Chez

McGoldrik has 7 in 19 (and has played right wing in quite a few games) whilst Stern had 10 at the same stage last season (and we faired reasonably well in those 19 games compared to this time round). I actually think we are not missing Stern much to be honest. I think our real problem is a lack of bite in centre midfield, a totally unsettled back four (due to suspensions and injuries) and no right midfielder. Added to this a lack of height throughout the side that has seen us vulnerable to set pieces. The formation also hampers us at times. It may well be playing to our strengths (passing) as we flood the midfield, see a lot of the ball and dominate posession. What it tends to do though is make us flatter to deceive as everything is in front of the oppsition and not enough bodies actually get in the box. Without doubt there is a lack of quality throughout the side. Wotton may drag the average age up a bit but he certainly does not increase our quality. There is also a lack of pysical presence especially at the back, and down the centre of midfield. Wotton should be ideal but he is so slow he chases shadows rather than makes tackles. I don't have the answers but getting Euell intot he side is a good start.

can you point to how we can improve our chances of doing just that, perhaps with a new person at the helm as you request and with that person facing the same financial restrictions (and please don't popint to past mistakes as we all know them)?

have to question why he got another contract if his knee was not fully recovered. Were we scared someone else would cherry pick him jus as he got fit or did he take £2k a week?

Euell got it together last season when he was moved out to left midfield. He lacks that tight control you need in the centre and that was perhaps why he struggled. However when he played in the middle it was noticeable how much more mobile he is than Wotton, Schneiderlin or Surman. He also has that physical strength that we are missing. For me Wotton can do one and Euell come in to replace him.

I really don't undersand why people don't see the great potential in Surman. He is a quality player still learning the game and he will only get better.

its obvious what happened. He looked up the word tackle in the dictionary and then tried it for the first time on Friday, injured himself and had to be withdrawn from the squad at last minute.

Is a £9 saving really going to bring the fans back? I seriously doubt it, but at least it shows the board is listening to fans (or is this a sign of desperation?). Can't say I'm impressed at paying more to get in than someone going to one game but I imagine ST holders will get some sort of loyalty bonus at some point like an extra ticket for a fiver (are you listening?)

in a nutshell.

You miss out `losing games this season' on your list otherwise it is spot on. 5000 down opn last season can NOT be attributed to Lowe alone and anyone suggesting such is talking ****e. I presume you meant you hadn't bought a ST seeing as you go to games.

arry should have played Walcott earlier and much more regulary. Perhaps Lowe was asking him to do so?

he's on £7k a week from Sky and works one day a week. Why on earth would he want to give up that cushy number to earn far less for a shed load more work?

cos all hell broke loose last season and they wanted to prevent the same thing happening.

not that fussed if any of them come back to be honest. We can't afford their wages and will they want to be here? Stern JOhn didn;t look like he could be arsed, Rasiak only comes back to pick up his summer wages and Saga was our own Scott Dobie.

he can't kick it as far as row Z.

Never understood why JP takes Schneidelin off as wwell. We tend to go to pot afterwards. I'd be interested to see the stats showing games that Wotton has started. He is terrible.

Best support from the Itchen all season with people standing all game and really backing the side when 1-0 down. Quite enjoyed that side of things and the team actually responded by working their socks off. Sadly it was to no avail. Davis 6 - Great pen save but his distribution was terrible. Put us in serious trouble three times. Cork 6 - Given a torried time by McIndoe in the first half but covered the CB's very well at times. Pearce 6 - Looks short of pace to me. Not bad in the air. Lancashire 5 - Bullied by Adebola Skacel 5 - a couple of nice crosses but where is the effort to get up and down? Surman 7 - worked hard and looked decent Wotton 2 - two decent long balls, but he spent the rest of time 5 yards off the pace. What a crap signing. Lallana - 7 another decent game. Gobern - first half 1, second half 7. He look's more of a Carlton Palmer than a Theo Walcott. Thompson 6 didn't see enugh of the ball. Needs to come into the centre when the ball is on the opther wing. Couple of decent runs and dangerous crosses. McGoldrick - 7 linked well with the midfield and is a threat. BWP 6 - didn't do much Peckhard - 6 we looked more dangerous when we had 2 up front.

I just want to point out that I christened him `Made of Glass' on here and I can I add that he is worst footballer (and I mean that in the sense of ability with a ball) I have ever seen in a Saints shirt. He did have a couple, and I mean two, decent games when he was here, and he does get stuck in which can work against certain oponents, but Burleys decision to entend his contract was one of the worst decisions I have ever witnessed in football.I feel very sorry for Charlton if they have stopped this low. For the record Powell is slow, extremely injury prone, slow, terrible with or without the ball, alwasy injured, slow, offers poor positional play, spends most of the game on his arse and th erest of the time on the pysio table, can't pass, can't control, and offers little to a game other than some terrible tackles from behind and a few headers won. Did I say that he was slow, because what I should have said was that he is very slow when both covering the ground and when seeing the game. Thank god our money ran out as it meant we could lose this lump and replace him with...oh, Wotton.

****flaps has a habit of assessing players and if he deems them to be not good enough then he doesn't include them when he counts numbers in his squad. The term `bare bones' could actually mean that he has 15 players available to play, but are all sitting in the stands because he doesn't rate them. As for Pekhard, no one rates him here so why would ****flaps consider him?

You need a squad so we needed to sign players, but these players coming in are going to be on £1k, £2k or £3k a week max. The players we have and still trying to shift such as John, Skacel, Thomas, Davis are going to be on £10, 15k even £20k a week. Get rid of John and you can pay all the loanees. The reason none of those players you mentioned are playing is down to the fact they are not good enough or injured. The Forecast signing seems like madness (was Davis on his way out?), signign Pulis and Gasmi crazy, and gettign OPekhard and then replacing him with Robertson five minutes later just stupid.

I'm expecting a double page spread next week.

I have heard the 17,000 break even figure mentioned on a number of occasions by Hampshire Radio. How close that is to the truth I don't know.

that's an interesting opinion. I wonder if that is true. Personally I didn't have a ST in the seasons running up to us leaving the Dell, but got one again when we moved to SMS and I still have it now.

now that is revealing.

thats a decent idea. free kids ticket with any paying adult has to be tried.

talking of good ideas why don't they close the family centre corner and merge it into the Chapel stand? Also why aren't ST rewarded with a chance to win more stuff. Like an upgrade to the soft seats in the Itchen centre, free parking at the stadium or even dare I say it a box? I don't think ST holders were ever given the `gift/reward' or whatever was mooted. So maybe a few more of these prize give aways for ST holders might be a relatively cost free way to cheer us up at half time.