positivepete

Exactly!

Me to. Just sent you a PM

I seriously doubt that these will get us to the next level as the OP suggests, or do you mean back to the championship?

Nice graphic on Morgan's goal in the Mail.

Spurs (A) - D Newcastle (H) -W Man City (A) - L Cardiff (H) - W Villa (A) - D Everton (H) - D Swansea (A) - D Man Utd (H) - D

It is not only all that, Carroll will not get the leniency from World Cup referees that he does in the Premier League. Think of the times that Crouch used to get free kicks awarded against him; and Carrol's constant use of his elbows will see him sent off in his first game.

And Guly, two towering clearing headers at the death including the one that led to the fourth goal.

Had an interesting conversation today with a Canadian who is a big ice hockey fan. Impressed that we had persuaded Kreuger to join the club. He made an interesting point about his team building skills as demonstrated in the recent Winter Olympics. Apparently Kreuger was getting lots of flak from the commentators during the games regarding his advice to the coach about substitutions. In the end they all worked and when interviewed he described that his substitution advice had two main themes, can the players on the ice counter the tactics of the players on the opposition side, and do the players on the ice work in harmony with each other. Whilst accepting that players rotate more in Ice Hockey than in football so the comparison is not exact, was his renowned advice on team harmony one of the reasons he was originally approached, and one of the reasons behind Osvaldo moving on? Pure speculation of course!

Congratulations to Wigan and Sheffield United. A great effort by both clubs. That is what the cup is all about, unpredictable results.

Always had the talent, but the big difference as posted above is his physical attributes. He is sustaining this through matches and through the season so far because he is being well conditioned and well managed. Just look back at the post match threads and see how many complaints there were about him being the first one substituted in matches this season. The management were playing the long game and we are seeing the benefits now.

Pretty much agree with that Wes. Perhaps the squad that Chris Nicholl had with the youngsters in the late eighties is the most comparable in terms of age profile and ability to play exciting football. Sadly the fare served up by Strachan was appalling and has been the only point I have ever considered giving up my season ticket. Worse in my opinion that the Dutch duo season.

There was an article recently comparing Webb's decisions prior to the 2010 World Cup final, and his decisions post the final. Since that match Webb rarely gives a penalty or sends a player off. The conclusion of the article was that these days he avoids big potentialy match changing decisions

I have said all season we will get 55 points; we are on course for 51 at the moment using the corresponding fixtures method.

Going back to Bridgnorth after the match.

Hi Shroppie, leaving Shropshire in next half hour. Did you need a lift home?

When the alternative to Rickie is a player who has started three games, got no goals and one red card, I would think Rickie would have been devastated to be left out of this squad. Anyway, Roy might be planning to take the knock out matches to penalties

Over the history of the premier league conceding no goals has been worth more points than scoring two goals.

Is that the first time they have talked about stadium expansion without mentioning that the new stadium will be the biggest on the South coast?

It could be argued that the fans showed the club how important we think the cup is by the numbers attending each tie.

I went to funeral in Edinburgh today of a good friend, have to say the atmosphere was a lot more cheerful than this place the sat couple of days. Agree, complete over reaction.

Whilst in the Man City Chelsea tie both managers agreed that City not playing midweek was the decisive factor........

Doubt if Strachan or any of the players rate Bucharest as a high point, nor the 2003 cup final, I assume you meant the 1976 match. The truth these days is that players would rather play in the top flight and win nothing than win a cup and play in the lower leagues. Players do not have the same priorities as fans. We have had many cup lows worse than this, Watford, Tranmere, Bristol Rovers (twice) the list goes on. As said by many on here, a disappointment today yes, but not the end of the world nor anything like a low point in the nearly fifty years I have been following Saints, and especially in the light of what we have been through since Bucharest.

It is quality not quantity required, Sunderland could still go down with their deeper squad. Quality not quantity, now which nut job thread have I heard that on?

Completely consistent selection in line with our approach for both cups, so no reason for confusion. You may be disappointed because we did not put a strong team out but the confusion is all yours.

Jeez, I hope we do not lose Next Saturday, this board will be in meltdown.