CHAPEL END CHARLIE

I see lots of opinions confidently expressed, but the simple truth is that if we're still bottom of the table and pointless at the end of this month then it's anyones guess how the Don will react to that. I make no claims to be able to read his mind but he doesn't strike me as a particularly patient man. Only time will tell I suppose. I'll trot out the oldest football cliche of them all and state that there are no easy games in this division anymore - and that's perfectly true - but the fixture list we have been dealt has done us no favours at all. Rightly or wrongly a manager, and his teams fate may well turn of the mysterious workings of a computer programme that 'passeth all understanding' as they sometimes say ....

I hope they fix the bloody roof while they're about it - 'twas leaking badly the other day.

The hard truth is that whatever the ownership arrangements are, the era of the European designed and produced manned fighter aircraft is coming to its end. Once Eurofighter, Gripen, and Rafale have gone the way of all flesh then there is no other equivalent aircraft programme in prospect to replace them. We can thank our lucky stars we still have a piece of the F35 JSF action I suppose. All I can see happening is a joint European programme to develop a range of unmanned UCAV types - drone aircraft in other words. Such a project would be relativly small in scale and many years away by the look of it. So are more job losses on their inevitable way in our aerospace industry ? Oh yes.

This heavyweight military history book landed (with a thump) on my doorstep the other day, and such has been my fascination with it I've hardly been able to put it down ever since. For those unfamiliar with the 'After The Battle' format, these publications juxtapose a original WWII photograph with a contemporary photo taken from exactly the same spot (hence the 'Then & Now' of the title) along with a detailed written account of the action. As the title says this book (by the French battlefield researcher Jean Paul Pallud) deals with the German armies epic retreat, or "ruckmarsch", across Northern France after its defeat in the Battle for Normandy. If you can remember the horrific images of the Iraqi Army on the Kuwait highway that came out of Operation Desert Storm then you might just have some idea of the sights to be seen here - except that the Battle for France took place on a vastly larger scale. A huge 50 ton Tiger tank tossed into a ditch as as if it were a child's discarded plaything. Columns of abandoned German armour, mixed up with dead horses and burnt-out trucks amid the chaos of the Falaise deathtrap. The bloody carnage of the Rouen docks after the RAF had paid it a visit. Trust me the sight of a mechanised army being destroyed is not something you are likely to forget in a hurry. In a book that faithfully documents the full horror of war, perhaps the worst of it is a roll of film a German war correspondent (Kreigsberichter) exposed when he came across a convoy of Field Ambulances that had just been strafed near the village of Les Douets. In this battle even the seriously wounded found no pity as their (clearly marked) ambulances were destroyed from the air - you have to wonder whether the pilots saw the Red Cross markings or not, and would it have made any difference if they had ? A beautiful book that deals with what is just about the most ugly subject imaginable.

I saw a TV programme the other night which told the remarkable story of how one New York Port Authority office worker had 'surfed' down the stairwell of one of the collapsing towers and survived with minimal injuries. They had a Pathologist on who had examined hundreds of dead bodies from this atrocity - people who had been reduced to a mere scraps of flesh and bone in many cases - and he (as good as) said this story must be some sort of lie. Well the programme found the man in question, and the Firemen who had rescued him. We can't be entirely sure I suppose but I believed him. When you read accounts of people who survive disasters you very often see that they have excellent survival instincts - in this case however for all the world it appeared to be nothing more than one ordinary mans dumb luck.

I can wholeheartedly recommend Vittorio De Sica's 1948 masterpiece 'Bicycle Thieves' - which meets all but 3 of your criteria.

Any top ten funniest film list that doesn't have Blazing Saddles and/or Young Frankenstein on it in somewhere near the top is just plain wrong Hedley Lamarr: Plan Number 6? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that one. Taggart: Well, that's where we go a-ridin' into town, a-whompin' and a-whumpin' every livin' thing that moves within an inch of its life. Except the women folks of course. Hedley Lamarr: You spare the women? Taggart: Naw, we rape the **** out of them at the Number Six Dance later on.

In all honesty I find the OP's information entirely believable. What is more I suspect (but don't know for sure) that the managers input re this summers transfer targets was of distinctly secondary importance. It is fit and proper that the Chairman runs the club of course, but if/when they start to think that they should be running the team as well that's a pretty sure sign of trouble ahead is it not?

While I think this forum has had more than enough Guly do Prado threads of late, as you've brought him up I'll have to exercise my right of reply. You are being misleading when you opine that the widespread criticism Guly has certainly received is based on our fanbase holding the view that he is not putting in a sufficient physical effort during games. Some may think that (a small minority methinks) but in the main I'd say he gets "derided" (as you put it) not because he doesn't 'run about enough', but because a great many fans (rightly or wrongly) don't happen to think he is a very good footballer - at least at this level. You also raise Steve de Ridder - who would appear to be a extremely fit player. It should be abundantly clear to anyone who has been paying attention that the vast majority of fans on this forum (and at St Marys as far as I can tell) have already concluded that he too is not good enough for the Premier League - indeed this view has become as close to becoming a consensus as you'll ever see on here. It the light of this why you believe the SDR example supports your argument, rather than mine, is something of a mystery to this fan. So in conclusion I'm struggling to see a shred of evidence to support your view that Saints fans are a uniquely ignorant lot who place too high a value on fitness over technical ability. For what its worth, having met fans from all sorts of different clubs over the years, it seems to me that our fanbase is as knowledgeable as most are about the game.

The notion that Saints fans are inordinately impressed with perspiration, rather than inspiration, seems to this observer to be without significant foundation in fact. For the life of me I can't remember all that much rioting in Britannia Road when the news broke than Paul Wotton was getting the boot, neither can I recall the last time anyone on here called for Simon Gillette's return, or for the immediate cancellation of Jonathon Forte's loan. It seems to me that in order to express their talent to its full potential any footballer in the modern game must first achieve a level of fitness that rivals that of an Olympic athlete. Take another of our most recent academy products for instance - Gareth Bale. This lad has all the natural talent you could ask for in any young player, he also has the kind of body - honed to a superb level of fitness - that allows him to reach his full potential. You cannot have one without the other. It is not actually a bad thing for a footballer to be fit/strong/quick - it's not be enough just to be fit or quick of course - but you're going nowhere in this game without that physical foundation to work on. The era when players could get away with smoking and bad diets etc is long gone now ... although some on here don't appear to have noticed.

This is a thread about Morgan Schneiderlin and fitness you loon. Any view that MS is all effort and no talent is utterly pointless because such a opinion never comes within spitting distance of the truth.

No, as my post (and this entire thread) is devoted to Morgan Schneiderlin your post 13 clearly implies that you believe MS to be long on "running about" - your exact words - and by implication short on talent one can only presume.

The only reasonable conclusion to draw from your post (13) is that you consider MS is to be among the 'Headless Chicken' type of footballer. Now if that view is not what you meant to imply then you should take more care in your posting.

If that were all Morgan did then you might have a point. But as he does a hell of a lot more than that, you really don't.

It never ceases to surprise me, just how surprise some of our fans are, when it suddenly dawns on them than Morgan Schneiderlin is a proper player. Has this not been bleeding' obvious for years now ?

Without the merest hint of hyperbole I sit next to a fellow ST holder for whom the mere act of watching the Saints play is akin to a form of torture. Every game - whether we are winning or not - he will constantly rage at the players every time we lose possession, but slate them when they pass it sideways. Neither our attacking, or especially our defending, is ever good enough. Every pass must reach the intended target and every shot hit the back of the net or he will start to fall into a rage. How we achieved two successive promotions is a utter mystery to him. The only why I can see him ever being happy is if our play does start to resemble Barcelona on a good day. In short he is probably the most dissatisfied and ear achingly negative bloke you could ever meet. Despite all that however it I'll never move my seat because I've come to understand that he can't help being that way and he does genuinely care about this wonderful old football club more than the hordes of Johnney-come-lately fans that fill St Marys every time MUFC visit ever will. The next time you hear someone shouting something stupid at a football match (presuming it's not me) I say chill out and cut them some slack, because however ignorant/wrong/out of touch they may be regarding the finer points of the modern game, they probably do still love this club just as much as you do - in their own way.

My take ? Guly do Prado being on the field (for the very limited time he was on) made virtually no difference whatsoever to yesterdays result or team performance. It should go without saying that is itself a criticism of sorts.

I'm pleased to see that the OP left St Marys yesterday in high spirits - judging from the look on many other of our fans faces I'm sure he's not the only one to share in that reaction. I on the other hand left the Chapel feeling like I'd just been kicked in the balls by Roberto Carlos A great game of football for sure, and a privilege to watch so many good/great footballers (from both teams) perform so very well. But I'm constitutionally incapable of experiencing any real enjoyment after a match when I've just watched my team get beat. That my not be the 'Southampton Way' - whatever that is - but it is my way I'm sorry to say.

Without wishing to start a fight my friend the above is just not how I see things at all ! Unlike physically well developed young players such as Bale (or Rooney to take a extreme example) JWP still has the build of a typical 17 year old lad. If playing on the wing that might not matter all that much, but the centre of midfield does require brute strength as well as ability does it not ? As for the likelihood of this lad running out of steam, well from what I've seen thus far he has a tremendous engine on him. Late in the second half when Lambert found himself free in the box looking to cross it for to a team mate, JWP was steaming down the park at a rate of knots that might well have got him alongside Jenson Button on pole at Spa ! I really wouldn't worry about that aspect of his game. Again I'm afraid I just can't agree that Jack Cork is in all that much danger of losing his place either - for now anyway. Cork is a smashing player who (in my judgment) comes straight back into the starting 11 when he's fit again. JC is well of ahead of JWP in terms of both physical development, technical ability (to a degree) and experience. JWP looks set to become a very good footballer before very long, and every Saints fan should rejoice in that, but good things only come to those who wait sometimes.

At this level one mistake - one single mistake - and you're a goal down. Were it my call I would have started with Chaplow yesterday in centre midfield, not because I consider him the more talented of the two, but because of his vastly greater experience. Several times yesterday we all saw JWP pushed off the ball and caught in possession simply because (like any teenager) he's still learning to cope with the strength and pace of the Premier League. This lad should be nurtured and fed into the game at a measured rate - IMO that's not what happened yesterday.

He has better than average chance of becoming a proper player one day I'd say. Now whether throwing a slightly built 17 year old into a game like yesterdays was is a good idea is another question ......

Well the Swiss are notoriously secretive when it comes to their money, but I believe that no one could possibly have bought this club from the Liebherr's without it becoming public knowledge because: A - Buying something as expensive as a Premier League football club in complete secrecy is well nigh impossible in this country. B - Any new owner would surely have to pass the Premier League's 'Fit & Proper Person' test first - with all the resultant publicity.

I see some short memory's on here and plenty of fans thinking with their hearts rather than their heads. Alan Pardrew's fate proves clearly enough that you should 'never say never' when it comes to Don Cortese and the unexpected demise of a manager. Remember a week or so ago when NA categorically denied that we were at all interested in Maya Yoshida, only for the very same player to sign a few days later? More than a tad embarrassing for any manager to be so publicly exposed as being entirely 'out of the loop' wouldn't you say? Don Cortese is running this club and if he wants to sack the manager he'll do so in a 'New York Minute' regardless of what fans think. Tabloid Press speculation aside, I see no real reason to believe that Harry Redknapp is on his (unwelcome) way back here. I also see no real reason to believe that Nigel Adkins should sleep at all easily in his bed if this club doesn't start climbing the table - pretty damn quick.

It's never going to be very good I'm afraid, or even as easily usable as its predecessor, but I've found it does work a bit better on the Firefox web browser - as opposed to crappy old Internet Explorer for example. Just my personal experience - Microsoft fans need not take offence !

Somewhat surprised to see him go to be honest because a finisher of his ability could (very likely) still 'do a job for us' in the event of a injury crisis. I suspect however that Billy may not have felt entirely at home down here for some reason. Whatever, a good player and I'm perfectly sure he'll play in big part in getting Forrest back where they feel they belong.