CHAPEL END CHARLIE

No thank you. I don't suppose for one moment that it will be easy, but not only do we need all the points from this game, I think - with a bit of luck - we can get them. A draw would not be a disaster, but losing this one on the other hand would be a proper downer.

and this post smacks of a wind up. Dig harder.

Come on, you can 'tell' no such thing from that picture. On the face of it seeing Adam back in any form of training can only be a very good sign I would have thought.

Well I dunno about your financial situation, but unless he is on a serious tart, cocaine, and camouflage painted Bentley habit, then I think it safe to say his financial problems are probably quite a bit less pressing than the average forum member's are.

With the obvious excepton of Lambert, I thought we put out a pretty strong side on Saturday - and a lot of good it did us. I can only agree with other replies on here, irrespective of what the stats say the FA Cup is not a patch on what it once was. Youngsters on here probably won't realize just how big a deal the final was back in the day. For instance the TV coverage started at midday at the latest, there where camera crews encamped at each of the team hotels. The progress of each team bus was charted in minute detail - via a helicopter - and the nations ear holes were assaulted with (often terrible) Cup Final songs - oh happy days. I recall with special horror the 1986 Liverpool v Everton final - you could not turn on a TV without seeing some professional scoucer's mug confronting you. Watching the DVD of the 76 final should of course be required watching for all young Saints fans ... and yes I do know I'm starting to sound like Ron Manager, but lets go with the nostalgia here!

The very idea that our Italio/Swiss Chairman would look towards Italy, or Switzerland, to find players and managers is of course very wide of the mark. For that matter the nasty rumour going about that the whole Saints franchise is on the verge of moving to Milan is entirely without foundation in fact ...

Well I'm glad you said this rather than me, because some of us on here get a load of Flak for saying things like this while others get away with it I'd love to know who is on this transfer committee - I'm guessing Don Cortese, Les Reed, and some shadowy Italian agent. I dare say Nigel Adkins is somewhere on their 'CC' list.

Taxes are the price we pay for civilization - Oliver Wendell Holmes

I think Nigel Adkins is probably safe for the moment, but I would not be at all surprise to learn that he has been set a target by the Chairman - maybe something like a 15th place finish or better - and if we miss that then all bets are off next summer. Time will tell.

Fair comment my friend, but the heart of the matter is that none us really knows what the clubs true financial situation is and we're all just speculating. There's nothing much wrong with that, but not for the first time we're long on opinion, and short on facts here. This grand dream we are supposed to be chasing of making SFC a club that can challenge for a top five PL place one fine day - just imagine the astronomical amount of money that would take, and then ask yourself how on earth are we supposed to sustain that lofty position even if we got there? Dirty Harry once said that a "man has to know his limitations" - well perhaps that wisdom could apply to overambitious football clubs too.

All these 'nothing can go wrong with the Don in charge' posts are starting to remind me of those 'this ship is unsinkable' headlines from a while back ...

I must say I share the same nagging worry about the clubs finances. Perhaps we are sitting on a vast £300m nest egg courtesy of Marcus - bless him. But in the long term this business should trade solvently like most others are expected to. If rumors of even more cash going out the door on transfer fees and wages are true, then this years accounts may look pretty grisly indeed.

As I've said I don't intend to discuss our 'old business' any more. Re this Guly matter, despite the 'slings and arrows of outrageous provocation' (to misquote the Bard) I don't think I've lost my temper at any stage on this thread and have merely continued to argue my corner in a cool and calm manner. Again I do feel I have a right of reply when attacked. It seems this requirement placed on me to concede that Guly is a better player (a better player than I honestly believe him to be) is a somewhat 'one sided' affair as his admirers appear to be under no such obligation to concede to any points I have made in return. As for my not reading every single post as carefully as I might - well you may have a point there because it is my (bad) habit to start at the latest post and work 'up' until I find something that interests me, so I am liable to miss older stuff on occasion - Mia Culpa. But it doesn't seem to me all that unreasonable to ask for a simple clarification when that could be so very easily provided. Finally, is it really "ridiculous" to repeat littluns opinions on here? He is only a innocent child of course, but the outraged reaction grown men are displaying to merely seeing a 6 year olds opinion mentioned is rather overblown if you ask me.

I think that you and I are in danger of boring the forum with this old business, so I'll shut up about it now and let you have the last word - I've a feeling that's what you wanted all along.

Agreed. It's a hoot and a object lesson in the old 'if you find yourself in a hole then stop digging' adage ...

I agree with the OP - Fonte has learned to adapt his game to the demands of the Premier League and I see no reason to believe that Hooiveld should not do likewise. But I do hope he's a quick learner ...

Well believe or not Pulpy - I'm guessing 'not' in your case - all I ever want to do on here is express my opinion and speak the truth as I see it. I would have thought it should go without saying that all forum members are free to accept, or reject, any opinion they see posted on here as they see fit to do so. It is my belief however that when someone is attacked they are entitled to a 'right of reply'. As for me being inflexible - well you may not be entirely wrong there I suppose because I'm a man of firm opinions and I'm not known to suffer fools gladly. But here we are nearly two weeks after your badly misconceived Lounge thread died a natural death, and you still just can't let it go can you? I don't require the assistance of a Mod to deal with anything thrown at me on here because (as this thread proves) after all this time I'm more than capable of looking after myself without too much difficulty frankly. It is something of a shame however that others choose to resort to accusations of prejudice/racism or (as in your Apollo Thread) calling a group of incredibly brave and talented men a bunch of foul liars without being able to prove it. There's a invisible line a man should not cross. PS as littlun's opinions have been so well received by you lot, I think I may make his thoughts a regular feature in future.

I would hope that any reasonable contributer to this forum would object to the race card being played irrespective if the attack was aimed at them or not. The mere fact that the Moderators have chosen to ignore this serious libel speaks volumes for just how seriously they enforce their own rules. As for my alleged refusal to fully explain and debate my view about the player in question with other members. I know this is a long thread now and I dare say none of us can remember every single post in perfect clarity. But the record shows conclusively that I have gone into the detail at some length now (post#205 on this page being just one example of this) so I must reject this charge too. But lets not fall out about it because in general I do enjoy your contributions on here

As for who happened to be available for selection yesterday, I was making a general comment about the Lallana situation rather than referring to this one game in particular. Re the supposed reasonableness of attacks directed at me, the record shows does it not that one forum member has stooped so low as to accused me of "prejudice" on here - racial prejudice one can only presume. In the light of all the black players I've praised and championed on here over the years, would you say that insult was perfectly in order and within the bounds of fair comment?

Well unlike you I was there and I'm telling you that Puncheon produced our best moment yesterday. The record shows that Puncheon has also of course scored important goals for this team this season. I also note you have failed to mention the missed open goal at Stoke in your analysis or the own goal v Arsenal for some reason. But if you really think that Guly is a better player than Puncheon then I'd be most interested to see how many forum members agree with you. 'Not many' I suspect.

Well there are any number of other options for this left midfield place. Ramirez, Rodriguez, Lee, Mayuka, even Danny Fox might fill that hole and there are a series of pros and cons associated with each and any of those choices. But Nigel has decided that Guly gets the nod, so the question as to whether any of those other possible options might produce better results looks like remaining a moot one. I don't see however why expressing ones doubts about a particular player should suddenly be regarded as verboten on here for some reason.

Naturally the ideal midfield player is both a potent attacking force and a rock solid defender - unfortunately we don't have this paragon of a midfielder as yet so we just have to make the best of it. Your premise that Guly has offered us all that much defensively (or offensively for that matter) in recent games is not one I can agree with. Citing which side yesterdays Chelsea goals happened to come from seems to me 'paper thin' evidence to prove that Guly is all that good a defender in any case. The manager has seemingly decided that in Lallana's absence Guly is his preferred option on the left. Now that's his call and we can only hope he has gotten it right. I don't believe for one minute however that Guly do Prado will long retain that place once Adam overcomes his injury. Football being football of course I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Guly go and score the winner at Villa and you can all have your fun at my expense then. But so manifest are Guly do Prado's limitations as a Premier League player, I fear that our fate this season may well rest upon the state of Adam Lallana's knee.

We have 3 potentially 'first choice' keepers at this club now - none of which inspire all that much confidence to be frank. So we either spend some money and sign a fourth, or we decide which one is the best (or least worst) and stick with that choice come what may. What we can't do is keep chopping and changing our minds every few games because this is getting us nowhere. Sorry, an obviously thing to say I know - but I thought I'd say it anyway.

You feel that indiscretion has become a thing of the past in football?

Your apology is both welcome and accepted. I don't think that littlun is truly in need of correction re this matter because I'm a firm believer in free speech and feel that it is important to encourage this in the young. I'm also far from convinced that he is fundamentally all that wrong anyway. Had you made the effort go yesterday then you might have gained a better appreciation of the splendid defence splitting pass that Puncheon made to Rodriquez that resulted in our goal - easily our best moment of the match. I like players who track back and help us defend as a unit - this too is important. However, the primary responsibility of a wide midfield player is surely to be creative in the attacking sense ... some of them even manage to score the odd goal themselves.