Whitey Grandad

Er... Home to Wycombe on the Tuesday?

A fair point. I did notice that the Norwich keeper was punching the ball away right from the start. I thought 'he looks dodgy, perhaps we can get something from those punches'. Silly me .

I used to do that and I played cr@p.

It doesn't matter whether he gives them a goal in the first minute or the last, it is still an extra goal advantage to the opposition. I can only assume that you were not at the game, because that penalty was an outright gift to them. Instead of a 2-goal lead we only had a 1-goal lead and we ended up drawing the game. This is not the first time that James has cost us goals with his poor positioning and lack of speed, but in this case having been caught in a poor position he tried to catch up and committed the most brainless attempt at a tackle that I have ever seen. I'm not talking about letting a winger get in a cross, or failing to mark his player properly, this was an outright present of a goal. He might just as well have caught the ball and thrown it into the net.

The likes of Man Utd and Chesea can put out a reserve team that's full off multi-millionaire internationals whereas Northampton and Saints are more limited in their choice.

The FA agrees with you... RULES OF THE FA CHALLENGE CUP COMPETITION: 15a. Each team participating in a match shall represent the full available strength of each competing Club.

I expect that the decision about who to play may well depend on what happens Tuesday night.

My understanding was based on a cryptic comment in the Daily Mail early in the season about a former manager who was astonished that he was asked to cough up for a ticket.

I firmly believe that you should always play your best team. The longer that a team plays together the better their understanding and confidence. The money from a plum draw in the third round would also come in handy. Despite Markus's billions, I'm sure that the more income the club generates the more AP will have to strengthen the squad.

I think a lot of the disappointment is that the game was there for the taking and we let them back into it twice. If we had been twice behind and had come back both times to earn a draw, then I'm sure that everybody would be felling a lot more positive.

It's a long shot to be thinking about play-offs at this stage but if we can concentrate on sorting out the defensive problems and get a settled team then let's see where we are in February. A lot depends on the signings and loan arrangements in January.

As we have discussed before, it depends on the ruling regarding suspensions but I should have thought that if Trotman were ineligible to play then he could not spend his suspension in this game. On the other hand, if Preston were to give us written permission for him to play by 12:00 Friday, he would then be 'eligible' for this game and hence 'eligible' to be suspended. Let's see what happens on Tuesday night .

If Murty cannot stay fit then we desperately need an alternative to James. We simply cannot go on losing points to his inadequacies.

Two of my neighbours had Saints to win 3-2 so I wasn't worried. Until the final whistle, that is.

I know we didn't, but if we had beaten Brighton we would have been. We are improving but it seems to be in fits and starts.

Correct. Ball never in play - take it again.

You are assuming that all professional footballers will try their best for the team. Sometimes they will give a player a bad pass just to make that player look bad. It's not impossible that Mellis was making a point about Wago. They are both rivals for a similar playing position.

I'm insulted that you didn't insult me . Welcome back Harvey, did you sleep well?

When we first moved to St Mary's it was quite clear but it seemed to change to unintelligible a season ago, or two.

I thought everybody had to buy their own ticket under the new regime?

There was a period in the second half where all our team were retreating to the edge of our penalty area. It just invites the opposition to come and have a go at us. Pardew spotted it straight away but when the whole team is affected by the jitters it's difficult to get them to hold their nerve.

It wasn't a goal-kick, it was a kick from his hands (if you're referring to the one I think you're referring to :smt017).

Because we drew 2-2. Let me put it this way: James gave them a goal for free.

Simples. We were winning 1-0 and he gives away the most stupid, pointless, predictable penalty that you will ever see. I would have been happy with 1-0.

Er, yes...