sandwichsaint

H, you got mail (sorry no pics though)

So what is the new starting X1? If we are signing 2-3-4 starters (we are only signing players WCDAJFU in the Prem right?) who are the 2-3-4 players they replace? I'm not sure we'll sign any out and out starters in Jan; the 5 year plan is well on track and our full starting X1 is more than capable at this level. More bodies WCDAJFU are clearly what's needed, the bench looks very threadbare at times, I accept this is a pretty poor re-run of RL's failed policies but it makes sense to me. Are we really going to spend 4m-5m-6m on players like Adamoha and Rodriguez (?), totally unproven at prem level; surely when we get up we will need some kitty left for 'proper' Premier league players? Where's McAuley now (West Brom?), a player we coulda, woulda, shoulda signed 5 years ago.

Only two questions m'lud, How drunk were you when you posted this? Who is she? Personally and only speaking for me myself I, I'm not that bovvered, you can see half a dozen of this standard on any high street; even I've done better!

Did you get anywhere with this? Same for me a couple of weeks ago (my contract has ended and the phone is still in good nick so I'm going to giff gaff it). I was quoted (in fact charged up front) 20 quid and told 7-10 days, that was 10-ish days ago but not heard anything yet, thanks for reminder, I will email them now.

Yes!

Easy, RL! Who is our second best player? AL. After that it gets interesting ... KD possibly?

I'm not sure our squad is quite up to this. How many transfer windows are you proposing in a 126 week season?

Brilliant (no pun intended). Maybe the Saints trust can now house a few of the forthcoming homeless under their warm glow?

I thought you said 'accidental'?

Davis ... several times Richardson ..... has played for Leeds = big games regularly Fonte ..... once? Jos ... Celtic v Rangers ... he'll cope Fox .... big game SDR .... don't know but fancies himself as a big game type Hammond / MS ... both played Pomps before Cork .... don't know but sure he will be fine Lallana ... played them before RL ... played them before Gully ... not sure (?) but so laid back I'm sure he won't be bothered How many of their rag-tag army have faced the full force of c3000 bubble-wrapped Saints fans?

Who knows indeed? Are Havant and Waterlooville home on the same day?

Don't diss big Jonny - one of the coolest playerz we have had at SFC for quite some time! I always felt he gave out a certain gangsta cool in our midfield - he gave the impression he was only ever one headline away from a drugs bust, a drive-by, or an unfortunate domestic incident. Fairly average playa but he wouldn't have needed no hand-hold from the Feds to get to FP. Schitt no, respect to the fella! Magic at Derby too, 'officially; (in my mind) 'the best Saints game eva'.

Seen SDR a few times but my jury's definitely out! Derby away, he produced a tidy 20 minutes without really changing the game. Reading away, he came on. did well and scored a cracker. Palace away he was bright for 20 mins then faded badly. Hull came on, changed the game, decent 45 mins. Started at home v Watford, not very good by all accounts. Same today, got two different starts but not convincing in either role and taken off. Can we afford to play Lallana, Guly and SDR in the same starting X1? (with Lambert playing then possibly yes, without RL almost certainly not), My bigger concerns would be the form of Lallana, Cork, MS, Fonte .... we just haven't got the depth to rotate players and provide the competition for places and the recovery time needed. Don't get me wrong, we are doing well to be where we are, and if you look at the strength of WHU, Leicester, Hull, Leeds we are doing REALLY well to be where we are. Looks like NC has some big decisions to make in January .... spend the farm on one shot at promotion (will we ever be in a better position?) or let Nige have another of the 5 years to consolidate and go again next year? Interesting times and some big decisions coming up in the next month.

Two things from watching the championship: I'm pretty sure I heard the commentator say 'Southampton, with the most wins and most goals scored in the league', and I've read 300-400 posts on today's game and not seen Fonte's name anywhere, could he have done more with the first goal? Hoovey certainly seemed to think so. We seem to be in a bit of a pickle for the next couple of weeks and the squad looks very threadbare, I'm not convinced with SDR starting or that Barnard looks anywhere near. Here's a left field suggestion: ...................................DAVIS......................... BUTTER ........... JF ...................JOS.....................FOX FRAZER .............CORK....................MORG...............HOLMES ...............................................AL ......................................... ......................................GULLY........................................... Keep SDR on the bench Move Lallana infield (take away the defensive side and let him loose on the ball) Gully up front (not great, but better than LB at the moment) Utilise FR and DB who are both good enough to play at this level Stop picking all our three centre mids and cramming them into round holes, bite the bullet and play MS and JC (harsh on Dean but 3 into 2 don't go!)

anybody else's saints player down?

Gully sounding good.

Totally agree.

Great result, if not a great performance. Saints started very flat and looked unbalanced from the off with MS alternating between a narrow right and wide right position and not being very effective in either. Gully and Lambert also failed to connect, add in a fairly limp AL and a midfield that failed to deliver very much quality ball to the strikers and it was always likely that Hull would score first. As others have said Hull were neat and tidy and pretty much out-played Saints at their own game for large parts of the first half, they must be strong play-off contenders on this form. Second half Saints were a different side (literally, with SDR on wide right and a more orthodox 4-4-2 shape) and scored two good goals (though Gully was very lucky to get a second go at his after missing a really straightforward chance that the keeper could only parry back to him). Unfortunately after this rousing 10 mins Saints were unable to apply the coup-de-grace of a third and Hull forced themselves back into it in the last 20 minutes and might consider themselves unlucky not to take a point from the game; at half time they looked favourites to take all three. KD 6, no chance with the goal and little else to do, but he never looked comfortable and his distribution was very scratchy. Bring back new improved KD immediately, I don't like old flappy Kelv much. FR 8, solid game at the back and regularly raided forward to good effect. JF + JH 7,7; both had a difficult first 20 mins but both settled well after that, now forming a really good partnership together. DH 5, shaky first half (no cover from AL though), improved as the game went on but offered very little going forward, no comparison with Fox on this showing. MS 7, out of position in the first half, and it showed; much better second half and made some crucial interceptions around and in front of our box. JC 7, lively first 20 mins but faded out (prob due to injury?) and was replaced at HT DH 8, excellent, did everything a skipper needs to do; got through shed loads of work and most of it decent, my MOM. AL 7, prob his best game since his injury, obviously nowhere near his best but he still had the tricks and awareness to help us unlock a resolute Hull defence. GdP 4, I'm a massive fan but this was probably as poor as he has ever been in a Saints shirt. Just couldn't get going and nothing he tried came off. Looked tired and I would rest him on Sat and bring him back fresh in 2 weeks to face Blackpool. RL 7, great quality and endeavour (as always) but like Gully nothing really fell for him. Fantastic persistence for his part in the second goal. SDR 8, looked fresh and lively and injected some much needed energy; I'm in a minority but I'm quite happy to see him continue in this 'impact' role at the moment. LB 2, lots of questions at the moment but he doesn't seem to be coming up with any answers. We can do better, and hopefully we will in January. Crowd 3, good numbers for a midweek game but a dire atmosphere for all bar first 20 mins of the second half. Do we just turn up and wait to be entertained nowadays? What's with all this leaving 5-10 mins early? Isn't being top of the champs, completing our umpteenth straight home win, and fighting back for a very creditable 3 points, worth 5 minutes of your time to stay and clap the team off? Unreal! I enjoyed it, Saints weren't great but Hull were pretty decent and it ended up a very satisfying three points - a champions style performance.

I'd be surprised if Palace can't shift up to 3000 for an attractive, reasonably local, Boxing Day game.

In raising your children spend twice as much time and half as much money. Wise words (not from me) but I thoroughly endorse them.

I didn't realise they had ever recorded more than one song. If SOTW is best, can't imagine the others are up to much.

Rather like a goal of the month competition but now we count in whole games. After seeing Dubai's rection to the Brighton game 'are we really this good?' what do you think is our best performance of the season? I've seen six games live and three more on telly/streams. For me Ipswich away, first 45 minutes, was the 'best' Saints football I've ever seen; I also saw Midds home on the stream and that was also an excellent performance. For those that have seen lots of games (or even if you haven't!) what's our best performance so far this season?

Don't talk wet, we were bent over a barrel with our wrists cuffed to our ankles. I for one am very glad of that decision, we kept trading, we kept our heads above water, and we got ourselves into a position where our saviour stepped up at the 11th minute of the 11th hour. I've never looked back since then and I don't think you should either.

Stern John v Norwich anyone?

Thanks for the heads up, might just do that.