The Kraken

Again you need to look at it in context. Yes, I agree that was a mistake and holdback should have been used. But that is still no guarantee of success, and the Pompey games have proved that by Saints fans having to run a gauntlet of missiles and rocks on the walk back to the station, after being held back. Travelling fans are already massively inconvenienced by police trying to keep them safe by utilising escorts to the ground from the station. Hundreds didn't get in to the last Fratton game until halfway through the first half and beyond. When the Skates came to us it was the same, hundreds of them kept by ToysRus for ages (some for a couple of hours or more) until they could be escorted to the ground, again after kick off. I have problems with various aspects of the bubble trip, but it's not as if the police haven't tried other things before getting to this. I still don't think we're quite at a last resort yet, but lets not kid ourselves that it's the police at fault for where we are.

Unfortunately I think that the only way these bubble trips will come to an end will be from legal action against the police for dereliction of duty should someone get injured while travelling under police escort in one of the coaches. That said, for as long as we have a significant amount of brain-dead morons from both sides who will turn up at these games intent on causing trouble, then the majority of supporters will have to endure such draconian policing efforts in order to minimise the amount of disturbances caused by the idiotic minority. Like it or not, I do believe the bubble procedure to be (potentially) the safest one to use for getting away fans to and from the ground safely and in time for the game; of course, by December 19th we'll know if this is actually the case.

Blah blah blah. If only you'd make good on your promises and spare us from your nonsensical idiocy.

Reading that thread I have to say I'm very surprised just how many fans were actually right behind the appointment from the beginning. Even myself; I know I felt a bit "underwhelmed" at the time, but my post in that thread says "he could be just the man we need for the job right now". There were a few others not hugely bowled over by the appointment, but even then pretty much all of those adopted a "wait and see" approach and stated they'd support him nonetheless. I guess I'm so surprised due to the nature of sneering comments I regularly see on here from people claiming that a huge proportion of the fanbase had written him off as not good enough before he even arrived here. It's I suppose very similar to the Jos Hooiveld appointment where if you didn't immediately say he was going to be great you were apparently writing him off and saying he would fail.

"I'm in a spot of bother?" Yeah, that's not underplaying it at all. Huntley had previous form for burglary, various counts of sex with a minor, and was arrested for rape (Carr also provided an alibi for him in that case). He was suspected by police to be a serial sex offender; and yet the person who supposedly knew him best had no problem in agreeing to lie for him to such a shocking crime. She derailed the investigation for 2 weeks, time in which Huntley could easily have absconded and the parents could never have found some form of justice. Didn't get long enough inside IMO.

This. I always cringe when those oh-so hilarious and oh-so original chaps in the Northam start up with the "does your boyfriend know you're here" chants. It's like when Saints fans get "small town in Portsmouth" directed at us; not funny, not original, just sh*t.

Agreed, he really isn't afraid to make changes on an individual game basis. Of course it does help that we have such good backup to turn to for different options; Guly up front, Chaplow out wide, Butterfield in for Richardson. Add in the different options that de Ridder, Schneiderlin and the returning Barnard will give us and we have a squad that can be rejigged at will for a variety of different formations and lineups, and a manager seemingly brave enough and astute enough to get the best out of whoever he selects.

I'm pretty sure NA doesn't think like that. For the Reading game he lamented the fact that he only made one change from the side that won the previous game, and said it was perhaps a mistake by him. The selection of Butterfield instead of Richardson (and his reasoning behind it) shows that Adkins makes decision on selection to suit each individual game.

Phil, you left out a few other things that NA commented on from the game. That it was great for JWP to get a game and how well he did. That it was good for Ben Reeves to get another run out and do well. That we managed to get Lee Barnard a 20 minute run out on his road to recovery. And that Bart got another game under his belt. Saying it was all a wasted exercise is just a childish distortion of the truth. Even the negative aspects can be of some benefit, for example the poor showing from Forte will probably reinforce the view that he's not good enough as a striker, and we therefore perhaps need to dip into the transfer market to give us more options up front.

What difference to the team does it make if I get complacent? Is Nigel Adkins going to read out an excerpt from me to the team? "Hand on lads, this random lad from the internet thinks we're doing really well and we can rest on our laurels". Its entirely ridiculous to think that anything I believe has any effect on the team whatsoever. I'm not even complacent, I still think finishing in the playoffs would be a great achievement, there's a number of very good teams in this division and a hell of a lot of football still to be played. As for the bits you've highlighted, you either have difficulty understanding or have a weird sense of humour if you find them funny. We do have genuine competition for almost every position on the pitch; if you disagree with that then you're either blind or stupid. For the Palace game we dominated posession and created more chances than they did, despite going with a complete second XI; with some better finishing we could have easily got a result there. I know that doesn't fit in with your obsessive need to be critical at all times and therefore bypass actually enjoying the moment, but different strokes I suppose.

Exactly right. Our squad is very, very good, and we have genuine competition for almost every position on the pitch plus in Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana a couple of players who every team in the division would love to have in their side. The Palace game, if anything, just shows how deep our squad is. We made ten changes from the previous league game, and it was perhaps only our slight lack of options up front with Barnard not ready yet and Connolly rested that led to our ultimate demise. Palace themselves also changed things around a bit but, as a Palace supporting mate told me at the time, they just don't have the options available to change it all as much as we did and fielded a number of genuine first teamers. Trying to find some negatives out of our current situation is just a bit daft.

The Echo have a lot to answer for in repeatedly using them for interviews etc whilst desperately avoiding highlighting just how few fans they represent. Lazy journalism to use a "supporters association" to try and add gravitas to an article. Considering how long SISA have been around, and the sheer amount of times the Echo use them for quotes, there has NEVER been an article written about them, what they do, who they are and who they represent.

I did enjoy the end bit. Cundy: "I can't believe a Saints fan is on here moaning about things right now!" Thick-Mick: Yeah but, roight, it's all very well when things are going alroight. But what about me having to pay for car parking now, eh? What about that? Cundy: *click*. Ok, up next we have Dave from Coventry.....

It is SISA we're talking about, so that's likely to be not too far from the truth.

I did find it humourously ironic that Dim-Mick rang in to complain about Cortese cancelling the fans forums and therefore not being open with teh fans, all the while hiding behind his SISA identity which is quite possibly the most introverted and closed-shop of a supporters association going.

He was given extremely short shrift by the presenter, and came across as being very bitter and really quite thick. I don't think Mike has got too much going on up top, bless him.

Aside from your figures being miles off, what is the point in this thread? It's tedious, pointless, and as jam rightly says, covered elsewhere.

With effect from next month I shall be taking up residency in Meribel for the winter season. Allez les Alpes Francaises!

I'm hopeful that Barnard can't be too far away from match fitness; he seemed to get through his 20 minutes on the pitch last night ok. And given that Connolly seems incapable of playing for any longer than 60 minutes at a time, I don't think Barnard can be too far away from giving us at least that. I'm really not a fan of Guly up front, I think he plays his best when running on to the ball and much less so when back to goal and holding the ball up.

I think the return of Barnard would be a better option, myself.

Go after the game?

I can't imagine it will do anything than go on general sale. We've previously struggled to sell out a reduced allocation before on the ballot, add in the "bubble trip" restrictions and I imagine anyone who has been to 1 away game will get a ticket if they apply.

Yep, as also perfectly illustrated with the trip to the Madjeski.