CHAPEL END CHARLIE

... and it was soon granted. What do you think would have happened had the club refused to let AOC go ?

Apart from its obvious masonry related use, 'Stonewall' was a nickname given to General Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson - a Confederate officer of the US civil war well known for his exceptional defence capabilities. I understand the modern usage of this term to indicate 'a certainty' is a corruption of the old expression 'Stone Cold' - which seems to have gone out of fashion. That however may be completely wrong, as any fan of QI will confirm.

The 'thing' with footballers is that to reach the top then you have to be exceptionally talented, determined and above all ambitious. No offence intended my friend, but if you - like me - lack some or all of those attributes then claiming that you would not have behaved in that way Adam did really doesn't mean very much - because you'd never be in his situation in the first place. Perhaps the more judgmental on here would do well to remember that in order to judge another man then you must first walk a mile in their (football) boots ...

The comparison between Morgan and Adam is a interesting one. Very clearly both wanted to leave last summer, but for one reason or another the club allowed only Adam accomplished that aim. In truth that is the only substantial different between them. Had Morgan won the 'Player of the Year' award last season instead of Adam (as he well might have) then perhaps he too would have said something he would later come to regret when put so very publicly 'on the spot' at that dinner ... please at least try to remember that these are young footballers we are talking about here not skilled liars - sorry I mean 'politicians'. As for nonsensical criticisms re Adam visiting a Brazilian slum during the World Cup or attempting to communicate with Saints fans via the media, it seems to me that these are absolutely classic 'Catch 22' like situations - IE whatever he does he is bound to be taken out of context and adjudged to be wrong. Adam refuses to talk to SFC fans or agree to go on a FA organised visit to the poor, well then he's obviously a arrogant Premier League SOB. Adam agrees to go to the Favela or attempt to communicate with us ... well he's obviously a patronising Premier League SOB then!

So passionate that he wants us to lose the game? An interesting insight into the mentality of the average football fan this - and boy do we have some very average fans on here.

Don't bother my friend, reading this thread is all the proof that anyone could possibly ask for that hatred (like love) is utterly irrational.

Oh go away stupid boy.

Well you'll be pleased to see I have changed my mind and returned to this thread. The reason I was initially reluctant to do so was because I've had precisely the same debate before, with the very same people in some cases, and the prospects for anything very new or interesting emerging from what we might call 'the Lallana haters' seemed slight indeed - a prediction that has been proved to be all too accurate alas. But enough of me let's talk about you. To get to my post you (and others) will I assume have read the earlier post (#34) calling for Adam to have his legs broken on the pitch at St Marys at the next game. What a interesting insight it is into your personality Sir that you let that disgraceful post pass without comment, but saw fit to criticise me for daring to express my exasperation at the way this thread was going. So you tell me shipmate which is it - do you share in that opinion or are you just indifferent to it? Now I assume he author of post 34 to be some foolish youth who hasn't got the brains he was born with, but I must express now how very disappointing it is that people I respect on here haven't bothered to disassociate themselves from the more extreme element who consider that a badly handled transfer is now apparently grounds to see a decent young man - a young father who has served this club well for many years - physically harmed. There are opinions, there are strong opinions, and then there is going too far. What a pity it is that so many on here don't know where those lines are drawn.

This is a excellent idea - if you want to look like a bunch of small minded 'bunny boilers' with a Adam Lallana fixation that is. ... come to think of it that description might well apply to quite a few on here.

Many of you lot sound just like bitter ex-girlfriends who can't get over being dumped. Some other 'contributions' go beyond that and are perfectly vile. I too wish Adam hadn't gone and yes he might have handled this matter better. But sooner or later a mature man really should reach a stage in life where there's nothing left in the game of football that could possibly make him hate another Human Being to this ridiculous degree. Now feel free to heap some of this excess bile so many of you seem to be suffering from onto me for daring to disagree with you lot - I doubt I'll even bother to read it and I'm certainly not going to engage in another pointless argument with people who are clearly incapable of thinking rationally on this bizarrely emotive subject.

The Wind Rises (2013) Shown as part of C4's 'Studio Ghibli' season of Japanese animation, this ambitious 2 hour film tells the story of the genius Mitsubishi aircraft designer Jiro Horikoshi - the man behind the legendary A5M 'Claude' and A6M 'Zero' fighter aircraft of WWII. I suppose this film might have been a Japanese equivalent of the old Leslie Howard/RJ Mitchell biopic 'The First of the Few' in that a aircraft designer is elevated to become a heroic figure, except that prewar Japanese militarism just cannot be celebrated in the same way that the creation of the iconic Supermarine Spitfire and our stand against Fascism in WWII can. So Horikoshi is drawn and depicted here as a child-like person, an innocent dedicated to creating beauty and deeply in love with the dream of flight, rather than as some advocate of the war winning possibilities of air-power. From the little I know of him there seems to be some truth in this interpretation - which is more than can be said about the depiction of his family life, which I understand is almost entirely fictional. But enough of the politics, you should see 'The Wind Rises' simply because it is a stunningly beautiful film. I just adore how typically delicate and well observed the 'manga' style animation is, how lovingly veteran Director Hayao Miyazaki and his team of animators have captured how the wind plays with a umbrella, or exactly how the cylinders of a old aero engine vibrate. There is a scene early in the film where the great Tokyo earthquake of 1923 is depicted that just takes your breath away ... CGI may be on the 'cutting edge' but in some ways traditional Japanese animation remains unmatched anywhere. You don't need to be interested in Japan, its animation, or even in aircraft to see this film ... you just need to love films.

I so know what you mean - there was something about Fords make then that made other competing mass market cars seem horribly dated and undesirable. How I desired the 2000E's rev counter, fabric covered seats and vinyl roof. The closest I got to this icon of 70's luxury and sophistication was fitting a set of (very) used 'rostyle' wheels to my bog standard 1.6 - which is really not the same thing. Do you remember the final Cortina Ford ever made - the Mk 'V' Cortina 'Crusader' ? I would have - and might still - sell my soul to have one of those ...

'Wolf Hall' (BBC2 Wednesday) This series set a impossably high standard right from the onset, but somehow it just gets better and better with every passing installment as Cromwell rises from being Cardinal Wolsey's man, to become Henry VIII's formidable enforcer. I think I've said on here before how in awe I am of Mark Rylance's epic performance as Cromwell, but let's not let that utter brilliance overshadow just how wonderful the rest of the cast are. Bernard Hill (as the Duke of Norfolk) has some great 'earthy' lines playing a man in a constant state of rage, but in particular I want to focus now on Anton Lesser's doomed Catholic martyr Sir Thomas More. Anton first came to my attention in the excellent 2010 legal drama 'Garrow's Law' and later in the Inspector Morse spin-off 'Endeavour', where he played a rather horrible police superintendent. Others may know him from this role in 'The Musketeers' or from 'Game of Thrones' - a series I've not yet seen but that I know is very popular on here. But whatever he is in, more often to be found playing unsympathetic supporting roles, he's just bloody fantastic. So good is he playing this complex and uncompromising man in 'Wolf Hall' that I have little doubt that he could have taken on the main Cromwell part with equal success - indeed were he a more overtly hansom and physically imposing 'Leading Man' type then I suspect Anton would already be a star of some repute on both sides of the Atlantic. But never mind, character roles are very often the best ones.

Me too and that particular Dagenham Dustbin was my first car actually - a 1974 1.6 'Delux' reg no ROJ 609M* It was rubbish truth be told but I'd give anything to have it back, although by now I suspect it would be little more than a pile of ferrous oxide blowing in the wind. * Why is it I can remember the registration number of a car I had 35 years ago, but can't for the life of me recall the number of the mobile phone that's in my pocket today!

You can see he tries hard and overall he's been more than decent for us this season. But let's face up to the truth here - it's just not happening for him at the moment and no amount of daft excuses about mean opposition defenders or poor refereeing decisions is going to make a blind bit of difference. I for one am not very interested in reading yet more calls on here to 'get behind the team' as if fan will-power alone can make a footballer play better than he is. He must have had five or six decent opportunities today and I not even sure he got one of them on target. That's just not good enough for a team harboring ambitions of Europe I'm afraid. Because of our striker injury situation we have little choice but to stick with Pelle and hope he can rediscover some sort of form. But if that doesn't happen - and pretty damn quick - then those saying that not signing a striker in January will cost us dearly may well be proved correct. Not that this fan wanted us to end up in the godforsaken Europa League anyway ...

My (not always totally reliable) memory tells me that when players get injured while playing for England the FA then pays their wages while they are out of action. If that principle is indeed correct, does this mean we are about to bankrupt the poor old Zambian FA to pay Mayuka?

I'm watching one of those early sub-standard TNG episodes at the moment Pap, the one where Troi's mother pays the Enterprise a visit for the first time. When combined with yesterdays tiresome 'Q' story this does kind of bare out your point that TNG Series One was a bit 'hit and miss' at times. Last week a much better story was aired - the one where young Wesley Crusher is sentenced to immediate death for accidentally trampling a flower bed! If you recall Captain Picard ignores the laws of this planet and rescues the lad employing the transporter - riding roughshod over Star Fleet's sacrosanct 'Prime Directive' in the process of course. Picard justifies this action by opining that when laws are applied absolutely there can be no justice - which I suspect may have been a covert message to US politicians enacting the horrid 'three strikes' laws back in the 1990's.

I see football as a kind of 'pyramid' with the tip being the Premier League and the lower levels being the rest of the game. If we take away the bottom of this triangular structure, then the pyramid with either collapse, or more likely just fall down to become a much smaller and massively less impressive pyramid. I'm sure even Turkish and MLT will agree that would be a bad thing. PS - As I'm the very first person to ever draw this brilliant football/pyramid analogy I have copyrighted it from here 'til eternity. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Well he was seldom 'in' but now he is definitely 'out' - and for the rest of the season apparently. http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/news/11783570.Saints_striker_out_for_the_season/?ref=mac Bad luck Emmanuel.

This story doesn't really directy impact me that much because, unlike so many of you lot, I just don't pay for TV - the licence fee excepted - and never will. How can you possibly cope Charlie without a relentless diet of expensive football on the gogglebox virtually every day I hear you ask? Well the answer is 'remarkably easily' because a long time ago I figured out that while I'm certainly a keen Southampton fan, I live and die this wonderful old club, I'm not really an avid follower of football in general. I'll happily watch Premier League highlights on MOTD, I might even steal a Saints game off the Internet every now and then (if some kind soul on here will find a working link for me) but if not Dave Merrington and BBC Radio Solent will do. But as for Chelsea v Man City etc I could hardly care less to be frank about it - I'd rather watch a DVD or even a old Star Trek episode - on Freeview of course! So if you don't want to pay a ever increasing sum every month to Rupert bloody Murdoch for your TV footy fix then don't - you never know you might soon find that you don't even miss it.

I've just seen 'Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark' (Film 4 Saturday) for the first time - and was bitterly disappointed with it. The reason I was expecting something more than just another dull and formulaic Hollywood Horror was that I had noticed that the Mexican film maker Guillermo del Toro had produced and written it, and if you have ever seen any his early work (such as the wonderful 'Pan's Labyrinth' or the equally distinctive 'The Devil's Backbone') you will know just how capable of making genuinely outstanding work he is. But none of that wonderful mix of fairy-tale like magic and shockingly real 'in your face' horror was on display here - a potentially great film maker I think ruined by a system that chews the gifted up ... and then spits out instantly forgettable trash like this.

I don't boo players at a match and try my utmost to be supportive at all times, but I see little that is very unusual, or indeed improper, in football fans noticing when one of their players is manifestly starting to struggle a little - this of course is not the same thing as writing a player off permanently. I hope that is clear. After what was a strong start it seems to me that Pelle has overall been a qualified success (so far) this season - probably on a par with what Rickie Lambert might have given us had he stayed I guess. As for the number of times any player hits the post ... well I'm not sure what the point is here because hitting the post is actually the result of a 'off target' shot is it not? Does the OP feel there is some value in our collectively pretending that this player is at the top of his game at the moment? To be frank I've always been unclear how that process is supposed to work? While I await a explanation to this mystery it remains my opinion that fans should express how they feel honestly on here - only time will prove whether they are right or wrong - but this is supposed to be a 'forum' afterall.

Yeah, I'm not at all sure what a 'phuktard' is but you seem to be over-reacting to what is, for the most part, some pretty mild criticism. Even after a good away win I say there's always room for improvement, especially if the performance itself wasn't totally convincing. So if fans want to point out and debate with others which of our players might not be playing at the very top of their game that doesn't seem to me to be a hanging offence. Oh and one exclamation mark will suffice!

A super late goal from (a rather impressive) Mane and a equally good save from Forster resulted in us nicking a win from a game that might well have been a draw. I'm sure everyone reading this will join me in hoping that Matt Targett's injury is not too serious. Great to see Schneiderlin and Big Vic back, but Pelle is a worry because he really is struggling to make much of a impact at the moment and we need him.

Further to the above. Many, many, moons ago my wise and perceptive parents decided to get their Trek obsessed son a model kit of one of these beauties for one early 70's Christmas - wonder of wonders an original TOS Klingon Battlecruiser! I was one of those kids who found the 'dark side' to be far more interesting than the 'goodies' for some reason (I was always rooting for the Germans in war films too) so needless to say I played with and loved my plastic fantastic Klingon Battlecruiser so much it was soon broken alas ...