saint1977

Trouble with Boris is that his popularity is largely confined to south of Banbury. He's certainly trendy with sections of the London electorate and beyond but he's regarded as a buffoon in the north of England and the Tories would go back to their 1997 wipeout in Wales and Scotland. He'd probably win a leadership election with David Cameron were one possible in the party itself but not with the overall electorate, Cameron has broader electoral appeal despite a similar socio-economic background because he's percieved to be on the centre ground. I say' percieved' in Boris's case because beyond the humourous and self-depricating WGS-like soundbites, no-one knows what he stands for really. He'd have wider appeal in the US system. Some decent ideas heard this week – on welfare and legal issues - but the Beecroft thing is just a weird smokescreen. Happened to chat with someone from the FSB and doesn't think many SMEs would bother with it as an administrative and costly faff that takes away from the focus on their productivity. Doesn't really tie in with Cameron's previous speeches on promoting flexible working either. I can't see much support for it from any part of the economy apart from Beecroft - and the original report was junk, full of heresay with no proper research or evidence/data - and one or two other extremists. Can't see that it fits into the rest of their policy programme.

That's all very well to say that Badger, and some of the criticism of Nigel has been OTT on here but he hasn't learned from the Man U debacle and that's 5 points lost at home as a direct result. Sometimes, the manager isn't always right and that's why we need to get more Premier League experience around Nigel on bench. It gave Fulham a huge lift to see Rickie go off, they couldn't believe their luck. Nigel needs a robust reason for why he made that decision and I hope for his sake it's good such as Rickie had picked up a knock. David in Sweden - do you seriously think Jos did OK apart from the OG? He cr@pped himself every time the ball or Rodrellga came near him and his positioning was appalling. Thank God Fonte was having a stormer next to him. Hope Nigel is getting Luke Shaw ready to start soon if Clyne is out for any period of time because we are short of cover at FBs. Richardson will be out for at least 6-8 weeks if that is a thigh tear.

I didn't think he was that bad overall but desperately short of confidence and needs one to go in off his shin or backside to get up and running. Didn't know Mayuka was still short of full fitness so explains the reluctance to play him but should be featuring at West Ham if fully fit. It's the money we paid for J Rod - I can see good potential there but we needed a 2nd CB or LB more urgently and we didn't need a world-beating one either, solid would have done.

Dreadful decision-making by Nigel, bringing Lambert off was a shocker as he is our main outlet for holding up the ball. Yes, he may have been tired but he's got 2 weeks to recupirate. Either Crosby or Wilkins should have put a stop to the madness. Nigel needs a tactical mentor to help him read the game at this level, we've been saying this for a couple of weeks but no action taken on that front as yet. His expression at full time was not one of relief and I'd say it's 50/50 as to whether he is charge for West Ham. Fonte was immense today, probably his best game for the club as he was by far our best defender even if you exclude the two goals. Puncheon, Morgan and Davis also did well, Lallana was anonymous again and would have been a better player to come off for Chaplow. Fox did better despite the odd positional lapse and great free kick for the late goal. Yoshida did his best but not a full back and our transfer strategy has to be seriously questioned. As for Jos, Alpine would have been more mobile and shown better awareness. Nearly gifted Fulham in the first half and repeatedly let the ball bounce which you learn not to do at Tyro League level. Definately one to ship out in January. J Rod was hit and miss but why that money wasn't spent on a CB or LB I'll never know. Why did we buy Mayuka only not to use him?

I agree with your first point but I'd love to be able to switch from the abysmal service I get from South West Water and First Great Western - problem is, I can't! They have a complete monopoly and recieve more taxpayers' money than they ever got as nationalised industries with zero accountability. Don't get me wrong, there are some privatised industries where competition has worked a bit better - say electricity - but for some posters, I'm not saying that you do, to see privatisation/nationalisation as an ideological panacea is frankly not very bright.

I couldn't really be called a socialist as I do think a certain level of inequality is inevitable and those who put the extra in should be rewarded. However, this shouldn't be an automatic ideology - which is where neoconservative thinking went badly wrong - if people no longer merit those vast rewards (banks) or if the level of reward become totally disproportionate to reality, hence why you've got the top 1% hoarding trillions. I admire entrepreneurs like the guys who founded Innocent. OK, they sold to Coca Cola (I think) but they also give quite a bit back to society and don't seem to want to put out an outdated ideological drumbeat out via the usual media channels. There IS such a thing as society and there needs to be shared responsibility and the genuine vulnerable need to be protected. This is why the Tory Party is so split at the present - the T

Different perhaps re: Lallana but at places like Everton you have to be able to track back. In the 90s, MLT didn't track back all the time but we had 9 other outfield players that could do that. I'm not saying drop Lallana but yesterday it didn't work having him and Ramirez in that formation and the full backs got exposed so can we justify both away from home at this stage of our PL evolution? With regard to Lambert, he isn't going to get the same level of service away from home so unless we play Mayuka with him we aren't going to get in behind teams. J Rod might be better to lead the line for an hour to stretch defences more and then Lambert gets more space later on. It worked well at City. The back 4 need more screening and the midfield is too lightweight. Someone is going to have to drop out to include Morgan when fit again and also we need more faces like Chaplow away from home. Norwich rotated Holt and Morison when they were both in form last season.

I think he needs help from someone like Keown, Winterburn or Pallister, as Pilchards has suggested on another thread. Playing both Ramirez and Lallana away at Everton in the form they are in was foolish in the extreme, then compounded further by selecting S Davis and JWP, two more talented but lightweight players (although JWP will develop into a fine player in the Carrick mould IMO). No wonder the back 4 came under so much pressure, I know Morgan was missing and Chaplow can give the ball away but the latter should have been an automatic pick for yesterday, it's just common sense. We all love Nigel but yesterday was suicide tactically and I don't think Wilkins or Crosby have the top flight experience to help him out of the hole he's digging or are able to sufficiently challenge some of the naive decisions he's making. I think the extra know-how would help Nigel bed in to this level as he is looking as bewildered as Kelvin was at the Emirates and a fresh training ground voice might perk the concentration levels up a bit. We're in a relegation battle and more of the decision-making needs to reflect this. I think Ramirez and Lallana are too much of a luxury away from home so I'd go with Ramirez as he's a bit more robust physically. Lallana will do more damage in the home games but his tracking back was abymsal yesterday, not least on the third goal. Likewise, I'd play J Rod up front in away games and save Rickie for the home ones.

Yes, I've seen us getting some hidings up there. The one that sticks in the memory was 4-1 in September 1999 including Claus lobbing Paul Jones perfectly for an own goal with no Everton player within 10 yards. Mind you, that was so long ago that Francis Jeffers was actually good back then. Whatever happens, I hope we can keep it tight in the first 20 and get crosses blocked early. I share many posters' concerns about Fellaini pulling onto the back of the full backs and Yoshida will need to watch for Jelavic running in behind from angled balls played by Osman. However, I do think we can get at Everton going forward - this is controversial but I'd start with J Rod and bring Lambert on after an hour. I think J Rod would pose Distin more of a problem than Rickie whereas Rickie would find more space coming on later in the game. Neville may be tasked with watching Ramirez which hopefully will create more space for Morgan to retain possession.

Have a look at the comments thread - John Ward and Savale speak more sense that the author although intellectually there is some merit in what he is saying, even if as a Lib Dem/someone sympathetic to One Nation Tory ideas I come from a different perspective. I can see some technical arguments for the tax take dipping further and of course the Tories learned the hard way with the poll tax that the first rule of taxation is that you have to be able to collect it. Osborne is doing a sensible thing by looking at it though - after all aren't we supposed to be 'in it together' regardless of ideology? That's not to say it'll happen though. Global action is needed on tax evasion - shut the tax havens. In excess of £7 trillion is avoided by less than 1% of people, many of whom were responsible for leaving the rest of us to fund their lifestyle by corrupting the banking system. Hopefully Obama will be re-elected and then there's a greater action of seeing some action. Romney would just mean more record defecits and war with Iran.

Good post John, I've been advocating a new defensive coach with extensive PL experience to help Nigel, sacking Nigel is not the answer. My suggestion was Martin Keown but your other suggestions would be good. Wally Downes wouldn't be an option after AP's departure though. Jason Dood was always a good communicator away from home and his Bristolian accent could usually be heard! However, it would be a pity to disrupt his excellent work in the Academy. Is our goalkeeping support sufficient?

I feel a bit sorry for Kelvin actually. He had a stinker Saturday and yes he shouldn't start v Villa, anyone can see that but I honestly don't think he has done a lot wrong in the other 3 games. Part of the problem is that there is a lack of leadership in the defence generally and has Kelvin been vocal enough in demanding the right standards of professionalism and keeping the shape? There are only a handful of people that will know the answer to that but bringing in some more PL experience in the shape of Gordon seems obvious. I still think Kelvin is a bit of a scapegoat for the lack of leadership and organisation and Gordon or Gazzinga won't resolve that overnight. I still think someone Keown, or someone in that mould, needs to come in and help Nigel out, this league is more complex and judging by Saturday's wet toilet paper midfield, Nigel needs to spend the time there. Keown is articulate but not to be crossed and opponents knew that they weren't get any free gifts from him, even when he approached 40 at Arsenal. Just ask RVN. If he could be brought in and instil a more robust mindset, we might begin to turn this around.

Not far off what I was going to suggest but I'd make a couple of tweaks. Firstly, I'd swap Puncheon for Mayuka to give us a different option if Paul Lambert squeezes us in midfield as expected and also Cork would come in if fit enough to give our back 4 a bit more screening. I'd also bring in Richardson on the right, Clyne to LB. Fox has been consistently poor and should be left out of the 18 until he sorts his positioning out.

I think he'd be ideal Pilchards because he's articulate and can express his views clearly and relate to players whilst not being afraid to give them a rocket. He was also a very robust defender who wouldn't give you any cheap goals and was tough to play against. Southgate, if it wasn't for his FA commitments, would be terrific too. I remember him at Boro when they went down to 10 with a long time to go at SMS and he literally talked their defenders through the rest of the game and organised them.

Gazzinga will almost certainly make his debut v Villa, can't see how Kelvin could possibly be in contention after that horror show, as grateful as I am after all he has done for us. Has anyone signed Craig Gordon yet? If they haven't, Nicola needs to get on the phone PDQ if he is fit. Fox can be loaned out, I'd rather play Richardson at RB and Clyne at LB, or give Seaborne or Shaw a try at LB, he's been consistently the worst player in the first 4 games. Better from Fonte today and by far our best defender and Yoshida kept going well after making the error for the third. If Kelvin is in goal next Saturday at the start and Fox plays, we might as well take the parachute payments now.

Sadly I agree and it echoes those strange comments after the Coventry game. The City and United games offered hope but whilst I'd be cross if Nigel were sacked after today, I wouldn't be entirely shocked either. Whatever happens, one skill Nigel needs to pick up if he's going to to work at the larger clubs in the NPC and definately the top flight is upward management. He should have been putting the club under more pressure over the lack of activity on defenders over the summer and that is what you have to do sometimes to get what you need, even if it causes a bit of short-term discomfort. Personally, I'd bring in an extra defensive coach such as Martin Keown to literally pull Fox and the other defenders into the correct positions in training to help Nigel out to focus on the midfield and strikers.

Taylor their regular LB, who is highly rated, suffered a bad injury the weekend before last and I read somewhere that he's out for 6 months+. So this guy is probably additional cover. What we need from our defenders, Clyne excepted, is more resilience and I'm thinking specifically of Jose and Danny Fox. Jos reads the game the best out of our back 4 but is probably the least athletic. Fonte isn't as slow as some on here would have you believe but he just doesn't seem to consistently read the game and make allowances for his shortcomings in the way that Jos does. Against the big clubs, a lot of the game is mental as well as physical. Fonte's head started going with about 10 minutes to go and if we'd had Yoshida available he'd have been coming on for sure. Look at Andy Murray's resilence, Djokovic turns around a 2 set defecit but Murray would not be beaten and found that extra gear with the work Lendl's been doing with him. Wonder if we need to add a top class former centre half to the coaching team?

Well done Adam, one of my favourite Saints players of the last 20 years. Has gone from lightweight kid with skill to a proper all-round midfielder although there is much more to come from him yet I believe. Stayed with us in League 1 (thank you too to Alan Pardew for talking him into winning medals with us rather than sat in a development team) when he could have taken a move to a PL club and sunk without trace. Lallana is going to have a much better career over the next 4 years than someone like Scott Sinclair who can only have gone to City for the money. You'd have thought he'd have learned from his Chelsea experience wouldn't you?

Agreed, Chaplow could have tracked Scholes and given how Giggs turned the FA Cup game you'd have expected Nigel to have man marked whichever Golden Oldie Fergie brought on. No point having an army of analysts on laptops if one them won't intervene when the manager is about to mess it up. Cork would have been even better but alas injured. Cork might struggle to get in the first XI if Morgan, Lallana and Punch keep that level of form up though. Why the feck Nigel brough on Guly I have no idea and true to form, he stood off the cross for their second with his hands behind his back. I wouldn't imagine Ramirez will be any better defensively than Guly but at least he should create more. I'm grateful for what Guly did in L1 and NPC but he added nothing yesterday and was awful against Wigan as well.

Fonte, yes I think he could but also a top quality sports psychologist could probably help as well. Jose panicks and makes poor decisions, with 10 minutes to go yesterday he was already kicking into touch like a rugby player and had well and truly choked. He's not quick but he's not as slow as some fans make out. Jos has looked more comfortable but has to stop diving in because Kelvin won't save every penalty he gives away and yesterday's challenge was moronic. Clyne does make positioning errors as he gets used to this level but he has the recovery pace to compenste and is going to be an England player. Fox - no, I just don't think his positional sense is up to it and he just looks so laboured. You can make a player more aware and fitter but you can't make them into an athlete. We all said it was a strange signing at the time and I'm not sure he's better than Dickson, let alone Harding.

Fantastic and I admit it didn't think we'd do this one, fair play NC and NA. Great to hear there may be more arrivals, would still like to see another CB and I've a feeling Seaborne might be off somewhere on loan, even if it's not today.

This has popped up on the BBC ticker at 18.05 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19439559. Suggests it is done to me.

AVB puts his foot in his mouth again! Kjaer would be a great capture for QPR if true, better than Carvalho although the goalkeeping situation is plain weird, neither of them signed to be back-up whereas when we signed Antti you could tell he'd been signed as first choice but it fired Paul Jones up so much that he kept the jersey for a while and then earned a loan move to Liverpool. Talking of competition firing people up, we must get 2 CBs and you'd imagine that's the minimum objective if the Seaborne to Ipswich rumour is true. With Ramirez, looks likely but I know from experience how long vital paperwork from Italy can take, even in the digital age.

Good post. Lambert and Sharp will definately be staying as Lambert showed what he could do at City but won't have the stamina to start 38 games at this level. Billy looked decent off the bench on Saturday and is exactly the type of eager player defenders don't want to see around 65-70 minutes when they are tiring. Plus Billy is every bit as good a finisher as Lambert. J Rod can now play in his proper position as a striker and he will rotate with Lambert just like Norwich did with Holt and Morison last year. Lee, if he stays fit, will feature away from home where we need the extra pace and Ramirez probably more at home. Looks like an excellent signing, he'll have aspects of his game to be improved for sure but we've got plenty of slow, technically adept players so he'll have a beneficial impact on those and enable us to get in behind teams, which we failed to do even once on Saturday.

Big yes please on this one, have always rated Davies and would be a superb partner for Jos. Get a faster left-sided centre half that can also play LB as well and that's the defence sorted.