mikee

Of the current team definately Waigo seems to have the most character. My favourite characters of all time: Mark Dennis - the "original" psycho! Ivan Golac - hard as nails and a bit soft in the head! Special mentions for: Channon Jordan Case Osgood Beasant Burridge Adams Watson (Gordon) Dowie Ruddock Van Gobbel Ekelund & Le Tissier would also be considered to be characters but to me they were more showmen and let their football do the talking. Sure I have missed loads but memory not as good as it was. There do seem to be less characters in the game today but that is inevitable as the game has got too serious and jokers may be weeded out for having a suspect attitude. Probably one of the biggest characters in the game at the moment IMO is Jimmy Bullard but they are few and far between.

AAARGHHHHH - I just spent the best part of a hour posting a lengthy reply to this but have lost the text due to a timeout issue as I was not logged in when I submitted - due to said timeout - am not going to repeat message (my most rambling to date) and run the risk of same thing happening, can anyone help me understand how to avoid this as i have wasted an hour of my life already:(

Not really an accurate analogy is it. More like you wanted 20 and he scored 18 or 19! But he hit the post 4 times, crossbar twice and had 3 cleared off the line. Do you sack or encourage to go one better next season?

was easily their best player today and kept lallana quiet for most of the game. Very impressed but hopefully Calderon will be even better as he is more of a marauding full back - we haven't had one of those since Bale - although Dan has his moments.

it is more a question that it would give people like Lambert and Lallana the excuse to go elsewhere whereas Pardew is best placed to convince them to stay should bids from higher placed teams come in and can ask the players to show the same loyalty that he is. Also, Pardew would end up at a higher placed team in the Premiership or Championship and would undoubtedly come back for Lambert, Lallana and probably Morgan and Puncheon too. It basically places our project at risk and is likely to lead to the 5 year plan becoming at least a 6 year plan. This is why I don't think that Cortese will rock the boat at this point. He will have ample opportunity in the future if Pardew fails to get us promoted next season or fails to make the premiership the season after - at which point he would be able to attract a new manager of real proven quality. Cortese is a business man and will see the logic of keeping things together now as Pardew should win the league next year and no new manager could better that!

It is only reasonable if his contract is about to end. Otherwise he should be focusing on getting the best out of the manager who is contracted, rather than trying to undermine him with a lack of public support. Even those of us on a normal employment contract (30 days notice) would be ****ed off is our boss was always looking at others who could come in and do a better job. You only do this if the incumbent's performance is not acceptable - and anyone who thinks Pardew peformance is not acceptable can only have some axe to grind with him. A crappy article in a crappy paper and the usual suspects - trousers, dune, alpine, TDD and Glasgow notsaint - are right back on their bandwagon. Not one of you thinks that Cortese would be unreasonable if he were to do this which shows what a small minority you are. I am enjoying my football again for the first time in years but would be severely disappointed if we end up having replaced one meglomaniac with another.

Good point - Pardew has said that he wants to build a team now to get out of the Championship. You wont do that by buying L1 quality players so definately top end Championship players is the way to go. Pardew will no doubt try to tempt them with: 1. A league winners medal next year; 2. the real prospect of getting to the Premiership soon after. I think that Fonte has set the bar at the right level, anyone else coming in needs to be as good.

I think I heard correctly...... Pardew didn't just say he wanted chanpionship players but to build a team in the close season capable of winning the Championship (not league one but the league above) as we didn't want to be in the championship for long at all to achieve the 5 year plan. If he can do that - and he said he that is what he would be asking Cortese for - then we really should be able to win this league next year as we will obviously be adding some serious quality over the summer. Good times ahead!

I presume that you didn't see him play for Millwall against Huddersfield the other night? I know that you shouldn't make judgements on players based on one game but my god he was awful and based on that performance possibly the worst player I have seen in League one all season. He hid from the ball and when it did fall to him he promptly gave it back to huddersfield and was a major reason, along with their right back, why Huddersfield were so dominant and won the game. For that alone i would hate to see him at Saints as he cost us a realistic chance of the playoffs. rant over:(

1. Lambert 2. Harding 3. Morgan Lallana would be in my top 3 if his finishing were more consistent as i believe this has cost us key points at places like Wycombe but it is hard to be tough on a youngster who gets as many goals as he does - but he really is good enough to be scoring 25+ a season like Matty did. Honourable mentions for Davis, Fonte and Barnard and also for impact both Waigo and Antonio deserve a mention.

are you sure you were reading the same article? Pardew says that until it is mathematically impossible, he will be going all out for it - absolutely right but he doesn't say he thinks we will make it and acknowledges that our chances could be over by saturday evening. Oh and he wants the fans to turn up and create a good atmosphere - what is wrong with that. Surely fans should go week in week out not just when we have a chance of winning something bigger than the next game. This time last year we were relegated and our gates got bigger - that is the spirit of Southampton. I'm looking forward to our last few games and the chance to dream about what might be next season.

For your information there was less hoofing tonight than any game so far this season and Seaborne mostly played the ball out of defence to either Harding or Fonte. In fact towards the end we were screaming for Davis to hoof it upfield rather than passing from the back:confused:

Surely the point is that had Lowe put us into Administration 1 week earlier, we would still have Markus and Nicola but not the points deduction this season and would therefore be on course for automatic promotion. The point deduction this season and ML are not mutually exclusive. We all have our views on his motives and many of us believe he only returned to protect his equity and had very little regard for the club and certainly none for its fans. For me it was a combination of ego, greed and desperation. Happy with where we are now but it could have been even better without the -10 this season.

I think the idea was to give us all a sneak preview and potentially boost sales over the close season. Can't remember the last time it happened but it was definately the norm for quite a while and gave the last home game of the season a bit more interest - particularly if there was nothing left to play for. In any case, probably not something NC and Co are aware of, just like early sales of next years season tickets.

I wonder if they will continue the tradition of wearing the new kit on the last home game of the season and give us a glimpse of the 125th anniversary sash?

On the contrary, I believe that the JPT win at Wembley has given the team a huge burst of confidence and the desire to get back to Wembley again! If it hadn't been for the JPT we wouldn't have even tried the team that has done so well in the past 4 games. This team now believe they are winners and that will be vital next season if we are to be champions of this league (or even the one above?) What a season:prayer:

Feck me! SO now we have to be good businessmen rather than fans - what is the game coming to. There are too many people on here who over analyse everything and have far too high a regard for their own opinion. Try going back to being a fan / supporter, it is a lot more fun, I promise you.

I don't get the Lancashire comparison at all. We all know that Fonte is the class act and a very cultured CB but I think Seaborne is the one that gets stuck in and does the hassling job. He doesn't seem to mind putting his head in where others might bottle out - given a good run in the side, he will hopefully become the Svensson to Fonte's Lundekvam.:cool: Jaidi is possibly the better all round player right now but Seaborne is the future and his partnership with Fonte will be key for us next year.

I guess his FM stats will not be great then? Apart from his headers, often his clearances seem to be not well placed or go far enough but i think that this is because he is great at hassling the forward and getting his foot out in front to make contact and take the ball away from the striker - which does not give him the best control. Others need to anticipate that he will get a touch and be ready to sweep up the loose ball. I think he will develop into a really good player for us at least upto Championship level.

Alpine, you clearly get no pleasure from football - why not just find another hobby. There are a lot of fans who seem to get warped pleasure from setting their expectations so high and then moaning when they are proved right:rolleyes: It is like some bizzare form of self harming and you really shouldnt get offended when the rest of us dont share your condition. Most of us are enjoying our football more than we have for 6 years now and are happy to come along for the ride. I would be surprised if many of the moaners go to games regularly and I am getting really fed up with the black and white brigade who don't see the game but base their view entirely on the result. Win = Great, Lose or Draw = ****. There really isn't anything in between these two extremes is there. Fortunately, we know these people are a very small minority, it is just on this board that they appear to be more vocal, which say more about internet forums than AP's performance this season.

big car park at the station £3.50. Train fare about £10 return not £3 as reported earlier. Still a good option though. Also Gerrard X is close by and has twice as many trains as Denham.

not excited about our first trip to Wembley in 18 years then:confused: Personally i feel that the JPT final is the best way to get the team motivated to go all out to win every game left and make the play-offs. No doubt Pards will be asking the players if they fancy a return trip in a couple of months and explaining how they could achieve this. And what a great opportunity for those cup tied or injured to put their disappointment behind them and still play at Wembley this season. The players must know how difficult making the play-offs is and I am sure that many think it is un-attainable in private but a taste of Wembley is the best way to get them up for the challenge. So stop knocking the JPT and see the bigger picture.

Sorry, cant edit but meant un-ambitious.

If nothing else, this article shows how Cortese's interviews are generally very divisive. All of the impatient and moaney "fans" on here justify their position and rants by pointing to Cortese's comments and accuse everyone else of being ambitious. Pardew is clearly ****ed off with the constant digs from Cortese when we need our Chairman and Manager to have a solid relationship. Not once since arriving here has Cortese praised Pardew or even acknowledged that he is doing a good job. Cortese - like many of the modern internet fans - seems to believe that money guarantees instant success. He spent money in January was was really unhappy that we lost a game in February! There is no doubt from his behaviour to date that Cortese has a huge ego - I would be a bit miffed if I was Markus Liebherr because as far as Cortese is concerned he is just a cash machine - it is Cortese that rescued Saints and it is 100% his project. My own personal opinion is that Cortese resents the adulation that Pardew gets as manager and is therefore keen to knock him down a peg or two in public as well as making sure via his interviews that we are in no doubt who we should be worshipping. Hopefully this is just two big personalities getting to kmow each other and hopefully they can find the right formula for working together as otherwise it will be us fans that lose out - as usual.

My sons first ever game as well. Luckily he was only 4 and still doesn't know that we lost! Fortunately he has been a few times this season and seen us win including MK at the weekend.