Professor

Its always the last game that matters. I was very down after the Leicester game, obviously becuase of the result, but also because they seemed to have better players in quite a few positions around the pitch and, like Adkins, Leicester also have a manager who exudes confidence. But then you can't win every game in the season and if you look at the teams aroubnd us in the table, they've all lost games at home, Cardiff and Boro the same as Saints and West Ham one more than us. So, I'm optimistic about the Cardiff game. The team we put out will be stronger than last week and we do have the home advantage. This has to be the week that things turn round and by next weekend I'm expecting us to be well placed in the top two with a bit of gap to 3rd.

Firstly, don't get too upset, people are merely expressing opinions and making predictions as they see them. No prediction is ever a 'fact' unless it happens. If you divide the fans into two camps, there are the Loyalists and the Sceptics. The Loyalists - which possibly is your camp - are largely people with very strong faith in the club management. Each game won is well-deserved and defeats are mainly due to bad luck that will change before the next game, or the next, or the next..... The Scepics are perhaps the camp you don't understand. Some of the Loyalists don't even see them as supporters. Yet in many ways the Sceptics are even more anxious that the Club succeed. They want the very best for their team and if they see under-performance, whether by management or players they will say so, in the hope that such criticism will encourage more effort. Maybe one way to loook at it is that the Loyalists tend to support the current 11 on the pitch and the coaches, whereas for the Sceptics it is the Football Club itself that matters more than the present personnel.

So its all down to us on here! if anyone on a web forum voices any criticism of the club management the team will play poorly. If only we'd known this in November, the haemorrhaging of points since then wouldn't have happened.

What a fantastic Transfer window. An international striker, OK, none of us have seen him play, but he did score a goal in an international match. OK, so it was against Australia, and OK it was a year ago, but we can be confident he'll be great because we've been told he is exciting. And then there is the Spanish u-21 international. Came here raring to go and immediately impressed the manager in training. OK, so it is only a loan, and OK, he was anonymous in the Leicester game, and OK so he was subbed, but he'll be great! And then we've got Puncheon back. OK, so no one else wanted him, but never mind, he'll be OK. And then we've got all these players coming back from injury or suspension. Its like signing half a new team. OK, so the manager did say he wanted to sign two or three new players of quality and maybe we haven't, but we are second in the league so whats the need? A great transfer window, best since last summer.

Its not a laughing matter. Maybe you didn't see the pre-match interview but of course you are right, as soon as i saw he was making a fool of himself, I should have gone straight to the ground and taken it up with Adkins in the dugout area.

Agree absolutely with this. It was playing a LB at RB that allowed Nugent to cut inside and score the first goal. Adkins should take personal responsibility, not blame the team for a poor performance when he picked it, decided on the formation and the tactics. And if the squad is thin, he could have used a young player but more to the point he should have made signings so this situation did not arise.

Adkins' pre-match comments were more worring than his post-match comments. Pre-match he came over as flippant, frivolous and quite frankly, just silly. Comparing that to Nigel Pearson's pre-match interview where he made some sensible and constructive remarks suggested there was a mile of difference between the football professionalism of the two men. I know which I would prefer to have in charge at the SMS. So far, most of this transfer window appears to have been spent chasing a former player of Adkins' instead of bringing in genuine quality that should, have been lined up before the window opened. Maybe on that latter point, Lee is that quality, but as a player from such a different background, the jury will be out on that until we have seen him perform. I have to say that the loanee from Spurs' reserves didn't make much impact tonight so you wonder if the sights have been set high enough.

Dear Victor, it might be worth getting your head out of the sand while we are still in the top two because one point to third place is looking very fragile and even 5 points to 4th or 5th can melt away as fast as the 5 point lead at the top has done. It doesn't have to happen, but it needs some firm action to turn things round.

It is NOT negative to want your football club to do well - that is dedicated support for the club, but it doesn't mean you give mindless approval to mistakes made by the people making the decisions on transfers and selection, any more than you give mindless support to a player who is not performing. There are 19 qames left to turn it round, but the team has been poor now for nearly 2 months so things will not change by doing nothing.

No Saints fan is happy with tonight. Some of us are bloody angry because the signs that things were not as good as they appeared did not seem to be noticed - the poor away record isn't new, and the club appears to have been inadequately prepared for the transfer window. In December we had a dream chance of promotion and unless action is taken very quickly it could yet be thrown away.

Just rehearsing the post-match comments: We targetted the top-10 for January and we are not only on target we are over-performing; What's the problem we are still second; Holding an automatic promation spot at this stage of the season is better than 22 other teams; We've still got some important players to come back into the side; Leicester are still benefiting from new manager syndrome.....

Japan to England, he's bloody lucky. I moved Hampshire to Sussex an I'm still struggling with the culture shock. D'ya know the women play Stoolball over here, an dress like cricketers in short skirts???

If Trotta joins, is it true that Paul Whitehouse's football manager will be taken on to handle the dressing room tactics talks?

Lighthouse and SourMash don't have a defender on the bench, so I'd adapt their selection as:- Davis Richardson - Fonte if fit, or Martin - Hooiveld - Fox Cork - Morgan - Hammond - Lallana Connolly - Guly Subs: Bart; Harding; Falque; Lee; De Ridder (or Martin if Fonte starts). If Martin plays because Fonte is still not fit, the CB back-up is Cork, freed-up by bringing on Falque or de Ridder.

If only Adkins' interviews could be more convincing. At least the interview on Falqué didn't have the hairy old cliches about the bus and the building but if Adkins doesn't want to answer a question, why doesn't he just say so. Instead we have a question on where will Falqué play answered by saying he can play anywhere, and asked if he can speak English, Adkins says his Spanish is good and he can speak Portuguese. So, no English then, but why not say so, and say if having committed to playing in England, learning the language will be something he will do, which surely is the case. The point about Falqué is that he is only here for 3 months so his signing can only have one purpose, to improve the team for the promotion run-in. That should mean Falqué will take one of the four midfield slots, although not necessarily the same slot every time, but he's got to be on the pitch or there is no point to his loan. We read elsewhere that Falqué performs best behind the strikers and that he's not comfortable in a 4-4-2. So will we be playing the diamond to accommodate him, does that mean giving up on width, and which of Lallana, Morgan, Hammond, Cork and Chaplow are likely to lose out, as well as de Ridder? Oh, and what about Guly? If he's displaced from the front by Lambert's return, an in-form David Connolly and Tadanari Lee, is there a place in midfield for him? Does Adkins believe that in a few weeks time it will be apparent which is his strongest eleven? Seems there's no point any interviewer asking Adkins these questions as he will only answer in riddles yet surely he could be more frank in his replies without giving anything away if he just acknowledged that there are decisions have will have to be taken, that a lot will depend on how players perform and how individuals respond to the competition for places, and that the fans will see the outcome as team selections are announced. As for those who are 'gutted' that our loan signee, who we haven't seen play yet, isn't here with the prospect of a permanent transfer, surely that is completely immaterial. All that matters is promotion. If we are in the Premier League next season, the club will have some hard decisions on which players are capable of stepping up to the higher level and team building will be key, so losing our loan player, if he's been as good as his pedigree suggests, will just mean one more place to be filled, either by buying in or bringing up a player from the under-21s, but by then Falqué will have done his job if he's helped get us promoted.

A 3-0 win against a bottom 3 team playing with 10 men for half the game hasn't clouded Nigel Adkins' judgement. He's still quoted as saying he wants another striker in, as well as Lee, and he is still linked with other moves to strengthen. Anyone who thinks the team can't be improved is not in line with the thinking in the club. Its unfortunate that some of the players we have come to like and respect will not hold a regular place in a strengthened team but Cortese has a stated aim that SFC should be a force in the The Prem, not a mid-table side or a yo-yo club. The first step has to be to make certain we get there and with some players at least who are capable of performing at the higher level. The manager has to be careful not to undermine his present squad when he states the club's aims and ambitions, but he will know that the team has to do better over the next few weeks than it was doing over the last few. Two away wins can be taken as evidence that all is OK but I suspect that Adkins, whilst pleased with the results and knowing some of the squad are coming back from injury etc., will not be complacent about the players available to him when he talks to the Chairman.

After seeing the highlights on the Football League Show you can see why Adkins wants to strengthen and why he said they should have scored more against the 10-men. No team will ever score from every opportunity and Guly and Cork not converting their chances was understandable, but Holmes and Martin should both have scored. Holmes showed lack of instinct when he stopped the ball when he was clear through, which allowed the defenders to block his way to goal. As for Martin, even a defender should not miss an open goal from that close. Given the red card that could easily have been a yellow and the yellow card that could easily have been a red, there was more luck about this game than a comfortable 3-0 scoreline would suggest. Against a team in the bottom 3, we could have been a goal or two down in the first half hour and it could have been us with 10-men against 11. So, it was a good game to win and if it improves player confidence so much the better but it didn't leave you confident that the poor run is over. On the other hand, one or two new players in the side could make the difference as well as Lambert, Fonte and Chaplow still to return.

Administration was caused by the mortgage to build the SMS, which Rupert Lowe said at the time was affordable only if the club remained in The Prem. It was relegation that caused the Administration, not the transfer budget. As for these fans calling for the club to spend beyond its means - I haven't seen any such suggestions, so this looks like another case of making up a false argument in order to knock it down. What people have been calling for is to spend within budget, including the reinvestment of funds available from transfers out, which as far as I can see, is what the Manager has been saying he wants to do.

Not really all that astute, to decide that the club will not spend just for the sake of it. Does any club do that? (Nicola to Nigel, "as we can't agree a fee for any of your targets, I'm going to buy a player you don't want, just because the money is burning a hole in my pocket"). There are 21 games to play at the moment but when the transfer window closes there will be 18. Getting the best possible results from the remaining v January games is important and since the manager has said very clearly that he wants players in, it makes complete sense to get them into the side as a soon as possible to maximise the impact on results.

Very much looking forward to seeing these new players boosting our team on Saturday.........and wondering which players who have been regulars in the side until now, will be dropping down the order.

I'm in the 'Radio Solent does a good job' camp. Dave Merrington's analysis and comments add a lot to the picture of the game when you only have a vioice commentary to try to keep uo with the action. It's true he doesn't seem to like the diamond midfield and previously he used to critise the 4-5-1 formation when that was used a lot. Some listeners will agree with him and some won't, but isn't the role of the second commentator to give people something to think about by expressing an opinion? How individuals react is entirely up to them, but if he expressed the opposite views, I expect there would be just as many people who didn't like that either!

Based on the highlights, I hope NA gives some firm advice to his midfield about defensive responsbilities. Cork, I think it was, who was at fault for the Coventry goal by failing to make any real effort to stay with the winger and allowed a free cross that led to the goal. In the second half we see Lallana trying and failing to prevent a cross from the Coventry right by doing some kind of war dance instead of blocking the cross. Maybe he hoped the winger would stop to admire his bobbing up and down, but if so, it didn't work. We have seen both of these players as key members of the side but, admittedly on the evidence of just two incidents, they would need to do better in the Prem.

The bdrop off of form wince November does cause worries but there is stilol abig gap between Saints and either Millwall or the Daggers. Logically it should be Millwall and we should get past them but there will still be some very good Prem sides in the next round so it would be nice to get one of them at home and see how the team perrforms.

I wouldn't dispute for a moment that Brighton have become an out-and-out cheating team since Poyet has been manager and that may reflect the S.American attitude to the game but the fact is that players have been cheating for years and Saints players are as guilt of it as others. If a team doesn't cheat they would be imposing a deliberate disadvantage on themselves. Once you acknowledge that cheating, mainly simulation and diving, is rife in the game, there's little logic in trying to define acceptable cheating from unacceptable cheating. The game adminstrators could do something about it, and several posts on here have made very sensible suggestions about how to deal with it but where is the determination amongst the people who run the game?

Adkins can only pick the players he has in the squad, and until this week, that was fixed so I can't see that he is at fault for the poor results that the team have been turning in for the past 6 or 7 weeks. If there was a failing, it was not anticipating that better players would be needed to cover for injuries and suspensions as the season went on, but that may be down to the chairman, not the manager. When results started to go wrong, it takes few weeks to discover if its a blip, or something more fundamental, but the good luck is that we have the window open now and the club can do something about it. It would be madness not to grasp the promotion chance that has been built up over the first half of the season but it won't be achieved by complacency. The quality of the signings that are made and how many, will tell us how serious the club are to get into the Prem and stay there. It takes a few weeks to realise that whening