up and away

I was not so sure about this when I first heard the estimated costs. But I don't believe it is as straight forward as we all imagine to upgrade to 45k, something I have heard a few times going back to when the stadium was originally built. BHA's build was complicated by having to bury it within the Downs and to fit it into a delicate environment. Cortese has stated in public the possibility of upgrading to 45k either by extending St Mary's OR moving to a new site. Now if Cortese is mentioning a new site within the same breath, I don't believe this would be done with a massive cost differential between the two proposals and why I give credence to other reports I have heard. These being that it is not straight forward to upgrade the stadium and it will cost a lot of money. As with the Dell, I would imagine the sale and development of the existing St Marys would be part of balancing those costs. Bearing in mind the original stadium was ridiculously cheap may have some bearing, but again only a guess.

There is always that possibility even though I find that difficult to comprehend at the present. I have heard the City council will do everyting they can to retain the stadium within the city in regards to planning. Cortese has mentioned upgrading the stadium or even a new site, so rumours that costs for either option are not too far apart don't look to far of the mark for a 45k stadium?

Was he lucky? I can only assume he got off of those charges, given the statements from the "victims" side, because the jury believed those statements to be lies. From all that I have heard so far I am surprised, although someone did state the "victim" was pushing people to the side. Whereas the "victim" denies any involvement. I suppose if you are carrying two bottles in each hand and one in your mouth you are hardly going looking for trouble. Add in, if the "victim" was found to be lying to even a small degree, then out it all goes. The jury came to the decision in hardly any time, so it seems very clear cut from their side, even though it may be puzzling from what we know.

I feel exactly the same way regarding Nigels pre / post match interviews. But I fully understand that is an important aspect of Adkins job and the message he has to communicate with the players and in some cases the fans. I don't argue that Adkins comes out with a load of blithery, Pollyanna coated ****** but it does have a purpose. The best information comes from the mid game interviews but you have to be sharp to pick out the nuances.

As with anything in life, the more something is wanted the greater value goes alongside that commodity. If you were to ask any Championship club at the beginning of the season "would you take second place now or prefer to fight it out for the opportunity of the title?" the answer would be over whelming. So your value scale is totally out of kilter with the majority where the title has little significance and not even viewed as a prize in many cases. I am not even sure if you get a prize for winning the Championship, where the real prize is promotion to the Premier and £100M+ in future revenue automatically from finishing the 21st or 22nd best club in the land.

I have not paid much attention to the case, having little knowledge of what went on. But with the testominy being given I find it difficult to see Lee avoiding a custodial sentence, 6 months would come as no surprise. If the statement that the injured party never instigated or responded to the attack, then I think lee's goose is cooked. A violent assult with a bottle, no provacation and no resistance? If all this is true I just cannot see Lee staying out of prison with amnesia being no credible defence in this case. If the guy is left with facial scaring as well, goodnight Lee.

He came out for one decent cross from the left wing, I believe in the second half. Handled that very well and why I feel he would have dealt with the cross Roberts scored from. In reality he may well of stayed on his line as Kelvin but I felt Federici was easily the better keeper. Especially when you consider he has been doing the same or better for several games. One of the main reasons why Reading have gone on the run they have and I can't see anyone touching him for Championship goalie. He mugged Brighton when the rest of the Reading team were not at the races.

We have been through all of this before with Kelvin and it's best he continues as he has been. Because Kelvin coming for those crosses was even worse. We all know it's a weakness as we know his shot stopping is a strength. Federici showed how it should be done, but he looks the outstanding goalie in this league. That good I would have been sweating a Ricky penalty.

Because I think its a bit ungrateful for fans to say lallana is the best player in the league when rickie has scored 31 goals on top of opta index and made more than anyone else too. Im not apologising for sticking up for what looks like a genuine soton legend. You need to watch more of the game rather than trailing after Ricky like a puppy. Ricky has been our best player of late and our player of the season but we have committed a lot in other players to achieve that end. When others are not doing their job or we are slightly off form, Ricky finds it difficult to influence a game. When someone mentions the likes of Vaz Te it's because they can make something from the game without relying on others. Lallana has been the player to be able to force Saints to another level, just not since his injuries for some reason. As good as Ricky is and as much as I want him in the team, we desperately need someone who can make or score a goal from nothing. Ricky did it against Palace with his second goal but previous to that was against Huddersfield in League 1. My big issue with Ricky is when things are not going so well and he will retreat into the midfield / wing to find space and easier pickings. That does work and makes things easier for Ricky but not for the team because most of the time it is Ricky that needs to be on the end of that cross or pass. You can win all the flick ons going in midfield but if nothing comes from them I can't see where praise for that alone is coming from.

Even in League 1 he would regularly make major positional errors that could of cost (close to 1 per game). Being League 1 this never transpired into goals most of the time and fans chose to ignore this and accentuate the positives. I thought at the time he was trying to cover for others too much at the expense of his own game but that has proven not to be the case. Fonte is a real Jekyll and Hyde character, where one situation he is class and elegance personified, another in headless chicken mode. To me the problems that get him into trouble are positional which is followed by donning the chicken outfit to remedy the error. Fonte is still an excellent player, just not the footballing god some fans have attached to him. I believe his best position would be as the holding midfield player but we have others not bad there and CB is the real need for us at the moment.

A very poor point which is on no way based upon fact or even interpretations thereof. In December of last year, Cortese increased Adkins contract to 5½ years, something there was no need to do or merited by performance / league position at that time. This reward was based upon how progress had been made under Adkins in bringing together and utilising the whole package Saints had to offer to take the club forward. All the expensive back room staff culminating in the first team were actually in harmony and starting to reap rewards. Pardew deserved the sack and it was a surprise to me he was even given a second chance. He deliberately went against Corteses direct instructions that the league was the #1 priority, even stupid enough to go into print in the match program expressing that view. Then at the start of the next season in the League cup he comes up with "The cup was not a priority but we treated it as such anyway" Just how dumb do you have to be to make that statement? But it was the failure to integrate all the expensive support staff that did for Pardew, culminating in him decimating the team in pre-season training by ignoring advice from his own expensive support staff. Support staff that realised the magnitude of the damage being done they put their jobs on the line by reporting this directly to Cortese. It was a long time before Adkins reached the same level of playing highs as Pardew but it was achieved gradually by addressing all the problems and being far more consistent. Pardew never addressed the fundamental problem with midfield during all his time at Saints and could never get consistent performances. World beaters one game then struggling to put away a bottom 4 team, because the stamina levels required for his style of play were not suited to two games a week. Something not a major factor in the Premier league. Polyanna Adkins may have a ring of truth, but you believe it would help matters more with a different approach? Footballers don't do cohesive thought too well especially when fuelled with testosterone, so best to keep the message low key with a positive slant. As for the plan B, there is a point there but something that we tried to address in the transfer window. Sharp does not give us a plan B but several of our other primary targets definitely would have given us a plan B. Rodriques as the prime example. We covered ourselves with Chung and Falque as back up, unluckily missing out because of Chungs injury. There are areas of weakness with our style of play but it must not be forgotten that it has equally provided us with all the success to deliver us our current position. Even though I feel Billy does not give us a different style of play, he looked the best available from what was on offer and even his small contribution so far becomes justifiable given the prize. Even if things now go completely pear shaped, Adkins has still done a remarkable job and something he would improve upon the following season. Cortese is a driven person and would find missing out very hard to take. But he showed with the decision to keep Pardew that emotions can be put to one side for what he believes is correct for the club. I have little doubt Cortese will keep Adkins, irrespective of the last 3 games.

I don't know about anyone else but I was more than gpb smacked when the final whistle went and we had lost 3-1. I could not accurately figure out what had actually happened for us to lose that 3-1. It was a very good game and there is no way I imagined a Championship side turning us over when we have that amount of midfield control, but it was no fluke as others have explained. I watched the whole game this morning and things were a lot clearer. Readings defence and defensive midfield set up to stop anyone getting in behind them with Federici well protected. Federici was the difference between the two sides, swap him over and the result would go with it. Really impressed with Federici, allowing Reading to easily set up a sound defence. After Lallana's first attack and the space he was afforded by Cummings on the outside, I could sense easy pickings. But Cummings had an excellent game showing Lallana the same route time and again, ensuring players were not getting in behind the defence as first priority. We are normally so good at picking holes in the opposition I am surprised we never targeted Hart much earlier, forcing them to double up at least in that position. Our attack was left muzzled by Reading, with Lallana being shown a safe corridor away from the danger zone and Sharp and Ricky are just not working as a unit. For what ever reason, Lallana is not the same effective player as he was, although still a good player. There was a time when he would take hold of a game such as this and drive the team onto victory. Just missing that extra spark since his foot then groin injury. Ricky kept a lot of the moves and possession going by coming back to get the ball, but too far away most of the time to be effective. Get the right partner for Ricky and we could see a completely different Ricky. When SDR came on he did brighten things up but after watching the replays he leaves a lot to be desired. His short passing would deny the team any chance of developing the ball because of the time and space denied to the team mate with the quality of the pass. He seemed to wait until two defenders were lined up in front, rather than go early and attack the lone defender. One reason why the midfield were playing well being they would turn and face the opposition upon receiving the ball, then drive the opposition onto the back foot. Something SDR lacked but generally he tended to waste the first second or two once in possession. Seems harsh on someone who did make a difference when he came on, but could have done a lot better. Overall that performance would have produced a result against nearly every other Championship side but not Reading. We got a glimpse into the future there and there will be more days like that for our defence who would just not be good enough in the Premier. God knows how many points Federici is worth to Reading but it has to be significant double figures.

That's a practical outlook that still works. I don't buy into the Barcelona model for the reasons you have made but the Ajax model would certainly be a lot closer. If you take that great Ajax side of 1995 and put that team into the Premier or la Liga there would have been no where near the same pressure to sell the players off or the players to go. More than likely being able to keep the majority of the talent. But it's pie in the sky just for Saints to get into that position, similar to our scenario for getting into the Premier:)

If the player has not come through the ranks, clubs like Saints do not manage to sign players of such potential. Our only chance in the early years for these types of players is to develop them ourselves or take punts on possibles. Take the case of Oxo for example. Without his father there could be chances to keep him for another couple of years if we were in the Premier. And if we managed any success that may have been possible to extend a little further. So maybe we only manage to keep the first Oxo for an extra 18 months, it's possible we can extend that further with the next hot prospect coming through as we develop as a team. As poor as the return looks, it's the only viable alternative to the ManC approach? Even in the dark times of losing these young starts, you can always console yourself that it's kept the Academy running for a further X years.

Who is being ridiculous? I know the ticket office have made mistakes, more than a normal season. But what indication do you have this is one of them? Cortese would have signed this off for the extra tickets and it would not surprise me that the demand was influenced by the Monday results, let alone this Fridays.

I am sure the club knew the extra tickets had been applied for, what they did not know 100% was whether they would receive them. This was explained well by the Palace chairman recently over the extra tickets from Palace. They have to consult with the Police over safety and the police will then set the level of officers and stewards for the particular game and crowd. If the Police demand a level of policing that does not make financial sense, it would come as no surprise that Peterborough would deny the extra tickets, as would the Police if they could not meet the staffing requirements. It looked pretty nailed on Saints would get the extra tickets, but stating that is another matter.

You really need to take the blinkers off when it comes to all things Ricky. We are talking about Ricky in the Premier and as we are set up at present he will struggle big time. I fully agree that Ricky is our player of the season already and the only person challenging Adkins as the main reason we will get promotion this season. Saying that Ricky can win everything in the air just shows how little you understand of his game. Back him up to the last defender and Ricky gets turned over by even modest centre backs with the help of a push and a shove. Ricky knows that and uses his intelligence to come more into the midfield to find the space such he is winning far more. The trouble is that it is very difficult to be effective when you are trying flick ons from that far back unless the rest of the team are dominating. You only have to look at Adkins comments for the first goal against Palace to see how it works. The intelligence of Ricky and movement of the other players left Ricky jumping against the midget Clyne for the first goal. He picks his battles intelligently and because of that reaps the rewards. Since Sharp has been at Saints it has posed several questions as to where the strike partnership will end up. So far I really don't see that Billy adds to Rickys game and vice versa. When we are not playing well it can make a lot of sense to go 451, a role Ricky does poorly in and I feel we would be better with just Sharp as the lone striker. Going into the Premier I still feel Ricky can be the main man, but those weak links he exploits at present will just not be there in the Premier. Free kicks have dried up as a source of goals and penalties will be far less. So far I have painted a gloomy picture for Ricky in the Premier but that does not have to be the case. With Rickys intelligence and paired up with someone like Crouch or Yakubu, you can see all sorts of possibilities opening up. What I don't see is that happening with the likes of Billy. One of the reasons mentioning that was the comment from DM on Solent as Ricky created his own chance there. Have not seen it to comment yet, but the last I can remember is the great goal coming in from the left against Huddersfield at home.

The problem is that "the hand" has just closed down from 8 yards to 4 yards and the ball has hit the arm outside of the body. If you are going to close the shot down to such a degree, you have to ensure no fault lies with your actions. If you don't close down and don't extend your arm/hand out in such a situation, then there is every reason it will be treated as ball to hand.

Absolutely no chance. Ricky is a #10 at best, a slow #10 and the sooner Adkins realises that the better. We will desperately need a main striker that brings out the best in Ricky, otherwise all the talent Ricky has will go to waste in the Premier. I only heard the game today but it has been an age (maybe more than a season) where I have heard / seen Ricky fashion his own opening for a goal he then scores. You need to think Sheringham not Van Persie and I believe we can get a lot more out of Ricky than what he has delivered so far, with the right partner up front.

Why does Chaplow have to be in? Talk about putting a run-of-the-mill player on a pedestal. He has trouble making the subs bench and for good reason. You are right, Chaplow has been very poor since coming back from injury and was rightly subbed after half a game last time out. The trouble is that the midfield are performing so poorly, that clutching at straws in the shape of Chaplow seems almost rational. Personally, I would go 451 but am pretty sure Adkins will not. Billy is the main striking threat we have at the moment and I would play a game suited to him rather than our recent offerings. The Palace game has all the signs of a loss. Our midfield just huffed and puffed themselves flat out against Pompey without acheiving much, leaving little in the tank for Palace.

But he was not in top condition and there lies a major part in our problem, we play the same way whether Ricky is on or badly off form. It does not matter a jot if you are winning every header coming to you when nothing comes from that. When you are winning headers that far back from the coal face, you tend to create less and less as was demonstrated. Get a backbone and get into a position where those headers will be difficult to defend, not 10-20 yards back. But then you tend to find the easy pickings have gone and you are not winning any where near the same amount of headers.

We were poor today, mainly because the whole team were poor with the exception of Ricky and Guly, who were crap. Billy scored two very good goals and in that match showed us what he is all about, a goal poacher who brings little else to the game. I was disappointed we got caught up in the derby atmosphere and forgot to play football for times, with the ball just bouncing about from player to player. It's criminal to go defensive for the final few minutes then allow Norris to score. We never played the clock down very well at all. Who was meant to be our main striker out there today and how did we support him? If you are expecting Billy to get goals you will need to put someone up front to battle and create the chances because when you are flicking on headers from so far back, you still have too much work to do to create the opening. Most of our success has come from a pass and move game without what I would call a recognised #9. We've seen the wheels come off before and they are off again with our style of play, because the players are not good enough at the present. As difficult as it was, we failed when we never bought a plan B in the January window. Billy does not suit our style of play and it shows, the alternative is to go more defensive and hope Billy nicks you a goal. Because flicking on headers for Billy from so far back is not going to give you an open scoring opportunity, there is still to much work to be done. We spent a lot of energy in chasing 50/50 balls just to create further 50/50 balls and I doubt will have little in the tank for Palace or any reward, bearing in mind our current playing form. Then we have to try and get something out of the Reading game

If it's the same format as previously, I would recommend the Liebherr Trophy to anyone considering a freindly. The format of 3 teams in shortened games meant you got to see Saints play against a couple of different styles and most of the squad getting a run out. Because it's a freindly nature with each team having time off you can get around and chat to all different parties. Take advantage of the Liebherr suite and it really was a memorable day, even had a chat with Adkins. Disappointed it was such a low crowd but that is to be expected at that date but made everything seem a lot more accessable. The format, the three games I thought was excellent and it would not surprise me if Arsenal turned up, it just seemed like excellent preparation at that time of the season.

I prefer Schneiderlin for all the reasons you have laid out. The thought crossed my mind that Hammond may offer something different and bring about a change in our fortunes. So I can understand others POV when they feel he should have been changed out, even though that may not have been correct. Schneiderlin is THE first pick for the midfield at present and I doubt I would have responded to the post but for the use of his passing stats, which are misleading IMO.

Given out pretty patchy at best record away from home all season we need to be putting out our strongest possible team for all 3 home games. I would far rather if players had to be rested it was against Palace or the other 2 away games. Our record is not so patchy, but some of the performances behind that record certainly are. I agree that to concentrate on the home games could well maximise any possible returns, but a difficult game to play. It could be a big danger to play Ricky against either Pompey or Palace and if desperate, I would start him on the bench against pompey and use him if must. Against Palace I would be very tempted to leave him out and try and nick something going 451, even though I don't believe Adkins has ever set up 451 with us? I am torn between the duckshunters view and yours, both make sense and either could be right. We have to maximise Ricky for the rest of the season, not just one game.