Holmes_and_Watson

A moment to remember SaintsWeb poster, Egg. Consumed in an overzealous forum health kick.

When I read that, and had seen his injury record it came as no surprise that we'd sign a player just coming back from injury. I was just moving onto the next post when I went "wait a minute" 🙂 Just to be devil's advocate here. If the record of poor decisions, which were based on SR being smarter than your average club owning bear, has resulted in us having to take risks, knowing what the record has been, then something more fundamental might be the issue. Which I think has kind of happened. SR implemented a strategy not fit for the overhaul required. A panic window and loan debt and relegation just sunk us further. But there were, and are positives in there, and you can see the move to a more cohesive squad under Martin.

Picking up on some earlier posts, I know educated, intelligent people who accepted the prospect of financial loss, and voted leave. As it stands now, a number of that group still think it was the right decision. There's a number who bemoan the way it was prepared for and implemented. But still a few who stand firm that it is still the right way to have gone. At the time, it was less about slogans on buses for them, than it was dislike of Maastricht; the thought of ever closer union that was being pushed; the consensus approach resulting in us following down that path, and now being given an option to stop it; the adoption of new members that were nowhere near stable enough, threatening economies - Greece for example. There were rumblings about Turkey joining at the time too. No doubt immigration control and sovereignty did come up too, but not for most. That's off the top of my mind now. There could have been other reasons too. Across most of them, I think an economic agreement would have been preferable, but was not an option, rather than continuing to be closer in so many other areas. My point being, like a lot of polarising debates, is that by lumping those that don't agree into being a group that's less intelligent, less informed, utterly wrong and other abusive terms, says more about the people making those remarks than those that voted that way. If that's how they are categorised, if that's how they are thought of, what chance is there for constructive dialogue? It's also not true. Like everyone who voted remain had their finger on the pulse of every facet of the EU, as they made their vote.

Thanks for the video Turkish. I'm watching it in calorie controlled chunks, as I get the time. Seeing the links to generational issues is very interesting too. As the video said, it's not an industry controlled for health, or for dietary benefits. It's an industry controlled for profit. Like other historical examples such as pharmaceutical and tobacco industries, there's a lack of trust in the information put out by them. It makes logically argued discussions from various expert sources, not necessarily beholden to that industry, very valuable. Although, I can just look at my grandparents and parents, and the relatives of my peer group. Traditional diets that helped in lowering risks of various things. I got the benefit of that too, growing up. Even if I'm a bit rubbish at it now. I know my system prefers the healthy options. It just gets a bit hijacked at the thought of a multi pack of salt n shake. 🙂

Saints

Interesting. Adds another angle to datasets, recruitment and growth of the club's all buying into a shared resource.

Seven

There's certainly lots of interesting discussion points (probably complete conjecture, since we're not likely to know) about our team psychology. We deliberately drop pace at times, favouring control over taking too many risks chasing or pushing a game. One player said the approach meant a major revision in how they were taught to play. I'd argue that playing, and sticking to that possession style makes it more difficult to shift gears when we need to. We have done it, getting a number of late goals. Sometimes, we just can't make the switch. Nathan's view that it's tougher against 10, come to mind too. Style of play, mixed in with ability, adaptability and mentality making us unable to break down a team happy to let us have the ball. But a bit removed now from Stewart, who I'm hoping will be the centre forward option that really helps to unlock such teams. With Lallana (it took me 2 paragraphs to realise that's who Adz was 🙂 ), I guess all older players will go through the expected emotions as their career winds down. Insecurity over injury will be there too. Interesting that you say it can be a mentality to not kill off teams. That's one of the reasons he's here. To instill that belief in the squad, and show them what higher performance goals should be. So, very much working on pushing the squad mentality (and coaches too)

I'd be very happy to see a JWP return. A versatile midfielder with bags of PL experience, and set piece specialist. Yes, please. And generally, you end up in the bracket your wage outlay suggests you'll be in. SR have set their stall out to buck this outcome. Partly by bringing in younger players on lower wages, who happen to be incredibly talented so we stay up, while selling them on. Then repeat the process. In practice, they did lower the individual wages. However panicked buying of lots of additional players, made it a false economy, that also got us relegated.

Hound

Stone

Of course you'll have a chance to play, if you re-sign Mr Meghoma. You're practically on the pitch already. Just behind KWP, Manning, Taylor, Bree, Larios, Stephens, Targett and Fraser are on their way too. Oh, and Mrs Miggins, the tea lady is left footed. 🙂

So, still a bit of a gambol then. 🙂

Presumably Mara and his agent have agreed to go to a club, that better suits him. Win for us, getting the fee. But also to see how he gets on. Martin said he works very hard in training. This will be a chance for that to pay off. His all round game will have got better under Martin, even if we didn't often see the results. All good things for him to have going forward.

Hill

Chelsea working the rules. They need the immediate profit. So they buy Felix, splitting the cost, across as long a contract as they can get away with. Madrid then use the funds they get to purchase Gallagher. As he's home grown, any sale will be pure profit for Chelsea. Madrid will defer that cost across a similarly long contract. Clubs will develop relationships to assist each other to get round the rules.

Some players get better in the mind, when they are out the side for a while. Balancing that up... 🙂

Meanwhile in Rasmus' HQ.... Too many CBs... Need a new 'keeper... Outfield players can convert to 'keepers. Look at our success with Baz... Hmmmm... And the big question...is it left field enough? Yes! Problem solved!

Who picked "Pugilistic Posting Training Camp" in the "Where in the World is SOGgy" sweepstake?

They'll feel silly, when it turns out that people using the microwave in the next room, was messing up their equipment. It wouldn't be the first time a club has come up with issues with the medical, solely as a negotiating tool. Hopefully nothing really to it, and that the obvious implications putting off others don't get in the way of a departure this summer.

The club's medical team will be fully assessing their progress. In Stewart's case, possibly with Mr Insurer taking a close look. Their reintroduction (only a couple of weeks away...apparently) will be gradual, and designed to mitigate any unexpected niggles or concerns. I think it's very unlikely it's in their heads, and that they could/should run it off. That just increases the risk, which is exactly what this approach is designed to avoid. There's plenty of physical work being done to support the approach. Lallana was brought in, in part, because of his big club experience. Again, very unlikely to be having stage fright about performing in front of us. Expectations, I'd say, were minimal for either of them. We've brought in midfielders to compete along with Lallana. We've got 2 new forwards, and that still leaves a more centre forward berth for Stewart to claim as his own. I think I get your points though. Long term/ recurring injuries can have an effect, mentally as well as physically on anyone. It does no harm to remember that everyone should be treated as human beings, and we all want them to do well. When they misplace their first pass, and hear the moans, then they be really back. 🙂

I was never against possession based tactics. I had some concerns about the wisdom of putting it in place, in a promotion season. As Sunderland dismantled it's early days, I wondered if it was going to work. Overall, it was mixed. We'd create lots, but not finish. We'd have lots of possession, but not create. Or we'd have one of those, and leave ourselves open at the back. Martin was as frustrated as anyone, if it didn't come off. But when it did work, it was excellent to watch. I'd see us pinging it through the lines, after having used the possession well. Sometimes, right at the edge of everyone's patience with it. But the players knew when to take the time, to create the opening. That's the side of the game, we miss Baz in. He dealt with all sorts of rubbish, short passes. Without him, and without that sharpness from another keeper, then we diminish part of a system that Martin was relying heavily on. Elsewhere, I'm seeing Les and Fernandes, if he joins, as Charlie and Charles' replacements. Charles needs a season elsewhere to develop. Charlie just may not suit the overall system, as much as he's liked and talented. Both incoming players, should better suit Martin's approach, and provide proper competition across the midfield. Which is something SR will be keen to get back to. Downes, Smallbone, Aribo, Les, Fernandes, Lallana and Dibling

Nope. It doesn't do that. I don't know Scott's level of involvement. Since there's nods to everything else, there are nods there too. And each of the characters has some sort of personality/ subplot, which was also decent. Hope you enjoy it.

Oh. This is the match I've erased from my memory isn't it. Just little warning signs coming up there. Whew! You nearly said "six pointer" and the first poster to say that gets...oh heck...>ACME sound effect of falling piano< We're a little unsur going into this with all the changes, and set up to be fairly solid. Forest don;t offer much, and it looks very likely to be a draw. But since that's no fun for a prediction, I'm going with an Archer winner, late on.

I saw Alien Romulus yesterday. Since Aliens takes a lot from Alien, it's not necessarily a bad thing. This one looks back, and lifts from pretty much everything across all the other films, including prequels. Not to mention what I think might be unreleased screenplays and other non film bits. Some of it works fine (and good in a couple of bits), but I was tripping into references quite a bit. There's a number of set pieces. They work to underplay the aliens, quite a bit. There's some set pieces of what would be certain death, that aren't...well, because. Looks good, sounds good, is a decent enough watch, maybe getting better if you've not seen some of the others. Not a patch on Alien and Aliens though. Sometimes, all those call backs are just reminders to the better bits of other movies, at the expense of this one.