BallBoy

I have just one little thing to add: If Chamberlain were to go to Arsenal then he would be in direct competition with one Theo Walcott on the right wing. Walcott is all of, what 22 years of age, and a regular for both Arsenal and England. This does not sound like the brightest career move to me. I personally think Chamberlain will develop to be as good if not better than Walcott but he does not need to go out of his way to compete with him.

I wish I could really believe this but I do agree if we score the 1st goal it could kill them off.

I am actually a little concerned that the game has sold out so early. I hope people are not just assuming that it will be a party. I rather suspect we will be held to a draw on Monday so we will still need to win against Walsall. The last thing we need is an expectant crowd getting impatient. We have seen it before with full houses. The whole crowd need to get behind the team and support them. This is a slightly pessimistic view I know but this is too important for the glory hunters to come with unrealsitic expectations of a goal feast.

Massive, massive win against the odds with so many injuries. This needed real character. Huddesfield must be more sick today than we were yesterday. We are really in the driving seat now.

Make no mistake, Huddersfield will take great heart from their result today. It was a great win, under pressure, away to a top 6 side. The downside for them is that they know we "only" have to win 4 of our last 5 games to guarantee promotion. That's only if they win all 3 of their remaining games, including a trip to Brighton. I really wanted them to drop points today but it's still in our hands. It sickens me that they only had 3 shots on goal. Watch Walsall too. We don't a relegation/promotion dog fight on the last day.

Couldn't be worse. 2 shots, 2 goals. MK miss a penalty. Feels like the gods are against us!

I accept that people "have the right" to leave whenever they wish and a few may even have good reason but that does not make it any easier for me to understand, especially on Saturday. Anything could have happened and the sight of people leaving cannot help the players. For me, one of the best parts of Saturdays game was to see Barney pounding down to the corner flag in injury time just to ensure the ball stayed there. Every sinew was straining and he deserved all the support he could get. You can't support from the concourse or Britannia Road!

Anybody remember actually winning the Cup? OK it maybe wasn't a game for the neutral or the purist as we played a holding game but we were really, really good considering who we were playing. Nobody expected us to win, perhaps not even most of the fans but we did win and we deserved it. There has never been another game with that level of tension and joy. So glad I am old enough to have been there. For brilliant football and elation the 6-3 and the 3-2 wins over United were fantastic. (There seems to be a theme here!) For my other one I am with Eric. Mickey Channons testimonial 2 days after the Cup Final. Nobody cared about the football. It was just a magic night. My bones are still shaking.

We should have the advantage but it's impossible to call. I would have preferred to get these games out of the way but but we have ended up with 3 games in 8 days at the end of the season. We play Plymouth on the bank holiday Monday just 2 days after Brentford. Any injuries or suspensions and we are in trouble. I think this is poor planning as we could be under severe pressure of having to catch up at this stage. If we are 2nd on 30th April then we will be fine but if not, then it will be "squeaky bum time".

I am delighted withthis win. Cochester had only lost two at home this season so this counts as a good, solid win when still not at our best. I would be ecstatic if other teams around us had dropped points but they all just keep plugging away and our occasional "off days" let us down badly. The table is shaping up for Brighton to keep running away and 5 others to be chasing 2nd place. I think teams currently below 6th are beginning to slowly drop away. Next weeks game and other games against our closest rivals are looking to be crucial now. I do think we are in a good position but the team needs to really believe in itself and stop dropping silly points.

Just the result we needed in my opinion. It's great to win by several clear goals but you have to be able to grind out results as well. We did that tonight. It shows resilience, confidence to keep going forward and mental strength. We will need all of that to get out of this league.

I cannot cope with reading all 16 pages on this thread but those I have read seem to be happy to sell if the price is "right". I am not. We have previous on all this. We never replaced Shearer, Walcott or Bale with decent, like for like players. We ended up worse off in every case. We cannot produce or buy another Chamberlain. We have nurtured him and it would be crazy to let him go now with just days of the window left. If we really want promotion then we need to keep him and ADD to the squad. Also, how is it that Wenger can get away with his comments when the player is still contracted to us? And another point, why on earth do Arsenal need another winger? I want Chamberlain to stay.

The great thing about our recent results is that we now finally have our destiny in our own hands. It has been a long time since we have been in that position. It feels good. Makes the thought of going back to work tomorrow just about bearable.

No silver linings that I can think of. A lousy, lousy day. I knew Brentford would not be easy but no goals, two poor defensive errors and almost all other results going against us. I was unable to go today. It is just horrible sitting at home and watching everything go wrong. A Charlton win tomorrow will put us 7 points off 2nd place. Some other results went for us but today was an opportunity badly missed.

I havn't felt this good about a result for a long time. We cannot be complacent but, in a very tight division, we are well and truly in the mix now with a winnable game on Tuesday. We absolutely MUST follow this up with a win. We are in this position after another shocking start to the season and still too many players not at their best yet. In theory there is better to come. Good sustitutions and a solid win today. I am really chuffed. Makes the weekend feel much better.

For me it has to be Marian. We plucked him from total obscurity and he instantly became a top class premiership player. He had pace, courage, skill, two good feet (was he right or left footed?) and a killer instinct in front of goal. He could light up a game by himself. Such a shame that it ended so ignominiously.

I thought this was a really good game to watch. Oldham are no mugs and made it really hard for us. They were snapping at our heels the whole game and it was difficult to get a clean pass away, let alone a shot. They reminded me of Derby under Billy Davies when they came and spoiled their way to a result in the play off. Most importantly we won the game with a touch of pure brilliance by Chamberlain. Descriptions of the goal I have seen so far do not do it justice. There was nothing on when he collected the ball on the edge of the penalty area with a mass of players in front of him. He took it through them with magical feet and pace to plant a perfect shot in the far corner. We will not see many better this season. This lad is another gem from the production line that brought us Channon, Tiss, Walcott and Bale among others. We need to nurture him carefully.

Lots of positives today: Guly looked a class act and his running created both goals. Lambert, Puncheon. Hammond and Seabourne all improved and more involved. Lallana makes a real difference. He makes things happen. Defence rock solid but rarely troubled. Adkins has actually managed to teach them how to keep playing from the back without playing the "out" ball straight to Lambert. Barnard looked lively and his touch was better. Only negative was the relatively easy chances fluffed in the last 10 minutes.

I am not a regular poster and I certainly will never get involved in personal criticism BUT I have to say that I agree with saintjay. I would love to know what MLT and Lawrie really think about our club so somebody saying that they know but their not telling is pretty irritating. So no more teasing please.

What if the "structure" is actually the problem. Lowe wanted too much involvement in football matters and I suspect Cortese does too.

Probably not original but Mourinho failed to win his first league game at Real Madrid. That means, in this crazy football world, he must be available now! It's him or that Italian chap......What's his name?........Oh yes......Capello.

I agree with RedArmy that we havn't actually been crap. We have largely overwhelmed both opponents so far but we are still below our best. We just cannot afford to drop points so easily if we are going to seriously challenge for automatic promotion. It is hugely dissapointing. I really thought we could hit the ground running this season but too many players are below their best. Lambert is clearly carrying too much weight. He has the turning circle of a double decker bus. Lallana and Puncheon are below par. Jaidi scares me. I am mystified as to why this always happens to us.

I love the Keegan stories. What a fantastic day that was. Mums seem to play a big part in these tales. Wasn't it lovely when Mums stayed at home and always told the truth! I was at work and, yes, my Mum called to tell me. She wasn't the only one. The news spread like wildfire through the office. Everyone was going round saying "have you heard?" We all concluded it must be true because our Mums said so. Magic.

I'm with Scweinsteiger too. He is not flamboyant but he controls games. He is immensely strong, intelligent and skilful. Never seems to be under pressure, makes good decisions, defends and attacks with equal proficiency. Fabulous player. He must be our BIG announcement on Friday!

I could not be bothered to read all of the comments on this thread but the first couple of pages gave a pretty good idea of the general attitude. I rather suspect that if these sentences had been handed out to Pompey fans for the same offences then some of these comments would have been totally different. Pompey fans would probably have deserved such harsh sentences because........well they are Pompey fans. I personally think that some of these sentences were probably on the harsh side but none of these people had to be there and none of them had to get involved. They could have walked away. The fact is that they wanted to be there and they wanted to make trouble and they knew that other innocent fans would be terrorised. It is difficult to feel too much sympathy.