austsaint

I see a lot of happiness coming your way.

Unfortunately, I think the bookies are right - we are one of five teams facing relegation. QPR do look to be playing for "Arry; Reading are going to dig in with favourable home games to come; Aston Vila are not going to roll over and Wigan have a track record of shrugging off relegation fears. Hope we are safe before the last two or so fixtures but it looks like a tight finish as May approaches. It's hard to imagine the Newcastles' and Sunderlands' being drawn in.

Boruc's class and courage kept us in it second half. It almost looked like that Leeds game we nicked 1-0 for long periods.

An excellent pick up for a League 2 Club - I'm convinced it was his defensive blunder in the FA Cup match v Man U which cost him his career at Saints in Nigel's eyes and many fans as a result. He is not a Prem standard LB but would be well at home in most Championship sides and at the risk of opening old wounds, Dickson appeals to me as a superior LB to Dan Harding and may still get the chance to prove his worth at Championship level.

The greatest Guly basher on this site comes up with the poisoned chalice.

I'll back that line up. I'm hoping Jos does well; he was quite effective v Stoke.

James....that's top drawer stuff!!

Fair enough - is he only 17?? It certainly wasn't an easy game to come into and make an impression; we certainly got overrun in the middle of the park. I hope you're right about him then; disappointing for all if he ends up a Simon Gillett style of player. I assume he hasn't got the style of game for a flanker position? Nathan Dyer style.

I'll give you this much Barry - you've certainly added to your posts tally since joining in November last year.

I watched the game on ESPN where if the second half wipe-out wasn't hard enough to watch, the commentators total focus on Chelsea was unbearable. When Fonte was injured there was not even a comment about his plight, even when the stretcher came out - just gushing praise of how good Mata, Ba, Hazard etc are (and they are of course !) Kraken, agree about the weakening of the midfield with Cork filling in at RB - but I'm struggling to see what JWP brings to games like this at this stage of his career. All I can see at the moment is good touch and a tidy pass, but unless he develops physically a career in midfield at this level looks beyond him.

Beyond moronic, (your endless anti Guly campaign). Signing of Astori would be a cracker.

Monkey off back comes to mind. Let's hope it's soon.

Yes, spot on. QPR were always going to improve with 'Arry organizing them; they have too many quality players to be at the foot of the table. The QPR players look like they are playing for each other now, so different from the approach under Hughes' tenure. Mind you if Chelsea play so meekly when we visit for the postponed fixture then we might get something out of the game too.

You could argue we are better defensively with todays set up, but doing without the attacking and creative force of Adam is a massive trade off. Our best attacking football this season seems to be when AL, GR, RL and JP are combining.

Lucky, lucky Arsenal. We did enough to win it and the disallowed goal for a nudge by Ramirez looked very marginal. Back four tremendous with mention for Cork's job at RB. Boruc looked better as the game wore on and his mopping up of Jose's back pass and clean take from Theo's drive from the right showed steadiness. As others have said, Guly had a second consecutive good game with effective defensive help for Shaw; several good crosses and high energy levels. Punch looked dangerous; Gaston a threat and Ricky's hold up work was outstanding. My only complaint with the subs was that it took away any attacking threat we had and immediately had us "holding on" for the point. Atmosphere looked and sounded brilliant. A little bit of quality added during January will help a lot.

Composed, calm, skilful and has courage too. Seems to have developed a great understanding with Jose as well. Would be hard on either to be replaced by a new acquisition on current form.

Try the Wilton Arms in Belgravia. Nice little Pub in a back street - quite close to Knightsbridge and Hyde Park corner tube stations. Really good Guinness - I watched the Saints v Fulham 2/2 draw there back in October.

Of course he wasn't responsible for the third goal today, and it's a bit harsh to say he should have stopped the second given he was obscured. It's just that he looks so shaky for large parts of most games he plays. I thought he had probably played his last game following the Arsenal debacle and then after the recent Fulham game with the error leading to Berbatov's goal and the close thing when the ball nearly went through his legs into the net, I thought that might be the end for him. Is there no alternative at the moment?; - maybe Gazza is injured or sapped of confidence; Perhaps Boruc has burned his bridges at the Club - but it's got to be put right. I don't think most people highlighting KDs deficiencies are scapegoating him, it's just a glaringly obvious weakness in the team.

Chez, I admire your support for Kelvin, but he really is not up to the job. Maybe Gazza is "cooked" for the time being and the Boruc situation is a strange one, but if KD is the best we can do for the rest of the season then I fear our card is marked.

I'm sure you are right; if we go down, Shaw probably goes to the Gunners - sad really. It's a 50/50 thing the way I see it re staying in the Prem. Wouldn't be great to keep Shaw, whatever happens; a test for Cortese to be sure.

Just in case I'm one of those 50yo Nigels' in a cardigan, Barry.....let me say it's not the odd spelling mistake which leaves you open at times for a bit of a dig; more so the type of post you put up for view. The "moral compass" thread comes to mind as slightly all over the place in its content; not funny; hard to follow and more than a little pretentious. Hope this helps! By the way, on topic, the 40 something Nigel without the cardigan is doing a fair job in a tight and ruthless competition. Yes, the GK situation is wretched and we have been lucky not to be more exposed at CB, but if he keeps his job and keeps us up then I'd rate it up there with the achievements of the previous two seasons. That would leave 2013/14 to try and consolidate like a Stoke or a West Brom.

Have just watched the replay and our second half display was very encouraging - we would have been luckless not to take a point from the game. The defence was sound; especially the CBs...I assume Yoshida will pick up Walters on Saturday and Jose marking Kenwyne. Young Shaw showed flashes of class and poise; Clyne done over in the first half several times by the pace of their young left flanker. Midfield did its job with special mention to Morgan and Cork - I thought Puncheon had a good game with mostly good touch and looked creative and dangerous at times as did Gaston, who as others have mentioned looked more threatening when shifted behind the striker - not one of Ricky's best days but the 100 percent penalty record lives on and the left footed first time volley would have brought Craven Cottage down if it had stayed down. The mistake by Kelvin was a bad one; he really should have held on in that situation but otherwise he was rarely troubled. He is not the answer for the rest of the season though is he? Stoke will be hard...a similar result would do.

He did make a fine save early and generally looked safe - but the spilled catch which wedged between his feet in a very similar situation to Barts' nightmare v Blackpool is the thing which makes many nervous these days.

Agreed; though the nervousness associated with Boruc might be with supporters sitting adjacent to the Saints goal should he start. The lack of information about Boruc's situation and for that matter Gazza's fitness does create an anxiety if Kelvin is the only one available.

Is Kelvin likely to start today? I know he's a stalwart club legend, good bloke and a loyal servant but he makes me nervous and he looks "out of date" between the sticks these days.