hypochondriac

Mediocrity is defined in the dictionary as average or ordinary. In relation to my expectations following the JPT final, I think we are doing averagely well in terms of performance at least (and this is taking the entire season into account, not just the Adkins bit.) Anyway it is a side-issue, I do really miss Waigo. Do we hold the record for the most supporters of one team at Wembley?

I guess we will find out soon.

Well maybe if you had then you wouldn't be laughing at the term mediocre. It makes perfect sense.

Indeed but I wasn't saying that. You could also argue that if we had got Gus Poyet that we could have been where Brighton are.

I stayed in London for the weekend. Great place to spend an evening but bloody expensive. The last bar we went in was downstairs and jewish and was the last one open. Spoke to a load of Carlisle fans and they were good lads. It was a cracking but expensive weekend even though I was ridiculously hungover for wembley.

Again, did you read my post which included a definition of mediocrity and my explanation which included why we fitted that definition?

I wasn't arguing that. Whatever the cause (and there are people on both sides of the argument on that one as you well know) our performance for the season as a whole has been mediocre.

I liked him, I liked his attitude and I actually thought he was a really good and charismatic player. I think we have missed him this year and he would have been a fantastic option to bring on in place of Chamberlin. Has the ability to change a game which we don't really have off the bench this year.

Well that is dependent upon your definition of mediocrity. In the dictionary it is defined as average or ordinary. In my opinion, the expectations I had for saints following wembley were realistic. Our position and our performances as a whole have actually been below what I expected and so mediocre sums it up well I think.

Now I don't agree with that. I think this year, second seems mediocre, but I don't think if we are promoted that you can say with certainty that 'we will have mediocrity.' There are so many factors that we don't know about next season, chief among them is the size of the transfer budget, so it is much to early to assess how well we will do in the NPC should we get promoted.

I imagine he is referring to his opinion that we have failed to kick on from last year. Whilst my feelings are not as strong as saint lard's, I think if most people were honest, they thought we were going to **** the league this year and totally dominate teams in the aftermath of the excellent wembley display. I miss waigo

Personally I would like us to go for as higher quality player as we can get. It was a tactic we used well when we got in Chaplow who helped to push the other two for a starting place and overall the standard of midfield improved. There was no talk then of people sitting on the bench, simply that Schneiderlin and hammond had to up their game or risk losing their place.

No disgrace losing to a team in cracking form like MK Dons.

I agree.I actually think he is better and more consistent but I can understand if people think otherwise.

Try and understand what I am saying. I am extremely pleased with recent results. I wasn't too bothered about the Charlton result because I expected it. I do not expect champagne football, but regardless of results, with the squad we have and the resources at our disposal, I expected a better level of performance this year than we have had, regardless of whether we are in the driving seat for second or not. I don't see how last season is in any way relevant to this discussion.

You can't just pick a set of results which suits your argument. What has messed us up for top spot is dropped points, both at the start of the season and at places like Walsall away. To my knowledge, Brighton haven't lost to a team near the bottom except for Hartlepool who have a really good home record. They just have not had a few really disappointing results and performances against teams near the bottom with crap home records and that is why they will be champions.

Seemingly not as it seems to me to be even between Fonte and Lallana.

Who have an excellent home record and at the time were one of the form teams in the league. They weren't a team right down the bottom or on a horrendous run of form.

Maybe but that was not what I was talking about. I don't expect champagne football and I accept that we will have bad games, but I do expect in general a level of performance which is better than what we have seen this season (considering the players we have in relation to everyone else.)

It is not just results, but the manner of our performances which lead many to this conclusion.

Good player but Fonte has been the key reason why we have the second best defence in the division. We have done well attacking but the responsibility for that is shared around more players in that area of the pitch.

Fonte for me most definitely.

I'm not sure what some England fans expect. A 2-0 win away from home will do me nicely and sod the performance. Do that every time and we will win things. Having said that, the world cup was extremely disappointing both in terms of performance and results. We need to stop using efficient and unspectacular performances as an indicator for how we will perform against the better teams. It is a totally different mentality and those type of games will be extremely different. In qualifying, all you should care about is the result. England's main problem in the last twenty years has been that we are incapable of performing to our potential in a knockout tournament when it counts. It's a purely mental thing and people can bang on about our tactics all they like, but even taking that into account, we should have done better than we have in major tournaments. Now I would hope that Capello keeps faith with the team who performed today and recognises (as France has) that young hungry players need to be given an extended run in the team, regardless of performances, and the value that players who come in to do a specific job like Scott Parker can bring. When we try to accommodate all of the so called stars is when we fail. I would sooner have hungry and in form championship players than using that tactic, and I bet they would do better than that tactic as well! Recipe for future England success: Gerrard out Barry out Ferdinand out (we need consistency at the back ad the chance to build a partnership, too injury prone to offer that) Lampard used more sparingliy and only if he fits into the system. Rooney used where he is asked to by the team and the team not sacrificed to fit him in (possibly the most encouraging thing about today.) Wilshire Make him captain sooner rather than later. Failing that, build the team around him, but don't sacrifice the team to accommodate him as we did with Rooney. Parker play him or someone similar so that as a team we are stronger. Blood capable and hungry youngsters whenever we can and look to replace England 'regulars' if youngsters grab their chances and shine. Make it clear that players WILL be dropped should they not perform (I'm looking at you Wayne 'I am never dropped and it is assumed I am the first name on the team sheet even if I am in poor form both for club and country' Rooney.)

Regardless, it was a decent performance from us and a deserved win which is all you can ask for.

I do hate how people criticise England by saying it means nothing because we are playing a cr*p team. It's a tricky away game and it looks like we are going to win comfortably with a good performance. Well done us.