Saint Fan CaM

On reflection, there is one overriding reason why this team loses games and is inconsistent. And the teams that have beaten us this season have demonstrated they know how to exploit the weakness. Fact is, many of our players HATE to be pressurised on the ball. They do not know how to react to players closing them down by using each other to pass the ball out of difficulty...i.e. keep the ball as far away from an opposing player as possible. What tends to happen is either the player loses possession to the aggressor or in a fit of panic hoofs the ball up to Rickie or indeed as on Tuesday night to nobody. Don't want to pick on any particular player, but Lallana, Puncheon and Schneiderlin appear to suffer the most. Perhaps this is because they are young and scared to take a clout in fear of missing the next game? Who knows? But AP needs to coach them so that they use each other more and release the ball quicker to feet IMO.

Great OP. Surely people's expectations will differ and the definition of success will be different. For some (like Glasgow Saint) it would seem that promotion this season is the yardstick for AP to prove success. For me and others, it's all about the match day experience (the walk-up, the beer, the smell of nasty burgers, the sight and sounds, mates banter etc.)....and watching home football that is attractive so we're winning more games than we lose. NC and AP have delivered that in bucket loads this season and I am really enjoying my football again. Promotion will be good, just like getting to Wembley will be, but it's certainly not the be all and end all of what I love about supporting Saints.

Still not got mine - ordered in first hour of opening lines. HOWEVER, I am led to understand that they are releasing them in alphabetical order - can anyone confirm this?

I reckon it could be around £450.

This.

Pompey reserves. HTH.

See above.

Reasons for last night were... (a) Swindon were well briefed to put 11 men behind the ball, close us down at every opportunity and wait to hit us on the break. We cannot handle those tactics (same as Tranmere etc) and so resort to hoofball mostly which does not work. (b) The lads looked tired and the pressure of the games is getting to them. © Our three play-making players - Schneiderlin, Lallana and Puncheon - all had mares. (d) We do not have the strength and depth of squad needed. James and Wotton for example would struggle to get into the Swindon side. (e) We will not win every game in a season because of (a).

Davis, James, Lallana, Schneiderlin, Puncheon and Lambert had an awful game. Fonte was quite poor by his standards too. In fact I never want to see James in a Saints shirt again - he really is too slow in his decision making, running and crossing. Fact is, Swindon had us in their pocket tonight - they ran their socks off, fought for every 1st and 2nd ball and kept their cool until they scored. Their passing technique and off-ball movement was way, way better than ours. And we for some unknown reason kept resorting to hoof to Rickie, which was not working because he was marked out of the game and latterly got injured. We'll never win every game. Not this season and not next season. But we're winning enough at the moment for us to be close to top 2 form. For me, for now that's good enough. The essential issues are winning the JPT, keep winning as many games this season as possible and keeping the 1st team squad together over the summer. Get rid of the dross in the squad and get some decent replacements in.

There was a great documentary on BBC 2 last week discussing how our view of the universe is changing dramatically. Science has now proven (by observation and maths) that expansion theory is correct (i.e. a second after the big band, expansion took over), however we do not know what caused it (or continues to cause it), so they've called it Dark Energy. They have also discovered that galaxies do not act like solar systems - i.e. the stars at the edge spin AT THE SAME SPEED as those on the inside. This should not happen because there is not enough mass in those galaxies, so there must be something else there - namely Dark Matter. There is 5 times more Dark Matter than there is matter - everywhere. The problem is we cannot detect it yet, but it is passing through everyone of us every second of every day. Lastly, recently a scientist made a random observation that some galaxies are not moving outwards in the way expansion predicts - they are converging on points in the universe independant of previous predictions. Nobody knows why or how, so the scientists have called this Dark Flow. The prevailing theory is that there are other universes that interact with our universe in some strange unknown way! The more we find out about the universe it seems the stranger it becomes. However, my belief is that we (the human race) are on an exponential curve of development in terms of our science, math and understanding of everything. If you imagine a line that runs almost horizontal and then curves upwards to almost 90degrees, that would represent our development and we - right now - would be on the lower part of the upwards curve. What that means is that assuming we survive war, famine and the worsening weather conditions, we are at the beginning of an incredible period of increasing knowledge. I also do not believe we are alone - the advent of modern man in terms of the vast amount of time the Earth has developed would suggest to me that the Earth was seeded by a visiting advanced civilisation thousands of years ago. Or something. (:

2-1 Saints. Will be a tough match methinks but we'll have the class. Or it could be a complete tonking 4-0 if we come out to destroy from the off - nothing would surprise me with Saints now.

Best thing about this season and particularly now is that even the doubters are secretely thinking (and expecting) that a high proportion of our last 12 games are ALL winnable! Over the last 10 years we would never have even dreamt of thinking that. Just shows what a little positivity does.

Interesting to hear AP thinking that 9 wins might be enough. Thing is, if you check the form of some teams in the top 6 there is some evidence that their seasons are starting to unravel a little bit and they could drop points. Particularly if we have to play them. Swindon is a good case - Huddersfield another. It's still looking very unlikely that we will do it, but the fight is not over yet and all credit to AP - he is clearly communicating a positive approach to both the players and supporters alike. Can't ask for more TBH.

Well I've not got mine yet - I hope they arrive today otherwise I'm going to whine and ***** a lot. Can't believe people half way up the country have got theirs and me living in Southampton I'm still waiting!!! Blah.

That's good - that's VERY good!!! lol

Got to agree with most on here - the Ref was diabolical. And there were many around me in the Kingsland who were going apoplectic at some of the decisions (e.g. Fonte's throat tackle and the ninja kick on Harding). And as someone has mentioned, either he was completely incompetent or he was on a cheating bung, but either way he should be sacked for that performance. Regarding Fonte, even if there it was 50-50, Jaidi's goal should have stood - there was no other infringement that I could see.

Can only be one true Saints song that is internationally known and that's "When the Saints go marching in" whatever the rendition. All the rest are johnny come lately songs that have no history. HTH.

Cannot believe how poor the ref was today - bottled it for what was a blatant penalty against Fonte...the defender had his arm around his throat when he brought him down FFS. Leeds cheated throughout the game - seems to me the reason they are starting to lose games is they have forgotten how to play football and rely heavily on Beckford faking fouls or by fouling themselves. Leeds certainly did not play good football today and Saints fully deserved the win. Fonte was my MOTM - immense performance, but Jaidi was superb too. Thomas and Harding both had very good games. Puncheon and Lallana were a complete nightmare for their defence. Davis had nothing to save all match really. Very happy with that game - we have shown we are the top team in this division without the 10 points IMO and we are being entertained. Cannot ask for more TBH. Bring on Swindon - we need to muller them too. But then the REALLY big game will be the next away fixture too...actually they're all big - but win the next three and even the doubters will start to believe.

You're right - I wouldn't travel to f-ing Coventry to see a Saints match!!!

I wondered how long it would take for someone to pick-up on this. I think if there's a possibility of a larger more modern stadium on the M27 east of the City, there is every chance a ground share would be given serious, serious thought by both organisations. I would hate it to be at Locks Heath though - don't want a throng of dirty smelly Skates near our residence thankyou - it's bad enough them living just a few miles away.

This will be the toughest test of the season IMO. It could well be a 2-2 draw.

I agree - nothing to do with happy clappy nonsense...it's just nice to see our team winning more than losing, especially at home. Just enjoying the whole experience more. But that's not to say it cannot be as good or better in the CCC.

Thanks Guys - searched everywhere for that info and couldn't find it anywhere.

This may be a daft question perhaps, but I ordered my tickets some time back and they've still not arrived. Has anyone received their tickets yet or are they not releasing them until they're all sold? Cheers. :confused:

Despite being a bit difficult to read (I sped read the important bits), this is a great post. It will however be flamed as anticipated or indeed ignored by those whose agenda is best known to themselves.