suewhistle

Ooh, CB, you'll upset the Owl's forum too..

You buggers made me go and look, didn't you. Only 1 win in the last 5... I see what you mean.

Hmm, he might be reluctant to sign for any club who might pass us going in the opposite direction, unless they can afford to give him a 2/3 year contract, without a relegation clause..

I too went to the away game. Had a good time all round, thanks for the recommendation on here of Domo, decent pubs and a lift back to my accommodation from some Wednesday fans. We dominated there, and although they've improved so have we and added some directness through Fraser and generally moving the ball a bit quicker. I'd certainly be very disappointed if we didn't win.

I'm surprised you take him so seriously; lots of people don't. Deluded, WUM, Alpine's apprentice in negativity? Either way I personally often disagree with his opinions but with three posts a day CBA to waste one and my time. In a game of small margins at that level I don't think Mara is that far off, although whether he can bridge the gap is another matter. Don't see why not though, particularly at only 21.

I'm not sure whether it's the style of play or just the fact that we're winning, but the players seem more engaged too. Fraser is obviously enjoying his football and his additional directness really adds to the mix, and may give us a good chance of keeping him. It makes a change coming out of the ground happy! I joked to a neighbour at the cup match that yes, I had a season ticket and last season it cost me about 250 quid to see each win!

No, and I'd also add he has very little backlift on his shots. Way to go but none of the kids looked out of place on that pitch, regardless of "it was only against nnnnnn".

My friend from Hamble sat next to me on the sofa says 'take flippers'. Mind you, she hates football, even if she did sponsor my team. What sort of crowd are we expecting today? Now the rain has stopped might be a few more willing to splash out a tenner?

Huh! You should see our grass roots park pitches! A sea trout, a lost bass, and three mullet.

Bree not even on the bench so assumed injured which might help explain Stephens. So now the question is do I splash out £10 on Saintsplayer or try and find a dodgy stream..

Your post reminded me of the difficulties of manpower planning for football. It's not just "We'll need a new cost accountant in a year when Bert retires" and you get somebody new who just has a couple of months' notice to work..

A chance to give him the bird..

Hah! I said Black Jacks to myself before I saw Whitey's comment. Normally you'd splash out and buy 4 though..

That's actually quite a good summary of our game. Some of the coolness in defence and lack of panic looks like risk, but they manage it very, very well. There are long diagonal balls occasionally, Harwood Bellis and Bazunu have both contributed well but we still allow too much time for defences to reset. Speculative crosses someone called them, and although we've no CF at the moment we have enough quality players to benefit from them if we mixed it up a bit occasionally. We do create chances but either our finishing is woeful or we do one too many passes. On a separate point I thought Stuart A lost rather too many tackles and Che just a bit slow too: are they fully fit or just slowing with age?

Don't know that one, how does it go?.. There's always 'To be a Farmer's Boy', marching tune of the old Hampshire Regiment.

Yep. Presumably my local pub in the PO area has the red button on Sky, whatever that means. Not sure what the competition is that evening but they've split feeds before now so I'll go and dangle some turnover in front of them. There's a couple of other random Saints fans who occasionally go in so a vague chance. I'd rather spend £10 on a couple of pints than a dodgy feed.

I went along to the game today as a teammate had a ticket she couldn't use and Havant is a cycle ride for me. A patchy, scrappy game in all honesty and not such good football as I've seen before from Saints. The first goal was an OG as the number 6 tried to deal with a wicked cross, their headed equaliser was up the other end from a free kick and the number 9 left unmarked (although good movement). A back post header for our winning goal and although Portsmouth tried hard to equalise our subs helped see the game out, and started to get their passing game together, along with some excellent timewasting in their corners.. Edit: for those that don't know H&W is an artificial pitch which may have made a difference. I've trained and played on it and it's hard on the joints, plus plenty of petroleum jelly needed for your knees to avoid nasty scrapes..

I'll definitely check the replay..

Didn't I read on here that he wasn't that good, a bit pony in fact, and we shouldn't expect to get too much for him?

If he manages to outgrow his first babygrow unbeaten we'll get him the next size up!

To add to the chorus of positivity here I'd say that the game was really enjoyable to watch and the only stress was mild frustration at not seeing more goals! I commented to my neighbour that this should add a few hundred on the gate next time: not just the win but all the rest. Clean sheet too..

Cold! The pubs are busy and we'll all be leaving them as late as possible! I'm playing in goal tomorrow and am going to freeeeze!

It's not often I agree with Charlie Wayman, but as quoted above Blackmore made an obvious leading question ("I thought") which isn't particularly professional. 'Well done on the clean sheet, how did you read the game' perhaps? It was a hard watch, and in the first half there were times that all the outfield players were in their half, which seems to be standard MO for most teams playing against us, and we find difficult to cope with. As it opened up in the second half after KWP's goal we played better football and some good interplay, but will nobody shoot or take responsibility please? At least the trains were operating and I was able to have a few drinks. Incidentally, The Junction in St Denys has reopened and it now looks like the new owners have decent standards including hygiene: I know someone who did some work there for the previous tenants and they would have struggled to get 0 stars!

Including age, by nearly two and a half years, which makes a big difference at this age. Personally I think he has more potential than Tella: faster, a decent and better touch but still lacking the decision making that experience will bring. I've seen signs of better movement too. So all in all not an "insane opinion" and I wouldn't make quite such dogmatic statements for such a young player, new to English football.

I didn't know that, thanks. That's why I kept quiet about it. Unfortunately I couldn't get there last night but I'll arrange things that I get to the next midweek match at St. Mary's, it sounded like a good game, and good to see Millie Mott back from suspension.