stevegrant

Not entirely down to Lovren and Wanyama, it's been a team effort, but they certainly had an effect. The problem with the high pressing game that we've been employing where possible this season is that it's physically demanding (even more so than most other teams) - as a result, I think we've seen a natural drop-off in the intensity of that gameplan as the season has progressed, and "lesser" teams have started employing more defensive methods against us to combat the fact that we like to have people running in behind the opposition - if they sit deep with 9 or 10 behind the ball, we don't move the ball or players quickly enough at the moment to be able to break them down. I think a lot of that is due to fatigue, and we still have a relatively small first-team squad so we find it difficult to rotate. For example, Jay Rodriguez has played in every single game this season, and he in particular has looked jaded in the last few games, but we don't have another player who offers the same type of attributes as he does, and he's important to the way we play, so he's played every game as a result. Osvaldo was brought in as a succession plan for Lambert, but that obviously hasn't worked out, so Lambert's had to play more games than we probably would have anticipated in the summer. We haven't got worse at defending as the season has progressed, but we've not been so relentless on our opponents (because we've been physically unable to do so) as the season has progressed which means our defence has come under more pressure in recent months. It obviously doesn't help when the opposition seem to have a remarkably high shot-on-target conversion rate (I don't have stats to back that up, by the way, just a gut feeling based on yesterday and the Stoke game).

We dropped a horrendous number of points from winning positions last season, 6 points in our first three games (against the two Manchester clubs) and 29 in total In terms of an arbitrary "points dropped from a winning position per games played" score, last season we dropped 0.76 points per game from winning positions, compared to this season where we've dropped 0.55 points per game. Interesting figures: we led at some stage during 21 of our 38 games last season (55%), a surprisingly high number considering we were in the bottom 6 for most of the season, while we've led at some stage in 16 of our 27 games this season (59%). A surprisingly small improvement there considering how our overall performances and results have improved, although I guess our durability and ability to actually hold onto the leads we get is the main reason.

Any more?

Factless is clearly forgetting Tell Rupert.

Might?

The role David Luker had as "Head of Supporter Services" basically combined the role of managing the ticketing and liaising with supporters on both an individual and group basis, and it worked pretty well. No reason why they couldn't do the same again - can't say I'm convinced there's enough work there for a standalone role, although £30k isn't to be sniffed at for something like that.

I'd only deem doing that job worthwhile if there was a six-figure salary attached to it - a thankless task if ever there was one.

Cancel them

Odds on a horrific late penalty being awarded have been slashed...

I now know how Redknapp feels... down to the bare bones

Still looking for a few more players, particularly a keeper!

I went to their game against Liverpool on Wednesday and for long periods they were the better team. Getting a point at Old Trafford followed by nearly doing the same against the most in-form team in the league suggests they were starting to get it together, with an £11m striker to come into the side next week. Arguably the most impressive feat Meulensteen achieved was to coax an excellent performance out of Darren Bent. Magath is a disciplinarian type of manager, but he's no mug either. Fulham's new signings give them a strong chance of staying up regardless of who's in charge. Kvist and Holtby have been superb since they arrived, Tunnicliffe looked decent on Wednesday and Mitroglou bagged a couple for the U21s in midweek as he returns to full fitness. For all the people saying they collapse too easily, this is true, but also inevitable when you base your central midfield around Steve Sidwell (31), Scott Parker (33), Damien Duff (34) and Georgios Karagounis (36), that's hardly surprising. Holtby and Kvist will make a huge difference there, IMO.

VENUE CHANGE ALERT The game has been moved to the 3G pitch at Langdon School as it seems unlikely any grass pitches in the area will be playable in the next couple of weeks. https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=ziGKD136Erq0.kqTnXd5DCf3E The pointer on the map shows the entrance to the school for those driving, the postcode maps to another entrance that isn't as convenient. For those coming by train/tube, it's still the same station, but a slightly longer walk.

No, I think the tax has already been accounted for with all of those, as it would have been due at the time of when they were originally supposed to be paid their wages, so my understanding is that the PAYE/NI would have been swallowed up in the CVA.

Arguably our home form AND our away form is "average". We are in 9th place in both the home and the away league tables, after all... We've only lost three times at home, one to a very good Chelsea side, one to a Spurs side who came up against our weakest defensive lineup of the season and one in a freak game against Villa that 99 times out of 100 we'd have won comfortably. Our draws have been balanced, two draws against top opposition (Man City, Arsenal) and two against mediocre teams (Sunderland, West Ham). We've won the rest, as well as 3 cup ties. I'd have certainly taken that at the start of the season.

The last time we ended a top-flight season with a positive goal difference away from home was in 1983/84, when we finished second (and that was only +1)!

A lot of people on the SFC database with a recent purchase history.

I've been told that there's a car park of some description at the venue, but we won't be able to leave cars there for the afternoon. Apparently there's a Tesco nearby where they don't seem to do any parking checks on matchdays, but will get a bit more info on that nearer the time.

Worth noting there are still single tickets available dotted around all over the place, so if you phone up or go in person to the ticket office, you might still be able to get a ticket.

Liverpool sold out in about 5 hours last season, by far the quickest home game to do so... not entirely sure why that game in particular is so popular.

Nope, about 500 short of the full allocation last season. Quite surprised it's not sold out already considering when the overall cost of a day trip from Southampton is considered, it's not much more expensive than the away game at Arsenal in November. South West Trains will still be running their £10 return promotion that day, so £52 for ticket and travel isn't that bad. The £42 ticket price in isolation is expensive, clearly, but most people don't have to pay *just* the ticket price.

Noted What position(s) do you play?

It's on my (ever-increasing) list of things to look at in the summer.

They'll get some compensation but it won't be much at all. I think I saw on an earlier page here that they pinched him from a local non-league side a couple of years ago, so the amount they'd get from a tribunal will be minimal.