Fitzhugh Fella

Slightly crazy - more barking surely

only a matter of time and Avram Grant would be in the wardrobe

Great start to this article http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2013/feb/02/qpr-gamble-harry-redknapp?CMP=twt_gu

Yes I thought of him a couple of times yesterday but in all honesty a fox in the box has got to have other basics like touch and pace and our Billy has neither

Having gone yesterday here are some thoughts. Firstly a question, How come you can buy a really decent pint of bitter in a city centre real ale pub for £2:10? Now on to more important matters – to sum up I will use a cross section of quotes heard from home fans by me when leaving the stadium (you will have to imagine the accent). “Bloody hell they truly battered us how did we get any with that”? “they mullered us”, “they were all over us”, “they hammered us in the 2nd half” “that was a blitz” “they played cracking football”. None of these are made up and they were so right, after an indifferent first 45 we were different class to Wigan in the 2nd period and had we (and here is the crunch) a true goalscorer in the team we would have had the game out of sight before slack defending cost us a precious 2 points that were rightfully ours. Lambert (who had a great game I thought) is too often not the man the good chance falls too due to him setting up the chance and yesterday Ramirez, Puncheon and Rodrigues all missed gilt-edged opportunities (particularly Ramirez). How a player similar to Boyer would have had a field day. It is all very well having 21 shots at Old Trafford but the only stat that counts is the nos of goals scored (and conceded) and we just don’t take enough of our chances. And now the elephant in the room. Ramirez. Truly awful. I have been patient but I think it has been a very costly mistake. It is no coincidence in our last two games once he has been hauled off we have improved massively. He was the wrong sort of buy when had we say used the £12 m to fund a Berbatov or proven goal scorer type of player, we surely would be higher up the league. I also think Puncheon has gone off the boil. For me he is a bit of a “flash in the pan” player ie good one moment, average the next and I really do not think he is consistent enough or has enough football intelligence. On the other hand and this cheered me, Rodriguez seems to be getting better every game – he really did well yesterday and the run that led to our second goal was sheer class. There was a rumour in the pub before the game that Norwich had come in for him before the window closed and on yesterday’s showing I am glad we decided to hold on to him. Now where can we find that poacher?

Just back from Wigan and he was truly awful. My patience ran out today

3 points 50/50 to staying up I thought NC would have backed MP with one marquee signing. Ramirez has been a disappointment

I think that is where he started actually. I follow him on Twitter and always enjoy his tweets - the fact that he is a Saints fan too is good enough for me.

Can't quite work this one out. "Best chant"? The boy needs to get out more. What a weird weird thing to publicise - about as funny as toothache.

I think the very fact we have had to rely on De Ridder just recently points to the fact that in this particular position we are vulnerable, especially with a spate of injuries.

Pace

Bit of a one-trick pony imo.

What I find fascinating is that like Lowe before him Cortese has split the fan base into those pro and those anti. I was very much in the anti camp re Lowe but for me the jury is still out re Nicola's stewardship of our club. He certainly knows what he is doing, he is determined, ruthless even and not to be messed with. It is a great shame however that to get to where he wants us to be the club as a whole seems destined to lose its inclusiveness. I am not sure the good people of Southampton are ready for NC's journey, we can be a funny bunch.

That's a fair observation and a question I would like put to Matt.

During the Pinnacle takeover when I posted details of the so-called investors on this forum and exposed the bid to be bogus I later that morning had one helluva row with Matt. He loves the club as much as I do but he wasn't afraid of letting rip. But he is the first bloke to own up, confess, apologise whatever and move on. He's a professional pundit these days and he speaks as he finds. Not everyone agrees with what he says and some think he should stay quiet. People seem to think if you criticise what goes on at SMS then that makes you a traitor a big mouth or whatever. From where I sit I would just like to hear genuinely held views regardless of whether I agreed with them and with Matt you get that. I remember a few months after the Wilde takeover which I very much supported. I met John Sydenham for a coffee - he was over with a young Australian lad who was on a trial. I was staggered at what John told me. The club was a mess he said, in-fighting, chaos on the training side of things, disharmony all around and he was very disillusioned. I really did not want to hear what he was saying but because I knew him to be one of the straightest guys around I sort of believed him but hoped it was just a bad week. History shows how disastrous the Wilde era was and how the wrong people were in the wrong places, as far as the health of Saints were concerned, but so many of us hated Lowe so much that we refused to believe his replacements were doing an even worse job. I am not saying NC is doing a bad job at SMS, in fact far from it, he could very well be doing an amazing job and there is no doubt he has a vision and a determination to carry it off. These are exciting if not confusing times for us fans as we look backwards at Adkins's departure and then almost instantly look forward in expectation at Pochettino's reign. As fans we basically back anyone who gives us success. There's the debate, Matt obviously does not see it quite the same way as a lot on here, so one good reason if you are free and nearby you come along to hear his reasoning.

So which of these three words do you not understand "no holds barred? Having been to one of these before I think I can safely say Matt is not one to hide his real feelings and if he feels something has to be said then he will say it. You don't agree well now's your chance. All keyboard warriors welcome.

I think it is a shabby attempt to create a facade of normality ie business as usual.

http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?42776-Those-who-disagree-with-MLT

now have the chance to put their money where their mouths are. On Monday February 4th at Waterstones in Southampton High St, Matt Le Tissier has agreed to do a no holds barred Q and A session. Prior to this I shall (wait for it...roll of drums) do a shortish presentation on "Suited and Booted" using team line ups on a screen to talk about the club's pre-war history with a little surprise at the end. My talk begins at 6:30pm and Matt will be on about 7 to 7.15 I guess. So if you think he should stop criticising goings on at SMS why not come along and tell him in person. If you want to know why as a player he took bets on throw ins etc, rather than slag him down on an internet forum challenge him face to face at Watersones. He doesn't bite and hearing things from the horses mouth so to speak might just lay a few ghosts to rest that have appeared on the MLT v NC thread. Tickets incidentally are £3 and can be obtained direct from Waterstones. Hope to see a few of you there.

So he has no access to the level of detail re the future fate of the PPs? That is enough evidence in itself to convince me Colin is related to Geoff Hoon and the whole PST are the original "work it all out on the back of a fag packet" brigade.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/southampton-transfers-lucas-biglia-of-anderlecht-1548470 Sebastian Fernandez from Malaga on loan?

The only pundit worth listening to - was v complimentary about the Saints tonight.

According to this morning's papers they are Toni Jimenez Sistachs aged 42 Spanish goalkeeper and Toni Borrell aged 38 also from Spain. Both were with Pochettino at Espanyol.

Having kept the extent of Lallana's injury the closest guarded secret since the 5th man the club are hardly likely to tell us all he is or isn't playing on the morning of a game.

Even though you are a Tory supporting Mail reader I hate to say it you speak sense. I can sense a coalition coming on.