CanadaSaint

If it sells out there should be about 4x the number of 'people' (AKA, self-appointed 'best fans in football') at FP today.

Yes, in an excellent team performance (everyone contributing) I was a bit disappointed with Fox. He needs to be told to play to the whistle and ditch the habit of stopping while he appeals for something or other. He did that twice today and it could have been very costly both times.

This, for me, was quite telling, given the Saints-coloured spectacles I see everything through and the fact that Dave Merrington is a key information source : It's not often you hear a TV commentator that enthused about a team they're commentating on, especially in a top of the table clash.

I don't see it that way, adrian. Yes, in stature terms we can start thinking about Lallana heading same way as MLT. However, the big difference is the quality at the Club now. Losing MLT from that team was a hell of a lot worse than losing Lallana from this team. He's still pretty damned important, though, and I'd love to see him there on Tuesday because he's not really "markable", if you know what I mean.

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".