The Kraken

I'm constantly amazed by the number of people that still think Giggs was eligible for England. He represented England Schoolboys (as Ryan Wilson), but only because he attended an English school. His family lineage is completely Welsh so there was never an option to play for England, even if he had wanted to (which he has previously stated he never did). As for Bale, his parents are both Welsh though he has an English grandmother so could feasibly have played for us, but sadly the Taffs got in there first.

I think there may be a bit of this; on occasions we are looking slightly more direct than in our first games under NA. Playing it up to the head of Lambert is of course not necessarily a bad thing; but only provided we don't do it all the time, and it is in the right areas. Lamberts clever flick yesterday set up one of the goals in the second half, and there were a few other occasions where his flicks or headers almost put us in. IMO the difference between this year and last with RL was summed up with his miss in the second half; a great burst through from Hammond down the right and a cross that was put on a plate for RL. Last year I think we would have seen him smash it in the top corner, but he tried to side foot it and scuffed it wide. While clearly not at his best, RL is still a very good outlet for us, and I think he and Barnard are creating a real understanding with each other. The rest of the side are starting to also chipin with goals which takes the burden off the main man. Even out of form, I don't think we currently have a player who can do the job that Lambert does for us. Hopefully he just needs another goal or two to get him kick started and firing on all cylinders again.

Considering more than half the team that started in the away game didn't feature in the home game, I'm guessing you don't have to be a Pardoo lover to realise that it was true.

Nick, lets not discard the MK Dons defeat just because it doesn't make as pretty reading. It would be in there if we had won, so lets not run away from it. Much more accurate to represent the true facts. Which are: P10 W6 D2 L2. 2 points per game, championship winning form.

Let's be clear that it was a minority of posters that were saying that; the majority still considered that it would a failure if he didn't take us up this season. And there's definitely some perspective needed. Yes, we were good tonight and yes, his record so far is excellent. We'll have a much better idea of where we are after a tough trip to Carlisle and then taking on the top two. I still think, as I have done all season, that we have more than enough about us to go up. Give Adkins a transfer window to add one or two of his own choices and it should be bolted on.

Just back from the game; obviously very happy with the result. Performance was sketchy first half but totally dominant and controlled in the second half. Player ratings: Davis: 6. Only because he had very little to do; flapped at a cross in the first half but otherwise solid. Richardson: 5. Looked very rusty indeed, caught in posession a few times and didn't offer much at all going forward (but didn't really need to). Harding: 7. Very, very good defensively. Tried to get forward more than of late, on one occasion in the first half should have set up a goal but delayed on the ball enough for the keeper to block. Fonte: 8. Very solid defensively, and good to get a goal to cap off a very good performance. Seaborne: 7. A few shaky moments but otherwise did well, looked to pass out of defence rather than hoof. Chamberlain: 9. Wow. Just, wow. Looks like a real prospect, at the heart of our best moves and goals, and just had far too much for them tonight. Less of a threat when on the left but D&R's left back will be having nightmares tonight of the torrid time he was given. Should have set up Lambert for a tap in second half but chose to shoot, but forgivable in the circumstances. Lallana: 7. Some excellent trickery with his feet, after a quiet first half (when he should have scored) he was much more lively in the second half, lovely move for Barney's goal. Hammond: 7. Quietly efficient, did what he needed to do. Chaplow: 8.5. Fantastic display, energetic and strong in defence, and supported the strikers very well. The point in the first half when we were attacking, lost the ball and he sprinted 30 yards to win it back summed his game up. Sign him up please. Lambert: 6. Maybe generous, fluffed a great chance second half, but was a decent aerial outlet at least, his flick led to Barney's goal. Still a way short of what we know he can produce. Barnard: 7. Typical industrious performance capped by a well finished goal. Starting to get a real understanding playing with Lambert, if RL can hit form I think we have a fantastic strike force. Subs Bignall: 6. Willing runner, had a good shot on target punched away. Looks like Papa Waigo on roids. Guly: 6. A decent show, obviously has talent though still overly casual at times. Will only get better. Schneiderlin: 5. Struggled to get inot the game; on tonight's performance will also struggle to get back in the starting line up.

The irony of not caring about anything other than results, whilst taking the effort to come onto a football forum to post on a thread that has nothing to do with results. It's like ten thousand spoons...

This is exactly it; he's pretty much always spot on but has confessed that he has a complete agenda against Cortese, Reed and Hunter. So sometimes his postings get lost between the desire to denigrate the above. He's much better on the board than not, especially once you can see past the agenda and just examine the facts (which as I've said are usually spot on).

Christ, the amount of Echo bashing really is a bit sad on here. Get over yourselves, they're a local newspaper and provide coverage that their many readers need and enjoy. Strangely enough not everyone who buys the Echo is also a member on here and checks the Official Site every day. If you don't like the paper (and there are clearly many who don't) then simply don't buy it; it's a very simple equation.

According to the Echo his loan runs out after the Daggers game, so he's cleared already.

I thought when I saw this pic from the OS that Punch looked particularly glum, but that I was probably looking too much into it. Leftback's been spot on a few times before so let's see how this plays out. Watching Chamberlain rip it up against the Daggers could be a good move in itself.

I wouldn't say Harding has really done too much wrong all season. However, I think it is telling that both of our full backs combined between them have contributed just one assist this season. It was well documented that we treied (and failed) to sign Inigo Calderon from Brighton, who scored his third goal in the last 3 games on Saturday. That is a dimension I think we just don't have at the moment, I see Butterfield as more safety first and I just don't see Harding getting forward quite as much as he did last season. Maybe its the way they're being asked to play, but just 1 assist combined is a very poor rate of return. As for Puncheon, while he blows hot and cold I would be averse to relying completely on Chamberlain just now. At 17, and with the responsibility of being first choice, he will also have his ups and downs. For now at least I'd hope Puncheon can pick his game up while we continue to use Chamberlain as an impact and support player with the odd starting appearance thrown in.

I always find it amazing how a positive thread topic still manages to bring the negativity out of people to such an extent. Yes, we're probably still a way off playing to our ultimum standard. But yesterday we won 3-1, and had 60% of posession. That suggests we're moving in the right direction and not "playing poorly". As I said earlier and others have also mentioned, we need to look at form over a long period. Longer than the first few games of the season, and longer than the 9 games Adkins has been in charge. If we're judging a manager over the course of 9 games (when his stats are still pretty good) and after he has only been allowed to bring in 2 loan signings, then I think its a very sad state of affairs. The bigger tests will come against Brighton and Peterborough; but until then you can only beat what's in front of you. We started this season fanastically poorly, and then got even worse after Pardew left. Already under Adkins we've improved massively, and to make such sweeping generalisations about his ability after less than 2 months in charge is a bit daft IMO.

Panda, its the nature of football forums, they are totally reactionary to individual results. It's why I liked NickG's threads last year of Pardew's form, it gave complete perspective to a series of results over a long period rather than individually criticising single performances.

Great news. Really like him as a player and will keep Morgan and Hammond on their toes while also offering decent backup.

A MK Dons - L (0-2) H Colchester - D (0-0) A Sheffield Wednesday - W (1-0) A Yeovil - D (1-1) H Bournemouth - W (2-0) H Tranmere - W (2-0) A Huddersfield - L (0-2) H Oldham - W (2-1) A Notts County - W (3-1) H Daggers - W (4 -0) [EDIT WITH NEW RESULTS] A total of 20 points from 10 games, 2 points per game which would equate to 92 points over a whole season. Not quite championship winning form (yet), but very impressive nonetheless. And more impressive, our form in October has seen us win 4 of our 5 games. Manager of the Month for Nige?

I think leftback has been on the nose many more times than he's been wrong with information out of the club; unfortunately it tends to sometimes get caught up in his self-confessed anti Cortese/Reed/Hunter agenda.

I'm not saying they don't do it. I'm saying it doesn't happen enough, and from your figures I'd suggest that us having only 1 assist from both full backs is indicative that they're not creating enough chances.

Yeah, I worded that badly. His crossing he has been good I'd agree; there's just not enough of it. Also true of Harding in the last few games, I think our full backs are not getting forward as much as they did last year. Watching Calderon's goal from right back for Brighton last week showed what we're missing, a full back who will regularly bomb on past the midfielder and create chances either for himself or the team. I don't think either of our full backs are doing that at the moment, maybe because they have more of a safety first attitude.

Sensible team, I'd guess that would be most people's choice. Butterfield has been steady but I don't think he offers us enough offensively. Come on Saints, lets get this season properly going. A repeat of the Bristol Rovers away result would be a beauty (though I'll clearly settle for a scrappy 0-1 scoreline).

If this mock up is in any way accurate then its unlikely you'd be able to see it from the bypass. And I'd have thought we'd have had a press release / OS announcement if work was actually under way.

We'll see, I guess, but I've been impressed with what I've of seen them and keep hearing other teams that have played them say they're the best they've played. Calderon's goal from right back last week was excellent and highlighted an area of play we don't have, full backs who are able to properly push on and become a scoring threat. I thought Dickson and/or Richardson may provide that, but for alternative reasons that hasn't happened.

I don't think Bournemouth have enough to sustain a promotion challenge; certainly not from what I saw in both games against us. But Brighton seem to be the class team of the division, and in Poyet have an excellent manager. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see them go up, hopefully in second behind us (though we need to get our arses in gear, sharpish).

Get Billy Sh1te to post his blog ramblings up there; job done.

I fail to see the problem with the coverage. Poyet has done a very good job with Brighton and, with their stadium on the way, they could even push for the Premier League. And Eddie Howe has done an incredible job at Bompey, just remarkable considering the lack of resources. Lets hope we can make it a South Coast hat-trick of promotions from League 1, that would be a decent news story.