CanadaSaint

Enough of these free headers, Fonte!

Jeez, if Jos hadn't missed a bunch of easy chances he'd be second-top scorer on about 15 by now. A centre back!

Anyone ready for a 5-4?

No kidding. What a ****. Media people have been banned for less!

Mind you, the Posh lot might be drooling over ours!

True, but I was talking about the last 15 minutes, after he took another knock and looked quite uncomfortable.

To be honest - and I think Fonte has been average-to-poor for some time - I wouldn't even blame Fonte for it. By luck more likely than judgment, the ball was hit into that "soft spot" between keeper and defender - one can't get back fast enough and the other can't get forward fast enough. Fox and Fox alone wears that one.

I hope you're right. He showed every dimension of his game yesterday, and the other thing that struck me (as it has before) is that he's the ultimate team player - encouraging the guys around him, commiserating with them on misses, saying the right things post-match and so on. In a lot of ways, he - for me - is the captain of that team.

It all happened so damn quickly - too fast for Kelvin to react IMO. No, he's not good on crosses but that ball was whipped in so fast that I don't think any keeper would have had time to react. If it hadn't been right in his "flight path", I don't think Roberts would have got his head on it, either. There were two big mistakes on that goal but they both belonged to Fox.

There's something that's been really haunting me since yesterday, apart from the defeat and the manner of it (God knows, that's enough on its own.) I think Rickie has been "playing with a knock", as they say, for several games. About 15 minutes from the end yesterday, one of their guys caught him just outside the box but no foul was called. Rickie got up rubbing his hip and walked around uncomfortably, just as he did before he came off against Donny. He did very little after that, after having been superb for the first 75 minutes. I'm hoping it's just the nervousness that goes along with the two bad results out of our last three games in a high-pressure run-in, but my biggest fear is that we might lose him for a game or two. Until we hear otherwise, I'm in the foreboding camp.

I'm still fairly confident about staying in the top two but, for all our possession, there some realities to face: We played against a team that made fewer big errors. We made three (four if we count two for Fox - one for the intercepted pass and another for letting Kebe get the cross in), and they resulted in three goals. Clinical. The one we made for their second goal was exactly the same as the one for Pompey's tying goal - not picking up the late-arriver, which is very troubling. We played against a team that gets the ball forward much quicker than us - it's not one of our strengths. We played against a team that is more willing to shoot from the edge of the box - we don't do it anywhere near enough. Nigel is great at working the positives but he's going to have to lift this squad back up again quickly.

He looked pretty good going forward and gave us width, but he needs to make an earlier decision to attack the byline. He's got the speed and skill to do it. Still, after what he did to them on their ground, they had 2-3 guys on him right away. His best contribution for me, though, was actually defensive - when he caught Roberts from 10-20 yards back when we looked dead and buried on their counter-attack.

Absolutely.

Mistakes mean the better team doesn't always win. Le Fondre's first goal came from the same mistake we made against Pompey - not picking up the late-arriver. And Fonte hasn't been the same player for a couple of months - slow, ponderous, indecisive.

Just like Pompey - don't pick up the late man and pay the price.

Our shape has been pretty good, with width on both sides, but Chappers needs replacing. I'd be inclined to go with De Ridder because he'll keep Harte occupied, but he needs to remember his defensive role. That was one lousy 30 seconds from Fox - the dire crossfield ball and then he let Kebe get the cross in.

Alps, please don't go anywhere near a mountain top.

I have a feeling that set pieces, rather than open play, will decide this. In our favour. Fox needs to get back to quality delivery because we can be almost un-defendable at corners when we bring Jos and Fonte up, and then Ricky's due on a free kick. But we have to defend against Harte's efforts.

You say hilarious, I click I'm sure this forum could get into a knock 'em down, drag 'em out handbag-barney over who won the toss at the start of the game.

Jos could actually be well into double-figures by now. It has been great to see him scoring after years of Claus's up-and-back futility, bless his cotton socks, but Jos has missed as many easy chances as he's converted. Imagine that - a central defender with 10-12 goals to his name! I always really fancy us at corners because there are just too many goal threats to be marked. Sharp's goal against Donny was an example of a team running out of markers - damn near the shortest guy on the pitch scores with a header.

You might need to get used to that feeling.

Could there ever be a bigger contrast than the one between BFS (b*tching about the fans, criticizing the team, leaning heavily on the long ball to a big striker, buying from above and expecting them to give their "all" in an individual-focused environment) and Adkins (praising the fans, using "five positives and one negative" with the team, sticking faithfully to his belief that football is all about passing - but going long when that's the best option, and buying from below but bringing them along together in a very team-focused environment)? What a brilliant motivational thought - a video of the season to date, showing the team how good they looked when they passed and moved, passed and moved. And how things can go pear-shaped if they don't. That's a far better reminder and motivator than all the words under the sun. And I can just hear him saying, in the dressing room before the Palace game, "I shouldn't need to say a word after we've all watched our supporters, in their thousands, coming here to support us!" When the season is done, I hope someone in the London-based media will have the courage to focus on that contrast.

I think the biggest 'point' we have might well be goal difference.

It's up to the others to take it off Louis because he's not going to give it to them. Fifteen, though, is such a brilliant, telling hole. Everything from eagle to double-bogey there.

Phil, tell your mate to tell Poults that you were the one who advised AOC to go to the Arse. That should seal the deal! I've loved the Masters since I was a kid but it took on a whole new level after actually going there. I sure hope you make it.