Chez

but they are second bottom?

I've been saying it for weeks (even before oru recent winnng streak started) that Brum are ****e at home and this could be the long awaited day that we beat them at their place. They obviously still have KP to ruin our day but I still expect us to win.

Euell wins more headers, leads the lnie better, works harder, quicker, defends better and on th elimited evidence we have seen recently holds the ball up better. What Rasiak offers is top class finishing and the ability to be in the right place at the right time...oh and the ability to nudge defenders in the back and head the ball in without refs noticing. Since Jones left we have been crying out for a big target man. Euell offers that.

if, and its a big IF, we go into administration that wouldn't mean next years seasons ticket would become null and void. Liquidation would though but that would only happen if we went into administration and couldn't find someone to buy the club and take over/settle the debts.

no March madness? Madness.

some people did back him last season.

Its the old head and heart thing. I honestly still think we will be relegated but my heart is desperate for another `great escape'. By the way if we did would this rank up there with some of those unbelievable escapes of old?

Davis 9 - what a save, from my angle it looked in all the way. Decent distribution and caught when required. Not overly busy, but did what was required. Can't think of a reason to take marks from him except the lack of things to do. James 7 - another solid display though less effective going forward than last week. Seijs 7 - not as dominant in the air as last week but still a good display. Cardoff started to win a lot in the air towards the end. He has made all the different to our side IMO. Perry 6 - dropped far too deep in the second half and didn't win enough headers, but he's still a decent foil for Seijs. Skacel 8 overlapped well in the first half. He and Surman forge a very good partnership. Gillet 9 tremendous first half, he was absolutely everywhere and showed great composure and decent passing. Not quite as good second half but playing well. McGoldrick 7 the new formation suits him, he never worked hard enough to get in the box and now he isn't required to which gives the team more shape defensively. Lallana 4 One or two lovely touches that no other player could have done but not nearly enough. Doesn't look fit to me or sharp enough. Surman 9 If there are any doubters as to Surmans quality this game surely put them to bed. Great from start to finish, tackles, movement, and passing. The left side was excellent today. Euell 9 brilliant first touch, held up the ball as good if not better than Stern ever did but unlike John he chases across the line and down the channels as well. Another great display Saga 5 I lost count of ther number of times he gave the ball away when it was played to his feet 10, 15 times at least. His hold up play was appauling. He chased a lot of lost causes, but today was not his day IMO.

I worry more about the strength of Cardiff wide men. Preston must have offered the least threat from their two wide players of any side we have played this season. I was surprised at how poor Wallace was considering how well he played in the televised FA Cup game recently. Having no rigid left and right midfield leaves us wide open and we have been exposed time after time. Gillett actually covered the right side a lot last week - especially long channel balls. If they chose to pass it short but in wide positions I just wonder how he is going to be able to snub that out as well. Isn't it amazing that we have no specialised right back or right midfield in the entire squad?

I'm not sure I do feel anything is different, but as I said in the pre Preston game thread - I go into every game with hope. The difference this week is that I go into the game with hope and also the knowledge that we won last week and wins bread confidence. If I had to put my house on it I'd say last week was just another blip in our relegation season but I'd rather wait until after the game before I confirm that. Can I just add that we didn't play a great deal better than a lot of other games this season but there is a fine line between winning and losing in football and perhaps Euell up front, Seijs at the back and Saga finding his range is enough to tip the balance. Lets hope so. Go on son, let your guard down for five minutes and actually hope for better.

Anyone else a little more excited than usual about tomorrows game due to last weeks win? A back to back win is unheard of in recent times but should we manage it I guess we would be well within our rights to start dreaming of survival. As for the side people say you should change a winning team, is that how everyone else feels? I think Schneiderlin could be fit, does he return in stead of someone or does he go on the bench? Oh one more thing, should things go well is there any chance at all of Wottes name being sung? What would it take for that to happen?

mate an I drove all the way up to a midweek Liverpool game a few years back and it took over 7 hours to get there. The game was live on SKY and I remember queing at a set of traffic lights, having finally arrived in Liverpool, and watching them bloody score on a TV set in the pub. We arrived at the ground at half time and eventually managed to find a steward to let us in. Thank god we had booked a hotel in Liverpool and got a quality night out for our troubles.

About 9 years ago we went up to the Fulham FA cup midweek game at the cottage. We tried to pay on the gate but were turned away as it was full. We ended up watching the game in a nearby pub. On the way home we had a major crash hittinge a car that had lost control and was effectively parked across the A3. Car was written off and driver and I both broke our backs and sadly we had to miss a **** load of Saints games.

what exactly is hoped to be achieved by these marches?

not sure about the others but we'll beat the bluenoses at their place. They are ****ing awful at their place.

I also thought he did well for us. Love the way he flys into tackles whole heartedly if perhaps a little recklessly. This loan spell is just what he needs and if/when Rudi leaves in the summer maybe he will be our first choice and not Molyneux.

thanks once again for putting me straight on Lallana but I don't share you opinion on him as a player. He has been way off the pace for a long time now but I put that down to two things, firstly playing him out wide and secondly him getting injured. Get him fully fit (he looks short to me) and get him in the middle and we will see the best of him.

he has a good first touch and composure on the ball typical of a centre midfielder, but nothing has changed there in recent times. He still has a lot to learn and in my opinion his lack of pace and very poor heading ability leave him exposed. Preston offered absolutely nothing out wide so he was not tested at all on Saturday. I don't think that game is a faor measure of his progression, but I do think he has improved positionally. He certainly covers round much better now thats for sure. He also does cross a very good ball but too often it is from deep. It worked on Saturday but it doesn't always. As good as Saturdays result was don't let that game disguise that we have a midfielder doing his best at right midfield.

I'd be tempted to play Lallana where Wotte is playing McGoldrick - ie at the front of a midfield diamond. The problem with that is there is no one to play right midfield.

anyone got a link to the goals from that game?

Were there? I honestly don't recall anyone suggesting that Lowe had unearthed a gem and we were bound to prosper. All I remember of the summer was people laughing at the OS for its descriptions of the new `amazing' signings and repetitive mentions of the fantastic coaching set up.

when you say numpties, who exactly are you describing? Are there and have there been any posters on this board that actually thought we would be in a different position to the one we are in now? As far as I can see posters over the last year are either those that hope things work out or those that laugh and name call at those that hope.

If when you say `more people' you mean Lowe and JP then fair enough, but if you mean people on here than I'd point to the fact that the only thing fans could have done to avoid this situation was to go to more games providing more money to loan/buy players. Other than that supporters could do nothing to change our predicament.

Reminded me of the first SMS drby game with the cupping of the ear celebration. Great to see tapered only by the thought that we are a long way from seeing that sort of thing (Premiership relegation battle). never seen him miss a penalty and never seen a keeper even get close either, they nearly alway are top corner or into the inside netting.

what a day, even being locked out of my car (battery failure on my fob and amazingly no key hole to manually open the car door...don't ask) then forced to make a painfully slow treck home using the worst public transport system known to man still didn't prevent me from having a great day yesterday. Just made the reverse trip and thankfully the spare key fob worked so alls well that ends well. As for the game, wow, what a wait it has been and maybe not compensation for all the defeats, but it was still bloody brilliant to see that little rub of the green come our way and for us to take some of those chances we have created in first halfs all season. I actually didn't think we played a great deal better than countless other games this season but the Surman chance fell nicely, the long distant volley flew in, the breakaway ended with a touch of composure and we hardly let our guard drop throughout. Their real penalty claim failed to materialise and we made exactly the right subs to counter their long ball onslaught at the end. For all those that attended I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. We hawve suffered long and hard and WE deserved that win. Get the **** in there. Davis 7 had sod all to do really. James 7 some terrific crosses, I'd like to see him get to the byeline but with no one to cover behind him perhaps that explains why he doesn't. Seis 10 Faultless killer-esque display. Won everything. He has been superb since he joined. Perry 8 Handled Parkin well. Skacel 7 Solid display, even his wave and dive couldn't annoy me today Gillett 8 busy, very busy and gave the ball away less than usual. Still room to improve, especially when with back to play. Surman 9 Tackled hard, worked hard but its his first touch that sets him apart. Didn't give the ball away all day. Lallana 6 Didn't see enough of the ball for me and I'd like to see him play where McGoldrick played. Still doesn't look fit or sharp enough. McGoldrick 7 Played in midfield at the front of a diamond and did pretty well. I don't think he worked harder than previous games but he made some tackles right in front of the fans and they backed him to the hilt. One top class volley showed his pwerfull shot and his ability. I still think he has something. Euell 10 Played ery well in centre midfield last week and continued this as the target man. He may not have won every header but all their defenders knew they had been in a battle and a lot of the poor headers went straight to us. Great display. Saga 9 Two tremendous goals, tremendous. Top class. He still gave the ball away a fair bit but his quality was clear to be seen. I hope he can keep this form going. As I said before the game, I go into every fixture with hope and today that hope turned into gold. I can't wait for next week. Can we do it, two wins on the trott? Even if things turn to **** again I will cherish that 3-0 after half an hour feeeling. Oh yeah, I forgot to say that I'm delusional, totally and utterly delusional. You see I can use that term wrongly as well.