CanadaSaint

But he missed two clear-cut chances at vital moments, didn't he? That's a new kind of dangerous.

He's not joking because he's come out with this kind of crap before. There's a bitter, sneering element to it. Oh well, his problem, not mine.

Me either! Or if he was accepting of what he considered to be mediocrity. He's a tough guy to read because not much gets out (bankers!) but I found his spat with the Echo to be extremely insightful in a strange kind of way. Cross him - or fall short of his expectations - and you are deep in the kaka. I can quite imagine what SMS could be like on the day after a disappointing result.

Rob I suspect that phase one of the five year plan was moved up - at least in Cortese's mind - when he splashed a lot of cash for the kind of talent we now have. Or possibly when his incentive was negotiated with Markus. Who knows? But it does seem from the background chatter that he wants to see much more progress this year than he stated at takeover time. Whatever it was, it made him less tolerant of disappointing results against teams he felt we should be beating. Today was probably the worst of them so we might hear more rumblings from within SMS. I agree completely as long as you're also talking about a real on-pitch leader who can pick us up and inspire/cajole those around him. That inspirational force, for me, is THE missing ingredient, and it is most crucial at places such as Brentford, Wycombe, Exeter and Tranmere.

Sad post. He definitely is grappling with some kind of issue because we've seen this kind of thing from him before. But that's his problem. Me? I wouldn't change my life over here and it's one of the best things we ever did. Do we miss England, the Saints, friends and family and some other stuff? Damn right. Is it great to come back every so often? You bet - love it. Could we live there again? I doubt it very much. Are we still proud of being Brits? Absolutely. I've noticed that there are some tiny minds on here who seem to hold it against us that we went to live somewhere else. Their views, and the way in which they express them, usually say much more about them than they do about us.

If you have to completely misrepresent what people posted in order to make your point, perhaps you don't have one. Unless we can pick up results in difficult places, on difficult pitches and with dodgy referees, we won't get out of this division - this year, next year, or whenever. We've yet to demonstrate that we can do this on any kind of consistent basis. That's a big problem. Today's result threw away momentum at an absolutely critical time.

Ah, the old "You don't go to the games" line. Character is toughing out wins at difficult places and in difficult circumstances. It's a concept that has been around pretty much since football was invented. My point was that we don't seem to do that much. The internet, which allows people to see events happening elsewhere, is a much more recent innovation. Usually, you can tell a lot more from watching on television or the internet than you can from actually being there. You know, better viewing angles and action replays and all those good things.

I never suggested we would or should, John. We've won 14 out of 32 and it's draws at the places I mentioned, among others, that we must turn into wins if we want to get promoted. Those wins will require character I've yet to see, and today's loss suggests that this is a key missing ingredient. My fear - God, I hope I'm wrong - is that it will still be missing next season.

Not if we lose games like this, and drop points at places like Exeter, Wycombe and Brentford, and give up a last-seconds equalizer after taking the lead at Millwall - all of that since Christmas. We had a golden chance to maintain momentum and gain on our rivals today, and we blew it big-time. I'm not yet convinced that we have the character to get out of this division.

LV, I think some people on here and, by most accounts, Cortese are asking whether AP has shown that he can get it done. I like AP but I'm not yet convinced about him. This division is full of sides like Tranmere, Wycombe, Brentford, Brighton and Orient; and not all the playing surfaces are great. We will not get out of it until we can beat them consistently on dodgy surfaces as well as good ones. For all our investment, we haven't shown we can do that. What gives us the confidence that this will be much different next year? We might have too much quality and not enough character for this division. I'm all for giving AP some more time but I'm not sure Cortese is that patient.

That's the part that scares me. Sides lie Wycombe, Brentford, Brighton and Tranmere will always be in this division. Until we can beat them consistently, so will we. There's such a thing as having too much quality and not enough character, and it worries me greatly that this is where we might be.

Judging by the radio commentary, Harding was a non-factor for a long time before he was withdrawn. It sounds like there might be some troubling reasons for that. Lallana missed two supposedly straightforward chances at vital times. I have to say "again", because he can't seem to score at vital times. We left our changes too late and then conceded the penalty right after making them. We just took great "momentum" and stuck a knife right in it. Cortese, I fear, is going to show AP his impatient/impulsive side - hopefully only verbally.

Surely it shows both. Given how much we've spent, we've had some hideous away results. Cortese didn't open the cheque book to miss the playoffs.

We can blame the ref until we go blue in the face but that sort of thing is going to happen and it's outside our control. Looking back, the things inside our control were A) Lallana missed two clear-cut chances at vital times, and B) Pards may have left his changes a little too late.

I disagree completely, bitterne. He's a very win-focussed person and he wouldn't have opened the cheque book the way he did to miss the playoffs altogether. If he was mad after Millwall and Wycombe he'll be really mad tonight.

That would be my read, too. He's going to be very, very p*ssed off.

I fear he's left it too late.

The critics will be out in force if he doesn't change things around up front and we end up with just a point.

Lallana's minutes are numbered.

Is it my imagination or has Dan Harding hardly been mentioned? We need the consistent overlap from him to create an unmarked man up front.

What with our league position and Cortese's expectations, I wonder how long it will be before Pards makes changes aimed at pushing for the win. Not too long, I suspect.

We need to pull ourselves out of this downward spiral. I'm not talking about the team but this forum. Heads up, girls. It's 1-1 and main rivals are losing.

LOL - Solent saying they won't ask Cortese silly questions. As opposed to the sensible questions they recently asked AP?

Lallana has to finish better. I think he needs to ditch the smart-ass subtlety and just hit it!

It's back now but all the other stuff is Charlton vs Stockport. Cue "Heavy drinking session in a beer production facility" comment.