shurlock

shame mawhinney is stepping down in march

I'm just looking forward to the replay at their place!

yes and no -i don't think it should be playoffs or his P45 but unless there's some sense of momentum and direction, AP will be under pressure. lets have a run like before Xmas but please not the performances. i posted this at the time of the Walsall game, supposedly our best result of the season. "Just back from the game - thought we were pretty ordinary and disjointed for the first and last third of the game...I remember saying after the Stockport game that despite our frustrating results, there was no team that had truly frightened us or had us on the backfoot. Yes there are exceptions in this league - Norwich for instance- but that observation still applies today. Only difference is that we are now scoring goals. But whether we have really hit our stride or are relying on the mediocrity of the opposition is still unclear. We still seem unable to play in top gear for long, consistent spells. No doubt we'll find out in the next few months as the playoff push unfolds" That run masked alot of problems and it has now caught up with us.

Sounds quite low and tired in the interview - maybe its also the weekend blues, the exeter result coupled with fact that its now two weeks before he can put things right again in the league.

I hope that's the deal - show us that next year we'll be challenging - not playoffs or your p 45. That sounds reasonable to me.

I hope that NC realises how improbable the playoffs are - we could go on a blinding run the end of the season and still narrowly miss them. My question is whether NC would accept this as "progress" (indeed would some of the other posters)? If not it feels as if AP is working with a bit of a poisoned chalice.

...and he could do it on sh*tty pitches;)

FWIW - this is how previous winners of the JPT/football league trophy fared the following season: 2000/01 Port Vale – 14th 2001/02 Blackpool – 13th 2002/03 Bristol City – lost in playoff finals 2003/04 Blackpool – 16th 2004/05 Wrexham – 13th 2005/06 Swansea – 7th 2006/07 Donnie – playoff winners 2007/08 MK Dons – playoff semi-finalists 2008/09 Luton??? In addition Bristol City and Swansea both made the playoffs in the years they won the JPT while MK Dons won L2. Not much you can read into any of this, though there seems in recent years to be a closer relationship between success in the cup and subsequent league performance. Perhaps proof that trophy is growing in stature and more teams are taking it seriously. In other words, you have to be half-way decent to win it which augurs well...

We also happened to finish 8th in 2002/2003, so there's a case it was the FA Cup + league which propelled us to a Champions Lge spot...

Agree - even if playoffs are an impossibility, momentum is everything. Remember how the late surge in the 2005-2006 season not only calmed relegation fears but more important set us up for a promotion push the next season. The last thing we need is for the buzz and optimism that have been around the club to slacken or be taken for granted.

So you would play Antonio, Waigo and Puncheon together, presumably in a 4-4-2?

Don't think that will do it either. Puncheon looked effective yesterday precisely because he was picking the ball up in all of parts of the park - like Lallana, you'll probably think he's not disciplined enough. The closest we've come to playing two wide men with pace was Luton in the cup where Antonio started on the right and Papa on the left. Admittedly it was not perfect - Papa is not a left sided player let alone winger but it did inject some pace on both flanks as you bang on about. However, neither players shone because the centre of midfield didn't impose itself and provide them with effective distribution - and Hammond and Schneiderlin, currently our best midfield combo, started that day. In light of the opposition, it was possibly one of our worst performances of the season. You think pace and width are some kind of panacea - they're nothing of sort without a strong CM and that's where we've been weakest for a while.

.

...and why not show a bit of self-restraint by not starting a new thread on the subject?

+1. But of course DD thinks NC should stick with Pards as he thinks Pards is doing a good job yet still thinks its necessary to start a thread on the question. Don't get it. But DD would respond that he's only a poor lightening rod, a man of the people, selflessly trying to reflect all views in the community, especially minority views. Forget the coincidence that he happens to endorse those views nine times of ten. :smt052

True - a point away from home is never a bad return. But its not as if we really threatened to get more (we have't won away from home in the league since the beginning of December). If we were creating chances or making the keeper work, I wouldn't mind as much. But we're not - just as important, we seem unable to kick on in the second half - that's where the hoofball becomes a real liability. We lose/back possession far too easily and are just asking for trouble. We never finish the game the stronger team and the issue is not whether we're going to get the 1 point; its whether we're going to get anyhing at all.

Just got back - and the fact is that the performance was characteristic of plenty of performances this season - even many during our supposed purple patch. General observations are largely covered elsewhere but here are my two pennies. 1. We play hoofball - fullstop. Yes the pitch made paschendale look like a lawn bowling green but its not as if we're Arsenal and our favoured passing game was somehow disrupted. We should have coped. Fact is that if Lambert isn't winning his headers, we have no plan B. 2. Our central midfield is not up for the scrap - by contrast, our central defense was fairly comfortable. Hammond will improve things when he returns but we need another box-to-box terrier. We can perhaps get away with one of James or Schneiderlin in the middle but not both - persevering with them recalls the demented days of the dutch duo. Indeed, with the likes of Mills, Lallana, Schneiderlin, Antonio, Seaborne, James, Puncheon it was an extremely young, and unintimidating team. 3. The most encouraging thing today was Puncheon's debut. Unlike the rest of the team, was happy to take responsibility and control of the ball. Was my Saints MOTM, though that's not saying much. 4. Either play Papa down the middle in a 4-4-2 or possibly behind Lambert in a 4-5-1 or not at all. He's a striker not a RM. AP labours under the assumption that Antonio and Papa are mutually exclusive options - they're not. Why not play both?

and a bit of kinks sunny afternoon as well http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h1oRP7FfBw

I said that: (i) ST holders who abused a glitch in the computer system to get more than their permitted share is totally unfair. (ii) the rules that are being used to allocate tickets more widely is fair to the extent that everybody knew the rules and had the opportunity to take measures - camping overnight and looking grim like that blond bird on the OS if need be- but the system could be fairer in the future by rewarding more fully past attendance. Just coz things can be improved doesn't make them bad. No inconsistency there.

you get your norwich ticket as well?

Missing the point. The system has failed on its own terms (ST holders ordering more than one ticket each which is unfair) and could work better (actually rewarding those who go to games but whatever reason don't have a ST -and there are plenty of legit reasons. Not saying the the system is unfair -since everybody knows the current rules- but it could be made fairer). And just to be clear I got my ticket in the post a few days ago - so it has nothing to do with sour grapes.

plastic parade on the OS

Just you can doesnt mean you should.

And coz of a computer glitch, those ST holders who ordered more than their permitted share? A bit of self-restraint called for?

Total farce - thought there might be a bit of solidarity amongst fans: instead its been each to his own, fat snouts in the trough and f**k the rest. Any ST holder who ordered more than his fair share (i.e. one per ST holder) should be ashamed of himself.