Wurzel

You are correct. I knew someone high up in Barr Construction working on the SMS project. He described it in simplistic layman's terms as being built so at any time in the future it is just a case of unbolt and lift off the roof, extend vertical conduits for water/electric upwards, drop in new tier and replace roof. One advantage of an out of the box kit style stadium I guess. Applies to all 4 sides but Itchen is more complicated due to boxes etc, but not impossible.

And too many of those parries are pushed back into the danger zone for my liking. But he does seem to be moving better and his confidence seems to be coming back these last few games.

Normally I'd be still up for giving him a chance to turn things around. But I've seen absolutely nothing from him to suggest that he will do anything other than persevere with the same current tactics which a) clearly aren't working and b) is clearly not the best style and formation suited to the personnel at his disposal. Disappointing as I thought he would turn out to be a really good appointment for us, but it's a GO from me

I liked the look of that till I realised that was 11 outfield players. Although we as well play that and no keeper the way things are going between the sticks.

I'm still blaming it all on Redknapp.

Christ this is tedious again. Half way through first half, I'm wondering if an alien tuned in and watched this would they have gained any perception as to the objective of the sport?

Can someone explain to a Luddite like me the benefits of paid services like SM and Flawless? I've found a perfectly watchable link (on laptop size screen) for everyone of our games so far this season via FirstRowSports. No Kodi/Firestick, no VPN etc. Admittedly I have to go through the usual pre-match routine of closing down various pop-ups/unders/browser tabs but once they are cleared and video is full screen it's an ok pictue and audio with minimal if any buffering. Loses a bit of clarity when shown through my 50"tv via HDMI lead but still watchable and better than the radio. What advantages do the paid services give?

Think you could be right with that last paragraph. Alaves we're the underdogs of La Liga and he set them up in a way that they could nullify and get a point or 3 against all those teams better than them (which, on paper, was pretty much all of them). And that worked well. It seems that no-one has told him that we are NOT the underdogs in this league we are better than 13 of the teams we play (and all but one played so far fall into that category) and it should be them worrying about scraping a point agaist us. If we're not careful we'll end up as the team the top 6 hate to play whilst the remaining 13 find we cause them no problems

You forgot "vision". We have others with the skill and ability to have scored that goal. Unfortunately they seem to lack the vision, or confidence - or maybe enough attitude to defy orders - to try it. Without that vision the skill and ability is just wasted.

Can someone remind me of the significance of his preference for the #44 ?

Me too. That and how awesome "The Dome" looks from inside. And what a nice chap that Wilfred Zaha seems to be.

Wondering if he was the (un-named) forward we were rumoured to be trying to sign in the last window which couldn't be completed at the time but negotiations were meant to be still ongoing. Guessing Arsenal wouldn't let him go until Sanchez's future was decided. Usually I say never go back (unless - and with hindsight - you are Channon or Ball) but in Theo's case I'd take him like a shot.

So less than 3 years after scoring 8 goals in one home PL game we have only scored in one of the last 9 home PL games. Which is a bizarre stat at any level of football Even more strange the only one we have scored in was scheduled as an away game and the fixture reversed. Didn't we have a white witch remove a curse at SMS not long after we moved in? Is it time we got her back?

Script is written. VvD heads "winner" in last minute , ...... only for Crouch to come off the bench and equalise in injury time

That's a bit high-brow isn't it? Big screens showing the History Channel

I'd love to see us give it a go. Back 5 with Romeu and Lemina in front of it isn't going to concede much, which is handy when we don't score many. As it gives the full backs license to attack down the wings even more I'd go for your back 8 then Davis /JWP central with Gabi AND Austin ahead of him. Shouldn't leave us too short in midfield, if RB goes on a run CS covers the extra midfield and vice-versa. 2 up front gives the options of target man CA and a hard to mark Gabi making intelligent runs all over the place. Tadic, Boufal, Redmond wouldn't be too happy but it seems time is right to try something fresh, and they've all had enough chances to stamp their authority on a game with infrequent success We'd either get thrashed or start looking like top 6 contenders again. Either way it would be entertaining.

I've been racking my brain trying to think of how to sum up Redmond in a single word and you've hit the nail on the read there with cowardice. Far too often he takes the easy (and usually wrong) option with his passes, his runs off the ball and once he has it his decisions when to run and not to run with it. Coupled with that his ongoing refusal to take responsibility, seemingly always looking to blame others when it goes wrong. Yesterday was a great team performance but he was the stand out individual where there was still "room for improvement". Seeing us ending with 3CBs on the pitch has me wondering if that is MPs plan for the future. Bertrand and Cedric bombing up and down the wings at will, defending when necessary with Romeu and Lemina sat in front of the back 3 looks a solid unit defensively. It would need some adjustments up front, Redmond for me would be the one to sacrifice if he wants to experiment with that.

I'm sure I recall a written interview with him once where it was mentioned he also runs a successful business in the financial sector (think it was foreign exchange dealing), which has pretty much set him up for life after football, so chasing higher (football) wages might not be so important to him as it is for others. And I wouldn't read anything into his lack of smiles, his "celebration" of his goal for England last week certainly won't go down as the most ecstatic in history.

Not what you're asking, but for comparison I still have my 76 Cup Final ticket. Junior, standing - £1.50 !

^This^ We're not talking pay day loans here. In business the best way of obtaining a loan from a bank - certainly the best way of getting favourable terms - is to show them you don't actually need to borrow it. Can't win on here, if he'd purchased us with his own cash half the posters would be worried if he was leaving himself short and might need to sell up quick if he needed it back in a hurry.

I agree that it does move the issue further down the pyramid, but at least if a higher team signs a lower division player mid season it's because that player has actually earned the right to better himself with an upward career move, he wouldn't be simply moving sideways for more money. Agree on wage cap, I'd love to see that. But I'd like to see an overall squad wages cap, not an individual one. That would make the game a bit more like Fantasy Football, with clubs having to make decisions whether to fork out big wages on 2 or 3 superstars accompanied by "nobodies" or build a decent squad of average players. Realistically that would, over time probably level out wages any way.

Get rid of the window completely. Bring in a "cup-tied" rule for the league - i.e. once a player has played for a club in a league game (and/or any European competition) that season he can't play for another team in the same league/division until next season. That would not only make for an unofficial out of season "window" but it could encourage clubs to look at players from lower leagues mid season if changes/replacements are needed.

Watched the whole game via firstrowsports in between interruptions at work. Usual game of clicking all the pop-ups to get rid of them at the start but once they're gone and I've hit full screen it was better picture than anything I watched last season and never buffered/froze once (that I noticed).

The situation is no different. That's why Managers generally leave by "mutual consent" - the club is within their right to refuse any resignation. But because there's no real transfer value in managers (although compensation deals seem to be increasing) they usually just accept the resignation and let them go.

Van Dijk saga ? Virgil? Liverpool? Les Reed? Strike? Not heard anything about this. Do you have more details?