Professor

Good result for next season. This sort of performance will show Cortese that Pardew's squad is not good enough to top this division and that to get out next year means a major clear out of the fringe players in the close season and a few serious first choice replacements especially in midfield.

Can't argue with Connolly being first choice but the team needs three strikers and we now have 3 top class for this Division, which should mean that AP doesn't have to go back to 4-5-1 any more. Jaidi and Seaborne is a hard choice to partner Fonte as they have different strengths, but Jaidi is getting just a bit slow on the ground which probably means Seaborne getting more games as time goes on. Jaidi may shade it at the mo but Seaborne is hard on his heels and will sometimes be preferred.

The lack of a win in the first 7 games (not 10) was a factor but the reason we are not pushing on now is down to the results since mid-December - 2 wins, 3 draws and 2 defeats in 7 games, making 9 points out of a possible 21. That is lower than mid-table form which might explain why Cortese said what he did, when he did.

This does re-open the 4-4-2 versus 4-5-1 debate. Pardew does seem to like 4-5-1 despite some of our pre-christmas wins coming when he started 4-5-1 and was forced into a change during the game, usually by bringing Connolly on. He has the players now to do it with Barnard or Waigo until Connolly is fit. The packed midfield theory leaves a side defending too much because they aren't enough of a threat through the centre up-front. It also means that much of the attack is down one wing or the other and is easier for the defenders to handle. If Pardew goes 4-5-1 at Norwich expect us to lose. If he goes 4-4-2 we have the players to match them and if he plays Lambert and Barnard up front we should be able to knock a couple of goals in. For people who have been whining about Barnard, he's a very sharp striker and he will get goals if he's given full games to do it, otherwise, why on earth buy him and not use him properly.

Interesting that Alan Pardew, Dean Wilkins and Walley Downes have also seen Seaborne play - more often than any fan, and they obviously like his play or he wouldn't be in the team, but what do they know - they're only football professionals whereas the fan on the terrace obviously knows better.

Brighton v Norwich last weekend, Brighton were 1 up until the last 10 minutes when Norwich got two late goals. Saints are no Brighton, and the team should be stronger this week with the cup-tied players back in the squad. Predicting an away win.

I suppose if you eliminate Portsmouth's results from the competition, Sunderland and Saints would have to play for the right to play Brum City, but its hard to imagine either club wanting to do that. To put any team through after its lost a cup game undermines the whole concept of a knock-out competition, so its hard to believe that there is any truth in the suggestion that the FA would even consider it. Sounds more like a media hype by Coast radio, based on nothing at all.

Maybe some people should seek clinical help. How its possible to 'hate' a city and to 'hate' other Hampshire people beggars belief. For those who never go there - you're missing an intersting place with Gunwharf Quays and the Spinnaker Tower as well as the history in the dock yard. I just happen to like Southampton better and have always had closer associations here, as well as the football. As for the football team in Portsmouth, surely its great that they exist so that occasions such as Saturday can come along every so often. I'm looking forward to beating them in the CCC next time we meet.

Have seen on TV, Barnard's 'goal' ruled offside. Fair decision as the defenders did leave him offside as the play moved in the area, but he showed true striker's instinct in putting it in the net, and had things around him been different we would have been celebrating a second goal. Well done, Lee, and bad luck.

4-1 was a cup match result. Saints would not have gone all out on attack at the end that led to the break away goals in the final 10 minutes if that had been a league match. The difference was in Saints' failure to take their chances. If there was a tactical error, it was having Rickie Lambert take the free kicks and corners when he is our greatest quality in front of goal. Also a shame that Connolly wasn't fit enough to play, but a great game all the same.

I do expect Saints to win, but what I, as a fan, expect is not the point, and neither is how much players are paid in the bloated premier league. No one should fall into the trap of thinking that a £70K a week wage makes a player 10 times better than a £7K a week player, or even twice as good. The gap is marginal, but only the Prem clubs have the TV money that is funding the ridulous pay rates. The point is that Pardew should be telling his players HE expects them to win, whether he believes it or not, and he should be telling himself the same. If you start off expecting to lose, you are halfway to proving yourself right.

If Pardew is trying to take the pressure off his players is exactly the wrong approach. They should be under pressure to win. Pmouth may be playing in the Premier but they are the worst side by far, 6 points off the bottom and the team above has a game in hand. That makes them mid-table CCC standard at best. Ripe for the plucking. I expect us to win despite our cuptied players and Connolly out injured, and so should Pardew.

Does Alan Pardew have enough confidence in his squad and his team? His downbeat assessments of what can be achieved seem more designed to provide an excuse for failure, rather than to fire up the team. Ahead of the most high profile game of the season - this week's FA cup game - Pardew's warcry is 'we are in with a shout' and 'we have a chance'. Quite frankly that is pathetic - he should be saying that he expects nothing less than a win. Doesn't matter whether he believes it or not, it should be setting the mood for the players and the crowd. Instead he seems to be preparing his excuses for the chairman. This lack of confidence has been apparant in the league with his defensive approach to team selection which does seem to have been noticed by Cortese. Pardew has built a good squad and he needs to encourage his players to perform by setting high targets. I hope he's more upbeat in the dressing room than he is in interviews, but I have my doubts.

Lets remember that Pompy do not have a premier league team. Thats why they are points adrift at the botttom. They have a CCC level team playing in the premier, whereas Saints have a CCC team playing in Div1. That makes it an even game, only we have home advantage and a winning habit, whilst Pompy have nothing, not even players who understand what a local derby is about. 2-1 to Saints after being 2-0 up.

Agree. This is another example of Pardew's defensive attitude to the game which comes through in his team selections and his attachment to 4-5-1. If he is going to satisfy Cortese's ambitions Pardew will have to change his thinking about the way to play the game. He has the players to do it but does he have the confidence?

I can't agree with people criticising the recent signings. Choosing players seems to be one of Pardew's strengths. Fonte is the replacement for Jaidi as first choice CB, needed because Jaidi is getting too slow on the ground. Seaborne replaces Thomas/Perry and provides a left-sided CB balance and is playing a solid role. Otsemobor is a natural RB, probably second choice to Murty, but releases James who was playing out of position. Barnard is a 17-goal striker and cover for Connolly. Puncheon is to boost the midfield and replaces Mellis. Pardew's weaknesses are in selecting his team, tending to be too defensive (4-5-1) and being slow to change things around if things are not going well during games. Subs in the last 10 minutes are failry pointless except to waste time. You then have to wonder if the negative, defensive attitude fails to fire the team.

Very much like this public statement by Cortese. This is the Chairman doing his job of managing the manager, which no doubt he usually does in private, but going public with this statement must be calculated to add to the pressure on Pardew. Pardew's own statements have tended to lower expectations and to blame the team but this makes it clear that he is expected to do better. That should cover selection, team line-up, tactics, change of line-up and tactics during games and timing of substitutions. All of those are areas where Pardew has not convinced 100%. He has done a lot that is right and he is good for the club, but he can and must do better.

Good try Nick, but I think what is concerning fans at the moment is that form has slumped since Christmas. It can be spun to say that we haven't lost a game in 2010, but at the same time, we've only won one game in the last 4. Too many draws have seen the prospect of the Playoffs fade just as hopes were looking high at New Year. In the circumstances, disapointment is a reasonable reaction.

Two questions: (1) Why does Pardew persist with 4-5-1 when many coaches say its a defensive strategy that actually puts more pressure on your defence? (2) Why spend money on a 17-goal striker and then leave him out until 4 minutes from the end?

Very consistent with the interview with Danny Seaborne showing on Saints Player, possibly the interview is the source for the Sky report but great to see the change of media attitude. I see it myself, with football friends praising the club these days instead of offering sympathy! The 10 points deduction was always going to be difficult to overcome in terms of reaching the playoffs this season but possibly the other problem was that the Chairman and Manager had such little time pre-season to assess how much change was needed in the squad and the rebulding took quite a lot of time. Those first 7 games without a win now looks like an even bigger handicap than the minus 10. What was good to hear from Seaborne was his view that we have a squad of CCC level now - which suggests that if we do miss out this year, next season could be very interesting.

It has been very impressive that for the last few seasons the shirt sponser has arranged for aircraft to fly over the ground during matches with the shirt logo on the planes.

A pity that a couple more loans couldn't be arranged to thin the squad, but money is tight at clubs now so its a bonus that at least Lancashire has gone back on loan to Grimsby. The wild lunge he made after coming on as a late sub against Ipswich gifted them their goal so it may be that L2 is more his level.

Sell-on clauses used to mean a lot to the club, but money seems to be no problem these days. You don't get the impression that Pardew has had to sell in order to buy, or that there has been a lot of effort to reduce the squad size, which must add up to a hefty wage bill at the moment. It would be nice to see one or two go today, as too many players limits opportunities for people to show what they can do in the reserves.

The shrouded in doubt comment can be made about virtually every manager in Football. Isn't Alex Ferguson's future shrouded in doubt as he might retire or he might not? AP has done well at Saints but its still early days. The team haven't done so well that he would immediately attract bigger clubs but if he gets us out of Div 1, then his stock will be on the rise. Given the support from Marcus and Nicola there is a lot of potential for him to do well if his signings come off, but there's a lot of luck about that as well.

It was disapointing that a few people gave a very negative 'welcome' to some of the new signings but overall most of us are all enjoying the positives this season. There will still be good times and bad times ahead but the fun in football is the trying and the expectation, punctuated by the occasional success!