susie b

I think he''ll probably start on the bench tomorrow as he probably won''t have trained with the lads today. Good luck to him whatever. Seems confident enough about the task in hand!

If it turns out to be true then it could be another classic example of Worthy offering the chance to someone who is apparently unhappy where he is to (hopefully) thrive here. He has great talent undoubtedly, but the Hammers fans constantly question his attitude and work rate for them, e.g. as in the play-off final v Palace. Again, perhaps a fresh start in a new environment could work wonders. He has played with Hucks and they were, I believe, a successful partnership, which would bode well. He''s big and strong and can scare defenders silly. Can''t help but remember the blinder he scored at FCR last season. I think he''d more than fit the bill if Worthy thinks he would work very hard for us and would fit in.

I really don''t know why they bother producing league tables until the season is at least a few weeks old. They don''t really tell you anything at this stage, and teams that appear to be doing worst can often end up being promoted...or nearly (Binners, sorry - not!)

cityangel, how''d the root canal treatment go? I only ask as I had that myself about three months back. It wasn''t too bad, although I had the assistance of gas and air to make me feel as if we had just won the league title!!! Oh, sorry - we did!!!

21 and a bit more, and a bit more, but not too much more! There you go!

Oh go on - I''ll join in! Jaap Stam was none too wonderful, imo. Give me some time and I''ll think of a few more if I can. (Some good suggestions already made by one and all, though!)

21...ha!ha! What else to you expect me to say? You can''t ask a woman her age and expect to live, now, can you?!

It''s clear from reading the posts on this thread that opinions seem pretty polarised as to whether this is a good signing or not and we have all been allowed to express which camp we fall into at the moment, apart from the few who are sitting on the fence right now, and that''s also their entitlement of course.. I don''t have any doubt that if/when Gary Doherty pulls on the yellow and green that we will all give him every encouragement and we''ll be hoping that he can put what must have been a difficult time at Spurs behind him and rediscover his pre-injury form for us. Worthy obviously sees something in him and he hasn''t often been proved a poor judge in the past; however, if time proves him wrong in this instance then I''m sure a lot of us will be quick to admit it, myself included as I think he could turn out to be a shrewd buy. If he does sign tomorrow there''ll certainly be a pretty stern test waiting for him on Saturday. Nothing like the deep end, hey?!

If, and I stress IF, there''s any mileage in this one then nothing is likely to happen until the Jan. transfer window and the Saints will have to ask considerably less than the 2mill they paid for him as we probably won''t have much, if any, money left to spend. I would have liked us to sign him as he clearly loved it here and was liked by the fans, but Worthy was right not to at the price Villa wanted. Still, never say never. If it is true that he is aready getting grief from some Saints fans then that is a great shame, but could some of us not be guilty of dishing it out re: Gary Doherty before he even signs on the dotted line? Time for a long hard look at ourselves, I think!

Guys, guys, remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What on earth do all those women see in Sven? Silly me - must be the wallet width, then!

A bit premature to be using the comments and jibes of Spurs fans to write off the poor guy before he''s even signed on the dotted line, in my opinion. With the season they have just had and the goings on behind the scenes I wouldn''t have found it easy to do my best if and when selected, especially being the sensitive soul that I am! Worthy is just the man to get him happy again and a fresh start could see him return to the form the more honest Spurs fans are talking about him having before he broke his leg a couple of seasons ago. If their fans have been as hard on him as the Villa fans (and now Saints fans) are on Crouchy, then I''m not surprised he wasn''t consistent. Let''s welcome him as he''s one of ours now and deserves every chance to succeed with us.

It''s hard to say Kathy as none of us really knows him. We only know the public persona which is, let''s face it, more pantomime dame than UN diplomat! After last season''s outbursts (and not just aimed towards us) I am sorely tempted to say that he couldn''t respond any other way and save face, but commonsense tells me that a lot of the ''personalities'' we see in the world of football are probably a lot different away from the cut and thrust of it all. For example, I saw Gary Megson with Worthy on Goals on Sunday last weekend. Megson is not exactly a favourite with many City fans for various reasons and yet it was abundantly clear to anyone watching that he has a wicked sense of humour and gets on very well with Worthy. Before I had seen the programme I wouldn''t have believed anyone who told me that. So perhaps our friend Colin W is a thoroughly decent human being after all. It''s just a shame he doesn''t seem able to show a bit of that side of himself when he has his manager''s hat on!

Welcome, No 9 - Bly. I''ll bet that you''re not the only one, although I don''t know of any individuals who have been as forthright as you have! There do seem to be several people who post on both boards, though, some even keeping to the same names. Anyway, I think you''ll find most of us reasonably friendly on here and it''s probably a bit easier to pick your way through the non-football-related stuff (and there isn''t much) because of the structure of the mb. Enjoy!

Absolutely spot on, Saint canary. I intend to enjoy every minute, and staying up would be a simply massive bonus. I''m sure that if league placings were allocated on effort alone then we would be challenging for Europe come May!! Sadly, they''re not, but surely no one can complain if everyone has done all they can to help us stay up?

AJ, I really hope your last sentence comes true.

Ditto, Old Boy. He''s priceless to us right now and was ever since he arrived. (I hope he reads this and has a little smile to himself!) Just hope there''s a nice big contract extension somewhere in the pipeline in the not-too-distant future. I''m sure Worthy will want to keep him beyond 2006 if he can, despite the fact they can''t stand the sight of each other! (Sarcasm alert, just in case anyone is feeling a bit dopey out there).

What a thought Holloway Canary! Indeed, I break out into sweats thinking about the pace involved. AJ would have to have a hair graft though or he wouldn''t really fit into the rest of our team!!!

Thank you Kathy for your kind words. I can assure you that your input is much needed though. (How long do you think it will be before we manage to break into that male bastion that is the Pink ''Un paper? Will we ever make it and strike a blow for female fans everywhere?)

You are in desperate need of some worry beads, cityangel, and a long thread of them at that! This season is going to be full of conscience-pricking decisions for you guys. You really have my sympathies. Good luck to you all. (I gave up making predictions a couple of seasons ago as I felt my endless optimism was having an adverse effect on the team!)

That''s the spirit! Kathy and I have been feeling a little bit lonely for a while, so it would be great to have more shipmates on board.

I will be immensely proud of the guys if they play to the best of their ability and give their all. Anything else will be a real bonus. I don''t think they''ll be seeing it like that though. To go out onto any pitch thinking that you can''t win is a pointless exercise from their point-of-view. Should be interesting as the pressure of expectation is well and truly off us.

And don''t forget: We love you Bambi, we do We love you Bambi, we do We love you Bambi, we do Oh Bambi, we love you! Have a great day out all those lucky enough to be going to O.T. Hope the boys give us all something to be proud of.

There is a possibility that Saha may make a shock return on Saturday, apparently. That may have a bearing on any predictions. Sorry - I don''t make any...predictions that is!

Please guys (gals really), are any of you going to have a go at writing for Bird''s Eye View? Variety really is the spice of life and I know Peter is keen to receive contributions from all of you about anything vaguely footie-related!?! I know finding the time might be a problem, but even little snippets would be good. Over to you, Kathy, gazza, cityangel, and co. (Sorry if I can''t remember more of your names. Having just written an article my brain isn''t functioning too well!)

Palace version and not Baggies versions, I presume?!