shurlock

Not even a debate with this one.

How have Spanish players generally adapted to the English - obviously everyone knows the Silvas, Matas and Cazorlas of this world but what the tier below, the kind of segment we'd be looking at? Is Michu the exception or the rule?

Though there's no money to spend - MON spent it all. Lambert was brought in on the understanding that he would do a poortvliet and blood the youth in, so its not surprising that he's hit a wall.

P'boro was for daytrippers tho

Looks better than his son

To shut out Brady in the second half and what a hit by Pollard who can now add Ridley along with Gronk, Brady and Welker to his list of victims. Still, Ray Lewis TV-envangelist shtick is wearing thin. By comparison, Flacco's monosyllabic interviews that can induce narcolepsy even while describing the most incredible of performances are a breath of fresh air.

Arsenal was £25 for example. I travel to and from London. I did Yeovil both times. Even though you can use your network railcard, the fare is still 3X more expensive than, say, a trip to Birmingham. Throw in the number of midweek fixtures in NPC and L1 and it adds up. The second time I went to Yeovil, I had to spend the night there and there were not many ways around that.

Agree -if anything the home, midweekers against lower league opposition, esp if you're travelling in, are the hardest to do.

Fleeced really? When you add everything up and a day's football today is not that much more than our L1 days (the higher ticket prices are offset by lower travel costs i.e. travelling to some metropolitan centre is cheaper than trekking to some out-of-reach town). What I think is slightly odd are some of those fans who think there's extra kudos in going to a place like carlisle. Are they really loyal -or do they just get more satisfaction from doing these games. Some might prefer gritty northern dumps; others watching superstars in soulless arenas. But on a personal, self-interested level, is there a big difference between the two?

At least, he's at the back, right near the cubicles.

I can understand this -I dont think things have deteriorated so much as to stop people going -its not even that bad compared to 5 to 10 years ago. What I will say is that the atmosphere at many grounds is **** and that (along with travel costs) is the biggest put off for me- but that's not Saints related and outside the control of clubs. And IMO reducing ticket prices would only have an effect on atmospheres at the margins.

By the same token, someone who went in L1, NPC and will continue to go in the Prem isn't a sheep either.

Wasn't pretty on the eye but given all the sideways no penetration CMs we've had, he definitely added something. Some of his runs for goals -Leicester, QPR i.e. not just Derby were a breath of fresh air. Shame he fizzled out in his second season. OP- when are you going to do a Safri thread.

I don't think the protests helped them and possibly contributed to their relegation (of course, there's no way of knowing). Unlike most clubs, we know what its like to protest against the club and chairmen. One underestimated effect is on the fanbase. Over time its rarely a case of the fans protesting against the club/chairmen. All too often you get splits and bad blood among supporters which is perhaps the most unnecessary and unfortunate. Some of that lingers today and I think a alot of saints fans can't be a****d to go through that again. Try explaining that to the media.

Possibly - but we're not like City, Arsenal or Everton. We've got longer memories and plumbed deeper depths in recent times. The suggestion that we're apathetic, passive or indeed captive is way off the mark IMO. Its the opposite. We're nervous and sensitive to things going tits up again, getting relegated, incurring huge sunk costs and being sucked into a downward spiral. Your average cash cow fan who follows one of the big teams will never understand what it means to go through this. Indeed, it frankly takes no effort or risk to protest if you're a united or chelsea fan - their clubs prem and financial status is secure. What's the worst that can happen if they protest: they risk a few poor results (note some of the papers appeared to suggest that the one nigel adkins chant was not enough and we should be protesting in more direct/vocal ways). But for us, a few poor results might ultimately be the difference between safety and relegation. Basically the papers don't get it - for all the talk about the ordinary fan, their position is a rarefied reflection of what is possible for fans at the top of the pyramid (or perhaps coasting in obscurity) and dangerously risky for the rest of us.

All at global sweatshop prices too.

I prefer the pic of this charming man

Not saying much really - he's strong and powerful (like Guly) but not doesn't really have much acceleration. Still think we're lacking a bit of quality pace that can beat a man on the outside as well as cut inside.

Yeh read it too - some good points, though I don't accept the implication that the lack of protest means that we're 'captive consumers', willing to take it up the **** Nice picture of ThisCharmingMan.

And if you were to quantify the impact of the new man - little or no impact on your prediction?

http://m.guardiannews.com/football/blog/2013/jan/21/southampton-nigel-adkins-supporters "On this front the night had started in darkly ham-fisted fashion for the hierarchy's attempts to massage public opinion, with a match programme that contained almost no trace of Adkins (all that remained was a 2mm high Adkins, who could be spotted un-airbrushed at the edge of picture on page 21. Heads will roll)".

Very true -and to one of Cortese's many 'friends' in the game.

Lambert was wasteful at times but had a really good game on the whole -and the new manager spoke about being impressed by our ability to create chances. At the end of the day, football managers have less influence over a team than star players -one reason they're also paid less. Getting rid of Adkins is one thing; getting rid of Lambert -at least at this point in the season- is quite another.

Agree though in this case it would provide an insight into the new manager's thinking, who he rates and the attributes he's looking for. The two-bit translator is creating more confusion than clarity.

Future England LB and RB (Clyne's got a decent amount of assists, even though he admitted at Palace he had to work on his attacking game)