SoccerMom

No! Poor kid. I was hoping that if he wasn't being relied on in the first team so much - having brought back in Euell, Saga et al - that he would get some decent time in the reserves to develop. What's the matter?

Well deserved, young man - the only highlight apart from the goals shown on the Championship was his clearance in the last few minutes.

I hope so, even if it means having to go through the mill once in a while when they have a bad season. Can't imagine the glory hunters ever getting an opportunity to have their half-term trophies handed to them by one of their legends, like when Franny showed up to one of the other courses the nipper was on. But given that he's been wearing Lallana's name on his shirt for two seasons now, the kid was just overwhelmed. Better for him even than the family day, which is saying something, actually.

Just wanted to say, if any of the players come on here or if those who know the players could pass on a message - The nipper was on one of the half-term courses this week, and on Thursday they had a visit from Lallana and McGoldrick. I don't know if it meant quite that much to the rest of the group, but my nipper was chuffed to bits. I don't think he stopped smiling even when he went to bed that night. The lads answered questions and signed autographs, and made at least one little boy extremely happy and even more determined to stay a Saint no matter what happens. Huge thanks to the players for doing things like this. I know it's part of their job and they must get told to do it, but it makes an excellent impression.

There was an entertaining patch in the second half when he had three or four crosses in a row straight into the box - rather poor on Preston's part to make sure it kept coming back out to him! Last season the nipper would run right round the perimeter of Staplewood to watch him take corners, keen to learn - wonder what he thought seeing this little head pop up over the fence every time?

Agree with this - the money's spent, and I can't get worked up about other people saving money now. All I want is to see more people in the ground supporting the team. The support was massive yesterday even if the ground wasn't even half full, and you could see how much it meant to the players. Kids for a quid - hmm, maybe, but not unlimited in ratio to the adults buying the tickets. Even in the family enclosure it gets annoying when you have dozens of mini-youths charging up and down, without the slightest interest in the game.

I'd like to see him taking more corners.

Nipper leant over and whispered, "I think I know who ate all the pies."

Ah, yes, but Drew got his own back, didn't he? Eat dirt, Chaplow...

Euell was stand-out MOM for me. Led the less experienced players well, stayed calm (well, relatively) with some quite directed, physical play from Preston. Allowed Saga to shine. Pity Saga didn't get his hat-trick - had he not taken so long to wake up he could have had it. The whole team looked dazed for the first ten minutes - I thought they seemed mentally tired, and feared for the worst, but eventually they knuckled down. Lloyd James should get a mention - he seems to have got faster since the last time I saw him play, or at least off the mark quicker. Brilliant clearance in the last ten minutes. LOL at the Preston fan who walked past us moaning about the ref. I was thinking right the way through that he had a good game. Kept things under control, wasn't quick to bring out the yellow card (although he could have done, IMHO, especially for all the tugging at Euell and Saga), kept the game flowing.

Guess we'll get a few more nuggets of information in the morning.

Cod knows if their careers will survive this.

Hold on. Didn't that actually happen?

Who said I was blaming the fans? teensy-eensy knee-jerk there. Lighten up.

That's so unfair. "And here we are, in front of a capacity crowd once again at St Mary's..."

Or were they all just a little pie-eyed?

At least he wasn't burger-led, too. Sorry.

Might have said that about another of our recent managers... or two. And no, not referring to NP!

You know, I've been dealing with narcissists for years now (was married to/had a kid with one, then worked for one), and one of the most mind-blowingly frustrating aspects of having to deal with them is that they can - at the blink of an eye - rewrite history so that it supports their world view. They would literally swear blue was green, and believe it completely, if that suited the story they wanted to tell. This behaviour can make you think you are going crazy, and will lead you to argue continually with them about "the truth" until you realise what's going on. If they have changed history and you disagree with them about something, it's an argument you can never win. I have learned not to argue with my ex about anything he says, even if I have written proof that he's got it wrong - it's pointless and it just leaves me feeling frustrated as hell. He is completely incapable of seeing things any other way than the way he has constructed. So, sadly, IMHO trying to regain the moral high ground and present reasoned arguments is p*ssing in the wind. Knowing this doesn't get anyone any further, but it does save a lot of frustration.

Plymouth 0 Derby 2

Whoever the nipper is playing for... But there might be pressure from the other side of the family for him to support the Hammers. Not exactly a haven from the worries of administration, though, is it?

Me, too! When you get the call you got to get it underway....

Hmm, but it did happen. Everyone swarmed around Scotland when he got on the ball, so he just flicked it out to Gomez.

Does Perry play LB?

Seems to me from what Wotte is saying that Rudi is being a bit of a diva - publicly saying he doesn't want to play for the club with which he has a contract, but doesn't want to go unless the deal is on his terms. No wonder he gets put on the naughty chair.