Professor

Fantastic season for The Albion. They have the basis of a successful Championship team, a massive increase in income next season from gates of 20,000 instead of 7,000 and a local chairman who is a genuine supporter with the money to back them. If they can hold on to Poyet I can see them doing better than Saints, even if we do move up with them.

On the Solent commentary, Dave Merrington was pointing out the weakness being created by the midfield format and predicting that Rochdale would benefit from it well before they scored the first goal. After the same problem last week of lack of width and pressure on the FBs it is a shame that NA seems not to have learned the lesson. Its not as if we don't have wide players and the change was made, but by then it was too late.

Brighton haven't lost at home since Sept when Orient beat them in the JPT but they haven't played either of the teams most likely to beat them, the 2nd and 3rd placed sides! Not that it matters as far as top spot is concerned, as Brighton only need 8 points out of 18 to be uncatchable but it does mean that people factoring in a defeat at Brighton for either us or Huddersfield in the 2nd place race, should be prepared for the opposite result as well. In every game Saints need to do as well as Huddersfield or better, always allowing that results do not go so bad as to let Peterborough back in the race. Saint Bobby's assessment of chance is impressive and really interesting, but on the other hand we have to remember that this is not a game of roulette where random outcomes can only be assessed by laws of averages. In football, a good team can have a long string of wins, not because of chance but because they are better than the opponent teams, hence Brighton's 8 wins in March and Huddersfield's 20 F1 league games without defeat since they lost to Saints on 28 Dec. Until Huddersfield drop another 2 or 3 points from a draw or a defeat, which may or may not happen, Saints must assume that with 7 games to play, 15 points are needed for 2nd place. I expect Adkins to be taking the same line and on that basis he will always pick the best team and substitutes that he has available, game by game. He won't rest a player to save him for the next game but he will rest injuries that might flare up during a game. That I think is why he had Lallana on the bench on Saturday showing he will use an injured player as a sub if the need is there and it would strengthen the team.

Thanks for the entertainment chaps. Back to the points needed. If Hudders have 73 points and 6 games to play that looks like a max of 91 points. Saint Bobby, with his love of betting, called the chances of them winning those 6 games 100/1, deeply unlikely and a miracle. True Hudders have 3 hard games in the run in but their opponents may have less to play for. Brighton managed 8 wins on the trot and Saints have just done 6 wins out of 7, so 91 for Hudders has to be the assumption until it cannot be. Saints on 71 points and superior goal difference makes 91 points our current target, hence the 20 points from here that has been mentioned. 20 points from 8 games, from a possible 24, so its still a hard task. It may get easier depending on how results go, but we can only know that as match days pass, which is why Adkins can only say we have to take one game at a time. Peterborough's maximum points total is currently 88, and again the GD means we only have to equal them to beat them. So 17 points from 8 games to stay ahead of The Posh. How likely is it that Saints can achieve 20 points? It needs 7 wins, or 6 wins and 2 draws. 5 wins is not enough. But for 17 points, 5 wins will do with 2 draws and a defeat. On that basis it must be better that Posh beat Hudders as that reduces our target from 20 to 17. A draw would reduce the target to 18 points, but a win by Hudders leaves us still looking at 20. If other results in future weeks reduce the target that would be a bonus, but can't be counted on.

Disapointed this thread should even have been opened, but Turkish set the tone with asterisked and initialised obscenities. BWP did as well for Saints as his ability allowed, which is about as much as can be asked of any player. He left under a cloud but that is no reason other than to show appreciation for someone who used to play for the club and who tried as best he could to help the team win its games.

What shall we say about that............

As one of those not at the game yesterday, thanks to everyone for the info posted on this thread. A real insight into a game I missed and genuinely appreciated. I was actually on a 12 mile walk along the Wylye Valley and when I checked the score about 4.30 Brighton were 2-1 up and we were 2-1 down. Got to the end of the walk in Warminster at 5pm and checked again to confirm the sad news - AND COULDN'T BELIEVE IT! Well done Saints, Adkins, Fans, just brilliant.

As a 17-yr old born and bred in Plymouth, it'll be no surprise if Jack Stephens and his parents ar not keen on him moving to London or Liverpool, and certainly not the North East. The geography favours us and as he's already played in L1 as a 16-yr old he must be a genuine prospect. If Plymouth weren't desparate for some cash - its reported that their players are going unpaid and are relying on loans from the PFA - they wouldn't be moving on a player at his age who will be worth a whole lot more in a year or two. If there is a fee of £170k it will be an excellent investment. Sorry for the Pilgrims who have had a real slump in the last couple of years. It would be very sad if they fold as we need more teams in the south, not less.

After the Court hearing in February, it was reported by The Echo that no plea was entered by Barnard's solicitor following which the case was adjourned to 31 March. It's now reported that this hearing, now postponed to 13th April, is for a committal to Crown Court. Since there has been no hearing in the lower court, committal to the Crown Court cannot be because the Magistrates regard the case as too serious for them, as they haven't heard the evidence. It seems more likely that Barnard's lawyers have told the magistrates clerk that Barnard will plead Not Guilty and wishes to opt for trial by jury. We'll have to see if this is correct, but it could mean the matter not being resolved until after the season is over. It's maybe jumping ahead somewhat, because if Barnard did not do the assault, or was provoked, or did not intend injury, he may get off or get a light sentence, but if he is guilty as charged, he will look like something of a thug, and despite his ability on the field may not be a player that SFC would want on its books.

Brighton are far from being a 'tinpot' club. They have a millionaire backing them (Tony Bloom), have a new state of the art stadium that will open in time for their first game in the Championship in August, and they have sponsorship from American Express, which sounds a little more impressive than our new shirt sponsors, who none of us had ever heard of. As for 'fluking' the league, they are unbeaten at home and are 10 points ahead of Saints. In three games since we were relegated we've failed to beat them and they won 3-1 at the SMS last season. In Poyet they also have a respected manager with his own football legacy at the highest levels. As for us going up via a guaranteed win in the Playoffs, there is no such thing. In the play-offs no club is guaranteed getting to the final, let alone winning it. In the play-offs anything can happen with a 3-1 chance against getting promoted. We've just had an excellent run of 4 wins and that is the way to get promoted. Maybe if it hadn't been for the injuries to arguably our best two players, we would have won against Charlton but the fact remains that it was one of our games in hand and we got 1 point from it, not 3. I remain hopeful of promotion, but far from confident, whereas Brighton could lose to us, Colchester and Huddersfield and still go up.

Nothing to moan about the signing - until we see him play we can't have an informed opinion, so is it OK just to moan about the ingratiating post?

Sorry Mr Alpine Saint as I do like and agree with many of your posts, but no team ever 'settles' for less than is achieveable. Teams continue to try to win every game, the question is whether the team proves to be good enough to do that. So, Saints won't 'settle for the playoffs' but it may prove to be all they are capable of, with much also depending on how the competition at the top of the table perform. No team will win every game, and we've seen all 6 clubs below Brighton dropping points recently, so second place remains a fair prospect but not the certainty that it could have been if the squad had been strengthened in January or at the very least, by a loan to replace Morgan. The two bit-part wingers have not proved to be impressive, more like underwhelming, and if the club does miss out on promotion there's going to be a lot of noise from the fans.

An opinion not shared by Dave Merrington. Watching from the Kingsland and listening on an earpiece I was impressed by the commentary and the analysis. Merrington's view was that either team could have scored in the first hour and that it would probably take a dead ball situation to break it. He was concerned that this could be a slip by Saints and was of the view that Saints were fortunate it went their way as it could easily have gone the other. With a good view of our penalty area, you could see that Rob Jones was a real threat every time he came up for corners or free kicks. It was only after Fonte's goal that we seemed to really get on fire and the second goal was a tribute to hard work by Barnard as well as Rickie's clinical strike, but until then a slip remained on the cards.

Despite the complacency of some people, my feeling is that fans should remain cautious. As many have pointed out, the team did not play well for long periods. In the first 15 minutes or so they hardly strung any passes together, despite Adkins' intention that they should play a 'passing game'. When they did start to have more possession, they weren't able to make it count. There did seem to be more wing play in the second half which seemed to make a difference, so did Adkins change his tactics at half time. If so, good for him for that, but it would mean he adopted the wrong tactics for the first half. It is said that results speak for themselves, and 4 straight wins do that (still a shame about Walsall though) and looking at the table, those 12 points have proved to be crucial. The reason for the caution, is that any slip can prove to be very costly when other teams are also performing well. Realistically, Saints can't win every game to the end of the season, that would be very unlikely, but slips have got to be kept to a minimum and at half-time yesterday a slip looked all too possible. The new CMF needs to be someone who really is worth a starting place, not just cover for DH/RC, so we shall find out this week if NC and NA have the resolve that we expect of them because the team does need improvement to make slip-ups less of a worry.

Looking at our run in there are a few games that recent form suggests we will struggle to win. Away to Orient, whose last 8 games are 7 wins and a draw at Huddersfield? MK Dons, unbeaten in the last 6 and currently on 4 straight wins including a win over Brighton? Brentford, who beat us 2-0 at the SMS in Dec? If we win those 3 games and beat Brighton at Withdean, we will certainly deserve to go up!

Have you noticed who has just been appointed Chairman of the BBC Trust? Independent of course, but just happens to be such a committed conservative that not only is he a former MP and cabinet minister, he's also a past chairman of the party - but independent of course.

The loss of local radio would be a major blow, not just for Saint's commentaries, but across the board. This Governmemnt will stop at nothing to kill off public services and although they say its just to clear the deficit does anyone seriously believe that they will restore public services once the budget is balanced? No, then the priority will be to reduce taxes for the rich. The Culture Minister, Jeremy * U N T was asked this morning on the Andrew Marr Show if it was true that the BBC would be encouraged to cut local radio and he simply refused to answer. Marr let him get away with it, which was very weak, but unless people kick up a fuss, it looks like Radio Solent is under threat.

I agree that sending off Gobern was the right decision. Totally irresponsible to launch himself at an opponent in the way he did and could have caused serious injury. But what about some consistency from Referees? Smith, the on-loan Spurs player in the Bournemouth No 15 shirt raised his hand to Goberrn twice after the incident, despite the fact that the Bournemouth player had already got up and was clearly not injured. Smith pushed Gobern, not once but twice, yet the Ref did not even speak to him. It certainly merited a verbal warning, if not a yellow card.

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not condemning Forte and N'Guessan, both of whom I'm sure will do their best and are looking like they will be adequate squad players, although Forte's miss against Yeovil is hard to forgive. I simply don't accept NickG's statement that signing them was an 'Impressive' step by the club, and I do get bored by NickG's constant sucking up to the management. Impressive would have been a CMF playmaker for a £1m or Mackail-Smith to provide real compettition for Ricky and Barney. As for Pulis, who's re-signing by Pardew has been hard to understand, I'm not so much defending him as objecting to people who use him as a whipping boy by just following the crowd. He's clearly not a 'dire' player because he does seem to be capable at L2 level, which makes him a better footballer than most of us fans, but he's clearly not L1 standard or he would have made the team.

I agree JohnB, that Chaplow was a good acquisition although I didn't think he had a particularly good game against Yeovil. Richardson's signing was indication of a serious intention to raise the level of the squad, as with signing Jose Fonte. It was unfortunate that Richardson was injured so quickly so that Butterfield came as cover, but the outcome was that we ended up with two good RBs. More accident than design, and of course under Pardew, not Adkins.

Neither Forte nor N'Guessan are in the first choice 11 or are even competing for places with Lallana and Chamberlain. They are understudies and so far, not very convincing ones. Adkins says that its all about competition for places, but these two have not increased competition, except between each other for 10 minutes as a sub. Attempting to claim that they are established Championship players looks either delusional or dishonest. Forte's career path has gone from 19 championship games in a season to 5 games the next season, to being off-loaded as a sub to a L1 side. I simply disagree with your statement, Nick, that these signing are impressive and its sad that you need to resort to insults and asterisks because implied foul language doesn't make your argument any more accurate.

Oh dear Nick, misleading people again with your selective statistics. Your 24 starts are over 2 seasons, but you didn't mention that. After 19 starts in 2009/10 he had 5 starts for Leicester this season and then they looked to offload him via loans. Hardly the great Championship player you implied that we had impressively taken on.

Fair comment, but knowing more about football than me isn't a great qualification because a lot of people have it! It doesn't make Adkins a great manager, just better than any ordinary fan.

Tamesaint, maybe you hadn't noticed that I said the Playoffs look assured so what's the bet? What is not at all assured is (a) getting to second because that requires other teams who are currently in form dropping points unexpectedly (as we did at Hartlepool and Walsall) and (b) winning the 4-club play-off competition against sides that are basically just as good as we are. I expect us to be in the play-offs but the odds there are 3-1 against. Not impossible but not evens or better.

Easily impressed Nick! N'Guessan hardly got a game at Leicester - 5 starts and 3 times on as sub. As for Forte, he was playing for a team about to be relegated from the division above but maybe he showed us what he could do with his 1-on-1 with the Yeovil goalie when he cleverly deceived us all by giving the ball to the keeper instead of scoring. Impressive indeed!