CanadaSaint

Careful, Dave. You might get invited to a 'conversation'.

That was a very lazy first hour - the triangles were not being set because the movement was so lacking. Guly was poor - lots of ball watching, and then he sold Hammond short which ended up with his second yellow and the resultant red. I'd have taken Guly off - before he threaded that superb pass through for SDR, but what a finish! And - top job, Kelvin. Chaplow was everywhere and my MoM for us. Let's not forget - one on the road, three at home will win just about any division.

Either our "back from the game" posters and the Solent crew saw a different match or the guy who wrote this is just another typical London-based journalist: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/championship/8835067/Southampton-1-West-Ham-United-0-match-report.html? Here's a snippet: Adkins’ team can play so unconvincingly and yet still prevail in this tense battle of the division’s top two

Besides us having the better team IMO, I think Sam got out-managed today. He shot his mouth off about tactics while Nigel stayed quiet - even though he had quite a significant surprise planned (not starting Cork). If someone had said we'd take four points from the last two games without Lallana I wouldn't have believed them. With every passing week it seems more likely that we are the "real deal" - and with money to spend in January.

They must be counting t*ts and testicles.

Yep, excellent - a threat everywhere. I actually thought that, if anything, he was fouled inside the box in the last three minutes, not the other way around. That's why he hoofed the ball into the stand and got booked.

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.