Dangermouth

I agree the distinction is not necessarily one of relevance. I have no idea quite how capable he is in terms of his statistical nous: he doesn't really give much. Yes, quoting proper stats might turn off the idiots, but that's a good thing. I do seem to recollect that with a fair big of jiggery-pokery (technical term ) 32 can be a sufficient sample size although as has been said they usually look at 100 as a minimum and prefer 1000+. Ultimately I think there's not really much to it and it really only (at the risk of repeating here) repeats what people actually do see. I still remain wholly unconvinced that the xG measurement has any real validity, certainly as measuring certainty in a game such as footy just has no meaning unless you want to talk about pens taken by e.g. SRL or MLT.

Said it for me. Thank you.

I am somewhat annoyed that my fake skate post didn't receive universal criticism. Perhaps the inflection was wrong, or the orthography correct? I would like them to win the league. Then get relegated next year under "Cookie", who must surely rank as greater than Bejesus in the Phew's three-eyed faces, hmm?

In other news. I decorated the spare room. Watching paint dry isn't that bad, after all. Hi Claude and Eric lovers and especially the proper Saints fans who aren't (Claude lovers for those who need it spelt out). I had thought we'd stuff this lot and easily make 8th ours but the way things are going; mediocre season and no silverware which we should by now have won given the amount we've spent, the spin from Les Reed, and the fact that we actually are better than the dross that fill out the bottom 8 of the PL, suggests our trajectory over the next few years might well be in the opposite direction to what it has been. Nice to see Boufal's learned to be a team player. Had expected we'd beat Arsenal and ManU at home but looks like we'll lose both so it's 4 point from Boro away (terrible team oop north) and Stoke to finish our season off.

Promotion is real. Next season we will rise and you will fall. **** you scuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum! :o o :o o o o :o o ****en **** sight wont let me post proper like. ****en scum.

No shame in losing to a better team.

Agree. Makes a Hell of a difference, doesn't it?

Should've beaten them. They were ok, we were a lot better. Didn't think the substitutions did much, especially taking off our goal-machine who was unlucky not to have more. He must love it in England, apart from being subbed off when on a hat-trick twice. Still think we need a better first choice keeper even though their first two goals were well taken. Now to stop underachieving in the league as we obviously have good players. If Caceres is any good, maybe he and VVD could form a good partnership for next season. Would be nice to see WBA come 7th and **** on RK, especially as they are doing well. Wonder how European teams would take to Pulis-ball?

@ Chez and 5 string. Thank you for the sensible replies. As to the remainder of you who were so kind to comment: I'm all ears as to my innumerable grammar faux pas from you as I wish to learn and no doubt you are ready and willing to dissect my 'flowery' language. Chez. Yeah, I'll give you that on Cedric; I guess he just made it look too easy. I have been critical of JWP for a while now but do recognise he did more than I gave him credit for so will give him a 4. Like 5 string I think I was annoyed when we went backwards in the first minute when we were on the edge of their area and that probably coloured my view as did a couple more incidents. I think we won professionally, but within ourselves: even Paul Merson said it was a walk in the park for us. 5 String. Take out the 'Sunderland effect' and add 2 to the scores and that should put them where otherwise they might be. I agree that there was a settling-in period from us but I thought that was because of the difference in confidence between the two sides. Romeu (yes, for those who pointed that out) I will give a 7 to but having seen him at Man City this season am well aware he can perform even better against much better opposition.

Thank you for the opportunity (as I see it) to respond St Chalet and while I normally would simply ignore others and concentrate on other matters I will on this occasion respond to those who seem to want to censor me: Sirs (I assume none of you are ladies), I do not know you, nor would I wish to. Therefore upon what premise do you base your suggestions that I have intended deliberately to court your (meaningless) attention or have you 'bite' in response to what was my own personal view based on my attendance at yesterday's game? I will address a couple of other points that were made, but only those. After that it is for you to decide to continue to debate irrelevances or take a more pragmatic approach. Some have said my marks are low. They are and they will always be relative to those who simply throw them away and/or do not consider quite what it is they are doing: that is how I do it. I did, for all of you who singularly failed to read and comprehend the comment in the post I made, state that I had amended the marks to reflect the paucity (feel free to look it up should you require: none of you seem to have demonstrated much, if anything, by way of intelligence) of the opposition. Were, for example, the full Real Madrid team to play Taunton's tenth team and trounce them with Bale scoring 20 would you give him a 10/10 or would you (sensibly, so perhaps it is a vain hope) make some comment akin to “That was a pointless exercise, why bother?” i.e. you would modify your appreciation of something in light of the facts. One of the comments on a Sunderland site was that we'd strolled it at 50% so why not recognise that? Forster was given a 7 by the Sky website but what did he really do? He didn't try to stop the disallowed goal and he missed a punch from a corner and made some regulation saves. Other than that he was a bystander. Now unless you want to give a 7 as a mark for someone who could almost have sat down in the crowd with a cuppa you would have to question that mark. I think he should have looked to have never let any shot past him – Niemi wouldn't have as a matter of “Keeper's Honour” and apart from the little things that he did that he was expected to he (so I understand from looking at matters later). I have now seen the handball and do consider that while this was enough to mean Forster wouldn't get to it I do think he should have come for it. Someone like Lloris would. Many of you no doubt don't watch players in the warm up. You can tell a lot about a player in a warm up and see those who play functionally and those who 'caress the ball' and the latter are usually the better players. The Sunderland team were awful and given that a football should be like a second skin to a professional player the way they kicked the ball was distinctly amateur. This ties in with my criticism of JWP. Again, I didn't see he had assisted SL's goal because it was a long way away from us but even on MOTD he was given a lot of space and time to hit that gaping hole where SL was waiting. What I dislike about him is that he looks 'coached' (and if you've ever played against anyone who has been coached you'll know what I mean but not a natural football player. His posture is wrong, he address the ball wrongly and he seems to just do things without regard for what is really happening about him. He also seems slow mentally which makes me think that he can't react instinctively and there is nothing in how he plays and moves that makes me think he's a footballer. OR is because there are many times when he tackles someone, gets the ball and is surrounded by 3 or 4 players and still comes away with the ball just by pushing it into the right space: he understands football. The game itself was a poor spectacle by and large and not unlike watching parks football at times, particularly when Sunderland had the ball. Quite how so many can be enthused by the performance I cannot fathom; although the result was welcome, but expected. To conclude: Now you might be all so full of your own self-importance to believe that someone is interested only in seeking to 'get a rise' out of you, but you are wrong. You are irrelevant, quite frankly, so I would suggest that should you be able you look at the world you inhabit and yourselves critically and recognise that it is there wherein you will find the failings, not with I.

I noticed I forgot Romeu. 5. One of his poorer games. It was nothing other than my thoughts on the game. I see no reason to describe us as world beaters when we have beaten a team that seemed to me worse than any I saw when we were in League One: they were truly that terrible. I provided a balanced, consistent perspective to those who don't seem to know anything about football but do like to get too high when we win and too low when we lose (ta Nige). We played better at both Everton and Burnley and not dissimilar to today: crab football. Part of the difference was plainly Barry whose runs were picked up but as others have remarked it's not as though others e.g. SL, JRod haven't also done likewise. Be a shame to see JRod go: I think Puel's insistence on rotation for the sake of it is mismanagement and I wouldn't be surprised to see JRod go to Spurs (he made those comments about how good Poch was probably as a way of implying how poor Puel is) and be the link that helps them to the title. If he's played enough he'll find his form and he has to be better than Janssen.

Sunderland. I've seen better subbuteo teams. Marks based on the fact that the opposition looked like they'd never seen a football before. If they do not finish bottom of the pile then I will be surprised. Forster. 3. Air punch in the first half from a corner. Saved what what hit straight at him. Didn't even make an effort for the disallowed goal whereas a good keeper would always want to not let a goal in. Cedric. 5 Ok. Can't shoot. Can't beat a man very much. Had to play against the paper-thin and lightweight Januzai who fell to the floor a lot. A generous mark but I feel like it. Stephens. 5. Defending is the weakest part of his game. I'd move him forward alongside Romeu. Yoshida. 5. Decent enough. Bertrand. 6. Reasonable game but he's a damn good player so I expect him to be very good as a minimum so I'm not giving him any credit for playing within himself. Davis. 5. No opposition to trouble him. He's actually played a lot better. JWP 0 (zero). He isn't a footballer. Brushed off the ball by Januzai for probably the only time in the latter's career. Tried a Cruyff turn and couldn't execute it and didn't know what to do. Kills play because all he can do is pass sideways. Didn't score when he hit that shot in the second half. Played too much propaganda football: I wonder what Strachan would have made of him. Assume he has something on the club as I'd have cancelled his contract. Redmond. 5. One of his quieter games. Bit like Bertrand but as he can do so much more and didn't he gets marked down. Liked the fact that he was shouting at players to give him an option and they were static when he had the ball. Liked the fact that he drove into the box, went for goal and had a shot with his left foot. Reasonable effort, too. Tadic. 4. Reasonably talented. Too one-footed. Doesn't do a lot. Seems to have limited vision: is only aware of about 10 yards around him. One of his poorer games. I would probably get rid of him in the summer. Barry/Gabby/Manny. 6. Makes a load of good runs that are ignored because the crab pass is on. Touch looks ok but not great. You can see his mind is working all the time: proper footballer. Long. 5. Scored. Maybe should have got another with his header (and then my 5-0 prediction would have won me some cash) and did what he did. Hojbjerg. No mark. Not on long enough. As it's a cup final and so on I expect based on that performance which wasn't dissimilar to many of our others, in fact we've played better and lost, that Utd will beat us convincingly at Wembley.

Thank you. It's interesting, but ultimately rubbish. It both repeats the obvious (what the fan sees) and doesn't actually show that it can actually prove anything. What it does do is make another obvious point: if you have someone in a good position to shoot and they do so accurately and sufficiently hard then this is likely to result in a goal.

Damn. Forgot Austin. Swap him out for Boufal. Boufal has good feet but I expect all footballers to have that (Davis has them too) so I'd expect more defending/hard work and for him to score regularly for him to replace anyone.

McCarthy Soares VVD Caceres Bertrand Romeu Hojbjerg Davis Gabbiadini Boufal JRod Based on ability/capability not just someone's having a 'mare currently. Worrying how Gabbiadini gets in after only 1 game.

As I recollect we did against Sunderland what we did against Arsenal and chose a really **** team. Sheffield United did against us what we did against Liverpool to some degree in that they wanted it more and outfought the superior opposition. This season we played a Crystal Palace team full of players who had come back from injury or were on the fringes of the first team and being given a try-out and we had the good fortune that their first-choice centre-back got injured and replaced by someone who gave us a penalty and so the chance to get ahead, a Sunderland team that were crap that we scraped past by virtue of one bit of individual good play, a definitely under-strength Arsenal team against our team that was stronger than in previous rounds and a Liverpool team that had an atrocious record last month and including last week but which definitely could have beaten us at Anfield had they had their shooting boots on. The proof of how good or otherwise we will have done in this competition will be if we play well in the final, if we play well enough to give a good account of ourselves and if we win the bloody thing. Next season no one will remember a performance in a final if we lose unless they are either a Saints fan or we get hammered and it becomes like the FA cup game against Arsenal as it will be televised and for one day we will have more fans than Man Utd.

He's developing well at Blackburn and my understanding is that he is highly thought of, hence the loan so there's no chance he won't be given a new contract and he really does have to be blooded into the first team next year. If the others who have come through are, he definitely must be. I expect he will be but I wonder how the rotation (and I hope Puel isn't here so it's moot) will affect him. It might help, but I suspect he will need a run of games. I do now expect JRod to go but equally I do expect, once he plays regularly, that he will be a very good player again. I can even see him going back to Burnley once they stay up and I agree he will need to have the opportunity to play a fair number of games. If it were the case that Puel didn't rate him and a case of him or Puel I'd take him and not just because I have no time for the latter but because I think he has the makings of a very very good player and if he and Seager could play up front it would be great. I didn't used to rate Seager but I've started to see what it is that people like in him.

We'll rotate a bit. We'll play the 2nd leg of the semi final team in the final. We'll beat this lot 1-0 if we miss a lot of chances or 5-0 if we don't. The fact that they got ahead of CP and then beat them easily is of no interest (thanks Clod) as they are **** and have a load of Everton rejects playing for them. I think Gardos will start as he'll have to if he's going to have any chance of being in contention for a place to stay here after the end of the season so I expect the team will be: Forster Martina Stephens Gardos McQueen Romeu (because no one else can play there) Hojbjerg Clasie Gabbiadini Long Sims Subs: Redmond (bound to come on), Tadic (should be sold at the end of the season: too inconsistent and doesn't work hard enough/make enough happen); JWP (should be sold at the end of the season), Reed (because he has to be put on the bench but isn't good enough to play), Yoshida because we need a CB on the bench, JRod (who did look as though he was fed up last week) because we need a forward on the bench. He will bring on Redmond for Sims, J Rod for Long and JWP for Hojbjerg. We will ignore the quick, good pass and pass the ball to the fullbacks all the time but still beat easily the worst team in the league who are much worse than Leicester who we beat convincingly. If Martina doesn't play then that's a good indication that he's off at the end of the season and he might not play much again although he's off at the end of the saison anyway so it could be Stephens at right back and Yoshi and Gardos at CB. Would like to see Seager on the bench. Can't see why you'd go to Sunderland and want to go out in Newcastle unless Sunderland is really that bad in which case you make it sound like Portsmouth. This is a six-pointer/must win game because if we do not (we will, wetbedders, we will) we risk being dragged into the relegation zone/fight which will adversely affect our confidence for both the rest of the season until we are safe and how we approach the cup final and it is a six-pointer because it has the negative/positive value of not only gaining three points for one's own team but denying someone who is a direct rival of three points and so it has a special or double effect or can be considered to be so. Glad to have explained this to those who do not understand the analogy as it's quite easy to work out from just looking at it. Caceras won't be fit as even if he has been training unofficially with a club (does anyone know this?) he has to get used to the pace of the league, etc and to just throw him in against Ibrahimovic and Co in a cup final probably won't do him any favours. As to the point about why would CP be after him as well as Sakho, it's well-known that Allardyce thinks CP have a crap defence. Sakho can be said to have played more recently, played in the PL and trained with a professional club more recently than Caceras so that's why he'd be the preferred option. He is also a known quantity and Caceras isn't. The other thing is that CP only had a certain amount of time to sign Sakho whereas they, like SFC, could have taken longer to sign Caceras due to his personal circumstances. Can't see playing him in a cup final when he's the new boy would do anything other than put some players' noses very out of joint and be damaging to morale in a club like SFC. At somewhere like Man Utd probably less so as they are "the biggest club in the world" or something. That should cover everything about this game and a bit more and we can look forward to a two week rest on the back of a decent win with predictable football and spend a lot of time hoping that the Man Utd team are decimated by injuries as they play the same team pretty much for those extra games that they have.

'twas intentional

You're stupid. Let me explain in words of one syllable: This year and every year SFC are in the PL they get £100. The club is worth £200. If they get relegated they get a diminishing return of £80, £50, £30 and zilch. The club is worth £50. How does this equate to making money? You only make money by surviving and how things are structured you only make more money by being successful. You are not successful with your 'method' which falls flat on its arse and produces the opposite effect to that which you want. Do they put something in the carrots in Norwich or is everyone like you?

I like Gardos. I think he can be a very good player. Saturday was the day he looked like he tried on his ice skates for the first time, however. Mind you, everyone was crap so it just made it harder for anyone to do anything else other than be crap. Let's see how we get on tomorrow and what the reinforcements look like. Personally I'd rather not have MG than have him because I think he's vastly over-priced for what he is.

I am interested in the possibilities of this Doctor ... Who? You sound like a club plant or a fantasist. For the first time ever on this forum I find myself reaching for the 'ignore button'. Please feel free to congratulate yourself.

That's not uncommon for a number of reasons but the thrust of your argument and that of others e.g. 'shared services' (that there are ways and means to obtain a benefit without attracting unwanted attention and thus a 'penalty' e.g. tax) is probably the reason for this and is an indication that the approach from Lander is contrary to that which was the approach from ML at the time (i.e. he came in with open hands, palms showing).

By and large I agree with you but I think you are, at least to some extent, comparing apples with pears. So. I would expect that all things being equal a scout with no or limited knowledge/experience and of capability level "A" would overall fare less well than another, equal scout who had the most extensive knowledge and experience. You would, I imagine, agree. Now while partly supposition it could be and probably is the case that the one who has played the game at the highest level has some knowledge of the game that gives them a greater degree of knowledge and experience than not. I do agree that those who have not can still possess a great deal of capability - it boils down to the individual. A stupid but obvious example is that most people should be able to tell if someone can kick well with both feet or only one. Taking this into account it should be the case that e.g. Merson can actually say that a player is good or not (for example) and while others might or might not some of what he says (assuming he can actually explain it which would be a problem for PM anyway) would have a far greater degree of appreciation of certain factors than MLG could bring to bear. This is why expertise and knowledge and experience do actually have a value. So while the argument has some validity, all things being considered someone who possesses the correct attributes and has been around football and footballers a lot (e.g. Mourinho) probably does have more overall to offer than MLG. The figures themselves might have some value but they probably don't tell you much more than you already know e.g. S Long is rapid. Well whether he's an 18 or a 17 on a computer database doesn't mean much: watching him shift his arse to get on the end of Sims' pass does. In short, while your argument is valid I suspect that WG's also is. Furthermore, to be fair on the point I consider that by and large MLG has little to nothing to offer save that he does possess a memory and can sometimes call out those who are talking out of their backsides (this forum to a very large extent) because he actually does go and look for some information and then he uses that rather than just farts out of his mouth. As for that programme that uses the database and the fact that clubs do this isn't news to anyone who keeps even a brief eye on something that happens outside of feeding your mouth and looking at your mobile. This is a criticism aimed at many but does recognise two facts: one that too many people are too self-obsessed but two that not everyone has access to all the 'information' out there as would always be the case anyway. So on that point thanks to Manji for the info because next time he'll post something that you might know (if you're in group 2, not 1) that I didn't.