SaintBobby

Nothing against Donny, but how many players of premiership quality do they think they can attract?

I'd say an irritation for some people - well, for me, anyway - is that you always respond to side-swipes against you, but often not to substantive points that wholly rebut your original point. Just a thought. Not that this makes you into a Portsmouth supporter, but I'm sure you can appreciate people's frustration.

Ferguson plays really attacking football and I admire that in his Posh side. I hope they consolidate in the Championship as they are a really entertaining team. But Saints should be able to put 3 or 4 past them. I'm going for 4-2.

That's possible, in which case that's a good thing to learn and a most valuable exercise. But, I think he's likely to have reached the opposite conclusion (or rather a more nuanced conclusion) Questions would be: 1. Do we have enough cover at centre back? Answer: prob yes. Martin looks like good cover. Cork like acceptable cover in a pinch. Plus, DS and RJ to return (at some point, I hope). I'm basing this on Hoovield staying, though. 2. Do we have enough cover at full back? Answer: yes at right back (where Cork can fill in); perhaps not at left back. But with the 5 subs rule, there's a limit to how much cover for this position it's worth having. Seaborne has shown he can play in this slot too if nrcessary. 3. Are we deep enough in midfield? Answer: def yes in centre midfield. Slight query over right midfield/right wing (where Guly has typically been playing out of position). But Holmes, de Ridder and Lallana can play both flanks and Chaplow has shown he can play a wide role too. So prob just about fine, but shld keep our eyes peeled for a player who cld fit here. 4. Are we deep enough in terms of strikers. Answer: prob not. Forte is not good enough for us to wish to rely on him for more than a bit part. Questions over Barnard's fitness and criminal proceedings. Connolly can't be expected to play 90 mins week in week out. So, only Guly and Rickie really tick the "def fine" box. Decision is whether to just strengthen squad here or to really splash out on some £3m - £5m speedy player who can naturally partner Lambert. Given the offers made in the Summer, I'd say NA and NC probably lean to the expensive option if the right player and terms can be agreed.

I don't know if you were able to get to the game or watch/listen to it. My own view was that Butterfield got some match fitness, Schneiderlin showed what a good anchor he can be and the two academy boys showed some promise. Barnard was also able to get 30 mins under his belt. Martin showed again he has the composure and skill to play for the first team. Other lessons (more negative ones): Forte is def a reserve player not a top drawer striker. Holmes and de Ridder are both quite good on the wings but leave the backline more open. Cork can cover at centre back but only in extremis. Harding is error prone at times and can get caught out of position too easily. All in all, despite a disappointing result, I'd imagine NA learnt a lot.

I'm sorry to have to break this to you, but your absurd pessimism even took on levels of innumeracy. There was nothing "in hindsight" about it. I (among others) consistently said we'd be automatically promoted. You disagreed and were hopelessly wrong. At one point, to the amusement of all, you even suggested the points total we'd have to get in order to get promoted was higher than the points haul that would mathematically guarantee promotion. Them's are the facts. Sorry if they make you even more miserable! Bless you though. Your rather endearing, but somewhat lunatic, posts always provoke a chuckle.

I don't think I've ever known him to strike an optimistic note - he's always somewhere from downbeat to wrist slashing. He made such a total ar se of himself last season, it's hard to take anything he says with anything other than several buckets of salt.

11...3 wins at home and 2 draws away

Chaplow was my MOTM, by some margin...a 9.8/10 performance But so many other players had great games. Hoovield, for example, was exceptional but probably not even in the top 4 Saints players.

Our best performance of the season. Quality all over the pitch. Chaplow was simply amazing.

@Dalek. You reckon Middlesbrough are possible champions and we are about 17th best. Surely, you'd settle for a plucky defeat at St Mary's? Draw at best?

I'm sure those who said it was disappointing to dominate Derby and only get a point will now say how disappointing it was to be dominated by Reading and only get a point!

are you still taking bets that we will finish 17th? I've asked about placing a wager with you a few times - but guessed you'd changed your mind about our likely finishing position

Tried and failed, I'm afraid. Sadly, you've been so decisively and determinedly wrong too many times for anyone to take you seriously anymore. That's a shame, because you're obviously not completely stupid.

What confuses me is that you seem to think most Saints fans on here are over optimistic and need something of a reality check, yet you are willing to take at face value their prevailing view that Southampton "dominated" the game! If these guys look at the world through such rose tinted spectacles, I think we should disregard their views based on watching the stream of the match!

I don't care much for England anyway. But would actively support their opponents if Redknapp was manager. Not so much the Saints relationship as the fact he sums up everything wrong with the game.

Correct. In spades. That's why 17th place beckons....

It's a tough one. I was all for a £5m striker. Now I'm not so sure. The present strikeforce looks very good, as 25 goals attest. Maybe a £5m striker wld be a starting XI player. But I think a £2m-£3m player might be behind Rickie, Connolly, do Prado and Barnard in the pecking order. So, I'm now interested in, say, a £500K striker who can make up the numbers - as I think 4 strikers (plus de Ridder and Forte) is still too light. Eastwood? Beattie? someone else?

Is it possible to say you think someone geneuinely has a mental illness without insulting them? I suspect it is, yes.

Wow...what an eye-scorching thread. Seems to me that 32K might be on the low side if we become a stable or even successful club in the EPL. But it would have to be massively on the low side for an expansion or relocation to be sensible. If SMS was easy to expand to 35K or 36K or even 40K, this might just be worth it in a few years' time. But it isn't. You don't need to even start talking about 50K until we're a Champions League team, which is unlikely ever to happen.

Errr, what? Sordell started for Watford. If memory serves, he was replaced by Iweulmo with about thirty mins to go.

Didn't just score. Played fantastically across the front line. My MOTM by a wide margin.

Agree with Dalek. I'd say 17th-ish. There or thereabouts :-)

Just on the train back to London. Shaky first 20 mins. We looked disorganised and tentative. Ref seemed sure about the pen for handball, but from Kingsland I cldnt see what happened. We were then a lot better for the rest of the first half, but still not great. 2nd half was different gravy. Watford, who weren't awful by any means, started to tire and lose heart. Lambert was simply phenomenonal. And my MOTM by a mile. Creditable mentions to Chaplow, Richardson and Lallana. But pretty damned good all over in the second 45. Special credit for playing with pace, guile and ambition right to the end on such astonishing October heat.

I'd find it marginally disappointing if true. only marginally.