The9

Martina was signed on a (relatively) short term deal to cover the back 4 when it consisted of Cedric (injured), Fonte, Yoshida and Targett. Bertrand was out for a further 6 weeks, even McCarthy was injured, Gardos was injured, and Caulker and Van Dijk were still playing for other clubs at the time. Wouldn't be surprised if Cedric was rested on the weekend, though he could also have been left out as a concussion precaution after a LOT of head injuries this season.

I'm more impressed they managed to find 2 pics of him in Saints kit without a head injury.

I actually ended up having a curry in the centre of Derby until half 2 in the morning, then driving to Coventry to the hotel my then-girlfriend had booked through her work, which also had the side-effect of meaning I probably got about 5 hours' sleep before driving to work in Eastleigh.

I think we're saying it is better if some of the players don't play 2 games in 4 days if we want them to be at their best on Wednesday, which is a completely different thing.

Er, just contradicted yourself there.

Really? I thought we were absolutely useless throughout apart from 5 mintues when we scored and might have had a penalty/second. The only reason we even scored was because after going 2-0 up City completely stopped playing and rested themselves for the best part of half the match, and it was patently obvious that the second we scored they'd up their game again. Men against boys and always going to lose it comfortably. The one upside was that was probably Caulker's best game for Saints.

I absolutely hated that night, apart from the Derby morons and their baiting pitch invasion rather than actually celebrating, and the ridiculous rain which had me waiting under the back of the grandstand for about an hour afterwards before it was even worth trying to get back to the car, if it hadn't been for the Liebherrs we'd still be looking at it in the same way we did in 2007/8 and 2008/9, which was that it was an absolute disaster for the club.

I thought it was fairly obvious we were focusing on Wednesday... from the moment we got on the pitch, which is why it only took 20 minutes to go 2-0 down. To City's credit they also realised this and completely stopped trying for about 45 minutes after scoring their second. I assume Cedric's complete absence from the squad is somehow concussion-related.

Still remains a viable option across the back 4 against teams who aren't expected to finish in the top half. Anyone else, forget it.

Yeovil, Doncaster (3 loans Aug 2010-Nov 2011), Millwall, Lorient and Swindon; total English starts for clubs other than Spurs over 4 years: 49, plus whatever he did at Lorient in a month and a half in early 2013.

Bit harsh on yourself though, only a "vid" out.

Completely agree that it was a yellow card, still not a professional foul, which has only ever been defined as one thing, which is now DOGSO. Even Wikipedia, which on occasion mentions "professional fouls" as yellow card offences in the wider use of the team, is clear that professional fouls were defined by and replaced by DOGSO. Any other discussion is just using the terminology wrongly, and there are numerous other terms which have sprung up to cover non-red card cynical fouls precisely to fill this terminology gap: "History[edit] The concept gained notoriety in association football after an infamous incident in the 1980 FA Cup Final when Willie Young of Arsenal committed a deliberate foul on Paul Allen of West Ham, when Allen had a clear run at goal. As the Laws of the Game stood, the referee (George Courtney) could only award West Ham a free kick, which he did. This provoked a national debate on deliberate fouls that denied opponents the chance to score a goal. At the time, the English game was suffering a downturn in attendances and the chairmen of the Football League clubs decided to consider ways in which the game could be made exciting. A subcommittee was appointed to produce some suggestions, chaired by Jimmy Hill and including Matt Busby and Bobby Charlton. The sub-committee produced several suggestions, including making the professional foul a mandatory red card offence, which they submitted to the IFAB for consideration. All the suggestions were defeated. However, the Football League was determined to have their way, and instructed its referees that professional fouls (including deliberate handball to stop a goal being scored) should be deemed serious foul play, which was and is a mandatory red card offence. The new interpretation was first issued to referees prior to the 1982-83 season.[6] FIFA first instructed its referees to send off for a professional foul prior to the 1990 World Cup, and in 1991 IFAB added decisions to the law which provided that a player who committed a foul or handling offence that denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity should be sent off for serious foul play. These decisions were incorporated in the laws in 1997.[6]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_foul

Completely agree that a playbreaking preventative foul is completely worth a yellow card, but b011ocks is it a "professional foul".

Shouldn't be a problem, they don't have any players called Da Silva.

1) The whole away end and the whole of the Northam with the possible exception of the part-timers in Block 43. 2) I'm fairly sure the Prem teams will maximise their income somehow, more people able to get in but same demand suggests lower prices, but if the standing is limited and sold as a premium product to the gullible it'll end up costing more - will also be a way for clubs to recoup higher police costs as CCTV in terraces is nothing like as effective as with fixed seat positions no matter how much they claim safe standing is 1.5 people per current seat and there's a lot of space. H&S won't be the issue, it'll be the safety certificate BEFORE the season starts which will determine how many can use the standing area - and unlike the old days they'll all be ticketed and there will be (at least at first) ample room to move around. 3) I'm basing it on overall ageing of football fans correlating to the yoof-types usually being the boisterous ones. Mind you I'm a 42 y/o singer... 5) Kids watch football and play small-sided games until they're 12, and they tend to fall out of football as teenagers, so there are only a couple of years to hook them in to be adults who actually go to games. The family link is still the key. 6) I only watch football on tv nowadays if I'm not doing something else, and on match days. I never, EVER watch Europa League or Champions League games on tv before the knockout stages, and only rarely even then, and the only live football I actually do watch is Saturday/Sunday live games in the pub when I'm going to a match, or if I don't have other plans on the Sunday. I never watch Bundesliga or La Liga on tv, don't watch El Classico, don't watch the Dutch or French or Italian leagues. I'm glad it's there if I want it, but mostly I don't want to watch it. I record MotD and only watch the matches not the yakking, and I watch the Football League Tonight thing for the 60 seconds it usually takes to show Newport and the Skates' games.

A professional foul doesn't have an "official" definition, it's been replaced by DOGSO in terms of the laws. So it can mean anything you want, but the only "official" interpretation of it, even back in the 80s before it was a FIFA thing when the FA was doing it, was to stop a goalscoring opportunity.

Brighton also had a game in hand after Adkins sat in for his first game at MK on Weds 15th September, which we also lost. After one more game (0-0 home to Colchester) we'd played 7, had 5 points and Brighton were on 14 and joint top. After that we only lost 2 of the next 13. There was a tangible switch around in fortunes and suggesting we were definitely going to succeed is underselling it by some distance. Plus the Championship season when we were 8th top spenders with a team with a fair few players who'd never been in successful sides in that Division, yet went straight up again, underlines everything he achieved. For all the hindsight in how great Schneiderlin et al were, they weren't those players when Adkins took over.

Yeah, ok. Worth noting that the same team Adkins inherited was 22nd in League One after 5 matches with 4 points and the form of LDWLL when he took over. With all of the same players in the side as were "definitely going to get us promoted". Three home games, no wins, two defeats.

I definitely could not.

More of that stuff. Cheap tickets, different fan attitudes, and it was also not bloody freezing.

Well I'm pleased, I'm going to 7 matches between now and the final whistle at Norwich, plus a gig in Cardiff, an event in London, 2 Christmas meals and 9 nights away from home in hotels or at a mate's. Plus there's Christmas and New Year, and paying for Euro 2016 transport (already got hotels). Wouldn't mind but January sees FA Cup 3rd Round which could be worth doing, potentially 2 League Cup semi-finals, a trip to York v Newport for the weekend and the wife's birthday, which might lead to a week away if we don't make the semi-finals. This is without going to Saints v Villa, Saints v West Brom, and the aways at Palace, West Ham or Man U. So I'm pleased the Norwich game basically gives us £35 back for 2 tickets.

I think we might have already been singing it and they may have been trying to join in...

I'm not getting into a discussion about how songs are perpetuated, but a lot of people who don't sing don't mind clapping and that helps with the overall noise for those who are singing, often encouraging others. Hm, it appears I am getting into that discussion... Personally I was bloody freezing, you couldn't hear me clapping with gloves on so I didn't bother, and was generally a lot quieter than usual. I'm mostly putting it down to the game being the turgid mess I was expecting and Saints conceding relatively early. And the cold.

I'm pretty sure the replays show very clearly that Wollscheid kicked Pelle very hard whilst they were both in the penalty area, which bit of that isn't a penalty?

Your argument there doesn't even make any sense, if it was a "professional foul" which is now called "denying of goalscoring opportunity" it's a red card, not a yellow, so booking him for it would have been wrong anyway. I'd agree that it was a "pulling back" and deliberate foul, so a yellow card would have been appropriate, but it was by no means the "professional foul" (for which a red card was punishment as long ago as the early 80s in England).