shurlock

Japanese media reported half a million.

Wouldn't say no at all. Quite a coup if anything. If true...

Fair enough, a better explanation for things. No mean feat but have found saints fans in the real world and on other sites (not referring to the UI, though they've got their own issues) to be more deluded than the lot on saintsweb.

True about Holmes; but you've gotta ask yourself if you would've started him ahead of Schneiderlin and SDR on the right. I'm not so sure. Still he's probably deserved more time in the league than the few mins he got up at Donny. The injury after the Watford game didn't help. You can speculate about Dickson and Butterfield; but I'm quite happy that the 16 we've generally put out has been the strongest 16 at our disposal. IMO the real problem is that the 16 and fringe players around it just aren't good enough to get us up. If anything, Dickson, Holmes and Butterfield are part of the problem not the solution.

Absolute knobber.

The lyrics aren't bad but 'just can't get enough' is an awful, overdone song.

Forte made sense yesterday - NA obviously thinks he can lead the line as he did against Brighton last year and in the cup games. Having his pace on the counter was useful as Brighton were pushing men up to exploit the sending off. DC cannot lead the line. If anything he faded after Lambert went off. Holmes has got the toughest position in the squad, playing back-up for Lallana. The same is true to a lesser extent with Dickson who has £1.8m signing and a L1 player/team of the year ahead of him. And it would make no sense to drop Richardson for Butterfield who's looked OK when starting. In theory, both could play together with Richardson at RM but there are more natural combos around, especially with SDR hitting a bit of form and Guly reverting to midfield. Nobody knew Guly would go off with an injury nor that Lambert would get sent. Ordinarily with Schneiderlin and Fonte fit, we've been able to bring on another CB and CMd in order to tighten things. The five sub rule doesn't help. But ts pretty clear why Holmes, Butterfield and Dickson haven't seen alot of time.

Coz they are vying for positions where we have enough quality. If one of those was a CB or a striker it might be a different story.

Can't see Broncos getting past the Steelers. Even if theyre not as good as the last few years, the Steelers are too wise, too professional and have too much quality to let the Tebow freak show roll on another week.

Basically says, I'm on my way...(no other details).

http://twitter.com/#!/ChunTadanari/status/154026795933507584/photo/1 Looks like the old boy was about to board a plane

Agree. V.underwhelming. Their north stand felt like a midget version of the Milton after it had seats put in. At least in our case, it wasn't by design.

Love this rabid thread - mixed with one or two saner voices. http://www.northstandchat.com/showthread.php?224133-Southampton-most-basic-team-to-ever-be-leading-the-second-tier-of-English-football

Poor result but not sure if today was just a repeat of everything's wrong with the team. Agree there are problems and they predate this current dip. Those who don't watch us week-in, week-out have been the most likely to get ahead of themselves - at least until recent results slapped their complacency in the face. Still we played better and different today: it was slightly less one-dimensional, helped by the change in formation and the return of a number of players. Not saying that it means anything -a poor opposition might just have made look better than we were; but it would be wrong to say that there were no positives to take from today's game which possibly augur well for the future.

And like Colchester, the surrounding area smelled of sh*t.

Feels like Ricoh cemetery with those walled in parts, especially behind the goals which I assume won't be added to.

Agree. I don't mind refs who occasionally get things wrong. But D'Urso is the worst kind of ref, a spineless c**t who has one eye on his own self-preservation, avoids making the truly big calls and compensates for them with OTT assertions of authority.

Mate, why don't f**k off back to your own board where you can discuss how we hoof, hoof, hoof.

Which one - the flick and follow up shot from the corner? I thought he was flagged for offside?

Did you get footage of our goal?

£90m for just one stand.

Posted this on the other thread Not one to paper over cracks or sugar-coat a sh*te performance but I think we can take positives from today. Until the sending off, we bossed the game, creating 2-3 excellent chances and winning numerous corners. With Connolly starting, we reverted back to our early season set up. Guly looked liberated playing in a narrow midfield and AL took advantage of the options around him to play give and gos and collect the ball at pace (something which he hasn't been able to do). Harding got forward well and Hammond played at a high temp. Connolly did what he does best, finding space and pulling players out of position (in a way Guly hasn't been doing upfront), though he also looked rusty at times. Most pleasing was the movement and speed of our passing. Our narrow midfield did OK against their two wide players who are anything but reserve players. A combination of Guly, Connolly and Richardson closed down LuaLua on the right, though Buckley had a better time down the other side. CMS didn't get a sniff against Jos. Apart from one glorious chance, a cutback which theur oncoming player should have buried, Brighton offered very little. IMO Harding was very unlucky for his yellow; but it got the crowd going and he was promptly targeted by balls down the channel. The substitution was inevitable, a shame because Harding had got into some good forward positions and wasn't afraid to get close to his man. The beginning of the 2nd half had a similar feel as the 1st. We had an early shout for a pen which looked dubious; but Guly's injury seemed to upset our shape and tempo. However, Lambert's sending off really changed things. The ref didn't see El Abd's gamesmanship and wrestling that provoked Lambert; nor the actual incident - other than Lambert's follow through and El-Abd making the most of things. But you raise your hands, you're skating on thin ice and praying on the ref's discretion. The sending off was utterly needless and on another day and under the control of a better ref, the outcome might been different. But Rickie can have no complaints. Notwithstanding the extra man, Brighton huffed and puffed and its not surprising that their goal came from an unforced error. Rather than trying to collect the ball first time, KD should be playing the percentages and turning the ball around the post. KD's flaws are well-known -his poor distribution and shaky command of the box- but I always assumed he was a decent shot stopper. But 3 fumbles in 2 games? He pulled off a great save before the goal and could do nothing about the second which was a worldie; but with ten men and without Lambert and Forte/Reeves your back-ups (Forte wasn't bad TBH), the first goal was always going to settle things. Upset we got done by such a sh*t outfit and unsure whether we were good or their weakened side made us look good (though we did hold our own against and carved open a 5 man midfield). When the dust has settled, the implications of Lambert's dismissal will be more important than the quality of performance which is perhaps refreshing change after the last month or so and hopefully transfer activity over the next 12 days helps lessen the blow on that front.

Not one to paper over cracks or sugar-coat a sh*te performance but I think we can take positives from today. Until the sending off, we bossed the game, creating 2-3 excellent chances and winning numerous corners. With Connolly starting, we reverted back to our early season set up. Guly looked liberated playing in a narrow midfield and AL took advantage of the options around him to play give and gos and collect the ball at pace (something which he hasn't been able to do). Harding got forward well and Hammond played at a high temp. Connolly did what he does best, finding space and pulling players out of position (in a way Guly hasn't been doing upfront), though he also looked rusty at times. Most pleasing was the movement and speed of our passing. Our narrow midfield did OK against their two wide players who are anything but reserve players. A combination of Guly, Connolly and Richardson closed down LuaLua on the right, though Buckley had a better time down the other side. CMS didn't get a sniff against Jos. Apart from one glorious chance, a cutback which theur oncoming player should have buried, Brighton offered very little. IMO Harding was very unlucky for his yellow; but it got the crowd going and he was promptly targeted by balls down the channel. The substitution was inevitable, a shame because Harding had got into some good forward positions and wasn't afraid to get close to his man. The beginning of the 2nd half had a similar feel as the 1st. We had an early shout for a pen which looked dubious; but Guly's injury seemed to upset our shape and tempo. However, Lambert's sending off really changed things. The ref didn't see El Abd's gamesmanship and wrestling that provoked Lambert; nor the actual incident - other than Lambert's follow through and El-Abd making the most of things. But you raise your hands, you're skating on thin ice and praying on the ref's discretion. The sending off was utterly needless and on another day and under the control of a better ref, the outcome might been different. But Rickie can have no complaints. Notwithstanding the extra man, Brighton huffed and puffed and its not surprising that their goal came from an unforced error. Rather than trying to collect the ball first time, KD should be playing the percentages and turning the ball around the post. KD's flaws are well-known -his poor distribution and shaky command of the box- but I always assumed he was a decent shot stopper. But 3 fumbles in 2 games? He pulled off a great save before the goal and could do nothing about the second which was a worldie; but with ten men and without Lambert and Forte/Reeves your back-ups (Forte wasn't bad TBH), the first goal was always going to settle things. Upset we got done by such a sh*t outfit and unsure whether we were good or their weakened side made us look good (though we did hold our own against and carved open a 5 man midfield). When the dust has settled, the implications of Lambert's dismissal will be more important than the quality of performance which is perhaps refreshing change after the last month or so and hopefully transfer activity over the next 12 days helps lessen the blow on that front.

A very drab first half but we created some very good openings in the 2nd, especially after SDR came on. More than Cardiff and more than any of our recent games, including the Palace win. Or perhaps that just goes to show that problems have been festering for a while.