Saint Fan CaM

Lambert has not looked arsed for several games now - in fact ever since his mate got the sack. Frankly it's time for him to move on as the amount of effort he puts in is terrible and 2nd rate. And the Northam singing that Rickie Lambert is "Saints goal machine" is pretty sad. The only reason he's playing is because we have no-one else other than Do Prado and at least puts in a shift.

And back to the game... (; They've got good striker options (Vine) and with Jose out, it might not go the way we want it too. Could be a tricky one, but I think if we're on it and Rickie has done some good work during the break, we might just go out 2-1 winners.

Well said. Thanks for saving me the time explaining the above to the numpties on here who don't get it.

I completely agree and I am quite miffed that I cannot buy my own seat on-line. I have in fact bought a ticket now and it's quite near my seat, but I would far prefer my seat TBH as I've got to know the people around me. I think the club are letting the ST holders down by not providing a preference.

Such as that bit in the ET movie when all the bikes took off and flew across the moon.

A good summary, but you've missed a couple of essential attributes that some teams in this division seem to acquire better than others for some reason...(a) grunt factor, and (b) cohesiveness. Let me explain... (a) Grunt factor is the part of a players game that makes him think he is a superman such that he works his nuts off all game, closing opposition players down and generally making an absolute menace of himself. (b) Cohesiveness is partly to do with the balance of player attributes in a team and partly to do with the manner in which the gaffer can make the team believe they are all better players as a result of being in HIS team as a team - i.e. regardless of ability individuals will not win games of football, but a cohesive team will. IMO these are the components missing from some of our players right now and the reason why we're not achieving to a level that the stats tell us we should be. Incidentally, the Liverpool team you mention (or any other Prem team) would likely suffer humiliations in the CCC and that's largely due to other teams having a better team spirit, morale, work ethic etc. etc.

lol...

OH NO! How are we ever going to achieve promotion if we're going to loan out our bestest players to lower league clubs?!?! We must be desperate for the money! (;

Who?

Brighton game RL plays and we get 0-0. Next game we win 3-0 without RL in 2nd half and no goals from RL again. RL may be good with his assists (debatable), but he is taking up a space that could go to someone fit and motivated (which he does not appear to be). If he had to work to retain his place it would be a good thing, however there is not the competition there right now. Also, I think NA is trying to get RL to play out of his comfort zone and it ain't working.

This. And also that he does not compliment Hammond. Compare him to Chaplow and I would take Chaplow over Schneiderlin everytime.

Can't believe how negative some people on here are. We've drawn a Prem team that are playing well and we're at home. They will bring a large crowd. If we strengthen and play to the best of the team ability we shall see a good game of football. It will be quite some feat to beat them, but a loss will be no hardship, so it's a great draw - bring it on.

This. Although I would like to see a good striker who can challenge Lambert for his place alongside Lee B.

+100%

Now that would be an awesome signing, but with CCC clubs interested, we won't get a look in.

Are you certain about how much he's drawn in wages...perhaps he's been on a PAYP deal? Please enlighten us with your knowledge. There is a significant difference between Pulis and Holmes I would suggest - Holmes can play football and is worthy of a deal.

Would much prefer Holmes based on Puncheons frankly inept performances. Even as a supposed left-footer, Holmes did a magnificant job on the right and got to the byline more times in one game than Puncheon had done almost all season. Lets face it, Holmes has shown incredible devotion to the squad by sticking around waiting for his chance and now it looks like his fitness has returned and NA is giving him the opportunities to excel. Well done Lee Holmes.

Hammond did seem to have a better game, however we would be saying the same about Schneiderlin had he played. The reason? Chaplow. He has transformed the CM partnership by having a great motor to get box to box. His passing is excellent and he plays like he wants the ball all the time...no respite for the opposition. I have said for sometime that the Hammond/Morgan partnership does not work largely because they are too similar in pace and style. Chaplow changes everything and we need him to stay in January - I cannot believe NA/NC will let him go now he's featuring so strongly in the team make-up.

Touchė

You do Guly a disservice - he had to get into a position that provided the opportunity for the through-ball to be played. That in itself was an example of a 1st class move from a player that knows how to execute such a run. If that high quality type of off-ball movement and forward passing skill was displayed consistently week in week out, more goals would be scored (by all our strikers) and we would be knocking on the door of the Prem very quickly indeed. Guly is one of the players already equipped for the NPC and Prem IMO. While Barnard has his own qualities, I am not certain that he (yet) has that instinctive ability (but it might come).

If we play with high tempo and belief we will win. If Brighton park the bus we might not have such a great evening. Based on how Poyet expects them to play, we should go with the same team as it worked well against Posh. Expecting a draw to be honest, but if it's true some of their better players are out we might get that win which will really open things up at the top. Exciting match whatever the outcome I suspect.

Sound management decision from NA. Weed out the pretenders and bring players that have some substance and desire - not just a name. We might see more movement outwards of some of AP's 'wonder boys' - the ones that NA finds out as wanting. Just hope that NC now backs NA and gets proper replacements without hesitation.

He must be dropped - play Barnard and Gully up front - job done.

Agree with this. Frankly he needs to start accepting some blame otherwise the more astute players will see these sort of comments and start thinking "WTF - this guy is a complete fruitcake - I'm not listening to that nonsense another moment". If you condense down about 80% of his interviews you might find something worthy of note. That's not to say what he states has any truth though - for example you cannot say on one hand that it's "all about a team performance" and then the next say "one player screwed up"! Adkins is not impressing consistently enough just yet - the next three games could be crucial to his survival at the club beyond Xmas - and they're not easy games by any stretch. Either that or IF he has Cortese's utmost trust then he will point at certain players (ex-AP players like Lambert and Hammond) to blame. Reading between the lines, I think he is readying NC to spend big in January to get players in that he knows will play for him - possibly from Scunny.

Team picks itself for this. Will be listening to the game at 11.00pm in Malaysia so I hope Saintsplayer is up to the task - if it's not then they can stick the subscription where the sun don't shine - I'll not be trusting them again. I reckon it will a tough call and we might stutter on this one, but not lose... therefore at worst 1-1 draw.