CHAPEL END CHARLIE

Don't get me wrong , for obvious selfish reasons I'd like him to see Adam stay and staying here a little longer wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea , but football careers are short and Lallana's no teenager anymore . 'Seize the day' as they say , I see little point in a intermediate step between here and the Premier League and considering he'll be 22 years old next summer that seems just about the right age to make the step up - at least that's what I'd advise him if I had his ear . This lads ability with a football is there for all to see , the only thing that could hold him back in my view is a (arguable) lack of strength and stamina . This player would be well advised to follow Jermaine Defoe's excellent example and spend more time in the gym working on weight training in particular - put some extra bulk and muscle on that modest frame of his and he could almost be as good as he wants to be .

Adam Lallana will be ready for the Premier League long before this football club is - a case of differing trajectories I'm afraid . Not only would it be wrong to hold him back it would be impossible even if we foolish enough to try . I expect him to leave next for the EPL next summer - for something like £5m maybe £7m .

If Kelvin Davis is (possibly) out of action for the rest of this year as reported then I'd suggest that may be the more important development from this game than the 3 points . Time for Bart to show us what he's made of . Good luck to him .

I hope I'm not alone on here in finding 'Garrow's Law' to be quite the best series the BBC has produced this year . From the superb performances of it's excellent cast (Alun Armstrong and Andrew Buchan in particular) to it's splendid script this series shows that the 'Costume Drama' can be so much more than just another dull Bronte style romance we are all so (over) familiar with . While a second series would be most welcome perhaps we should leave it as it is like 'Fawlty Towers' - short but perfectly formed . My congratulations to all concerned .

Agreed . I've no idea of his current level of ability as I've not seen him play recently but the Nigel Quashie of a few years ago is exactly the type of midfield hard man we need to back Hammond up . We lost the midfield at times on Saturday in all honesty , Morgan Schneiderlin for all his occasional flashes of talent may be a bit of a luxury we can't afford in the more hard fought games .

A harmless if slightly old fashioned mark of respect . I can't really understand why anyone should find this objectionable , Markus Liebherr and Nicola Cortese have saved this club from oblivion after all and they surely deserve all the respect we can show him . Society would benefit from more rather then less courtesy being shown - manners maketh man . The reason Rupert was seldom addressed in that manner was probably because he never respected us to be frank .

It's been many years since I've worked for any firm that will deal with Parcel Force - the last time I did the sheer number of items that would go missing in transit (otherwise known as stolen) was quite scandalous . Pay a bit more and use a proper firm such as Fed Ex or DHL ... etc .

I agree , it's not that 2 points per game is in any way impossible (or even very unusual for a in-form team) but over two points per game for 29 games is a massive 'ask' in all honesty - a bridge too far now I'd have thought . With only one game left to play in November the table shows we will certainly start the month of December still mired in the relegation zone . If you'd have told me that back in August on the first day of the season I would have been mightily cheesed-off in all honesty . Is there any Saints fan on here who is in truth not even slightly disappointed with the way the season has worked out ? ..... cue the usual long list of excuses .

If we take 75 points as a reasonable play-off place target that means we need to gather an average of just over 2 points per game during our remaining 29 league fixtures . We are currently averaging 1.3 points per game .

I expect Markus Liebherr is extremely grateful for all this unsolicited advice on what he should do with his money . Just for clarification if you're reading this Markus when we say 'we' should do this that or the other we actually mean 'you' - it's one of those little peculiarities of the English language . Happy to help .

It starts from the back , Kelvin hardly ever throws the ball out for our players to run with and lets face it neither David Connolly or Adam Lallana are going to win many headers are they . There's a chap who sits behind me every game who's only comment on football is to repeatedly shout "keep it on the ground" at full volume every time the ball is airborne - I'm starting to think he might be right .

The play-offs are a very distant possibility right now but I don't think a target of 5th from bottom is at all good enough or even acceptable for this club in this division -10 point penalty or not . If we end up just avoiding relegation that would be a sacking offence in my view - I don't believe for one moment that's going to happen by the way .

All right I'll take this seriously then . Any proper trial of a serious case will take days/weeks/months of evidence presentation and legal argument - how exactly do you propose that every web user with some say in deciding guilt or innocence has been paying attention throughout this long and involved process ? In a proper Jury system the jurors have to fulfill certain criteria , such as not knowing personally any of the people involved and being law abiding citizens themselves - how do you ensure that over a anonymous broadband connection ? Transmitting the 'trial' over the Internet or TV itself could present problems - I've served on two different jury's (and been Foreman on one) and you really have to be there . A juror needs to be able to asks questions on points of law , he/she can examine evidence in person and discuss the case with their fellows in the privacy of the Juryroom without outside influence or distraction . This is a serious responsibility for serious people , not some meaningless vote on 'Strictly come Dancing' or 'X Factor' :mad: I could go on but I hope you get the point , this is not only a bad idea , it's a dangerous idea if you really care about justice and the rule of law .

My ratings for Saints v Norwich (2-2) K Davis 6.5 - Some good saves but he spilled Norwich's 2nd - due to the extremely wet conditions no doubt . L James 5.5 - Guilty of giving away a pretty poor pen and no great shakes as a Full Back really - slightly better in midfield later . N Trotman 5 - In poor form I thought , no longer dominant in the air and frequently caught the wrong side of opposition forwards . R Jaidi 7.5 - No complaints at all today , good strong player . D Harding 7.5 - Smashing player but not quite up to supporting Lallana's attacking play adequately at times . M Antonio 7 - In and out of the game but always ready to take his man on and beat him , which is a surprisingly rare in modern football . M Schneiderlin 7 - A decent hard working midfield performance but how long will we have to wait for his 1st SFC goal ? D Hammond 7.5 - A tireless midfield hardman and fitting on the field Captain , every team needs players like this . A Lallana 8.5 MOTM - The best player on the field yet again , has to play at a higher level than this before long . Top class goal . D Connolly 8 - His beautiful goal (at the Chapel End ) will live on in the memory of all who saw it , a contender for goal of the season surely . R Lambert 6 - Quiet game by his (high) standards , never mind I'm sure the usual service will be resumed before long . Substitutes : G Murty 6 - Great to see him back but a rather low energy performance as you'd expect after such a long lay-off . Papa W 6 - Has the potential to be a match winner , LOL @ myself for slating him for missing a (offside) late chance . J Mellis - Late sub I just don't know what to make of him - ask me later . Conclusions: I hard fought (and very wet) battle between two evenly matched teams , a neutral will say a draw was a fair enough result but I'm counting it as a moral victory because our goals were much better than theirs . Trotman's impending departure and poor form suggests a recall for Wayne Thomas or Chris Perry may well be advantageous . The same starting 11 as on Sunday but much more 'at the races' today - we remain vulnerable to the quick counter-attack when our forward play breaks down however . I can't help but think that the 7 points dropped over the last 3 league fixtures will make the play-offs almost impossible now but we'll just have to keep plugging away and see what happens I suppose .

Sometimes ?

The origins of the English Common Law predate the Norman Conquest , this continuously developing system of justice (for all its faults) has been widely admired and adopted all over the civilised world . Anyone seriously suggesting we should ditch all that , do away with our time honoured Jury system and descend into the mob rule of the ignorant and ill-informed via the Internet has a screw loose frankly .

I bet those Orca's gave the cat a good kicking when they got home . That'll teach'em to play with there food .

If the man made global warming scenario is in fact a myth as the skeptics claim (I have doubts myself) then without any resort to hyperbole this must surely represent the greatest collective failure in the scientific consensus since the onset of the Renaissance centuries ago . The sheer weight of respected scientific opinion amassed behind this hypothesis leaves both Government and citizen alike with little choice but to accept it (at this time anyway) and make the appropriate response as far as practicable . Acting on the best advice available most western governments seem to be pursuing this course to some extent , are they all wrong ? What is the worst case senario if the man made global warming theory is proven wrong ? - We waste time and precious resources unnecessarily combating 'greenhouse gases' and very possibly reducing the growth rate of the world economy as a result . This will lead to serious (but perhaps not disastrous) consequences , especially for the poor . What's the worst case senario if man made global warming is proven right ? - An environmental cataclysm could occur that might leave the planet almost incapable of supporting life as we know it . We are the custodians of this world not it owners , this has nothing to do with left or right wing politics the precautionary principle demands we take action to preserve our environment for future generations to inherit . If you don't accept that then look into the eyes of a little child and contemplate the terrible consequences of getting this wrong .

That rather depends on how strictly you define the word 'start' doesn't it - the record shows that Ricky Lambert played against Huddersfield (game 3) and Hammond & Trotman arrived before the end of August .

The evidence is limited so far and time will tell as ever but even in the brief cameo appearances we've see over the last two seasons you can tell this lad's a real talent - quite the most promising academy product since Adam Lallana I'd say . If it weren't for the generally excellent Dan Harding I'm convinced he'd be a star in the making already because he has it all - confident - nippy - technically able and processing a natural attacking instinct that would fit in with the way we play superbly . Obviously he's not a big lad but I doubt that's going to hold him back very much somehow . The jury's still out on what his best position is , Left Back or a more midfield berth (he can play both) but what isn't in much doubt if I'm any judge (a debatable question ) is that 'Fish' has the potential to develop into a good player before very long . Like any 20 year old he's at the stage in his career when he needs to play proper 1st team football to fulfill his potential - I'd suggest he should be doing that in our team rather than being loaned out again . That's all just a fans opinion of course .

It's as much about players as it is about tactics or formations , football is always about players in the final analysis . I can't be the only one to notice just how jaded Dean Hammond has become over the last few games or Schneiderlin's lack of impact on occasion . Neither Hammond or Schneiderlin are anywhere near to being bad players (far from it) but the midfield engineroom of the team is a particularly demanding place to play , to expect the same group to play there twice a week , every week , league and cup is probably asking too much of them . As has been mentioned our wide players (Lallana & Antonio) probably do need to track back more effectivly but obviously Alan Pardew has set this team up to be attack minded (this has worked well for us recently) and I'm certainly not going to criticise him for that - you pays your money you takes your choice as they say . Maybe we can do some business in the upcoming transfer window but until then we have to use what we've already have more effectivly . I don't rate Paul Wotton very highly to be honest but maybe he could have started in the midweek JPT game . Mills is such a good prospect we should be seeing him play more often and the departure of Simon Gillett from the squad always seemed ill-advised even without the benefit of hindsight to be perfectly frank - his recall wouldn't necessarily be a bad move if he's still up for it . Risking the terrible wrath of the 'never change a winning team' faithful we're just not going to get through this season with much prospect of success using basically the same 11 players all the time .

I've just consulted page 457 of the 'Boys Book of Football Cliches' and the sign of a good team is put down as Quote : 'winning when you are playing badly . Happy to help .

Couldn't agree more , Connolly is a class player who ran himself into the ground for the cause without ever looking very likely to score on the day - credit for which must go to Brighton's excellent (& sizable) back 4 rather than some deficiency in DC . Anyone claiming some lack of effort on his part needs to pay a visit to the optician as a matter of some urgently I'd suggest . By the way can any of the usual suspects explain why Gus Poyet didn't need 2 months of uninterrupted preseason to get his team playing well on Sunday ? :confused:

You didn't have to be Mystic Meg to see this one coming , right from the day he was appointed to be frank . If the SFA had bothered to read the generally welcome/delighted reaction the news that GB was leaving the Saints generated on here the jocks might have saved themselves a lot of bother .

'The Wicker Man' easily gets into my top 10 all time movie list , weird and wonderful and quite possibly featuring one of the greatest (and most pitiless) endings of any movie . On the subject of great ends I must reveal that that's not really Brit Ekland's backside however .