InvictaSaint

Well lets hope Huddersfield goes ahead today and they'll be knackered Tuesday. Every cloud and all that.....

It doesn't say that. It simply states that the next review of the situation is tomorrow morning. A pitch inspection is far more specific. I think it will be fine.

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~2249933,00.html Interesting and very positive approach from Adkins. He repeatedly states that "we will win that game" before turning to the next on the fixture list and repeating the same mantra. Obviously there is the potential for setting oneself up for a fall with such rhetoric, but you have to admire his balls and his positivity; he is being unequivocal in what he expects. Notice, too, the references to the "squad we will have in January". He says the same thing twice, in slightly different fashion each time, but it is there nonetheless. By using the future tense, it appears to me that he is making explicit reference to the players who are coming in (otherwise why not say "with the squad we have"?). Again, this makes positive (and exciting) reading.

Patred is connected and usually on the money; he also has links up in Norwich, though I cannot remember how/why (goalkeeping coach of some kind?). Martin was banging them in for Norwich last season in L1, so that would be a very useful signing. I just wonder why they would want to let him go, even in part-ex for Puncheon (if indeed they are after him).

Weather is supposed to warm up by Boxing Day ( up to 4/5 degrees). It'll be fine in south-east London. I'm in north Kent (about 30 miles from the Valley) and there has already been a partial thaw today. Motorways/ roads are fine in and out of area around Valley (seen them myself today).

But if you click on the detail, it shows no snow for morning or evening and states "heavy snow for a time". I think it will be fine for the game to go ahead.

OK, maybe I was underplaying it a little...! :-)

Although a season-ticket holder, I was unable to go to SMS yesterday. However, having read others' reactions and musings, I feel compelled to put our current situation into some sort of context, as much as to help myself understand where we are, and where we are heading, as to allow anybody else to contribute. I don't want to provoke any kind of argument, or polarise opinons amongst fellow posters; I have *no agenda* or established viewpoint; rather, I want to try and make sense of our situation on a day when, for reasons I can't quite understand, I feel more angry and more let-down, but above all more confused than I have done in a long while. Forgive me then, if this seems a little self-indulgent, but consider me the patient and yourselves the understanding (but also occasionally challenging :-) ) therapist. Going into yesterday's game, NA seemed very upbeat (OS, Saintsplayer interview), pointing to a great 10 days' training and a positive mood within the camp. We had previously not lost at home under Adkins, and popular consent was that we had shown good passages of play in most of those home games. However, post the 2-0 defeat to Brentford, we have accounts of players not looking bothered; of an inept performance by Lambert / Hammond / Schneiderlin; of poor decision-making by NA. All of the above seem to have resulted in a very poor performance, and a very disappointing result. We must bear in mind that this is but one result and that this was only our fourth defear under Adkins (MK Dons, Carlisle, Huddersfield being the other three). These facts notwithstanding, the questions I am having trouble with are as follows: - Why was the performance - if reports are to be believed - so inept? Are we over-preparing (over-training)? Or is it a lack of effective preparation? Players (some) complain of becoming tired when games flow thick and fast and yet when they have two weeks off. they come back looking less effective than when they were 'tired'. - Is NA' s tactical nouse as good as it needs to be / is reported to be? He has of course already got two promotions from this league, and, in his Solent interview yesterday spoke quite reasonably, I thought, about what he tried to do when it was clear Guly and RL as a pairing weren't working. And yet many of us seem already to be criticising a lack of decision making earlier on in games where things aren't working. Where does the truth lie? - Does NA have the 'respect' of the players? I ask this without any sense of knowing the answer, but should we be questioning whether NA works well from NC's point of view (controllable, maliable - will accept the ethos NC wishes to establish because this is his big chance) but less well from the players' perspective? We already have reports of a bust-up between Pucnheon and Crosby, leading to the former's departure. Is this a harbinger of other such 'bust-ups' to come? - Did NA succeed at S****horpe because he had a group of players who had no delusions of grandeur? There were no Billy Big ******** there, and thus NA's much-vaunted sports psychology approach would more than likely have got more out of the players, given their base level, than is likely to be the case with our more highly-paid, more pampered under-performers. - Will NC act sooner or later if he feels things don't go the way he wants them to? His recent interview stated that promotion was 'essential' this season, but at the same time he made a slight allusion to the fact that the 5 year plan could still work without promotion this season. If this is the case, how long will he give NA? - Would NC have been impressed yesterday? Obvious question, I know, and we all know the answer, but the point is, if he saw what the rest of us saw, he cannot fail to have been angered and I would suspect, confused. If so..... - Which players will be needed, and brought in, in January? Will cash be released? Everything stated thus far seems to suggest that it will, but will NC trust NA to do the right thing? After all, we seem to be accepting that Pardew didn't get the cash/players that he wanted when the 'trust' and belief in him had allegedly gone. - Is it fair to judge NA before he bring in his own players? Chaplow has had a major impact, and we have missed him in recent games, and many have alluded to Scheniderlin and Hammon not being quck enough or athletic enough. Should we only judge once / if NA has had the opportunity to bring in these sorts of players to help us get out of this wretched league? Bemoaning the loss of Pardew, for whatever reasons, will get us nowhere. Let us not forget the performances under AP which many were quick to criticise last season - Bristol Rovers at home (2-3), Oldham at home (0-0), Brentford at home (1-1), Gillingham away (1-2), Brighton at home (1-3). We were not immune to the type of result we got yesterday, under AP - and the results I list are from across the season, not just the first couple of months - so we have to accept that there is something more fundamental wrong, as many of you have pointed to. I cannot tell you how much I want us to get promoted this year. NA said in his interview after yesterday's game that he was 'hurting' and we can only assume that he is telling the truth, and feels the defeat as keenly as we do. It is difficult to understand why we are so inconsistent, but in writing all of the above (and well done if you have got this far!), I think I am coming down on the "he is the right man for the job" side of the fence. However, I think the following should be considered / should happen: - RL needs taking out of the firing line sooner rather than later - NA needs to be backed - fully - in the transfer market in January, to allow him to be able to stand or fall by his own team - we need in January to buy athletic, pacy players who are going to cause the opposition problems, particularly midfielders who can break quickly when the oppo are holding a high line - we need to see where we are and act accordingly in May. If promotion is a pipe-dream, NC has a big decision to make. Have things progressed in the way he wants them to progress? Can he see success being achievable next season at the latest? If so, should NA stay? As I say, just some thoughts and reflections, with the odd question thrown in, on our current situation. Over to you....

DO you know, I have exactly the same feeling. No idea why, but for once I think we will come good in the second half. 4-2 it is.

Someone invoke the spirit of Preston away from a couple of seasons ago; 2-0 down at half time, win 3-2.

Frozen pitch? Ten inches of snow? Broken limbs? Ooohh you were lucky; I used to dreeeeam of a frozen pitch and ten inches of snow..... (Note: if you have no knowledge of Monty Python or were born after 1985 please ignore the above)

Les sanglots longs des violons de l'automne Blessent mon coeur d'une langueur Monotone....

Rudi Skacel scores for Hearts....

It appears that some people are, quite simply, never happy. We didn't play brilliantly, but we won. How many times have people moaned that we never win with late goals? Then we do and people still moan! This was Shrewsbury's big day out, in the FA Cup, and they made it hard for us, but we got there in the end. Job done, and that is all that matters. Brighton drew 0-0 at home with non-league Woking; on the basis of the reaction on this thread, I would guess that most Brighton fans have therefore topped themselves by now.

No you didn't.

Brighton (top of our league) still 0-0 at home to non-league Woking.

Very pleased with the 3 points. Butterfield played very well, as did Lallana and Guly in patches, but after keeping going and getting the equaliser at just the right time, the real game-winner wad Adkins substitutions; we played SO much better when Oxo and Barney came on, we really did. Passing and interchanges were so much slicker and more creative. I worry about Rickie, I really do. His demeanour and general play are both so lumbering and predictable. His partnership with Guly just doesn't seem to work, but Barney comes on and hey presto, instant chemistry. We have a problem here, and either it gets solved or Rickie needs a time out; he is definitely not himself at the moment. However, we are winning 'ugly' - something we have not really done since last season, and even then not brilliantly. D'Urso was absolutely appalling, reprising, and adding to his disastrous handling of Saints v Blackburn in 2004. We are on the move; now to keep it going.

....has scored a hat trick for Spuds at Inter Milan.

Sky is reporting that Bignall has just signed a new contract with Reading. Doesn't change anything, I know, as he is only on loan, but odd that he should choose to re-sign for Reading mid-loan.

For 20 years now, as a Saints exile in Kent, I have parked on Cemetary Road, just off the Avenue, below the Cowherds. It's a 20-25 minute walk to the ground, but when you get back to your car there is very rarely much traffic to contend with as you leave town. Presumably if you live in Cambridge, you go M11 - M25 clockwise - M3. If so, this could be the place for you. Parking is free on Saturdays and there is always space.

Now, I could be wrong here, but... do you think Cortese expects Adkins to get us promoted this season, without fail? ;-)

Has Solent broadcast any reaction from Adkins?

How does getting better "not matter a damn"? When Wilkins held the fort after Pardew's dismissal,we didn't score once. Since Adkins' arrival we have stopped conceding (1 in 5 prior to today) and we are now scoring again (4 in last two). A defeat to a team with an exceptionally good home record is not the end of the world, as some seem to be painting it. I still firmly believe that we will get promoted and nothing that has happened today has changed my mind. Others may choose to see a defeat away to Huddersfield as the indisputable evidence to the contrary, which is their right, but I would suggest that they are being somewhat short-sighted and should keep the faith. It will come good, of that I am sure.

But the key words in that summary are the three at the end - at the moment. Prior to this game we were unbeaten in 5 and the overwhelming consensus was that we were improving. I was at Tranmere last weekend and it was a million miles from the dross we served up against Swindon and Rochdale. So to base the future of our season on the entirity of the first quarter is not wholly fair or helpful, given the time Adkins has actually been here. Huddersfield was always going to be a tricky fixture given their home record and on this occasion we don't seem to have been able to match them. However, defeat to them is no more an indicator of our demise than last weekend was an indicator of our impending dominance of the league. We are getting better, we will continue to get better and we will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season.

This. Apart from the bit about Peter Clarke. I have no idea who he is. :-)