Chez

didn't he only join Millwall in the summer?

disappointing result (0-0 would have bee fair) and slightly disappointing (flat is right) performance, although not nearly as bad as some are making out. We were by far the better side in the first half and to go 0-1 down was a travesty as Sunderland had done nothing. We dominated possession and looked OK, although there was very little threat. Have to wonder where Clyne went for their goal. They seem to have free reign down that side. Second half was a different story. Sunderland came out the blocks much quicker than us and we never got to grips with the game. There was a period in the second half when nothing went right. Every second ball dropped to them and when we did get there first a poor touch or pass gave it straight back. I can't fault our effort. We really tried hard to get back into the game, but there was just no fluency and we looked laboured. The crossing was terrible. I thought we were treat a few weeks ago with Lallana and Puncheon putting in dangerous corners, but today we were back to our old ****ness. Why start with Mayuka having ignored him to date? Rodriguez dropped after a good showing was strange too. We need wide men. Been saying it for a long time. Davis 7 some very good kicking and gppd choices on distribution. Went long when 2 on 2 oen time which was spot on. Need to do that a bit more often as we might actaully catch teams on the hop now and then. Very little else to do. Thank god the slip didn't go in or we'd be looking for yet another keeper change Clyne 7 defended well against the pace of Rose and kept the left midfielder quiet, although no where to be seen for their goal. Didn't link up with Puncheon as well as they have been in recent past going forward. Yoshida 8 very good game for me (one woeful pass apart). One tremendous interception in the first half to deny Fletcher. Tough assignment, but did pretty well. He's started to get tighter and actually look to win a ball or two. Big improvement. Fonte 8 also very solid game. Won a lot and composed on the ball. Should have scored though. Shaw 8 expanding his contribution with every showing. I'd like to see him get to the byline a few more times as that's when we looked at our most dangerous. Sadly that happened once. Ramirez 5 very average game. Not much he tried came off and wasteful in decent positions. Needs to do much more in games, but playing him wide left is not the right move. He needs to play off the striker Morgan 6 decent in the first half and I wasn't entirely sure why he was taken off, although we didn't dominate the middle in the second Cork 7 outstanding in the first half, but game passed him by a little in the second Puncheon 6 a tad unlucky a few times and noticeable to me how quick fans were to jump on his back when he played a poor pass. Not his best game having set a high standard recently. With him failing to take charge of the game we suffered from a lack of penetration. Lambert 6 looked sluggish. A few great deft touches, but he won very few headers and offered little threat. Mayuka 5 bright first half running the channels well, but looked a little lost. Touch let him down in the second half. Have to winder why he wasn't the impact sub with Rodriguez starting (having played very well in the last game) De Ridder 6 bright and lively. but usual one half decent cross in every 20. Good to see Adkins change things at the right time, but we looked desperately short of a left sided player and have done for a long time. Davis tidy, but little improvement on Morgan Guly a threat, but when the half chance came, for the second game in a row he didn't take it. Shame as I'd love to see him get his goal and shut a few up.

Ince and Zaha were both there to get in the summer. We knew exactly how good they were...too late now me thinks.

Everton's Distan linked with Sunderland. Mega wages...

Jack Hobbs?

Loving the calendar halo.

It didn't actually. Sheff United offered him a contract that was cut by 60% to bring him in line with the other members of the squad. He obviously wasn't happy. Forest were seriously interested in signing him so he turned the contract down. Unfortunately for him there was a change of manager at Forest and it left him high and dry. Pompey stepped in. Now, I don't know what his wage is now, but it wasn't as simple as Pompey out bidding Sheff United.

Agent leaked story to get interest from either Saints or other clubs. All this tells us is that he hasn't go a deal lined up yet. He's had a good season so far. I'd suggest he'd win player of the season if it ended now. I wonder how much he wants in wages. I suspect a million quid up front for starters (half of this £2m) and three years on I don't know how much. Difficult decision for the club considering the issues they have had. Very hard to forget when you are about t hand the player a kings ransom.

Kone is a big loss for Wigan.

I don't recognise any of the players in the calender. That makes me smile.

I like Downing. I've always thought he was a very good club level player. Not as a £20m player or on anywhere near the money he's on at Liverpool, but it's not so long ago he was outstanding at Villa and even played well in one or two England games. He scored a screamer against us on his wrong foot when playing for Boro and that left a real impression on me. Not many players hit the ball like that with their swinger. He clearly lost his way with his off the field problems causing a loss of form and confidence, but the statistic about him not scoring or getting any assists is slightly misleading. He got to the byline and created tonnes of chances that Suarez spurned time after time. Liverpool were **** and he got all the blame. We really need left and right midfielders to challenge our current two. He'd be be good choice at the right money if he has sorted his off the field problems out. Put an arm round him and get him up and down that line again and he would be a fine acquisition.

with reference to Sarah's comments, I'm not sure the comparison's with the other charities Facebook pages carries any weight whatsoever. I'm not saying she is wrong in doubting they are on target, in fact the earlier post was quite convincing, but I just don't think the number of facebook likes for battersea dogs home can be used as evidence that they aren't. The PST need 1800 offering £1000, not 18,000 offering £100 or £180,000 offering £10 (maybe that would have been a better way to go?) so it's not about getting huge numbers of people donating, it's about convincing a couple of thousand that this can work. Of those couple thousand how many are actually joining facebook pages and liking stuff?

a 67 year old Saints fan died outside SMS last Saturday after the game. We're far more alike than most on this thread would care to admit.

do they? I honestly don't see this. I know all the talk is of them paying big wages, but there squad is full of **** and they are in exactly the position I expected them to be, maybe even better than I thought.

I like Downing. I've always thought he was a very good club level player. Not as a £20m player or on anywhere near the money he's on at Liverpool, but it's not so long ago he was outstanding at Villa and even played well in one or two England games. He scored a screamer against us on his wrong foot when playing for Boro and that left a real impression on me. Not many players hit the ball like that with their swinger. He clearly lost his way with his off the field problems causing a loss of form and confidence, but the statistic about him not scoring or getting any assists is slightly misleading. He got to the byline and created tonnes of chances that Suarez spurned time after time. Liverpool were **** and he got all the blame. We really need left and right midfielders to challenge our current two. He'd be be good choice at the right money if he has sorted his off the field problems out. Put an arm round him and get him up and down that line again and he would be a fine acquisition.

you will recall that League clubs are allowed to run three??? offers in a season which doesn't have to include away fans. Having said that PFC seemed to do it every game last season

you're kidding. Mark Mudie `presents' a show and their only guests are our friends Bob Beach and Colin Farmery. All PDT stalwarts.

You have to pay £2.50 booking fee for each ticket? Bloody nora I didn't know that. Cortese's wages really have forced the Saints to be ruthless. I'm attending a wake at SMS next week. I wonder if they will charge me for parking? I suspect the FA wouldn't be too happy to hear that some clubs are pocketing 17% of the income on admin fees thereby getting round handing it over to the FA competition and the opponent (Chelsea obviously won't be overly concerned) as part of their share.

I'm not sure I fully agree, and that's from someone that was slating him after about ten games last season. He does have a few other attributes to go with some nice crosses. He has a lot of quality on the ball. He has a great first touch and the little dummy and come inside thing he does is good. He gets himself out of tight spaces well so he doesn't hoof or give up possession cheaply. What he lacks is pace and because of that he doesn't defend correctly, dropping far too deep so he doesn't get exposed by pace (whilst at the same time giving the opponent all the freedom they need to cross at will). He also has a **** poor work rate, doing the absolute minimum. His choice of pass sometimes leaves a lot to be desire - the incessant use of the long diagonal ball for starters - but certainly no worse than Yoshida, Clyne or Fonte. As cover for Shaw he's OK - never a left midfielder - but he could be so much better with some proper analysis of his game and the right coaching. There are lots of fullbacks without pace that have done OK in the Prem, he needs to emulate them and change his game. Sadly you just know he'll carry on as he is, because he's made his money and he thinks he's made it.

it will be a ****ing crime if PFC gets a single penny of tax payers money, no matter what guise they are in

don't worry chaps, should the PST fail to turn the necessary pledges into hard cash, Ms MoneyPenny says there are plenty of fall back options including getting the cash from the governments's Big Society Fund.

I'd play Guly there. He had a good game playing there against West Ham. Ramirez leaves us too open defensively. Having said that Rodriguez hasn't let us down when forced to play on the left. Chaplow is not the worst shout in the world. He gets up and down the line and will keep things tight. Shaw can quite clearly do a lot more offensively if given licence so Chaplow's lack of quality on the ball might be overcome by Shaw stepping up. Interesting choice for Adkins. IMO he'll play Ramirez and we'll concede goals because of it.

you sure it wasn't 140 or even 1400 Neil? Wonder if the court stenographer described them as the World's Greatest?

by and large I think I agree with you, but can you explain the difference between the `traditional sense of a 4-4-2' and what we do?

Fair enough, perhaps I am wrong, it has been known. Going forward there certainly is a lot of interchanging, which is essential, but I'd argue that when the opposition goalkeeper has the ball in his hands that's when you see the formation and it's Ricky AND Ramirez splitting the back four and then two banks of four. Ramirez has been playing up front. He doesn't have a responsibility to track runners unlike the other four midfielders. Whatever formation it really is, I think we agree that the wide players are a little more defensive minded than earlier on in the season when the likes of Lallana were often found on the wrong side of attacks, and that has provided much needed protection to fullbacks and also the centre backs from the subsequent crosses.