Fowllyd

Only the ones with windows apparently...

You could try the Bugle in Twyford, or maybe the Fox (formerly the Fox and Hounds) up the top of Crowd Hill outside Fair Oak. The food in both is very good. Or there's the Fishers Pond, also very good but a little pricey. The Prince Consort in Netley could be worth a try, though I haven't been there for a while.

Great job done by Nigel; among the things that I like best about him are his relentless positivity and refusal to gripe or whinge on the (admittedly infrequent) occasions when we lost. I've never heard him moan about the ref, the pitch, the way the opposition played - nothing like that, and I personally find it very refreshing. And, on top of all that, we've performed brilliantly, as the numbers show - and we've played some terrific stuff too.

Don't say I didn't warn you. I'm now going to sit and wait for the four horsemen to put in an appearance, as they're bound to be waiting in the wings. Or maybe I'm being a bit hasty, and they'll only ride in when GM expresses his love for all ex-pats...

I think this thread should be locked (or, better still, deleted) forthwith. If not, there's a horribly strong chance that Alpine will agree with you - openly and in full view of all. I'm not sure that the forum could take that.

Any one of the seven against Walsall at St Mary's.

I rather wonder if Adkins has kept Connolly back, in part at least, to ensure that when needed he'd be properly fit, not just fit enough to get on the pitch for a few minutes before returning to the treatment room. It's often the case that, when a player's been out for a long time, his comeback is punctuated by minor injuries, frequently unrelated to the one which brought about the lay-off in the first place. Connolly's been available to play for quite some time (according to what he and Adkins have said), but didn't even get on the bench until relatively recently. And, once Adkins considered him to be ready for action, he was all that and more. Having watched the Brentford highlights on Saints Player, I thought his turn before supplying Lallana for the first goal was superb. Guly got the ball and turned neatly, then passed it to Connolly, whose turn dumped his marker on his arse. The time he gained from that made it relatively easy to pick out the pass to Lallana which led to the goal. Superb bit of play. One other thought. Sometimes, a long-term injury can actually end up prolonging a player's career - assuming, of course, that he recovers fully from the injury. The time spent not playing also means less in the way of kicks, bumps, sprains, and other minor injuries - which, cumulatively, serve to shorten a player's career. It's possible that, if he's truly free from injury (and he certainly seems to be), Connolly could enjoy an Indian summer to his playing career with us. I hope he does.

Would any of the Saints supporters interviewed at Home Park care to out themselves on here?

Great achievement, especially given what he took over back in September. How many of the usual doubts and worries we Saints supporters feel (we always do it the hard way, we're bound to screw it up, we're not playing well enough, etc) have been assuaged? All of them, and for me that says so much. Difficult, crucial games have been won - and mostly pretty comfortably too. He's got the best out of the players at his disposal; that's just what a manager is meant to do, and also what all too many don't do (or certainly haven't for us!). Well done Nigel, great job. Now for the nPC (after a nice break of course!).

Throughout March and April we've played 14 games; we've won 11 of those, drawn one and lost two. We've won at Brighton (the first visiting team to do so this season); we've won at the grounds of more than one apparent 'bogey' team. What will we do if we actually play well I wonder? Agree with you about Huddersfield though!

So you expected a win at Brentford all along, but just one point from the other two games? Fair enough, I'd assumed your four points prediction included a loss on Saturday! However, it strikes me that this side is solid and professional enough to do what's needed when it's needed. We've come from behind to win crucial games, we've won other crucial games very comfortably indeed. The team's focus and concentration on the task in hand has never wavered. Today we'll win again - roll on five o'clock!

Fully expecting a win and yet another clean sheet; that said, I'll be very happy indeed when five o'clock comes - with no shadow!

Maybe the point here is that you're talking about weather, not climate. Climate scientists aren't particularly interested in whether it'll rain in Southampton on any given afternoon.

RIP Henry. Great boxer, as his fight against Ali showed.

You also thought we'd only get four points from our last three games - now we've got three points from the first of those games. I'm sure you were certain we'd lose yesterday. Do you really think we'll only manage one point from the two games to come, or are you just adjusting your pessimism to suit the circumstances? I fully expect us to get six points from our remaining fixtures.

Died today, aged 53. Those who saw or heard her and the X-Ray Spex will never forget them. Musically inventive, lyrically brilliant and great fun. RIP Poly.

Perhaps the most interesting thing in that interview was the discussion of the play-offs - a lot of talk about last year's failure, and how they'll do it better this time. Sounded to me as if Huddersfield have the play-offs uppermost in their minds. Then again, so they should!

I think we need to forget all this 'Brighton not wanting to do us a favour' or 'Brighton not wanting us to get second spot' stuff. They're champions already; when it came to the game against us there was plenty said before and after, though mostly from Poyet and their supporters rather than the players. But now, why would they care? Their match against Huddersfield will be decided by who wants it more and who plays better on Saturday, not any considerations of what will happen to us. Footballers are professionals; they can't let third-party considerations bother them. From Brighton's perspective: It's their last home game of the season, and their last ever at the Withdean - they'll want to go out on a big high note; They'll be parading the League One trophy around the ground - another part of the big occasion, so they won't want to spoil it by losing; Clark and Poyet aren't exactly bestest of friends after the game at the Galpharm; They can still get to a hundred points in the season - quite an achievement. From Huddersfield's perspective: They know they have to win; any other result won't do; They can do the double over Brighton - no other team has done that this season; Clark and Poyet as above, though maybe less so from their side (they won the last match, and Poyet seems to be the big grudge-holder). To look at it another way; when we played our last real match at the Dell, we had to win it. It didn't matter to either team in terms of league position (or certainly not in any major way) but it mattered like hell to that Saints team. Doesn't mean that Brighton are destined to win, of course, but I think that any thoughts of them taking it easy are massively misplaced. It's possible that they'll be less up for it than Huddersfield, but if that is the case it will because they're home already - nothing to do with us and our fate. All that said, I fully expect us to win all three remaining games anyway.

It's not a superiority complex; a feeling of superiority maybe, but that's not the same thing. A superiority complex is when someone considers himself or herself to be superior to others (often all others), even though there is no justification for this feeling. If anything, I'd say that it's Pompey who have the superiority complex, as they believe their team to be superior (on the basis of trophies won a lifetime ago) and will maintain this belief even when we're a couple of divisions above them. The behaviour of Brighton and Bournemouth (and of course their supporters) certainly indicates some level of inferiority complex, but that's a different matter altogether! When we become, once again, the top team on the south coast then we'll have every right to feel superior to the other south coast clubs - it won't be a superiority complex at all. That said, I'd agree with SOG's comment above - smug, self-satisfied arrogance is an unattractive trait, wherever you may find it.

Nice pictures, but it's quite possible that a defender who's not in shot is actually playing Guly on. That one behind the grassy knoll, perhaps...

To be fair, though, most P*mpey fans don't know why they call us 'scum'. And those that claim they do are basing it on a non-existent event. That said, it's pretty lame just copying a term of abuse from another set of fans, which both Brighton and Bournemouth fans appear to be doing.

Great minds and all that - I was just thinking exactly the same thing, but I couldn't remember which match Williams was injured in. With him fit all season we would pretty certainly have won the FA Cup, and had a real go at the league as well.

One of the responses on the News site, from a chap calling himself denmeadblue, seems remarkably intelligent: It'll be interesting to see if he gets any response from the more rabid element...

My thoughts exactly.

I think you'll find that the badge in that picture is on one of the 'crinkled' shirts from the late 1980s. Apparently the players didn't like those shirts either, as they used to confuse them with crinkle-cut oven chips, sometimes with disastrous consequences. I think it's safe to say that we won't be going for a 'crinkled' shirt design again, so you can rest easy.