Legod Third Coming

Right well my timing of lumping on at 4/1 this afternoon was about right then (I just hope that all these qualifications count for something!)

I love the fact that first it was Pardew who was at fault. And now it's still his fault AND the players. It's laughable.

It's not amazing at all. Does Lewis Hamilton (who has been driving since he was 3) not need someone to tell him when to pit? Does Roger Federer not still have a coach? 11 people require someone to lead them, otherwise why don't we scrap the Generals and just give our troops more bullets? I'm not saying the players are blameless but NO footballer wants to lose. It is unbelievably rare for a footballer NOT to try. What sportsman other than a Pakistani cricketer does not want to win every game? What our players need is leadership, organisation and motivation.

We're so bad, we spanked Britsol Rovers 4-0 away. That's the difference. Wafer thin margins. A good manager and we have the potential to kill this league stone dead.

Seriously, James and Gillet's absence is not our problem... No one knows who Pardew tried to buy or didn't. What is obvious is that he did not have the backing of his Chairman. And that was doomed to failure. But it doesn't matter. There's not a team in the league who wouldn't swap 90% of our squad for theirs. When Adkins is in charge, I wouldn't be surprised if we don't get more than 100 points and win the league by March.

Really and truly with over 120 points to play for, I'm not losing sleep over an 8 point gap just yet... I'd like to know the depth of Peterborough's squad!

You do not 'need' pace in my view (although it helps). It depends what formation you want to play and how. Not every team at the top of every league has pace - not in Walcott or Antonio terms anyway. Pace like that is very, very rare. QPR have little pace and yet they are cruising the Championship. We lack Antonio as an outlet for sure - why? Because we are not controlling the ball well enough, using it intelligently enough in the final third and using the width of the pitch. Our full backs are not getting forward and to play 4-4-2 with the players we have lacks imagination. We have the best hold-up forward in the league, is anyone passing it to him? We have some of the best crossers of a ball in the league. Are they hitting it to anyone in space, out wide who can stretch the opposition? And as for a 'squad' requirement, does anyone genuinely think there is a club in this league with MORE strength in depth than us? If anyone thinks this, they should get out a bit more... I agree Phil, we need a manager simply because all our players lack is some direction, some confidence and some belief.

Oh, apologies, he must have scored 30 goals last year in this league and not Rickie Lambert.

Thank you - someone else who has heard of football managers...

It still is. There is not a team who can boast as good a first 11 as ours. Ask any fan of any other club in this division. No-one else has a million pound forward or centre back. Puncheon was MK Dons best player. Harding is easily the best left back in the league. Richardson (when fit) is the best right back in the league. Lallana is the best creative player in the league. Barnard was the second top scorer last season. Davis was asked to join West Ham - twice. Few teams have a French U21 midfielder with as much class and quality. Just thought people needed to remember that. Why are we losing? Oh, there are these things called managers... you might have heard of them. Once they organise, motivate, inspire and introduce a formation and tactics, things tend to get a lot better.... (PS: For the hard of thinking, none of the above is sarcastic. I have just had a lumpy bet on us to win the league at 4/1, it's finally a sensible price).

If Lowe had asked that question, you would have created merry hell. And rightly. The Chairman's role is to employ a manager and support him. Period. And to fire him if it doesn't work out. Otherwise, he should be managing the team... If the text is true, there's not a manager alive who will work with Cortese long term. Personally, I doubt it's remotely true.

Shame we haven't got a manager to moan about.

Your volte farce is gobsmcking. NC is OK to interfere in first team affairs?????? UNFECKINGBELIEVABLE. I have heard it all now. Really, good job I have a belly because I haven't laughed this much since I acquired one... Out of interest, are all Chaimen extended the same courtesy, including our previous one?

OH FFS I have a direct line to the Sun. (The editor is a former colleague and old mate). I have kept shtum. I have to. It wouldn't be fair. However, this has gone far enough. The truth is that the Sun paid a significant sum to reveal the identity of the South Coast Club, shortly before the South Coast Club was due to reveal it had been Southampton all along....

Bow down before me. I AM NOSTRA DAMUS. FACT Many of you know this is not the first time I have predicted something with incredible accuracy...

Not true. An urban myth. He was a qualified football coach. Robson needed someone who understood football and English.

Tbh, people's assessment of Keegan is hopelessly unfair and in most cases bears no relation to the facts. A while back I looked at his record. I can't remember exactly but it was roughly... In the year he finished second to Manchester United, Keegan's team conceded only something like 4 goals more and the following year concededed LESS goals than United (or vice versa)... Either way he had one of the skinniest defences in the league. People remember one game, against Liverpool and imagine he played a formation of 1-1-9 - he didn't. He was a bloody astute manager, who has one of the best post-war records in terms of win ratio and everything he did well seems to have been forgotten amid his two failures - England and most recently at Toon. Well, if you can find me a successful England manager, I'll show you Alf Ramsey. And as for the debacle at St James's... I think we know where the blame there lies. I don't want Keegan through some misplaced hero worship. I want him because his record with wealthy clubs in the lower divisions working for dictators is astounding.

And Man Citeh, or did I dream that? Anyway fwiw, I thought Strachan was a joke appointment, thought Burley was a blinding signing and thought Pardew was a bit underwhelming... I'm sure I am not alone in those three assessments. Which just shows, most fans know FECK ALL until the bloke is here and getting results - good or bad.

I believe he may have done, thus proving the value of big name players...

You appear to be the only person who would love it as much as me...

Apart from getting Manchester City up two divisions and Newcastle and Fulham promoted? If you want loyalty can I suggest a dog?

Apart from the IRA you mean?

Post of the day.

Seriously, what planet do some of you live on. You obviously missed: Lallana 20 goals Papa 11 goals Barnard 9 goals Connolly 7 Antonio 7 Hammond 6.... Pardew was not Mourinho big deal. Championship winning form from October forgotten, fine. A trophy (yes for lower league clubs - HELLO WE ARE A LOWER LEAGUE CLUB) a fine cup run in the FA Cup losing to eventual finalists. A top two/three finish without a points deduction. Forget all that, fine. But for people now to start having a pop at Rickie Lambert, what a bunch of miserable c u n t s! No, you are really you are.

Same answer next Wednesday 12:00...