RobM

Defensive midfielders are often fairly anonymous during games as their job isn't do to anything fancy or particularly creative that would attract attention. So as long as they don't do anything daft, they don't often get noticed.

I'm with you on this one... we should be aiming to keep the core of our squad as they are now and I don't see any reason why we need to prioritise anyone over anyone else. If promotion is the ambition for next year and the 5-year plan is worth sticking to, then maximum effort should be put into keeping both Waigo and Antonio. We also need to clear out some deadwood, strengthen in some key areas (midfield general and RB) and ideally get everyone in place and ready to have a great pre-season. We have the resources to do all of this with ease.

Bye bye playoffs

Is now an acceptable time to change the thread title to 'Can we do it? No.'

Southend fans were the best I've ever experienced at St.Marys, so I'll be there without any shadow of a doubt. Great fans, last game of a great season, what's not to like?

As much as I hope otherwise, I don't see Huddersfield dropping that many points. Two of the teams they are playing are at the bottom end of L1 and their home game will get such good support I can't see them losing. 5 points minimum, IMO. Charlton will beat Exeter and Oldham. That puts them right out of our reach. I can see Swindon dropping the most points, but not losing all three. We mustn't be arrogant enough to forget that all these teams are above us for a reason. They have beaten teams like those they face in the next three games many times before and there is nothing to say they wont continue to do so.

Almost the same here, but Error 12 instead.

I've given up and I'm listening to BBC Radio Bristol via the iPlayer. Tried four browsers on two computers and two connections (granted one was a mobile 3G modem) and it was crap on both.

So glad I pay for this premium service...

If it works for some but not others and by others it's more than one, it's not an individual connection problem. Especially since the problem is the same as we experience very often. Conclusion - You're an arrogant arse and you're wrong

It's not his connection, it's SaintsPlayer. Mine isn't working too, yet somehow I can magically use other websites...

I wish I were as great as you. You're ace.

So pretty much the same points per game as we have achieved since December then.

Seriously? Fair enough, that's your opinion, but I think it would be crazy to judge any club on 6 games. When have you ever known any Saints team to start a season well? And let's be fair, it's a little hypocritical to want to remove the first 10 games of this season from the record, yet only judge AP on the first 6 of next. It's December for me. Early December though. That's a good few months of games, so any bad starts can be over come and any temporary good or bad spells will balance out. If we are consistently good enough, we will be at or near the top. If we're not, somebody else should be brought in at the start of December so they have a few games to assess and make decisions on what action to take in the Jan transfer window. But if we're in the top 5, AP should stay.

For the record then, how many games into a season is a fair judge of his and our performance?

Sure, can we do the same and remove some of the later bad results too? It would really make things look much better. Personally, I judge AP based on what he had, what he changed and what he achieved over an entire season. He had to work with the squad as it was during those 10 games, so why shouldn't it be included? It's not like he picked his squad before coming here... he came here with the squad we had and didn't have much time to assess and change things before the start of the season. But that's what he took on, so that's what he should be judged on. So often you hear people talking about how managers can get the best out of what they have, why shouldn't that count here? If we had a couple of bad injuries this month, should we exclude those games also, as it is a similar situation where AP has little control over yet will certainly affect results.

Are we all allowed to take away 10 games to prove a point?

I can see a time where Pardew quits or gets sacked, with a lack of fan support being part of the reason. We will appoint somebody else, they too will divide the fanbase and they wont improve on the average points per game of this season. So the fans will get on their back, they will quit or get sacked and we start the process again. If I had the enthusiasm to do so, I'd go back and look at what people who are claiming AP should be sacked were saying at the start of the season. Back then, almost all fans agreed that anything other than survival this season would be a bonus. We spent more money than we expected and we have therefore achieved more than anybody expected. Next season is the one to judge. When we have the team prepared, a settled squad who know each other and a full preseason. If AP doesn't deliver, he should leave. If he does, we should all respect that.

My thoughts entirely. Promotion this season should absolutely be the aim and what we are working towards. But if we don't get there, it should definitely not be considered a failure, rather a complete success and way above all of our expectations at the start of this season.

Stories by somebody who knows somebody who met somebody who saw somebody are just about as credible as stories in the media.

The only thing he lacks is consistency, so he isn't quite the finished product which makes it more likely that Reading will let him go. I think we should snap him up.

A good idea in principle, but it will have consequences for you and I. If a club can only spend up to what it earns, they need to earn more money. So prices will go up for tickets, merchandise etc and TV money will be much more important, meaning Sky will get an even bigger hold on football. Gestures such as next years no sponsorship at Saints will be a thing of the past, although to be fair it's not exactly common. IMO, a wage cap would be a much better starting place followed by a maximum transfer fee.

Viagra - Our problems staying up are gone.

You can but they don't broadcast the match coverage, it stops just before the game starts. Your safest option, despite the poor service, is The Saint Player. Worth checking to see if they are offering any free trials at the mo'

Can we? Yes Will we? No