ant

Thought that both Shaw and Clyne supported Puncheon/Lallana admirably in terms of offering a rearwards outlet and overlapped well, but it's now being done in a more measured way and doesn't upset the overall balance of the defence.

Our build-up play belies our perceived lack of pace - many teams seem to forget that it's often quicker to zip the ball about and make it do the hard work. If you watch how we play on the break it's all very measured; we don't tend to score by dashing forward with the ball, but we're learning how to be clever in possession and sustain pressure upon the opponent's goal that way. We also defended from the front superbly yesterday. Punch/Ramirez/Lallana didn't give the Newcastle back four a moment's peace and picked their pockets numerous times. It's also incredible how much space Gaston and Adam are able to create themselves with a simple shift of the body. Sharpness like that will cause our opponents more problems than raw pace. Of course if you can get a player with a more complete set of attributes i.e. speed on the ball AND a decent end product then they're an incredible asset, but there's a reason those players sell for the big bucks.

He did. In the past 4 or 5 games Lallana's cover of the left back has been tireless, as attested by his tackling and interception stats which are actually amongst the best in the division.

Davis looked like a different player at CM/CAM against Man City and QPR. That's his role and while he can cover in a more defensive midfield position, in reality we're just stifling him there. With our current formation Davis might see his chances limited to the bench but he's a fantastic choice to switch in for Ramirez if we need to see out a game without cutting off our attacking opportunities entirely. The Cork and Schneiderlin partnership will be key to our season.

You can laugh, but I've seen the prototype.

Since it's unsegregated between away and 'neutral' fans I recently bought a couple of seats adjoining our fans. Missed out on the fabled loyalty points but don't have to faff about with allocation windows or risk missing out. The Fulham ticket office was top notch too - the tickets arrived in the post the next day.

Well last season I could barely walk a dozen paces around and about the city without seeing a Saints shirt and this year's version certainly doesn't seem less prominent. Bit of a skewed statistic if true though - you can't underestimate the extra exposure of the Premier League. I imagine that vast swathes of plastics have descended upon the store to show support for their 'beloved' Saints. I like it, but opinion of our core support still seems divided.

He admitted that he had an attitude problem, which was a big step. When Punch showed a determination to make it work here and the club welcomed him back into the fold that was good enough for me in terms of reassessing him from that point onwards. Of course everybody has their own opinions and observations but what I've seen since then is a lad that's fully integrated into the team and works bloody hard as a part of it. His tracking back in particular has improved immeasurably and there's a strong understanding developing with Clyne. At the level of player we're likely to be able to sign, who isn't going to be predictable at times?! Beating his man will likely never be his strongest attribute but it's not the only method of attack. I'd say his most 'predictable' method in the PL has been cutting in along the box and shooting across goal, from which we've had 2 excellent strikes and a decent number of near misses already. Although it crossed my mind that he may have simply been turning it on against QPR it seems a bit of an injustice to suggest it was merely borne of a personal grudge. He's been a handful in plenty of matches where that wasn't the case and quite simply looks like he wants to be here. Perhaps he hasn't changed his spots and it'll all come crashing down again in 6 months time but for now I believe he deserves the benefit of the doubt. Something clicked in the Summer so let's make best use of it while we can.

Another good post. There was a newspaper article around a year ago explaining the 'relative age effect' in youth teams/academies. For example in England the selection period runs from September to August, like a school year. Physical attributes are far more likely to produce winning results at a young age, so those born in September/October time are generally selected over those born in the Summer who will be close to a year younger. I'll see if I can dig out the full story. Ah - here we go: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jun/19/fa-plans-age-group-football Quite an interesting read; I didn't realise that Messi had specific growth issues requiring treatment, thought he was just a diminutive lad. Bet you he wouldn't have made it through the English scouting system.

Ah OK, might as well not send the lads up there and call the match off then. It'll save a few quid on petrol at least.

I'm sure they/we/I could, but let me be the first to say you're off your nut if you think it 'could be sorted in days'. To even suggest so suggests a fundamental lack of understanding with regard to contract law and project management. The details over why we're stuck with Football League Interactive has been covered multiple times on here. http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?40008-New-Official-Site-Design http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?39314-Saints-official-website-is-rubbish http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?39235-New-Official-Sites-(now-including-Saints) Basically we're tied into a contract with Football League Interactive, for whom SapientNitro are official development partners. Perform Group provide SaintsPlayer content. The press release describing the deal is available here: http://sape.client.shareholder.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=605828

Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.

Are you saying that getting a new manager in with next to no time before those key fixtures (and obviously zero ability to bring in new players) wouldn't have been a colossal risk?

Well the OP resonated with me anyway.

4-4-2 is dead at the top level. 4-2-3-1 is without doubt the best setup for the players we have rather than the way we'd like to play. This is our current best lineup in my opinion: Gazza/Boruc Clyne Fonte Yoshida Fox Davis Schneiderlin Mayuka Ramirez Lallana Lambert You can switch Puncheon in for Mayuka if you so prefer, but I think he's been more effective than Jason so far. This setup gives the back four far more protection and you can pack the midfield whilst defending if necessary. On the attack it essentially gives Gaston a free role - typically playing as the most advanced of the front three midfielders, almost in a CF position. I think he's wasted out wide as most of our best moves tend to go through him as the playmaker.

Gutted that I was too skint to make it up - for the atmosphere alone. Our travelling support has been excellent in the main. I know a few Baggies fans and they've all made special mention of it. The difference in attitude between our hardcore home-and-away fans and the crowd at St. Mary's is quite telling. Anyway, if the players keep under-performing then at this rate the media will have some new 'bestest' to fawn over After all the skates only got that label for continuing to sing when losing once, didn't they?

Trouble is, though it's not much fun being a small fish in the big pond and getting beaten every week, in the long term it's not sustainable to be stuck with sharks in a puddle - as we proved last time. The water's a metaphor for money, if that wasn't clear enough.

A lot of confused faces amongst them after that. Wasn't easy to get any chants to stick in the first half; there was a feeling of resignation throughout much of the ground and that's always going to be difficult to overcome. When the players came out after the break and showed some passion and commitment our lot piped up a damn sight more - Saints dragged us up a bit and from thereon the noise was much better. I've been pretty critical of the atmosphere at St. Mary's so far this season but it really was a game of two halves on and off the pitch. Wasn't impressed at all by the Spurs fans. A few half-hearted attempts at singing 'OWTS' (with bizarre hand-waving, and drowned out even when we were at our most quiet) and a bit of 'Yid Army'. Mostly silent after their goal celebrations died down though.

Wouldn't be the first time, to be fair. Assumed Le God was amongst us from the pre-match chants.

I guess it's a nice gesture (assuming Billy knows about it), but if anybody really wants to contribute, donate.

Adkins can say we're playing 4-3-3 all he likes (as can you), but anybody with an ounce of tactical knowledge will be able to see that we've mostly been lining up as 4-2-3-1 at St. Mary's (as many others have used in this thread when selecting a team), with the middle of the 3 playing in an advanced role bridging the gap to the striker. Also while we're picking people up on irrelevant errors in a hypothetical thread, you listed three reasons after stating you had two to make.

So is Adkins, with or without us.

Di Canio has an ugly attitude and I find it difficult to look past his fascista status. Also tend to agree about his man-management 'skills' - his comments to the press about Swindon's players have been at best bizarre and at worst downright unprofessional (not to mention the numerous spats he's had with them during and after matchdays). I'd rather not think that his methods are the route to success, though I guess we'll see where Swindon end up come May.

Normally threads in this vein are a bit cringeworthy and merely point out the obvious, but there really is a different attitude in the ground this season. Around me (in the Northam) it's not even a case of moaning and groaning or getting on the players' backs, just deathly silence for the most part. We sing for five minutes at the start and pipe up again if there's a decent spell thereafter but if it's not going our way after half an hour the atmosphere becomes moribund. Perhaps the root cause is misplaced expectations for the season or a fanbase spoilt by winning - football is so short-termist that it wouldn't surprise me. It's not even as if you have to go back to the 'Great Escape' seasons to see that the crowd can lift a team though - so many examples to draw upon from the Liebherr era. It feels like giving up, which is bizarre when you see that Adkins still has a 75% approval rate (albeit from a sample derived purely of Saints Web members), let alone the club itself. Not quite sure what the answer is. Absolutely blew my voice trying to drum up some noise during the Fulham match and there's only so many times you can chant on your own before looking like a bit of a berk.

Gah, I wish that were always the case. 3 or 4 LM/LW players in the team I play for which makes chances more limited! Anyway I suppose it depends on the most commonly held definition of two-footed. At the top of this thread it says equally good with both but I've always taken it to mean having an adequate, perfunctory weaker foot? Clyne seems to be able to cope with using his left, although even when playing at LB he was more often tempted back onto his right. Mayuka gets 4/5 on FIFA for his weak foot although EA are partly informed by the fans so that could be tosh.