derry

I don't care what he wants but Sulemana coming inside against a massed defence is no faster than any other player running with the ball and is either crowded out or forced across the front of the defence. I once proved to a retired Olympic sprinter that was a good footballer and probably a lot quicker than Sulemana, that he was no quicker runnning with the ball and the only times he could use his pace was to run a defender onto a through pass or knock the ball into space and outpace the defender as Sulemana does when he has the room. Both our regular fullbacks are our biggest defensive weakness because of the space behind them. We don't create enough clear chances, score enough goals and concede far too many. All down to the way we play.

What really pisses me off is full backs and midfielders running into the wide space in front of Sulemana probably the quickest player in the league by a margin forcing him inside. If Martin knew anything about lightning quick players he'd know the space they need is wide between the halfway line and the corner flag so don't try overlaps or going wide leave it free instead make runs into the box. Our full backs should concentrate on disciplined defence. We'd soon see the benefit.

For a start places mean nothing in these circumstances. Only four points cover 3rd to 13th. Two draws could tumble us well down the league. True they count but we've scraped about seven points from injury time Hail Mary goals. So all the meaningless 72% possession statistics haven't produced much at all apart from conceding the highest goals against in the league. I'm calling for more discipline in defence, less off the cuff passing just totting up possession percentages especially in our own half. I think we are far below the level this team could play at it's best and playing the way we are, are probably never going to be. Furthermore we are falling further behind the top two each week with current results.

I see Adams as a waste of space. Ross Stewart is the next striker up alongside Armstrong or in front of.. Until then Mara. We need to offload Adams and Mara in due course and bring in a couple of strikers plus a proper centre back and a proper left back. Manning is a liability as he doesn't know how to defend. 72% possession and no penetration tells it's own story together with the keeper up for a corner in the 95th minute. Hail Mary football, how many times this season.

We've just conceded so international centre back Bednarek is strolling forward as Preston retreat gets close to the halfway line mind is a blank so rolls the ball thirty yards out towards Edozie who is marked by Potts who intercepts the ball and goes on the burst lays it off and keeps going allegedly tracked by the Dozy Edozie gets the ball back and keeps going and scores. Potts was the obvious danger so time for Edozie instead of trying to catch him to take him down and accept the yellow card. Bednarek is poor with the ball doing what the idiot manager wants and yet again conceding unnecessarily through giving the ball away or losing it. 72% possession but we had the worst of the game until the flukey equaliser. Smallbone is just a ball recycler whose main job appears to be one touch passing. Holgate gives me the willies when he is in possession because he is careless. We can't continue to concede so many stupid goals. We are undisciplined and our defensive structure is like a sieve. We need to take a more disciplined structure where the defenders defend. The midfield of ball recyclers is a problem, for me it's Downes or Smallbone plus Alcaraz and S.Armstrong. Two wingers and two strikers. Adams has been hopeless. Last night Smallbone has the ball A.Armstrong makes a good run to the near post and the keeper saves. Where was Adams? in his usual static spot, on his heels just inside the penalty area. His job is in the goal area not lazily not bothering to make a proactive run. Mostly he is so inneffectve and isn't playing like a striker but looking like he is making challenging runs but is so late he never gets anywhere ever. 72% what's the point.

I think you've nailed it. I've been thinking that his goals before the window closed were indicative and predicted a goal drought after it closed. Against Rotherham he was totally innocuous. He certainly didn't do anything to show he deserved a game.

Surprised Graham Baker hasn't been named. I gave Martin Chivers a hard time against Tauntons and nearly had a punch up with Bernie Thomason over it. Some years later I went into Greentrees in London Road for a burger Martin was sitting near the window and recognised me straight away. We sat and chatted for quite a while. No hard feelings but he paid me complement of saying he'd never forget the going over. Brian Weaver was a cracking batsman and played for a number of Southampton clubs.

Warsash ???

The really shocking thing is changing a winning team. Adams is a myth. Ok he hit the post for the first goal but he is a poor striker. Alcaraz should have started. Edozie shows a lack of intelligence. Aribo is ponderous and the substitutions made us worse. Goals win matches not five hundred passes. Some of the players including Smallbone, Downes especially seem to think that passes are the be all and end all. Two easy points dropped.

During wartime Coastal Command put out flares but I think that might have been take offs.

It's well off the centre line or instrument approach to R/W 02. I've made hundreds of approaches and its mostly up the Itchen to Bitterne Manor then over the hill at Townhill and virtually over the White Swan at Mansbridge. I came back from Amsterdam one winter night in the late seventies, it had fogged in but the visibility was enough to do a radar approach. I saw the lights and landed. All the ground crew were in the White Swan when I went overhead. They hadn't expected me to get in and had to race back to the airfield.

It is very dangerous due to difficulty in judging height over water. I've never heard of underwater lights or night flying boat operations. I've flown with ex RAF and Aquila Airways Captains and it was never mentioned. I was under the impression the takeoffs and landings were done in daylight. There was even a recommendation I saw somewhere that in an emergency it was better to try a landing on an airfield.

It took Martin far too long to stop our self destructing short passing in our own half under pressure. Manning was hopeless and got us into trouble trying to pull the ball down and play short. He is so one footed he nearly always turns right and plays the ball across our danger area instead of down the line. Once we had three centre backs on, Bazunu went long into the right corner the game was virtually over as we pinned the ball in that corner time after time.There's a lesson to be taken on board here. One good thing except for a few occasions we defended with numbers.

Just a bit of information. Southampton Airport doesn't have much in the way of light aircraft traffic so virtually 100% of pilots operating are professionals. Secondly it is one of the most rigidly controlled airports in the country. It's approach control is still I believe carried out by NATS. Nearly all aircraft landing from the South route overhead at 6 to 8 thousand feet and descend turning in just north of the South coast under strict radar control descending to about 1500 to 2000ft over Hythe descending either on an instrument approach or visual on a three and a half degree glideslope on indicator lights beside the touchdown point on the runway. The only real obstacle is the hill and trees at Bitterne Park/Townhill Park. Either way the pilots don't even look at the bridge as they are focused on the instruments or runway lights therefore the colour of the lights are irrelevant.

Unchanged team.

I've got over 18000 hours as a pilot including thirteen years flying into southampton and it wouldn't be a problem for pilots.

Well that was new, defenders defending, quick breaks, longer passes and less possession. The only times we had problems when we tried to play it around in our own half.

So much for pressing and intensity. No Holding midfielder and two mincers in midfield.

What we have is an obsessive that can't see that it's his obsession is the flaw together with his ex Swansea favourites aided and abetted by Smallbone's unambitious just unload mentality.

I've just read the managers synopsis. A bigger load of deluded bullshit it would be impossible to find. His reason for bringing on Manning :- He would give us greater balance. Manning caused us more problems with his turning right onto his left foot and playing the ball back into the danger area in front of the centre backs almost every time. He brought on Sulemana and let the full back overlap. We have the fastest player in the Championship so we put in two ball recyclers who play a monotonous 360 degree don't care except to unload the ball then repeat. All we do is compact the opposing defence and close down any space. He won't play Alcaraz because he doesn't understand his bullshit or more probably sees it for what it is. He is one of the few players we have who can play a fast player in. Martin because of his obsession with possession at all costs has destroyed any chance of automatic promotion. More importantly until all the bullshit and it's exponents are dispensed with and we get back to a simple play the best players in a way that gets the best out of them. We are getting far less than the sum of the parts through this stupidity.

Neither is Adams and Armstrong needs a partner.

So play him up front.

That was a clusterfuck by the manager, yet again the passing around at the back cost us. Want to cure it, put a boot through any ball in our last third. It probably wasn't that Holgate was caught just before Middlesborough equalised it was that he wasn't passing back into the centre backs. He brought Manning on FFS. Every time he got the ball he turned inside and backwards and short passed back into our penalty area inviting pressure on the ball. That demonstrated his stupidity. The substitutions were bizarre and Manning and Aribo just made things worse.. Aribo doing nothing again FFS. We play off the cuff as there is no disciplined shape. Charles needs to play a rigid defensive midfield and not roam, Smallbone and Downes need to be ditched along with the tippy tappy because that's really all they do. S.Armstrong and Alcaraz replace them. Until Stewart is fit It's a lottery up front. Sulemana Armstrong Edozie possibly. Adams is on one of his all too regular barren runs. The back four that started looked better then the second half with Manning at left back.

Just had a thought, is he going three at the back? That doesn't look as good to me.

I hope this signals a more solid defence oriented team. Until we become hard to beat we can't expect to move up the table. I'm not sure about KWP at left back however I think the back four looks more solid especially if Charles slots in as the holding midfielder with Smallbone and Downes feeding the forwards and supporting. Manning has been a negative for me due to his continuous turning back and lack of defensive solidity. We'll shortly find out.