SaintBobby

I was told - or think I read somewhere - that we've scored over 70% of our goals in the second half...is this right? (sorry, if this was covered above or in one of the links and I didn't see it). Big upsides for me: 1. The team has a fitness level that's impressive (at least relative to other League one teams). I don't remember this since the heights of the Strachan era. Some people say that Lambert looks knackered towarsd the end of matches - but perhaps he stands out so much because he's the only player who looks tired. 2. Whatever Adkins is doign in the half time team talk is working 3. The steelinees, grit and will to win is there. And the team doesn't panic. It's not as if, with 20 minutes to go, we start firing in wild shots from 30 yards out. We stick to the gameplan. Big downside: It would be nice to have more games effectively "put to bed" by the 60 minute mark, simply for our nerves/sanity/heart conditions.

The most likely points total now is probably 21...of which we have acquired 18. Of course, as little as 18 could still be enough in the unlikely event that Huddersfield lose both remaining games. And we know for sure that 24 points will be enough, whatever Huddersfield do (barring any mad results like a 14-0 win for them) So, the range now is from a minimum of 18 to a maximum of 24 - and most likely somewhere in the middle of this. This hardly seems to justify describing those who said 20 at the outset as "loons". Such people may yet be bang on, and are only going to be out by an absolute maximum of 4 points. In contrast, anyone who predicted 28 points is going to be out by an absolute minimum of 4 points - and could conceivably be out by ten points. So the best you can hope for - in terms of the credibility of your own prediction - is that the eventual outcome is exactly halfway between what you predicted and what the "loons" predicted. More likely by far, is that the "loons" will be closer. And quite probably much closer.

Half serious question: Why not start with AL and DC and try and win the game in the first 30-45 minutes? Then take them off if need be? Rather than risk getting to 0-1 after 65 mins and throwing them both on from the bench? (I'm saying all this without knowing the detailed medical condition of either player)

The wisest thing to assume now is that Huddersfield will push us to the wire. But it could, just could, be a lot easier than that. Presumably, Peterborough and MK Dons are now preparing for the play offs. They will now rest players who have a knock or niggle, one would think. I think if we can open daylight between us and Huddersfield, they may start to do the same.

Agreed. I'm not sure if Connolly can actually play for more than 30 minutes, but I'd like to find out... Lallana has, I hope, now recovered enough to be expected to start the last 4 games.

I'm a huge fan of Connolly....but his time is now. Sadly, I'm not sure he's part of an NPC campaign as/when/if we're promoted.

Route one, yes. But great to see Kelvin get an assist for the Fonte winner!

Who cares about Brighton? They've won the league. Fair play. They'll now yo-yo between NPC lower reaches and League One.

No chance. Could you imagine us throwing a game against, say, Leyton Orient to stuff up Bournemouth? Just won't happen. If Huddersfield win, they'll have to do it fair and square.

More like 5 months...

This is a good read... http://downatthemac.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=56280&page=6

He also implied Poyet refused to shake hands.

Adkins on Solent now. "You have to be gracious in defeat and shake hands....if you don't do that...well, I'll leave it there...." Did Poyet refuse a handshake?

Connolly is phenomenal. I reckon he still has a major role play to play for us.

Never. In. Doubt. :-)

Groan. It's going to come surely....

Hmmm....starting to look like we may need to win the last 4 games...ouch

B0ll0cks

anyone else think we need Connolly and/or Lallana to capitalise on possession?

Does anyone who listens to this commentary care about Totton v Maggots? Anyone at all?

TY...Saintsplayer working now. Wished Connolly and Lallana were okay to start. Still, good first few mins. In Adkins we trust.

Reasonable start in first few mins

Saintsplayer down for me too...

We're still about 1/4 with most bookies, despite Huddersfield getting six points from two tricky games. Things start to drift is we lose tomorrow though - I see both Brighton and Saints are 7/4 to win.

Indeed. we may - just may - need to win 4 out of 5 games. Still hopeful Huddersfield will drop points somewhere though....