Chez

that game with the massively oversized, but extremely flat football ball being nudged slowly from the edge of the 18 yard box into an empty net by some two left footed pansy must push it close, surely?

not sure I understand the criticism of either player. For starters wingers are notoriously hit and miss, often in the same game never mind the same season. There's only about 5 wingers in the world that are great every time. De Ridder had it pretty tough I thought, with Adkins not trusting him nearly enough. He did flatter to deceive sometimes, but he also made things happen too. He should have got 5, 6, 7 games in a row when Chaplow was injured. Unless Adkins has a change of heart I wonder what future he has at the club. But he's still young so he has time to change the managers mind. That great tracking back and tackle Derry pointed out shows his raw pace. But didn't that all come from him losing it way up the pitch though? As for Fraser, I thought he was outstanding last season. Defensively sound and more than willing to push forward too. Only some hit and miss crossing let him down. Very few players in the squad not immune to the odd row z ball. Blimey. With all these crap players last season I wonder how we ever won all those games. Lallana and Lambert didn't win promotion on their own.

It's not unfair to say he is unproven at Championship level. He is unproven at that level, he got no games last year so Champ managers have little to go on. He is a proven goalscorer though, but not every striker make the jump up like Lambert did.

If fans accepted the fact that he is not fast then they might see a different player before them. Get behind him, his confidence will grow and he might do a few things for us.

the upside was that the drugs cheat was slightly distracted, apparently. Could that be a new rule, drugs cheats allowed in, but spectators allowed to throw things at them

Balding is excellent, as is Barry Davies. Like Richie Woodhall as well. Colin Jackson is simply woeful unless describing hurdles

what about away games?

The Pier bleeds money, but is not a vote winner, the skates bleed money, but saving them will win votes. Mind you don't get squashed

not sure how, but Pekhart is probably above League 1 level and Jospeh Mills

No idea about the Premiership, but I think in the FL and the FA Cup a percentage of the ticket money goes into a big pot for redistribution. Not sure why the tickets aren't therefore 99p and the booking fee £35. Booking fees **** customers off. Why do it when you can just add a little to the overall ticket price and fans will swallow them without comment? Can someone tell me why Tesco etc. don't add a fee for the services of their till operators? Roughly £33k made from ST booking fees, but there is a massive £142,500 to be made from booking fees when selling the remaining 5000 seats in each Prem game (if its £1.50 per ticket rather than transaction).

I agree about the wage, you're also right about his first touch, but I don't agree that he doesn't work in a team playing possession football. Fundamental to a passing game is movement off the ball and he moves more off the ball than any other Saints player. When Lallana was out he was outstanding and we missed his drive, movement, and just as importantly closing down of opposition when we lost the ball. That said, I agree with game time comment. Might be a mistake though to think we will pas teams to death like we did in the first half of the season. We might need a `headless chicken' as some describe his ilk to give us some penetration. There weren't many complaining about his first touch when he smashed one past Man U not so long ago.

Actually IMO he did eventually recover his fitness after his injury and was for example absolutely outstanding in the Palace away game.

shush now, you're not allowed to moan about high prices or booking fees on this website, if either are a problem I think the normal advice given is to go to less games or quit your job and get one where you earn more.

talk of war and that image of the land makes me think of the Versailles Treaty, the Polish corridor, Rhineland, Alsace and Lorraine. The Football League's restrictions might represent the military restrictions imposed on Germany. Not sure which of the owners takes the mantel of Wilhelm II, nor when reparations will ever start.

does taking their TV/laptop/phone away work as an ultimate punishment?

it seems to be coming down every week as the players give up what they are owed.

I very much liked you Cleverly post. Intriguing comparison and one that I had to think twice about. out of interest how highly do you rate Cleverly? I saw him in the England U21 game at SMS and he was the best player on the park. Not seen much else of him if I'm honest. Wanted to know how high a bar you are actually setting. Not saying I agree with you, but bigging up our own players is not a crime. Many have been heckled for doing the same with the likes of Morgan, Bale and Jones.

If Arsenal are sniffing around already then there is not much point in trying to hide them. if they are good enough play them. Not playing them if they are the best in the position at the time is madness. By the way if a 17 year old English player shines in the prem, then £5m ain't going to be enough to prize them away.

I saw Reeves in the midweek cup game, Preston I think, at SMS and I thought he was absolutely outstanding. He ran the game whilst on the pitch, offering a great touch, vision, confidence on the ball, and a lovely range of passing. That's the only time I've seen him I think, a few minutes here and there apart, but I was very impressed and surprised he hadn't been raved about more on here. Maybe I saw the best of him. Hope not as he looked very much how Prowse looked on Saturday. You're right about the friendlies, but better to look good than bad in them.

I'll tell you what, how good would it be for us to start with the likes of maybe Prowse (assuming Adkins hasn't had his hand forced), Shaw or Reeves. They all look fantastic talents. Whether they are quite ready I am not sure, but the fact that Adkins thought they were good enough right now to mix with the best could only suggest that we have some potential England talents on our books. As an aside I thought Morgan looked outstanding again and he'll do well this season. The step up won't catch him out.

http://www.football-league.co.uk/footballleaguenews/20120712/league-board-makes-membership-offer-to-portsmouth_2293334_2847729

The Theo to SAINTS story was perhaps supplied by Arsenal in an attempt to offload their player

Newcastle certainly knew how to sign um, how about Hugo Viana? Sol Cambell at Notts County? From my limited viewings of Spanish football, Kaka to Real hasn't exactly been great either has it for £56m?

What you are describing is the time trial. This is the road race and it's a much longer and much more tactical event where wind resistance is everything. By staying in the slip stream you use a fraction of the energy of the guy at the front. Who would want to be out the front busting a gut all day for everyone else to take advantage? In essence riders break away from the pack then the peleton takes it in turns to be the guy at the front trying to catch the breakaway. The trouble was because we have CAV, team GB were the only ones in the peleton to try and work down the breakaway. Germany and one or two other teams had great sprinters too so they should have helped, but they didn't, so they gave their team mates no chance to win. What the road race offers is a chance for different types of riders to win, break away specialists, sprinters, and all in between. I have to say I enjoyed it almost as much as I do the TDF, just a pity we couldn't bring the breakaway back and get cav into position.

Personally I was hoping for lots of the first half (style, surprises and unauthodox imagery) and a lot less of the second half (predictable music and crap dancers/costumes). I think the whole thing was miles better than my worst thoughts, but not not as tight as Boyle's wonderful films like Sunshine. I expected something, whatever it was to be extremely polished. Boyle should have controlled the cameras as well as creation. The BBC did him no favours. In fact they ruined it in places. The Beijing opening ceremony was far more predictable, in content, but it was visually stunning and certainly not boring. Contrary to vftt point above, some of us didn't cream up over it simply because it had flaws, nothing to do with political stance.