Saint Fan CaM

All round terrific performance, blighted only by the defensive howler early doors. I took my 2 sons and future son-in-law on our annual Saints match/pub visit and came away very happy in more ways than one! We had a nailed on pen claim in the 1st half too which would have seen us 3-1 up, but the ref and lino (who both had excellent views) both bottled it completely. How Lallana didn't score but hit the bar I'll never know! Anyway, Guly and Lambo were just too much for them with Guly running his nuts off for the team right to the end. Special mention for Chambo who was fantastic, but also for Jaidi who had one of his best games for many months and was outstanding IMO - MOTM. Chaplow is a player that we REALLY need to sign permanent and I hope that is sorted. 5th in the table and hopefully wins against Exeter and D&R will see us close to the top 2. The backlog of away games is going to be a telling point in our progress.

Would love to see him here permanently. Hammond and Spiderman are not really suited to each others game IMO - Chaplow does a better job alongside one of them, regardless of who.

Why would that be? It's not up to the Ref to get the pitch ready - if the club says it will have things ready by a certain time (and let's face it he gave it extra time to thaw) then the Ref will try to give the club and the pitch the chance to get it right. If then at the last moment, it's still not good enough, then the Ref has to call the thing off. The issue for me is in the fact that the decision is SOLELY that of the Ref's. If there was a majority vote with the other officials and the team managers, then the pressure would be taken off the Ref to make a decision. Collective responsibility would see more borderline games actually played.

Surely the point is that if he's looking to gain match fitness, a prem team would not risk him - there's too much to play for. A mid-lower CCC team might take a risk on him, but then we've got fantastic training and recovery facilities few other teams outside the Prem have got. There's a lot of positives for a player from a higher league coming here on loan, but the key issue I think is that Adkins is not the type of man that will bring in somebody like Woodgate because (a) he would expect to get 1st team football and (b) that could very easily unsettle the squad.

One assumes we still have that system which means there's every good chance the Huddersfield game will be on.

I think the question is somewhat premature given the significance of the Jan window. However based on PERFORMANCES since Adkins took over, it is true to say that if I were a betting man I would definately not waste my money on a top 2 place and I would think strongly about a bet on a playoff place. We are back to a place where I am not confident of a decent performance and/or a win, so consequently my faith in us getting promoted has dipped considerably since AP departed. I keep in reading on here about how much 'the squad' cost. Well in this league it's not all about the skills (and therefore cost) of the individual - success comes from a great Manager bringing together a cohesive TEAM of players that REALLY believe in his vision and understand how to deliver it. I still don't think that applies to us unfortunately, regardless of the noises made about great team spirit, "opportunities" and all the other spin.

Antonio to return?

I think we'll see Chaplow sign permanent. I also have a feeling that Antonio might be on his way back if his exposure on the 2010 review is anything to go by.

Oh dear...good luck with that one then. ):

Depends on who you mean by "us". If you mean the 1st team, then it will depend on those coming back from injury (e.g. Barnie) and signings in January. If you mean the fans, then I would say "no", because it messes around with the fixtures at Xmas which I rely on happening as my lads are too far away to come to a re-arranged match.

I've just watched again our 5-1 drubbing of Walsall last season. That should tell you all you need to know about why we are where we are this season (i.e. in terms of style of play, some individuals performances and players no longer here).

With respect, I would suggest that in this instance it would be better to let sleeping dogs lie. I can see no good whatsoever in this being highlighted atall and I am surprised that the Mods have not removed the information as has happened in the past.

Given infation (since Theo and Bale), his talent and our ability financially to keep hold of players now, that figure is entirely reasonable I would say. He'll probably go for £3m then.

I would like to see a Guly / Chaplow partnership in CM.

Big changes needed in January and not all to do with Lambert. If not, then promotion will be just an outside chance IMO.

Wheels coming off the youth system bus? Dodd for the sack now? You heard it hear first. (;

We are not a selling club - very recent quote from NC. So if we're to believe in anything spoken by our CEO, neither Fonte or Lambert will be going anywhere in January.

I don't think there are too many who want him out - yet. I also don't agree that too many think he's a bad manager. However, it is true to say that results have not reflected the ambitions of the club particularly when so much money has been invested. Whatever we want to think may or may not happen with NA, NC will not hang about when making a decision on whether there is enough about NA to maintain the risk of keeping him on. The team does not appear to be responding well at the moment. However, the January window will be a great opportunity for NA to inject one or more players of his own into the squad and that might be the turning point. I hope so.

Well done. ****.

For pity's sake, what are you on?!? Lambert was totally gash yesterday and 19,000 Saints fans would agree with that I feel sure. He doesn't jump for the ball, he doesn't run for the ball, he doesn't run into space off the ball, he doesn't look fit, he doesn't look interested, the only time he looks remotedly likely to score or even do something constructive is when he's taking a deadball freekick on goal or a pen. If a CCC team came long with a good swap striker with money deal I would snap their arms off. Lambert in his current form is a liability.

If a player doesn't want to be at a club, even if under contract, he will be leaving sooner or later. Performances will drop and that player will become a liability and a hinderance to the club's aspirations by taking up a place in the team and by sustaining a bad vibe in the camp. Thankfully most of the better youth team lads had good attitude and maintained a good level of performance - K Jones being a notable exception. Older players seem to get affected worse - take Lambert for example...

This is a very interesting point and one worthy of serious debate IMO. We heard all the usual diatribe from Adkins before the game about how the team were so "up for it" and ready...how the rest had done a few players good. And yet we're served up one of the worst performance ever to grace SMS. So perhaps Adkins tinkers with tactics too much - so much that the players just get confused? Or perhaps Puncheons opinions about his ex-manager are the tip of the iceberg and Adkins has lost the changing room? Do we have another Poortvleit on our hands with Adkins - nice guy but doesn't command the respect of the players? One thing is f'sure, something is not right with the camp - there are too many supposedly good players for this league not pulling their weight and not performing.

The team was very poor yesterday. Should that be levelled at one man? No. But Hammond is the Captain and should perhaps shoulder a little more of the blame for not getting his troops sorted. Having said that, he could not affect the rubbish defending and goalkeeping that cost us two goals. He could not affect the 3-4 world class saves their goalkeeper pulled off (not to mention the manner in which he commanded his box). I suspect he hasn't got the balls to rip into Lambert for being a lardy-arsed load of rubbish with no apparent team ethic whatsoever. We need a new striker urgently in January as from what I've heard Barnard will not be around for a while. I've said it before, Schniederlin and Hammond do not work well together and Chaplow is a better partner in CM who makes either of the other two look better. If I were to select one of them to keep it would be Hammond because I don't feel Schneiderlin is the type of player to get us out of L1. Whether he's good enough to make a better stab at it in a higher league is debatable - personally I think he would do better in a French team where he has more time on the ball - but he's not the player we need now. We need Chaplow fit and we need a good backup option too.

This.

Absolutely correct. We said before the game that perhaps we might see a performance from Lambert today in case his mate at Newcastle might be looking. What a joke that was - Lambert was absolute gash today and not even worthy of a place on the bench. To be fair the entire team was awful, but special criticism to Kelv, the two CB's and the two central midfielders - no energy, no guile, always passing sideways or backwards. The most depressing game this season so far - keep this up Adkins and you'll be gone before January's out. Transfers needed in January big time.