shurlock

We deserved a point or better at Derby, Leicester, Burnley and Cardiff. While we had dodgy halfs in some of them -notably Burnely and Leicester- we still created more clear-cut chances than the opposition.

I'm more concerned by all that pikey Nandos Jos seems to eat. Drinking culture? Only if you include Costa coffee in that definition.

I'd be intrigued to see how most of that first team we put out against Leeds would fare -Harding for Fox, Connolly for SDR, Hammond back in and Guly on the right.

Holmes lacks the ability to penetrate a defense and consistently get into dangerous areas but, when he does, he delivers an excellent cross - better than Lallana and SDR imo.

Notwithstanding this, the process was surprisingly drawn out, suggesting he took his time and NA had to fight to get him. He was settled at Burnley and if you believe the stories, several clubs were interested -quite a few of which had past dealings with him.

Kilgallon, another tenuous link, did alright as well.

Stayed 11 v 11 - amazingly, only four Chinese players got booked (and two Japanese). Yeh that challenge had shades of the Battiston collision, though I think in that case Schumacher walked scot-free and was awarded a goal kick!

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There's a massive difference between a signing and a loan - loans are admissions that the player is a temporary measure, often a bit of backup or a risk that might not pay off. With the exception of Forte, most of NA's duds have fallen in the loan category.

Clearly Lallana's low on confidence - but I wonder how much his dip in form has got to do with the opposition wisening up. Its not like he's having martin keown following him around; but no doubt he's receiving special attention and maybe he isn't quite able to make the step up.

Glad Noone is out for them - only player of theirs that looked a bit handy at SMS.

Lee Lee wherever you maybe Buying used panties from a vending machine Could be worse Could be a skate ****ging your sister on your council estate

P'boro - get the f**k in.

Lee woohoohh Lee woohoohh He drinks sake He f**kin hates pompey

See there's another thread on this, so feel free to lock.

At this point of the season, shouldn't really be taking too much interest in what others are doing; but today gives those around us to apply some pressure. See West Ham are already 1 down.

I dont think that was the problem - we huffed and puffed and had enough possession but didnt have the quality or nous to do anything with it.

With Rickie getting no protection from the ref, we never looked liked getting behind them with incisive passing - best opportunities came from route one balls down the line for SDR to chase. We never got enough players in the box to challenge or make it easier for SDR. We know that Lambert's likely to wander to pick up the ball, so he isn't always going to be in the middle. The central midfielders are never going to get up to support - contrast this with Bristol who created one or two chances through running from deep. At times, we only had Guly to aim for - and he's a converted striker. Best example was first half when SDR broke clear and had time to look up and wait but could only see Guly surrounded by yellow.

He's a striker, not a winger. He's definitely not known for his pace.

Korean descent but its big news over there right now.

Yes, my fault, the beginning of January - he'll be having an interview with the Home Office then and signing soon after. But according to the press, its definitely for one year as special conditions exist for visas and for £500K.

Japanese friend tells me he cost 500K As he's only joining on a one-year contract to begin with, supposedly special conditions apply for visas He will be having an interview with the home office at the start of January and hopefully joining soon after Supposedly 1899 Hoffenheim of Budesliga 1 were looking at him.

Thought Jos kept up with Maynard for pace - one incident second half where he beat Maynard in a dead sprint for the ball and then smashed it off him, albeit unintentionally for a goal kick. Lovely stuff.

TBH, we never got enough bodies in the box to trouble them- we were always outnumbered. Think of De Ridder's chance in the first where he got behind them, looked up and waited and could only see Guly surrounded by a sea of yellow. Tonight was made for one of the CMs to get forward and provide more options. Contrast this with one of Bristol's best chances in which the midfielder ran from deep to collect the ball. As it was, we were hitting crosses from here, there and everywhere and it would have needed a worldie to bypass their superior numbers in the box. Hard to fault SDR solely for that.