Chez

I'm still not convinced that he is dominating enough in the air at centre back. I don't think his decision making or positional play is all that great either. I much prefer Trottman despite Thomas being a far more composed player on the ball. Not bad cover, but if Trotmman has to go back I wouldn't feel confident that we can get promoted with Thomas as the second centre back.

there are some decent players in this league that can compete at a higher level. If we look to sign them we weaken the opposition and strengthen our own squad. I'd be keen to add another striker because is Lambert si out we will struggle. Mind you how would you keep that guy happy if he has to sit on the bench?

For a centre back he is still very young and he should be given plenty of time to find his feet. For me he looks excellent in posession and I often wondered if he could not play at full back. At present he just is not ugly enough to play centre back. He needs to be much nastier, making his presence felt much more, and look to bully attackers even if that means giving a few free kicks away. Far too much `after you' going on. A long spell out on loan will do him a world of good. If he was 25 then I'd say get rid, but he could still come good.

we have a winning mentality. Going a goal (or even two) down has not stopped the players believing they will win. I think the fans genuinely think the same.

I would imagine the goal on Friday will have grabbed a few peoples attention at Reading and I'd bet his next few games were watched (do loanees tend to have ALL of there games watched I wonder?).

Dyer had that little spell when he scored aganst Watford and he looked like he might be the real deal, but overall he tended to run almost too quickly for his own good and end up runnign stright into full back instead of going round them. His off field antics were embaressing so I overall I wasn't too bothered about him leaving. Difficult to compare Antonio due to the lower standard of oponent, but everything I have seen so far suggests we have done very well thank you very much. Its a long time since a player has got me excited and this lad has done exactly that over the last month and long may it continue.

things just get better and better. Who wants to win the MOTM award, its a curse.

annoying to get the cobblers again. Been there a few times in recent years. Fancied a new ground.

what a load of old cack. For starters you have no idea how hard it was to get the loan move. For all you know Torquay or who ever it was called AP and asked if he was available to loan. Rejecting a loan move is not a crime. If you want to impress the manager you are going to struggle to do so being 200 miles away. Yes he needs game, but he, like I, might just think that an injury to Lambert would see an opening for a striker that can actually win headers. Perhaps also he has the confidence to think that he can break into the side. For me he is going to be a very good player in time. Once bad game against Colchester does not make him a bad player.

can you clarify his best position. When given opportunities out wide he looked lost in the first team. When playing in a central position he looked fairly decent. Is he capable of replacing Wotton? Does he have the first touch, ability to play in tight areas, the awareness, the brain to know when to go long and when not?

I think the cancelling of contracts to enable players to become free agents (allowing them to sign outside a window) is not permitted. If it did then we'd see a lot more clubs/players doing it to get round the window rule.

actually the most successful youth development officer we ever had was Bob Higgins (he found and developed all the young players before handing the best of those Apprenteships/YTS forms which Dave then worked with) and he didn't play professional football at all. Running an academy is a very tricky job. The person involved needs to offer a balance of administration, managerial, scouting, coaching and many more skills. Perhaps Dodd has all these inabundance, but in Prost we had one of the best in the business. If we are serious about investing in youth I'd like to have seen us invest in `the best' available experienced academy director rather than a Saints stallwort.

If Lambert gets injured would he not ciome straight in to the reckoning? I'm not sure I'd fancy Connelly up front on his own.

local lad desperate to shine at the club. I like it. Best of luck to him.

Is Dodd actually the best qualified person to turn our academy around? Yes he has played and coached at a very high level, but does he have the strategy and nouse to unearth, recognise, nuture and develop the best talent? This is a genuine question rather than a moan. We all saw what a difference having money AND the skill of Prost at the helm made to bringing youth through. This post is vital and I just wonder if we should be looking for another Prost rather than another Pucket.

hope so as we need some cover for Lallana

have you done that sort of trip of a winter evening? The added traffic makes a big difference.

Look at the positions we need to improve. A replacement for Wotton, another striker in case Lambert gets injured, and a left sided player in case Lallana is out.

anyone think its possible for me to make kick off, i'll be leaving Southampton (centre) by car at 5.30?

I was happy with Telfer and Jemaine Wright. They were both slow and far from gifted. However they both had a decent first touch and could make a short pass. Wotton can't even do that.

surprised anyone can look past chicken George when thinking about Antonio reminds them of.

cheers. Its uncovered right?

good luck with the old post. I didn't make it last time, would you recommend the seats or the terrace?

you make some very valid points. We certainly haven't won games just because he is in the side, but (and I have touched on this before) because he sits all day long at least Morgan and Hammond know their responsibilities and have that little bit of freedom to play their natural games.

Agreed. His workrate and movement off the ball in the Rovers game was outstanding for me and really helped us stretch them. When he came off the pace of our closing down dropped badly and may have helped Rovers get the sapce they needed to get back into the game. If he comes back in I hope he can start where he left off.