Fowllyd

Would we have to use fish paste for that?

Well, I think that if you liked the manager we had you'd be happy to give him time in the job - it's only natural that people will be more patient if they feel the right decision has been made on a managerial appointment in the first place. Last season many were dismayed at the appointment of Poortvliet because he had no experience in this country, no experience at our (then) level and a track record showing little real success. This season many were happy with Pardew's appointment because he has all the things that Poortvliet lacked. So yes, those same people are more inclined to give Pardew time to get things right. You don't like Pardew, so you're not. As I said before, I don't think there are double standards here; more that the circumstances are distinctly different. Incidentally, I'm not at all convinced that putting the fear of god into the players is a good idea - that fear may simply be reflected in their play. A good manager should recognise how different players respond and how to motivate them; some need a kick up the arse, some need an arm round the shoulder (and yes, I know that's a shocking cliché). I hope that Pardew is capable of this, but only time will tell if this is the case or not. I do agree that fitness levels almost certainly aren't what they should be, and I'm sure that's an area that Pardew is addressing.

Just worked for me in Firefox - always does, come to that.

So what's your key criterion for a good manager then? Remaining dignified when things are going a bit crazy? Wotte failed abysmally as our manager, and any dignity he showed in attempting to hang onto his job can't erase that simple fact. But apparently it did change your opinion of him. And what will it take for you to give Pardew a chance? By your own admission (albeit tacit) he'd have to deliver promotion to the Prem this season in order for you to even say he's maybe not too bad. As I pointed out in an earlier post there are numerous areas in which Pardew, on current performance, is doing far better than either Poortvliet or Wotte did. No double standards there.

Good post, though I reckon that Pardew will be very keen to keep hold of Lallana, especially if he carries on playing the way he did on Tuesday. Me, I reckon an upper-mid-table finish is feasible; maybe better, but that would be exceeding my expectations.

John, look at the records of both Poortvliet and Wotte before they came to us and you really won't find a catalogue of success for either. As to financial constraints, a key reason for Poortvliet's appointment (trumpeted on the OS at the time) was his apparent ability to produce the goods while working within tight budgetary constraints. In which task he failed quite abjectly at Saints. Quite simply, he wasn't up to the job.

Well, let me see now. Perhaps it's because Pardew has managed teams successfully at this level, the level above this one and the one above that. As opposed to having a record of pretty much unremitting failure, and at levels lower than the CCC (and probably than League 1 as well). Or perhaps it's because in his short time here Pardew's signed good players (Lambert, Jaidi, Harding, Hammond) and brought good players in on loan (Trotman certainly, Papa Waigo quite possibly). As opposed to Paul Wotton, Tony Pulis, Ryan Smith, Romain Gasmi, Tomas Peckhart, Wossname Robertson. (I'll give Poortvliet Schneiderlin, but he's only starting to look like he might fulfil his promise now he's playing alongside an experienced midfielder.) Or perhaps it's because many people can see signs of improvement in the team, and believe that these will continue over the season(s) to come, as opposed to occasional blips of decent performance in an otherwise dismal season. See The9's post above as an example of that (I'm citing him because I know him and I know that he wasn't massively enthused about Pardew's appointment at the time). Actually, Poortvliet and Wotte shouldn't have been appointed in the first place, but I, like many others, was more than willing to see what they could do. Unfortunately, what they couldn't do quickly became rather clearer than what they could.

Close, but no cigar. The best way (I think) is to highlight the text you want in bold, then press Ctrl+b on your keyboard. Like this. It puts the marks Wes mentioned round the text, as you'll see if you quote this post.

I guess you could argue that the source of the email doesn't matter, given the eventual outcome - but it certainly is an intriguing question. Very good article I must say - makes me feel even more hopeful for out future, which is a distinctly odd feeling after the past few years!

Yes, I realise that. You suggested replacing our two central midfielders with two left-footed wide midfielders - Mills and Holmes for Schneiderlin and Hammond. That would have left Waigo, Mills, Holmes and Mellis as the midfield (or Lallana rather than Waigo if the latter moved up front alongside Lambert). I was just trying to check that was what you really meant.

So are you saying that our midfield should have consisted of Waigo, Holmes, Mills and Mellis?

Indeed. I'd been thinking about a 3-2 home defeat I saw six months or so back. On that occasion we were playing Charlton, the only team below us in the CCC, and we still had a decent chance of avoiding relegation (or at least of getting relegated by the 10-point penalty rather than by our own hand). But in that match we pretty much rolled over and let them have the points. It was a dreadful, gutless performance at a time when we had plenty to play for. Last night we played really well for much of the game and, had we taken one of the chances we had at 2-1, we would most likely have won. We lost our shape badly in the last 20 minutes, which suggests to me that there are still fitness issues within the squad. But there was a spirit about the team which was totally lacking in that Charlton game, and for most if not all of last season. As Camberwell says, building a team takes time; yes, there are signs of improvement, but at present we're still a work in progress.

Sad news indeed, and I hope Chris will come through this - she'll have Ron beside her all the way, supporting her as she's done for him. My thoughts with you both.

Not sure if this has been posted elsewhere, so... http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/PreviewDetail/0,,10280~1811318,00.html Looks like Thomas at right back tonight, then. Also good to see that Murty and McLaggon are approaching full fitness.

Actually, I took it for deliberate self-parody on Dalek's part. Never thought he had it in him, mind...

A lazy answer there I think. Human rights legislation is frequently used to justify inaction, which is what Luker has done here. But, if keeping away fans in the ground for ten minutes would infringe their human rights, how come it happens every week in most football grounds around the country? I haven't noticed any football clubs being taken to court by rights-hungry away fans.

I think we're forgetting the influence of Dean Wilkins here. How could AP fail to be swayed as DW regales him with tales of his brother's elevation to the Chelsea captaincy at the tender age of 18? Surely AP will give youth a chance and appoint his on-field skipper accordingly. So, Schneiderlin it is then. For the hard of humour, this is a joke. OK, it's not a very good one. So sue me.

Well now, you can look mighty clever by looking up quotations on the old innernet - and all the more so if they're in a furrin langwidge - but when you can't distinguish between 'oppose' and 'opposed' it does blow that affected erudition away somewhat.

I can only assume that you didn't bother to actually read Duncan's original post, preferring to jump to your own conclusion about what it may have said. Either way, your post says far more about your dislike of Duncan than it does about his views on Liebherr et al.

We won, Pompey lost, Sussex got stuffed and are near-certainties for relegation. Don't think a Saturday can get much better than this... :)

I'd guess you're probably pretty good at hockey then, but not - in this instance at least - as good as you are at missing the point...

Pardew's answer was pretty bland though really; I doubt he'd have simply said that he thought Gillett was crap, even if he thought that (and no, I'm not suggesting that he does). If the Fat Controller had asked too searching a question, Pardew's answer might well have been along the lines of "If you mind your own business then you won't be minding mine".

To be honest, I don't see any dichotomy here. It's perfectly possible for something to be important but not urgent, after all. I'd guess that Cortese sees the sporting director as an important long-term (or you could say strategic) appointment, but not one that he's going to rush into. You could also argue that the more important the appointment, the more reason for taking one's time about making it.

You'll have to introduce your relative to J_Bizzle - I'm sure they'll get on like a house on fire!

How about the tune of 'The Peanut Vendor'? That's the one that Golden Wonder used for many years in their peanut adverts; I'm sure plenty of people will remember that. But if you want the tune, it's here: Papa Waigo - from Senegal, Papa Waigo - scores lots of goals... Get that going as a chant, and you then need a few more to take up the Waaiiiigooo!! bit. Simple enough to catch on, but maybe needs better words that I can come up with...