Dig Dig

A positive post - Punch has pleasantly surprise me this season, he's stepped up and COULD be a crucial part in the rest of our season. Seeing as a year ago it looked like he'd played his last game for us.

 

Been a better performer than Lallana this year (who has struggled)

Lallana hasn't struggled. Been singled at as our best performer against Utd and City, called up for England, class goal at the weekend, top assists for us. What more do people expect?

He rarely has an end product (Stevenage beside)

Cross for Lambert vs. Utd, Goal against Villa.... He does create and make chances for himself. Just doesnt do it over 90 minutes enough

I can't see this for some reason?

Same, cant view off Iphone anyway

I can't believe people are saying they dot care if we get relegated this season? Where's the ambition in that?

 

Lambert would go, Lallana would go, Ramirez would go, any other half decent performer would leave. We've have taken one step forwards (in getting promoted last year) and then 2 massive steps back (getting relegated and seriously weakens team)

We'd get Billy Sharp back though, sooooooo.....

If we get Kenwyne Jones, I'm becoming a Pompey fan

We're gonna stay up with Arry and Kenwyne....

Lambert leaving Saints would be like your long term bird or your wife finishing with you - only worse.

The thought of him turning up to St Marys playing for another team is horrible. I don't think I could go to the game if that happened

Hmm, Yes really. I run a health club. I suffer the hypocrisy and am conflicted when my club does alcoholic drinks promotions, even if im a good cuistomer of them myself!

 

Doing it within a football stadium is just asking for trouble. A better priced meal with wine - i get it, a limited offer on other drinks i get it - but an out and out call to turn up early and get smashed inside the ground thinly disguised as a carling voucher is mental.

 

Don't get me wrong - I'm no hypocrite so Im delighted at the cheap booze - BUT - its the wrong message and about twenty years out of date, and about 750 miles north east of the Ibiza bars where it has also ruined there reputation. Still an epic fail.

5 bottles of beer is about 2.5 pints and I'm sure most who use it will be in a group anyway.

i dont know. As i understand it, it was still missing last night.

Top info, feel free to PM me with any breaking developments

So they just happened to pick on a thread which was blocked yesterday afternoon about a missing spoon and decided to make it a story did they?

did they find it?

the man deserves a medal for getting a team with jaksobson, davenport and bernard to be 1 goal away from safety......probably even worse than our defence now...

Does he deserve a medal for actually signing Davenport and Bernard?

Sandra may have read to him the same book derry has read and play 5 2 3

I'm confused on this thread. I thought most people would simply say that they would back whatever Cortese decides as He'a not got much wrong so far, our past is irrelevant because the club was reborn in 2009 and Redknapp will be a great choice because He's a proven manager and like Adkins will have full control of team matters so will be in his element at this club with the ambition and backing the chairman and club has to take us into the champions league. Surely those that have spouted all this on support of their leader should shut up, back the chairmans decision as he hasn't got much wrong so far has he.

Im not surprised you are confused you big old WUM

What is obvious is your superficial knowledge of football tactics (Reading 'Inverting the Pyramid' by Jonathon Wilson might help but I doubt it). A sweeper is the free one of a man marking back four. A front sweeper is a defender that protects an orthodox back four. Schneiderlin plays deep but doesn't give the defensive cover across the field. A defender would do a better defensive job freeing up the two midfielders to join the front three. We have conceded 24 goals doing it the way we are, so that isn't working, putting in another defender could plug the holes. Fonte or Yoshida could do that job. It is a defender not a midfielder. It is only a small difference from five at the back, 3 CBs with wing backs.

Ok I bow to your superior knowledge as you've read a book. I won't bother reading as I think I've go it now.

In summary, drop Morgan and instead play 3 CB's.

Obviously Adkins doesn't agree and I'm sure he's read more books and been on more courses then you even.

I'd be interested to hear your view Steve. It seems we agree on that, but we are in the minority.

 

Do you believe Adkins team selections are being interfered with from above?

 

I find it very odd that on the one hand every is supporting the chairman and Reed and claiming everything that happens on the football side involves Adkins, yet in the next breath saying Redknapp wouldn't come here because he wont be able to work with them. If he is left to get on with football matters, which many are claiming Adkins is, then why will they be unable to work together?

Transfers: Transfer Committee as explained by Reed

Formation: club philosophy for 433 to be played at all levels within the club tro help player development and integration to the first team

Coaching, players selection etc: Adkins and coaching team

Thats how I see it anyway

There is a solution. Dispense with a holding midfielder and play a defender in front of the two centre backs to sweep across in front of the back four and cover the space being exposed by the wide player not tracking back. That would cover the unreliability of the forwards in being too slow to counter a threat. Something we don't do well is stay with the attacker. Fonte lost Nolan on Saturday after initially picking him up but reverted to ball watching and wandered off freeing Nolan to knock the cross in. Once a player tracks an attacker they have to stay with that attacker and tight mark until the danger is dealt with. Picking up initially then letting the attacker free is suicide in the Premier. One of the reasons Dickson doesn't get a look in, is that Lallana doesn't want to play in front of him.

Not this again derry!!! You say replace a DM with a CB playing the same position but how would that help other than to have a player in the middle who is not as technical and probably less mobile. If you're referring to a sweeper, why wouldn't they sit behind the back 4 rather than in front? As it is, the whole notion of a sweeper is ridiculously dated.

I think you're silly

A very sensible post. The thing is, as a couple of people have said before - is NA able to spot good players from bad. Whilst I was not a Pardew fan he seemed very good at picking very able players to buy or play but poor NA - I'm not so sure he is as talented as Pardew in this part of management...

Yes he can which is why he subbed Fox at half time against Villa and dropped him. The trouble is, we haven't faired much better since then.

Knob

Top post

Might we well keep Adkins then.

We should keep Adkins. He's a very good manager. What would we do with another manager if we were still the same after another 8 games? Keep the revolving door moving?

He's not a wheeler dealer though. Fack off.

 

 

Not sure what's worse about that video; 'Arry's petulance or the commentaors "oooooh nooooo!"

Deffo the oooooooh nooooooooo. Classic

At the end of the day though it was Sandra that swung it for him, she told him what a great opportunity it was and how he'd be mad to turn it down, it's a great job and a chance to finish his career with a triffic club. And he's not worried about the reaction of the fans, what are they going to do shoot him? It's not a war.

Sandra doesn't want him to be travelling around the country at this age now and as soon as he spoke to Joe and Kevin and heard that they were keen, it wasn't a tough decision to make. He's been a football man all his life so why shouldn't he take a job at a proper club if it's offered to him?

He's got unfinished business; last time the club was down to the bare bones with injuries and, with the players at the club when he arrived, they were going down anyway, no doubt. F'sure.

He's probably spoken to the chairman Nicola Cortese who deals with all the transfers and that kind of thing and his looking forward to working with some triffic players we have here like Adam Lalalana and the Uriquayen lad. Transfer money is available in Jan but he probably is unaware of any targets as Nicola will deal with all that.

He'll want to be here because Southampton is a triffic club with great supporters and he's got unfinished business at a proper football club. He's got a huge deal of respect for Nicola and Les and what they are doing here. last time it was right club wrong time, now with the backing the club he's got he can build a team to take it to where it belongs.

It will definitely be his last job in football, couldn't ask for a better place to finish, a proper family club with triffic fans who were good to him last time he was here.

What Redknapp did last time is totally irrelevant to what he might do now. It was 7 years ago, he didn't want to be here from day one and he inherited a team which was in huge decline and beset by injuries to key players in Svenson and Oakley. I thought he'd keep us up but it's worth remembering the rot had already set in, I think we'd only won twice when he arrived and we looked a team destined for the drop. Since then he's turned Pompey who were relegation fodder when he went back into an FA Cup winning team and spurs form the bottom 3 into the champions league for the first even. As I've said a couple of times on this thread, with my Saints fan head on I don't want him anywhere near us, but thinking rationally I can't think of anyone better to establish us as a Premeir league club.

True but why would he want to be here now? It's only a few months ago he was in charge of a team which finished 4th and was touted as next England manager.

Plus ( and I know it's not entirely his fault) the only way he managed to turn Portsmouth around was to attract players on huge huge wages who went on the eventually cripple the club. It wasn't down to his amazing managerial prowess.

Redknapp is just a poor fit for us all round.

the only managers who will keep us up are Harry or Gordon S , if we stick with Atkins we will complete the 5 year plan in league 1

Harry did a good job at keeping us up last time didn't he?