Chez

it definitely a foul against Walcott for the second.

did well for the goal, but having no left foot is a hindrance playing left midfield.

he's not in Powell's category. No one is. But he has been pretty crap since the first injury he suffered. He can't play left centre half at all either.

When he gave it away in midfield a little earlier, rather than bust a gut to recover his error, he simply walked back.

Woeful pass by Lyanco to start us off.

ABK getting made to look a complete mug there. Terrible defending. Briliant from Bednarek to get him out of jail.

Great play Stu A. Alcaraz makes up for his mistake.

Bednarek doesn't do anywhere near enough to ensure his man doesn't get in front of him. Doesn't spot the danger. Garbage

if Barnes is out of contract, how can he become part of a part-exchange deal?

as in Solanke didn't cut it the Prem, scoring 3 goals as Bournemouth went down, before finding his feet scoring 15 and then 29 goals in their promotion season. Going down gives young players that little extra time to learn their trade/get their confidence back - not that Mara looks like he has list his, despite the managers showing little faith/patience in him.

He impressed me in the Newcastle cup game at home, looking like a player capable of leading a line on his own. His finish against City gave me hope too. I'm hoping for a Solanke style reboot in the championship.

Walcott is the only one that springs to mind and that hasn't worked out. It's a big commitment to spend £100k a week on these kind of players. Did you want us togo for Lallana? I am not convinced Brighton have got valve out of him, mind you we've spent similar amounts (on transfer fee and wages) on worse.

Personally, I didn't feel we were stitched up. The revised admin rules were put in place to stop teams getting away with it, as we would have done if we'd taken the ten point hit having gone down anyway. I also thought the side mirrored this one a little. Although there were plenty of senior players, they were all shit, and we were relying kids to keep us up, and they couldn't. We were extremely lightweight, without a decent striker and McGoldrick's effort was certainly in the Aribo league. The managers were inspiring, and the combination had relegation all over it. We barely survived the season before and in general we were a sinking ship of a club. I agree with you about passion off the field. Fans were certainly fed up, like they are today, but they seemed more willing to vent than now.

Didn't the League change the rules prior to the season specifically to stop teams announcing they were going into admin after they were effectively relegated to avoid getting the -10 point hit the following season. We thus couldn't have any gripes, but I think we still appealed it (or were going to), saying it was the holding company went into admin not the football company.

yes, we drew 2-2.

He really wasn't all that good...and that's coming from someone that loves that type of player (more skills than end product). I am not convinced he will get us promoted next season. And that's what we are talking about. Despite what everyone seems to think, having skillful flair players like him are what get you out of the championship, so we will desperately need his sort to blossom, but I'm just worried he doesn't have enough to his game yet. It might take another couple of seasons before he refines his game (and he might never do it). if he does become an absolute top class player in time, then how he's managed (and by who) will be crucial.

I really don't know. They have similar funds to us and we haven't been able to shop in that price range ourselves. Probably not, but then again it depends what his market actually is. Villa offered just £25m for him. Obviously we turned that down, but that figure is worryingly low. I think his stock has risen since then. There's a lot of factors here, how much money we need to crawl back, what his wage would be, how much he wants to leave, who offers what etc.

Performance wise, I'd rank the displays something like this: Forest H Wolves H Grimsby (C) H Villa A Leeds A Brentford A Brentford H Bournemouth H Lincoln (C) H West Ham A Sheff Wed (C) H Leicester H Palace H Spurs A Newcastle (C) A Brighton H Villa H Wolves A Palace A Fulham A Everton H Newcastle A West Ham H Palace (C) A Blackpool (C) H Cambridge (C) A Leeds H Newcastle H Liverpool A ManU A Spurs H Arsenal H Arsenal A Chelsea A ManU H Bournemouth A Newcastle (C) H Everton A Leicester A Chelsea H Man City (C) H

An unconfirmed news report, from a famously unreliable source, has you at your lowest point ever as a Saints fan? Blimey. I mean, I was at Hillsborough a couple weeks after it was announced that we were going into administration, watching a pathetic 2-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday that saw us pretty much relegated, whether we got the ten point deduction that season or not. I don't recall that being a high point. Anyone at Fratton Park seeing us get dismantled in that 4-1 defeat on our way to regelation might also disagree that this moment is the lowest of the low, but hey, opinions differ.

I liked Omar Richards who was with Reading two years ago (and it's noticeable how they have dropped off without quality players like him) before joining Bayern Munich and then on to Forrest. Hasn't played all season for them due to injury. A decent left back would be a good start to our rebuild.

poor man's Karol Poborsky...possibly signed on the back of one decent game at the World Cup.

You say that, but if his wages are cut by 50% on relegation, for example, that decision would cost him about £2.5m a year. That's a lot of money to turn your back on, not to mention a signing on fee from the new club, a loyalty bonus paid by Saints and of course a place at the top table of football. If Bournemouth is the only Premiership option, and I am not suggesting it is, and his wages are to be cut (again, I am not suggesting they will be) he will likely take that option.

After seeing what he could in his previous games, which was the square route of fuck all, maybe keeping him off the pitch is prudent.

Not sure I care. If they pay us the most for him, then great. I'd like to see him go to Palace and solidify his friendship with Zaha. I wonder if Bournemouth might be an option.

It could have been a game to create another legend like Micky Evans became up there in 1997, but it seems more likely that is will just reenforce the Davenport/Jacobsson/Quashie/Bernard comparisons. The law of averages says we could still win up there, but after stuffing Brighton in their last home game they will fancy their chances. Not sure I can face my forest supporting brother in law if we lose home and away. COYR. Help me save some face!