Professor

Very good one Mr Winner, but - mire para arriba la ironía en el diccionario.....

Its gone pm now. Are they STILL here? The suspense is killing me..... On the other hand the longer that there is no confirmation on Davis moving, the better.

If this is an error in the name, was it made by JP, or by the OS writer, or the editor? We should demand to be told.

I may be wrong, I often am, but I don't think JP said, bring it on, I think he said that some of the players made that comment as away of showing how keen they were. When a side wins a quarter final and the fans start chanting, bring on the Arsenal, or some such, I don't think it is meant to be taken literally! Its too early for fans to swing from euphoria to hysteria on a result by result basis. Defeats by a single goal are still defeats, but they are not indications of being outclassed, and although Blackpool deserved the win, the result could easily have been a draw or a win for Saints. There is plenty of time for the results to come. If we are in the bottom 3 in October, I will join the depressives, but not yet. If we are mid-table in October with 8 or 10 teams below us, will the fans who are already worrying about relegation, agree things are not so bad after all?

But Holmes was delivering on the left, especially in the first half. He was in space, which Jamie wasn't finding on the right, and Holmes was getting past defenders and getting crosses in. I didn't think it was the penalty that got White subbed, but there may have been some inexperience about the challenge, as the player who went down was not threatening a shot on goal from where the incident happened. I also thought Dyer made an instant difference, certainly for the first part of the second half.

I agree with a lot of the ideas on here, but can't help feeling that if the team was selected by committee, it would be a very long meeting! A good point made is that after losing 3 out of 4 league games change is needed, either by in the gameplan or by replacing the weakpoints. One-goal defeats don't suggest that the playing style is at fault, but weaknesses appear to be Killer and White, plus possibly both FB slots. JP has the break to sort this out, but I feel he's got to change at least 2 of the starting 11 without reverting to Burley-style juggling.

I was in the Itchen, and the extra width of the margin immediately struck me, but you inevitably tend to doubt your own memory, as I hadn't been in the Itchen since before last Xmas. Apart from the tongue in cheek suggestions, if our perception is correct, what would be the footballing objective of doing this? Its true The Dell pitch was virtually minimum width, and did encourage ball control and the passing style of play, but isn't that just as possible on a wide pitch?

Looking back on the game from the perspective of Monday morning, there are two things that stick out for me. (1) That Steve Kabba (Blackpool Striker) appeared to be a constant threat. In the first half he was regularly first on the ball, and the OS confirms it was Kabba who had the ball for 2 of the 3 disallowed goals. Was this - regrettably - down to Killer, as per the thread on MS's performance which I agree was pretty dire? (2) Both DMG and Lallana did well but when Saints got a shot on goal, it was generally through a packed area. Defenders stopped at least two goals if not more. Was this because Blackpool defended well, or was it down to the slowness of Saints buildup giving Blackpool time to get everyone back?

Hadn't thought about this before, and I'm a member, not an ST holder, but for £500 an ST holder gets 22 days entertainment (OK 22 x 90 mins) while on holiday you'd be lucky to get 14 days for £500 for one person. And not only that but if your wife isn't an ST holder, she has the bonus of being able to have 22 days when she can do her own thing! The ST is looking a good deal!

Its good to see the press giving some attention to Saints, even if it is only the on-line version of The Mail. One of the great things about JP is his willingness to be frank and open in his comments, something that came through in the interview. It was also interesting to see his prescence in the technical area at the Blackpool game, and to be able to see that the players have respect for him. His body language showed how he felt when players got things wrong, so although he supports them in public, there is little doubt that he tells them as it is in private.

Not a good draw against Rotherham. Although not doing very well in Div 2, Wolves couldn't beat them in the Carling Cup. If Saints win, they will get little credit for it, on the basis that this is a team we should beat easily, and it might need at least 3 clear goals for some people to treat it as a good performance! Neither is the game likely to bring in much income from a 5,000 gate. All that can be said is that we should get past them, with the possibility of a better draw in the next round.

It was disappointing. Even with the game on Sky, I expected a bigger crowd, given the previous 2 results and the fine weather, but I doubt if a few pounds off the ticket price would have made much difference. A lot of fans live a lot closer than me, so my travel costs are higher than some, but the total cost of the day for me was £33 for ancilliaries an £28 for the ticket. I'm not sure that £5 off the ticket price would have made much difference, especially since the lower price for the Carling Cup game didn't seem to. Reducing prices would be a gamble, although as a high proportion of the 15000 crowd were there on STs the income loss would not be as much as might appear at first sight. At a guess, a £5 reduction might need to put 6,000 on the gate in order to break even, although maybe someone can do a more accurate calculation.

From one poor performance, I wouldn't say he is finished, but against Blackpool he did make too many errors and as others have said on here, the failings were in almost every department for a CB. It is still very early days in Svensson's comeback, and JP will have his performance in training to help assess him, whereas we only have the league games. Its certainly unfair to compare him against the world cup player that he was, but I felt that he did not look up to CCC standard. Killer does have another role in the side, which is to advise and steady the younger players, but he does still have to be worth his place. Its very hard to say this about a player we all respect so much and I hope he can still improve, but I would not be surprised if JP uses Thomas or Cork in the next few games.

Agreed on the first part, I didn't hear booing directed at our players, just the expected groans when someone didn't do as well as the crowd hoped. Sad though, that some committed fans on here seem to imply that booing the team would be OK. When things go wrong on the pitch the crowd will react, but it should be a principle for the fans to get behind the team collectively and encourage them. Today was definitely a poor performance on the pitch, but can't see how that equates to the management team being out-thought. Blackpool deserved the win for being more threatening up front, although I didn't think they deserved the penalty. Saints had a lot of the game, played much of it in the visitors half and there was some good football, but there were weaknesses (Killer / White) that let the team down.

Like most others, I was impressed today by DMG. He didn't do everything right every time, no player can, but he did make some very clever moves at times and he was a threat. But I tend to agree that the single striker system does put a lot of pressure on one player and today the attacking midfield were not always with him when they were needed.

Interesting. I was in the Itchen, whereas Dyer was playing next to the Kingsland, but from where I sat it looked as if Dyer was getting stuck in very well and that his speed was having an effect. But I was a long way from where he was playing. In the first half, I was impressed with Holmes but the attacks down the left seemed to fade as the game went on.

I just didn't think the players performed to the plan today. There was some of the passing game, but there was also a lot of long ball at times, and a lot of running with the ball, which at times JP seemed to get frustrated about. Whether it was the system, I don't know, but most attempts on goal seemed to be through a crowded goal mouth, so when we were attacking it must have been in a way that allowed Blackpool time to get everyone back. I have no idea how you solve that, but JP and Woote will knoiw what needs to be done, the question is, can they get the players to do it, or are some of them (White) not quite ready yet? It was interesting that the substitutions were all about taking off young players and bringing on age (Wotton / John) or experience (Dyer). Though still young, Dyer is certainly experienced, and he did try to make a difference.

You don't sell players by keeping them out of the team, so apart from tryng to find something to blame on Lowe, this suggestion doesn't seem very likely, but its in the wrong place anyway - this thread is about Svennson.

Its understandable that some people want to defend Svensson, but from the Itchen Centre, he really did not look up to the job today. Its not good enough to say he was up against a strong forward, because that is a given in this league. He used to handle better players in the past and he used to win the balls in the air. He really only got balls with his head today when not under challenge. This is very sad for such a great player, but its not difficult to conclude that Thomas would have put in a better performance. JP will have seen what the fans saw, and he will be studying the video of the game. Maybe it is lack of match practice after so long out, and lack of fitness affecting his speed, but I do wonder if MS will be able to hold his place.

Possibly 'news' should have been singular, rather than plural, for this posting to make sense, but then, I'm a moron, what do I know! (LOL) Clearly the comment about negatives taking some pleasure from a defeat hit home too well and Offix must have recognised himself in the description. One of the means adopted too readily is to put the club down by insulting the club management with name-calling and abuse. It is sad when the same approach is applied on a personal basis to anyone posting on here who happens to take a different viewpoint.

Great result for the negatives, they can enjoy their beer tonight in a quiet corner, muttering 'I told them so, I told them so......'. BUT it was a poor display today. You could see JP becoming frustrated by some of the failings after half-time, and he certainly did the right thing to sub Jamie White, who had been v ineffectual, but the saddest thing for me was seeing Killer as a shadow of the player he used to be. Unthinkable? But in hindsight, I felt Thomas would have done better and wonder if MS will hold his place. I don't agree with JP about there being a spate of missed chances. True there were some and we hit the woodwork near the end, but Blackpool had just as many chances, possibly more, often looked more dangerous, and 3 disallowed goals suggests who was on top. At 0-0 of course the game was there to win, but I always felt that Blackpool looked the more likely winners and that it was a deserved result. People around me leaving with 10 mins to go must have felt the same.

The more you see of JP, not only is he totally frank with his comments, but he shows 'total' understanding of what football coaching is about. It tends to show that Nigel Pearson being allowed to leave was no insult to Pearson at all. JP is exceptional, and just right for our situation.

Its not as strange as it seems. The club was not skint, but was spending more than its income. The Micawber principle - Weekly Income £1, expenditure £1.10p result misery; Income £1, expenditure 90p, result happiness. The club has got substantial income from gate money and commercial activities and now appears to be working to a proper budget. What has been done is reduce the expenditure, which in turn opens up the option of spending within budget, instead of over budget. If more players are sold/loaned out, the prospects of more strengthening in Jan will be improved.

Blackpool H: Very Winnable QPR A: Winnable Ipswich H: Less Winnable Barnsley H: Very Winnable Doncaster A: Winnable Norwich H: Very Winnable 14 points

The above comment makes no sense. How can an exciting young team, winning 2 consecutive games against sides that were in the Prem last season be anything other than an improvement on the tired squad of journeymen that almost managed to be relegated in May? For responses to be meaningful they should take account of fact.