The Kraken

So, a little bit of a reflection on the state of play as we edge into December. So far Saints have played 14 league games and scored 12 points from 3 wins, 3 draws and 8 defeats to lie in 18th place in the Premier League. Recent form has shown an upturn in fortunes, with 8 points from the last 4 games unbeaten. Of the 14 games played so far, 8 have been at home and 6 have been away. Attendances have, on the whole, been relatively decent, with some sell-outs and only the poor take-up of corporate customers meaning that we've yet to break through the 32,000 barrier. The highest attendance so far has been against Tottenham with a crowd of 31,944, with the Manchester United game also selling out the cheap seats for an attendance of 31,609. The lowest attendance of the season was against Fulham at 28,004, with just two other games falling short of the "benchmark" 30,000 figure. Our average attendance for all league home games is 30,389; not too shabby in these times and with a struggling team on the pitch, though obviously with some scope for improvement in certain areas. What has been surprising has been the number of teams that haven't filled their full away allocation on their travels to the south coast, especially with Newcastle and Norwich making up those that only took part-allocation alongside Wigan. On the pitch, a total of 23 different players have made an appearance for the Saints in the Premier League and of those three have played in every league game (skipper Adam Lallana and Jose Fonte having started all 14, Rickie Lambert coming off the bench twice). Other players in double figures for league starts are Nathaniel Clyne (13), Morgan Schneiderlin (13) Jason Puncheon (11) and new arrival Maya Yoshida (10+2 as sub). Unsurprisingly leading the goalscoring charts is Rickie Lambert, blazing a trail with 6 league goals in his debut Premier league season. The vibrancy of Saints attacking formation and a formation employing only one central striker perhaps explain why we see 5 players tied for second place with 2 goals each (Morgan Schneiderlin, Jose Fonte, Gaston Ramirez, Adam Lallana and Jason Puncheon). In total, 10 different players have netted a Premier League goal for the Saints. In terms of assists, the set piece expertise of Adam Lallana has helped him to the top of the charts with a total of 5, with Rickie Lambert and Jason Puncheon not too far behind on 3 a piece. So, that's where we've been, where are we going? In 14 league games played Saints have played 8 teams in the current top ten, 6 in the bottom half. Having had a disparity of home/away games played to date, the next run of 10 games sees 6 of those played on the road with only 4 at St. Mary's. But with away trips to the likes of Fulham, Aston Villa, Stoke and Wigan amongst that clutch of games, Saints fans will be hopeful of picking up more away points following the breakthrough victory at Loftus Road. Pre-Christmas home games against Reading and Sunderland also offer the opportunity for some festive cheer as the team encounter a number of winnable games before the fixture schedule again deals a harsher hand with ties against Arsenal, Everton and Manchester United in January. And the new year also brings with it an as yet unannounced 3rd round FA Cup tie; keep your eyes peeled on the screen this Sunday to see who comes out of the hat.

Strangely enough, this one annoys me more than the calls themselves; I know why they think they need to do it, but does anyone actually believe they're using their real names? I've taken to stopping them when they tell me their name, asking them to repeat it, and then asking what their real name is. And refusing to continue the conversation until they tell me their actual name. Sad, I know, but I get bombarded with these calls at night, and also if I work from home in the day. So annoying, and seemingly exempt from TPS regs.

I think it was Clyne, but nonetheless, a top class keeper simply cannot use that as an excuse at all. His starting position was ok, but he set up the wall incorrectly, he didn't shift his body well enough to react to the shot, and he made the wrong decision (if if doubt just throw your body at it and push it round the post). Poor goalkeeping all round, really.

Not sure if you've noticed; but the fans don't make the choice to change the keeper. The manager does that. And, from what he said last night and what he's said before, Adkins looks like he thinks he's given Gazza enough chances and now needs to make a change. Whether we as fans think (or demand, to put it your way) that Gazza should stay or should go, it doesn't matter one iota.

Boruc hasn't even been on the bench since watergate (see what I did there?). If anyone comes into the fray it'll be Kelvin, with Gazza on the bench.

Lives in Winchester, and has been down here for a while. Obviously a Hartlepool supporter but always seemed to have a soft spot for Saints. And wouldn't be surprised if his kids are supporters.

Yeah, because Kelvin never made any errors, did he? Gazza's have been appalling but doubly so as they've resulted in goals. Davis has let in some poor goals and made some shocking errors on top of that as well. Neither of them are good enough.

Talk about knocking the wind out of our sails. Team on a roll, confidence up, and we gift them something as easy as that. Simply not good enough, and its happening far too often.

To be fair, Bale was playing one league down, in a team that won far more than it lost and was one of the strongest in the division. So its a difficult comparison to make.

Bloody hell!! One I got last night, titled "opinions". "What a joke". That was it. I honestly have no idea.

He is plainly mental. Still, I've told him which pub I'll be in so hopefully he'll come and say hello.

Wouldn't be a bad idea in the case of other posters too, such as miltonroader. Although saying that, it'll only increase the number of PMs he sends me; I've already got 2 from last night asking if I want to "meet up" before the game tonight.

Neither, really. DPS and Diggers should go and have a beer together and sort it out. Either that or beat the sh*t out of each other.

F*ck me TDD, have you been living under a rock for the past few years??!! Sporcle is older than the internet itself. Good site though, tbf.

ZDS Cup me up.

He was awful at them, wasn't he? I remember his laboured efforts in the 1990 WC shootout, we were never going to win that unless Germany took the Chris Waddle approach.

Go on DPS; hang on in there lad. You stick to your guns, take no prisoners!!

Is there a restriction on the amount of loans you're allowed to make during the season? Or is it just on the amount of loanees you're allowed at any one time? According to wiki, Pompey have had 12 loan signings so far this season.

Whoa there. Hold those horses. Please tell me you're kidding? £15M on Alan Shearer, a world record transfer at the time, plus many millions spent elsewhere on the side over a course of years wasn't significant? Well, blow me down.

A little learning goes a long way. Especially for poor old aintforever, who always seems overly keen to throw out insults at others accusing them of being "thick" whilst simultaneously showing a breathtaking level of ignorance himself.

Football did begin in 1992 though, lest we forget.

Read on, TCM. 42 years; all the way up to and including season 1996-97.

Best: either the sash or the Rank Xerox home. Worst: Pony "tick" away, closely followed by the Pony "tick" home. Both utter abominations.

1996-97 was just for champions too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996-97_UEFA_Champions_League "The 1996–97 UEFA Champions League was the 42nd season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the fifth since its rebranding as the UEFA Champions League, and the last involving only clubs that were champions of their domestic leagues."

1995-96 was for Champions too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995-96_UEFA_Champions_League