VectisSaint

We definitely replaced some of the medical team during the summer, possibly not the fitness coaches, but not sure. Also Lambert;s fitness during last season was clearly improved (but then he was seriously overweight when he joined us). Thats not the same though as putting a whole team through pre-season. I stand by my opinion.

Au contraire, more likely that NC will see that he did exactly the right thing by replacing Pardew when it was clear that the players were in poor shape after pre-season. NC's only regret will probably be that he was distracted by the untimely demise of Markus and should have done the right thing sooner. I liked AP but can see now that he was lacking in the area of fitness and conditioning, in a similar fashion to Burley, and like GB he was going to cost us dear. Adkins clearly is turning things around and will not be found wanting in the area of fitness in the future.

Still runs his Sports Shop down the road from the County Ground in Swindon. Best of my knowledge he never played for us. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Rogers_(footballer) Steve Williams nearly came back after we sold him to Arsenal, was given a trial by Branfoot but nothing materialised. What a waste of talent, was probably part of best midfield ever when paired with Bally.

Looks like your memory has given up completely, are you sure you're on the right board? Manny Andruszewski made a brief return after his time in the US Iain Dowie - was an associate schoolboy and returned 8 years after he was released Jon Gittens - nuff said Pulis also returned, wonder if he will ever appear for Saints 1st XI

Just reinforces what I always thought about him, the guy is a ****, one of our worst ever signings, now Wolves get a taste of it for themselves.

6-2 win at Chelsea, same season as they beat us 5-3 at the Dell (67/68 IIRC)

Gin gang Guly Guly Guly Guly gin gang goo gin gang goo

Never forgive him for introducing the world to the Osmonds.

Article on this on the Guardian from 2007, evidently Raymond Goethals is arguably the most successful (who? never heard of him). Bruce Arena was also a keeper. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2007/sep/19/theknowledge

BBC ought to watch their own footage, this is from their match report "Rickie Lambert ran at the Wednesday defence before sliding in his strike partner Barnard to slot in the winner. The two combined time and again, but home keeper Nicky Weaver was on hand to keep the Owls in the game." It clearly was not Rickie, Spiderman it was.

Apart from the Stadium, a squad of good L1 players, membership of the FL and TV money occassionally from Murdoch. And you call other people loons LOL

Watford a fortnight ago

The original statement was about having the best squad NOW, whether we will have the best squad end of season is irrelevant to that discussion (though clearly very relevant to what we achieve at season end). Clearly we didn't have the best squad start of last season either, but with some good signings we certainly did by the end of the season, with several options on the bench available to change games. As things stand now we are hard pressed to name 18 players for a Saturday game. We were alo fortunate with injuries, only Murty was out for any serious length of time. Also we had a good squad because the players brought in during the season were committed, technically good, enthusiastic and fit (at least fitter than the ones we already had in general). Agree with much of what you say otherwise, but I would question whether the 11 on the pitch so far this season have been good enought, taking out Richardson, Lallana, Barnard & arguably Lambert who is clearly not playing the way he did last season, almost certainly due to injury, means we have had arguably only 7 of our first chocie players. Not everything is down to the manager, but in our case a lot is, as I said before from the fitness side of things. Even WGS could not instill stamina into a team mid-season, it has to be done pre-season thus why I have concerns whether NA can turn this around, he has many talented players (over-talented for this level perhaps) but it is difficult to get this change of attitude and mental sharpness once a season is underway. Hence the need for the manager to freshen things up with a couple of inspired loans/fre agents to bring competition, fresh enthusiasm and motivation.

Must be the Alpine air, currently in northern Italy :-)

I think your assessment is slightly wrong. We do not have the strongest SQUAD in the League, patently. I think I could argue we have the strongest 1st XI, but the squad lacks depth, especially in creativity in midfield and also up front. This weakness has been cruelly exposed so far this season with the loss of Richardson and Lallana, the suspension of Barnard and the clear fitness issues with Lambert, he seems still to be suffering from the groin injury, or the after effects. We have players to replace most of the above (except Lambert) but they are not of the same quality (of course that would be difficult). I don't subscribe to the idea that Antonio and Waigo are such big losses but have to admit that both could come off the bench and make a big difference. The other major issue for me is player fitness. Clearly our preseason planning went awry and, rather in the same way that Burley misunderstood about preseason fitness conditioning, stamina training and so on, it now seems Pardew was almost as inept in this area. I have misgivings in this area that Adkins can put this right, since stamina training is almost impossible to add once the playing season is in full swing. Stamina training makes players tired/heavy legged and they would not be able to perform as well as they should if this sort of training was introduced now. This was not so much of a problem last season for the simple reason that nearly all of our outfield players went through preseason at other clubs. Even so I was not over impressed by the fitness levels last season among some players, we mostly got by because we were technically superior to most teams, but came unstuck on heavy pitches when stamina was required. I don't think AP leaving has knocked the stuffing out of the players, sadly the Rovers result may have been a fluke, we got early goals and by the time fatigue set in in the 2nd half we were already out of sight. Adkins can only address things in my opinion by bringing in a couple of new players on loan (or free agents), preferably ones who are fully fit and have had a proper preseason.

Unless Crosby was not registered as a player at Scunny then he cannot play for us. As a player he would still be subject to transfer rules. I note from the Scunny site that he has not played this season, so maybe he has retired as a player. All references on OS are to him being assistant manager only.

Best squad in the league - you are having a laugh. Best 1st XI, when on form and fully fit, definitely. A squad consists more than 11 first choice players, need 20 players able to come in and do a job, change things round, cover for injuries, loss of form, suspensions. We don't have that. With AL injured and LB suspended our bench is **** poor. I still think we have a better 1st XI than last season, but thats not the point, we need back up, after all Waigo and Antonio were never regular starters.

Top post, nice to see some balanced, reasoned thinking on here.

Ottery, while I know that you are closer to Exeter than me, I think you will find that contrary to your remarks Perryman is very much involved in the selection of players and is also very much on an equal footing with Tisdale, indeed Tisdal has said before that Perryman is his mentor. I work with several Exeter supporters and know how much of an influence Perryman actually is at the club. It is one reason why I have never jumped on the Tisdale for Saints manager bandwagon. There is no inference anywhere by the way that Reed is planning to coach the first team, unless on an occassional basis (and why wouldn't we take advantage of his skills, he is after all one of the most respected coaches in this country). If you seriously think Reed will be heavily involved on match days, then why is it not happening right now, when we don't have a manager? As far as I can see the team is being run on matchdays by Wilkins and Hunter. I think you are simply mischief-making.

Don't know of any fixtures, but losing place in the Premier Reserve League is no big deal. There are at least 5 clubs (Spurs, Fulham, Birmingham, Blackpool and Stoke) who are not taking part this year because of the poor quality, and have gone the same way as us. Even Arsenal threatened to withdraw but were persuaded to stay in this season. Reserve team football is currently a total joke in this country, as it is just not competitive. It needs a radical shake-up, which I believe is on the cards. Also, I don't think many of our players are left high and dry on a Saturday, with the introduction of 7 Subs (really bad idea in my opinion), we are currently struggling to even name a full squad for a first team game (due to injuries and suspension). Most of our other players would be involved in the Academy, there can only be a couple of others who are not involved, Pulis comes to mind if he is still employed. My suspicion is that we will not see many fixtures announced for the development squad, but that does not mean that games will not take place during the season. Expect some behind closed doors games against the likes of Spurs and Fulham will take place as well as some games in Europe. Incidentally, just reading about Arsenal Reserves, they will be playing most reserve fixtures this season behind closed dorrs because spectators are not allowed in their home ground which this season is their training centre (Colney), but will play some fixtures at Barnet when the weather is favourable!! Just shows that playing reserve team football does not have any real competitive edge, and certainly does not prepare players for Premier league football other than giving them a run out to gain fitness.

Standard set up on the continent. Only in this country do we have arrogant managers who can't work like this and want to do everything. Even here there are models, Chelski for instance don't seem to do too badly. Exeter work like this as well if you want a League One example (Tisdale and Perryman). This is the same system that Lowe tried to introduce, trouble was he tried it with Saggy Chops and a Rugby Coach, now that was just plain stupid (though the Rugby coach should have been good for the club, just not with Saggy Chops). While Reed may be part of the reason why AP has gone (because Reed joined much later, and also because of their history with Charlton), I don't see an issue if Reed is part of the selection process and the new manager (or 1st team coach) is appointed with this system in place. If the manager is continental he may indeed welcome such a structure and expect it to be as such. Sadly I would agree that O'Neill is hardly likely to be enamoured with it. Dismissing Reed as useless simply because his management career lasted exactly 6 weeks is just plain daft. He is not a manager, never has been, never will be, but he is one of the most highly respected coaches, especially on the development side in this country, and internationally renowned. As ong as Reed and the new manager get along, work together and understand the roles, all wii be fine.

Quite frankly I had never heard of Adkins until last few days. Seems a hell of a gamble to me, may have got Scunny promoted twice, both times on a shoestring, but also had them relegated and a survival by the skin of their teeth. No experience working with "star" players, no consistent winning experience in the league above us. Can't see it and will be underwhelmed. Still maybe he could teach Davis a few things about goalkeeping given his playing experience (such as not always hoofing it to Rickie). Seems like the sort of appointment that might well get us promoted, followed by a swift sacking as soon as he struggles in a higher division. Can anyone really see this guy managing us in the Prem? Sorry, no offence to the bloke who sounds perfectly good at this level, but hardly what we need right now.

Any facts to back up this assertion? If you mean when he took over as manager of Charlton then you are so deluded. Yes he was crap at that job, but then he has never planned to be a manager. Check out the facts and you will see that even when Pardew took over after Reed's brief spell in charge he could not turn things around and Charlton were relegated. This doesn't mean Reed is wanting at the top level. He is one of the most highly respected coaches in England and internationally (coach, not manager please note). He has not been applying for managers jobs or coaching jobs for years because he was running his own very suucessful consultancy firm, why would he want to give that up for the risks and uncertainties of a club job. Clearly the SFC role did appeal and he has taken it on. Designing the UEFA Pro Licence is not and never has been his crowning glory. Like Nigel Pearson he has been involved at many levels of England coaching, indeed he is one up on NP because he has coached at EVERY level, whereas NP has only got as far as U21 so far. This is a man used to working with kids, young players and top international stars. Dismiss him as useless only if you know nothing about football. That said, the Charlton affair may explain if AP and Les Reed do not get on I guess.

What a load of tosh Doesn't want o know about our history - hello, why do we have a 125 anniversary shirt, no sponsor, historic notes in the programme No time or respect for ex-players/managers - says who? Probably has no respect for ones that talk out of their arse like Dennis, about things they know nothing about, sorry even Le Tiss talks horse **** sometimes. Who are the ex-managers? Lawrie, well much as I like him he does upset some people and can be a miserable old git like me. Who else? Saggy Chops? Burley? Deserve no respect. Agents Orange? Likewise. WGS? Who knows, has there been an issue with WGS, about the only recnt manager that still has my respect. Dictatorial attitude will put managers off taking the job: What a load of absolute ******. Managers, good and bad will not be put off applying, or taking the job, all managers are thick skinned and know that their job is short term only, and that they are God's gift to football. Some might not be offered the job, but no-one will be put off applying. I've been associated with Saints for nearly 45 years, I don't see any less respect for our history right now than in the previous 10 years, NC won't lose me, because I remain loyal to the Club, not influenced by some passing phase.

So why aren't the other 91 clubs in the League paying the price as well? Some have taken a lot more of the devils dirty money than we have. What tosh.