The Kraken

My bad, he turned 18 in November. Anyway, we'll see how he develops. I think the point most agree on is not to rush it.

That was about the point I muted it. Thought it was Chelsea TV for a minute. And thats supposed to be objective commentating. He didn't do great today. But he showed against Man City on opening day and against Man United that he has the game to compete against some top teams in this league. And he's not yet 18, playing in one of the hardest positions on the pitch. As I said, he's a prospect and shouldn't be rushed. Ideally you'd maybe not have him play in games like this, but with Cork moved we didn't really have too much choice. Will he be a superstar? Don't know, perhaps not, but he certainly looks like he can hold his own in the Premier League and will hopefully get better the more he fills out and the more he learns. I disagree that a midfield career looks beyond him; he's not the finished article by any means, and he's not yet worthy of a starting slot, but I certainly see a top flight future for him.

Yet there were still plenty on here who derided Joe Cole as a poor signing for West Ham.

JWP is an amazing prospect, but today shows how we shouldn't rush talent like that at such a young age. He was a bit sloppy in posession at times and guilty of a few basic errors, which of course get massively punished at this level. We have a reserve right back in Richardson and should play him there; moving Cork both gives us a non-specialist full back and weakens the central midfield. I'm also still amazed Luke Shaw is looking as consistently good as he is, and wouldn't be surprised if he needs resting at some point in the season. his development needs to be managed carefully, and often playing week in week out isn't necessarily the best way.

I'm beginning to wonder if there's a chance that the judge might actually refuse to grant permission for the sale of Fratton, and therefore the whole valuation process becomes redundant. There's already rumours coming out of POL that Robinson has already lined up a development deal with Tesco for the land around the ground; that instantly changes the whole dynamic and the potential value of the actual ground itself, given that any development of the land and ground will have to go hand in hand to get council approval.

Its an entirely fair comment. Point taken.

Why do you have to lie? Just admit your mistake and move on. I thought Adkins would get sacked, happy to admit I was wrong about that. http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?41038-The-Next-6-Games!!!&highlight=games

Amen to that. Its also telling that our "second choice" right back only got a spot on the bench last week and neither he nor our "third choice" right back even make the bench today. Mayuka is simply a massive let down this season, with every game that goes by I wonder more and more what is going on. He was never going to be a starting centre forward, so why did we really spend £3.5M on someone who sits on the bench most of the time? Rodriguez also showed for me why he's not the answer for right now; great take for the goal but he did very very little else all game, and looked very lightweight. And with Ramirez doing his best Delgado impression and Lallana also out we just looked entirely bereft of ideas with what we have left. Our PL survival is going to be utterly dependent upon players staying injury free.

As I said, delusional. And unlike most people when they make daft predictions, you can't even admit when you get things horredously wrong.

Remind us how your last prediction on Saints' future games came up?

No-one thought that, you delusional wet blanket.

Jury still very much out. Dodgy first half, couple of fumbles, flapped at a cross that he was lucky to get away with, made a couple of good saves, throwing out very good, kicking so so, didn't get anywhere near any of the goals. I still think he's an accident waiting to happen. For now he's also probably the best option we have.

To be honest "the judge" is used as an excuse only when the PDT want it to be. They claim (rightly) that the court case is between PKF and Portpin. They claim that the PDT have nothing at all to do with the court case; they are independent to it. Yet in the same breath they claim they can't release actual conversion figures because of the court case (despite going on to release news articles showing the actual conversion rate, and confirming the conversion rate on twitter).

Colin the Farmer also added this on the Pompey message board: "There is a misconception among some about the next court hearing. The case was adjourned to allow the two parties (PKF and Portpin) time to find a resolution (not looking likely, but you never know) or for either party to come back to the court with an alternative proposal. As yet neither has done so, but they have until January 15. The next hearing effectively puts the case back into the system, so the likely outcome (assuming no last minute agreement) will see PKF ask for a hearing date to establish whether it can proceed with the deal it has done with PST / Stuart Robinson to sell Fratton Park for circa £2.6m. [EDIT: the 'hitch' in this original deal has been well publicised, but progress is being made towards a re-worked deal, which PST believes could be better than the original] At the last hearing, the judge was clearly aware of the urgency of the situation, so I would anticipate a definitive hearing sooner rather than later (say end of January). I understand your logic over not converting until after the outcome (and our phone calls suggest you are far from alone), but I believe it is flawed. If you convert now your £900 goes into escrow and is ringfenced until the takeover goes through. It cannot be used for any other purpose. However, every additional pound converted between now and the court case bolsters the PST bid in the eyes of the judge. There is a risk that by not converting now you are harming the prospect of achieving what your pledge intended to do."

The huge area behind the goal doesn't help. But it seems its also a big factor that a lot of the core support doesn't go. Of the ST lads I go with, none went today. Lots of others I know who didn't. I was in West Quay car park and some day trippers asked me the way to the ground. With a 32K stadium an enhanced FA Cup allocation is always going to make a significant row. There's not really anywhere you can put a crowd that size without noticing it. I also think having block 42 ST holders relocate doesn't help.

Or how about it teaches Adkins that Jack Cork is not a right back, that he was missed at CM, that it gives him more of an idea about how Rodriguez can play up front on his own, and more of a nod to the specific frailities and things to work upon without some of our first choice players and the best ways to combat those in their continued absence.

What he said.

5,394 messages on a Saints football forum and you couldn't give a f*ck? :lol:

I'd bite your hand off for 3-0, it would be that within 15 minutes. Even against Villa.

Imagine Hooiveld and Martin as a Premier League centre back combo! Oh my days.

I don't necessarily have a problem with hiding bits of news if you can. But while it kind of makes sense in theory, in actuality its fairly irrelevant. The football scouting network is so interwoven throughout the game that pretty much all injuries and such like are an open secret. I've seen some of the dossiers that a PL/Championship club put together (a good friend of mine organises them for the club he works for); I've seen a couple they've done about Saints. And you simply wouldn't believe the amount of information in them, often which isn't in the public domain and a lot of the time i find out information that isn't even touched upon on the forums. The amount of research that goes into it is quite amazing, typically by a team of people who have contacts all over the world of football that will find that information. Not blabbing the finer details of injury news is one thing, but trying to keep such a tiight lid on it is pointless.

Who on earth has ever said that Rodriguez would be out of the door in January? Has anyone ever said this? Or is it made up?

Thank God that's over.

Shaky first half, couple of fumbles. Didn't/couldn't get anywhere near any of the goals conceded. Couple of good saves. Jury still out.

Why should we hear about a key player's injury? Nah, no reason. That's not the type of information that clubs share with the fans. Ever.