St Landrew

I noticed how he blew his shot, that brought his goal, in with a big breath. No simple shooting for our Mr Puncheon. And if I heard, over the commentary, how Puncheon had gone round the defender once, I think I heard it half a dozen times. He was OK.

I was hoping to get away from the QUOtes association as it's a bit of a dead end, so try this: Vadis

Your memory of ITV is obviously fading fast.

But that isn't quite how it happened is it. Solent interviewer rightly expected AP to be brimming over with good spirits, and he wasn't. He has conducted other such post match interviews with AP, with just as obvious questions, and with much more good humour than was on show today. The interviewer [blackmore..?] was obviously a bit phased by this [everybody listening was, a bit], and so suggestions were made, and rumours got spread. Listen to it here. Quite clearly, AP was being teed up to say more, and he usually is more effusive. After Blackmore mentioned public and media perception, he isn't here. In fact, he seems slightly needled. But he wasn't exactly turning somersaults for any of the interview. Not even after a 5-1..? you can see how people might have miscalculated. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/southampton/8541183.stm

Status

Congratulations..!

Tbf, they've talked about us quite a few times over the season, although it is a tad baffling we don't the tiniest mention after a 5-1 result.

Steve Claridge made a very good point twice, after both sets of League One highlights, and that was that in any of the other leagues, where playoffs are contested, the teams under the top 7 would be well in contention if they had 40+ points. Not in League One though, as the top 7 seem to be pulling up the ladder behind them. What it means is, if League One were running to average, Saints would be well in contention for playoff status, instead of struggling 17 points behind.

BBC1 Onto the League One teams. Saints should be on in a minute or two.

I don't think that's true. For example, before tehe Walsall match, all of the Solent commentators and summarisers were asked if the Premier League had been good or bad for football. All the commentators suggested it had been bad, and the ex-player summarisers said it was good. But their reasons for that for superficial and poor, IMO. The commentators, including Blackmore, cited logical, real world reasons, against the formation of the Premier League, that could only come from a pretty good knowledge of football down through the years, IMO. Just because of one interview, which obviously caught Blackmore off-balance, one doesn't consign a perfectly good commentator and interviewer t the amateur ranks. As it happens, Kris Temple, also a perfectly good commentator and interviewer, but anchoring in the studio, was himself slightly perplexed at the interview with AP.

Bothered to watch it on MOTD. I was quite pleased with Tevez, who hugged Bridgey after his successful penalty, and gestured to the Man City crowd that the game was for his teammate. Whatever, the post match comments, the Man City players almost certainly used the situation as a motivator.

Yep, forgot to post. In AP we trust.

The original 5 year plan was my understanding also. Any advance on that was only if it was possible. Well it wasn't going to be possible if Saints didn't strengthen the team, from the washed out, dispirited bunch they had become, from previous seasons. If you can't strengthen the team sufficiently, even with bags of funds, because of that bloody transfer window, and because you need the new members of the team to gel, you still may not find it possible. Yes, it has taken longer to make the playoffs possible than we may have liked, but now Saints are probably the best squad in League One, and they are beginniing to play like it. It may be too late for this season. In fact, it is probable that it won't happen. But given this squad's capabilities, it is very likely they will be in the top two, and certainly in the top six, next season. That would be in line with the original 5 year plan.

No you plonker, I wanted to get a view from someone who it was possibly going to affect, ie. a local opinion. A 4m [13ft] tsunami is not going to swamp any of inland NZ where S-i-P lives. Strange as it may seem, I happen to know where S-i-P lives. You know, sometimes it's best to keep your fingers off that keyboard.

Don't think I can forgive Pardew for getting his arithmetic wrong. What kind of an example is that to kids.

No problem. It was buried in another thread on aircrew and air-traffic controller comments. http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?p=631072#post631072

Gaffer Ecstatic Yeah, that's more like the Alan Pardew we know. Maybe I am reading more into Pardew's interview today than was necessary. I understand the media were quite critical of AP's team on Tuesday, especially Dave Merrington's comments [i thought they were fair enough, as far as I can remember an evening to forget], and AP's attitude did go mightily downhill once the interviewer mentioned DM.

Saints have put in some damn good performances this season, but almost always there has been a downside somewhere, however slight. I suppose it is possible AP couldn't help being extremely pee'd off with his side conceding within 3 minutes. Most managers would overlook that, most of the time, AP included. But perhaps he had drummed into them during his pre-match talk about the importance of being awake and alert from the first whistle, and they had once again let him down. From my point of view, if I have a real criticism of Saints, as a team, it is not their inability to win on poor pitches, as everyone can have difficulty with that, but their flaw of falling asleep at crucial moments in the game. Today, they sort of did it again, in the first 3 minutes, although the Walsall free-kick was apparently unstoppable.

The interviewer has done his job on many occasions, and conducted plenty of fine post match interviews with AP. What he couldn't do was hide his reaction to a very downbeat manager whose team had just won 5-1, that's all. In the end, he was struggling to get any response out of AP.

Keep us posted mate, if you can.

Must admit, it didn't sound quite so bad, second time around. But then I was prepared that time. It still doesn't take away the shock that a manager ought to be estatic after a result like that. Maybe AP is keeping his powder dry until after Huddersfield Town on Tuesday. I certainly hope so.

No it isn't. Alpine unnecessarily heavily criticised another poster's opinion. It's one of the reasons why he gets people ganging up on him. I have told him this before, but he never quite seems to learn. We'll leave the subject there.

Just make sure you don't turn another set of posts into a let's-gang-up-on-Alpine thread.

Alpine, would you mind NOT being so damning of other people's opinions. This is one of the reasons why you attract so much flak. For example, you don't need to post Rubbish, as your first word. What you sow, you undoubtedly reap.

Of course. Here's a reasonable explanation then. Trace back Saints very average performances, this season, against opposition they possibly should have won against, and almost always it is on a very poor pitch. I think Saints play a passing game, and their superiority is very much in that department. Put them on a muddy pitch, notoriously known as a great leveller, and they struggle, and become average themselves. The trick we haven't learned is how to play on a pitch this is seriously poorer than St Marys, and still remain consistently superior. I had a conversation with a friend the other day about this, and we jokingly suggested that one of the pitches at Staplewood should be over watered and cut up to resemble a poor quality northern pitch. Funnily enough, it isn't that stupid a suggestion.