The Kraken

Absolutely right. It's nice to play the fantasy football "who should we sign" game but Pardew has previously pulled quite a few rabbits out of the hat with some top signings that not too many people predicted or suggested. It's a very nice feeling to have a manager in whom you can place so much trust.

True, but there is also a great deal of mileage to be gained from adding to the mix with experienced pros from a higher division; Jaidi being a point in case. It's all about getting the blend of the team right. I think the team can get by in most areas of the pitch, though of course we can always improve. But I'd definitely like to see us sign another striker; I believe Lambert hasn't missed a game for us yet, and our style is very much defined by playing through him. I think Beckford is an unrealistic target, but he's certainly the type of player we need to be looking at, somewhere in the middle of the attributes of Lambert and Connolly.

He's going down, he's going down, Droopy's going down...

They just showed the Leeds goal on Sky Sports News. Nice finish, but a little disappointing we seemed to allow Snodgrass the freedom of Elland Road to pick up the ball, turn and pick his spot.

According to Alan McInally on SkySports, we can be disappointed to come away with nothing, as we matched Leeds all were just beaten by one very good goal. Disappointing, but I always considered Leeds to be the class act in this division, so no disgrace at all. Just need to pick ourselves up for Exeter, a convincing win in front of a big crowd will get us going again.

Bottom left

I'm not at all convinced that Plymouth would get anywhere near to capacity in the PL; all these "plastic" fans have gotten by without Premiership football for a very, very long time so I can't see why 35,000 extra would suddenly start following just because they're in one higher division. That said, you have to give credit to Plymouth as a whole for getting their arses in gear and achieving a successful bid. Something that was well beyond our own turgid rabble of civil servants. It's very much to the detriment of this city and beyond that we didn't come close to entering a bid ourselves.

Do we know if the away goals rule is in effect?

How do you "lose" a leg of a two-legged fixture?? You can be behind after one leg, you can score less goals than another team in one leg, but you can't "lose" it as it is just 90 minutes of what is known to be a 180 minute game. To suggest you can "lose" a leg suggests the first and second legs are completely separate, when of course they're not.

Excellent; let's leave it there then.

And Torquay's official site list it as a defeat. http://www.torquayunited.com/page/Fixtures/0,,10445,00.html

Yet Norwich have the game listed as a defeat. http://www.canaries.co.uk/page/Fixtures/0,,10355,00.html So I guess Torquay have got it wrong...

Seriously, if it means that much to you, take it up with the OS. They're still listing it as a WIN. The mentalists.

As long as the OS continues listing last night's and the Torquay games as WINs, I think NickG should keep his list the same. Especially as it quite clearly winds up the forum pedants and depressives so much.

The OS lists last night's game, and the game against Torquay, as a WIN. Perhaps someone should let them know they've apparently got it wrong....

Oh good, a separate thread. Because this hasn't been discussed at all in any of the match threads....

I remember watching him play at St. Mary's; think it must have been a reserve game though. He was utterly, utterly terrible! Laughably bad, in fact.

Great draw....

I went down to the ground today to pick up tickets; arrived just before 3pm and there was a queue of at least 20 people before me. Apparently it had been that way all day. Admittedly a lot were probably buying tickets for the JPT, but good to see nonetheless (apart from the cold wait in line).

The law was not intended to be a murky area, it was intended to be simple. Which is why the law doesn't differentiate, as you seem to believe, between whether the striker would have scored or not. It's a simple question; was a goal-scoring opportunity denied by the handball. And the clear answer is yes. So, yes, I can say his decision was incorrect. Watch the replay again, it's on bbc iplayer. There is no doubt whatsoever that, without the handball, Lambert would have had a clear header. Whether he would have scored, missed, had it saved, cleared off the line, is irrelevant. The "opportunity" to score with a header from 6 yards out was denied solely by the handball, therefore its a red card.

There's no right answer for this one IMO; only hindsight will tell us what the best outcome was. If we play a strong team, win the game and the players all come through unscathed then it will be a huge boost to our confidence and keep hopes alive of picking up some silverware. When the team are winning games no player wants to be dropped, and enjoying a victory over one the strongest teams in the league would be a great shot in the arm. Playing a severely weakened team and getting beaten just won't allow for that and could be seen as a backwards step. However, if we have an injury such as Murty's against Birmingham (again a cup game) then there will be accusations that players should have been rested for the promotion push. I'd prefer to see us play a strong team, though I'm all to aware of the risks it poses.

Incorrect. The rules state it is a sending off offence for "a deliberate handling offense to deny an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by any player other than a goalkeeper in his own penalty area". Nothing about whether it will be a pretty certain goal or not, simply that a good goal-scoring opportunity was denied. Denying an otherwise unchallenged header from literally six yards out clearly falls into that category.

Who told me it? A friend who spends half of the year living out there. He's said the difference he's seeing over there is just staggering. I think I'll take his word for it.

I know Pompey fans who are saying that already.....

I agree totally. You have to look beyond the football club alone to see how great this could be for Southampton and the surrounding area. South Africa is undergoing an enormous modernisation throughout the country because of the WC next year, some of it well overdue but it just wouldn't have happened without football instigating it. Having the World Cup would be a huge boost for the city not just for 3 matches, but from now until well beyond the tournament.