Chez

Not sure any of the players other than KWP deserve or earned a personalised song. That said, if I can get a "Paul Wotton football genius" chant going on a cold night in Brentford, then there is hope for all of em. on a side note, I miss the days when we shouted "scummer" every time an ex-skate like Darren Anderton touched the ball. No idea why we have taken ownership of that term. It always felt very fitting for the skates.

I just looked back and they beat us home and away both in the 2008/9 season (helping to send us down) and slightly surprisingly, in the 2011/12 season too (preventing us winning the league). I only recall the away game in 2009, which we lost 2-0. We are insipid that day. I distinctly remember lambasting a nineteen year old Morgan Schneiderlin, who was pitiful, for being a massive pussy. I am pretty sure I wrote him off, suggesting that he didn't have enough fight in him to success in English football. You live and learn. I know little about the current City side, but ti a degree, our late goals and the points that have come with them gives us a slightly flattering league position, so with that in mind, we may be very evenly matched tonight. Thus, I will go for 0-0 and hope I am as accurate as my 2009 prediction. COYR.

He may have had his `faults', but Venables bought the skates for a quid, took over half a million out of the club during his 11 month tenure, and at his departure they were bottom of Div 1 and close to bankruptcy.

Away end holds about 4000. I don't really understand why Huddersfield don't make the whole 4000 available and then Saints sell them gradually from one side to another. If 2000 are unsold, then you put you dividers/netting or whatever us used at that point in the stand. I guess perhaps we could have asked for more if the 2000 had sold out quicker.

I was pretty critical of him whenever he played for us in the prem - he was like a ghost in games. He made zero impact and was totally ill equipped to play in the middle. The Championship is obviously an entirely different level, and from what I have seen so far, he is more than cut out to play at this level and overall has looked a real asset. What impresses me most is his quality and weight of pass. Basically, he gives is a bit of welly, which helps to speed things up and increase out intensity. When he has been subbed, that quality of passing has gone down significantly. The negative is his tackling. Its has been pathetic at times. And that really showed up against Boro, where he dangled a foot rather than go in for a couple of true 50:50s. For me, that is unacceptable for a central midfielder and really pissed me off at the time. I know the game has changed a lot and you hardly see a tackle these days, but I still expect a big six foot odd central midfielder to get stuck in when it is needed. Other than that he's had a good season so far and hopefully it will continue to get better.

194 games to be exact. 93 players have played more Saints games out of the 1165 players in total (roughly).

I believe Yoshida won 84 caps during his spell at Saints.

Need a left back. Manning hasn't impressed me at all so far with and without the ball. An out of position Bree has looked more solid and better with the ball in the small sample of games. May I suggest Omar Richards, again. He was outstanding at Reading three seasons ago and got a great move to Bayern Munich on a free. Perhaps unsurprisingly he didn't usurp Alphonso Davies and they allowed him to join Forest for £8.5m two summers ago. He missed all of last season with a leg break. Forest have now loaned him to sister club Olympiacos for the season and unfortunately he's been out again, this time with a hernia problem. He is back though, having just played his first game for their b side. Maybe now is the perfect time to test Forest's resolve (and forward plans) and make an offer.

At times, when we have taken KS off, it has emboldened opposing teams slightly, with them able to push up more and the right back being able to attack more. I want to see him starting and I also want to see him finishing a few games too. Sure, Fraser has got a couple of well taken goals, so offers a nice change of pace/qualities, but if we get KS really firing, we can go places this season.

A bit fortunate to get a win, but will take it. We played well first half, with some tremendous passing out from the back. But WBA were by far the better side on the second half and could easily have won the game. My major concern was just how much time we gave their wide players to pick a cross. There was no pressure on the ball at all. Manning made things worse not better. Actually the subs in general made us worse. When Smallbone went off, moving Stu into the middle didn't work.

Thought Bree looked pretty decent at left back until he got that slight injury near the end. Manning came on and gave the ball away a few times. Thought when Sulemana and Stu went off we lost a fair bit of movement and attacking threat. Didn't think they needed to come off, but I guess with Fraser scoring, you can't criticise.

totally dominated the second half and created one or two proper chances. Deserved the win. Some good performances. Like the movement offered by SArmstrong, KWP, AA and Alcaraz. Happy days.

tall, decent feet, two footed, scores goals.

You are spot on about the teams getting promoted recently conceding only about 40 goals, although 2018/19 did see Norwich win the league conceding 57 and Villa get promoted through the play offs having conceded 61. Top two of Leicester and Ipswich only let in 7 and 13 so far.

My long suffering Birmingham City friend said the Norwich performance was pretty poor and if a decision hadn't already been made, it would have been after that game. He's pretty miffed now though, as the last two games have seen them play very well. I watched the WBA game and they did well to come from behind. Showed good character and togetherness - playing for Eustace. Genuine doubt from fans as to whether Rooney brings much to the table. Hopefully he doesn't get off to a flyer.

I'm a sceptic. His performance at Boro was absolutely pathetic. He bottled tackles FFS, just dangling a leg at things. That's unacceptable for a central midfielder. The flip side is that he is a tidy footballer, with a decent first touch and good passing. Every pass last night was crisp and accurate. I worry that he is too passive. He needs to dictate and dominate. Physicality isn't everything I suppose. His passing if important too.

not especially.

is there a keeper stat for unpunished/punished errors and/or total fuck ups? I missed the Baz `miskick', but I did see Fielding make a total rik when coming to claim the corner that Downes' header looped over the bar.

I'd take Cork over Downes. Cork's no stop running was a massive part of why that side was effective. He regained the ball so often in games, allowing players like Lallana to get the ball high up the pitch a lot. You are missing Dean Hammond (started 31 games), who'd have to be ahead of Sharp, who only started 11 games (Connelly started 17, as did Chaplow). Slightly different type of player to Stu. Guly va Sulemana might be a better comparison. Different types of course. Maybe need a bit more time to see how Sulemena works out, as Guly's ten goals made a big difference. Hammond - S Armstrong Guly - Sulemena

He's great to watch. Scary pace, lots of skills and very direct. He can beat anyone.

I'd be wary of overpraising our side. The decent sides (Leicester, Sunderland) have taken us apart. The lessor sides haven't. Not sure we have improved much in the last week or two. The standard of opposition has been much worse.

Mara's hold up play was poor tonight and it's not been good enough since he has bene here. Got to protect the ball better and relieve the pressure. That has been Adams best asset in the last few years, but he's not done it well either recently.

This side isn't as good. Simple as. It is what it is. Hopefully we can improve over the course of the season.

I'd agree with that. Really good crisp passing in the last few games. I'm not a big fan, because he's a pussy in the tackle, but fair play, he has the touch and pass to play at this level.

He wasn't good tonight, but we might need him at some point. Good idea to get behind players like him. Try to build their confidence up. They can make all the difference come the end of the season.