hectors house

I do think James is better in midfield than RB but IMO he is nowhere near as bad a player as some people on here feel he is. I think his lack of pace will stop him ever being a quality RB, both defensively defending a ball over the top and also offensively as he rarely attacks the byline but instead crosses from deep (which I should add he often does to great effect). However he is relatively new to the position and hopefully he can only learn from the quality coaches we now have at the club and also from the likes of Murty. Should we (sorry I mean "when we") get back to the PL I don't think James will be our RB but at the moment he will do for me. Besides I still live in a world where Pardew can do no wrong so if he rates him then it is good enough for me. I do get a bit fed up when James always seems to be the scapegoat these days, I read the match threads and people who obviously have not even been to the match are slagging him off - sometimes it just seems to be the "thing to do". IMO whilst I also rate Harding he has been just as prone to defensive lapses as James, I see just as many attacks coming down our left flank as I do the right but somehow he seems to "walk on water" whilst James makes one mistake and it is picked to pieces. Personally I rate them both as good enough to get us out of L1 and I accept that at times they will have bad games or make mistakes but if that were not the case they would not be playing for a team in L1.

Probaly not - but on the assumption that the OP is genuine then surely any CCC player who is being looked at by PL clubs is going to be someone we think "won't happen".

Total guess and only based on a previous rumour that I must have seen on here - how about Matty Fryatt from Leicester?

MS really does seem to split opinion more than any other player. I'm afraid at the moment I think he is over rated. I'm not saying he shouldn't get in the side but all this talk of best midfielder in the league IMO is nonsense. Pardew obviously rates him very highly and therfore I hope he can develop into a great player but right now if he left or got a long term injury I personally would not be as concerend as I would if we lost Lambert, Llanana or Jaidi. I am however intrigued as to why some of you rate him so highly and will make an extra effort at the next match to watch him closely and try to figure out what I am missing.

I thought second half was the worst I have seen Saints at home this season. I suspect a few players were not entirely focused, at least 3 times in the second half Luton players were left entirely free in attacking positions. Personally I thought Luton were very average (which is perhaps to be expected for a non league side) and Saints just gave them confidence with a very poor second half display. On that performance I would never play Waigo on the left side of midfield again, his biggest asset is his pace but he just didn't want to go down the line on his left foot. Personally I was very disappointed to not see Lee Holmes get a run out at some point – it seems Pardew just does not rate him but if so why put him on the bench? For me Perry was MOM but I'm worried if Jaidi is injured and with Trotman gone we don't have a dominant bruising centre back who wins the ball in the air. On the positive side Lambert is on his way to being a legend, at the start of the season I questioned why he kept taking free kicks but now I know why. Over the last few months he has definitely got his “eye in” and whilst he is not quite Le Tiss at this level his is getting to be just as good. I am looking forward with some trepidation to next weeks game with Huddersfield which I think will be a good indication of how the rest of our season goes.

I like to think I am pretty loyal to my team and ultimately if pushed I will back the club on this - but more on "blind faith" than sound opinion. The Echo is a newspaper - it's job is to report news and that's all it did on this occasion. As it stated the news was already in the public arena so all they did was provide a more detailed report for what was very much a local interest story. Not sure what they did wrong and personally, based on the facts I have available, I think the club are being a bit silly. I suspect that maybe there is more to this than meets the eye.

A Saints player got booked this weekend for a deliberate handball before putting the ball in the net - does that make anyone associated with Saints cheats? I hope not. As for the quote from MS - just banter I'm sure and likely said with a smile on his face. From recent interviews the guy finally seems to be coming onboard and want to be here. He's also playing pretty well at the moment so please let's not slag off one of our own unless we are absolutely sure it is warranted.

Fair point and like I said I was not there but I did give my ticket to a Liverpool supporting mate and when I saw the result I expected him to enjoy telling me how useless we were. However what he did say was that we looked like a good side other than our defence which was awful. That seemed to also be the common feeling yesterday and it seems that Trotman has lost his mojo at the moment. Let's hope it's a blip but if not we do have Perry or Thomas in reserve. What I would say is that Brighton was one bad performance amongst a recent glut of good performances and at the moment I'm going to focus on the good.

It's only when I come on here that I realise what an optimist I am. For me being a footbal fan (unless you follow the likes of Man U etc) is often about "blind loyalty" otherwise I wouldn't bother - where's the fun in all this doom and gloom nonsense? Until it's mathematically impossible then I'm still looking at the play-offs. Even without my "rose tinted glasses" I've been to every home game (apart from Brighton) and I honestly feel we have a much improved side that is more than capable of another 4 or 5 game winning streak. We are in a mini (2 game) slump following our recent peak but I reckon we will win the next 5 ... and the next 5 ... and the next 5. Maybe we will lose to Leeds away (only maybe mind) but otherwise it's point points points.

I can't quite believe that I am reacting to this nonesense but I will not get any work done today unless I get this off my chest. I am honestly amazed at the number of posters who think there is some honour in not informing on these yobs, they almost seem to be proud of them? I thought at first it was a wind up but I'm not so sure now. There seems to be a lot of hard men posting on here today who go through life "giving a slap" where it's appropriate - I suspect it's more likely that most only "talk the talk". I'll be up front and admit to being your average wimp, avoiding trouble whenever possible and so far through 46 years managing pretty well. Now I could understand (and maybe even respect) someone being offended and dealing with it man-to-man, if both parties want a fight then let them get on with it - at least it's a fair fight. What I don't understand is how anyone can either defend or be proud of a gang of blokes completely outnumbering two guys, kicking them to the ground and then kicking them some more - just because they said something nasty about their football club. I'm afraid it's all beyond me - if I know them then I would inform the authorities and trust the legal system to decide if they were provoked.

I'm sure you know. Administration, new owner, new board, new manager, new coaches, lost some of our best players from last year (and that from a team that was not very good to start with) and a short pre-season.

Indeed you can - and tell that to those who keep saying "1 win in 10 is not good enough" without considering the bigger picture.

I'm just back from the match and I thought they slaughtered us in the second half. It was really dissapointing and I just knew that if I logged on here I would find calls for the manager to go. Although I am as frustrated as everyone else I am still 100% (yes 100%) behind AP. It's very (very very) early days in his regime, I cannot see into the future so I cannot make guarantees but I do feel we have to be patient. Some people just want a quick fix and seem to think sacking the manager is the answer - IMO that's not the solution and I reckon Cortese is sensible enough to not panic. Unless we are 10 points adrift in January the AP has until the end of the season before I wil be judging him - he is our manager and we should support him as we do our team.

I'm struggling to understand this thread. Crikey over the last few years we have had plenty to moan about and maybe it's a habit some fans cannot get out of? There's little doubt in my mind that Pardew pulls no punches in how he manages the players. He has this week criticised the players as a group regarding their mind set following last weekends win. He has on several occasions this season singled out Schneiderlin for not performing at a level that AP feels he should do. In the interview after yesterdays match I was left in no doubt that he thought Mellis should have scored and he needs to take his chances if we wants to be a top player. I'm also sure that what AP says in public will differ to what he will tell a player (and the team) in private - and that is what I would expect. I'm not suggesting that AP is perfect but he strikes me as an intelligent bloke who understands how and when to criticise (and praise) players to get the best out of them. I am sure this will be different for each player and personally I have no reason not to trust AP to get this right most of the time.

That's a bit worrying as Pardew has been playing him wide! Whilst I agree that we do need width I think some are getting too caught up about having two outright wingers. Lallana is not a winger but he can play left or right midfield - from what I have seen this year left side midfield is the better as it allows him to cut in toward goal. Not all wide midfiled players have to be speedy wingers who get the byline, different class I know but didn't Zidane play wide midfield and Joe Cole for England - neither are wingers. Of course playing Lallana on the left means we cannot accomodate our only two genuine wingers, Holmes particularly butalso Mills. I was not a Lallana fan at the start of the season but I thought he played well yesterday (first half especially) and also against Birmingham - he's far from the finished article but for me he is the most likley to make something happen. If we play 2 up front then I would keep him on the left and play the speedy winger on the right (currently Papa is the only player we have who fits that role, and that's yet to be proved). Otherwise I like the idea of 1 up front with Lallana "in the hole" and 2 wide players - BUT all I read last year was how we should be playing 2 up front (I didn't get to many matches so cannot comment from personal experience). Bottom line is that I think on current (home) form Lallana should play and I reckon he can fit into wide left, wide right or off the striker depending depending on who else is available.

Personally I think the OP is looking at results rather than performance. There is a danger that a lack of results may drag down our performances but at the moment we are IMO improving - I reckon it is far too soon to be so pessimistic. Lots of people have said we need to be patient and as frustrating as it is we do indeed need to be so - if we were being out classed then I would be worried but we are not. I am confident things will get better just maybe not as fast as we all would like, relagation IMO is unlikely, in fact I feel we are more likely to make the play offs - although mid table is perhaps the sensible target.

I was at the match yesterday but only just had the opportunity to get on here. I think it's all been said one way or the other and there is a range of opinions. I have only seen the home matches and I feel we are definately getting better. Yesterday IMO we were not as good as against Birmingham but that is perhaps partly due to the way the opposition play (by-passing midfield). However I felt we were easily the better team and if we had got a break in the area and won 1-0 nobody would have said it was lucky and the mood of this thread would be completely different. I'm still hoping (not expecting) for the play offs and feel we just need a win and we will kick-on. I am remaining optimistic but I would like (very much) to see a win soon (please).

A few seem to think this is no big deal as it was only a throw-in. I'm afraid I don't agree, in my mind there's no grey area here - he was cheating. I guess you'll say it was only the bookies but that's not the point, what about the other punters who also had a bet on the first throw-in not realising the players were fixing it? From another angle what if the ref had been the one fixing it and deliberately gave the first throw-in to the other side - I'm sure he would be hung, drawn and quartered. I'm not suggesting MLT should be locked up for this but it's ceratainly nothing to be proud of and I thnk he is daft to be admitting it, if any action is taken against him then he will not get my sympathy.

What a roller coaster ride it is. At 5pm yesterday I was deflated as I was sure we were going to sign someone. Within a few hours I had convinced myself it didn't matter as the team are playing well and I trust AP. Now this news - I have no idea if he's any good but right now I don't care, ignorance is bliss and I will assume he is awesome at least until I see him play. I must also admit to feeling slightly pleased that all the "we haven't signed anyone, we're going to be relagated" brigade will have to shut up for 10 minutes - I imagine it will only take that long before they find something else to moan about.

The original post makes good sense but why do so many already seem to be settling for mid table survival. The season is still young, our team are getting better every week and I for one am wearing "rose tinted glasses" and still looking at the play offs. Unless you support one of the "big four" then surely you have to dream a little?

Lordswood, please tell me you were not at the match last Tuesday. Perhaps you went today and saw something different to the radio commentators and the other posters on here who were there and from what I have read are saying we played well. How can you say "we aren't good enough". Every match we are looking better (IMO) as Pardew gets to know his players and the team get to know each other. I am confident that we are "good enough" and will get a lot better over the next few months, hopefully soon enough to make a push for the playoffs. Your world sounds pretty depressing, in mine I am looking forward to the season with an optimism that I have not had for some time.

Whilst the result today was obviously disappointing I don't agree that we "show no sign of improvement". I've only seen the home games but last Tuesday was a massive step forward and judging by the commentary and feedback from those who went to the match we also played well today. At the moment I reckon performance overcomes result, we just need a couple of wins to get some self belief and then we will be up and running. Personally I think we are beginning to turn the corner and I am still hoping for playoffs as I reckons with have a 5 or 6 game winnig streak before Xmas.

Why has nobody mentioned Jermaine Beckford from Leeds, especially if Saga also leaves - wouldn't that be a statement of intent. I know he would cost a LOT but we are rich now it's not as if we would have to pay him premiership wages but just a good (perhaps very good) 1st Div wage. I don't think it will happen but as this is a wish list then he's my wish.

You're entitled to your opinion but I cannot let it pass without comment. James is not the best right back especially by comparison to Murty but he is a central midfileder by choice who is doing a job for our team, whilst I suspect his future is not as right back IMO he deserves much better than your comments. I thought last night he had a great game in central midfield and I would like to see him get a few more runouts there to see how it goes, on current form I think he is a better option than Schneiderlin.

Surely that's an upside down 9, or at least an 8 and a half. I thought he was first class whilst in midfield. Always available, good tackling (he won the ball leading up to Llalana's goal) and good distribution.