Chez

the concept of a fight is so outdated it's not true. To stay up you need to creat echancres, score goals and win games. IN teh trenches Paul Watton's don't keep you up. Quality players capable of coping with pressure and doing the right thing at the right time is what is needed. We have players that work and run in Cork and Morgan. We needed talent in attacking areas to compliment Lallana and Ricky and that's what we bought. Ramirez was exactly what we needed IMO.

Lets buy Chamberlain back off them and play him in the right position - right midfield in a 4-4-2 running up and down that line all day.

it's not his quality I'm debating, it's your use of the term **** to describe a player that did a very good job for your football team. I disagree about the 6 games. He had a decent season full stop. Even on instant return from a nasty injury at Palace he was outstanding. Our best player that day. The interceptions and off the ball runs helped us no end last year. You need runners as well as ball players. He played an important role. He certainly lacks the ball control and passing ability needed at the Premiership level, he's a woeful passer in fact, but this is a guy that helped us go up.

Ramirez was knackered and needed to come off. I think Appy was saying a knackered Ramirez was a better option than JWP, but not better option than a fresh Puncheon.

what a thought provoking post that is.

good point. How bad was he up at Leeds? Since that game he has been given the cold shoulder

****? No good enough maybe, but ****? Chaplow did a great job for us last season helping us to promotion. No idea why players like him are are spoken of in that way on here.

badly need to have a striker on the bench IMO. On Saturday Jay Rod was absolutely out on his feet and there was no natural replacement. We have lots of options for the in the hole role, but very few running beyond Ricky. Mayuka must be performing pretty poorly in training to not make the bench unless he's injured of course?

he's had a few bad games (who hasn't), but equally he's been outstanding in others, all be it 60 minutes max in most. He does things with the ball that others will never be able to do. A little more patience is required and I'm pretty sure we will have one of the Premiership's top players on our hands.I'm still more than happy we spent the £12m on him. You need players that can undoi defences at this level not lots of workmanlike players.

France could do worse than call Morgan up.

fed up of these PL prices. Add the £1.50 booking fee and you start to feel like a proper mug.

what is the brown wedge? Are all the businesses located down that neck of the woods leaving?

Cheltenian 25/1 e/w in the first. Looked great in the bumper last year. Tough step up in class, but likes the hill. Overturn is a free bet IMO in the Arkle. If the race is quick, Zarkandar in the Champion Hurdle. Lovely horse and there seems to be new winners every year these days. Can anyone beat Quevega in the Mares? Doubt it, but you won't get rich there though. Silviniaco Conti in the Gold Cup. Hasn't put a foot wrong all season. Sadly every tom **** and harry seems to have tipped him so the odds have shortened a little. Should still get 9/2. Union Dues in the Bumper, which is Willie Mullins main horse in the race.

don't understand the Fat Ricky Lambert song. Crap Ricky Lambert more like it.

no.

thought the substitution was right timing wise, but Ward Prowse should be used to cover Cork and Morgan not our two flair players. Puncheon would have been better. Worrying that we have no striker on the bench.

what are you suggesting?

I have certainly struggled to see his good points. I admit that. the `thing' I have against him is that he isn't as good as I hoped. He's not as bad as I suggested initially, but he's not as good as people are making out now. I genuinely want him to prove me wrong. I try to back all Saints players, especially those being slated by everyone. I love an underdog, but he's not one, he's loved on here, and wrongly IMO. Note that I want him to be the best centre back in the league, but he isn't and never will be. He was **** when he started, and although many seem to think he has improved liek no other, I don't. He has had some good games. And when he does I have said so. I like lots of things about his game. He's great on the ball, composed, good first touch, quick enough, tries hard. His best games have been when he gets tight and actually makes life tough for a striker. However in the majority of games he offers an `after you' persona in matches. He's not nasty enough. You can't foul all day long these days, but you can make life horrible for an attacker, or at least hard. He doesn't. He is often bullied. My biggest gripe is he is not good enough in the air. Winning headers is the number 1 thing a CB must do. He doesn't. That kills us. He jumps early to overcome the fact he is isn't the biggest. Chris Perry did this a lot but no matter how hard he tried his lack of height cost us with **** weak clearance headers that offered lots and lots oif second ball chances. Yoshida is exactly the same. Anyone that had him as MOTM yesterday doesn't understand the game in my book. He was poor.

agent Connelly has had to work hard to gain their trust. He better remember quickly which side he's working for.

he did. You are completely wrong IMO. You are one of the many people that wrongly wrote him off and have since failed to eat humble pie after some great displays since getting back imto the team. At Wigan he was our best player. He has been very gpod since getting back into the side. He is the perfect player when faced with big lumps. Small tricky forwards then maybe he shoulkd be replaced (as Clybe is dropped when faced with long ball teams).

I'm with you on all those things.

two great interceptions preventing a goal will grab the eye (I saw the Times and the Sun jounralists had him as our best player and Cork our worst), but other than that he was utter crap. Yesterday he was a massive weak link IMO. I admit I am not a fan, so I watched him closely to help me pick out poor peices of play to strengthen my arguement. Right back is not his position, I know that, but on several occasions he didn't get goal side. All defenders should do that without question. He didn't bust a gut to do so either. Fox would be hung drawn and quartered for that. We got away with it thankfully. Check out his positioning and effort for the Holt-pulled-back-by-Shaw chance. His crossing was horrific. So bad that he gave up and at one point passed it back to the half way line when he had time to swing a cross in from the edge of their box. Passing out from the back was even worse. He gave thre ball away on numerous occassions. I can see why we selected him yesterday as they have two huge front men, but we suffered because of it. Richardson needs to be Clyne's cover when we are faced with a long ball team. At centre back he's too small IMO. He is not good enough in the air and we have suffered because of it. He does stay on he feet, but at at times he doesn't get tight enough or apply any phtsical pressure. As I said, I'm not a fan, buit having said that O can see that he's not the worst player in the world. He's very comfortable on the ball.

Just back from a weekend in Norfolk. Finally a chance to thaw out. Enjoyed the game, well, the first half. The quality ofour passing game on that pitch was outstanding. The second was poor, not helped by the weather, but equally the lack of fitness (or ability to maintain our high tempo/workrate) of key players like Lallana and Ramirez stopped our passing football and we ended up doing nothing. We were by far and away the better side in the first half, but we failed to press home our advantage - the Lallana miss was poor - and we let Norwich back in the game.I thought we deserved the win, but a draw wasn't far from fair. Boroc 8 - very solid game, not all that much to do but two great saves. Kicking good. Didn't ut us in trouble with his throws either. Yoshida 4 two great interceptions preventing a goal will grab the eye (I saw the Times and the Sun jounralists had him as our best player and Cork our worst), but put other than that he was utter crap. A massive weak link. I admit I am not a fan, so I watched him closely to help me pick out poor peices of play to strengthen my arguement. Right back is not his position, I know that, but on several occasions he didn't get goal side. All defenders should do that without question, He didn't bust a gut to do so. We got away with it thankfully. Check out his positioning and effort for the Holt pulled back by Shaw chance. His crossing was horrific. So bad that he gave up and at one point passed it back to the half way line when he had time to swing a cross in from the edge of their box. Passing out from the back was even worse. He gave thre ball away on numerous occassions. I can see why we selected him as they have two huge front men, but we suffered because of it. Richardson needs to be Clyne's cover when we are faced with a long ball team. Fonte 8 Very good game considering the tough physical battle presented by their two strikers. Great to have him back. Jos 9 outstanding. Some of you need to eat humble pie. The abuse he got on here after a couple of own goals was appauling IMO. I said he'd be fine and do a job when called upon and he has done exactly that. He's been bloody great since he came back. He was great in the air and extremely calm in posession. Perfect player for this kind of game. Had Holt on his pocket. Shaw 8 very good again. At some point he's going to have to be a bit more greedy and just take them all on AND shoot. Cork 9 I liked him last season, I love him this. At the centre of everything defensively and offensively. Covered every blade of grass. If he keeps playing like this then he will get y player of the season vote and that's from a Morgan fan. Morgan 7 solid game, what a great partnership him and Cork have forged. Just need him to recoieve the ball from the defence a bit more but not so deep. Lallana 6 as he faded so did the side as a whole. Need him fully fit if we are going to survive. I didn't think he and Ramirez could play in the same side but they did yesterday. Should have scored. Ramirez 7 very good first half, got in between the lines and made us tick. I've seen tweets berating him, but disagree fully. He was woeful at Wigan, he was good yesterday, at least until he ran out of steam. Fitness is a real issue though. He only lasts 60 minutes. When he tired he got sloppy. Subbed at right time, but why on earth are we not bringing on another attacking player in Puncheon? We had no one to pass to from back to midfield when he went off. That shows how important ball players like him are if we are to play the passing game. Shoukd he have scored when he went for the chip? Very good save perhaps. Lambert 8 lead the line well, one tough chance. Much better than last week. Touch right on the money. Rodriguez 6 ran himself into the ground. He had nothing give when the last chance fell to him. Should have been subbed by then, but no striker on the bench! Had one great chance, but kind of bottled it by just stabbing at it. I like Jay, but that little touch of quality was lacking when we needed it most. Control let him down a few times.

I'd have Davis in goal ahead of Gazza every day of the week based on what we have seen this season. Hopefully Gazza will develop far better than Bart did. Davis has got the contract because the management think he's done OK and not just out of loyalty. They were quick to cut Hammond and Sharp, so they are not sentimental. Palming a wicked cross on sodden ground into the path of Berba doesn't mean he's woeful or passed it. My concern would be whether he will hear `it's in, what a save' with him in nets. There may be better keepers out there, but you have to get them, pay them and then make them sit on the bench whilst Boruc shines.

very strange that we need to go to the BVI for a mere £3.8m five minutes after the Liebherrs cleared £30m odd million worth of debt from the club. Why didn't they give or loan the club that kind of money? OK so the tap may have been turned off, but still strange that any loan didn't come from them rather than BVI (assuming it did of course).