Saint Fan CaM

Good man - please consider another walk!

Lallana - what a legend he's going to be for someone...

No you're not the only one - it just says "Please wait...connecting to host" and never does. Really f*cking annoying when this is the first time this season I've needed it. Will be cancelling my subs pronto.

Well done Hammond (assist) and Lallana. Some quality at last. Now go and do 'em.

James needs to be rested - for some time.

If it carries on like this I think I may have to start agreeing with you. This does not appear to be the performance we would have expected given the quality in the side. Although my feeling is that the four best midfielders were not played from the start. Bizarre.

I can't get any reception whatsoever at the moment...they can shove the fee up their @rses in future. The one evening I'm away from home and it fails me. Rubbish.

I agree with all you've said there, however I would suggest another AM also - a more experienced head - as I do not believe either Schneiderlin or Mellis are ready yet to provide the impetus we need to improve.

Connolly is a class act - it really is a complete coup to get him in for nothing and it would be a crime not to play him frankly. As far as Lambert goes, he's an experienced pro and should be capable of finding his feet with Connolly TBH.

Absolutely agree with this and I've said it before too. I think Trottman wanted to stay here, but Preston want him back. Its messed his mind.

It is a very interesting and somewhat baffling question by the OP which needs to be picked apart. I do not believe the central midfield is missing a holding midfielder as suggested by some. I think both Hammond and Schneiderlin sit back too deep and invite players on. A huge hole is left in central midfield all too often also. As others have intimated, James is not good enough as a full-back and this creates an inbalance in the defence which means the shape and basic disciplines are forgotten in an effort to compensate. I think Murty is far more solid/skillful, reads play better and helps prevent many issues from arising in the first place. Compare that to James very poor judgement in giving away a soft pen on Saturday. Lastly, Lambert offers much in terms of defending from the front - without his commitment to get stuck in Connolly is running a lonely battle. There was just one time during the Norwich game late in the 2nd half when Lambert chased down a defender and put the ball out for a throw-in. I know he was ill, so there's an excuse, but had he (and the midfield) closed down more consistently perhaps the result might have been different.

I could probably reel off 6 teams that will finish top 6, but that was not really my point as such, as I tried to explain. Basically IMO there will be at least 6 teams who will match or better our efforts and therefore always be ahead of us - this season. The last two games have shown that we do not have the 'extra something' that will allow us to comfortably overhaul the -10pts. That's not to say we're a bad side or that we're doomed - we have just had too many issues to overcome this season to have a realistic shout. Next season will see a level playing field and a much more stable side hopefully.

Despite the maths and all our wishes, I do not think the play-offs are realistic for one reason alone. There are six plus other teams that are better equiped to make the push this season who did not have -10pts hanging around their necks. For every game we win, they win one and so the law of averages says we will not overtake 6 teams this season. Next season should be a completely different prospect though.

Like the OP said, I am undecided about Papa. He is a frustrating player to watch but then opposing players must find him difficult to play against. I just wonder whether he is a luxury we can ill afford to have in the ranks at this stage of our journey back to the big time.

It's a fair comment, however we need Lamberts presence up front - he takes 2-3 players away from Connolly and Lallana hence giving them more room to score (and they did).

With -10 and a poor start to the season we were never going to get to the play-offs except in kids dreams. If we continue with a steady progression then mid-table will be about right this season. The key for next season will be about the January window and the close season and how there are used to strengthen the team. AP has some hard decisions to make to raise the overall standard of the squad. 2-3 more players of Connolly's standing would be fantastic. I think we'll be buying Antonio in January BTW.

Err, yes actually I did. Just before Norwich scored he was screaming at the team to move forward as they were camping outside our pen area.

I thought it was known he is still recovering from a virus or something??

Good game from : Connolly (MOM), Lallana, Antonio, Harding, Jaidi, Davis. OK game from Hammond and Schneiderlin, however I am not sure they compliment each other - they BOTH sit too deep for my liking. Poor games from James, Trottman and Lambert. It was a good entertaining game, but we will continue to be a mid-table team in this league until the defence and central midfield is sorted out.

Just back from the match and I have to agree with Alpine. The problems primarily stem from Trottman and James IMO. There is something wrong with Trottmans head - I think he has been told he has to go back to Preston in January and it's affected his game...he was looking like a fantastic prospect and practically everyone on here thought so before Brighton. James is just not good enough at RB - he is the last of the Dutch experiment players that has not been sorted out and we need Murty back there big time. He has improved his game, but he does not have a good footballing brain IMO which is why he went to ground and gave away a pen. Lastly, we sat back too deep just before their 2nd goal. AP was telling them to move out and they didn't listen. Hammond really needs to impose himself more on his team and get himself and/or Schneiderlin sitting nearer midfield. I'm struggling to see how Hammond and Schneiderlin compliment each other TBH. All that said, it was a good game to watch today.

Team will be... Davis Murty Trottman Jaidi Harding James Antonio Schneiderlin Hammond Lalllana Lambert Subs: Bart, Thomas, Waigo, Wotton, Connolly, Mellis ------------------------------------------------------ This is a difficult one to call - could go either way, but I'm going with a 2-1 Saints win. COYS!!!

I completely endorse the idea of Ron coming over to collect a doctorate and how fantastic would it be for him to receive that at SMS or even at Wembley when we get to a cup final or gain promotion to the CCC. Ron - you're an absolute schoolboy hero and legend to me. Keep well.

Well said. Have to say OP is way too reactionary for my liking. One game in 10 lost and the whole world is about to end. :cool:

Well I'm pleased to see that Pardew called it exactly as I did for the Brighton game...i.e. nothing to do with the formation and everything to do with (a) the side players being too maverick in the first 20 minutes and (b) Lambert ill and not able to put in a good performance and © Trottman having an off-day (which happens to the best of us). Combine that with a decent Brighton side looking to impress Poyet and hey presto we lost. Let's just get over it and show Norwich what bounce back means eh?