Turkish

I'd be amazed if he joins us now, it seems Roma are on the charm offensive with the fans to turn them around and he sees us as a step down.

I would absolutely agree with the first bit. After our run of beating Liverpool, Chelsea and Man City there was lots of talk on here of an 8th placed finish and some claiming the squad was already easily good enough for a top 8 finish this season and that MP had waved a magic wand and turned us into world beaters. Reality soon set in when we still weren't safe as we went into the penultimate weekend of the season. The reality is our first XI when everyone is fit and in form is good and you can't do this for five or six game in a row, you can't do this for 38 games in a row. Regarding consistency, well midtable sides are consistently inconsistent. Up until our visit to stoke in December they had one of the best defensive records in Europe and the best home record in the country, they were shocking from Jan-March. When Norwich played us at SMS they were something like one loss in twelve, shortly after they went on a terrible run. What we need to do is cut out the sloppy errors and soft goals we have away so often and primarily make ourselves hard to beat, so we get draws when we might lose and hold onto leads which might have cost us so dearly last season. I'm also of the opinion that MP still has a lot to prove. I do believe he'll be a good manager for us and seems to have the support of the players, but looking at his record, did he do any better than Adkins? Not really. This too when we had 'adapted to the premier league' I also look at the games we lost and see how he was tactically out thought by Redknapp and Pardew. Maybe he didn't have the players at his disposal to play his system effectively, but even then you adapt to suit what you have. And It wasn't like it was partially tactical master strokes from the managers, just a long diagonal ball into the channels. So for me its a bit season fromMP too, to prove he is the man we were told he was. I think he'll be good, but the jury is still out.

Very true and a good post. Some on here seem convinced that we are going to surge into the top half of the table this season, its inevitable. Yes we've made two good additions but the facts are that the rest of the players haven't changed. People point to our bad start and blame it on 'adjusting to the premier league' which is the phrase that has been banded around to excuse this. Yet our last 6 games yielded only one point more than our first six, this at a time when we had 'adjusted to the premier league' and had got rid of the supposed out of his depth bumpkin and replaced him with the the manager to take us to the next level, yet this has been ignored and told that if the season started in November we'd finish much higher. Well in that care if the season had started on April we'd have finished much lower. Make no mistake a top 10 finish this season won't be as easy as some believe. There is little to chose between 10th and 17th. Where we worse than west ham over the course of the season? You'd say no. We're we better than Sunderland over the season? Again you'd have to say no, and only one point taken off each of them suggests there is not much between the sides. So the fact of the matter is there are probably 10 teams that could find themselves on a relegation battle this season and more than half of them, ourselves included, will be looking to push up the table. I don't believe that we will be in a serious relegation scrap and if we can land a couple more players then top half can be a realistic aim. But let's not kid ourselves overnight the players that made errors and were in and our of form last season are going to be constant world beater this season as we take out rightful place in the top half of the table.

I'm amazed no one with serious money has bought Leeds yet and would be available at a fraction of the price of a premier league club. A very big club with huge support and potential. They are in reality what a lot of our fans think we are.

Good to see he's picked up on the defensive lapses from the players I highlighted too. No doubt people will say his take on the game is a fair reflection, yet i need to get over myself and stop ruining the thread.

None intended.

This means nothing. So did Stuart downing, Nathan cleverly and Danny Welbeck and they are terrible!!

I have a perfectly valid observation that two error prone players from last season where making similar errors today and was told to 'get over myself' and the thread has descended into bashing me. It's not my fault some people don't like hearing the truth and I don't always put what people want to read. I tell it how it is and make no apology for this.

4 of your last 6 posts have been about me, what a freak.

I think you'll find it was ruined by people having a go at me giving my opinion on the defensive errors.

Oh far from it! Usual observations, people glossing over what they don't want to read and making the normal accusations as usual.

I see the usual suspects are pouncing on anyone who dares to make any points they don't agree with.

Lets he we don't get any injuries next season and don't have to rely on Davis and Fonte.

Oh I see, having an opinion that observing the same players making the same mistakes means I should 'get over myself,' yes?! Fontes mistakes? Davis errors? Sloppy individual errors which cost us last season being repeated now, silly me I should be punching the air snd celebrating our players having a runaround and only losing 2-0.

The point being young Adrian the same players make the same mistakes, goals conceded by individual errors and sloppy mistakes, the story of last season. If picking up on that makes me look stupid to a forum genius like yourself I can live with that.

New Year's Day. And some of you say I talk rubbish and want me banned. http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?42098-Are-we-a-better-side-without-Lallana

Point 1 - arsenal or spurs, yes? The sort if team we are going to have to compete with.. Point 2.- and? Point 3 the same players making the same mistakes. Have we learnt nothing?!!

That is amongst one of the many true things I have said on here since I became a member Jamie.

Burnt the captains bacon lately Jamie?

Did they?

I hope people now realise how far off being a top 8 team we are.

They should listen to true ITKers like you and I.

You do know Man city have won the league before and have always been a very big, well supported club?

I wondered how long it would be before done said that. Post 5, excellent work.

Didn't they say man would never walk on the moon? Chelsea won the league and they only used to get 13,000 in 1984 and look at Man United before Fergie and Everton have won it and we have more fans than them.