CanadaSaint

I hope WHU go up with this squad and their current bank account, because that'll be one of next year's relegation spots locked up.

They can't score too early, though, because WHU will throw everything at them and Leicester aren't good enough to withstand it.

I wasn't blaming Guly - just saying that our shape and balance changed completely when he came on. I think we're actually agreeing that the lack of a right-side option on the bench cost us. It's not Guly's fault that he's not the guy to provide that.

It's a big risk not to put a keeper on the bench - unless one of the outfield players could do the job in a crisis. What did for us yesterday IMO was not having Bart on the bench but failing to have someone there who could keep our balance and blend on the right side. We were all over them when Chappers went off but Guly's arrival changed our shape and balance completely. I'd love to know the story with Puncheon because his versatility makes him an automatic for the bench in my book.

I thought he was absolutely superb for about 3/4 of the game but was seldom the same force after that. I think he took a knock on the edge of the box - left hip if I remember correctly (as it was against Donny) - and then faded away.

I'm struggling to find enough words to express my admiration for Rickie. There are so many dimensions to his game, his temperament is super, he's a great "team guy", and (the Brighton game apart) he plays on despite absorbing a ton of physical abuse that's seldom punished with a free kick. Yep, he's certainly a "dangerous beast" but I can't help but wonder whether we've failed to finish strongly against Pompey, Reading and now 'Boro (all of which we could and IMO should have won) because Rickie hasn't been as much of a factor as he was in the first 75 minutes. I don't think it's his endurance because this is a recent thing - I think he's carrying something.

Those free kick situations are so dangerous - and the modern ball so lively - that I think we need to change our thinking. We're starting to see that happen with some teams. When it's very likely that the guy is going to shoot, we should be putting someone at the post behind the wall - at the opposite end of the goal to the one that Kelvin is choosing to protect in case of the hard-hit shot (rather than the "up and over.") If the shooter can get it high enough that the post defender can't reach it, fair enough. I'd be less worried about playing someone onside than about that shot coming in, and the offside thing is less of a concern anyway if we do it at the last minute. On another topic, does anyone think that Rickie might be playing through an injury? He hasn't finished the last few games very well.

FC, when I said "a comfortable championship" I meant from our great position of just three weeks ago - not the start of the season! And I certainly don't think the side is "gutless", just in case you're suggesting I implied that.

Yeah, I do know that and yes, I have commented on it. But amidst the "spew" there are some valid points. Categorizing everyone as a wet fanny, which is how your comments always seem to come across, doesn't acknowledge the valid points and doesn't do anything other than tick (some) people off. Sure I'm still optimistic but if the pressure-free Coventry close us down quickly and play above themselves next week, my bum isn't just going to be squeaking!

DD, why do you need to resort to such an infantile approach when people – Saints fans, just like you – express concerns about the way the team played or about decisions made or not made by the manager? You took a run at me after I expressed some concerns following the Barnsley game about us not getting the ball forward fast enough – not all the time but some of the time, especially when we are fielding players who need the early ball. That day it was Lee but since then it’s been De Ridder. I said that the weakness didn’t cost us against Barnsley but that it might against better teams. Since then we’ve had lots of the ball but failed to score the key goals in four out of five games – that’s what happens when you take a long time to build attacks. During that vital time we’ve gone 1W, 1D and 3L. In three of those games we’ve conceded open-play goals from the "D" on the edge of the box. It’s basic stuff to defend the D when they have the ball and attack the D when we have it, but we don’t do either very well. What should have been a comfortable championship has become a bum-squeaking fight for second place. Why can’t you accept that people – Saints fans, just like you – can hold valid concerns without deserving to be called “wet fannies”? Why can't you accept that we can like the team and the manager a whole lot, but not be blind to some areas that may need improvement? I have no problem with you disagreeing, especially if you offer a counter view, but the sneering is needless and childish.

That'll be three blue lines then in the last four games.

He's not a shadow of the player he was and I can only think of three possible reasons - League One was his level, things aren't right for him off the pitch, or he struggles to play alongside Jos.

Hey, I'm a big Nigel fan but: 1. We've conceded three goals from the D, in open play, in four games. That’s unforgiveable. 2. Bringing Guly on completely changed a shape that was working very well. I still can’t believe he did that. We needed to trade like-for-like and retain the shape.

I don't think he's been fully fit since the Donny game.

We changed our shape big-time by bringing Guly on for Chaplow. And it was working so well before then.

Bringing Guly on will probably change our shape quite a lot, and we'd been doing so well.

Defending the D on the edge of the box is normally the responsibility of the centre midfielder who plays in front of the back four. We've conceded goals from the D in three of the last four games - all of them when Schneiderlin was off the pitch and Hammond on it. Coincidence? I suspect not.

The D is one of the most lethal places in the game - many a bad bounce or half-clearance ends up there. We seldom attack it well and we certainly don't defend it well.

Same goddam mistake again. Three goals from the f*cking D - Pompey, Reading and now this lot.

Not that we need any more motivation to finish strongly, but I'll bet Nigel makes sure that comment doesn't pass unnoticed in the Saints dressing room.

Was that the guy who made the needless comments about NA's interview style? What a d*ck.

Good luck to them. Good football and they didn't spend a fortune getting there. Them going up, even more than us, must make the West Ham fans want to vomit.

Three two-goal games and I still don't think we're going to see the best of Billy Sharp until we've had a chance to get him properly fit.

Screw the Reading result - it doesn't take anything away from ours. Still, hopefully they'll go out on the lash and sh*t the bed in one of their last two.

Well, in fairness he only seems able to score in two's. Not good enough IMO. (That was my Alps impression.)