OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint

I always find it difficult to work out if a player is just extremely lazy or downright incompetent. When Archer first played for us, he looked like he had the presence to hold the ball up and could see an opportunity, but his last few appearances have been disappointing in the extreme. He's nowhere near the action, doesn't try and win the ball back and is generally only noticeable by his absence. I think he's just useless. Indeed, just another modern day footballer. More concerned about his hair and looking the part than paying back some of the fortune he steals as a living.

I thought it was MLT who was banned from the Big Macs. You're right, there doesn't seem to be anyone banging in goals like Rickie Lambert was doing before we signed him, but our scouts should be looking at the Charlie Kelmans of these leagues and working out if they have the potential to move up a division. If a player has a natural touch and good attitude, much of the rest can be coached and with all the information at the scouts' fingertips, it shouldn't take them much time to build a shortlist of candidates. Like managers, there seems to be a revolving door for players. They have a good few months at a club and they're set for life. We must be able to find players better than BBD, AA and CA. They might also be hidden in other clubs' academies or are overseas but I still reckon we don't look hard enough in the lower leagues.

Me too. I would not in the least be concerned if AA, BBD, Archer and Stewart never put on a Saints shirt again. In fact, I'd rather we fished around in the lower leagues and found another Rickie Lambert. In fact, I can't think of the the last time we brought in a striker from League 1 or below.

I also thought Jack was ok for much of the game. When Sulemana was on the pitch, he gave us an out. Not a good one, but it was something. Bring on Dibling, whose value is decreasing by the week, and Smallbone and the game is lost. Watch their second goal and in midfield there's a massive Smallbone-sized hole and then look for Smallbone and you'll see him jogging back. Even among our team he looks really really shit.

That's what I thought. Let's put a £100m price tag on him!

So what would happen if we won say, four/five of our last games? It's highly improbable even if we still have Leicester & Fulham to play, but would Rusk then be considered for next season? I can't see it, but hey, it's SR in charge so anything is possible.

I agree. Actually, looking back, it could have gone either way. The players came over pretty quickly and started clapping us. At that point, it would only have needed a few people to start booing and there could have been a chorus of boos. Instead people started clapping back. Can't put my finger on it, but our away fanbase seems to have changed over the last few years. Seems to be getting younger (or maybe I'm getting older), so there's something ironic about them all singing "I loved them as a nipper"....

True party atmosphere stuff. In fact, I find nowadays when going to games, the football has become incidental. It's more for the day out which could explain why our games are nearly always sold out.

Towards the end we had two beanpoles in the middle and not one person could put in a cross. I just don't get it. Fire crosses in and things happen. Pass the ball from to side to side and eventually we lose it.

It was all a bit weird. The whole team came over and started clapping at us and they wouldn't go away. A few gave their shirts to kids which is always a good touch, but you did think what are they doing? I did laugh, though, at the nods who waited for them to start walking away and then shouted 'you're not fit to wear the shirt'.

I saw three people today wearing Manning No 3 shirts. Has he bought a job lot and given them out to unsuspecting passers-by?

Half way there. I didn't realise there was so much riding on this game!

'No Derby fan expected anyone to come close' - will Saints make history? Article on the BBC website today. With Fulham & Leicester still to come, we should be safe...but I do like the idea of resurrecting the "Let's pretend we've scored a goal".

So would I. Him coming back in to the squad would represent a backward step if we're trying to build a team to get back in to the premier league and stay there. I want another striker who can show his worth in the Championship and move up with us, not someone who's going to hang around, occupy a place, then not be in the premier league team.

I can't get my head around this either. I remember when BBD was one of our first signings last year, people on here were more or less saying, he's only £7m, you can't go far wrong. Well, you can...and we did. Arguably Archer could also be included in the list and the £7m on BBD + the £15m we spent on Archer ++ means we could have spent more on a better player - provided we could have persuaded them to come here!