VectisSaint

Not many are slagging Pardew, some would slag Fregie or Wenger if they were our manager and we had just won the Chumps League, it goes with the territory. Difference between Pearson and Pards though is that perason got 3 wins in Division 2, whereas Pards has 3 wins in Division 3. Simples. I think Pards will be fine, he has a good backup team in place (unlike Pearson) and has been able to almost completely replace the first team. It is clear that the squad he inherited was in a shambolic state inherited from Wotte and JP (not to mention Lowe), and much the same could also be said for Pearson after the disasters of Burley, Dodd and Gorman. Anyone who still cannot see that Pearson is actually a very good manager is a bit of a plank. He was well respected before he joined us for his coaching abilities especially with youngsters (cf England youth set up) and working with top class managers and Bryan Robson. He just needed the break and we gave it him. Our old friend MM knew what he was getting and Pearson has not disappointed thus far. It saddens me that he was treated so badly by Lowe but that was par for the course, and I am glad to see the guy doing so well, even if it is for the **** that is Milan!!

KD is and always has been dodgy. He has become a legend due to his fantastic shot stopping ability, especially last year when so often he stood between us and a good hiding. It does not however cover up his faults. He is dodgy with crosses, his positioning is poor and his distribution is suspect, and these faults make those in front of him nervous. He is still probably the best keeper in Div3 but his elevation to God-like status by some baffles me more than a little. I admire his loyalty when he turned down a payday at West Ham, but I do wonder whether we may have been better off if he had gone and we had replaced him along with the rest of the squad. Ducks for cover

How many players does it take before a team is entitled to postpone a game because of internatinal call ups. With the news today that Jake Thomson will be with the Soca Warriors at the weekend) and possibly Schneiderlin and Saga unavailable (the latter being no great loss IMHO) it must be getting near the point where we have some entitlement, technically, to postpone. I realise of the 3 only Spiderman is a regular at the moment. I assume there is a ruling for this just curious what it is. Are James, Jaidi and Papa involved in internationals? Mellis and Preen are also u19s I believe, not sure if they are playing this weekend or not though.

He is 25 and in 6 seasons has made 20 appearances for various clubs (including ones where his dad was manager), mostly as a sub. He may not be a fraud, but he clearly is not going to make it as a pro footballer at any decent level, maybe as a journeyman pro in Division 4 or the Conference. No disrespect to the "lad" (I guess at my age I can call him a lad) but he is just a reminder of the bad things that happened to our club last season, and the sooner the mistakes of Lowe, Wilde and the Ornage Order are sorted out the better. Good luck Ant, hope you find your level soon or find some other career to pay the bills.

Perhaps someone can update the thread title. Not sure Pulis counts as a player I don't understand why we have made an agreement that he cannot play for Lincoln in the FA Cup if we draw them in the 1st Round, we should have made it a condition that he does play, thus boosting our chances of winning LOL. Are we really that worried about his effectiveness that we would stop him playing against us.

Saga on the bench. Don't see point playing him he might not score. We can't rest everyone just because they might get injured, plan is to win the game, winning breeds confidence, therefore put out strongest team available, taking account players who may be carrying a knock already.

LB Peach. Legend. FACT.

Thats not saying much, is Preen really that ugly?

Not really a fair question, we didn't get to see enough of Dia in a Saints shirt to make a judgement. Shame he did a runner and was never seen again at The Dell, he may have turned out to be better than Pulis.

I think you spelled skate wrong As far as I am concerned Pompey are still pointless even after yesterday.

Maybe thats why FF said "their team" i.e. MK Dons

One of the very few advantages of having 7 subs (I can't think of any others) is that you can put nippers on the bench to get some experience of the "big" occassions without any pressure on them or the manager to actually play them. All part of the learning experience. I would take a guess that AP had no intention of playing the lad yesterday.

There is a huge difference between adjusting the radio and messing with an iPod. No-one is accusing him of murder, it is effectively manslaughter. If young inexperienced drivers with motors that they don't know how to control properly do silly things then I'm sorry but they must accept that they will pay for it. 32 months, he will be out in just over a year. The man he killed is dead, he won't be back in a year. 32 months does on the face of it seem harsh, but not if you are the victim. And anyone who sups coffee or uses mobile phone (other than hands free) or generally ****es about behind the wheel deserves everything the law throws at them and some.

Of course 19C won't like KK since KK is a Lawrie Mac import. But actually I agree completely with 19C (never thought I would say that). WGS is the much better bet for Sporting Director if there needs to be an alternative to Coppell. And of course WGS is a Lowe man so will get 19C's support LOL

1st milestone is promotion to Championship next season (not the Coca Cola Championship of course). By implication that means avoiding relegation this season. So there you have your first 2 milestones of the 5 year plan.

Maybe Kelvin is not a good tosser, and we don't get to choose.

No free tickets allowed, everyone has to pay their way, sorry. NC

Are you just jumping on the Vokes Wagon?

I see Pericard is still a free agent

As we are not in the PL, their rules mean diddly squat. I don't believe there is any rule in the FL that prevents the size of the pitch being changed, but I could be wrong. We narrowed our pitch considerably last season (or maybe the season before), always thought that was a bad move but I guess if you are trying to play through the middle then it might help and also narrows the gaps between defenders which should help when your defenders are not that good. But if we are going to play with width then the pitch needs to be extended again. The real problem though I am sure is the fitness issue. Not the explosive fitness, but the stamina. Most pro footballers can run around for 90 minutes, but without stamina training a la WGS they become mentally fatigued in the last 10-15 minutes and make mistakes. Our home grown players have never had a proper preseason with this sort of training (Lallana and James are too young for the WGS regime). On top of that Hammond and Jaidi also did not have a proper preseason. Morgan too, and he has probably never had this sort of thing in France, and I would suggest Papa is the same at Fiorentina, French and Italian styles of play are not so physically demanding). So that leaves about 4 outfield players who may have the physical stamina required, Trotman, Hammond, Lambert and possibly Mellis. I think it is difficult to carry 5 or 6 players in the last 10 minutes or so, this is why AP bemoans the lack of a preseason. It is nothing to do with the players gelling etc. They know each other well enough and seem to have a good rapport but they do lack fitness, something that has been an issue at SFC starting with Burley and continuing with JP and MW. I bet things will be different next season if Dean Wilkins (and AP) are allowed to see things through and not be drummed out by those who want an instant fix.

I suggest we replace Pardew now with Roy Keane. Then when that doesn't work lets bring in Paul Hart. Then we could try Wotte or Gray or Wigley, surely by the end of the season one of these will have discovered how to make Saints win. FFS, we need to stick with Pardew, I don't believe for 1 minute he will take us down, but I would even suggest sticking with him if he did. Promotion was not an option this season, next season is the important one. Some people need to learn a new word, FAITH.

Ali Dyer, where do we get these posters from ? LOL

Changing the manager is not the answer. OK, we have had a crap start to the season when we should by now be on +5/6 points at least. But does anyone really want to go back to the good old days of sacking managers every 5 minutes. Where did that get us? I have a good feeling that Pardew and his coaching team will get us moving in the right direction soon. I never expected promotion this season, anyone who did is a little delusional IMHO, it is worrying that we are still just as far behind as we were at the start of the season, but there are still 30 odd games to go, and sacking the manager will do nothing to improve our plight, indeed it might make it worse.

Think yopu'll be better off going back to Blackpool. Was there on Monday night (got out quick on Tuesday). It was closed. Seriously. Took ages to find anywhere open to eat, very few pubs were even occupied (and not many existed). I could not believe how **** the town was, looked like Skateville on a bad day LOL.

they're playing some of the lower teams, Wycombe, Oldham & Brighton, but also some of the top teams, Leeds & Gillingham and also Walsall. Then they get to play the bottom team.