Legod Third Coming

That's true but I was asked about the SEASON - have we only been playing for ten games?

I'm afraid I agree. We were ok against Brighton but there was no difference in how that team played to how Pardew's team played against Plymouth or Orient in my view.

So far just too bloody inconsistent. Really, we should be dominating this league. Our inability to put away teams with a fraction of our resources could come back to bite us. And we need to be winning all our home games - especially those against the top sides as this is our one major opportunity to close the gap on them or create one. We don't look to me like a team who could go the remainder of the season unbeaten or who will win a long run of games. I hope I'm wrong on both counts but at present we look like an upper mid-table side. Contrast this with Brighton who haven't won for the past three games but are still topping the table and in truth should have beaten us courtesy of that penalty... I expect us to get better as the season progresses and would be bitterly disappointed if we don't win the league.

I'll have £20 on at that price, thank you Adrian, do you want my stake money now to lay it off?

It's no coincidence that we won more games with him in the team than without last year. But last year we had a system that worked well with him in it.

We need to win a run of games not just win one easy one then lose a toughie... consistency is the way to win the league. Win these two games coming up and that should provide the perfect platform to go on a run, full of confidence and win the league.

What flaws has NA corrected? Thus far to me we play about the same, are achieving about the same results and have not yet stamped the authority we should on this league given that the squad has now been together for 12 months, is the most expensively assembled in the league and is supported by resources all the other members of the league can only dream of...

I agree and we both know it works (ask West Ham and Carlos Tevez)

I will get excited when we sign someone I have heard of - ideally a Paulo di Canio type who will put 10k on the gate, scare the feck out of our opposition and indicate to the world our status as a RICH club...

My friend if you think fans can influence team selection you need to get yourself down to the doctor and ask him to explain a superiority complex... Puncheon going has nothing to do with fans, unless that's how we're going to select and buy players in future, based on a fan clapometre??

Right, Lambert was demotivated under Pardew enough to score 31 goals?? Can't wait to see him happy then...

No but we have comparatively the same resources. Chelsea's team cost ten times Sunderland's and ours ten times Carlisle's. It doesn't mean you won't lose the odd game, but it does mean over a season you should win the league - or at least come very very close. Although money isn't everything, it does make a massive difference. Most of our players would walk into any other League One team and we HAVE to start behaving like and believing this. There is way to much patience expended here given our resources - almost as though we don't have the wealthiest backing in the league by a massive margin. People still seem to think like they did when we had a small family club and were fighting above our weight. We're not that club any more. Like I said above, you don't have to like or dislike it - it just is.

I don't think our performances this season are any different to last. If anything, they're not quite so good if you compare the period from when this squad was assembled. However, Adkins needs to be given the same opportunity as Pardew to deliver - ie a season. If we're not promoted automatically, chances are he will be sacked and rightly so. The days of managers having years to turn things around are gone - and for good reason. The transfer windows now mean that there is a limited opportunity to build over the long term - squads can be decimated each January and July. And with our resources and playing talent, we should be topping the league - no question. If Chelsea don't win a trophy this season, Ancelotti will probably be fired. Is it right? It doesn't matter. It just is.

I'm not sure if Lambert is off colour or we simply play a system that does not suit him. Rickie thrives on a long-ball game because he controls the ball so well and holds it up for other players. He played best in a 4-5-1 when he was given great support. I didn't go yesterday so can't really comment but having seen us at home this season, he will not be suited to the short, sharp interplay stuff because he has no natural pace - it's not what his game is about.

Has Adkins delivered us fourteen trophies then? The big problem currently seems to be that we can beat anyone who is rubbish but we are struggling against the decent sides. People get carried away because we beat Dagenham 4-0 when the truth is, Phil, you or I could have been manager that day and we would still have beaten Dagenham. Managers earn their corn against good sides not bad ones. Carlisle are a good side at home but their squad was aseembled for less than a tenth of ours and anyone who justifies losing there as some sort of 'learning experience' is deluding themselves. The Chairman wants promotion. The manager needs to deliver it. He probably still will but anything less than 6 points in the next two games will illustrate we are behind poorer teams which would be a maor worry....

Ah yes, that reason we need to lose games....

You are right. Anyone need only look at Mourinho's win ratio versus Scolari's at Chelsea to see that it is the MANAGER who creates the victories not the environment. What seems to be the case here is that people are saying Mourinho is a worse manager than Gus Poyet because Mourinho always has access to large resources at a world leading club. Patently this is cobblers. He is in those positions because he is among the best managers in the world, if not the best and Gus Poyet is not. He may well be one day, but today he is not. Over very short periods it is fair to see that managers can do better than pure results suggest because of their circumstances, but in the long run the managers who win most matches are the best. Anyone who says otherwise is mad because they are using a measure of success that noone in the world of football does. You appoint a manager BECAUSE he WINS matches - we appointed Nigel Adkins because he WON A DISPROPORTIONATELY HIGH number of matches. So win ratio is actually even more important than some people claim because if a manager is in a 'poor' club yet still wins a high number of matches then he is de factor an even better manager. This is so common sensical that I cannot really comprehend why people are arguing with it. What they're saying is Holloway is a better manager than Houllier. He's not. That's why Houllier has a trophy cabinet full of medals and Holloway doesn't. (And I say that as a passionate Holloway fan).

Yep. No argument from me. Now let's just get on with the job!!

I also was in Cobham this morning and Oxshott (where the Chelsea Training Ground is, not Cobham - although the two are very close). I can confirm that, as usual, there was a good-looking bird hanging around no doubt hoping to snare a married player or two for a spit-roast. I did not see any red and white striped cars.

I like Adkins but artculate he aint... his reports on games read like a football book of cliches! (But he is a good manager and employed as such, not for his ability as a raconteur...)

I think what you're asking there is does the sentence change based on the severity of the change...

When I went to the Carling Cup Game a Pompey fan threw a ten pence piece which hit me. I hope when they go eventually bust that 10p would have saved them.

Are we employing a striker or bouncer?

Where did I suggest SHE wears them...

Have you taken a serious pill?? Your posts appear to be genuine these days. Close call I think but I believe Barney will score more once he starts in earnest.