saint1977

Brighton are far more clinical in front of goal, plus they didn't have a complete hiatus in August and September. We've effectively got one striker and that's Lambert and the teams that get automatic promotion usually have two firing at least 15-20 goals. Barnard works hard granted but often in areas that don't hurt the opposition and Adkins doesn't seem to rate him. Guly should be the second striker, get rid of the diamond formation and get the flipping ball wide where Lallana and Chamberlain/Forte/N'Guessan can do the damage and supply the strikers. Bread and butter for these final games - get wide, get crosses in and have a go at teams full tilt.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12549785 So most of the non-jobs haven't existed for a while or actually aren't non-jobs. Nice to see British journalism at its best again! Perhaps our hacks should stay out of serious topics like this and concentrate on what they are good at - hacking into page 3 girls' mobile phones. I started my career in the public sector and did see waste and bureaucracy but no better or worse than I have subsequently experienced working with the private sector. It would acually help if we had a more intelligent Minister - Maude, Huhne, Duncan-Smith, Cable - in this post. Eric Pickles makes an idiot of himself every time he opens his oversized gob and it's time Cameron put someone in that role who can walk and chew gum at the same time.

Anderson bowled dreadfully and I'm really not sure Broad shouldn't have had some domestic cricket in the southern hemisphere to ensure his fitness first. The Dutch seem to be England's cricket bogey team and after beating us at Lord's in the World T20 I can understand their confidence. The batters are going to have to go some here and score at a good lick - KP is due a big score. Got a feeling we'll win with 4 balls to spare but Flower should be reading them the riot act and we definately need fresh blood into the ODI team this summer.

It won't matter - I've got a feeling we are going to absolutely hammer them at Dean Court. They are due a stinker at some time and we are due another 'Oldham'. I'll do a Glenn McGrath and predict 5-0.

A sad day for football in the South West all round yesterday when combined with the death of Tony Kellow. Plymouth were doing okay as an NPC club although I never understood why their gates were hovering around 11k when Holloway was doing so well there when Shilton got 20k+ in a lower division in the mid-90s. Sturrock got them up from League 2 and by sad irony he wasted a lot of money to set the wheels in motion to send them back there. Good manager at League 2/League 1 level 1 possibly but not sure how he ended up with the Saints job. Shows you how lucky we were with Markus, could have ended up with Plymouth's mob instead.

Whilst I personally wouldn't recruit for some of those roles cited in the article, the Mail have got their facts wrong on at least one, perhaps two of them. The first one is the European Projects and Tourism Officer, the Two Seas Region has lot of European Regional Development Funding attached to it and the successful candidate is likely to need good project management skills, bid-writing skills and budget management experience. With Kent's international transport links and the follow-on projects that should ensue that could provide opportunities for regional businesses, that role should add a lot of value and easily pay it's way and beyond. The Climate Change Officer should also save a fair bit of money and carbon footprint.

It depended who was manager. Oakley was openly challenged about his fitness levels by both Souness and WGS and under WGS he really blossomed and ran many of the games in the latter half of 01/02 and 02/03. His injury v Boro cost us dearly as he was never the same player after although still good. He did disappear sometimes when our backs were against the wall but again, I think this was fitness-related rather than Matt as a person. Good passing range and whilst not prolific on the goal front they were worth waiting for: Skates home, Palace away, Millwall away, Derby home, Norwich home, Hull home (MLT-flick up and volley free kick). Better management would have got more out of an already able player and Gray/Wigley/Burley did him damage in that respect - look how much more Derby and Leicester got out of him post-injury.

It bores me to be honest Tactics and it's just a cruddy little club with a 3-sided ground trying to make waves. Don't get me wrong, all credit to their players' achievements which on zero budget is amazing but it is also an indictment of this season's overall underperformance by our players that they are above us. The players need to ignore the local element and focus on the fact it'll be 2nd V 4th and therefore it's a must-win game if we are finish 2nd or better. Hopefully a good strong central midfield partnership of Chaplow and Hammond should douse Boscombe's initial enthusiasm and give us a platform to win comfortably.

Reminds me of the build up to Colchester V Norwich last year although that was worse due to the Paul Lambert factor. Norwich avenged that shock opening day result at Carrow by battering Colchester 5-0 on their own patch and our players have to take the same tough attitude and crush Bournemouth. If we give them a hiding it will make Bournemouth fade very quickly out of the automatic promotion race.

Thoroughly sensible post, I'm sick of the pathetic fighting around the club. I say "around" because I think that whilst we have some fantastic ex-players and manager/s who are heroes of mine clearly care about the club, some of the drip-drip of unpleasantness in the media is becoming boring and they will start to lose a little bit of respect if it doesn't cease. NC is taking the club forward, ML cleared our debts and put us with NC on the right footing. He deserves to be cut some slack in my view. Norwich also had this type of problem a couple of years ago but Delia and Michael Wynn-Jones brought in new board members who couldn't believe the freebies and easy life some of the ex-players and officials had which was putting the club in jepoardy and like us, had seen them drop to League 1. That 7-1 defeat V Colchester brought in a hungry new manager and a new broom elsewhere and there seemed to be moaning when the freebies dried up but look at how a leaner and hungrier Norwich are doing in the NPC this season? That could easily be us.

Agree with this summary, the movement and co-ordination was lacking today and a big thank you to Alan Irvine for signing Gary Madine as his last act at Sheff Wed. Hammond has improved a lot since Adkins came in. Chamberlain played better, Lambert okay but 5 goals in 3 games. Great to see Adam Lallana back. N'Guessan poor but was a real threat at Exeter and like Forte, needs to given a chance. Wednesday lost at Rochdale today and Rochdale will want to do the double over us so we need to be 150% better. All said, 3 points and Hudds only drew at home to Oldham which was a distinct bonus. Need 6 points and 2 good wins next and then those Charlton games look like they will be key.

Oh I agree from 1997-2003 with that, Lowe did a good job and offered far more than what had gone before. Secure Retirement at least cleared the £3m or so overdraft Askham had created. Guy Askham was the true villian for me - seemingly put next nothing in bar being Lawrie's message boy to sign Keegan yet created a deadlocked ownership that only administration undid. I wouldn't be surprised if the residue bitterness of that deadlock is partially behind the "dark forces" NC referred to. Killer is one of my all time favourite Saints players and of course Marion was injured long-term too but we were so bad in 2004/5 and the club was in such turmoil politically I'm not sure even Killer could have kept us up unless we'd recruited a proper manager in place of Sturrock and Wigley at the start of the season.

I still rate Davis above Bart but he is on thin ice and must be more commanding of his area. The back 4 has been dreadful of late though, only Fonte has bothered defending bar Harding in the Man U game and we could easily have leaked more goals at Exeter as well as Posh as our back has been as square as the early BSB satellite dishes. Adkins needs to really get down to basics with them and get them organised. That'll help out whoever we play in goal. Thankfully Carlisle are struggling for goals post-Madine so only Zoko is a threat amongst their strikers and for some reason Matt Robson can't get a game. They are also leaking like a sieve so we should win but the better sides will keep on finding us out if we don't get back to the solidity we had Xmas and most of January. As Adkins says, this is what championships are built on.

God, reading this thread brought back some horrible memories from 2004-9. With the exception of some of the football we played in 06/07 with the huge amount of money Burley spent plus Bale and Jones, that period has to be the darkest in our history. That 04/05 squad in particular was a mess - Niemi was never really fit that campaign, Smith lost his confidence and Blayney had a shocker when called upon. Nilsson-Telfer minus his pace-Claus circa 2005-Jakobsson-Higgy "own goal" circa 2005-Bernard-Davenport and tiring Le Saux were our defensive options. Anyone surprised we went down? We might at least have outscored WBA, Palace and Norwich but Beattie's attitude was awful before we sold him to Everton and Phillips we now know was distracted by off the field issues. In fact, only Crouch (when we finally played him) and Camara looked a threat. In midfield, Oakley wasn't fully fit and Prutts was finally hitting form when played at last as the box-to-box midfielder which we bought him as in the first place (WGS admitted to this error in his book). He was MOTM v Liverpool but the Arsenal incident destroyed our midfield and his career. Then we had the various bits and pieces players drift in and out under a disinterested Harry Redknapp in 05/06 and the rest of the time was spent spiralling downwards from Burley's costly errors and the Dutch disaster. It is only since Markus and Nicola came in that we've started to undo the damage of WGS going, the laziness creeping into the club and the reckless Sturrock/Wigley/Woodward gambles that were every bit as moronic as Wilde's financial gambles and put the club on the same path - administration and near extinction. Those who keep on having a pop at NC should read this post and bear it in mind next time they type. NC has done some things I don't agree with but he's 100,000 times better than Askham, Lowe, Wilde and the other idiots from that period put together.

He's had some good games Saint Clark - notably Hudds at home where he looked a lot more lively but also he's been all over the place regularly against more nimble strikers such as O'Flynn and Nardiello at Exeter. He's a good back-up option by all means and I've always like him as a player, particularly against an Alan Lee type big lump but I'm not sure it helps Fonte to have a different partner every week.

I agree, Martin seems to have all the attributes a young CB needs - decent in the air, reads the game well (this is where Seaborne needs to improve, he dives in too much which has cost us twice now), fair turn of pace and has looked solid in the games he's played. However, don't write off Seaborne too soon folks - left footed, fairly quick (CMS would do most centre-backs for pace and really ought to be playing at NPC level) and despite Saturday is improving. Remember, the back 4 were equally square and disorganised at Exeter and we got away with it due to Nardiello's miss one-on-one early on and an astonishing Kelvin save, more than compensating for his first half blooper. Adkins and Crosby need to really put our defenders through lots of organisational drills in training and encourage Kelvin and Bart to be a bit more communicative. I think Jaidi looks like the "mark the opposition's big lump" emergency option sadly or an auxiliary striker in the last 10 minutes if we need to go more direct which he used to do at Bolton. He's been a good player over the years but time has caught up with him.

Bit harsh to blame Kelvin - first one he could have done slightly better on but CMS's contact was slightly scuffy but well placed. I like Seaborne but that long ball should have been put in the stand. Second one was Harding - couldn't be bothered to cut out the cross which unfortunately for us was put it with pace and again our CBs were asleep. Look, Kelvin isn't in top form but we were turned as back 4 just as easily at Exeter, difference being they have O'Flynn up front not George Boyd or CMS. The full backs have been very poor as well in the last 2 games which has given Kelvin more to do than he should have had. Old Nick is right to highlight that early save.

I still think Dan is a good prospect. He's left footed, has decent pace (McKail-Smith is express and would leave any CB in League One on their backside) and improving distribution. OK, poor game Saturday night and he needs to be less rash in the box - he committed a silly foul of that type at Yeovil that cost us two more points. At Exeter though, our back 4 was turned just as easily with Jaidi and Fonte as CBs so it may be less about personnel and more about shape. The full backs haven't done enough in the last 2 games to stop crosses coming in which isn't Seaborne's fault but Peterborough's strikers are more clinical than Exeter's.

He had a great game that night but he leaked quite a few in a loan spell at Bournemouth and had a nightmare game V WBA in 2004 which at a time of instability at the club pushed him out of contention. He looked like a fine shot stopper but his command of his area looked suspect. Paul Smith also struggled when Antti was injured and has never looked the same keeper since, particularly in a poor spell at Forest. Fortunately we are a far more stable and better run club now.

Went last night and tough away game that - Huddersfield won't find it easy there at all. Harley and Sercombe were well on top in midfield but Morgan and Chaplow stuck at it. Back 4 and keeper were biggest concern, Davis made some great reaction stops in second half but looked terrified on crosses and the less said about Jaidi's poor performance the better, Seaborne HAS to start at Posh. Fonte and full backs also poor. N'Guessan was excellent, made Rickie's first and along with express pace he was very physical. Chambo flitted in and out, great second half effort that hit the bar. Barnard worked his socks off and great effort on the turn that narrowly missed but needs to be more composed in the box. Lambert didn't have the best of games but great crossfield ball to set up N'Guessan for the double bar hit in the first half and the first header was a textbook backpost header and the second was brave so contributed where it counted. Brighton struggled there and Sheff Wed went for 5 so I'll happily take the points when all our rivals won as well but we need to improve big time for Posh. Will be great seeing Forte and N'Guessan in the same squad! Can't wait to see Lallana return though, he just makes us that much more composed. Rare occurance - Ref that was quite favourable to us!

Actually PES I've got quite a few Pompey-supporting mates who do have a major problem with having cheated on £17m of their taxes. Just ask all of the staff at Portsmouth City Council probably at risk of redundancy if that money is going to missed, or the local PCT. In fact, why don't you ask the local construction companies etc in the private sector who will have to lay off staff due to loss of contracts. There are decent Pompey fans around, the ones that replenished the charitable funds that your cesspit of a football club reneged on and I take my hat off to them. Unfortunately you seem to be in the latter category, not realising that the footballing public at large well beyond think the activities were disgusting and that real people, including local small firms, have suffered. The way Cortese runs us, we'll win things and frankly, those league wins are almost as absurd as us claiming we are better than you based on us getting to the FA Cup Final v Bury in 1898 or something. Face facts - you have a swamp of a decaying stadium, no money for the foreseeable future, an asset stripper as an owner and 13000 gates. Us? No debt, run properly, a youth system that takes all of your best talent (Chamberlain, Ward-Prowse) and a modern stadium. Oh, and 23000 average in the League below. Still, its only for a season as it looks like we'll be swapping leagues come May.

Good signing - pace we needed and now Forte and N'Guessan will create the space that Lambert and Lallana will thrive on. Plus they can be great impact players against tiring defences. Barnard needs to find his shooting boots at Exeter tonight otherwise he's going to end up 4th or 5th choice.

Hope it's true - would get a decent fee. However, if Puncheon got homesick in Plymouth, how would he find Newcastle?

No thanks to Gillespie, decent at Man U but mixed since and far too old now. If you think Puncheon is trouble, this bloke is different gravy! I've got a feeling Kapo almost joined us a few years ago but there was a medical issue, possibly cardiac-related? Can't have been too chronic as he's had a decent career.

N'guessan will do well, has pace which we sorely needed and is direct. Won't be consistent but he'll win enough games and stretch opposition defences even on less effective days which makes space for his colleagues to destroy the opposition and bring their skills into play. We need more players that run in behind which this guy, if nothing else will do. He's done well at this level recently and I think he'll be popular on here.