CHAPEL END CHARLIE

Good news everybody ! I been devouring old episodes of The Sweeney recently on freeview and I see that (praise be!) Jack Regan's 1974 'Consul GT' - otherwise known as a Mk 1 Granada - has been saved from the ravages of the dreaded tin worm and will soon emerge from its protracted rebuild. I dearly wanted one of these back in the day but somehow always ended up with a succession of decidedly inferior Cortina's. Let this be a lesson to you all - buy the car you really want rather than the more modest motor than prudence might dictate - if you don't you could regret it for the rest of your life. http://www.thetvlounge.co.uk/sweeney/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=554

Both Butterfield & Richardson have had a decent opportunity to show the manager what they can do, it would seem Butterfield has impressed NA rather more than (what had been) his higher rated colleague. For what it's worth I tend to agree with the Adkins - Butterfield gets the nod.

We're in a OK position and with a bit of luck we might even sneak into 2nd place before the end of the season, but if anyone on here wants to claim we're a great team that is setting this division alight with its ruthless brand of dominant football then I'd be forced to take issue with them. In my view we just don't consistently play that well in all honesty and risking the wrath of the many who believe that performances don't matter as long as the results keep coming in then I'd also say that the quality of performance does actually matter because if you keep underperforming then sooner or later you are bound to drop more crucial points. It's as plain as the nose on your face that despite having some pretty good footballers at our disposal we're not a match for Brighton (even Bmth seem to be better value for money than us) - now why that should be is a question that's far easier to ask than to answer.

He looks like a rather average lower league player based only on the scanty evidence of today's performance. Experience shows however that it often takes time for new players to settle in and perform to their true potential so we should reserve judgment for now. As for a small minority of fans ironically cheering his substitution, I neither agree or join in with this but 'You pays your money and you takes your choice' as they say. None of this of course has anything to do with Michail Antonio.

The heart of the matter is that our owner has sadly passed away and despite 'Don' Cortese's claims to the contrary the real determination of the Liebherr family to continue with their late fathers (vastly expensive) vision remains open to speculation at the very least. I have not the faintest idea whether there is any truth in this latest piece of press speculation, but those on here who want to dismiss it out of hand might do well to consider when was the last time we saw any member of the Liebherr family at St Marys ? Should the right offer come in I'm quite sure that SFC would indeed be sold - just like virtually every other football club in the country.

Well perhaps you could enlighten the forum as to whom these people are who are demanding we sign loads of mediocre 'squad' players ? Reading this thread again it seems to me that no one (no one at all) has actually called for that.

Excellent news, go away then.

The above post is a great big steaming pile of ....... pure common sense. Unfortunately some will still profess to disagree with you not because in their heart of hearts they really think you're wrong, but rather on the basis of having (very) publicly nailed their colours to the 'we don't need any more signings' mast they now are desperately keen to avoid being caught out on the wrong side of the argument. Some on here (no names, no pack drill) have found themselves in that uncomfortable position on so many occasions now that one can quite understand their apparent eagerness to see their luck change ....

I too had expressed some doubts pre season regarding the squad, but much of my fears have receded now than Chaplow has joined and players such as AOC & Guly have done so well. Nevertheless I'd still like to make two points on this question: 1 - With the exception of Frazer Richardson's shoulder (well covered for by Butterfield) we have suffered no medium/long term injuries so far this season to any player who could reasonably be described as a regular 1st team selection - this unusual run of good fortune has been instamental in our rise up the table. This happy state of affairs is unlikley to continue. 2 - Our Chairman has publicly stated that the target this season is automatic promotion, but the record shows that for much of this season we have actually been outside of the top 6 places. With that in mind I say if we want to maximise our chances of avoiding the utter lottery of finishing in a play-off place then adding a pacy winger (such as Michail Antonio) and a better centre back to play alongside Fonte wouldn't do any harm to this squad - no harm at all.

Whatever the truth of the latest press speculation it's as plain as the nose on your face that AOC will be playing at a higher level than this before very long. For my money he was easily our best player yesterday, the proof of this being opposing teams are starting to single him out and pay him the compliment of giving him what they used to call 'special attention' in the bad old days - he'll have to get used to that. We'll do very well to keep him.

Jason Puncheon put in what was for him a perfectly typical performance yesterday - occasional flashes of genuine talent nullified by a utter lack of composure at the critical moment - as evidence by his squandering of our best scoring opportunity against Notts County on 19 minutes. I know there are a few on here who still rate him as some kind of special player, it seems to me those who have come to hold a less generous view may well posses a more secure grip on what is the actual worth of this player to this team. Frankly I'll be glad to see the back of him.

I don't know if 'sorry' is the right word but I'm very conscious of the crucial difference our new found wealth makes and by comparison just how impoverished our typical L1 opponents are - we were in much the same position not so very long ago after all. Life (and football) has never been fair I know, but a tad more humility from SFC supporters towards less fortunate clubs might just make us a little less disliked in the world of lower league football than we now are.

Speaking on behalf of the entire stand (!) I would say the idea of forcibly 'ethnicaly cleansing' we inferior types out of the Chapel so that proper Superfans can move in en masse probably won't go down to well. As for the all too predictable sterotyping (we're not all exactly the same you know & I promise you disabled supporters do sing !) that has inevitably raised its ugly head yet again on this forum, I can only recommend those reponsible change the habits of a lifetime and try to engage their brain before posting for once. Presuming they have one in the first place that is ......

This chap ? As a rule I favour two eyed strikers, and to be brutaly frank he does have a questonable attitude towards those in authorty.

Great game and we're right in the grove now - for those who were not there we really were toying with Exeter like some lower league Man Utd for much of the 2nd half. Alas being the Saints we'll probably mess up again before very long. The best part for me was that my regular 'neighbour' in the Chapel had a £92 bet riding on us winning 3-0. It was hilarious seeing a life long Saints fans despairingly praying we didn't score a 4th goal and for a long time it seemed his luck was in after we missed chance after chance after chance - as you can imagine my joy at seeing Lee Barnard's extra time shot go in was unconstrained ! Schadenfreude is a terrible thing you know.....

I first saw this obscure old black & white film 20 years ago on late night TV, suffice it to say it made a lasting impression on me & after years of diligent searching I've finally been able to track down a copy on DVD. Praise be to Amazon ! The film opens with a fairly normal tale of 6 teenage boys growing up in a small provincial town - but the twist is it's Nazi Germany in April 1945 and these 16 year old's 'rites of passage' must take place amid the chaos & bloodshed of WWII's final days. To the distress (or indifference) of their family's the boys call-up papers arrive just two days before their home town is thrust into the front line, so off they march with varying degrees of enthusiasm to the local army base their heads full of naive dreams of adventure, glory and duty - lambs to the slaughter you might say. With just a days basic training a kindly officer (at the behest of their school teacher) takes the trouble to try a save these children from the horrors of the frontline they are so manifestly unprepared for. Instead of marching off the rest of their battalion he arranges for a battle hardened NCO ('unteroffizier') to keep the lads in the rear area guarding an unimportant bridge of no military significance - the idea being the bridge was due to be demolished & the boys could thus be kept safe out of the real fighting. Unfortunately the best laid plans of mice & men have a habit of becoming undone in wartime, and our likable protagonists find themselves facing enemy tanks alone - with what are all too predictable consequences. 'War is Hell' of course and there are plenty of movies that will drive home that message, but despite what today could be seen as a over-familiar subject 'Die Bruckle' still makes its points forcibly, the appalling waste of young lives that is the very essence of war becomes painfully apparent. The real tragedy is that this is all based on a true story.

In my view any decent player on the receiving end of 'stick' from his own (or opposition) fans should react by redoubling his efforts to prove his critics wrong, to do otherwise displays a lack of moral fibre ill becoming a professional sportsman. I'm quite sure you and everyone else reading this will have seen proper players react positively to criticism on occasions too numerous to mention. To get back to the heart of the matter the reason a small minority of Saints fans were 'on his back' in the first place is of course because he just wasn't doing the business for this club anymore. I see no evidence that Nigel Adkins was unsupportive of this player in any way - indeed given the string of ineffectual performances he put in Puncheon might well have been dropped for Alex Chamberlain much earlier than he was. To imply that his form fell off because of some (barely perceptible) booing is a classic case of putting the cart in front of the horse - if he'd been doing his job properly he'd have been getting full support of the entire fanbase - just like any other Saints player.

"Take this quarter, go downtown and have a rat gnaw that thing off your face" - John Candy in 'Uncle Buck'

You really do have to raise an eyebrow when the chairman publicly states he has alternate investors already lined up to replace the Liebherr's should their commitment to the club waiver - in his opinion. It seems to me this comes perilously close to an employee threatening to sack his employer ! History shows that a great many successful businessmen come pre-loaded with overinflated ego's, and to be perfectly frank our chairman is obviously no exception to that rule. No one will care of course if his deeds match his words and he can deliver the success this old club (& its long suffering fanbase) so desperately desires.

I have what you might call a low taste in obvious classical music, but this old (very old) piece has the power to move me more than I can adequately express. Take the trouble to listen and understand it and its quite heartbreaking.

This. I can tolerate quite a lot in a footballer - mistakes, poor form, even a inherent lack of ability on occasion, just as long as they give their all for the cause. But want I can't abide is seeing one of our players run around for 70 minutes doing the very least he can possibly get away with. It seems abundantly clear to me that the real reason Ricky Lambert has become as poor a striker as he manifestly is this season is because he just doesn't want to play for this club anymore. I find this unacceptable. In all honesty I'd rather see Connolly or some kid from the reserves turn out for us - at least they might actually give a damn.

When you think about it speculation that the club will eventually be put up for sale is entirely plausible, indeed I'd be mildly surprised if ownership of the club hadn't passed into somebody else's hands within the next few years. This club is obviously going to require a substantial and ongoing level of investment if ML's dream of returning it to its former glories is to be relised, if our current owner (ML's daughter presumably) heart really isn't in it (and why should it be?) then she better start looking for a good buyer and let them get on with it. I'm quite confident there would be a number of interested parties.

Some fans tend not to warm to players who take their man on - beat him - and then blast their shot 20 yards over the top of the crossbar.

What you say has the ring of truth about it, but rest assured there are still a few of the 'Awkward Squad' left who are prepared to rock the boat every now and then if need be. I say if we had a few more contributors who dared to question the 'powers that be' rather than what you so succinctly call 'cheerleaders' (a certain regular poster comes to mind) who think that endlessly parroting the company line is a worthwhile activity, then this site would be a more interesting place.

It is written in the stars that 'arry' will bring the Spuds down to St Marys.