VectisSaint

How odd, but you're entitled to your opinion of course. Seems to me Van Dijk is ideally suited to the way the Dutch want to/used to play (not how they play at the moment). Very good central defender, but also very good on the ball, and excellent at playing out from the back. Reminds me in many ways of Koeman. One of the least limited (most complete) central defenders around from the experience of watching him at Saints. Not even sure that CB is his best position, could be developed into a midfielder.

I reckon he meant the first game for Saints at WHL in Division 1. It was end of November when we played them. I'm feeling very young here, this was the season before my first game (3-5 at home to Chelsea, Big Ron (2), Mick C the other, Chivers' last game for us, this was after we had beaten then 6-2 at Stamford Bridge).

England doing a Saints.

Correct, confirmed when the stadium was built (and many times since). Only the Itchen is not designed for expansion.

You should never rely on "averages" to determine whether your demand is greater than the current capacity. We have sold out several matches this season. Our average has been affected in a major way by two factors (1) 3 home games against unattractive opposition in 7 days in January and (2) the oddity of the West Ham game (why only 29k, did we think Fat Sam was still in charge?) in February. Otherwise we have been close to actual capacity (as opposed to the advertised capacity) in almost every other game since September. Average attendance is an odd stat, because of course you can never have a bigger than capacity attendance to boost the average, whereas one or two low attendances can have a significant affect over 14 or 15 games. Suggests to me that we could in fact sell more tickets for a substantial %age of our matches (including a higher away supporter allocation), but probably not enough to warrant a new tier on one of the 3 extendable sides, hence the club's understandable reluctance to expand.

Don't panic, a draw will be enough to ensure our survival.

Of course you did

Bertrand withdraws from England squad due to injury. Maybe more serious than it first appeared.

Well done. I effectively did the same as you. Of course its not going to happen. I was a bit concerned to post, because I knew it would confuse CB Fry and make him think that I really believed it could happen and then he would misquote me for ever and a day

Actually it is, on goal difference.

Charlie Austin back in training (with the U21s and the other non-internationals). Hopefully available for our next game (though where or whether he will fit in is another matter).

Apparently Wellbeck was also absent (there's a surprise). Still Ryan has nearly 2 weeks to recover from what cannot be much of an injury.

As I said I tend to agree with your thoughts, but it really only needs a few results to go our way and it could be very different. West Ham's fixtures are very tough, Man City can't buy a win at the moment, Liverpool are inconsistent, Stoke are poor at home, and Man u are also very inconsistent. It could be fine margins, but to say anyone that thinks 4th/5th is achievable is hardly barking in my opinion. I think if you ask Ronald he would say that 5th at least is achievable. I don't think he is barking, he may be over optimistic. Who knows after Sunday? That's the beauty of the game and its good to have these conversations, sadly spoiled by the ignorant abuse of one (or two) of the trolls on here who love to ruin a decent discussion.

Feck sake you continue to be a **** don't you.

I'm certainly not suggesting that Pelle's penalty wasn't a penalty (and I don't think Whitey was either, the discussion was why Skrtel wasn't red-carded). The point about the "obvious goal scoring opportunity" was whether it deserved a red card or not. That was what the FIFA presentation was specifically addressing, guess you didn't really read it. You've also missed the point about "obvious goal scoring opportunity it seems. The point is that FIFA (and the FA) have clarified what is and is not "obvious". The word "obvious" is not really the best word to use. As I said we have all seen players score from these angles, but in terms of whether a red card can be given, it is defined as a player running toward goal, nothing more or less. That makes it as close to being a black and white decision as is possible. Pelle or anyone else scoring from difficult angle is a skill, and not "obvious", it would be unlikely for instance that I could score from such an angle* I also think that the Long incident was a clear penalty (but again not a red card). *to be fair I did once score from a similar position with the ball being on the goal line, but the referee disallowed it because he believed the opposition manager, who happened to be leaning against the other goalpost chatting to the keeper who was smoking a ciggy at the time, who told him the ball had crossed the goal line first. But that's my issue and nothing to do with FIFA, but it has stuck with me for over 40 years, my only goal for my village team scored on my debut and it was disallowed, and I was cautioned for arguing, and subbed at half-time. The world is so unfair I guess me doing what was considered highly unlikely is a perfect example of how this is not considered an "obvious goal scoring opportunity"

David, Whitey is completely correct with his assessment of why there was no red card (not that he needs me to tell him that, he is a far more experienced referee than I ever was). I learned a lot from this FIFA document regarding Fouls and Misconduct (Law 12). The last three slides in particular explain how to decide whether an "obvious goal scoring opportunity" has or has not occurred. The critical issue seems to be whether the player is running towards the goal. On Sunday Pelle was wide right of the goal and running directly towards the goal line following the threaded pass by Davis. He wasn't running towards goal, neither was he running away from the goal. He was in line with the limit of the goal area which if I recall correctly is 6 yards (5.5m) outside of the goal post. He would have had to have been more than 6 yards to his left for this to be considered an "obvious goal-scoring opportunity". Of course we all know that a goal can be scored from this position, but the word "obvious" is important and the advice given to referees clarifies this. Here's the presentation document I referred to: http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/afdeveloping/refereeing/7.%20law%2012_miscounduct_557.pdf

I tend to think that you are right that we won't finish 4th or 5th, but people who think we might are hardly barking. It is still very possible, and for precisely the reason that you think we won't do it. No one from 4th down is consistent (even 3rd for that matter). We may just be slightly less inconsistent than Man City or Man U for the remainder of the season. To dismiss the possibility of making up a 3 point gap (to 5th) is just nuts.

Agreed, totally irrelevant if Long moves one way then another, it was still a 2-handed push by Lovren. Not a red card though.

Thanks Gemmel. As I said in my reply I don't think his next appearance would trigger a payment, he has already made 21 starts in the Premier League, the only competition that counts for the purposes of the additional payments, no more payments until he gets to 30, which will be next season now (at least).

Billy No Mates

Really not surprised that international manager hasn't picked him based on his recent performances. But if the report is true then it is very rude not to at least let him know, but petulant reaction all the same. James Beattie had a similar beef with SGE if I recall, though I think he got a text.

This was my initial reaction during the game, and you are right to a degree that he was poor in many respects (giving the ball away that lead to Benteke's chance, and many misplaced passes). But, having now watched several highlights, in his defence he (1) put in the corner that VvD should have buried in the first half (2) ensured that Liverpool's 3rd goal was disallowed by getting off the line smartly to catch Origi (?) offside (3) put the ball through to Pelle that resulted in the pen that Mane missed (4) his tenacity set up the first goal, winning the ball back from Liverpool and allowing Pelle to pass to Mane (5) his smart first time pass enabled Long to set up Pelle for our second He hasn't been quite the same since he was injured, but even when he is having a pretty poor game he is still influential. Without his inputs yesterday I suspect we would not have got back in the game, while Mane and Pelle (and Wanyama) will justifiably and rightly take the credit for the outcome yesterday. Special mention to JWP as well, often criticised, but he created the 3rd goal.

Is there a link to this, if it is doing the rounds on Twitter? Would be interested to look at it.

Must win to keep our title hopes alive When was the last time we got to Apri with a mathematical chance of winning the top flight?

Agreed, thought the same.