The9

Not unless they want to genuinely break their shirt sales record, no. Plays at walking pace and we already have a couple of flawed set-piece deliverers. Also, Lambert, Ramirez and Shaw have already bagsied the numbers he prefers. I couldn't see him agreeing to 43... maybe 77 ? He's not coming anyway, unless he can play centre-back ?

In other made up club news (made up by me this time), Lambert 7 "best-selling Prem Saints shirt printing ever*" *only includes current SportingID numbers, in use 2008-2012, definitely not that Le Tissier bloke.

Hi!

Have we honestly sold more than the anniversary sash kit, which was absolutely everywhere and (docker-p aside), pretty much everyone liked it ? I accept that there are far more people watching us in the Prem, but the methods of buying are still the same - obviously there are more people going to games to begin with, and you can't sell shirts to empty seats in 2009, but we'd have to be shipping a hell of a lot to people who aren't going to matches - maybe there are thousands of shirts going to Japan with MAYA and LEE on the back ? Pretty much all that article says is "it's sold more than last year's" which is not all that surprising given the higher profile. I'd also be very surprised if the 2009 regime has all the details of the 2001-2005 shirt sales as they were in-house, and with the exception of slightly higher global visibility and the intervening recession, pretty much everything is similar to then.

It's blatantly just a pack of half-truths to panic people into buying shirts before Christmas. "Fastest selling" because they have new tills which work more quickly I would assume. Why else wouldn't they use "most sold" - they haven't said that because they can't. As for "we estimate shirt stocks will run out in February", well if you're selling so many, order some more. They trumpeted "fastest selling launch day" as well, and then we worked out they sold around 400 shirts, which is frankly a bit rubbish. There is absolutely no way we've shifted more shirts this season than in the first few years at St Mary's or when we got to the FA Cup Final / played in Europe. I'd be inclined to think that this is "fastest selling shirt sales ever*". *Records begin in 2011.

I should think they posted having been linked from here anyway.

I see two blokes who have a decent shot, are strong in the air, drop deep, play the ball out wide and amble into the box. Main difference is that one of them will still be doing it in 6 or 7 years and the other won't.

I was there and I certainly didn't see Lambert have a "man of the match" performance. Actually I thought Puncheon was comfortably better.

I'd be embarrassed as a manager to have to think that. I'd expect absolutely every player from 1-42 to not even think about going in for it with an easy goal on the line. We clearly have very different standards for, ahem, "bravery". Lolz at "not in my class". You're not wrong, though I suspect not in the same way people might think. I think he'd probably do ok with the space I was getting that day, though I'm not sure he'd have got away from the defenders. I was at the match and Lambert's passing was noticeably poor on the weekend compared to his usual standards. Hearing that he only won 5 headers makes the stuff about him bossing the defence seem rather unfeasible. Also, it's a lot easier to play key passes when you're in the key area of the pitch.

So he's on our bench but has started 11/12 matches (neither of which is true), is top scorer in the Premier League as of Nov 19th (wrong), must be trouble because he's not starting (wrong), has fallen out with Adkins (not that we've heard), signing for Stoke in January (errrr), "to" old (about the only thing with any validity on the thread, but not really a consideration for us), and Adkins looks like Curly Watts. Riiiiiiiiiiiiight.

But that would be the match where I was specifically watching Lambert's supposedly superb workrate off the ball as a result of someone telling me I was talking garbage about his workrate, so actually I was watching him very closely. And contrary to all the claims about his workrate, he mostly ambled around for as long as he was on the pitch, occasionally half-paced jogging towards the player with the ball, only found himself in defence for the corners (and the minute or so it took him to get back up front afterwards) and definitely didn't get on the end of anything that wasn't right at him. And that's fine against Championship or struggling Prem sides. I've also noticed his usually excellent passing has been a bit off the last month or so, can happen to anyone, but that's the significant bit of his game that isn't hitting the ball well or winning headers. Or is everyone genuinely saying he's been at his very best over the past 5 or so matches, in which case I think you're all certifiable ?

He'd be worth about when KEN~!!! went for when we sold him, then. Before he fell asleep for 4 years at Stoke.

I'm surprised he posts on here then, I know someone with the same initials as me who was very chummy with Wilde in the early days, he even pitched up at the Solent (Chimpstitute) Student Bar to press the flesh with Wilde back in the day. Why has no-one ever uploaded a pic of themselves in one of those t-shirts for the purposes of the B-anter ? Is it because no-one actually bought one ?

Good job I already know you didn't go, or I'd have to have said "you clearly didn't see them". I went to both matches and if QPR get 20 points the way they're playing they'll be lucky. Meanwhile Fulham are a competent mid-table side and will probably remain so. On balance my expectation for the two matches was about the same, I felt a draw was a likely result and hoped for a win. After about 20 minutes at QPR it was pretty obvious it was only going one way, but then you could have said that at West Ham as well.

I generally reply to people directly then waffle off on tangents. As if no-one has ever noticed that.

Bit of a geezer is he ? Taking the Chicken Run etc ?

I don't think not paying your bills leads to becoming a laughing stock, it tends to lead to distrust and criticism. The laughing stock bit doesn't happen until it becomes evident the reason you weren't paying your bills was because your owner doesn't exist or the club chose to spend money on a new club badge or massive toilet-shaped pie-in-the-sky hotel and stadium development instead of paying your tax bill.

Not my recollection of him on here. I haven't seen him around the site for a few years, probably due to this kind of thing. Actually, I think the JPT Final was around the last time I saw him posting on here regularly - but when you're getting paid to write the sort of stuff people post on here - but with more credibility, better style and inarguably better sources, why would you give it away for free on here ?

I actually think you're right that Puncheon needs an arm around and support, because he seems like the high maintenance type who needs reminding that he's got the ability - but also that his best (only?) performances come when he's highly motivated and that's usually because of a perceived slight. He's always good on loan at places (when picked) because he's sticking it to the loaning club, and on returning to his parent club for a couple of games - because he's proving the point that he shouldn't have been sent away. He's not really been able to maintain that kind of form in the routine matches though. At least publicly his attitude to not starting has been much better - maybe he's since realised that being left out for a 17-year old England international who was sold for £15m and rapidly scored in the Champions' League wasn't such an insult in the first place ?

Y'see, what I saw in that match was a player who, if he'd been able to run for through balls, would have got a hat-trick.

It's a game of opinions.

My opinion on Puncheon is that it is a shame that he only show glimpses of his potential ability when he has a tangible point to prove and puts in the effort, and it's usually as a result of something negative, in this case QPR's failure to pick him in the Premier League when he was on loan to them a year or so back. It does make you question both his motivation and suitability for our squad generally, given his previous and our long-standing refusal to sign players with the wrong attitude. Maybe Nige should spend all week telling him he's crap and getting dropped ?

He's my actual favourite journalist in the entire world (apart from maybe Jonathan Wilson), actually.

Seems like a valid point to query why a local business has to go to court to get paid for a completed job when the money is a drop in the ocean compared to our weekly spend. I'm sure it's just Cortese's Way and seems to be similar to the training ground problem, but boy does it make the club look mean-spirited and "above" the community. Hardly surprising the Echo has reported it either, as one of the early recipients of Cortese's Way.

Can't really argue with that, we are looking to replace him within a couple of seasons but for as long as we play like he's on the pitch when he isn't we're going to struggle - the Prem Route is to find someone more mobile who offers a threat in behind, though for as long as we're playing the bottom sides we should be ok with Lambert in there and Lallana/Puncheon/Ramirez doing the running in on goal.