saints_is_the_south

If it's 6 weeks then he may be back in time to face us although he won't have any match fitness so i doubt he would play anyway which is good news. I've never been able to understand the constant bashing of Rasiak on this forum, he scored goals & and virtually got us in the play offs single handedly, without them we'd have been miles away. And like Alpine said had he not been misteriously dropped half way through the season we may have done even better than to squeeze in the top 6 on the last day. No forget that, lets have Brett Omerod back who will run his socks off all day but not actually put the ball in the net.

3-1

The way i understand it is that they are asking us to email our nominations & not our player of the month. Then flybe will choose from our nominations in which case my 3 would be... David McGoldrick - 3 goals in 5 games & still Blackpool to go Adam Lallana - 2 goals in 5 & has generally been the pinnacle of everything we have done so well Simon Gillett - Been excellent, completely bossed the midfield at times against players like Robbie Savage & Lee Carsley who i didn't even realise was playing on Tuesday night! Other nominees would be Holmes & Killer but i've tried to keep it down to just the 3.

Full list of 3rd round teams following last night's results: Prem: Manchester Utd Chelsea Liverpool Arsenal Skates Everton Tottenham Manchester City Stoke City Newcastle United Wigan Athletic Middlesborough Fulham Sunderland West Ham Blackburn Rovers Aston Villa CCC: Southampton Burnley Cardiff City Ipswich Town Derby County QPR Swansea City Watford Reading Sheffield United League 1: Crewe Alexandra Hartlepool United Leeds United Northampton Town League 2: Rotherham United Any of the league 1 or 2 teams home or away except Leeds for me. Don't want another CCC team but if i had to choose it would either be Derby or Burnley at home. From the prem i wouldn't mind somebody like West Ham or Wigan at SMS.

http://www.stokecityfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/StokeReserves/0,,10310,00.html He's been removed from their squad list so i guess it's a done deal.

This is my only hope if it does happen although i can't really see why we need another midfielder especially if we are to buy this other French bloke as well. His career stats don't exactly make great reading though & it seems all he's ever done is play for his old man. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Pulis

http://blackpool.rivals.net/News/pgArticle.aspx?artid=13530_4048015&id=8 They've only won once in 15 games :shock: How teh fook did they manage to stay up last season?!?!

Exactly my thoughts too. If you look at their start they have lost their 2 homes but got a point away at Norwich. This says to me that they are obviously no good at trying to go for a win which has resulted in 2 home defeats, however when they've gone away they have packed the midfield & made it hard for the opposition. That said i can't believe many if any teams in this division can pass the ball around like we have done in our opening games so i think we should be able to break them down, a early goal is obviously imperative. Edit - Just found this: http://www.blackpool.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=509335

Must be signed up on a long term deal & it is vital we get back in the prem ASAP otherwise he'll be the next to go.

Sounds extremely encouraging. 6 goals in 7 for the u21 is especially pleasing given he's actually only 19. I reckon we could have a gem here. He was impressed with the team last night too! http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/?page_id=10503

I went to bed when the Cov-New highlights finished with only 15 minutes left of the show as i knew we were going to get a few seconds, plus i'd already seen them on SSN.

IIRC it did last year but not by very many. Since it's on a Sunday i reckon it will.

Been in both once each. Much better view from the upper IMO mind you i was in the very front row of the lower tier.

My thoughts on swapping the team around slightly is that we have to remember these players are only young so whilst they are going to carry on getting better as the season progresses they are also going to get tireder so rotation can only be a good thing IMO.

Weren't Plymouth after BWP?? I'm sure the 2 of them must realise they'd have to take a wage cut to go anywhere else in the CCC but then i guess they are just happy to pick up their pay packet here whilst doing nothing.

At the moment i see absolutely no place in this set up for Euell or BWP so they should certainly both be sold. Whilst he is on big wages i would keep Skacel as i actually feel he is a better left back than Surman & would provide good competition for Drew, assuming that he is staying. I reckon we could pick up a good few hundred thousand for Euell & BWP & in the process getting another approx £15/20k a week off the wage bill.

Also don't forget the prize money you get for winning each round. I know it's not an awful lot but the further you get the more it adds up. IMO it would be better to have 2 more "easier" draws at SMS & then get a big draw at home.

Thought i'd get the ball rolling on this... For me it would be as follows: Davis Cork - Perry - Killer - Surman Gillett - Wotton Lallana - Schneiderlin - Holmes McGoldrick Subs: Bart, James,White, Peckhart, John.

I was thinking about this earlier. At this stage it would have to be Killer & Cork for me although you could quite easily move Cork over to right back & carry on playing Perry & Killer. I generally think though the more rest that Killer/Perry gets at this stage of the season will be more beneficial come later in the season. My team for Blackpool would be as follows anyway... Davis Cork - Perry - Svensson - Surman Gillett - Wotton Lallana - Schneiderlin - Holmes McGoldrick

I noticed in the first half last night that we slowed it down for about the last 10 minutes or so whilst still keeping the ball & making Birmingham have to chase. I think the difference from the 1st half in the league game was that we were playing at the high tempo for the entire half & i think the players were more tired in the 2nd half. Also Stern John coming on last night helped us in a big way as some of his hold up play was top notch & really took the albeit little pressure that they were putting on us, off. Saying that i don't really rate DMG at right wing & i think it would be better to put Dyer or Lallana there when bringing John on. Another thing last night which i felt was a good move was moving Surman from left back into the middle although i'm not quite sure Mills was ready for last night. If Skacel does stay then he'd be the better option to bring on at left back when moving Surman into the middle IMO.

Agreed. First half he was poor but did improve in the 2nd half tbf. Cork on the other hand was excellent, fantastic debut. Hope we can extend his loan to the end of the season.

Teams currently in the hat for the 3rd round: Prem: Manchester Utd Chelsea Liverpool Arsenal Skates Everton Tottenham Manchester City Stoke City Newcastle United Wigan Athletic Middlesborough CCC: Southampton Burnley Cardiff City Ipswich Town Derby County QPR Swansea City Watford Reading League 1: Crewe Alexandra Hartlepool United Leeds United Northampton Town League 2: Rotherham United Playing tonight: Huddersfield Town Vs Sheffield United Nottingham Forest Vs Sunderland West Ham United Vs Macclesfield Town Blackburn Rovers Vs Grimsby Town Fulham Vs Leicester City

Booo! Also anybody know if they will be doing that stupid seeding thing again? I assume we'd be seeded this time if it was the case.

I thought it was tonight after the other games??

+1. It's about time everybody forgot about Lowe,Wilde...etc. They are here now & won't be going anywhere for the foreseeable future. Surely it's more important to get down to SMS to get behind these lads & give them as much support as possible & help them carry on playing this way to get us back to the prem. I hate Lowe just as the next person but it's about supporting SFC & the players that are currently putting on that shirt & starting to play some of the best football we've seen in bloody ages.