Chez

that is dissapointing to hear. I suppose the fact we are going to be here for two seasons afterthe poor start has a bearing.

and there's me thinking that our goal scorer was one A. Lallana. Far too many on here lacking patience with the lad.

good news that two clubs are chasing him as that probably means we won't end up paying a share of his wages which seemed possible when Watford suggested he was too expensive for them.

was he injury prone prior to coming to us or did the powers at Derby just see him as I do?

Agreed. No idea why we signed John when we had Rasiak. Will never forget that goal and the celebration afterwards. Unbelievable experience. I won't wish him luck as he wanted out by all acounts. Hopefully we can use his mammoth wages elsewhere to good effect.

thats funny because I head Crew were cutting in on the deal. Hope the new replacement is Bryl (cream). Lets hop we get to see some highlights first before he signs so we can brush up on our knowledge. Is it Michael Tong?

we've had two or three years of constant infighting on here, primarily about boardroom issues and non football related ****e and yet you choose now to get annoyed by fellow posters?

He had a terrific game, worked his nuts off, caused their back four all kinds of problems, won lots in the air, held the ball up well and as you say scored. When he went off injured the ball failed to stick and they took charge (admittedly playing three up caused us problems). That is of course all IMHO.

Patteson was MOTM against Millwall so you're "looked better than Pato every time he has played" is not quite right in my opinion. Having said that I'm more than happy for Saga to play tomorrow night. Thats what a squad is all about.

I don't know what Patterson will do in terms of goals, never said I did, but you seem pretty certain - have you a time machine at yoru disposal? If eh wants out, get rid, if he doesn't then use him as part of the squad. Pardew has already said he wants out - so we haev to believe that is the case - and I don't want to watch players that aren't comitted to the club. who knows, maybescore, maybe mis control. Saga is no god, he mis-controls and misses chances with the best of them. I followed them to the four corners and I saw Saga miss chances on all of those corners. In terms of first touch Saga probably has the edge, but Patterson is beter in the air, its swings and roundabouts. I don't want to get into a ****ing competition comparing the two, they are different types of players and both offer something. However I personally see great potential in Patterson so I'm willing to give him a lot lot more time (a couple of seasons at least) to devlop into a decent striker.

For real? Are you saying Patterson won't score 19 goals in total for Saints? Completely different players and there is room for both type in the squad if Saga actually wants to be here. But does he? FWIW Patterson was poor yesterday but Saga wasn't really much better or more dangerous.

actually it was Saga but he couldn't get to him. Not sure I'd chastise him forgiing up. He couldn't reach him and he would have expected one of the others to step across the wide man.

IMO no they wouldn't. Patterson was outstanding against Millwall and when substituted through injury we fell to pieces. Anyone jumping on his back after one poor half needs their head tested. He's a nipper with next to no games under his belt. Handled correctly he could be a tremendus asset for Saints.

he shows class in terms of great first touch and ability to play in tight areas. Give him a bit more time, he has improved on last season, winning heads and tackles in the early games this season. I think him and Hammond coud forge a nice partnership together. WHat would you prefer Wotton? Gillett is obviously an option but I'd like MS to get a bit more time with Hammond.

Decent match and a draw was probably a fair result as both sides created a fair few chances in the first half but not very much in the second. We certainly had more of the posession but their long throws caused us problems. As pointed out my numerous posters already our wide men let us down offering very little and even when the opportunity presents itself there is a complete lack of desire to get to the beline. I simply don't understand why, since Bale left we have not done this. Only Skacel, Dyer and Holmes on the odd occasions have done this and usually we've come close to scoring. Davis 6.5 - some terrible kicks, not much to do James 6 - poor for the goal but not bad overall considering he's not been a regular recently. I think the goal conceded has got fans jumping on his back a little too much for my liking. He should have doe better there but calling for his head? Perry 8 - I slated him all week and he didn't put a foot wrong all day, although I should add that their front two were weak Trotman - 7.5 whole hearted ball winner. Tough task marking their giant of a centre forward. Dived in a couple of times and was clumsy on the ball though - slicing a few Harding 8 - I hold my hands up, I was wrong about his lack of forward forays. He got forward more than enough for me yesterday. My one concern would be his willingness to dive in and also his clumseness when he gets a little too tight to his oponent when in the box. Almost gave a pen away on one occasion when the man was running away from the goal. He went to sleep a couple of times from their throw ins as well leaving Lallana 3 on 1 at one point. Lallana - 4.5 another flat display, although he started brightly linking well with Hammond and Morgan. One great opportunity to put Melis clean through but took too long to get it under and pick the pass. Didn't create too much before fading. Melis -1 hardly touched the ball and when he did it was ugly. Offers genuine pace but might be that he needs time to find his feet here. Morgan 6.5 - same display as we have come to expect. Dominates early on but fades as the game goes on. At least AP stuck with him for once but he needs to get hold of the game in the kater stages. Hammond 7 looks a decent player to me. First touch, a range of passing and the willingness to get on the ball means we are going to look to pass teams off the park which is great. For periods in the first half he ran the show but then dissapeared especially in the second half. Looks a decent signing to me. Lambert 7 much better in the air this week. Acted as the target man rather than playing off Rasiak and he won a lot in the air. Decent player but we lack pace up front so wingers are going to need to be our source unless we sign someone. Patterson 5 worked hard but his touch let him down a few times and should have scored right at the start of the game when he shot way too early and tamely. Rightly subbed but fans jumping on his back need to get a grip. He shows great promise to me. Saga 5 did **** all. Ran around a bit, but offered less threat than Patterson. Still looks like he wants to try his best for us though. Thomson 3 - so lethargic and lightweight its not true. I think a huge amount of patience is going to be required here as there must be talent waiting to blossom because there is very little obvious desire and grit. Rasiak - few minutes at the end.

did you see him in the youth team? He ran the midfield in that team.

I can't comment too much on Perry whilst in the Premiership but the two Spurs fans I know never rated him. I certainly am not looking to blame him for our demise but I do hold him as responsible as any other and I believe we will be a stronger side when he is replaced. We have conceded goals from set peices and crosses right left and center since Perry came here. I'm surprised no one else has pointed the finger at our tiny centre back or at the very least wondered if he might be partly the reason why. I like Perry, I love his comittment as I do Wotton's, but there is far too much sentiment here. He is a weak link and we deserve better. Settle for Perry if you want but if we want to challenge this season he has to be on the bench. Lets see how this Trotman lad gets on shall we.

Which is in stark contrast to Saturday when he was taken to pieces. IMO Harding lacks pace. You're welcome your opinion, but thats all it is, an opinion. so as soon as the mighty Holmes comes back we'll have a Bale-like leftback on our hands. We'll see. Once again pure speculation on your part not to mention opinion about Lallana being the reason for him not getting forward much so far. He didn't cross the half way line on Saturday. I'm over 6' so he just looks short to me. never said you did, but you did introduce performances of players into your arguement when my original post was merely pointing out weaknesses. I think all the players have something to offer but I was trying to suggest that people shouldn't get carried away as they all have their limitations. Still if you think these are six of the best then promotion is a formaility. Happy days. I didn't realise your opinion constituted fact, my mistake oh intelligent one.

you are. dare I say it our friend Benali was a very poor player and he didn't stray far from the top flight. JPS, Pearce, Lucketti, Davies and Christian Dailly all better for me. Both CB's should be commanding and only ever having one (since Perry came here) is why we have plummeted down the league table.

its not that I really want height at fullback its that if they don't offer height then I'd like a fullback to have pace. If they have neither I wonder what they are bringing to the party. Murty looks solid enough, very Dodd like, but is he better than James?

yeah you're right, I'm overexagerating massively and there are many worse than him, but how he ever managed to play in the Premiership I will never know. He's up there with Kevin Moore in terms of comfortness on the ball. I think his decision making in terms of passing is where he is perhaps worse.

you are saying that Harding is a very good player?

fair enough. But in my eyes if you are under 6' as a defender then you are small. Can we agree that he is not quick?

fairly decent and he is whole hearted for sure, but at times he relies heavily on catching people offside and this invariably fails. Obvioulsy his complete lack of pace means (one of the reasons for using the offisde `trap' to help him out) any mistakes are highlighted as he can't recover. You will notice that almost every single challenge ends with him on his arse as he is weak and also because of his slowness its alwasy a last ditch stretched diving/sliding in effort. At this level we need powerful center backs that clear our lines. He just doesn't win enough ball. Simple as that really. Even a slow big man is better than a slow small man. I want to add that he is one of the worst players on the ball I have seen. He is not quite as bad as the great man Powell, but he is nto confident on the ball, his distribution is poor and he makes some very very bad decisions (which happens often). Saints fans wonder why we lose so many games yet whenever a player is criticised (especially one that tries hard) opeopel are up in arms. I guess I am no different as I spent all summer defending Lallana and he has yet to do anything apart from in the Niorthampton game.

I can agree with that. Under JP we actually had a structure and a pattern of play and it stood us in reasonable stead in the first third of the season performance wise (if nto results wise) and I'd go out on a limb and say if he had better quality players at his disposal then it could have been a decent season - but the squad was of course thread bare in terms of quality. Right now hoof it up to the strikers is the only thought as far as I can see. Hope AP is going to devlop that plan as we progress as that is how we ended up playing under JP and then Wotte and it was bloody awful.