dubai_phil

Empirical evidence suggests that over the past 17 years there has been one specific and clear reason for our poor starts to the season. Apart from the Brighton game a couple of years ago, the same significant event has caused our slow start to end and our results to immediately pick up. Yep. For some obscure reason the first win of the season (except Brighton) has co-incided with my first visit of the season to watch Saints in the League. For many years there was serious debate about the club actually stumping up for a ticket for me to get home earlier than planned. I was extremely concerned at the start of this season as I was unable to schedule anything until the Bournemouth game on 2nd October. Luckily due to a change in work needs I now have to whizz across and spend next week working in Scotland. At great personal sacrifice to myself, I have invested 50.89 pounds in a ticket from Glasgow to Southampton so I will be there for the Rochdale (I think) game a week on Saturday. So cheer up wrist slitters, another week to go yet

No chance I won. BST + 3 But I did have a late night dinner party so I have an excuse. Everyone else still up is just always right

Muse were stunning when they were here. Nice lads as well and yep I blagged an on stage pass and was at the back of the stage filming their encore (Philtheblag they call me down here). Strangely we had no probs getting beer from the VIP tent Eric :-) Got to agree about Spandau though absolutely superb, slightly edgier sound than the originals and I'm with Eric - we went to see Rod who was really good but Spandau's just rocked. And The Subways - how ridiculous, me & Eric in a tiny 250 person venue surrounded by my youngest son's mates all going WTF are you doing here? And the band were really nice guys after in the bar. (Think Eric may not remember that part - I blame the Magners, he won the tickets in the VIP section on the radio & I blagged my way in with him) The Killers were great, we were about 7 rows back (yep old farts in the Mosh Pit) and as future son-in-law said - was like watching them in your front room Missed out on Nickleback that many still rave about. Overall not as good a year for live bands here compared to last year, having seen Kings of Leon, Kylie, Queen & Paul Young & Coldplay here and Glasto over there don't think it could ever be beaten, not with the recession and all that... But our favourite gig is still The Band in The Seaview. Ramadan will soon be over woo hoo!

Think the answer lies here on the home page of the OS. http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/Home/ The reason we ain't won. Yep that looks awfully like a beer gut to me in the photo of Sir Rickie Point proven

Is it 11:23 yet then? So was it a Friday weekend, Dubai style? A Saturday Weekend Brit style? Or maybe one of those mixed up places with a bit of everything between Thursday night and Monday morning weekends?

Get in the queue mate. Myself & nickh before his demise were nailed on certs to get the job thanks to our experience, stunningly handsome good looks, wit, humour and modesty. Shame he screwed it all up by getting sent off and a one season ban As for the "shape argument" I counter with the "team argument". Didier Drogba is a c*ck but a fine footballer. So why not clone him and play 11 Drogba's? obvious answer he wouldn't be any good as a left back. Team building is the single most important factor in getting 11 players to gel, bond or whatever into a unit. Some are flexible but some simply are not up to it mentally as much as phsyically (George Lawrence - the greatest player ever seen - from the shoulders down - former Saints Fitness Coach tm) We've moaned about Jaidi's distribution against Orient. Imagine putting Connolly into that 1 up front role.... hoof ..... ain't gonna work Imagine Barnard up there alone? and having Harding or Butterfield banging in diagonal balls into the box from 45 yards because the shape isn't there to give them the confidence to get further down the wing. I DO believe that we SHOULD be more adaptable and I believe with a full team (AND match fit Lambert) we have the players to do it. But it IS a risk. I think we have been told that taking risks is not a good thing THIS season so.. meh we're back waiting for Rickie to get his sharpness back and someone will get a walloping and off we will go

The computer is working properly. It just falls over laughing at what you've typed in

So you are saying that against Plymouth we played well but simply missed having a big presence in the Penalty area? What a shame we don't have a 36 goal a season striker on the books. Oh we do? Well, where was he? AP out for dropping him

I love it So on one thread we have moans and groans because AP is not buying the players NC is. Then we have a thread with moans and groans because AP did not INSIST on a purchase option with Antonio. (But I thought NC was doing the buying back then - eg Papa?) This is a lolage thread simply because of Deja Vue there was a similar on the Bournemouth forum criticising the Board, Manager, Slagging off Saints. Simply because we WOULDN'T give them an option to buy Adam Lallana and wanted silly money for him. A player we sent out on loan to DEVELOP by getting PLAYING TIME. So we can moan at Saints being used to develop players for other clubs as well, yet when we did it to help develop AL into the player he is now becoming it was wise. I just love the way that this forum has gone from being a discussion about Opinions and DEBATING those opinions into a magical kingdom where NOBODY accepts that maybe, just possibly, what they KNOW and INSIST to be RIGHT may possibly not be. So many people on here must be zillionaires because they are always right. Don't suppose by chance this forum is actually now only populated by Politicians by any chance?

Bournemouth Echo reporting that they tried to hijack the deal to sell Pittman to Brizzle City. The FL & AA get more like Comical Ali every day Embargo? What embargo?

ooh that artile is fun for speculating. Reading that it could be The revenge of the ex England left Back as his ex does the kiss and tell Or not allegedly made upedly

Would that be at the Coptic, the Orthodox or the raving loonie Southern Yankie mission?

Oh so it isn't the story about Peter Crouch and the stag night in Spain then

Thx, close enough but changed now

I am extremely NOT happy that we have dropped points. I am concerned that the two games in the league so far will put extra pressure on a team already burdened by expectations. I am concerned that we still have not addressed the "lack of an Antonio/Waigo" option. I welcome the signing of Guly as being the correct SPECIFICATION of player that we need in the middle of the park, BUT like others on here AND AP himself I worry that he will take time to settle. But, I do not feel the wrist slitting is a sensible option YET. Anyone ever see that Stephen King movie The Mist? You know where the bloke shoots his family to save them from the monster from hell? only to be rescued by the Marines 10 seconds later? The FACT is that Lallana Lambert Hammond Schneiderlin All picked up injuries during Pre-Season and came into the NEW season short on fitness physically and in terms of game time. Not to mention losing a new "Star Signing" that had this forum opening the Champagne and celebrating promotion already. Now, I will criticise AP for not getting cover in early - BUT cover for all FOUR of those players? This forum proposes to buy FOUR extra players as cover for the spine of our team? That would have meant signing SIX players in June, July and August. Sorry, but that was never going to happen even if we WERE Man City. AP tried the options in pre-season hell, I even saw Pulis play - we really DID struggle with injuries. We did not win our first two league games because we missed chances. Our players weren't SHARP enough. Lack of match fitness in the spine of the team because of missing pre-season work through injury is a FACT. It is not an excuse it is a fact. I will judge the team and AP after they have played a few more games and are FIT.

Yep really well researched. The Middle East is going to launch an attack on America attacking the Eastern Seaboard..... What with? Half a dozen Ferrari's? A catapault to sling a few tons of Couscous? Maybe we'll arrange for NYC to drown in Bullfrogs.

That's almost as funny as the poopey thread. Don't be silly we were playing notlob.

Rumour is Antonio did his ACL this evening playing for Reading. Game over on that idea for the time being then

right on 1) Ravi Yaki is best described as the Turkish version of Arak Which will of course mean nowt but is an aniseed based drink favoured in "The Levant" Jordan, Syria & Lebanon. Very similar to Ouzo. Normal practice is to buy a bottle with a meal and sit and drink it with water slowly. Best advice - if on a package and they start that game - run. If on a business trip - always look for the seat nearest a plant pot. But in case, at the airport in UK make sure you buy a standard pack of Boots Nurofen and take one after two glasses. Meanwhile enjoyed the game tonight. Shows we have enough quality to give (almost) PL level teams a good game. We showed why our players are L1 standard by not converting the chances though. Extra shooting practice needed methinks

Meanwhile Watched District 13 : Ultimatum on telly tonight. Stupidly I had thought it was some low budget sequel to the District 9 movie (yeah I know) Anyway I hate the French and a French movie? I missed the first half of the notlob game. Apparently it is a sequel but we really never noticed, it just dropped straight into an inner city gang war cops v bad guys movie with cartoon character conspiracies and some superb free running chase sequences. It had a daft edge to it with some bits making us laugh (probably not intentionally), the fight scenes made you think back to how Indiana Jones would have solved most of them by getting his pistol out and shooting the big bad tough guys but it was a really enjoyable caper. It apparently made US$36,039 in the US. lolage at that as well. By no means a quality script but it was a damned good enjoyable eveing without blood and guts and legs flying around. (Which was last night's movie - Black Hawk Down which IS a quality movie on every scale)

No idea - trust me the one thing down here you don't do is to go watch a movie in a cinema full of young Arab kids. 1) You don't get to hear anything and 2) One's blood pressure simply can't take it. Some of the little sh1ts have taken to letting Pythons loose in busy cinemas, smoking hash, calling the cops and getting everyone who inhaled deprted after a 4 year jail term. Waiting to get to Bangkok for NYE will get the DVD then

Eric. Mate. Look, it was bad enough being late on parade because I was watching a French movie and I DO apologise. but NOTHING, simply NOTHING can justify you sitting there with pubs FULL of OSH all around you AND LISTENING TO THE SKATES MATCH COMMENTARY

Hmm Stevo is off to Turkey.... Perhaps I should have a chat with some of my contacts...... Oh hang on, isn't someone else taking the Side Door over that way? Efes and Ravi Yaki. All the Turkish you ever need to know HTH

And then FFS Saints player is giving us commentary on the fecking SKATES match Everybody at Saintsplayer should HANG THEIR HEADS IN SHAME

OK important critical input here from the Girlfriend who's sitting at her PC and listening Wow they're playing really well, what have you been moaning about they seem to be the only team in the game I thought they were playing a Premier Team