St Marco

They are wrong. They were told but more importantly told to wait 24hrs before printing it so they could include the details from the press conference. Everyone knew what the conference was for. They didn't ring the echo and go "hi yeah we have a press conference tomorrow, it is super duper secret, you will have to wait and see what it is about as it is a surprise". That is not how it works. Especially in regards to building things which need planning permission. Everyone knew what it was about (the planning application was in the public domain). The Echo screwed up and now are trying to save face by writing that above. Which just makes them look even bigger tits. If i was NC i would just release the email/letter he sent them requesting them to hold back 24hrs. But he is not like that it would seem, he is not interested in point scoring in a childish spit for spat, rather choosing to get on with the job. How refreshing it is to have people like that inside our club hey.

I was in the beta Was not impressed at all. Seemed very last gen, graphics were not great, the reactions i.e shoot registery seemed way out. The lag seemed pretty bad at times. obviously a beta is supposed to be like that. IGN have their review up http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/106/1063592p1.html Personally i think i will be giving this one a miss, already have a lot of average shooters to get through.

The fuss as you put it is about an agreement NC had with The Echo. He planned to have a press conference to unveil the plans for the new training ground to the local media. He asked the echo to refrain from running the story until after the conference so they could be briefed on the plans. The Echo agreed to do so. Then the day before the conference The Echo ran the story. Claiming it was already in the public domain. Translated means "we wanted to cash in on it before it became a nothing story". Now i don't know about you, maybe you do things different to me but i would be ****ed off at them too for that. The Echo are supposed to be a local paper not a national paper. They should be having respect for all local organisations not trying to make money off them. Southampton FC have given The Echo a lot of inside stories over the years of which they have obviously made money from. Without that connection as others have mentioned The Echo becomes pretty pointless seeing as Saints are amongst if not their main draw story. The Echo should have loyalty and respect for the club due to the special access it had been granted for many years. By running the story early shows a clear action of mistrust. Could you tell these people your future plans and ask them to keep it secret? Journalists live by a un-written code which is to not print anything if you have been asked to wait. The national press could not give a fook about this rule but the local press are different. For example the people on BBC Solent. They have access to the club just as The Echo did and a few of them would of been totally aware of people who were in talks with the club. They could of mentioned those things on air and for all of 5mins had a scoop. One that would of been forgotten by the same time next week. But they don't do that. Because the relationship between the club and the local media is more intimate. The Echo went against that code to simply try and look good, to try and make extra money. If you are dis-loyal and go back on your word then you deserve the treatment you get. Since they were banned rather then try and mend the rift they have done everything they could to increase it and at the sametime create stories that are obviously personal to NC. By the looks of it they made them up. Each time a story like that appears the people become more aware just how bad The Echo has become. They are trying to create an image for NC that is the total opposite to how the fans and how the local organisations see him. So the "fuss" is that by running the story The Echo went back on an agreement and by doing so basically bite the hand that feeds them. Without Saints they are nothing, without the inside access to the club they have to fish for stories on the internet to try and create something. They should be ashamed of themselves and whoever fecked up the relationship with the club should be fired. They need to have a clear apology saying "my bad, we fooked up, sorry". Because they are clearly the ones in the wrong and by continuing to run a national style hate campaign will just drive away the remaining readers that they have.

Someone told me yesterday The Echo were blaming Saints for not not raising enough money at a charity event at the club. Turns out that both BBC South and Meridian were there. So sort of asks the question why did they print it? Their whole angle was it limited the exposure of the event. When if The Echo were such a key part of the event why did they not simply fund the event themselves and hold it away from St Mary's? My last bit of respect for the paper and it's reporters went out the window with that report because it is sick to think they would try and use a campaign based on very ill people to take a snipe at the club. The people of this city know the deal, they know The Echo was kicked out by Saints for not holding out a day on a promise of not revealing the full plans to the training ground. They printed it in the hope to make a few extra quid. That is what papers do. They are a local paper and need to know their place. In the digital age i doubt many people still buy their paper, they have no power. They cannot force a campaign like a national paper could. So they need to drop it and get on with their lives. The Daily Echo NEEDS Saints, Saints do not need The Daily Echo.

Every manager will say that though won't they. I can only imagine the reaction he would of got if he came out and said the opposite! We got nearly half the season to go. We were never going to win every game, nobody was going to. We are unbeaten this year and are still picking up points. A good team picks up points when they do not play well. If after the next 6 games through feb we have not won 3-4 of the 6 then obviously we are not going to be up there at the end of the year. If we win our 3 home games and get something in the away games then were be alright. These results are not that bad.

Of course the 1st ten count, but they show just how **** we were then compared to now, proving what everyone had been trying to tell those complaining. What the table shows is that we are catching those above, slowly but surely. In 20 games time it will be very interesting to see how the table looks to reflect the good results we have been grinding out now.

It has yes. The first 10 games we had something like 1 win and 6 draws and 3 losses. Not good. But since then we have improved a lot. 16 games, 9 wins, 4 draws and 3 losses. Last month we were 3rd based on decembers games. This year we have played just 2 league games, both away at tough grounds and did not lose. People want us to do better, the question is better from what? We are doing miles better then we were at the start of the season. If we win both our games in hand on the last playoff spot team we will be just 3 games from that potential spot. There is a long long way to go. The problem is people compare us to everyone else. Xyz did it so why can't we? We need to compare ourslelf to ourself. If you went back in time to this time last year and told people that in 12 months time you would have all of the things me and nick have listed 99.9999% of the people asked would bite your hand off for it.

Surely you have to go to the games before you can criticise Saints fans? That is like me saying those people who don't go seem to be always moaning, they will never settle etc... Most of the fans i know i think are among the most grounded people you could meet. People such as yourself might be able to forget our past year in a couple of months but i don't think they would. They are happy with where we are. You can try and put a downer on it but the reality is we are now a good team, we have lost just 3 times in the past 24 games, have yet to lose this year. Are 3rd in the form table. Have the leagues top scorer, have just bought the leagues 4th top scorer, have just drawn with a team that has lost just twice all season at home, have just had a couple of potential decent signings i.e Fonte, have over 20k in our home stadium in division 3, are 1 game from going to the new Wembley stadium, in the 5th round of the fa cup having a home game against our rivals etc etc etc The list of positives is long. The difference is people such as yourself forget them after 1 result. So no i do not think at all Saints fans are "scared to be run of the mill". They respect the hard work that is going on both behind the scenes and in front of it. And will not thrown their toys out of the pram based on a draw..... Thank fook people like you do not go to games as the club does not need your kind of support if it can be called that.

I agree with that. I think there are a few reasons but the main one has to be Hammond being taken out has unsettled the team. Now in todays game when James was taken out we lost our way. Morgan and Wotten are not a good midfield partnership. Hammond will get forward and contribute to assists,goals as well as doing the defensive work. James is one of our top assisters. I don't think it is a tactical problem as some try to suggest, or a manager problem as others try to imply. It is just a case of some players not being good enough i.e Wotten and Morgan. Morgan is a good player, has the potential to be great. But is so inconsistent and has offered very little in terms of assists. If we could get in someone who can do the job of starting stuff from midfield then we will be a lot better. Defence is fine, attack is fine, keeper is fine, wings are fine, centre midfield is not so good

I think i saw a B button flash on the screen so would guess it might be. Scenery looks ok to me. I love the bit near the start of the video where the player changes to the grenade launcher and fires, then you see part of the builing blow up and a tree splinter etc...The physics of it look ace.

Ah thought so, cheers for clearing that up for me. I shall check myself into the priory first thing in the morning for my chronic positiveness. They will hopefully prescribe me some downers and all will be normal!

Is it me or has anyone else noticed that the people who get "passionate" about a loss or draw never quite seem so "passionate" when we win? Maybe it is just me! Also 3 losses in our last 24 games = 12% loss ratio. And 2 of those losses were to 2 teams away in the top 4. It could be soooo much worse guy's, lighten up, stop listening to radiohead, it's bad for you!

I didn't expect it because im not a mong. I realise how difficult this league can be or any league can be without preparing for it right. We are simply paying the price for our slow start. As you mention Leeds got there. But how many years has it taken them to get to where they are now TDD? Are you seriously saying we should be the same as them in 3 months (it took them nearly 4 years) because we spent £3m?

Yeah but the majority of people didn't expect us to get there this year anyway. It would be an amazing achivement to get there this season but it was always going to be hard to do.

As i said last week our problem is we have too many games and asking third division players to play them all is too much. We have had some injuries and some players are playing inconsistent. Tactics wise i don't see too much different from what we have been doing for the most of the season and for the most of it being succesful. I think that is now 2 defeats in something like 25 games now. We have bought in a lot of new players in this window and they need time to fit in. Lambert needs a break, the guy has played every game almost. We have a lot of games to go and if we win the remainer of our home games were be alright. Our away form is among the best in the league. There are negatives for sure, they are there if you look for them. We maybe didn't deserve a draw in this game but hopefully that will make Pardew go out and get in the midfield general we badly need.

Before the mongs come in and mong all over the thread http://stats.football365.com/dom/ENG/D2/oform.html Based on last 8 games form we are 3rd So none of that "we should be better blah blah" ******** please Obviously Brentford is a hard place to go, lost only 2 games there etc.. But we were lucky not lose this one, Kelvin saved our ass. Soon as James went off we seemed to lose our creativity. We really need to get someone in who can create stuff from the centre of midfield. let's hope we get someone in soon.

We really do lack that quality central midfield player who can set stuff up. Seems like we got **** the momment James went off. Morgan is a good player but his assist ratio speaks volumes.

Lallana hit bar, nice to hear our fans are in full voice

James scored more goals this season in the league then Lallana did for the whole of last year

When the Myans predicted the end of the world in 2012, i wonder if Pompey had something to do with it.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SKH1eHep7c&feature=player_embedded# That is amazing

97% based on 30 reviews or so thus far, that is higher then Uncharted 2 scored. Game of the year in january already?

Ah right as on that bbc link above they say "The club has no outstanding transfer debts but will only be allowed to sign players on free transfers or on loan."

So they only get to sign players that are out of contract or frees?

Agreed I go to games with a few people who are all Saints fans. But have had a few texts/calls from people who are not Saints fans, even a few Pompey fans wanting me to try and get them a ticket. I told them if i get an additional one it will be going to one of those who have been to the games with me. Would much rather Saints fans who have been there through the ****storm of last season got a ticket ahead of those who simply could not be arsed to go.