saint1977

Excellent, not the best first half but with half the first XI injured/banned/cup-tied it was understandable. Second half was excellent and Pardew would have been delighted. Davis 6.5 - Would like to see better command of area but excellent first half save from deflected shot Thomas 9 - Wonderful goal and HAS to be first choice at RB now! Mills 8.5 - Thought he was the best of the kids last season and making progress, overlapped well and better defensively second half. Harding might be benched for a bit. Perry 8 - One of his best for us, read game very well Jaidi 8.5 - Won everything and worried Ipswich at set pieces James 6 - OK but wanted him to build on his CM display at MK. Needs to step up and show his ability with Hammond Wotton 5 - Can't fault effort but needed to slow things up at times, get his head up and stop the long balls but did make some key interventions Lallana 6 - Bit out of form but we did bypass him first half by being too long ball Lambert 6.5 - Did well on scraps and held ball up decently at times Barnard 6.5 - Again, not enough service to make judgement but gosh he worked hard and helped out defence. Enough sharpness and hunger to suggest he'll do well Antonio 8.5 - Great outlet, very strong and quick and alert for second goal Gillett 6.5 - Worked hard and tidy distribution Lancashire - only on a few minutes so hard to judge Well done to the Ipswich fans - brilliant travelling support. Got my Brentford and MK Dons tickets and at home with a Bateman's Combined Harvest and a pizza so very happy

That game and also Yeovil where he choked a sitter in the first minute and struggled for the rest of the game. I hope he does well at Southend who are a good club and may still come good. Sadly, a whole batch of young careers were damaged by being at a circus last season and I hope Pato turns out to be one recovers from it. Hopefully if he is a Saints fan he won't hold it against the club. Turning down loan moves previously may not have been so smart though.

I can see the "We love you Lee Barnard and if it's quite alright, we love you Lee Barnard despite your lack of height, we love you Lee Barnard, especially when you score" type chant catch on. Norwich used this one for Paul McVeigh a few years ago and it caught on.

As fans we should target Gleeson in the second leg - not just booing but chants of "you're not very good" etc. We also need to ensure the ref is a home ref - go down in the penalty box under the slightest pressure and 30,000 of us howl for a penalty and really dispute any decision given against Saints, whilst encouraging our lads. Gleeson looks like the sort of player that would totally lose the plot (a very poor man's Alan Smith), or rather any hint of remote talent that he has. Also, if Lewington starts for them that is effectively a second goal for Saints as he was abysmal at SMS and the worst outfield player we've come across this season.

Spot on and I agree with S Clarke on that stupid Antonio decision in that corner, ref should be embarrassed. Awful foul on Thomas with no apology let alone a yellow yet Thomas gets booked for far less at other end. Should also have had a blatant pen for the handball. Still, got a richly deserved win and we should make MK Dons really suffer at SMS (again). Superb from Antonio and Morgan despite reds, James is going to worry Hammond if Hammond is out for a while and Lambert caused problems. Fonte was class at both ends.

Spot on, should be 3 or 4 up, we were a million times better than we were at Millwall. Ince really is a tosser, he is lucky his Franchise of cloggers are still in the tie! We can score more and really clean this up. James and Davis were a bit silly but I can understand their anger, it was a cynical foul from behind and could easily have caused injury, should have been a red card.

I'd agree with that, Holmes doesn't have any great pace but is by far the best crosser of the ball in the entire squad which comes in handy with Lambert to aim at. The pace issue is a problem as we need to get far more of it throughout the squad but if Holmes delivers in other ways it may be that he is worth a prolonged try. After all, Beckham delivered great crosses for over a decade with little pace to draw on. We need some pace alongside Rickie asap, even if it means Waigo plays up there. Lallana is a confidence player - he was hot when we were on that winning run but can go missing like recently when we've been very poor since Leeds which seems to have really hit the team's belief. I'd still pick him though as he is feared by the other sides in this league. Morgan S is badly overrated - someone compared him to Oakley but he's not fit to lace his boots. I have always thought James would do better in CM, with Hammond injured we are about to find out. Seabourne looked ok but Exeter fans' observations about his heading and distribution may have validity but with work he may be a gem. Fonte was superb, what the heck is he doing in L1? Thank you to Kelvin, some great work today to get us a point.

I support all out other players and don't advocate barracking players at games but you watch, he will be more unpopular on here than Wright, Euell etc put together were. How the man is paid for being a professional footballer is beyond me - ask Norwich fans what they think, he is hated. Hopefully Pardew will see sense, pay him up and sack the scour responsible.

Good summary but you have to wonder about Pardew, he brings in Fonte who looks superb but I posted about Ostmebor this week - he is a useless c@nt and should not be anywhere near our club. Today is by far the best I have ever seen him play and he was useless, you should have seen him at SMS in November and in the event of anyone slagging me off for saying this watch Norwich V Colchester or Charlton V Norwich (last season) on You Tube. My Norwich mate (delirious after their performance today) texted to say "bet Semi cost you your goal". Lambert practically drove him down here and the scout that recommended him needs sacking. Lucky today to get a point but if we sign more Fonte's and do our homework on not signing Ostembors we'll be ok. Pardew has to deliver next season though although this season was always tough and not fair to judge. If we're not top by October 2010 I think Cortese would act.

Very strange decision by England, can only assume Onions said something yesterday in the nets that upset one of the ECB Counties set and England wheeled one of their county stalwarts in. Sidebottom was ok against NZ and WI in 2007 but well past it now and he was poor in WI last winter.

Bad time doesn't come close with this player. This guy will make Mikkel Nilsson look like Cafu.

Having him live not just for Norwich V Saints but also for Norwich V Colchester (one of my best mates is a Norwich exile and it was his stag weekend) I totally agree with this. He is quick but that it is it. No positional sense, no communication, no heading ability and awful distribution. He was no better in November at SMS either. I've been having the pee taken out of me all day by my Norwich mates, his contract was waived at Norwich for a reason. Hope Pards knows what he's bought, even for 6 months. Let's hope James - who is hardly Kenny Sansom - doesn't get injured.

You'll find out what the Third Division is like in a couple of years won't you? The CCC is a competitive league and ex-PL clubs in turmoil have a habit of falling through it - just ask the folks on here, Charlton, Leeds, Forest etc. We are still getting better gates than you two divisions below - and you can't fill Fratton so don't try the bigger stadium one - so God only knows what gates you'll get at that level - 7-10k? I can remember you playing in the old Div 1 in the 90s and getting 7-8k and not much more. I'm not as anti-Pompey as many on here as I do have Pompey-supporting mates who are good lads but these are things that concern them. We may be League 1 but we are debt free, fanbase recovering after Askham and Lowe's idiocy and the envy of many clubs, newish stadium, training ground was already decent and now going to be top drawer once again, money to spend. When we were almost going out of business, remember we still had our assets like the stadium etc, Pompey don't have that to attract a feasible buyer. I hope you stay in business but that guy on the BBC programme last night shouldn't just assume there will always be a Portsmouth FC - I think admin won't be a solve-all although inevitable. I do think that if it took us 5 years to hit the bottom it will take Pompey longer if I'm being realistic.

That sounds like a pyramid scheme almost. Relegation would bring about a Madoff-style collapse.

Out of those I would only keep Mills and McLaggon and perhaps loan on Paterson to L2 to see if he could get some form going. Holmes puts good crosses in but lacks that yard of pace needed. Thomas doesn't seem to be rated by AP and Perry is probably going to retire at the end of the season so signing Ward wouldn't be fanciful - even with Seaborne we'll need the options.

Very much my view as well, actually I think he's looked ok in the centre in the cameos that he's had there.

The Danns rumour came from the Palace site last night and I think there may also have been something on their local paper as well. The Stock one has had the odd mention but been readily dismissed until the last 24-48 hours. Either or both would be fantastic, Danns was superb for Colchester at this level, as was Stock for both Bournemouth and Doncaster. Really want us to sign Ward though, I think that's who Pardew was referring to when he mentioned wanting to bring in a player that hadn't had such a good time at his current club.

But it does seem though that any departures have been dealt with professionally and properly with the appropriate compensations etc which is a good sign for the how the club is being run. Not every organisation, let alone football club, is run that way, irrespective of the sector and I have come across a lot of people at that level where I have shaken hands with them and checked to see if it was still there afterwards. At least with the people running the club now there seems to be a mixture of ambition and professionalism. Anyone remember how Askham handled Merrington's dismissal (no, I don't think he should have been manager either in the first place but then Guy the Biscuit tin wouldn't pay someone proper to do the job)?

Would agree, we need 2 CBs bare minimum, a new RB (top priority), a AMC and a speedy CF. Pericard looks like a done deal covering Lambert, who has looked jaded recently, from what I have heard.

Or it could be that Jaidi has an injury problem and Perry is emergency only. Remember, Trotman has gone back to PNE and Ferguson will want a look at him so we were likely to be in the market for at least 2 CBs. Ward or Fonte may not want to drop a division so AP is giving himself options perhaps or it may be that agents think Saints are a good bet for a tidy bit of commission!

We seem to be linked with every player going so there are some hungry agents out there smelling action (and no doubt cash). I think the weather is delaying some potential deals but I would not be surprised if we see a number of signings over the next fortnight. Glad Hudds game off to be honest as we'll be more ready for them when the game is re-arranged, particularly in defence.

What we have we got to lose? He has pace for a start and can put in a decent cross sometimes - a bit like Heaney when he joined us from Arsenal. He is young and Pardew obviously sees potential and thinks Wilkins and Downes can develop him further.

Totally agree, need Ward and say Barnard as well for Hudds, Millwall and Swindon games.

Luton is a crap club in a crap town, indeed the latter has even been voted as such. Remember them as a cheating outfit in the 80s, complete with their plastic pitch and that odious prat David Evans as their Chairman. Conference is their level, their fans have always been obnoxious knuckle draggers, loved the abuse we copped from their section as we gave them a 6-0 hiding in 1994/5. Just a pity we were so poor today, really need some new blood fast. Should have beaten Luton 6-0 again but this Saints side has had enough chances this season to kill games off so time to bring in another striker as we can't rely on Lambert all of the time.

Two of those are next month so that will determine whether we can make a play-off push or not. Rhodes and Austin will be on a par with the best forwards we've faced so far and the midfields of Swindon and Hudds (Novak, Douglas) are a bit stronger than ours look on paper. I think we can live with these sides but our record is poor against these stronger sides so far so we need to break the chain somewhere. I’m confident we can and trust this set-up. I think Pardew has done very well so far and like us, can see the defence is nowhere near good enough, even for L1. Exeter sliced us open far too easily and should have been 3-2 up even before they scored. Harding, Jaidi, Lambert, Waigo and Connolly have all enhanced the squad so we know Pardew can spot a player. After an excellent start, Hammond has been poor recently and has been found out against top 6 sides and we know James is not a wide player. So the arrival of a first choice specialist right back and another centre-half (possibly more) will help matters and I would expect that these will be ready to make their debuts for our next league game judging by Pardew's frustration at the lazy goals we are conceding. The link to Lines suggests that he is not totally happy with the centre of midfield either. The moaning about Colchester is a bit much - Boothroyd has done his homework so fair play. This club should not be bullied by anyone at this level and I've said this before - we are not ruthless enough and too soft. We are too lazy to put sides to the sword when on top whereas Hudds, Swindon, Col U (not least at Norwich but other times this season as well), Leeds and Norwich don't have a problem with sticking 5+ goals and kicking a side when they are down. Until we do that, we will remain outside of the top 6, -10 or not. Look at the Exeter and Northampton games, we were totally on top and should have been going for another 3-4 goals at least as the opposition were shattered. Instead, the effing cigars come out, we pussy out of 50/50s and they come back into it. We concede an injury time penalty at Stockport who are in admin and have lost their 10 games FFS, two more soft points chucked away. Until we move beyond easy 3-1 wins, we aren't ready for the top 6 because we need the momentum for playing those better sides. I have faith that Pardew will bring the players in with the extra bit of drive we lack. When we regularly start smashing in those 5-1 wins and play 100% from minute 1-90, that’s when we are ready to be top 6 contenders. Even when we beat MK Dons, the second half was tremendous but the first half poor.