Chez

You did see the recent Alan Shearer documentary on the subject right? Our understanding of concussion has moved on a little since Chris Nicholl played. You might want to watch the movie `Concussion' starring Will Smith. Very interesting subject.

the key is to kick him, right from the very first minute. I know that is prehistoric football talk, but kick him up in the air and he loses focus, starts crying and before you know it he has completely lost it. Very good player, but if you let him dictate he will run you ragged. I recall us beating Palace at their place in the Championship and I think it was Lallana that effectively double teamed him with Fox. Probably Fox's best game in a Saints shirt, but also excellent management recognising Zaha's threat and nullifying it. Recognising how good a player Zaha was, I'd be surprised if Adkins didn't try to sign Zaha that summer, but he if course went to Manure for shed loads of cash.

thanks for the information. Personally I didn't care where he ended up. City, Chelsea or Liverpool. All that mattered was that we got a massive fee that represented his quality and took into account the huge inflation in prices due to the Naymar move. And we certainly got that, so much so hardly anyone has felt let down by the club. Those that do need to think long and hard about what they would have done if they were actually making the decisions.

Interesting. It must be incredibly hard to convince a transfer committee to invest in a League 1 player, but as we saw with our own squad there are players that can make the jump. Ezri Konsa from Charlton is another player we should be looking at.

Anyone seen anything of Bradley Dack? Attacking midfielder scoring for fun at Blackburn that from all accounts is the best player in the division. Not many can make a two division jump, but worked out well for Spurs with Ali.

In other news, champagne sales are expected to rise dramatically in Godspit: https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/football/non-league/borough-chairman-hungry-for-new-rescue-mission-1-8309143

Very little to discuss at the moment other than the odd defeat. Things wont get interesting until they make the championship and their superior spending power disappears. Then and only then will we get a chance to see how willing the owner is to `invest' to make it to the top flight. In the mean time here's another `mind the gap story' to help us feel superior during our own on field troubles: https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/football/pompey/jackett-still-keen-on-saints-defender-wood-1-8311935

Mark Zaha iout of the game and they have nothing. Shame both our pacey fullbacks are injured.

He seemed very confident and vocal. Just what the back four needed. I have no idea why he has not been selected ahead of FF prior to this. Has he got a ric in him or something?

Likewise. Nice to think positive for at least a few days.

when the onus is on us to attack we have come unstuck. Anyone can hold on for grim life, admittedly it wasn't quite like that today, but taking it to teams and creating chances AND keeping clean sheets is another matter. Let's hope it's a new dawn. Getting Betrand back to mark Zaha would be handy

Much better second half. Really enjoyed how we got between the lines. I thought we needed to be a little more positive once we had got between midfield and defence. Boufal looked excellent, again. Not sure why he was subbed, but f it means he starts the next game I can live with it. Long should have scored.

We are not losing, so from a results point of view it was good, but Boufal apart, we are not winning too many battles

fair description of the first half.

i thought they wanted double that. £21m is more realistic. How is Tierney playing? He's the real genuine talent in that side.

I think you might be right. We have looked our best when Austin did exactly that in the Everton game. He's not even a great hold up man, but the ball needs to stick and skill players play off the front man.

Celtic want an absolute fortune for him. I wonder if they might price themselves out of the market.

Hes a unit, but feels like an accident waiting to happen when on the ball. Decision making in terms of passing leaves a lot to be desired. Still very young. Every time I see a young CB mentioned I ask why we signed Bednarek.

isnt that exactly what we do - monitor a players performance over a long period not just make a snap decision based on an a gamers recommendation?

What the Dino Zoff that took Italy to the Euro2000 final? Yeah he managed Lazio, over three stints, either side of the national team. Management and coaching is not about what you did on the field as a player as Wenger and Mourinho have proved beyond doubt.

talk about understatements.

Our attack certainly needs a shot in the arm and these two would give it that, but the injury problems should not be ignored. Every signing is a risk, but if you can't get players out on the field then we aren't going to see results improve. Imagine paying these two close to a million pound a month combined only for them to spend most of their time in the physio table

Wagner quoting £76m for Christopher Schindler, but wondered how much he really would cost. Extremely highly rated by their fans. Probably too rich for our taste. We are probably a sideways move for him too.

Spot on. I'd of thought that sort of budget would buy you a fair bit from abroad, which tends to be our focus

Good point. How depressing things are at the moment both on and off the field. Premiership status is pretty much all we have to cling on to.