washsaint

Fantastic to see the Nats wipe the smile fo the smug, arrogant Philly fans. Nats are for real this season.....7 series win out of 8 and the big question is who will make way when Zimmerman, Morse, Chiang all come back. And Bryce Harper - reminds me so much of kevin Pietersen (including the terrible haircut!). Lets go Nats!

Saints are going to need a new spine to the team when we get promoted. From the very limited amount I have seen this season, Fonte is a total liability, we will need a RB, a pacey RM and possibly LM and a replacement for Hammond. We're still in an incredibly strong position and it's in our hands......

lmfao.........all this talk about Lowe ruining Saints finances. This was all done by WIlde and co (who 90%+ of our fanbase thought was a messiah) and by the time he came back to try and turn things round we were shot because of the amssive overspend by Wilde and his cronies. Relegation happens although it could have been perhaps avoided if we had gotten Hoddle back. Lets face it, Strachan took us as far as he could and as has been shown elsewhere he has a very limited shelf life. This shows we have to be sustainable......right now we're ok and looking good but, if something happened and there was no more money to subsidise us we would be right up the creek without a paddle.

realistically, West ham have to get 2 wins and a draw to overatke us (superior goal difference is worth an extra point) whilst we get nothing from 3 games. With 7 games left this is not impossible but highly unrealistic. Each time we get a win, irrespective of what West ham and Reading do, we get even closer to promotion. Based on the above I reckon 9 more points will do it for automatic promotion............and maybe less if West ham beat Reading and so do we.

Don't see it myself...would have thought that Fonte/Hooiveld will be the pairing for the rest of the season and if any injuries that Martin will come in (who seemed to do very well recently).

Big difference (having served for 6 years) between the terrible losses in wars and a footballer. Servicemen and women are trianed to fight (and die) for their country. THis guy collapsed on the pitch and everyone could see what was going on. Add in, he seems like a genuinely fantastic individual and you have a story that people are interested in. Shame on all of you moaning about this.......

For those saying we need to get promoted to keep hold of our players...........we have NEVER been able to keep our best players (the great MLT aside) even when in the Prem. If any of the bigger clubs want our players they will get them....think Walcott, BAle, AOC, etc. And there will be nothing we can do about it. I still hope we get promoted....but still feel the Premiership will not be as much fun/as entertaining/competitive as the Championship. Let's ask Norwich and Swansea fans in their 2nd season once the honeymoon period is over.

Who on earth would take Dave Kitson on......he is utterly useless and hasn't scored for something like 3 years!

Whilst now is a good time to be a Saints fan and chasing 2nd promotion in successive seasons I can't help feeling that promotion to the Prem will mean we are in the 'promised land'. The Premier League is not as exciting as the Championship (where anyone can beat anyone else on a given day) and despite not being able to see games now going into every game thinking we can win is a good feeling. That will disapear completely in the Prem. When living in the UK and being a season ticket holder for 15+ years I have to say most prem games bored me to tears and the prem is all style (money et al) over substance. PLus the prices to see games will go through the roof and price out families and lower paid and we'll end up with the missing 1,000s fighting over tickets just because we are in the Prem. To my mind, it's Hobsons choice.....whilst getting to the Prem is the goal of any team and its fans, the reality once there is unlikely to live up to the expectation......if we're safe the last half of the season will be meaningless and there is really no chance of us chalenging in the Prem. PLus teams are so scared of losing that games can be very defensive and not the most exciting to view. Anyone else feel the same?

Pahhh....Nats owned Philly last year: home and away. And this year will be no different, be great to see the philly fans crying into their beer as they are owned by the master Nats! And quite right keeping the Philly hordes out..........even though it is a c****y part of DC it is still too upmarket for Philly (ever been to Chester?)! Bring it on! Philly must have been laughing their socks off after the Nats signed Werthless up to the mega contract last year..........

sounds like we got a real steal in Lee....someone pacey and skilful. C'mon Saints!

Now living just outside DC so a Nationals fan.......couold be an awesome year for the Nats with their pitching staff (starters and bull pen), young team looking hot and play off contenders. However, their new stadium is in a really s****y part of DC and is not particularly nice. Much prefer goign to Camden yards (Baltmiore Orioles) which is a fantastic stadium and really close to the Inner Harbor. Really looking forward to this season and hoping their dominance over Philadelphia continues!

lol - the snooze saying the fans have turned out in force! Only about 6,000 empty seats. And the c**ks had the nerve to have a go at Saints for 'only' getting 24,000 the other day. Big club, best supporters, blah, blah, blah my arse!

Have to laugh......I think overall Appleton has conducted himself with dignity, grace and shows he ahs a bright future as a manager. Then he ruins it all by saying he's waiting to hear from the FL whether he can bring 2 players in on loan as the FL says a squad should have 20 players and they onlyhave 18!!!!! What a dinlo! They can't even afford to pay their bills and their existing players and he has the temerity to say he wants to bring in 2 loanees! What about their youth players/ That's what everyone else has to do when financially challenged....guess they still don't think the rules apply to them.

Always found it strange Mills was released.......showed all the signs of being a top qulaity player. Now showing it at Reading. The9 - what on earth were you on about? Mills is a regualr at Reading (missed some games due to injury, not dropped) and has just been given a contract extension. I would have Mills over Fox or Harding any day of the week. Not overly impressed with Adkins deaings in the transfer market to date..........

what a saddo....carrying out a vendetta on a poxy Internet message board (even if it is kind of amusing in a train wreck kind of way).

horrid, truly horrid....way too busy and cluttered. It wasn't broke!

For those of you that had a pop because I thought we had an awful team selection.......any thoughts now. It's a massacre right now........

Who would I play in place of Barnard.,......anyone! Hoskins, Lee, Guly?

What an awful side.............Barnard, really? Is Richardson really going to be playing CB? Looks like we are losing the plot......

Unfortunately not being able to get to games as an ex-pat I cannot really state with any authority how the team is doing. However, from reading reports, seeing the occasional game, etc. it does seem surprising that the Spurs lad went straight into the team whereas some of the young players who did so well against Coventry did not get a sniff. From reading Chez's comments it seems like Reeves would have been a better starter last night and probably Hoskins too......with the added bonus that they know the system, etc - whereas the Spurs nipper does not. Very disappointing - playing a couple of the youngsters sounds like they could not have done any worse than who played last night! And even if they only play the occasional game it freshens things up a bit. Hopefully Lambert and co returning will make a difference and we can get back on track.

Why is everyone assuming the Spurs loanee will start....what about Reeves or Ward-Prowse?

What is wrong with blooding our youngsters as opposed to other teams unproven youngsters?

that was the first game I got to see this season and my observations were that I hope Saints don't go up this year (albeit based on that one performance as opposed to being able to see them all season). The side is just not good enough.....there is a nucleus of a decent side: Schneiderlin Hoosveilt Richardson Lallana Lambert possibly Davis although he is getting on a bit now However, Prado was an absolute sack of s***e today and had chances to bury them but seems real lightweight, Hammond and Cork don't appear to be all that, Fox/Harding are weak, Fonte is weak, etc. So in other words I reckon going up this season would be a season too early......the squad is not good enough and without a host of new players we would sink without a trace. Having said that, fair play to NA and the squad for being top at CHristmas.....an unbelievable achievement and one none of us really expected. If we make some astute buys in the New Year (striker, defender, midfielder) then maybe my views will change but on today's performance we are not ready to go up.

From what I recall they budgeted for average crowds of 15K to repay the CVA.....lol, only 12K there today so that won't help cashflow!