St Landrew

That would be nice. Good player returning to his hometown [OK, Winchester] club.

Cage

Yeah, I tried not to watch, while waiting for MOTD2, but I couldn't help it. Really glad Canada got the Gold.

Thing is Norway, I'm an outdoorish person, and the dark evenings and constant cold, sh!t weather has depressed me so much, I'm getting far too much time to think about things and it's showing really badly. Football season aside, roll on the summer. :cool:

orrery

marsh

I watched some of this match before I became bored. I did note a couple of things. 1. There was a definite bias in the refereeing on decisions where a yellow card could have been handed out or not. Vidic, for example, should have received two yellows, which could well have altered the balance of the game. 2. Considering the debate on whether the formation of the Premier League has improved the standard of football in the UK, and made it more entertaining, or whether it has largely been a money grabbing exercise, was given evidence to the latter, as I thought the standard of football was pretty poor, overall. The commentators were telling us the game was fast, open and entertaining, as if it was a model of the modern game. I ended up flicking to another channel and occasionally coming back for updates on the score.

Hamstring injury about 20 minutes later. Care to revise your opinion..?

I was only kidding. I knew what you meant.

It's actually hard enough to define a 6 pointer. So trying to make a case for a 7 pointer is really stretching it. But I admire your attempt.

I thought it was an interesting point, Claridge was making. I certainly wasn't using it as an excuse. The team's destiny is in its own performances. Minus 10 points, of course.

A psychological biggie..!

Indeed it is. However, one day, someone will try to present evidence to me that the first game of the season is less important than the second, third, thirthieth, etc... or the last game of the season. They are ALL biggies. Even Wycombe on a cold, damp wintry night at Adam's Park is a biggie.

Thanks for that S-i-P. What with all the Saints games and being generally busy, I'd clean forgotten the WSBK season got going this weekend. Of course, April 11th is another matter.

Clearly you don't, but some do.

I think the 1-3 match earlier this season has little bearing on the upcoming game. Saints were under a completely new managerial setup, using old players from previous seasons, plus Rickie Lambert, who scored. This time around it will be different. Huddersfield are certainly no mugs, but they'll find it a lot harder. For the want of a positive scoreline, I'll choose the old favourite to reverse the Away game. 3-1 Saints.

I was going to post one up this evening. I suppose you'd like it to be a Sticky too..?

That's a fair summation, I think WT. But just who are this wandering Wykeham team you mention..?

Take a chance to listen to AP after the 2-0 Norwich game: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/8495758.stm The 0-0 Wycombe game: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/8497013.stm Now listen to the 5-1 Walsall interview again: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/8499097.stm Alan Pardew might be a tad monotone, but there's an obvious difference between the attitudes. In both the Norwich and Wycombe interviews, he is pretty upbeat overall.

Ramsey has had a successful operation on his leg, and [obviously] will be out for the rest of the season. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/8541140.stm

That's the comparison Claridge made. It was NOT with other League One seasons, but with the current Championship and League Two. I think it's a good point, and goes some way to showing how Saints can be so far behind, yet still have a pretty damn good results record, so far this season. Saints start on -10. Pl HW HD HL GF GA AW AD AL GF GA GD PT -10 31--8--4--2-30-14--5--8--4--24-19-21-51-41 1st 10 games: Millwall [H] 1-1 Huddersfield [A] 1-3 Swindon [A] 0-1 Brentford [H] 1-1 Stockport [A] 1-1 Colchester [H] 0-0 Charlton [A] 1-1 Yeovil [H] 2-0 Carlisle [A] 1-1 Bristol Rovers [H] 2-3 The 11th game: Gillingham [H] 4-1 If anything has killed this season alone, it is the first 10 games, where the new setup was finding itself, and it showed that there was insufficient quality. Even so, AP managed to get the team playing better, and the 3-1 wins run started. But it is a combination of the unusually high points of the first 7 teams in the current League One, and the poor start, that has blown this season. The average performances on away grounds with poor pitches are just a sideshow. Unfortunate, but it occasionally happens.

Why is it that posters conveniently forget that before the January transfer window, Saints didn't have the quality in the team that they have now..? The only one who wasn't playing against Walsall was Seabourne, and he has an ankle problem. At least we have Jaidi, and he may be slightly immobile, but he's one of the best ones we already had. The truth is, we've only had this team for about 5-6 weeks, and it is only in the last week or so that they've all played together. Hence, games like Norwich and Walsall might become a bit more like the norm, and we shouldn't have expected performances like that earlier in the season. But we got a few until the heavy pitches started. I just hope we can overcome downright bad pitches, like St James' and Adams Park, and adapt our play, until they recover.

Indeed. They'll appreciate it come Tuesday night.

I get complaints that Alpine is unnecessarily rude. I believe he just needs to leave out the one word insults, and most people would cut him some slack.

A FEW..? :smt103 19 Golds in the last go. 4th nation overall, behine China, USA and Russia. Slightly more than a few.