teamsaint

if they can't even fulfill their wage bill, surely they are insolvent and trading illegally?

I think you will find that UEFA and FIFA are also at fault !!

At the moment we are the L1\equivalent of Graeme Hick- football's "flat track Bullies". We have enough firepower to take apart most teams, but we simply don't control games enough to beat the good teams in the league. What we have is a team that would be good enough to make the playoffs without the -10. For promotion next season we need to improve. With a couple of good January signings and a great run we might still scrape the playoffs- I'm hoping, but thats all. The next month is critical.We HAVE to beat some of the better teams at home to have a hope.

Well I told the ticket office guy i just wanted the adult ticket, that there would be no kids with me, and was told this was fine. Why exactly would it " serve them right?" perhaps people who took up this deal are not proper fans?

I don't want to have a go, but the Chapel £10 deal really wasn't thought through. All they had to do was make certain parts of the ground £10 , with one free child ticket if you wanted it. I was told that the ticket office can't even take back the free child tickets to re sell.

plus Papa wasn't really much help either................

indeed. Given that to make the playoffs we need something like 15 wins 5 draws 5 defeats, we can probably "afford" to lose away to Leeds. And if you assume that the top 5 will be Leeds Charlton Norwich Colu and Hudds, we might even be able to "afford" a defeat at Colchester. Really vital games will be Bristol Rovers MK and Millwall away, Swindon and Huddersfield at home. However, we really just need that two points per game average. I would take 3 wins 2 draws and a defeat from the next 6, which is a point short, but from a tough set of fixtures.

Even at this level , having spent money, you aren't going to get great football for 90 mins every week. Against Wycombe we would have had a hatful with decent finishing. Yesterday we were poor for 45 mins , but when we got chances we finished well. As Brighton showed, you only have to play well (in an attacking sense) for 15 mins to win a match. We went to Walsall with people saying a point would be a good result, and won with ease. We are improving, and winning games. We need to keep on improving and winning.

Have to agree with Wild-saint. It 's a different ball game for is now. Good sides have to put up with defensive , spoiling tactics, which often, (and especially for the first half) work. You just can't play fantastic beautiful football for 90 mins, score goals, keep clean sheets every week . Take a look at Man u. THey often win brilliantly,but they equally have to win games late on through wearing teams down. AP may make the odd mistake, but that is because he is human.Maybe he has overestimates Antonio's ability- or maybe Tranmere actually did a pretty good job on him. This season needs to be a team building Journey. This club has a LONG way to go. I for one am enjoying watching the team despite being in L1, and despite the fact that some of our players are less than perfect.Pretty much all we can do for now is watch the bosses rebuild our club, and enjoy the results with keep the playoff hopes alive. June isn't so long ago.

the Adult and child thing for Exeter is silly. Why can they just not do Chapel tix at £10 each with a free child ticket if you want it? I

Crowds fall 25 % when teams drop out of the PL. Some people will only watch the PL. Their loss.

your point is a good one. AP's signings have been pretty impressive(though our ability to leak goals must be driving him bonkers) and he has built a good side. Playoffs and promotion are still a long shot, but as a football fan hope anfd loyalty( and credit card debt) are pretty much all you have.We are in there going for it, and that is a lot more fun than the last two seasons.

just for the sake of argument................. If we are able to maintain 2 pts per game we would finish around 75- which is usually about enough for the last playoff spot. It really does show how vital games against the "other" playoff teams are, should our good results continue. An away win at Millwall for instance could be the difference. Mind you, after last night my hopes are not that high- but as others have said, whats the fun in settling for 10th in L1 ??!!

Although the team is clearly less than perfect, I am quite happy looking at recent results. REally, I do think that, despite reservations about the team, and FF's reservations about the ownership stucture, this ought to be a time for looking at positives. I haven't enjoyed much of the last 5 years, so at the moment I am enjoying a decent run of results, and watching Lallana/ Lambert etc.I still have my head in my hands watching some of our defending, but when didn't we?Perhaps as Saints fans we just have to put the Dodd/Claus/ Killer/ Bridge years down as an aberration !! Hoping the last 13 games thread looks good tonight.........

any player is only one kick away from being finished.Players, agents and their families know it. Unless Saints can secure his financial future, (and who knows, perhaps we can) he is likely to move. Might even be better to sell him in Jan to get new players bedded in ready for next season. desperately hope he stays though.

quite sad really. After nearly not having a team to support, followed by a very poor start(with a VERY weak squad) we actually have at team that is entertaining us, and over quite a long run now , is doing something that looks like promotion form.And some people seem to be enjoying the bad bits more than the good. There is lots to put right yet. WE probably won't make the playoffs.our defence plainly isn't as good as it needs to be. But from where I am sitting , it all looks more like fun than it has for a while. And I for one am keeping alive that faint flickering dream of seeing us win the playoffs for a while yet. Loyalty and hope , our own, is all we really have. 28 games to go. One game at a time. Now is a time for hope, if not expectation. Real shame about KD. But a great win.

someone who gets paid loads, but then has to promise not to buy anything. As my employer has just announced 20% pay cuts, I can join I this scheme a lot. Just hope it doesn't coincide with the day JPT final tix go on sale, if we get there.

Christmas supermarket ads and fragrance ads really are must avoids. I especially object to being wished "happy Christmas" by jamie so called oliver in mid November. Why on earth do the supermarkets insist on employing complete tossers on their ads. I am personally boycotting Sainsburys and Morrisons as a result. That will teach them.

The queeen may be a perfectly decent head of state. And no doubt she is preferable to many of the other heads of state aroun d the world. But the real problem is that she is the pin that holds together a whole system of unelected and inherited wealth and power.All the other areas of power and privilage have the justification for their existence through the royal family. replacing her as head of state might not change much, but until we do , we will never get rid of the appalling inequalities in wealth and income(inequalities which are rising fast by any measure,)and the entrenched power of the old boy network in politics, business and the city.. We put up with far too much unearned privilege and power in the UK, and we are constantly led to believe that it is for our own good. Well that is all rubbish. Look at the awful quality of too many state schools, the quality of NHS care compared to the level of Doctors pay, the cost of housing compared to real average earnings. And is anybody round here sitting on a decent pension unless they are in the public sector?

8 games is a good form guide. Over the last 8 we have got 15 points. That is promotion form, and if we did that for the rest of the season we might make the playoffs. Certainly go close. Undoubtedly our defence is a a problem, the stats don't lie. Personally, I think that the playoffs are probably beyond us, and getting out of the bottom 4 is top priority. But there are a LOT of games yet to play, and I for one haven't given up hope of the playoffs, even if it is a small , distant hope.

They areknown as "scumpies" down there. used to be quite a few who went to home games at both. Recently I read that poopey paraded the cup at the Dell when they won it in 1939

You forgot john Bailey, who is No 1

too true. I must say I was one who thought we ought to be able to manage defensively , at home at least, with 4-4-2. Maybe we, (and AP)were wrong. It certainly looks as though with Lallana and Antonio wide, we lack enough cover However, just to be fair to the fans, we pay to have the right to a wrong opinion. AP gets paid to have a correct opinion. Maybe he got it wrong. But I feel confident that he will learn from yesterday. The road back for Saints is still a long one. One more point- we fans MUST be patient. promotions are NEVER won by 3-0 win after 3-0 win. They are based on solid defence, patience, and good finishing.

I'm pretty sure AP will have learned some big lessons today. The biggest cause for concern is surely our continuing ability to leak goals. The goals against column tells its own story. We aren't too bad defensively, but we are not good enough to do real promotion form.The problems stem from , (I/m afraid) LJ's defensive shortcomings, and a lack of cover from MF. Look at the MF 4 today. For all that the players concerned have done well in the last couple of months, as a unit the balance is too attack minded, and they are a little lightweight defensively. I bet if he could re run the game, AP would start 4-5-1.With AL out wide, we just have to have the extra defensive midfielder. To be fair, the pass down the right for their first goal opened us right up, but you have to be solid enough to make sure that when you get done, it remains at one. The other cause for concern today is that too often we were predictable in attack. Antonio is very useful, but he is a one trick pony at present- and WHERE was the overlap threat from Harding and Lloyd?Lost count of LJ's crosses from deep, which they didn't really have too much trouble with. A really disappointing day, but I think it does show us where we are. In reality the side we have is probably a good playoff contender quality wise- by next season we need to be better than that.

great start for me at fratton too. Mine was the 2-1 win, boxing day 1974 (?) in the corner between the fratton end and the south stand(old man is a skate !) quite scary, but a decent result !!