Lymington Saint

Problem was in midfield and up front. Aribo and Smallbone really struggled. Was better late on when they were replaced. What was Armstrong and Diaz hugging opposite touchlines all about? Think RM needs to bring in some of the new guys from the start at Brentford

We have had this before. The problem is that the spur from the docks line westwards to Central was filled in and is now part of the school playing fields. So even if the old Northam station was rebuilt trains could only go north. The place for a matchday station is actually north of Northam road on the main line. Unfortunately there is a traincare depot there now and there isn't room. Think that we are stuck with having to walk back to Central. Although I would love to see the bridge over the railway rebuilt to be twice as wide to stop the bottleneck going up the steps I agree with you about improving the existing facilities. SMS was built as a functional stadium without too many frills. I can't imagine that the economics of expanding SMS are that great. Much as a 40k+ stadium would be great, if SMS was 35-36k, then I think that it would be enough.

https://www.westhamzone.com/transfers/west-ham-united-ready-to-open-exit-talks-now-in-new-flynn-downes-transfer-update/ This just popped up on my phone. No idea how reliable it is but would like it to be true

Frank worthington. Caused an accident on a motorway and drove off as he had a speaking engagement. Got a hefty ban. Also appeared in court in US numerous times for driving offences

Just watched it. Not an easy watch, but in an odd sort of way an uplifting programme. One fantastically brave man. If you haven't watched it then it is really worth picking up on iPlayer. Given all the nonsense going on in the world at the moment it does kind of put things into perspective

I am another one with it stuck in my head. Have a look at the vid below. Not sure who they are, but the footage of the post final whistle celebrations from 12:12 in is pretty good

McC commanded his box brilliantly yesterday. Couple of his punches went miles. Baz just isnt big enough to be a top keeper

We seem to have a plan B. 3 centre backs with wing backs really suits the players that we have. RM set us out yesterday to be hard to beat and Leeds barely had a sniff at goal. Play 4-3-3 as at the start of the season and we will get regularly hammered next season. It's not as good to watch, but way more effective against better sides.

In rugby the ref is miked up and clearly in charge. He asks what he wants checked it is put up on the screen and everyone can hear the conversation. In football the VAR team are in charge which undermines the refs. The idea of VAR is good but the execution is terrible. Had we had VAR at the LC Final then Gabbiadinis first goal would have stood.

I seem to remember that he was interviewed for the Saints job in the early 2000's while still at Preston. Wanted to bring his coaching team with him (normal in football), but Rupert Lowe wanted him to work with the existing coaching staff (normal in most businesses). Showed RL's lack of understanding of how football works (again). Would have been interesting to see what would have happened. We ended up with WGS, which was great until he realised that he couldn't work with RL any more.

Main memory is Derby kicking Gareth Bale out of the game at St Marys. Typical Billy Davies side.

Agree with most of the comments here. Rothwell's one redeeming feature is that he knows how to hit a football cleanly. Looks lost in midfield though. Brooks is clearly talented, but just doesnt work hard enough and disrupts the team. Neither fits RMs way of playing

Think it would have been simpler to make the league cup just for EFL clubs and stick with replays in the FA cup. This would free up midweek dates early in the season for Prem teams if that is what they want

So given that we aren't going to finish top 2, who do we want to finish 3rd? i.e. assuming that we don't mess up the play-off semis (big if given our current collapse in form). then who do we want to play at Wembley. My view is that our best chance is if Ipswich finish 3rd - even though we have lost to them twice this season.

I can't ever remember a more frustrating season. On the plus side, when plan A is working well, we are good to watch and teams struggle to live with us. Apart from the lack of a goal-scoring centre forward, the problem is the lack of a plan B for those teams that stifle our normal Russball. And a seeming lack of game management from 60 minutes onwards. Substitutions that disrupt the team structure, and an inability to see games out. RM seems to lack any kind of flexibility, which good managers need. Plus he clearly has his favourites (Manning, Stephens, Brookes) In 2011/12, we were blowing teams away up until Christmas, then got worked out by Bristol City at the end of December. NA, bless him, changed things around in the New Year and we got promoted. If we don't get promoted this year, then I can see next season being a rerun of this season.

I have a funny feeling that we are going to win this one, although this might come back to bite me. TBH I would rather Leeds and Leicester finish top 2 as I really wouldnt fancy our chances against either of them in the playoffs. Think that we could beat Ipswich in the playoffs.

Baz is 22 and still learning his trade. He was thrown in the deep end last season when he should have been out on loan. This season has been better, but still some weaknesses. Be interesting to see where he is in 2 or 3 years time. My view is that he wont be a top 6 prem keeper but decent. I think that some of the criticisms on this thread are a bit harsh.

Wonder if it was planned for Wednesday and got forgotten yesterday

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

Light My Fire?

Relax. The club are flying a kite. This is not happening any time soon. Council and Police have not agreed it and are unlikely to do so.

It's Downes we need. Smallbone is a much better player with Downes alongside him. I would play Mara down the middle. AA is also really good at chasing back when playing in the wide role. Brookes is very talented but doesn't chase back as much. Which exposes Manning's limitations. And I know that he scored two cracking goals last Saturday, but not sure that Rothwell is quite up to speed yet either. RM has got some decisions to make tomorrow. Really cant afford another loss.

Think some of the posters are being harsh on Baz for the first goal. Watch it closely. The shot came in with lots of top spin. Bit like you see in tennis. Rather than go in a straight line it dipped viciously and bounced just in front of him. And it was hit hard. Having played in goal at local league level I can tell you that the biggest problems come with shots where the ball is moving around. You start your dive expecting the ball to be in one place only to find it's somewhere else and goes past you. I actually thought Baz had a decent game. I lost count of the number of times that he was an emergency sweeper. Hope RM has learnt from yesterday. Especially first half. We play with full backs that like to bomb forward, and defend narrow. Huddersfield played three up front and were knocking balls in behind the full backs. Be interesting to see what side starts on Tuesday and how we shape up. Bonkers game but hugely enjoyable.

Just back. We were dreadful for an hour and only picked up once the four subs were made. RM will have learnt quite a bit from that - mostly negative. Holgate is not a full back, Stephens is ponderous on the ball, Meghoma looks promising, Rothwell is simply not up to speed with how we play, Alcarez was trying to make things happen but kept giving the ball away, Mara is better through the middle and Dibling is not ready yet. Once the subs were made we were much better and moved the ball quicker. The unbeaten run has been based on a settled team who have learnt to play the way that RM wants. Make too many changes and we look like we did at the start of the season. Just have to hope that we dont get a rush of injuries.

Ipswich have one win in the last seven games. Hardly auto promotion form. Really cant see them picking up points at the same rate as in the first half of the season. Keep up our current form - we will lose some games - and think we will finish second. And at the start of the season we would all have been happy with that