The Kraken

To be fair though, on another day either of their pens could have been given. And they were so needless, one shove in the back from Seaborne with his arm out and one grab from Fonte when his marker wasn't really goign anywhere. No idea where Howe gets the other two from. And ours were both nailed on penalties, albeit equally soft.

No width I could perhaps accept, Lallana cut inside a lot and obviously so did Puncheon when on the right. However: no imagination, I can't understand that. From teh back, whenever it went to Kelvin we noticably had a player each side of the pitch dropping back to take the ball from him so as no hoofing. Seabourne hardly hoofed it at all, which says a lot. Morgand and Hammond were both very solid in midfield. Lallana continues to be a class apart at this level, and while Punch was a bit frustrating he still did ok. Lambert is well off the pace in terms of fitness and thinking time, thankfully Barnard was full of industry and clever running and gave their defence a torrid time for the whole of the game. Room for improvement? Certainly. But this was a very polished performance where we did what we had to do and never looked in real trouble. Definitely a step forwards from recent performances.

A bit in between really. Barnard could and maybe should have scored on 3 minutes. Lambert has a header from a corner which just missed, maybe should have done better. A few other half chances here and there, Puncheon called back for an earlier foul to us when clean through (but debatable as their defender seemed to be slowing up anyway so Punch might not have got in). Also Lambert's free kick towards the end which the keeper pushed away, but seemed a bit like one for the cameras. We dominated the game; yes we needed pens to win it but after the 2-0 lead we stopped really going for it and consolidated the victory. A good professional performance. Apart from inside the first minute Bournemouth did aboslutely nothing at all. MOTM: Barnard, such a brilliant outlet, tireless running and always looked a threat if we could just get him in. When Lambert finally shifts some bulk and gets back to last season's form those two will cause havoc.

And look at you getting all defensive about it. It's almost as if you're trying to put your fingers in your ears to block out any bad words said about your illustrious leader. Try reading the words a bit more; most people are not intent on attacking the man, but the completely avoidable mistakes he continues to make. The veil of secrecy around the club is at most times an air of professionalism, but it also betrays an obvious naievity in certain decision making, which obviously comes from the very top. Criticising those poor decisions is absolutely fair game, as is lauding Cortese in the numerous things for which he has clearly done well with on behalf behalf of the club.

I think you're seeing what you want to see. Most people are capable of judging Cortese on individual decisions, rather than some unknown agenda you ascribe them to. The fact he attracts a lot of criticism is down to the significant number of avoidable mistakes he has made, admittedly though they are all relatively minor in nature. The man, while I'm sure having many plus points, is simply a walking PR disaster who exudes the image of a lack of care for his customer.

You booed when Markus Liebherr was in shot? Shame on you. But hang on NC was in there too? And Mawhinney as well? What were they doing, squeezing together for a cheesey Wembley photo? You're making it up, aren't you?

Depends what you classify a problem I guess. If Hammond picks up a booking tomorrow; then for the next game, without the signing of Chaplow, we'd seriously be looking at a central midfield partnership of Paul Wotton and Anthony Pulis. That signifies a problem to me. Having 3 good players to compete for 2 places just makes good sense, and will keep all 3 on their toes. Having 2 players for 2 positions is a risk, and when just 1 of those players in unavailable for any reason causes a real problem.

I imagine there is plenty going on behind the scenes, but there's really not a lot we can do, the ball is in his court. However, we don't need to sign him up on a contract to ensure we get a fee for him; he's under 24 so even if he lets his contract expire we'll be due a development fee for him. It probably won't be as much as we could extract on a transfer, or it could be more, it all depends on how lucky we get at tribunal. It's not at all in Lallana's interests to sign a new contract unless we're absolutely throwing money at him and/or it looks like we're definitely going up. I would expect him to let the current contract lapse, see out the season, and either sign a new contract with us if we go up or leave if we don't.

I wasn't there so can't comment exactly what happened in the ground. However, it didn't sound like the end of a Mexican Wave boo. There was an enormous cheer for Markus first, obviously for him and nothing else, just a massive extended cheer and applause for the 5 or 10 seconds when Markus was on screen. Then it moved along to NC, and while there was indeed "booing", it was clearly tongue in cheek, didn't last for too long, and there was also some applause and laughter too. Also, as Steve said earlier, the commentators picked up on it too, though clearly didn't elaborate as to why. I think this was around the time when the fans were hoping for a public show of support for the manager from NC which hadn't come. As a consequence AP's appearances on TV were massively endorsed also, with the booing seemingly intended as a light-hearted nudge in the ribs at the CEO to endorse his man.

That's exactly what happened. I was abroad skiing at the time of the game and had to make do with watching on Sky in a bar. The camera went to Markus, cue a massive cheer, then along to Cortese for some pantomime booing. It wasn't a full-on boo, more tongue in cheek, but it DEFINITELY happened as some other guys in the bar asked me why his own fans were booing him.

If they live in a cave, perhaps...

Exactly right. Lallana is out of contract at the end of the season but, as he is young enough, we'll get a development fee for him anyway. And it would take a big money offer to take Morgan off our hands before the end of the season. Besides, the signing of Chaplow on an initial one month loan and selling our top players in January are not in any way related.

What on earth are you on about now? Since last season we've been crying out for a new CM. Someone who can give different options and provide competition for Hammond and Schneiderlin. And now that we've finally got that, you can only see the bad side? How very odd. Adkins has said it's an (and I'll use capitals here as you seem to understand those) INITIAL 1 month loan. Which means that we can EXTEND it if the player is up to the task. Also, Morgan is already ruled out of the Tranmere game as he's away on international duty, so clearly we needed to plug that gap. This is a signing we really should have made last Christmas; that it's finally happened now can only be good news.

"Initial" 1 month, as stated on the OS. Sounds like we'll probably have an option to extend.

If he's anywhere near the player he was with us previously this would be a fantastic signing.

Looks like Wednesday are in trouble again.

Nonsense. Speak to most people external to Saints and they'll mostly think that Pardew did a good job for us last season. Loads of my (non-Saints) friends were completely amazed when he was sacked, and won't look too far beyond the media embellished stories that Cortese is a bit of a nut. Spin works both ways in termination of employment and, with Downes and Murdoch going too, AP and them will simply claim that it wasn't possible to work with the current owner's impossible procedures. It's exactly the same with Burley, he was a busted flush here but outside that was well thought of and went on to land the national team job. He completely failed there but still got the Palace job. Pardew comes across very well, is media savvy (despite his previous "r4ped him" comment) and seems an intelligent man. I think he'll get snapped up by a Championship team in the next few months. And most will remember him for doing a good job in very difficult circumstances here; I believe his managerial reputation will have been enhanced by his stay here. And you only have to look at previous stories from Martin Samuel etc who will stick by managers and paint a contrary picture against the "arrogance" of football chairmen to see that his media image won't be too affected by his ultimate dismissal.

Get drunk again.

I'm sure he is assessing them, and giving them all a fair chance to prove themselves, which is as it should be. I just get the opinion (rightly or wrongly) that he's been told he can only work with what he's got. It really wouldn't be anything monumental to say "with David Connolly injured we're really light in terms of support up front", yet all we receive are platitudes of how the players all have smiles on their faces and how upbeat the whole squad is. If we don't get at least 2, and I think we need 3, players in the next 2 to 3 weeks I can really see us struggling. Morgan and Hammond can't be too far away from a suspension as it is, chuck in an injury as well and we have no central midfield.

Completely agree with that part. Screaming hysterically in June that we hadn't signed players was premature. It was proven "right", but only in as much that no players at all were signed to fit the positions that the manager had identified, just Guly who provided something new while solving none of the previous squad deficiencies. And I totally agree with the gelling argument, its in no way an issue for 2 or 3 players coming in to the team. I still maintain that the squad in its current guise should have been able to kick off the season much, much better than we did. We may be turning a corner but once again it's left us playing catch up. Whether that's a failing of the manager, the sports science dept, the CEO, who knows, but I believe the whole club must hold their hands up for a collective failure. Since Adkins has come in I've become a little worried that the club have gone very quiet on the potential for incoming transfers. I know they're always very quiet about such things, but since his first couple of days in the job Adkins has very much resisted from suggesting that the squad strength needs addressing. I still think we're 3 players short, in the areas that Pardew identified in pre season, and the fact that we are still no closer to getting those players now leaves me worried that it will actually happen. Injury/suspension to Morgan and/or Hammond leaves us extremely deficient, the same up front.

He was, and he did comment himself on how much fitter he became at SFC, both because of training and nutrition; but why let facts get in the way of a good rant? To be fair to leftback I do believe that the club as a whole need to be apportioned the blame in this instance, though Pardew is not immune from a share himself. I'm sure we'll never publically find out the true ins and outs of what happened, but I do find it strange considering Pardew was so vocal in identifying the need for 3 more players that our suppoosed transfer committee could/would not get together to make this happen, and instead brought in Guly who fitted none of the three squad places identified by the manager. The signing of Dickson was also very strange, given that (behind Lambert) Harding was up there with the best performers last season and Mills looked ready to break through as his deputy. It all points to a complete breakdown between the departments; the system will only work if all the different departments are capable of working together, and clearly that didn't happen. That we got pre-season fitness so badly wrong is a shameful indictment on our sports science department. With an ex physio at the helm now, hopefully that side of things can be rectified and ensured that it never happens again under his charge.

I tend to agree with this. Pardew was (rightly IMO) afforded the first 10 games to get his squad together and turn around our fortunes. He's therefore judged on the subsequent 36 games, for which I think he performed very, very well. Despite the fact that our squad is much better now than when Pardew took over, it's only natural that Adkins will need some settling in time. Clearly not to the extent that Pardew needed, but certainly 4 or 5 games until he really understands the team, can start to get them to the fitness levels required, and instil some confidence. A point dropped to Yeovil is disappointing; of course it is. But I'm not one to point at individual results in judging the overall performance of a manager. We will have some freak results over the year, Leeds last night is just one example of how stupid football can be at times. However, a point away is nothing to be sniffed at, and I just can't be overly critical at any time of drawing a league game away from home. Losing yes, but avoiding defeat, not so much. Adkins seems to be getting there; as he should with the quality of squad we have. But he's now had his bedding in time, and from Saturday onwards I think is when we should really see how HIS side shapes up to last year's. I (and I'm sure most others) still maintain we're 3 players short of a squad to challenge, and this also needs to addressed asap.

Why is this even news? Job Centres are there to help you find a job, and if this blob-faced weirdo can't work out for herself that she looks a complete disgrace and totally unemployable, then she bloody well needs telling.

So, let me get this right. In the summer there was almost common consensus that our squad was short of 3 players for a proper tilt at the title. Since then we've lost Lallana, Lambert looks unfit, we know Barnard is being nursed through an injury, Connolly is injured, Martin is injured, Richardson is injured, Jaidi looks very old, and other players are out of form. And despite that, because Adkins is in charge, there's now no hurry to bring in new players? Confused? You bet I am. Sure, I unnderstand that Adkins has to work with what he's been given and get the squad to play to potential. But that doesn't detract from the fact that the squad is very light in some vital areas, and those areas need addressing asap IMO.

Am I missing something here, as I've seen this posted more than once. Frazer Richardson: "On 6 July 2010, Richardson signed for League One club Southampton for an undisclosed fee, in a deal reportedly worth £450,000." Ryan Dickson: "On 10 June 2010, it was reported that Dickson had signed a deal to join League One rivals Southampton, with the transfer fee to be agreed at a tribunal. At the tribunal, the fee was set at £125,000 with a further £25,000 for every 10 appearances Dickson makes for Southampton on 10, 20, 30 and 40 appearances. There will also be £25,000 due if Southampton win promotion within three years together with a 20 percent sell-on clause. Danny Butterfield: Free transfer