Saint Fan CaM

Absolutely agree. It will be a disgrace if once again ST holders are overlooked in favour of the plastics.

That was one of the best performances from a Saints side for 4 seasons. If Guly's goal had been scored in the Prem the commentators would have been creaming themselves for hours. Morgans performance today was huge. Hammond did OK, but I think he struggled with the pace of the game more than anyone. Bart had a couple of dodgy kicks in him, however his command of his box was good and he pulled off a world-class save in the 2nd half. It matters not whether Pools team was not their first 11 - they are pro footballers with big asperations, yet we made their team look poor...an independant bystander would guess we were the Prem side. Onwards and upwards - let's have Man Ure at SMS next.

Excellent news. Didn't expect it to be such as long contract also - that's four years from our 1st re-entry back into the NPC! Hope we crack on with a little more strengthening now and stuff the Pool babies tomorrow to send more ripples around the leagues.

You've raised a good point - I wonder if we sent a coach to watch him at Millwall to zone in on what was clearly working for him.

Puncheon leaving has for some reason made our team better. Whether that's due to better spirit in the camp or the team played now is tactically more suited is best known to Adkins and his coaches. However, Puncheon needs to get with Saints program - not the other way around - and if does not want to do this then he shouldn't be here. Hopefully he will either knuckle down and play solidly for us or he will leave by the end of January. I do suspect we will see him on Saturday in the shop window though.

Stupid to suggest any team fielded by Blackpool will not be able to compete against a L1 side, however I paid good money to see a Prem team play a full strength Saints side. If I thought I was getting anything less than that I might have thought twice about paying for the ticket - I think it is totally disrespectful of Blackpool to us and their own fans to not play a good proportion of their 1st team. We will need to put our 1st choice team out there to stand a chance of competing atall and that's what we should do to retain the winning mentality Adkins has put back into the squad. The last thing the squad needs is to stand humiliated at home in THE cup competition in this country. I am looking forward to us winning this one now...it will be an intruiging match to watch.

That's a great caption compo photo... i.e. Lallana looks over and says... "Don't fret Pulis - Stockport may want you back as the kit-man" or "Pulis wake-up FFS - you're still dreaming of your goals at Stockport aren't you?!" or Adkins:"Right, all those footballers without vests go stand with Adam - hey Pulis, where do you think you're going?".

Can't believe Beattie is heading our way, but it would be a great signing to get him back again. I think the SMS faithful would love to see him back here too - everyone remembers his cupping ear salute to the Skates which drove them nuts! Personally I think there's more to the Priskin rumour myself and that would be a cracking signing, although probably a loan to buy deal until the end of the season I would imagine. Extra thought - I don't think the Stock or Danns rumours are for real - if they were coming to us they would have done it by now, but I would be happy to be proven wrong in the case of Stock. I don't rate Danns that highly - no better than what we have here already.

Well if those stats are correct, I don't want him anywhere near Saints - he's not good enough and certainly no better than what we have already. Not one for the NPC.

Errr, have you been asleep for the last week? What about our latest signing Chaplow???

I think there is more chance of this being a poor decision that works in our favour, than one that sees them suddenly pick-up form. It seems there's no immediate plan to appoint someone - I suspect the players are wondering WTF?! They'll be floundering for a little while I suspect, but will still probably make the play-offs.

Yes - he did look to be their best player, but would he do a better job than anyone we have already? In other words, do we really need more cover at CM?

I've just watched the above video on Saintsplayer and I have to say it is really very well done. Summed up the last two games really well in an artistic way (i.e. against atmos music) that's not too pretentious. It's a pity that not all Saints fans will get the chance to see it, although I suppose it might be aired at the Stadium on Saturday?

I don't believe we're in for him or that he'd come here - he's too much of a big "I AM" to drop a division even if temporarily. Regardless, I feel we'll be offering Guly a good contract and Lallana his big fat 3-year deal and that will be it.

The OP suggests that Adkins is swapping them around to suit the game. In fact he's doing this for most of the back-line which makes emminent sense. So I'm afraid to say there seems little point in joining in the arguement about "who is best" - both offer something slightly different in relation to the rest of the team make-up and if either one fulfills the job set him on matchday then great...the plan has worked.

Absolutely spot b0ll0ck on. I thought he had a good game, but watching the highlights showed me he had an exceptional game as a playmaker and ran the entire pitch all afternoon.

Why would he want to go to a club where the Manager that appointed him is about to be sacked??? Makes no sense. He's better off carving a career with Southampton that will see him in the Prem within 3 years anyway. Consistency, continuity, comradery - not to be sniffed at in today's mercenary football world.

You've got it in a nutshell there.

Seasons greetings to Ron - one of my boyhood heroes. Have a healthy and peaceful 2011. Hope to see you at SMS one day to celebrate our re-birth Ron.

Agree with those saying we need to put together a convincing run and beat a few teams to cement a top 3 place now. There is no option - to get the opportunity of promotion we need to win some games of football. Dammit - New Years resolution - must stop talking like that! We will lose this game 1-2 then - a few nutters on here will be shouting for Adkins head and normal Saints business will be resumed. (;

Shame - he would have been a good addition to give a break to Lallana and particularly Chambo. Wonder how much they paid? Probably worth £4-500k.

Charlie Austin would be a great signing, but I cannot believe it's true.

The takeover thread and the development plans. Absolutely hilarious. The characters and personas that materialised were incredible. But the best bits were all the 'released' SMS site improvement plans - priceless!

Great signing - he compliments Hammond or Morgan, whereas together they're too similar. He arrives quickly into the box on an attack and is a real menace in the last third. As others have said, he knows where his teammates are (I reckon he will link well with Lee B) and he gets stuck in. I just hope he continues to shine and stamp his authority on games. I feel sure he will be first choice ahead of Hammond or Morgan if available, so it will be interesting to see who out of those two gets the nod to play beside him. Good to hear in his interview that he's looking forward to getting his family settled here too. Welcome Chappers and family to the Saints.