The9

No deal unless you paint your face. Suggest this post is stickied...? :cool:

We have to make up 8 points on them and they have the same number of matches to play ( until tonight). If you assume we win every match they "only" have to lose 3 games to drop the 9 point difference. Or yes, they could draw 4 and win the others, as long as we win all 7 and no-one else currently outside the play-offs beats 78 pts too (eg Colch/B Rov). I am factoring into the equation that it is pretty unlikely that we'll win all 7 to start with.

No, if we match them for points between now and the end of the season we'll still be the same number of points behind them as we are now. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

Erm, having gone to the trouble to hunt this thread down to find the answer now I've paid my fiver, I think it's worth pointing out that it may be the case that stock of socks is running out, but that is irrelevant to the reason those players are wearing their socks in different styles. All of the players in question are all still wearing the same style of Saints Umbro hooped socks as every other outfield player on the pitch, just as they were at the start of the season - and all of the quirky taped ankles/calves etc are all being worn in the same way by the same players now as they were months ago when there was no supposed "sock shortage". So in short, they're not trying to cover up "not having enough pairs of socks" with tape, they're doing exactly what they would do if they had a hundred pairs of socks each to use. And even *I* can't be bothered to find a load of pics to prove this one... but I suspect one of Antonio on his home debut v Charlton in the JPT with tape/bandage covering his socks up to the calves would probably confirm it.

I can't see us making it now. Almost totally ruled it out after Swindon, then Colchester continued on their spiral at the same time as Huddersfield lost to us, Gillingham away and Norwich and I thought we'd be in with a chance if we could get to 78 points, and after the Brighton result that's the most we can get. Even assuming we win every match (overtaking collapsing Colchester and Bristol Rovers who we play away in the process) it is fairly implausible that Millwall, Swindon, Leeds and Charlton won't get more than 78, which leaves us hoping Huddersfield will lose 3 games in their remaining 7 matches. For the record they've only got 2 games I think they'll struggle with, home to Millwall and maybe Colchester. They've picked up points against poor sides all season away and none of their opponents are that formidable (just like ours). Basically I can see us matching them for points, which won't be enough. It's a big ask to hope they lose 4 of this lot and we win all of ours. Huddersfield v Oldham, 19:45 Brentford v Huddersfield, 15:00 Huddersfield v Walsall, 19:45 Huddersfield v Millwall, 19:45 Stockport v Huddersfield, 15:00 Huddersfield v Colchester, 15:00 Exeter v Huddersfield, 15:00

I have been wondering this for about 2 months but couldn't be arsed to post it on here because I know how little people care about our kits (except when they're "wrong", i.e. exist). COYR will have been remarkably short-sighted as a marketing campaign if next season will be white with red sash/white/black like the original.

Swindon are the best side I've seen at St Mary's this season, with the possible exception of Saints on occasions. Said when they beat us that either they or Millwall would finish 2nd. They were pretty cack at County Ground at the start of the season, but we were worse. Can't really complain that the only side in this league to beat us twice is going to go up.

It will if it's between Swindon and MK Dons.

I'm still more furious about their poxy consolation goal, FFS.

And here's your link to do something about it : http://www.fsf.org.uk/campaigns/Watching-football-is-not-a-crime.php

Ah, found it : http://www.urban75.org/football/football-section-27.html Section 27 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006. Knew there was something recent-ish. And a big steamy pile of balls it is, too.

... going to football. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Helped you out with the important bit of the sentence there. Going anywhere else and you're fine, though I'm not sure the Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol) 1985 is what gives the search right - that's a more recent clause. http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/operations_and_initiatives/football/alcohol.aspx

Oi, I can play, I even scored in 5-a-side with my left foot yesterday. I wouldn't say I was "fit", I'm very unfit, but I'm not injured, and no worse than last season ! I'm just choosing not to, initially cos I didn't want to ruin the one-off occasion that was last season (and my 2 goals per game St Mary's ratio) and now because I can't justify paying for it due to other outgoings. I have told Rabbit (after endless repetition last night at 5-a-side, he must have asked [including the position swap] about 10 times) that the only way I'll play is if someone else pays for me, and as the chances of that are 0-0.0001 %, I think we can rule me out. I also agree that getting Magnet as far as possible from his own team's penalty area can only be beneficial, though I'm not sure putting him in attack is preferable to midfield, where he can concentrate on his skills of kicking people, falling over, complaining to the ref and kicking people a bit more. Oh, and Stevo - back to full membership after a week's worth of the SaintsWeb subscription sodding my Pay Pal account around (or vice versa).

Yeah, you had some bad luck, anyone moaning that it was chaos getting a train in Southampton though... well DUH. Best bet for anyone in Southampton on Sunday morning was to get a train one or two stops west and get on there - admittedly this may not have been possible for the earliest trains. Same story at Wembley, get on the quietest platform and get off after one stop in the wrong direction (or just use Wembley Central, where we had a platform to ourselves by 7pm).

Given all the warnings beforehand I'm shocked anyone risked getting the train on the day unless they lived in Poole, and I'm almost as surprised that anyone thinks SWT wouldn't try and maximise sales at the expense of all decency - given that they will have had HUNDREDS of phone calls from people in the weeks leading up to the day about tickets/train times/engineering works etc. I know of people who were told a week before that there were no Engineering Works planned (3 weeks after they were put on the SWT and Network Rail site, and after the OS had listings of them), and I asked about the groupsaver train tickets the day after we got to the final, to be told they were on sale until a week before (standard but stupid). I was also reliably informed (from my bed in a Watford Hotel, 3 stops from Wembley) that the 06:23 train was standing room only from Totton, and the 6:55 was full by 06:30, but that was frankly bloody obvious.

I would imagine the drawing of pen15es on the face of anyone who falls asleep during the journey and/or bundling will be compulsory though ? All journeys to take in a tour of discount retail outlets for the purchasing of casual gear and shiny white trainers ? Discount on future trips for anyone with photographic evidence of writing their name on a toilet door in felt pen ?

All of those things are in the ground level concourse. I was pleased to note they rebadged the whole ground to cover up the previous FA Cup Winners that are usually listed around the inside, as 2008 may well have annoyed me (assuming they've updated it since I was there to watch Totton. On the subject of "customer experience", I was in block 131, got served beer immediately (£4), and had one person ahead of me in the Programme queue 20 mins before kick off, but could only get into a loo "in time" by using the exit, or on a couple of occasions, accompanying my mate on crutches to the disabled toilet. The "sit down" steward in our block was faultlessly smiley, but comically incompetent, on one occasion telling us to sit down for the entire duration of a Saints attack directly in front of us as the rest of the block leapt to their feet. On leaving the ground, the world and his dog was stood still on the elevated walkway outside blocks L and M, presumably all headed down Olympic Way towards Wembley Park, and none of them went anywhere for some time. We headed across the crowd and down the side route towards Wembley (Central) / Green Man and were out of there in minutes with no crowds, but some people got so frustrated up top they decided to drop 20 feet onto concrete to get out of the logjam.

As no-one else has said so, it was £3 a pint at the Green Man. And even at its busiest around noon-ish it was no more than 5 minutes to get served (unless you happened to be behind me with three different bunches of people adding to the order once they started pouring)!

Is that irony ? I'm not sure. The low point of my day was actually being asked to sit down by a couple of 10-year olds behind us. They were so bloody polite we did it, even though it was annoying the shiit out of me to do so whilst four goals ahead and in one of the bits around a load of people that were actually singing and having a bloody good time. Even the "sit down" steward had such a massive grin on his face and was SO terrible with his timing that didn't bother me at all. I wouldn't have had a problem with the 50,000+ Saints fans all disco-ing, and even being at Fleet Services with shirts everywhere and everyone just stupidly smiley after dark was brilliant, but Mexican Wave my ar555e.

Disagree. Just plastic part-timers who have no interest in football. Ceased being big or clever in 1984 at the LA Olympics and was already tedious by 1986 when it got stolen for the Mexico World Cup. I don't mind standing, I don't mind sitting, but being forced to hover between either for a few minutes just because a load of dickwads haven't got the attention span to watch what's going on on the pitch is not for me. There was one last year at the Rose Bowl during 20/20 cricket, at which I am EXACTLY the kind of plastic know-nothing sport tourist loser that I hate at football, but I'm pretty sure I didn't join in nevertheless. I'd rather sit and miss a second or two than encourage it, as it just says "we're so bored with the on-field stuff that we have to make our own entertainment". I think it's a bit insulting to the players as it implies that nothing the team does meets the interest of those watching and they'd rather be doing something else. Especially irritating when we're 4 goals up in a Cup final at Wembley.

I knew we'd agree on something if I was on here long enough. I hate Mexican waves, they are for w@nkers, and performed by w@nkers and plastics.

I'm using today's third post to say "I wouldn't be able to take my eyes off your hairy toes".

Hey Stu, look, its the SaintsWeb ticket exchange I predicted... some of those people with loads of mates to give their spare tickets to must have discovered that some of them already got tickets from other people. No surprise there then...

Ooh, a thread with some thickies tacitly supporting football violence and we've got to page 4 without anyone calling anyone a "grass" or offering the code of the playground as some kind of alternative justive system. Is this progress ?

I already have 2 pairs of the current home socks thanks. They are all the same socks. Waigo wears tape up to half way up his shin. Antonio (when he plays) wears tape almost right the way up his socks and in a couple of games has seemed to be wearing almost entirely white socks. Wayne Thomas, seeing as I've been paying far too much attention to this, wears red ankle protectors, so it looks like he has white and red hooped tops and solid red bottom half to his socks. Given that socks have to be a different colour (and don't be surprised if we're in red socks on Sunday) to allow refs/linos to more easily adjudicate on deflections for throws/goal kicks etc, don't be surprised to see a FIFA ruling in the next year or two to ensure that tape, just like undershirts/shorts etc has to be of the same colour as the kit - Antonio against Carlisle's white socks with red turnovers on Sunday would be a right arse pain for the linesman... Sheesh, to think I'm on 3 posts a day (payment bounced again, dunno what's happening with my Paypal subscription but something's broken) and this is one of them...