BallBoy

The key factor was that we had to lose 6-0 to miss out on promotion. We made sure that didn't happen. Having said that it was a lousy game but who cared.

I do not like the way Poyet presents his views. The fact is I just don't like him but that doesn't mean I can't give credence to some of his views. There is another thread on this site where the majority of contributors say it is not homophobic to chant mild insults to Brighton fans just because they come from Brighton. It is just banter. I agree with this. Chanting a little bit of banter does not make all the participants homophobes. Equally the use of a bit of colourful language towards a person of differing culture does not make someone a racist. Being a racist or homophobe means that you hate or want to do harm to those people or believe that you are intrinsically superior to them. It is the incorrect use of the terms racist or homophobe that are at the root of this problem.

I doubt that we will ever get to see the whole build up to our third goal. The Football League Show isn't long enough! It was just fantastic. Barcelona would have been proud of it and if Messi had scored we would have seen it time and time and time again. One touch football just mesmerising the Boro defence and patiently waiting for the killer ball. Lambert was brilliant to keep holding until the right moment. Loved it!

Derby had a full house expecting to do better. This will feel like a defeat to them. We are showing ourselves to be as good as any team in this league and better than most. If the team can keep believing we will be there or thereabouts at the end.

I thought the point of singing songs was to support and encourage our team.

My overall impression of pre-season is that we can create goals and score goals but we are also conceding too many. I know this is only practice but defensive mistakes will be punished in the real world. They could be the difference between being low to mid table or challenging for promotion. I would really like to see a solid, experienced centre back to partner Fonte. That would make me feel much better.

That's just the point. Lawrie had CHARISMA which, sadly I think, Adkins lacks. I know this will sound like a personal criticism but he does look like a maths teacher. The sweater does not help. I really hope that the money, potential, training ground and structure will help convince the quality players we need that they should come. I think that we need a "marquee" signing to help show the way. Others would follow. Kevin Nolan was a good signing for this league. I am not sure Adkins would have even thought of that sort of signing. I do believe that Adkins is a very good coach and he has built a very solid team ethic. He has excellent qualities but he is no Keegan or Lawrie. It is my only question mark about him.

I think this is probably spot on but who IS Jordan Sibley?

He should have taken CMFG to Chelsea with him! This is spot on. Marsden got the best out of Bridge and then we got the money but we never came close to replacing him. I would have him back tomorrow but his wages must be stratospheric.

Best, a toss up between Chris Marsden (relatively cheap) and Alan Ball who cost a bit more but was worth his weight in gold as a captain who got the best out of the other McMenemy superstars. Worst was possibly Jim Montgomery from Sunderland. He was famous for winning the cup for Sunderland in '73 and he was a decent keeper but he totally bombed for us. Disappeared without trace.

I find it difficult to understand the mindset of those who want to sell our brightest young assets. When did it ever pay us to do that? You just cannot replace a Channon, Shearer, Le Tissier, Walcott or Bale. The same applies to Oxo and Lallana. We should regard them as the future for our club and hang on to them as long as we possibly can. Shearer was the prime example. We sold and got Dixon and Speedie in return! We did not improve. Apart from anything else I love watching Oxo in a Saints shirt. Why cash that in unless we have no choice at all. Keeping our best players will be a message of intent to other teams and to us fans.

Billy Davies fails. What a shame.

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.