shurlock

Why because no sane person, for instance, would put a hard number on the natural limits of the population or immigration? A moronic question lapped up by morons.

Poor old paxman. Sad watching his obtuse, uninformed schtick. Should be put out to pasture gracefully.

Schmeichel is vastly overrated.

He's older than Davis but Schwarzer has been very good over the last couple of seasons.

Clearly, Forster has been deemed our long-term no.1 gk. Assuming reports are correct, not really sure whether him coming back in September, a month into the new season, is substantially going to change the cost-benefit analysis of an incoming keeper.

Interesting, thanks. Thought so. I've heard of people fracturing bones because the underlying muscle has contracted so violently. But usually it requires a direct blow.

Not but he should have come off his line and claimed the first ball

Did Vokes collide with him? Couldn't see it clearly from where I was sat.

Depending on where and when, might be around. Am bang in the middle of spurs and gooner country, so would welcome the relief, especially if we make it to Europe.

I have an infraction (recently lapsed mind you) because a certain someone tried but failed to get me banned. :lol:

Again never said that. NickG dimly or disingenuously misrepresented the fact that I was discussing our attacking options without which you cannot evaluate our overall recruitment. And yes to the extent that we've done better at the back than up top in our recruitment (assuming Toby stays or we get in another strong CB), continuity has still mattered hugely.

I didn't say that. But drawing arbitrary lines is a deadend. Lots of possible reasons - from Wanyama's massive improvement through consistently playing Clyne over Chambers to the change in management and philosophy. We no longer press as aggressively or play as high a line but are happy to concede possession, if it means staying compact. That Yoshida has slotted in so comfortably suggests that the system has played a big role. Bertrand has been very good, so has Toby, though he's not our player and unlikely to be and has missed nearly half our league campaign. Forster has been OK, though not great which raises obvious counterfactual questions.

No. You cannot discuss our defensive record with a straight face without discussing the role of Schneiderlin and Wanyama, arguably the best DM combo in the league. Just look at how Palace ripped us apart when both were out. But carry on ploughing that dead end. Either way, we've seen more change up top where we've had a virtually new frontline. As I say, our transfer record is Ok -7/10 isn't bad- just not good enough to bear the kind of expectations some are placing on it as we shape up for another summer of outflows. Time will tell.

Christ you blather on. Old-timers, the backbone Koeman inherited - same thing- players you probably think are expendable because you have a ludicrously rosy and complacent view of our ability in the transfer market. Best bit of business we did last summer was keeping Morgan. Bertrand has been very good. But our defensive strength has been built on the foundation of Fonte, Morgan, Victor, Clyne and to some extent Yoshida while Toby's been injured. Don't be disingenuous, especially as you mock the scousers for buying Lovren while overlooking the protection he had; you just look even more of a clown. The area that has seen the most change is in attacking areas. As the goals have dried up -with the exception of the excellent Mané (who I backed when he was getting slated on here), so it remains our Achilles Heel. 11 league goals from Pellé and Long combined in nearly 55 games isn't a fantastic return on £20+ million. Tadic now has difficulties getting into the side, even as I hope he'll come back stronger next season. When the dust settles on the season, it will largely be the players that Koeman inherited that will be featuring on awards lists and team of the season polls.

Never said its been a failure. But I don't think it's been a massive success either. Probably give it a 7/10 tops. There are still gaps in the side -precisely where we've been busiest in the market. Ultimately, I don't think we've done enough to be so calm about our ability to replace looming departures in the summer. Let alone repeat it every summer.

The truth is somewhere in the middle. Unlike a lot of helmets who earlier believed we had stumbled on some magic alchemy to reduce the risk of new signings/loanees, our record has been pretty hit and miss. The implicit conclusion that our success owes more to the performances of old timers -Morgan, Fonte, Clyne, Victor, Davis- is correct. The view that we'll just go out and seemlessly replace the likes of Morgan and Clyne doesn't tally with experience.

As I say, it's been much better at SMS since we we've been in the prem. Who knows the reasons why. Maybe the clientele has changed; maybe it's as arbitrary and fickle as not having any black players who are s***e; maybe it's our general success. That said, the reasons are probably circumstantial rather than permanent.

Itchen North and most away games. Things have improved dramatically since the championship and L1 -worst game in recent memory was Plymouth away in the 2007/2008 season, a really ugly day (we had six black players on the pitch that day iirc). But it's still around, especially away from home. Didn't we make the news last season for one of our fan's antics at WHL?

You're either deaf, don't watch us live or a complete moron if you believe there isn't racist abuse at saints games, sometimes directed at our own players.

Not far off the mark, though it was not uncommon to write him off after we failed to make him permanent (Reading wanted him back) and he was subsequently loaned out to Colchester.

Been sung occasionally for a few seasons now.

To be fair, the forum intelligentsia repeatedly mocked anyone who thought Antonio's level was anything but L1 journeyman. Has gone on to show he's much more than that. Still no...

Yep but never that wrong. Anyway thought the task of dredging up old posts -read the OP- was in keeping with the spirit of the old boy

One reason, perhaps, but I would be surprised if it was the main one. Had RK known that the diamond would have been as problematic as it was, causing (among other things) Tadic to play narrow and deep and Morgan to be swamped whenever the second ball fell from Vokes, am pretty sure he would have started Victor. Long had an excellent game at Chelsea, so RK tried to accomodate him today while also bringing Pelle back into fold -after all, Burnley have been abysmal defending setpieces and crosses this season. Throw in the fact that we've sometimes been a bit too conservative at home, especially with teams getting men behind the ball, it's not difficult to understand why RK chose to drop Victor today -quite apart from his disciplinary record.

Calling the signing of Morgan one of Rupert Lowe's top five blunders is pure football nous. RIP, pal. :lol: