shurlock

Thought so as well - the initial point of contact was outside, though the run took him inside. Connelly had a more than decent shout for a pen in the 2nd half down by the left hand side of the box.

Fair play to Brighton and the chimp - didn't think they would turn up and yes its easy to assume all kinds of dodgy motives from the result but from the reports (and repeated by DD above), they gave it a right go. They would be the first to admit that, without Glenn Murray, they are pretty toothless upfront and so it was the case today. Disappointed yes but at least not aggrieved.

Don't get the OPs ratings- Chaplow, a 5? Hammond, a 4? Seriously? Both were very good. Chaplow was everywhere and gave us good forward movement. Hammond was usually on the winning end of midfield50-50s. I thought Jaidi was a bit erratic 2nd half -sliced a lot his clearances that put us under pressure. Will be interesting what happens Monday as Plymouth are a physical, hoofball side that Jaidi usually does well against. Lallana also had a poorish game by his amazingly high standards - some of his decision-making and passing was a bit rusty (to be expected, I guess). My only criticism of NA was bringing on Gobern - thought the game passed him by and was a virtual passenger, esp as Weston looked handful after coming on. Would have used Butterfield and pushed Richardson up - after all, we were leading 2-0 at the time of the first substitution.

Yep - he must have an access or own a ST, suggesting that something has given. Saw him in the carpark at Brighton - he left early and missed the goals because he couldn't take the pressure anymore. bless 'im.

1. Kelvin's brace of last-minute saves at hillsborough and NA's first win; 2. Oxo's mazy run and goal vs. Oldham at SMS (his first league goal for us); 3. Kelvin's penalty save vs. BHA (Lallana should have had a pen for exactly same challenge in the 1st half); 4. Arfields miss that would have made it 2-0 and would have been thoroughly deserved as they blitzed us for the first 20 mins; 5. Chaplow's volley against manure and I was thinking at the time that guly's header was as good as it was going to get; 6. Ricky's last min header against Exeter - a tough, tough place that gave me the confidence that we could win at places like Oldham; 7. The sending off against Colchester - completely changed the course of the game and snapped us out of the hangover from Walsall. 8. Oxo's alleged handball against Posh (still leaves a bitter taste in the mouth); 9. Bompey's volley against the bar that would have made it 2-2; 10. Barny's goal against Franchise and the heart-stopping, near collapse after that, including a free-kick that hit the bar and a decent penalty shout; 11. Our at the death goals against BHA - assumed Fonte's goal wasn't going to count. Thought the stand was going to cave in;

Reckon it should be something more celebratory.

Always told to stay away from him I was growing up in Bompey.

5.54pm 29/05/2011.

Adkins has become more rather than less like Pardew. Adkins instinctively believes in a more passing game than Pardew; and tried to get us zipping the ball around when he first joined but with mixed results. Given the set-up and players he inherited and the need to hit the ground running, NA realised that Rome could not rebuilt in a day. So in some respects, there are quite a few similarities/continuities with the past and pardew. No doubt this will change if we get promoted and NA has a proper warchest rather than having to rely on bits and pieces in the january/loan windown. The change is more obvious in other areas: from the flexibility of his tactics to the inclusive feel he's generated around the squad and club, NA (and of course AC/RW) are a total break from the old regime.

Happy to donate; but what happens if you don't reach £2700 - does the money get returned, and if so how?

Yep comical. On that form, udders even have a chance of overturning the GD

If you think that's something, check out the goal they let in at Colchester (if that's not the one you're talking about)

Thought Weston was v.good for them last year. Our right flank needs to be nice and tight, though teams like Orient and Bournemouth have got a lot of joy down it. Not sure if I would start Butterfield or Richardson. Defensively, I prefer Butterfield, though maybe he lacks the pace.

Excellent player - can easily cut it in the championship. If he has a weakness, its probably in the air.

Both are excellent. LB is the strongest area of the squad.

I can see where you're coming from - and like you believe that throwing caution to the wind from the off will just lead to the sucker-punch. Of course, there's an important distinction to draw between home and away games: when we're away, the longer we keep the score at parity, the more likely I think we'll nick it and yes I worry about our midfield getting over-run, though maybe that's an argument for changing our tactics altogether and playing more CMs. However, at home when the expectation is that the opposing team will park the proverbial bus and we're up against pretty predictable L1 opposition, I think we should press more. Only a handful of teams -Bristol Rovers, Norwich and Swindon last season and MK Dons and to a lesser extent Huddersfield this season have worried me on the break with their pace and incision. And by pressing I dont mean throwing Jaidi and Fonte upfront or asking Hammond to hold the line as the rest of the midfield is gung-ho. I mean taking a few more shots - how many long range strikes from open play have we scored this season? I went to MK Dons-Huddersfield game on Friday and was struck by how willing Huddersfield were happy to shoot on sight - their opener against the run of play came from one of their players willingness to gamble. They did something similar to us at their place in October. For all their strengths, the likes of Lallana, Guly and even Lambert who is much less instinctive than last year like to take an extra touch and work the ball into the box. Hammond seems more willing; but we surely have cleaner strikers of a football. I also mean the likes of Lambert not dropping so deep to collect the ball -surely something you start to do when you start chasing a game? The number of times we break or get crosses into the box and nobody is in the centre can be frustrating. Someone should genuinely lead the line and stay at the top. Perhaps too much being asked of Lambert - some of his approach play from deep is fantastic but he's also being asked to finish it off. Its one reason I rate Connolly - he complements Lambert perfectly and the partnership reminds me of a L1 Rooney and Hernandez. Minty's stats are fascinating: we are the third top scorers in the division and yet have failed to score in 30.2 percent of our games which puts us 15th in the league. What's going on there? Surely that's an area which is begging for improvement?

At least Plymouth have a tough local derby with Exeter which should be knackering.

Think I might put a few bob on Brentford and Huddersfield wins (singles) just as a small hedge. Hopefully will be money well lost.

They would never give blocks 2 and 3 to the away fans and sandwich them between home fans in blocks 1 and 4 - all four blocks use the same gates/concourse to start.

Not the point - just drawing attention to the fact that we don't get alot of early goals. We were pretty wasteful first half yesterday, not least the number of crosses that went into the box and nobody was in the middle and its striking how we don't try to test the keeper early with a few shots from distance. Obviously it doesn't matter when the goals come as long as we win and its great we've developed some steeliness, patience and belief (if Norwich go up, it will be because they pushed to the end); but there's no reason why we we can't both start and finish strongly, right? After all, opponents grow more confident the longer the score stays at parity and there will be times -as in the past under Adkins- when we leave ourselves too much to do because we didn't capitalise early.

Which isn't necessarily a good thing - apart from Charlton, it feels like an eternity when we last scored (at SMS) in the first half. Under Pards and even with the same stifling tactics, we tended to fly out of the blocks and get a few quick goals; though if that didn't happen, we would run out of ideas and get increasingly desperate.

Your one is slighter better - captured closer in time to when AL actually releases/crosses the ball.

Thought he did excellent today and didn't seem to tire that much- in some ways Connolly and Lambert work better than Lambert and Barnard. Barnard is more powerful than Connolly but Connolly makes the more intelligent runs and with Lambert who can pick out a pass, that plays to DC's strengths.

Fantastic set-piece - tried a carbon copy at Orient and almost came off. great it did today - they looked pretty dangerous with 10 men.

Thought he had a good, no nonsense game - asked to close people down and win the second balls. He was strong, mobile and disciplined - thought he might dive in but he didn't and was key to winning the midfield. Saw very little of him going forward and kept his passing very simple - and I've always remembered him as a more attacking midfielder, so it would have been nice to see more on that side.