mikee

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.

Was also thinking of this. Only concern is with one train an hour which is coming in from Birminhgham - it would be a bit of a downer if the train is full on arrival at Denham. Anyone have experience of this route and chances of this happening?

I disagree, the league table does lie - it says we have won 47 points when in fact we have won 57. We will definately finish within 10 points of the playoffs and could still make them, even with the 10 point deduction and poor start. Surely this proves that Pardew is doing an amazing job and that those slagging him off either have a personal problem with Pardew which is clouding their judgement or are too stubborn to change an opinion formed over those first ten games.

I am satisfied that Pardew, the team and NC are ambitious enough to want to be as successful as possible as quickly as possible and therefore we as fans should be content to sit back and enjoy the ride. I have 2 issues with those fans who use ambition as a smoke screen for impatience: Firstly they are putting even more pressure on the team than there already is - surely this is not the role of a supporter - what happened to the concept of the 12th man? This also leads to a mindset that any slip up is unacceptable which causes some peoples support to become negative rather than positive. Secondly, they are robbing themselves of the enjoyment of seeing our decimated team slowly but surely rising from the ashes and developing into potentially something very special - maybe even a team to rival the Lawrie Mac era. This is the most fun I have had supporting saints since 2003 and I am certainly not going to allow my enjoyment to be spoilt by a very small minority of fans who in my opinion seem to take everything Saints related just a little bit too seriously and have become totally obsessed with results. I can appreciate the imparience from those that may not be around a lot longer to enjoy the success that I believe will follow but i also know 2 people who are so chuffed to be going to see Saints at the new Wembley this month as they never thought they would get the chance to see that in their lifetime. With the foundations that we know have in place for success I really do think it is time to go back to just being fans, supporting the team and enjoying seeing them develop and grow into potentially a real force in English football. Personally I think this team is learning all of the time and will not repeat the mistakes of this season next year and i fully expect that we will achieve automatic promotion, probably as champions so there really isn't that much to complain about surely?

For me they are more like McDougall & Boywer. Both fantastic goal scorers in their right and not what you would think would work as a partnership but it works because they are both so good, both in terms of quality and workrate. Ormerod, for all of his effort, was never in the class of Barnard but I can see the connection between Beattie & Lambert or even Beattie and Barnard. AP certainly knows how to assemble a team that is strong in all departments and is a great mixture of youth and experience. I can't remember the last time I saw a Saints team without a single weaklink. And they work so hard for each other which is the sign that the team spirit is what you would want. I just can't wait for the next game!

WHat, the Judean People's Front?

Colin Clarke was one of my all time favourite Saints strikers and was IMHO a much bettere striker for Saints than Alan Shearer. In fact I vividly remember when Shearer got a hat trick on his debut v Arsenal that CC laid on all of his goals in a very unselfish gesture to a kid making his debut. The man was quality and knew how to score a hat trick as well. As far as crowd is concerned, I expect we might endup with about 45,000 tickets (35,000 plus additional 10,000 from Carlisle allocation) as I would expect Carlisle to take around 25,000. I think it would have been more if this was not their 5th appearance in the JPT Final. Great to be going to the new wembley for the first time - and as a Saints fan - I don't care what the competition is, these days don't come around very often in the life of a Saints fan.

for me a trip to Wembley with Saints would really make this season a great one. So.... 1. JPT 2. Playoffs - would be number 1 if guaranteed final place 3. Beating Pompey If we achieve reaching Wembley on the 9th then we will go into the Skates game with a lot of confidence.

I really shouldn't bite because you really aren't worth it but your hypocrisy is beyond belief! Your post above reflects just how many of us feel about you when you feel it is OK to ram negative drivel down our throats and try to bring us all down to your sad level - now it seems you can't even bare to allow others to enjoy what for most of us is a well deserved and long overdue purple patch in Saints form. It really is pathetic.:mad: Anyway... back to my happy place:smile:

I don't think the formation is the key as we can beat teams with 4-5-1, 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. the problem from my perspective is that when we play 4-5-1 the main tactic seems to be to hoof the ball from Davis to Lambert and look to pick up the second ball. When we change to 4-4-2 we start passing more which makes this formation seem more effective, but IMHO it is the change in tactic that has made the bigger impact and there is no reason why we can't pass the ball more when playing 4-5-1. Maybe this is what Pardew is referring to when he says the players aren't playing 4-5-1 the way they have been coached.

For those of us going up without tickets - I have just checked the website and an article dated today says that there will be a cash turnstile in the South Stand. See you there

But you can buy tickets on the day - just from the ticket office not the turnstile - same as at St. Marys.

missed out on tickets on Tuesday - they sold out with me about 15th in the queue! 3 of us now going to go up without tickets unless any come up in the meantime. If we have to we will get tickets in the home end - probably South Stand and then hope to get transferred into the one of the many empty seats in the East Stand - I don't really understand why they can't sell more of the seats. ANyone know where Saints will be drinking beforehand - probably best chance of picking spare tickets in the Saints end? See you all up there.

I was also about 20 yards or so behind the incidents that took place. This incident was completely avoidable. I could see the scuffle at the Alfred and there were a couple of police there to stop it kicking off. Rather than getting the Yeovil yobs out of the area, the police decided to leave them to walk off on their own - they continued to shout abuse as they walked off and were subsequently followed by some Saints yobs. The police decided to leave them to it for some reason! Before it all kicked off near the traffic lights, a police riot van drove straight past what was now a reasonably large group mouthing off to each other. Me and my mate couldn't believe it and less than a minute later it turned into a punch up. Now the police want us to their job for them because they couldn't be bothered on the day. I have noticed that whenever teams like Cardiff or Burnley are in town, the police are nowhere to be seen. I don't know how much Saints pay for policing but they are not getting their moneys worth. I can understand witnesses not wanting to get involved as I don't trust them not to hand out banning orders to people merely in the vicinity.

I don't have any sympathy for Saga. WHen we needed him at the start of the season he wasn't interested - despite new owners, manager, outlook etc. It is only the lack of interested parties that keeps him here and I am disappointed that he wasn't able / willing to start afresh - like we as fans are doing. If Saga had been interested and put in the effort from the start, I doubt that Pardew would have needed to go out and get another striker. But now that he has, i would much rather have a hungry and determined Connolly playing for us than Saga whose heart is not in it. In fact I find myself resenting Saga for taking the money and not putting in as much as he could for us.

I can't help thinking that this whole thread is a bit premature and i hope it doesn't turn into an anti climax now that we are all excited!

I have previously been torn between building this year and looking to go up as champions next year or going all out for the playoffs this year. It is pretty obvious Pardew wants to win trophies but if we did manage to scrape into the playoffs this season via sixth place - the winning mentality and momentum created by that would, IMO, mean that would win the playoffs. This would give Pards the trophy he is looking for plus the added bonus of a day out at Wembley and our first piece of silverware since 1976! Therefore I think we should go all out for that 6th place - if we do fall just short then it will still have been a good rebuilding season. With the current squad and resources to improve we can certainly hold our own in the Championship and I would much rather we consolidated at that level than League One.