VectisSaint

Claridge has nearly always said good things about Saints. It is a myth that he hates us. He is actually very fair in his assessment of teams, unfortauntely for him he lacks personality to go any better than the FL Show, yet he is a better pundit than the Slug Balancer or Hanson will ever be.

Think you have to be 17 before you can have a pro contract. Shaw is only just 16, won't be 17 until next season. I guess its not inconceivable that he will break Theo's record for the youngest player if he gets a game in the next 3-4 months.

Has anyone actually said this was a bad result? Almost every post is saying it was a decent result. Almost the only dissenter is LTC and even he is not saying it was a bad result, only that it was poor based on form, which is a perfectly reasonable statement. It was a tad disappointing today but really to be expected, a bit like Manure only drawing at Stoke (as it was they could easily have lost), Fergie won't be celebrating but he'll know that they can't win every game. The positive for me is that NA recognised something was wrong and took decisive action to rectify it, the match thread contained some amusing comments about his decisions, one of which at least came back to bite those posters, clearly bring on Spiderman was a master stroke. Onwards and upwards. We are still seriously missing an option up front, surprised NA has not solved this problem yet.

Generally I like Jeff Stelling, but I think he seriously overstepped the mark with this rant. Whether or not he is right or wrong is actually irrelevant, his conduct this afternoon is completely unprofessional and frankly embarrassing for him. Would not surprise me if he is given a slap for this. Will not sit well with Sky, even with their dubious morality.

Seems sensible to me, keep your options open. Theo is only doing what several other Arsenal players are allegedly doing who are out of contract in 2013. See where Arsenal are at the end of this season and either negotiate an extension or move on with a hefty transfer fee for Arsenal. I would be very surprised if Arsenal even qualify for Europa League this season, these players including Theo and van Persie will be looking to play in Europe (Champions League not Mickey Mouse) regularly.

Strange list of deserving cases, of that lot only MLT & Lawrie would seem reasonable (Jimmy Case would have to fit it in between his visits to Liverpool and Brighton, I see he was on the pitch on Wednesday at the Amexdean or whatever it is called). The likes of Mick Channon, Terry Paine, Ron Davies, Danny Wallace, far more deserving (and several others), and therein lies the problem. Who is and who is not deserving? The answer is no-one should be entitled to free tickets. Instead ex-players (ex-managers as well, would that include Mr Branfoot?) should be invited as guests by the club. This of course is what is happening (Terry Paine recently, the FA Cup winners last season, hopefully soon Big Ron) to those who show respect for the club. Those who are less than respectful strangely do not seem to get the invitations.

Still going round in circles. Dan Petrescu or even Rudi Skacel (if he signs) would be better than Colleter.

Have you tried getting 4 qualified oficials for a Sunday league match? Lucky to get one. Its not the same game any more, hasn't been for a long time. Goal line technology is one thing we really do need. I wouldn't want things to go much further than that.

Correct. I think some people are trying to over-elaborate and have not read the question (basic requirement of all examinations). The question posed by JustMike in post #70 was "what's the betting we get Newcastle away!" (at least I think it was a question, the ! is slightly confusing). There are 2 independent events, (1) the chance of Saints drawing Newcastle, which is simply 1 in 15 (or 1/15) and (2) Newcastle being drawn at home, which is 1 in 2 (or 1/2). To find the combined probability of these 2 events they are multiplied together, so 1/15 * 1/2, which is 1/30.

Thanks to the Echo, although I don't think its disdainful. http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/heritage/hampshireheritage/8797767.Why_Southampton_is_shortened_to_Soton/

Is 1 in 15 a good chance? Better chance that it will be a north west club, 7 in 15 to be exact. Personally would like to get Newcastle, Arsenal or Aldershot at home. Please not Manure or Citeh.

Sorry, but the situation with Theo and AOC was very different. AOC couldn't wait to get away and his old man was a total dickhead and was engineering the move for a while. Fortunately we have a shrewd chairman who got a massive payment for such an inexperienced player, a player leaving a club on the up but with no compunction about going. Theo's situation was very very different, but to be fair to Lowe who I usually hate, he was also very shrewd and did a good deal when it was needed, Theo's departure was inevitable given our precarious financial state at the time, and Theo acted with good grace and ensured together with Lowe that we got a tremendous deal given we were only assured of a tribunal fee. Alos, Theo's father was not a **** like Oxo's. Personally I have no bad feeling against Oxo, but I sure do against his skate father.

Totally agree, maybe he has some hidden qualities but on the evidence I have seen there are none. He has no vision and no movement off the ball. Yes, he is quick, but from a flat-footed standing start that does not help. At school we used to play statues, I think he would have won hands down every time. I have never seen a player who so evidently does not seem to know what to do when he does not have the ball, and hasn't much more idea when he does have it. Our game is so much about movement off the ball and finding space, sadly he does not fit into this style in any way, shape or form. I think we have a very strong squad, but for me Jonno really is the weakest link, and as such we have no backup for Lambert.

Only 6 changes from last round though, one of which was enforced, one of which wouldn't have been a change if Chaplow had not been suspended before. We will struggle up front, hope Reeves is up for it because otherwise we will be relying on the statue formerly known as Forte, hopefully NA will have told him that he needs to add movement to his game. So much for Jaidi playing.

Be surprised if the team is much different to the one that played against Swindon, sounds like Jaidi in for Seaborne and maybe Chaplow on from the start instead of Cork (Bart, Richardson, Martin, Jaidi, Harding, Holmes, Spiderman, Chappers, Lallana, Guly & Forte). 7 subs tonight not 5, expect to see at least 3 youngsters on the bench again, hopefully we will be doing better so that we can actually get them on the pitch and not have to rely on bringing Lambert, Hammo and Fonte on again. Personally I would start de Ridder instead of Forte, who quite honestly does not seem good enough for the current team based on his statues impression at the Swindon game.

Their lowest ever attendance at the Emirates for a competitive match. I don't get this "its only the reserves" argument, last round we played 5 regular first teamers including Lallana and had 4 more on the bench 3 of whom played if I recall correctly (Lambert, Hammond & Fonte). Hardly makes it the reserves, in fact was not too far away from what could be a first team if we had a few injuries/suspensions.

Maybe we would get to see Pulis play

I'll be doggone. Did you hear that through the grapevine?

Yep, just 175 miles down the road (compared with 240 from Southampton). Really don't think Newcastle being a bit nearer home that Southampton but still a bloody long way away would be a factor. No way will RL go to Newcastle, and anyway Pardew will probably not be there much longer once the barcodes start playing some decent teams and get found out.

Well there's a first, newspaper prints only facts!!!

Given Richardson was almost OK last week, I don't think he will miss this week as well, and Harding's knock was only minor, in any case almost everyone thought Fox was better *****il they saw him play), so defence is hardly decimated. In fact we could be back to our regular defence, except DS on Sunday.

2 out of 58 for Ostrava, 8 out of 36 for Brest. 13 goals for Ostrava, not bad for MF.

Good to see that at last someone recognised the real point.

He has hardly been a bench warmer since leaving us, 58 appearances for Banik Ostrava (13 goals) and over 30 appearances for Brest, plus 3 full international caps for the Czech Republic, would suggest that as usual Burley was wrong.

My pet hate on Sky (as well as the Beeb and ITV) is that many pundits do not seem to actually know the laws of the game. They think they do and analys/criticise referees and other officials and show complete ignorance of what the laws actually say. Many don't seem to know that free-kicks for handball should only be given if the offence is deliberate, and many really do not know or understand the offside law. Players and supporters alike are then fooled into believing what these pundits say - the TV people have a lot to answer for when it comes to respect for referees and officials. I wonder how many of these so-called experts have ever read the Laws of the game, and would question whether any of them have ever taken a refereeing course, maybe if they did they would understand and respect officials.