shurlock

Notwithstanding Adkins banging on about it being a team game and pointing to the strength of the sides put out in the Carling Cub, I think our squad is a bit thin and will struggle in the second half of the season. Fortunately, we have very versatile players: Chaplow can go to either LM or RM; Cork can drop to RB; Fox or Harding can go to LM; Guly and De Ridder can play upfront etc etc; while NA and the team are fantastically obsessive about fitness and recovery after games, thereby limiting the risk of injuries. But that can only go so far -Chaplow was up there for MOTM last night but his performance also demonstrated the limits of not having natural width or pace. Barney, Jaidi, Seaborne, Lallana, Holmes are not minor injuries and we're only a 1/4 way though the season. We have an excellent nucleus of a squad and a great platform from which to kick on but the January window will probably be the most important one of the last few seasons.

And agree with this - De Ridder is the only player with genuine pace and the ability to counter, esp away from home where defences like to press high seems a must. The argument that De Ridder is a luxury is less convincing in light of Lallana's absence. There's no reason why we have to drop either Guly or Chaplow who've played well - give Connolly a rest and start De Ridder as happened at Cardiff or play Guly up top and put De Ridder on the wing as happened against Watford -with the option to switch them if NA thinks Guly adds more defensively. As you say, what a player does off the ball can have as much of an effect on the opposition as he does on the ball.

Wouldn't be surprised if using the bingo buses has resulted in a larger allocation.

Sam can't cope with adkins diet.

I think we're OK against powerful teams - fortunately, WHU didn't have much pace as I still think its our defensive achilles heel.

No reason why Connolly can't make way for De Ridder - its not a case of dropping Guly or Chaplow. De Ridder shone at Cardiff when he effectively played in DC's position, feeding off Lambert's flicks. Connolly could then offer something from the bench - tiring defences no doubt hate his short, rapier-like runs and flicks. Pace away from a home on the counter and against defences that like to press high seems a must.

Nobody's really mentioned Schneiderlin but I thought he had an excellent, if game - the number of bouncing second balls he chested down, got under control and then distributed cleanly and efficiently really kept us ticking along. With another player, those balls would have either been lost or smashed clear.

At the moment, its a choice between Chaplow, Guly and De Ridder - can't fault Adkins opting for Chaplow and Guly atm, even though De Ridder offers pace and flair - indeed, he's only the player in and around the squad with genuine pace (Forte's a long way off). If you can't drop Chaplow or Guly, I would make space for De Ridder by resting DC against Reading.

Shame they only opened blocks 1-3 towards the end (understandable though it was foreseeable that it would be a bumper crowd). Those blocks should be a major source of atmosphere but no doubt it will be full of strays: people who decided to come at the last minute and possibly would have sat elsewhere had other blocks not been sold out. Will dilute the atmosphere a bit.

Think he's injured - at least, that's their OS is saying: http://www.whufc.com/articles/20111017/southampton-match-preview_2236884_2484923

Taylor and Tomkins -decent players- are probably out for them. IMO their midfield is pretty static, so if we can show anything like the same intensity and energy we did against Leeds, Man U etc -and one of the backbones of our success at home, we've got a chance.

Doubt it - with the numbers we've already taken to Leicester, Derby, Cardiff which easily exceed the 1500-2000 allocation talked about for skates, even some of those fans may end up disappointed and anyone wanting tickets may at least have had to match them for games done. Of course, I'm assuming that the 2500 or so who have gone to places like Derby all (i) have season tickets (ii) want to go to Portsmouth (arguably the fun bus is more likely to tempt waverers and the flask and blankets crowd) and (iii) are the same people who've also done the other well supported away games; but I don't think they're unrealistic assumptions. When you factor in local fixtures like Bristol and Reading, the minimum number will be higher -4, perhaps 5 and possibly even 6 games. I reckon it will be between 4-5.

Doubt it - reckon 4 -at most 5- will do the trick.

Not great but at least the pick up points are something - winchester makes it slightly less inconvenient if you're coming fLondon way.

http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/nitpick.htm 'only marginally relevant to the discussion' is the watchword here.

Sam's being a bit disingenuous - they've been playing 4-5-1 all season. Not sure if its a case of cutting out service to Lambert either as if he leads the line for us. Quite happy if they go 4-5-1. It gives us more scope to play from the back and do our thing.

Agree, you can be wrong and it doesn't warrant being called foolish and it doesn't mean you have to be subject to a witch hunt or called up on it. Of course, not. But neither is everyone as qualified or discrete in their comments as your posts or you assume others to be. With Jos it goes back to the simple fact that people were writing him off. Being sceptical is one thing -fair enough- but dismissing him in OTT language without even seeing him kick a ball is quite another.

Derby were **** poor; but lots of teams don't take their chances - just look at Boro yesterday - if not their whole season. It might be a concern if it was a habit but I wouldn't say it is yet. While we haven't taken our chances in other away games, they have been far more balanced and its harder to claim that they were missed opportunities. By contrast, I think we've been pretty clinical at home - we scored more or less from our only chances against Brum and Millwall and have ground out some decent results when games have been tight if not slipping away from us e.g. Forest. If I have an issue, its that in four of our six away games, we've conceded the first goal and in two of those games, the goal has come in the first ten mins.

And then it'll be Valentines for the away game no doubt

Of course, nobody knows whether Jos was 4th choice - NA did say in interview that they did enquire about him earlier but were put off by the price. Of course, whether he was first or last choice shouldn't matter if he does the biz on the pitch and as I say and the bit you don't quote, Im still to be convincedhe's a long-term answer at CB and that there don't exist better options on the market - though my question then is who? Finally, yes its a forum and I'm happy that people hold different opinions - but just as in the real world, you need to back them up and are ultimately accountable for them. Otherwise the whole spirit of a debate between equals breaks downs. We're all sometimes right and sometimes wrong - and when we're wrong and couch our opinions in extreme terms, we look foolish. There's nothing personal or particularly antagonistic in that. By contrast, the idea that you can shoot your mouth off and act a knob just because you can hide behind the anonymity of the web is wrong. I've always been taught the fact you know can get away with things is precisely the reason you should show greater rather than less restraint - that is if you genuinely believe in diversity of opinion rather than invoke it selectively when someone turns around and serves you your own bitter medicine.

Its a matter of degree - some players attract more attention and excitement than others (though unfortunately that's usually when the cash has been splashed). Lots of emotive nonfootballing factors account for the reaction a new signing gets. Others might meet caution and scepticism - fair enough but it remains that the reaction to Jos was a joke - just take a look at how many threads were started and how much invective was thrown at him before he had even kicked a ball. Jos has still got a lot to prove and I'm still not sold that we should sign him up in Jan (saying that apart from Gerrard, no opposing CB has really stood out for me, so its not exactly a buyers market). What I will say about Jos, though, is that he's easily our 2nd best CB, so is a net improvement on what we currently have in the building (as a loanee - can we ask anymore?) and his performances have been a far cry from the apocalyptic garbage that had been predicted on here. And some posters on here have been made to look very foolish.

Agree - I think we have greater trouble against pace than power. We dealt with Birmingham, another big side, OK. Will be interesting to see if they stay with 4-4-2 and start with Baldock and Carew or go back to their trusted 4-5-1 in which case Baldock will probably drop to the bench.

Game will turn on our defence and the back four's ability to contain what is a physical, powerful side. Some of our lingering frailties at the back haven't been fully exploited by recent opposition but if we can do the basics right, can see us getting something out of the game. Expect Deano to return.

Atmosphere was poor at Barnsley as well, though we played well (and it was de facto unreserved seating). We're a family club and our away support naturally reflects that mix. London games and local fixtures tend to bring out more of the (pencil-necked) 'lads' -and Reading will be no different. There'll be an atmosphere regardless of how we play.

Which direction does the correlation run - i assume you mean that a lack of atmosphere leads to impotent performances; but it could equally mean that impotent performances lead to a lack of atmosphere? At any rate, disagree that we never looked like scoring despite tons of possession. Maybe the final ball was loose at times but we genuinely stretched them with a lot of our play.