Legod Third Coming

Oh and one of the reasons I am so cheerful, is that we are getting promoted. I am absolutely convinced of it.

I have an opinion, but am old enough and ugly enough to know that crap football is part and parcel of life supporting a team like Southampton. I could complain about it, but it ain't going to change is it? I've been watching for 35 years and seen some great football, some crap football and lots of mediocre stuff in the middle. Do I want for better? Yes. Whose fault is it if I don't get it? Mine. Why? Because apart from cheering, hurling abuse or simply not turning up, there ain't a lot I can influence over what goes on on the pitch. As it happens, however, this year is the best season I can remember in eons. And anyone who thinks Pardew isn't winning enough matches should have a look at how many we won under WGS...

Because of the last nine games, seven have been away, including Leeds, Colchester and Norwich. The only true way to establish how well we are doing is to wait until everyone has played everyone.

I don't think there's any posters who would not like to have seen a better performance on Tuesday. Feck me, I've never seen worse!!! The point, however, is that someone always has to be to blame. It's a facet of modern society that I hate. Whenever anything bad happens or accidents or anything that does not fit this wonderful pattern of glorious permanent success, someone has to be to blame... Life ain't like that. I came away from Tuesday's game knowing it was awful. The only person to blame is me. I chose to go, I chose to support Saints. Me. This kind of responsible accountability is, sadly, alien in our culture these days.

Well, my best for a great game, sounds like you could do with it. Remember, it ain't real life. That's what I love about football, for 95 minutes you could be anyone/anywhere...

Best 25 grand I ever spent...

Explain the phrase 'first full game'?

I was very dispondent til I went to Carrow Road... I don't think anyone who went to Wycombe would think it was a good game by any stretch, but let's not get carried away with it. Three days before we beat the league leaders. A week before that we outplayed a Premiership side. A month before that we turned a Championship side over... Chelsea lost at Wigan, United lost at Burnley. Sometimes footballers play poorly. They are not machines, however much we like to believe they are. Some bright spark told me we needed Antonio off and Wotton on and then all would be right with the game on Tuesday... Shame I didn't bite his hand off for the bet he offered telling me how the game would improve... Oh and I have no issue being an optimist - no one looks for someone with a flat battery for a jump start...

Anyway, we will get 85 points, so all this is fecking immaterial. We are going up, it's just that some people are struggling to accept we have played 7 of the last 9 away from home, achieved better results than our competitors at many of those grounds, have two games in hand and now a nice run of very winnable home games... More fool them.

Er, careful banding about whether my opinions count until you know who I am my friend...

I think you and Derry live in cloud bloody cuckoo land - no offence. We are a League One side. This is League One football. We play to the standard of our players. They might be among the best players in the league, but I didn't hear Barcelona breaking the doors down to buy them at the end of January... We played a blinder against Pompey apart from our (League One standard) finishing. We outclassed Norwich. We huffed and puffed against Milwall, Brentford and Exeter and got the SAME OR BETTER results than the top three/four sides there... On Tuesday we were just rubbish everywhere - even the manager has admitted it. We play route one often because it keeps working, we score countless goals from long balls - our best chance on Tuesday night came from a Davis kick, flick on, through Lambert to Lallana. A lot of what we play is not pretty. If you want pretty go to a Kylie concert. 48 points this season from a standing start rebuilding the side is ok in my book - given that we now play with 80% of a side who were not here in August. But if you're expecting us to play like Arsenal dream on. Pardew makes mistakes, players make mistakes. I reckon about 50% of our performances have been good/excellent - Rovers at home and away, Charlton at home, Tranmere, Wallsall, etc away where we went on a runs of 3 goals a game... about 30% have been laboured and 20% have been poor or disappointing. Funnily enough noone questioned the guys tactics at Carrow Road. Why?

So, they beat us while trading illegally and fielding a non-eligible player in their matchday squad...

We are exactly where I predicted - 4 points from the last two games. The only team who are not playing to form are Charlton. We can't make any headway until after 13th March because fixtures just do not go our way until then. By 13th March I expect us to be 12 points off Huddersfield. By 23rd it should be 6 points and 8 games to go...

I agree with you it is in the mind. We did look like we thought it would be easier but we also looked like we couldn't think what to do with the pitch. That pitch was not as bad as some people are makiing out. At least two Wycombe players simply picked the ball up in midfield and ran at us quite comfortably retaining control of the ball. It's almost as if they're thinking "bugger how do we play on this?" The answer is, same as you normally would and see what happens!! Trap the ball, pass the ball, use the width of the pitch and shoot at every opportunity given the quality of the playing surface and keepers in this league... We stood off, we were second to every ball, we totally lacked control of the midfield and we couldn't hit a pass all night. These are not problems with the pitch, they are, as you said, more about the mentality. I't not sure that Brentford are a weak team at home, mind, and we should have beaten them fair and square - Barnard missed a sitter and we hit the woodwork twice! Tuesday was a poor, poor match but it is the only one I have seen this season where we looked genuinely clueless - since the current squad was in place.

Tell me which players approach every game the same? Wigan 3 Chelsea 1... That's footballers! Over a season the odd game like last night will happen to everyone. It's exacerbated for us because we're trying to climb a mountain. The other away games where people think we've underperformed we've actually got BETTER results than the table toppers. It's just that our expectations are that much higher because of our new ownership. Christ, United get stuffed at Everton and beat Milan in their back yard... That is the way football is, always has been and always will be I'm afraid.

Quite right, I neglected the word AGAIN from my post... Anyway, these days I dream of beating Stoke City....

No, you missed the irony in mine...

DD noone would disagree about last night... But look at football managers. There are probably two great managers in the world today. Alex and Jose. The rest range from good to poor. Pardew's good, he will be for us I'm sure. Doesn't mean he'll win every game from day one. Doesn't mean he won't feck up. Give him a full season and let's see where we are in May. Last night was the worst game I've seen in years. Still enjoyed it more than watching last season's car crash.

Well you obviously weren't there. We were shyte with a capital F!

Derry is advocating Owen Coyle as a manager. Seriously?? Watch him relegate Bolton AND Burnley - what a great addition he would be. Pulis has never, ever been relegated. The point is Pardew is doing a decent job - not brilliant, but it's way too early so say we need to change him. Last night was utter garbage. Saturday was fantastic. People change their tune more often than the weather. Last night we were just off it. That's all. We could still have won if Rickie had turned the shot from Puncheon in or Adam has buried the one great ball he was played in... That sort of thing happens. Our results at Exter, Millwall and Brentford are BETTER than those achieved by Norwich, Leeds and Charlton (which no one seems to care about - facts seem to be irrelevant on here...). Last night was just rubbish, it happens.

To be fair, when have Bolton the team ever offered entertainment...

We could still go up... The point is managers make good decisions and bad ones. They get things right and wrong. The best ones get things right most often. Pardew is doing a decent job - certainly better than Mancini!!!!!! Who would have welcomed Tony Pulis here?

Anyone who doesn't think footballers are role models should watch those kids - shirts off, handstand celebrations. Makes you realise how the little bleeders copy everything they see... good and bad! Expect at least two of them to be cheating on their wives and one taking 10k for illicit tours of the Wanderers training ground...

We don't catch Huddersfield on my model... We catch someone else... and I didn't have Charlton in freefall either!!! Many a slip twixt cup and lip my friend. Our season is not over despite what the gloom mongers believe. Sure, last night was the worst game of football ever played in the history of football, bar none. But we expected to get beat Saturday really if we're honest. So here we are, 19 points (two games in hand) off a team we have to play. So really we could be ten points behind them on level terms with the same 13/14 games to play. It's not easy. It's not over. And anyway, games like last night remind you why you started supporting and what we have to look forward to. When we are creaming teams like Liverpool, I will turn to my pals and laugh about that night we played at the Somme...

And the manager recently admitted he spent all last season playing Rooney in the wrong position, during which period you would have sacked him... jesus wept...