Whitey Grandad

Might be the best save he has ever made for the club.

Large squad with quality players? Some might disagree. What you are describing is a group of players and not a team.

Playing an extra game is better than any amount of training and the more games the better. Following the argument that resting between games is good for a player would mean that after a six week layoff they should be red hot and raring to go in their first game back. There's obviously an optimum period between games but twice a week should not be a problem. There's a significant difference between home and away games too.

The converse is that we have rotated against teams that haven't and we've lost.

Rotation means we never play our best team. Nothing beats a settled team and playing the same group of players together breeds confidence and understanding. How can anybody ever get match-sharp if they don't play regularly? There's a big difference between being fit to play and being match-fit. This constant rotation is demotivating our best players and is leading to constant underachieving.

Yes, I agree. The situation reeks of mismanagement.

We don't actually have a first team, or if we do we don't play it at the moment. We go into every game with several changes from the previous.

That's how I see it. Did anybody ever find out what the team instructions were at half time up at Hull?

If it's team captan it doesn't matter who they choose since they'll be rotated out from one match to the next.

I know it's only one game but against WBA at home ther were many occasions when a ball was driven across the box and there were no Saints plays in there. None, zilch, zero, whatever you want to call it. Watching other TV games recently I have sometimes counted 6 attackers against 7 defenders, Arsenal being one example.

But if they've been told not to do that?

Oops. Getting serious now.

All very true but I have come to the conclusion that the players are playing the way that they have because they have been told to play that way. Safety first every time. Don't attack or try anything adventurous because we might give the ball away. There is an interesting piece in The Times this morning bemoaning the rise tof tippy-tappy football: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/how-death-of-proper-defending-came-about-0gz3q9klf These quotes in particular: Pep Guardiola best exemplified a shifting landscape when he said he “doesn’t coach tackles” after Manchester City’s 4-2 defeat by Leicester City last month. “I’m sad, because if everybody plays the same, if everybody takes it from the back and passes and passes then it’ll become the most boring game you could watch,” Moyes said. “You don’t want football to be predictable. You want different styles, different ways of playing.

Most companies operate with some form of debt (loan) as due most individuals.

Worse than woeful. To be honest I'm surprised that you have only just noticed this but it's hardly surpising when the team is instructed not to be too ambitious and always to hang back in case of counter-attack.

Mine were loaded electronically onto the season tickets. I don't know how it works for members.

Never believe a rumour until it's denied.

That's how I remember it. 28th December 1999 apparently. Starting lineup: Goalkeeper Paul Jones Defender/Right backJason Dodd Defender Francis Benali Defender/Centre back Claus Lundekvam Defender/Centre back Dean Richards Midfielder Trond Egil Soltvedt Midfielder Jo Tessem Midfielder/Forward Luis Boa Morte Midfielder/Forward Matt Le Tissier Forward Kevin Davies Forward Mark Hughes http://www.11v11.com/matches/watford-v-southampton-28-december-1999-338/

Yes indeed. You can either change the management or change the squad. Changing the management is cheaper.

I can't believe that you're blaming Forster. In other news, I see that Petr Cech has let in the last 13 penalties that were taken against him.

Great goal at Watford. Shame we lost.

Is that deffo?

Or ....and 'm just playing devil's advocate here... he's ****ed off because the abject system that we play doesn't give him any opportunities for goalscoring?

Either on the pitch or off it?

Not so, this was clarified in The Laws some time ago. The only difference between these two cases is that deliberately stepping off the pitch would result in a yellow card.