up and away

I said this at the time, Wright was not that great a keeper when he came to us, was not that great after leaving us. But one thing he did well was to command his 6 yard box such that I cannot remember anyone saying Kelvin should be in goal. When you compare the two, it was night and day and I would still take him just for the end of this season.

Not having a go at you over the rest of that post because you really have nothing to answer. But I really do not get the logic in this statement? Why does this debt have to be converted into equity? it really makes little difference. They can convert the debt into equity and then just strip the club bare if that's what they want to do. I know I would maximise any interest of any such debt, such the club never paid a penny in tax and keep ploughing it into the club. The only questions you have to ask, do we have the financial backing and do we trust the owners. There is absolutely nothing we can do or possibly find out until it is virtually a done deal, it just comes down to a matter of faith.

There is nothing complex or hidden here. This is the standard method of ploughing money into a club and we have seen how Chelsea have dealt with these in the past. At the end of the day it is a very simple equation, coming down to the faith you have in the owners. Any owner can up sticks at any time and sell on, that you just have to live with. I really don't understand why anyone requires any more information, it means nothing. They can say what they like, just repeat what has already been said and you will have no way of proving or disproving what they say until things actually happen, it all comes down to the faith you have in the owners. You can look at what they have done and that must reassure people, but if you are worried about this as debt, you are totally over looking the fact that the owners can break the club down into bits at any time.

debt that has to be paid in at least 5 years time is still debt. Don't go getting all excited, this is exactly the same with Abramovich and Chelsea and how they appeared on their accounts. As The Liebherr's own all the club and have loaned the money, what are they going to do? Sell of the club or the ground, something that can be done irrespective of the loan. This loan figure means absolutely nothing, apart from the generosity of our patrons.

This does not surprise me, but still gob smacked to see it in black and white. When you consider the average budget in League 1, really is amazing. And those still wanting to view Saints as good value for money, have totally no idea or more money than sense. Just consider our position without any debt and living within our means, no where near this level although we should be adding to that with a shirt sponsor next year.

Some very short memories on here. If Beattie was not fully fit, he was just not up to the job. When fit, I thought he was superb. For such a big guy who relies upon putting himself about it should be no surprise. Injuries and knocks just don't get easier later on in a career. As for Fuller, it took him about another 18 months after leaving us to get fully fit, he was never near fit with us. But he would be a definite asset now, but I reckon we would be the last club he would come to after some of the comments he made on leaving. And as for these being back up for Ricky, you must be dreaming. We are going to need a striker to lead the line and that's not Ricky. I don't know what we are going to do with him, but he definitely is not the solution as the front man. Something's gone wrong for Ricky, don't know what, but there's no reason why his free kicks have dried up as well? With a bit of luck he will come back a different player next season, but unless he does we will need that striker.

If you were nervy at this game, you must be a joy to be sat next to at some of the other games we have had. I have always thought you can play either of our full backs and get similar like results. Each has their own strengths and bring something different to the game. I really doubt Richardson could make another 90 minutes at the weekend, time to use all to maximum benefit, don't know why this has not been done more often. I understand the point about Guly, but that really discounts the amount of tireless and good work he put in. Everyone played well last night although there was a few minor issues. I thought we had the right players on the pitch last night and if you wanted to improve things what would you do? Remove Guly and what are you left with? If you wanted to strengthen that right side the only sensible thing would have been to put Guly in the middle and take Lambert off, I doubt we would have wanted that. Nope, that team was just what was required.

Looks like Fonte is starting, just a question who is dropped. Guly I expect to make way but I don't see an improvement if we play Lambert, Barnard and Forte, the midfield will still suffer. I do feel we will win this one, but I don't see Forte papering over the cracks unless the midfield gets strengthened. Going to be interesting!

There's a lot in that with Adkins, he must know what is going on. When we had that forced break because of the weather, Ricky came back far better than he had been previously and he did do a job up front, gradually creeping back as time went by. So I would guess it's largely dictated by where he can be effective on the day and Adkins is prepared to go along with that. From others comments I believe it's the away games where we may be better off resting Ricky depending upon how he's up for it. Defenders have license to launch you up the arse in this league, generally not getting penalised in the process. That's just one of the facts in this league which is all to evident from Lee and Ricky, find a way round it or suffer.

That seems a very fair assessment of what was going on. What we really needed in that first half was the set up with Guly against Tranmere at home. For all Guly's faults, he is one that can definitely play at a higher level, the big problem is who to play along side of him? I would play Guly as a striker because of his ability to cover the midfield and run down lost causes. The guy has no fear about getting in the way and is a nightmare to see him chasing back for the opposition. His ability to play the killer pass is better than any other player we have, but you have to have someone with space or pace to be of value alongside of him. Just is not going to work out with Guly, Lambert and Barnard, everything looks so unbalanced, big holes in the midfield and getting in each others way. A lot of that problem is down to Guly, but go back and look at the games where he was being used up front to see the benefits that can bring. I would like to see Guly and Barnard tried together because Rickys lack of pace restricts too many attacking options. The one thing Guly needs to sort out sharpish is his attitude, it's a team not an individual.

This has to be an April fools joke. Anyway, it's well known he was a Hammers fan for many years!

I agree that Lambert does contribute, my problem has always been what we actually need from Lambert. I was hoping after this small lay up he would come back far better, as he did when we had the last lay up because of the weather. I thought we played some decent stuff in the first half, dominant without threatening their goal. Something you seem to agree with "What ever pretty stuff we played was wasted because no one was in the opposition box to do any damage." When you have had two, if not the best two wingers in the league in your side, to then find your main striker out there struggling to find that striker to pass to in the box, you really have to question the logic of the situation. Just what is our greatest need, a decent striker or an average provider? If Ricky starts doing his job, this will go away the same as it did for Morgan. If we don't go up this season, my guess would be down to the fact that Adkins never had the striker Pardew had. I am coming to the conclusion that the reason we are not effective in front of goal is mainly because of Ricky's lack of pace. You can zip the ball around as fast as you like, but if the person providing the end product cannot find space in the box or are running in treacle, it's wasted most of the time. This can't be all Ricky's fault as Adkins has eyes in his head as well as the rest of us, but our need for a striker is far, far greater than a sometime provider. We have a lot of very good players in our squad, but we regularly under perform from the quality we have available to us. Just go and look at the Brighton squad and the riches we have bought or brought through from the youth set up, even makes them look like paupers in comparison. Adkins has certainly made improvements over Pardew in some areas, but we are no where near doing a Norwich. Interestingly, the other issue of the midfield, where success against the MK Dons last season with a 451.

The other problem is Ricky and Lee coming too far back without the pace to scare a tortoise. I would far prefer us to play 4411 in these situations. I would drop one of Lambert or Barnard and put Guly in front of the midfield, which would be Lambert after that amount of chances. Guly never shone today, neither did Ricky but I can't see Ricky's shelf life extending to the Championship. First priority for me is secure the midfield, then start on them when we have some control. The defence and full backs were ok, getting forward well, a couple of individual errors and Fonte lives a charmed life on rare occasions. There is something wrong with these disjointed performances, apart from the result. Generally it's because the midfield gets exposed and the flanks left open, along with a forward line that's neither forward or mobile. This has to go down to Adkins along with the turn around, but I can see us having major problems with all the games in April. The forward line does not work mainly because of Ricky and the midfield just gets too exposed.

To be fair, they were official SMS alerts!

Everything you have said is PURE conjecture. All that we KNOW for a FACT is we fired a manager three games into a season, after a 4-0 away victory. Any sane observer would question the validity of that action. Several at one of Cortese's fans dinners said the reason Pardew was sacked, being because Pardew went against other professional advice that he was doing more damage than good in pre season.

The sodomising had to be stopped to cut down on the number of these posts.

I am just not sure how good Walcott will ever be. He has more speed than Oxo and can use it very effectively in certain situations. But when oppositions use an effective plan against him and without others creating openings, he can look a lame duck. There's no way he can play at centre forward for the minute because he has absolutely no clue on how to manufacture space for himself. Most noticeable in his position is that good strikers go to the space and let the ball find them, with the knowledge that if the ball comes to them, they have created a good opportunity. Walcott just seems rooted to the spot in these situations and just does not seem to have learned after all this time. Oxo does not have the same pace, but what is most impressive is he does have a finished product for one so young. As good as Walcott can look on occasions, I will take a punt and go with Oxo here.

I would say we are a slightly better team under Adkins, simply because we have managed to grind out a few results that previously we would have not. But why does Cortese have to apologise for his actions in sacking Pardew, that was perfectly acceptable to me. The reason I don't believe Cortese will sack Adkins is exactly why he never sacked Pardew at the end of the season. The football is as good, if not slightly more effective in collecting points and he does not have any arguments about concentrating on the cups. When we went into this season the disagreement about priorities had been put to bed and Cortese still saw Pardew as the right manager to take the club forward. It was the subsequent fook up on damaging the players in pre season that got Pardew the sack. If you are saying that Pardew should have been sacked immediately from the claims that Pardew was damaging the players in pre season, don't you see the problems there. Cortese would have been told by Pardew that all will be ok by the start of the season and just how is Cortese supposed to make his mind up between the two factions? Come the start of the season it was a plain as a pikestaff who was correct and Pardew was sacked for making another major fook up.

Read it all and worth the read. There is one issue here that is relevant to both Ricky and Lee, they just don't have the pace. The centre back has no real threat against him and can get as close to either as they want. That allows them to push or kick Lee or Ricky out of their stride. Ricky suffers in exactly the same way, but has the skill when he can find the space. It's just the distance he has to go to find the space which makes everything he does far less effective. A fit Guly is by far the better option for me, he brings the dimension that negates the problems both Ricky and Lee bring to the team. I would like to see Lee alongside Guly just to see how things would pan out, though not entirely sure what would be best. One thing is for sure, we will need to bring in a decent striker if we ever get to the Championship, because neither Ricky or Lee are good enough on what I have seen this season.

There were plenty of dodgy deals going on in that reverse take over, even Lawrie took his cut out. But nothing can be laid at Lowe's door either at the time or subsequently, all the dodgy laid on the other side of the fence with the existing shareholders. Bearing in mind the position we were in just prior, I cannot see the reverse take over as being anything but a good thing for the club. We were always a selling club and unless a Liebherr came in, that still would have remained the case. The reverse take over did bring several £M into the club initially, made it easier to finance the new stadium, but also meant you were paying dividends to share holders. Overall I would definitely go the same way again if the power was in my hands. It gave us so much in terms of the stadium, Academy and very nearly a extended tenure in the Premier. The reason we got so lucky with Liebherr is because of all these things that the reverse take over gave us. Without them, I doubt Liebherr would have been interested. It's very easy to do a comparison here with Pompey, just imagine they got the new ground and Acadamy, and we were still left at the Dell. I'm not sure we would even be in League 1 and if Liebherr was around in football, it would more than likely be down the road with the scaled bretheren.

Even worse, not even a basic understanding of the self pox rules. Dopey Dave comments on the problems the opposition keeper has with a ball over the top, then goes on to comment that Kelvin does this so well in coming out for the ball. Almost in the same breath he is interrupted by "ball over the top" and BWP promptly scores. Still choking on his words, back tracks to put that blame onto the centre half. Has he never seen Kelvin play before? Of all the half decent commentators out there, why do we end up with this useless ****. Where is flash when you need him.

As soon as that Thwat Merrington praised Kelvin for being so good with the ball over the top, you just knew what was going to happen. It's not as if he has shown great strength in this area previously. Put the old thwat out to grass.

He comes across at times like a pikey who's found a job lot of readers digests. But with all that, his enthusiasm gets to you and I would be disappointed if he did not come out with one of his specials. It's got to the stage now that I have to take the ipod to hear his latest pearl of wisdom. I reckon the shop should carry tee shirts with all the expressions on them, I would bet they would be a roaring success. Absolutely delighted with the bloke and the shiete he comes out with just adds to it for me. Anyone else and I expect I would be wanting to give them a slap, but not our Nige. One thing I am never in doubt of know is that all the team are pulling in the right direction. You can see it from all the players when they celebrate, the bench and all the staff.

Morgan has been our best midfielder for about 6 games in the second half of this season. Up to that point his stats showed up like a glorified Benali, his defensive play previously was petulant and did not work for the team. Recently he has performed the holding role superbly, but we are only talking about a half a dozen or so games. I really don't think there is any panic about midfield, both Harding and Butterfield can be pushed up there and Gobern will be available after the weekend.

When you are playing with two attacking wingers as we are, we are basically left with a two man midfield. I don't care who comes in, it's going to be a big ask for two to hold back the opposition unless the wingers are exerting the pressure to make things easier for them. The Brentford game at home epitomises this for me, they doubled up on the wingers, then the physical attributes challenged our midfield and we just could not contain them. They were nothing special, but the way they applied themselves with their physical talent, just split us wide open. This is a weakness in the way we set up and will always be an issue when the team is not on top form. When we rip into teams it's a different story, with everyone having to do less and more openings than you can poke a stick at. When it's not on top form, all of a sudden it's a lot more work with only 2 in midfield to get the job done.