Lazlo78

Clarence Goodson is shockingly bad. Really, really bad. His club is last in the top league and his non-performances have played no little part in this decline...

Last 20 hattricks

Last 20 sendings off?

Good point eloquently made: the argument behind making a comparison between Pompey and us is flawed and your reframing seems more apt. Very good post!

Mignolet, Krul, Al Habsi, Cech... Comedy keepers the lot!

Whoa there buddy, we're the Saints; we are the tearerers of new ones!

Forum also said we should ditch NA for that Benitez bloke...

Very telling that there is little moaning in this thread. We looked second best and possibly a little tired, and they where rather ineffective in front of goal. We kept the scoreline decent but we weren't really close to getting an equaliser. I can't remember last time I was so relatively unaffected by a loss. I'm already looking at the next game...

We'll never know - as it was, Olly was thrown in at the deep end But yes, Lancashire was never regarded as highly as Shaw, I know, so it was not a comparison between their respective levels of ability. More the mechanism of protecting your youngsters and carefully nurturing their talent. Olly was expected to be the leader on the pitch from day one, whereas Shaw can have the "luxury" of being part of a well-functioning and stable team where he is being looked after by senior players. I think that some from that large group of young players that fell away during our decline in the championship could have been much better players if they had been part of a settled side. As it was they got exposed to quickly and only few of them were able to cope.

We need to nurture Shaw carefully to avoid a new Olly Lancashire situation (= great potential, but given too much responsibility too soon). Give him the playing time he needs to develop his game, but make sure he is not run down physically or mentally. Also agree with your assessment of Fox; for all his faults he does bring aggression and a sweet left peg to the team and Lallana did offer him little protection at times.

Packed with spot on comments. Thanks for the usual great read!

Dont worry - the raw material was so good that it was still funny the second time

Interesting game in the sense that it was very different from our other games. Usually we are good on the ball and to some extent able to retain possession. However, as soon as the opposition starts pressuring our defense folds. Yesterday we never really got on top of the game, but we didn't crumble either. Norwich had spells in both halves where they laid siege to our goal but we didn't collapse like we usually do. So the negatives were: their goal, that we looked a bit tired, and that we couldn't dominate the game. The positives were: Shaw, that for once we battled our way to a point from a slightly below par performance, and that we kept an unchanged side again which can only lead to some stability. For a neutral the game would probably have been a bit of a bore, but for me it was an entertaining game in the sense that it could have swung both ways. A draw seemed a fair result. After all, Rickie's goal could have been disallowed and I still think a penalty could have been given against Shaw just before he was taken off...

Wenger's reaction to Shaw's performance last night:

Yoshida was quite good at dealing with low crosses - the ones we usually concede an o.g. from He is not the biggest CB but he is quite mobile. Consequently he is not too vulnerable when e.g. having to move towards the sidelines and change direction quickly. You'll see some of the larger CBs that dread working towards the sidelines - they only want to work with their front towards the opposition's half...

You're so cute when you're dramatic Nige's a keeper himself and sees them in training every day, so I'll trust his judgement any day over anyone on this forum.

FT 1-1. Good game with so much better opposition than Newcastle...

93:30 last chance?

I'm still not convinced - looked a bit like a penalty to me

Pen could definitely have been given against Shaw there. Mistake between him and Gazza...

15 minutes ago we were being battered for a long spell but now it's more of a 50/50 game. I'd still take a draw right now as we look a bit tired actually.

Not easy with the subs. We look tired, but I'm not sure who to replace. None of the defenders anyway, and probably none of the central midfielders. That leaves the 4 front people, but Nige can't haul them off because that's a stupid sub that will cost us the game...

Is there a game on? I thought we lost

Norwich on top of the game right now. We are finding it difficult to play the ball around like we prefer, se we have to defend most of the time. Unfortunately, that's what we're not so good at. THANK you GAZZA!!!!