having that sort of fire power.

Had to fight off a couple of other fancied clubs for promotion for the signature too, Gully.

subbuteoman wrote:

Champions - West Ham
Second - Birmingham
Play Offs - Leeds / Cardiff / Brighton / Leicester
PO Winner - Cardiff City

I hope.

I reckon Birmingham will be lucky to field a team by the time they have finished selling to pay off their 70 million debt!
And Leeds appear to be losing a few too.

Expecting / hoping to hear that Saints have signed Jack Cork from Chelsea before too long.

Surprised to hear that we bid over 3 million for Billy Sharp.
Wouldn't have thought we were after a striker to be honest, unless somebody is leaving ( Chamberlain ? ). Although, not sure if Barnard is Championship material to be honest ( lacks a bit of pace ).

Apparently interested in Maynard?

I think there is going to be a lot of movements this year. Barnard always scores and usually against us, so would be quite happy for you to replace him Sharp would be a good buy.

There must be some agreement to keep our transfer fees quiet as no amounts are being quoted on most of the players we have brought in. We are also close to signing Lua Lua from Newcastle, would love to know how much that one will cost

Gullseye wrote:

I think there is going to be a lot of movements this year. Barnard always scores and usually against us, so would be quite happy for you to replace him Sharp would be a good buy.

There must be some agreement to keep our transfer fees quiet as no amounts are being quoted on most of the players we have brought in. We are also close to signing Lua Lua from Newcastle, would love to know how much that one will cost

Did you have him on loan for a spell last season?

Yes we had him for the early part of the season, he got an injury, recovered, then broke an ankle and went back to Newcastle. He has an incredible turn of pace but does seem to be a bit injury prone. Worth the admission fee to watch him do the back flip when he scores.

Thought so, seem to recall seeing him score a few for ya.
And they must have been pretty special, because that would have been about 1am.
I usually have match sticks wedged under my eyebrows by then, trying to stay awake to see Saints score a penalty in a 1-0 win!

Pleased to be in the Championship.
Now I can get to bed a bit earlier on a Saturday night / Sunday morning!

Yes I know the feeling and then being outraged by some stupid comment from Steve Claridge. I started to watch it the following morning on iplayer towards the end of the season.

I didn't know you could watch it on there!



Scream over! That's better!



Equilibrium restored.

Been meaning to ask you, is your avatar a painting? If so do you know the artist.

No, Gully.
It's just an effect dropped onto the image.

Gullseye wrote:

Yes I know the feeling and then being outraged by some stupid comment from Steve Claridge. I started to watch it the following morning on iplayer towards the end of the season.

Sorted, Gully.
Have just signed up for Saints Player TV, featuring extended highlights on all the games.

ESSGEE wrote:

Gullseye wrote:

Yes I know the feeling and then being outraged by some stupid comment from Steve Claridge. I started to watch it the following morning on iplayer towards the end of the season.

Sorted, Gully.
Have just signed up for Saints Player TV, featuring extended highlights on all the games.

You are obviously confident its going to be a good season I've just had to pay out £360 for a parking space at the new stadium !

Gullseye wrote:

ESSGEE wrote:

Gullseye wrote:

Yes I know the feeling and then being outraged by some stupid comment from Steve Claridge. I started to watch it the following morning on iplayer towards the end of the season.

Sorted, Gully.
Have just signed up for Saints Player TV, featuring extended highlights on all the games.

You are obviously confident its going to be a good season I've just had to pay out £360 for a parking space at the new stadium !

Quietly confident

£360!!!!!!

Bonkers I know. The only way to get to the stadium is by train or park and ride and there are no streets around to park in. Did not fancy waiting at the park and ride when its p*****g down.