shurlock

The season we went down - we played them pretty close to the end of the season (three weeks before the end, I think). Its pretty likely that when we play them at theor place, it won't be at 3pm on a saturday. The OB will go for an early kickoff and/or play it on a Sunday.

The white sleeves on the 'uddersfield shirt are just weird.

West Ham - for the atmospheres generated at our place and theirs. also look forward to seeing them and Millwall tear pieces out of each other. Wigan- club built on rich man's vision and nothing else. the mercennaries will soon find sunnier climes and vistas in Bolton or somewhere. also a new ground. Blacburn - maybe put in a cheeky bid for christopher samba who is jaidi's one and only natural successor -from the same sam alladyce school of brick sh*thouses. Probably have the most out of the johnny-come-lately northern clubs to bounce back up, so wouldn't mind Blackpool, a club that with parachute payment or no parachute payment will sink without a trace if it gets relegated.

From interviews, you get the impression that it will be more a case of quality than quantity - letting this season's momentum carry us and not disrupting a good team spirit. As such its quite conceivable we'll be looking at one or two premiership or thereabouts-type players. Only position that is close to a dead-cert is a pacy LM- N'guessan was brought in for the Puncheon who can now be sold and Lee Holmes will probably be released.

I will go a bit more specific and list moments that stick out in my memory.... The expectation of that first L1 game v Milwall, and the realisation this would be tougher than I thought. The excitement when we were signing player after player. Lambert, Hammond, Waigo, Jaidi, Harding... The utter frustration of going those first 7 games before the first win. Realising we were on track with the 4-1 win home to Gillingham. The back to back 5 goal hauls against Walsall and Huddersfield. The JPT, of course. I remember Huddersfield scoring a late winner (Lee Novak?) to all but end our playoff hopes, gutted. Then the excitement and build up to this season, followed by the depressing familiarity of our terrible start to the season. Losing 2-0 at home to Rochdale felt absolutely horrible, massive low point. The 2-0 win at home to Bournemouth, the feeling that maybe our season was finally beggining. 6-0 away at Oldham, sitting at home listening to the radio in slight shock :-) 3-2 MK Dons, will never forget that one. 1-0 Bristol Rovers, utter relief. Plymouth, best day ever. Overall, I've really enjoyed the league and will miss certain aspects of it, but I'm ready to see us playing teams of similar size and stature every week again. Roll on next season.

Agree - I guess its a matter of opinion about how many CMs you need - Schneiderlin probably needs a partner but somebody more roving than Hammond (jury's still out on Chaplow who, at times, has seemed ideal for the role but, at others, a bit short). Also agree that Guly is not an out-and-out striker - nor is he a winger. With Oxo injured, Guly has been played on the right but has been given license to come inside (its taken time for Guly to adjust to the responsibilities and freedoms of the role). Will be interesting to see what happens to Guly when Oxo is back in contention. NA appears reluctant to play anyone in the hole per se. In part, NA is committed to width; in part, Lambert fills that role by default given his instinct to drop deep. And if anyone was going to have a team built around them, it would probably be Lallana. Again it will be interesting to see what all this means for Guly - out-and-out centre forward (arguably there are better options there, especially if we strengthen in the summer)? Either way, Guly's an important player for us and we will get more out of him the more the team passes and moves the ball and the more the league is conducive to this kind of football. People have observed how Guly has interchanged well with Connolly since he's come back into the team. Yesterday it was also interesting to see Guly clapping one one of the balls Morgan attempted to ping to him (I don't think I've ever seen Guly clap a pass like that), suggesting Morgan's return will also be beneficial. The unresolved question is simply where and how we play him.

Of course the away numbers are likely to understate our real support - Leyton Orient, Bournemouth, Brentford, Plymouth, Brighton were all games where demand exceeded supply. Unlikely the skates had to use a ballot for any of their games. Either way its all apples and pears - we had a successful season; they didn't - so our away numbers were probably larger than if we had had an average season; there also seem to a few more 'local' games in L1 than the NPC (though that's easy to prove/disprove), again bumping up our numbers. On the other hand, they're in the NPC; we're in the L1 - and numbers at the margins tend to increase as you go up the leagues.

Quite adventurous - how would you ensure we still won the midfield battle with five attack-minded players?

Norwich away still ranks as my favourite performance in L1 - given what they've gone and done, its even more impressive with time. Its no coincidence the most exciting games were all against the big teams contending for or achieving promotion and ultimately means I won't be shedding many tears for L1.

On the other hand, games like the skates away will be linked to having a ST (+away games). Of course, if it was a dark conspiracy by the club to sell as many matchday tickets as possible instead of STs, they would get rid of this condition.

Was easily their best player on monday but looks very raw - and, frankly, talented but inconsistent wingers are a dime a dozen. And it would be waste just to stick him on the bench. Wingers -more than any other position- need a decent run in the team to build confidence etc. Plymouth had the luxury- with the likes of AL, OXO, even to a lesser extent Guly, whether we would show similar patience is less clear. I thought Brighton were after LuaLua (on loan from Newcastle) who did a decent job for them before getting injured?

And you're superman

fair play

or coco the clown

Putting aside how these statements were expressed - often OTT and ad hominem, they contain some truth - so much so that NA recognised and responded to them. Re. our midfield and Hammond/Schneiderlin, NA knew that it was vulnerable and quite static and his first signing was the more roving Chaplow; Re. OXO, NA stated more explicitly than anyone that the lad was still growing and needed to be introduced slowly - hence he had no issue with pulling off after 45 mins in games; Re. Connolly - he hasn't played many games and if he hasn't played more, its probably due to NA's decisions, not DC's fitness; Re. Lambert - by the player's own admission, he has had a few dry spells this season - Lambert has been playing deeper under NA which is an acknowledgment that he's not going to hurt teams with blistering pace - again that's partly why we brought in Forte; Re. Lallana -we obviously missed him - the Daily Echo's numbers how how AL's absence coincided with poor results. Uncertainty over his condition again forced NA to dip into the transfer market (e.g.N'Guessan); Re. Barnard - there were question marks over what would happen to him - hence Guly's first real run in the side as a converted centre-forward concided with Barny's off the field troubles. Its easy to go on and on. Obviously none of these things meant we were going to blow the season - that's nonsense and just usual fan hyperbole; but boil away the bluff, some are not without rhyme or reason - arguably NA understood them better than the rest of us, acted on them and is one reason we're sitting so pretty.

Living in London - I only take the train and I don't miss many away games (just 4 in the last three seasons). I haven't got the numbers but I get the impression that the core away support is significantly older than our home support (though I'm in Itchen North which isn't the Chapel or Kingsland and so not v.representative) and the support gets older, the more hardcore the game. Obviously there are exceptions - London games and away days like Blackpool attract a few more yoof/lads and the description doesnt apply to me. But they're largely exceptions.

Haven't worked out if London is a help or hinderance - midweek home games are absolute killers, especially as the 10pm train requires you to usain bolt it back to the station. And as I remember it, there are alot more midweek league games in the NPC coz of the international break. For midweek away games north of Birmingham, living in London makes no difference - you wont be returning the same night. And whereas this season places like Yeovil were doable in the same evening for Southampton-based fans, they were not for Londoners; at least, next season promises quite a few midlandy fixtures -Leicester, Ipswich, Forest and possibly Wolves which will give us an advantage. The freedom of having Euston/St Pancras and Kings X on your doorstep is fantastic, but a Southampton-based fan will always have the option of the travel coach which is the ultimate clincher if you're not after the complete away day experience.

That's probably right, though you have to distinguish the ones that go up by coach from the ones that take the train/car - the latter are probably closer to your description. You also get alot of older folk - alot of older women, though the utter hardcore are over 50, male and definitely single.

Not doubting your motives; don't know your circumstances- but you're not so naive to think people don't get self-righteous about going to games -hence the ST ticket waving in parts of SMS. Often its extremely subtle but you see similar behaviour reproduced week-in week-out at away games.

Agree totally. And you just have to see the joyless way some 'superfans' go to games - they're obsessives and the spirit of the game is totally lost on them.

Some get it right; some get it wrong; nobody get it consistently right; nobody gets it consistently wrong; some of these statements remain true even after we've been promoted; some were ridiculous the first day they were uttered; people can quite legitimately point to weaknesses in particular players but acknowledge other qualities that compensate for them. Life's just a tad more complicated. And ultimately doesn't mean anyone cares less about the club.

Saw the team that manure put out against schalke last night, and there's a case to be made that apart from the woeful obertin it was not as strong as the one that faced us or finished the game. Yes, the circumstances and stakes were very different but it puts our performance in some perspective (notwithstanding the fact that Schalke did their best to look like mugs in the first leg). It is a corrective to the accepted wisdom that the team Fergy put out was a bunch of reserves which some have been used to dismiss or downplay the result (while conveniently overlooking our own absences e.g. Lallana). It augurs well for next season not least because our CM -our alleged weak spot- had such an excellent game. Manure 4-1 Schalke (agg 6-1) Van der Sar, Rafael Da Silva (Evra, 59), Smalling, Evans, O'Shea, Gibson, Scholes (Fletcher, 79), Anderson, Valencia, Berbatov (Owen, 79), Nani. Saints 1-2 Manure Lindegaard, Fabio (Brown, 46), Smalling, Evans, O'Shea, Scholes, Gibson (Giggs, 58 ), Anderson (Nani, 58 ), Hernández, Owen, Obertan Bialkowski, Harding, Butterfield, Seaborne, Fonte, Chaplow (Gobern, 84), Schneiderlin, Guly (N'Guessan, 79), Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lambert, Barnard (Dickson, 73)

Get in the spirit, we'll able to take it the San Siro, the Nou Camp and Bernabeu in a few years

Now that he has brought the bread and circus of promotion to the hoi polloi, Don Nicola will be able to tighten his iron-grip and crush all dissenters....without a whimper. Don't need to be Italian and read your Machiavelli to know that old ruse. Cortese gonna get ya. BOO HOO