CanadaSaint

Alpine, the point is that people watching it were very happy with what they were seeing. You (who, I understand, were not watching it) came out with the manic depressive, overstated gloom and doom that p*sses so many people off. We have a top-notch side with an excellent chance of automatic promotion in a very competitive division. Enjoy this great period while it lasts, FFS, or else there's not much point following the team at all, is there? I have concerns, too - mainly the danger that we're a little too Arsenal-esque, and that we don't score as often as we must. But the vast majority of the story is positive - and was again today. I have faith that Adkins will address any issues.

Ron, any word on Lallana?

From the match thread:

Lallana out away to a top 3 team? Damn right I'd have taken a point at kick off.

Great footballing first half but the game just underscores one of the few concerns I have about us - the danger that we can be very Arsenal-esque, with tons of beautiful build-up play but an inability to consistently end it with the "killer ball". So, tons of possession and pressure but not enough real chances and not enough goals. We're still lovely to watch, though, and you can see why other teams fans rate us so highly.

Yeah, if we're not careful Dalek's 17th place is going to be out of reach. Only one answer, Ohio: Stop smoking.

I think you're dead right, Turkish. He's the one I've always thought we turned down, rather than the other way around. Sharp's side of the story was that the move wasn't right for him, but the OS had an interesting quote from Adkins to the effect that "after some discussions we decided not to take our interest any further." It was lost in the "Why do players keep turning us down?" angst but my first thought was that it didn't happen because Nigel didn't think he'll fit in with us - as a person rather than a player. Adkins has clearly worked very hard to build that dressing room and the spirit inside, and he's not going to risk it just for a big signing. If we're competitive "player for player" with our rivals, and I think we are, this is a very powerful factor that may well give us the separation we need.

No, I wasn't telling you what to do - I was telling you that this is the comment of a moron: If you put your views out there, especially disgusting views like that, you should expect to have them challenged. You're lying again, dune, and - like most of the stuff you post - you can't back it up with facts. I've never claimed to be a better fan than anyone (how can I be over here?), although I certainly can't be far behind you. You're another one who doesn't like to be challenged on the utter nonsense you so often post. Why is it that the only response you and your like have to my posts on a discussion forum is to make a childish geographic point? If that's your best response to the challenge it's clear that your point was weak in the first place. If you don't care about AOC any more, why bother with the thread? Me? I'm proud of AOC and the system that developed him, and I certainly wish him well as long as it's not against us.

I don't get it, either. Never mind the half-wits who wish injury on an eighteen year-old.

You've already made your thoughts abundantly clear (need a reminder?) so why don't you just ignore the thread?

What's with all the "honey moon over" crap. We could have gone 1-0 up with a penalty but within 15 seconds we were 0-1 down with a hoof and a header. Such is the knife edge of a good division, but "honeymoon over" FFS?

Hoof and a header, wasn't it?

I'm not really hearing 60-40 Saints possession.

The main one sounds like an Aussie with a clothes peg on his nose. Enough already.

It might not be a great week to pitch the idea of a Saints museum at Nicola.

What a brilliant line! Another one for my gigantic "I wish I'd said that" book.

Stop doing it then.

The Burnley 5 Forest 1 result adds some perspective to our draw up there.

Yeah, there aren't many I'd want back, especially given the style we play, but that's not really the point. It's sounding more like the "Southampton Style" is a root and branch concept of Cortese's, which would explain why he's not interested in re-attaching any old limbs!

Wow! I didn't see a smiley so I assume that you are serious about that Dave. Cork and Chaplow were both loanees so I guess it could be true, but it certainly raises some questions/concerns.

It's a risk and reward thing for me. Would we be risking more than we stand to gain by bringing Beatts back? The dressing room chemistry is one of the cores of our success over the past year, and so is our ability to play high-tempo football with multiple focuses (rather than just a big guy up front). I'd hate to see us jeopardize these things for the chance of a negligible gain. I'm a strong "No".

I have no doubt that Alpine's intentions were good with this thread but the entire problem is that some people are asking (or even forcing) us to choose between our past and our future. I resent that and I'm sure that Alpine feels the same way. This has been going on since football was invented, and the irony is that I can remember Lawrie Mac saying shortly after his arrival that Ted Bates needed to come to terms with the fact that things would be changing. The only difference I can see is the fact that Cortese has been saying for some time that there are forces actively seeking to destabilize the Club. The more of these incidents there are, the more likely it is that he's right. All the more reason for him to be very careful that he doesn't needlessly add fuel to their bonfire.

I'm not sufficiently in-tune from this distance to know about people like that, um, but right now I'd give anything a shot. Whoever it is will need the patience and serenity of the late J. Christ of Bethlehem (if that isn't going to anger the PC lot these days). Why don't you give him a call. Bransgrove that is, not JC!

We've had this conversation before and there's only one entity with the power to do that. But it has to be fan-organized, not media-organized, which means some kind of petition. And then we all cringe at the thought of deciding who the organizers will be.

Thank you.