Saint_John

Sorry cannot agree. Lloyd is the BEST we have in the first team at the moment for crossing the ball. You clearly do not remember the attempts in the first few weeks of the season with Adam and a few others taking "9-iron" / "sand-iron" type corners and free-kicks. The question I had about yesterday is why did the 2 centrehalves fail to come up for ALL the corners and long throws in the second half. Why leave 2 of the 6-footers back on the halfway line when we are chasing the game ?

Mine was the 31 August 1970. Eight mins into the game Tommy Jenkins received a short pass from Dennis Hollywood right in front of me by the half way line (only a couple of yards away) and proceeded to run and dribble past the whole of the West Ham team before slipping the ball under the keeper. At the time I thought this is great, better than home games. Little did I know that there were some horror shows to come in later years (charlton 6-2, derby 4-0).

Duncan, Are you able/allowed to tell us of any plans for next year ? e.g. Request a home game for that weekend (21st Nov) ?, a special Club Shirt with "125 year Badge" ? etc. Also are there any plans for the Norwich game this year (124 years) or will the focus be totally on 3 points that day ?

I only missed the WBA home game because I was up in Derby in a meeting until after 5:30. For those that went to the Villa replay I can offer the Birmingham Evening Mail from that night with the "egg on face" comments from their reporter :- "Take Andy Gray, add John Deehan, supply them with the right passses... and you have an Aston Villa string force which can blast Southampton out of the F.A. Cup tonight" "The Gray-Deehan partnership are bound to unsettle the South(blank)ampton defence...Between them, they have scored nine goals in the last five home games; incl 5-1 over Sheff Utd, 3-1 over Everton and 4-1 over WHU... scorelines which MUST shake Southampton's confidence" "There can be only one forecast.....Villa must be taken to go through with goals to spare".

It is interesting that in their 7-0 win at the weekend they managed to get their top goalscorer and one of their main playmakers booked just before they were taken off (score 5-0 or 6-0 at the time). With those bookings both those players (Holt & Lappin) went to 5 bookings for the season and will now serve a one match ban tonight in the JPT, rather than have them missing for a league game. This suggests that their main FOCUS is the League and I would not be surprised to see them lose tonight at swindon.

As Preston will not allow Neil T to play in the FA Cup and he is on 4 bookings it would be nice if we could arrange for him to get booked against Norwich (21 Nov), so that his one match ban is on the 28th Nov. (I'm assuming the 7 day rule is still in force (suspension starts 7 days after last booking). If they have changed it to come into line with red cards (suspensions start immediately) then make that 5th booking against Hartlepool).

The announcement from the Football League site http://www.football-league.co.uk/league1/news/jackett-named-manager-of-the-month-20091107_2248206_1868698/0,,10794,00.html The chairman of the Manager of the Month awards is - Alan Curbishley. ? Wasn't there some issue in the past between Alan Pardew and AC ??

? COULD it be that PFC's Bank has indicated that the money would be used to pay for something else, e.g. overdraft, loans etc. if they get their hands on the money. The £1.8M / £2M (?) would not be used to pay the wages then ? Just a thought I have no knowledge.

i'm not sure if anyone else has posted this but the highlights of the 4-0 win can be found on the FA web site. http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/FACompetitions/TheFAYouthCup/NewsAndFeatures/2009/aldershot_southampton_051109.aspx I would say from the highlights that they had as many shots as us, the difference being that our GK saved their long range shots, whereas our chances were from closer in.

This suggests to me that he will be allowed to play on Friday by Reading. Otherwise we would have left the one month extension until the weekend so that it would cover the Walsall game on the 5th Dec.

I think it is between us and Millwall as we are the only 2 unbeaten teams this Month. This is their record :- Millwall (4-1-0) H 2-1 Colchester - 94min winner H 2-1 Leeds - 83min winner A 4-0 Stockport A 1-1 Swindon H 5-0 Tranmere However they may select one of the sides with one defeat - Norwich or Leeds, however I don't think MKDons are in it. Norwich (4-0-1)+ JPT win over Gillingham (1-0) A 3-1 Stockport H 1-0 Swindon A 1-2 Leeds A 1-0 Carlisle H 5-1 Bristol Rovers Leeds (3-1-1)+ JPT win over Darlington(2-1) H 4-0 Yeovil A 4-0 Bristol Rovers A 1-2 Millwall H 2-1 Norwich H 0-0 Charlton

So one FA Cup win equals "170,000 landmines, 420 tanks, 150,000 shells, 12 helicopters and 6 naval vessels" (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6892954.ece)

Althought they have won 3 league games in a row I'm not sure their results are as impressive as ours. IMO I think League 1 has leagues within leagues. Anyhow there last 6 league games are as follows :- Gillingham (H) W 2-O (1-O until 9O min). Walsall... (H) W 1-O Brighton.. (a) W 1-O (5 Booked, playing against 1O men from 26mins) Oldham.... (a) L 2-1 (5 Booked, 2-O down until the 87 min.) Leeds..... (H) L 1-O (5 Booked, 1 s/o) Wycombe... (a) W 1-O Their 4 away wins this season have been at Brighton, Wycombe, Tranmere and Exeter, who imo are in the "bottom league" within L1. A more important fact is that they have had 5 players booked on 4 occasions this season usually when they are not getting things there own way in matches.

Give it up Skate, nothing beats your 2,371 (26th Sept 2000) for a 1st Team fixture (Even Bournemouth get higher gates than that). You lost the argument on attendance figures when only TWO THOUSAND could be bothered to turn up, or are you now going to tell us the Trawlers were in town that night and you were queued up down the docks to get your fresh fish.

They also said on Sky Sports that Grant turned down the DoF job at Chelsea earlier this year because he WANTED TO BE MANAGER of a Football Club. Taxi for Hart in the coming weeks I think.

Perhaps you should have passed these words of wisdom on to your "hero" last season after 8-10 games, he might have got rid of those 2 dutch clowns before they did the damage that AP is trying to correct.

I hope everyone reminds them that this Saturday is the 9th anniversary (26th Sept 2000) of a certain First Team fixture (league cup) against Blackburn (dunn,duff etc) , where the attendance figure at FP that night was 2,731. It is always nice to be reminded of of important dates in a clubs history.

Yes I went but left after about 70mins so I don't see the end. The event was structured in 3 parts. (1) All 20+ outfield players in 3 "teams" passing the ball in a "tight area" (guess at 25 yards by 15 yards) for 15 mins. Passing the ball between their "teammates" and running to occupy the space of the player they have just passed to. Typical "pass and move" type training without getting in the way of the other teams who are also in the same tight space. (2a) Wally took the Defenders up the Northam End to practice 2 against 2 situations and positional play for defending crosses. IMO this went well and I was impressed with what Wally was getting them to do. (2b) The Midfielder and Forwards stayed at the Chapel End and practiced buildup play for getting crosses in the box. There was mainly 2 movements, the m/f crossing the ball from 30 to 40 yards out and one of the forwards heads the ball sideways from the D or Pen spot for somebody to shoot. The 2nd play was for the m/f to play the ball in short to Saga or somebody with his back to the goal who would either turn and lay the ball out to the wing or play the ball back to the m/f to pass out to the wing. The winger was then expected to cross for the forwards to score. The crossing from both wings was SHOCKINGLY BAD imo. Very few were "clean crosses" into the danger area, most would not have got past the first defender at the near post. (3) For the final 30 mins or so until I left at 5:40) the 3 teams played 7 a side games with Team A playing Team B and Team C acting a "wall in a 5-a side game" / extra attackers who could cross the ball into the area. It was played on a pitch about 30 x 25 yards and is difficult to explain in words but gives a high energy/high-tempo game with lots of pressing of players. After 5 mins or so Team C would switch with team A, so that each group switched over. In this game I believe the players are only allowed one touch if they are running with the ball or 2 if they are controlling it and shooting (I think, it was never explained to the crowd). Hence Player A would pass to Player C would act like the wall in a 5-a-side game. In general I was impressed with the training, however there was no "set plays" from corners or long throws either as attackers or defenders. But if I think about it, that sort of training is probably best done behind close doors. The one MAJOR problem that I saw (apart from the crap crosses) was in the 1st part. I could not believe the number of players that are ONE FOOTED mostly the young kids that have come through OUR Academy. In the days when I did this I remember being told to use BOTH FEET, control with left pass with the right etc. it takes HALF the time. I kept my eyes on 2 young players (who have come into the first team in the last couple of seasons) who were controlling the ball with their right, then looking down, then looking up; then passing the ball with their right again. Adam L was probably the only player who was completely ok with both feet, a number of the older/imported players use of their weaker foot was ok, however I was SHOCKED at few who didn't seem to use their weak foot at all. (In my days it would have been 10 pressups on the spot for only using your strong foot all the time).

It is interesting to hear other people views on the 2 central midfield players. I thought we were poor in this area on Saturday and have gone "backward" from the improvement we have seen in the last couple of home games. What i expect to see at this level is :- (When we have the ball) (1) Is for the player to supports the front two with short passes to feet; (2) Makes runs BEYOND the front 2 down the inside right/left channels; (3) Bring the wide midfield players into the game rather than being struck out on the wing; (4) Make driving runs with the ball into the space between midfield and the forwards etc. etc. (When we don't have the ball - anything from 40% to 60% of the time) To be closing down to the opposition central midfield, either close enough to tackle or at least close enought to stop them putting their foot on the ball and getting their head up to pick a pass. As i said I thought we had gone backwards in this area on Sat and i fail to see what others see in Morgan. He never makes any runs BEYOND the forwards, he never RUNS WITH the ball into the space between midfield and forwards. He first option for a pass is usually to look square to the full back. He is usually 5 or 6 yards away from the person he is expected to mark in midfield which means our wide midfield players are always "tucking in" to do his defensive work for him. He might be a better player at a different level but I only see him as a "one trick" player who only ever attempts the 40 yard square pass to the fullback on the other wing, and when that pass is not on he usually has the ball taken off him. IMO James and Gillett (Ajax game) have BOTH played that role far better this season than Morgan.

I'm with Gordon on this one, the Radio Solent's sports bulletins in the morning are very anti Saints. They report when a skate player has learned to tie his shoelaces or something as irrelevant as that, but fail to give any news on Saints. They haven't even mention that Jaidi has got his work permit on any of the morning Sports bulletins yet !! Even this morning there was NO mention of Jaidi / Waigo / Holmes playing for the reserves tonight. In fact there was NO mention of the game at all. Earlier this year it was all about how Saints were going bust and how the skates were RUMOURED in one paper or another to be getting one top player after another. I had to logon here each morning to find out the truth about the rubbish that Radio Solent were putting out. Everytime Storyteller opens his mouth they seem to give over the whole of the Sports Bulletin to his rubbish and mis-information. It has been like this for a number of years. I can remember back in 2003 in our cup run we were due to play Wolves or Norwich on a Sunday afternoon and the DJ that morning (not their Sports Dept) said to the poor girl who was reading the weather and sports - "Do you think they will get promoted this year ?". To which she replied "I don't know anything about Football but I thought it was a cup game this afternoon". He then said something about "arry" and "promotion" etc. pure garbage !!! (p.s. the skates didn't even have a game that weekend because of the FA Cup.). Sorry FloridaMarlin (i know you have some connections to the local media ) but I'm with Gordon on this one.

Nothing to do with this thread but as i cannot start them I thought it would get noticed on this one. Radio Solent said this morning that the Saints Fans Forum is on Monday 21st Sept at 19:00 at St Marys. NO ticket is necessary this year, just turn up. NC, AP and KD will be present. John p.s. I wonder if the nutter who usually sits in the 2nd row and asks the 1st question about "how wonderful rupert is" will be there this year ? LOWE OUT !

There is only one person to blame for Saints problems and that is Rupert. It is clear a number of fans do not realise the problems he caused last year and turning around this mess will take most of this season, certainly until xmas at least. The demand for "instant success" was never going to happen this season because of the problems left over from last season, for example :- 1/ Fitness Levels: we were OUT RUN by 10 men yesterday (e.g. 1st 10 mins of 2nd half Adam breaking away down the right; colchester managed to get THREE players over to stop him while a number of players were standing with their hands on their hips taking a rest). The time when Fitness levels SHOULD have been addressed is in the first 3 weeks of training when that "clueless dutch clown" was playing friendlies against totton and eastleigh (what a joke). He SHOULD have had the players running up sand dunes in Scotland at that time. It will take a FEW MONTHS to get our fitness levels up to the required levels while we are playing games. 2/ Take the 10 point penalty, why did he tell somebody on the london underground that we were "in effect already in Administatration" some FIVE WEEKS before the 10 point deadline ? That penalty was not taken last season but delayed until a few days after the deadline imo to cause the maximum problems for the people coming after him. I am suprised at the number of good players AP has managed to get in but I bet there have been many others who have refused to come to us because of the 10 points. We need a good "No8" to work with ricky, but so did a number of other sides in this league and the ccc and the choice between a us on -10 and the others has probably meant we have lost out on a few players. 3/ AP has already mentioned that there was NO scouting network or watching of oppostion teams when he arrived at the club. WHO destroyed these NECESSARY functions within the Football Club, I think we all know or can guess. It will take weeks to get these functions up and running again. I am not saying AP is completely blameless for our problems, the standard of corner taking is p*ss poor (please get somebody who can take them with some pace on the ball). However, in general our delivery of balls into the box was shockingly poor yesterday AS IT HAS BEEN FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, it isn't something that AP has brought to the club it is something that is that has been there for a few years. rant over.

I see the promised "We will provide an update on the financials of the takeover the early part of next week." has now been put up on the blog :- http://dralfahim.blogspot.com/2009/08/al-fahims-portsmouth-takeover-details.html "..The cost of the loan is high, with around £5m due each year.. " "..next Sky tranche of revenue already spoken for" "One impact of Al Fahim's deal is that the club has not inconsiderable debts and this may make any new investment from external sources difficult to achieve."

Even their own players are talking about the "A" word :- http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/aug/16/david-james-portsmouth-takeover-finances Some quotes :- "...Hearing that dreaded word – administration ..." "...You can't help but start wondering whose fault is this?..." "...It all goes back to the age-old problem of football clubs existing beyond their means,..." "...This league is supposed to be bulletproof. But over the summer months, as we began to sell our players, those left in the dressing room couldn't help looking round and wondering, "Who's next?" ..."

The full list was printed in the Torygraph in April http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/5155041/Premier-League-fat-cats-cash-in-despite-recession.html We thought the Dark Lord was taking our club for a ride with his salary and perks (I believe around 650-750k in our PL days), but Storrie on either £1.2M or £2M a year seems well over the top for a club where "Admin" is mentioned at least once a week. Did the account at Company House ever get changed to £1.2M a year for that "curious slip-up", or was that just paper talk to keep the fans happy ?.