Totton Saint

Lots of teams do use plenty of passing back

A deliberate mistake to give you pedants something to satisfy your urges to pick fault.

Agreed

People can cry tears of joy - maybe Ralph was just getting in touch with his feminine side.

Good question. I never spat whilst playing foot ball, rugby, cross country running, or rowing for Bedford rowing club, I formed a football club whilst at Totton Grammar with my classmates in the fifties to counter only allowed to play rugby at the school. The Sunday People wrote about us. I thought one had to keep hydrated not loose fluids by spitting

Us viewers were drained, so imagine how drained Ralph must have been watching so close to the action. I think some of the critisism of Ralph is a sympton of the last remnants of British culture of reserve and stiff upper lip.

a) Why do players need to spit and b) why isn't it banned? I cannot think of a better(if that's the right word) way to spread the virus. For some reason the camera seems to relish revolting close ups of the players spitting. Players can later fall onto the spit that is laying on the grass not to mention the ball being handled when coated with traces saliva picked up off the grass.

The youngsters acquited themselves well enough v Liverpool so I say let them have their reward by starting v Shrewsbury. Our reserves should be as good as, if not better than league one players or they would not be in the Saints set up.

Higgingbottom has been a co -commentator a few times but cannot remember what the matches were but he did OK

Could not have put it better myself. The Telegraph had a bigger article about Spurs next game than the report of us beating Liverpool yesterday!

Very good match report on Mail onLine

I said on the match build up thread I had a good feeling about this game and I am glad it turned out to be justified. As a point of interest the Daily Telegraph gave Armstrong and Ings a score of 9 out of 10.The first time I have seen that given to a player. Iam so proud of all the players.Bring on the foxes When will the pundits start taking us seriously!!

So much for all the folks saying we had a week bench -eat your hats. well done the young lads

So much for all the folks saying we had a week bench -eat your hats. weldoe the young lads

So much for all the folks saying we had a week bench -eat your hats. wel doe the young lads

MANU panicked whenever he got the ball. You may be right about his flair being coached out of him if so whyI isn't his flair which we bought him for.

Thank you all for these interesting comments. How wrong could I be.But certainly sparked the posters into life

well said

Were these managers in the sixties

Good start to the new year!

Thanks for the reply. I hope Saints pace themselves during the whole game and not overdo the pressing first half, only to run out of steam second half. Maybe the weeks break has had a positive effect

What about Wanyama and Sniedelin who disappeared into black holes (No racism intended). Shaw suffered a bad drop in form for ages before he suffered that awful leg fracture. Although togive him credit he recovers remarkably afterwards Martin Chivers took ages to settle at Spurs but his departure opened the door for 18 years old Channon to play alongside Ron Davies . Aide and abetted by Terry Paine and Sydenham

I have a good feeling about this match. Can't explain why.

Preparing for a game is different from coaching during the game. I meant why not use the training (preparation)to take precedence.I realise that tactics are now used and need to change during a game but what are captains for. How can players be watching the manager for instructions at the same keeping their concentration on playing football? I accept that maybe I am living in the past and hankering for a golden age when the game was free of shirt tugging and diving, greed etc

Does Barcelona use tactics or play spontainusly? Not to mention Brazil in the seventies. Tactics are strangling the game. Saints v WHU springs to mind