shurlock

I reckon he would have been off had he clipped the player anywhere in our half - as it was it was just outside their box. Made the ref's job easier.

Snodgrass has been suspended I think. They played Gradel yesterday who's done well since he arrived from Leicester on loan. Will be a tough test for James or Thomas whoever starts for them. I would be tempted to stick Waigo at RM as he has done a decent job covering our fullback. Has certainly tracked back and is pacy- so might be an option.

WOuld be a great result.

Absolutely fantastic - and I'm buzzing - just 11 wins from 14 will be tough to maintain given some of our performances. I don't see us losing many or going backwards just a more modest points return, a few more niggardly draws etc. By the same token I also don't see Leeds maintaining their form - the number of last minute winners they've scraped and jammed doesn't suggest that they're invincible or heads and shoulders above the rest of L1.

As I say I think they were sucked into middle because the initial delivery wasn't there and were forced to pick up the knockdowns and second balls - had they not done so, had they stayed on the wings they would have seen f**k all of the ball. Saying that Antonio didn't help things - Schneiderlin tried to switch the play several times in the first half (though most of his balls were backwards today) only for Antonio to fail to read the pass and react too late.

Not expecting us to play like Brazil but our performances have dipped for a while now - ever since the draw at Leyton Orient. We're overachieving at the moment and before long the performances will catch up the results - as long as people are prepared for this and don't get their knickers in a twist, then it'll be OK. The danger is inflated expectations that forgets how far we've come but how very far we still have to go - even in L1.

I agree that we were too narrow but I don't think it was necessarily Lallana's or Antonio's fault. The service to them was p!ss poor - they were either fighting for knock downs or picking the ball up deep that forced them inside. I can't remember many times where we built play and created genuine space for Lallana or Antonio to have a go at the fullbacks. In my book hitting the direct ball down the channel is not the same thing as using the full width of the pitch - for that responsibility lies with the defenders and midfielders and their distribution.

And so we were incapable of changing things, say, for Schneiderlin or Hammond to take control and look to go forward? We set up so predictably and players seem so fixed to preset roles that when things don't work down the channels (usually from the speculative back-to-front direct ball) we are petty clueless. Rarely do I see players making runs off the ball that drag opponents out of position (Connolly has that quality but it happens too far up the pitch and he is all too often isolated). The only exception today was Harding's willingness to break into the box and that led to the goal.

Great result but we were frankly garbage in the 1st half and not that much better in the second. If we retain the ball as poorly as we did today against Leeds, we'll get spanked. And this was not the first time. I can find 17 teams worse than us in this division -thats easy- but whether we are good enough to kick on is doubtful. Certainly we're no way as good as our form suggests - but given its early days in the new regime maybe that's to be expected.

Cortese's been pretty low key since he's arrived - alot of things which were touted -recruiting a DoF- have been put on the backburner. As he put it, there were more important things. Guess he identified the training ground as number one priority and threw everything into that, only for the Echo to upstage things. The relationship between the club and press ultimately depends on goodwill -no doubt Cortese has granted Echo access, interviews, whatever that he didn't have to; that gives rise to an expectation that the Echo will return the gesture when asked. Of course, the Echo can do whatver it likes - it doesn't owe the club anything; but it shouldn't complain if the club then turns off the tap of access. Relationships are based on give-and take- but we're in a situation where the club seemingly gives and the Echo takes. If the Echo wants to take the pi*s through self-serving short-termist stunts, at least have the integrity to accept the consequences - the Lowe comments just underscore what a sh*tty little rag it is. Hopefully a few more unemployed journos will be using the paper as firewood this Xmas.

I thought the picture of morgan, perry, connolly and james was some sort of barber shop quartet at first with a mike in the middle - didn't realise the girl was hooked up to something.

....yeh apart from tearing seats out and throwing bottles at us

My brother found himself in a Lisbon pub with him during Euro 2004. Would have only made him 13/14 but he was hammered and singing anti-IRA songs. Will be a daft c**t for life, no doubt. But if he does join us, hopefully he's become a bit more discplined.

What? he was betting on his penalties too?

Would people stop complaining at the £26 ticket price. A few quid over and above what other clubs charge, so what? Its chumps change once you factor in the extortionate price of a railway ticket that saints fans who live around the country have to put up with. Its especially moronic if it comes from those who are in a position to take the coach.

True - while we've played better in other games (I still can't believe how we didnt score in that rampant first half at Carlisle), we were extremely professional. Though we conceded a goal, I think today was our best defensive performance for a while - and lately that's where the frailties and worries have been. For me that was the big plus.

I thought that apart from a fantastic 15 min spell at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half, we were pretty ordinary - pretty football it certainly was not.

His distribution is infinitely better than Harding's. But yes today our distribution from the back -not just Murty- was poor.

Just back from the game - thought we were pretty ordinary and disjointed for the first and last third of the game, not helped by the ref who was a fussy SOB (the one exception was the pen he missed) and a lino who forgot that this is a man's sport (apart from the blatant push on Harding she missed). Initially, thought James was a pretty negative choice at RM, though hats off to him he had a decent game, especially in the second half when Schneiderlin released him with some incisive balls. Nonetheless without pace in the team, the ball down the channel is pretty useless - and we were pretty one-dimensional. Whether we play 4-4-2 or 4-5-1, the common factor to the way Pards sets us up is the need and ability to exploit space down the channels - and here pace helps no end. Connolly was easily the MOM. For me he started to impose himself on the game after he started to peel off and pick the ball up in wider positions - and he's no slouch. His goal was sheer class - in some ways better than the Norwich goal. Taken early, it was the tightest of angles and there was only place he could put his shot, just inside the far post - and he expertly delivered. After that, we ran riot and could/should have had three or four - again Connolly was at the heart of everything - he ran at defenders, leading to our second, took the ball down with his back to goal, firing off shots at will. Only disappointment was that after the third goal we were a bit scrappy but I guess that's called closing the game out. Encouragingly, Perry and Jaidi, for all their age, more than dealt with Walsall's pace. Perry seems to enjoy playing with Jaidi - can concentrate on reading the game, leaving the aerial battles and rough stuff to Jaidi. I also think that the return of Murty has been crucial. His distribution is excellent and isn't afraid to take the ball forward and pick a pass - Harding for all his defensive qualities lacks Murty's composure and distribution. Just a shame that Murty and Lallana don't play on the same side of the pitch. Too early to say whether Bart will do the biz. His kicking was erratic and he flapped at a few crosses - apart from a chance in the first few mins and the goal, I can't think of him being tested. In other words, the jury is still out - guess Leeds will be the baptism of fire. 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. 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...

Boom boom - telegraphed that one didn't I. No reason why that three can't hold its own against any midfield while carrying lots of attacking threat. Hammond with his grit to get stuck in; Mellis with his energy and stamina to close down and hustle and Schneiderlin to hopefully continue what he's been doing. Don't see how James/Wotton would necessarily improve things defensively with Hammond playing slightly deeper.

Thought he was the big man - happy days.

The sharpness of thought and touch of lallana-schneiderlin-mellis together would be amazing. From what I've seen they are all on the same wavelength. James had a decent if unspectacular and untroubled game yesterday. But there's no way he is as good as Mellis, even in terms of closing down. Drop James, start Mellis, play Hammond in the holding role and have faith that schneider will do his fair share of dirty work as he is now proving - and the rest will follow.

Want him to succeed since he has shown real glimpses of danger and being able to change a game. Just hope that AP perseveres and has more patience than some on here. Lets not forget that the guy is in a totally alien environment and needs time to settle (this was only his second start in a while). Yes he's still a bit over eager -hence the offsides, though nobody complains about the relentless tracking and tackling back.

We'll see where they both finish at the end of the season but if you think they're bigger teams -and I'm not talking about history and reputation which mean f**k all- you're living on another planet (just look at our attendance which is four or five times bigger than Colchester and BR for start). The only big teams in this division are Norwich, MK Dons, Charlton, Leeds United, Millwall, Huddersfield and possibly Colchester.

Yeh but there have been lots of those in the past, from Blackburn to Chelsea in the prem or from Wigan to Fulham in the lower leagues- as I say, what really set Man City apart is that they showed little respect for the natural hierarchy. They could go to Real and f**k Chelsea over by getting Robinho or they could lure away Arsenal's best players. At the moment, we haven't made any comparable signings - players at their peak from bigger clubs. Lambert and Hammond were at smallish clubs, Jaidi was out of contract and near the end of his career - ditto with Connolly who's also been injured.