david in sweden

This really is a priority when you consider that we are totally reliant on Pellé (as a front man). Shane Long has 4 goals,(but two were in one game as an oncoming sub.) Of course Elia had a great game last weekend, but he's scarecly got his feet under the table at SMS. Jack Cork (not outstanding yesterday by all accounts) has 3 goals, but he was the right man in the right placxe to get those and didn't have ANY real goal history with us before that. JWP and Steven Davis (whilst playing good roles in midfield) don't have a single goal between them.....and the real enigma must be Dusan Tadic (who looked world-class in the Autumn), but now is in the running for the Ali Dia award of the season - what has happened to him? More worryingly, Pelle has already picked up 2 yellow cards since his last suspension, and if ANYTHING were to happen to him (red card / injury) we would genuinely be up the creek without - a striker. The present injury list is frightening to look at, and JayRod's eventual return seems eons away - if indeed he gets back properly this season. I'm all in favour of RK playing his best team on a regular basis, but soon too many of them will be in the treatment room, and not the pitch. A drop in form now will be reminiscent of 1982.* Historical note:30 Jan. 1982 Lawrie McMenemy's side got to first place in old Div.1 (read Prem) and stayed there for 10 games, but with less than a dozen matches left, they had key injuries and lost form. They finished a miserable 7th ...having been in the top 5 since mid November. We are so well placed this season... that even with the prospect of waiting for the returning players in a month, maybe too late if we start dropping points now.

sometimes we focus so much on the big names, big clubs and transfer fees..forgetting that many lads who go through the Saints' youth schemes do make a career of sorts -often in the lower leagues. Last season I counted more than 20 names who were former Saints' youth players who were still playing in the lower Leagues, but let's not forget those who made an alternative career as managers. Saints' sad display v.Palace was overshadowed by Phil Parkinson's L1 Bradford City coming back from 0-2 to win 4-2 at Stamford Bridge and getting a humble congratulation from Jose Mourinho Phil had a teenage career in the late 1980's (60+ games for the Reserves at RM /RW) but never managed to crack the monopoly of Case, Horne and... that Le Tissier 'fella...in the first team. A move onto Bury led to many lower league games before going into management at Bradford. Their appearance in the 2013 League Cup Final was a milestone in that clubs history, but surely yesterday's legendary success really puts them on the football map - until the next round at least. Wenger may have been at Arsenal (nearly 20 years) but the second longest serving League manager is former Saints junior Paul Tisdale, who has managed Exeter for 9 seasons which must be some sort of a record - especially L2). Paul was another promising lad who clocked up a handful of first team games in the late 1980's, but suffered the same fate as Parkinson, and moved onto a lower level. Best known has to be Swansea's Garry Monk (next weeks visitors) whose Saints senior career was a brief 10 games in a 4 season period in the early 1990's. He was never going to be first choice with players like Lundekvam, Monkou, Richards and Dodd before him, and a series of loan outs ended with a good career spread over four divisions with - Swansea. But yesterday was Phil Parkinson's special day - and he got congratulations from " The Special One " at Stamford Bridge.

No problem now. Rant over.

and perhaps what team they can put out. Recent games v.Swansea have always been a close run thing, and we will go into the (Sunday) game knowing if MU have overtaken us in the Prem., or if Arsenal drawn level on points? Interesting !

all the things I've read seem to suggest that; 1) Burnley won't allow him to go before the summer, as they see him as a key to their survival. 2) he (supposedly) said that he would see out his contract until end of season. 3) the only people at SFC who are " really keen on him " are our fans, and we don't know if he even " made it out of the Black Box" as a " possible buy " candidate. exactly what Les / Ronald think about him.... (or anyone else) will become apparant before Feb. 2

In the longer term, he didn't turn out to be much more than a stop gap. He was patently unfit (by Saints standards) when he arrived and didn't play a full game for more than a month and managed just one goal in his first eight outings. However, came up trumps with 8 goals in the last 8 games, (a strangely " off-form " Rickie Lambert managed only 3 in the same period). My estimation is that Billy was a typical crash / bang type / goal poacher. Some of his goal were pretty " untidy", but they made it over the line, and got us vital points. To that extent he helped get us promoted. His performances afterwards were sadly disappointing, and whilst we can be grateful for what he achieved then..... he hasn't set the football world alight since.

I agree with your every word, but if he is there as a no.2 / alternative striker... then his goal tally is "disappointing " to say the least. Considering that Pelle has taken most of the attention and has been "off-form " in recent weeks, (OK he scored yesterday)....but Shane is a striker and he must feel a bit miffed by a lack of goals himself. Two in cup competitions and his double in the game v.Leicester. A poor return for half a season.

.....and preferably someone who is built like a brick outhouse, and can handle himself. Pellé is already being triple-marked in many games.

Agree totally Charlie, but let's hope " the brains " at SMS see it the same way.

The real issue here is what's he going to be like when he does return? Some fans and some clubs expect him to pick up the pieces where he left off last March. Returning from a long term injury is more than putting on your boots and getting your name on the team sheet. Remember, his great burst of success came more than a year after he joined the club and took time to build up. The cruelest thing about the whole episode was that the injury came just when he was in his best ever form, getting back to that level won't be a fortnight's job. IF he comes back this season, and perhaps plays in the last 10 games (?)....I doubt if he'd get more than a couple of goals... I'd love to be proven wrong, but a very long lay-off isn't just a physical thing, but can affect the mental attitude to the game also. Meantime, we have only Pelle up front.........

Long is an example of the prev. thread talking about players out of position and being forced into another formation. I admire his workrate, but his goal tally is abysmal for a striker. Maybe not entirely his fault, but the stats. are there.12 starts+17 subs.in = 4 goals (2 in cups). We are too dependent on Pelle's one-man band, and need more of a threat up front. Thankfully we've had 12 different goalscorers, so far + 5 o.g.'s This is where we really see if the Les / Ronald /Black Box formula really works. We have an easier run-in than many other clubs, but if we drop points now - it'd be a real catastrophe and goodbye Europe.

oh .....are they supposed to have two strikers then ? .....even 3-5-2 doesn't seem to work - does it ?

not even sure about that. LVP is one the last of the dictatorial legendary managers. MU replaced one with another. Think most people are convinced RK is a better leader-type.

never a truer word spoken.

seen several interviews with MLT where he doesn't actually say... he was lazy, but it was fairly obvious with phrases like; as soon as they took the ball away in training - I lost interest, and (after a poor marathon training run) ...the late finishers would be unfavourably compared to Matt..who was usually last ".. tend to show that he was not your usual squad player, and managers frequently picked players who ran all day long and "covered every blade of grass ", which wasn't MLT's style, but when he got the ball you could always " expect " - the unexpected.... and often a brilliance beyond description. MLT's much-vaunted early league games were highlighted by shows of that " brilliance ", coupled with the eventual inconsistancy you see from a young player struggling in an " uneven " team, plus in his first few seasons there was scarcely a place for him as our attacking line-up was more stable than our defence. His real success began when (his partnership with Danny Wallace and Alan Shearer) was great to watch, and his almost perfect prowess with penalty kicks made him irreplaceable in the team. In that era, the Reserve team" was always a mix of second-string pro's, first teamers returning from injury and the up-and-coming youngsters. MLT's Reserve " appearances were few and far between although in his first 4 seasons he managed 21 goals in just 39 apps. (a very good return), but for much of the time, he was on the first team bench. and in the same period he had 43 first team starts and 21 sub apps..... but with just 15 goals. As soon as he became a first team regular (1989 -ish), he netted 39 league goals in 69 starts in his first couple of seasons....the rest, as they say ....is history.

Incidentally..I was going to say that Gary Neville was never my favourite footballer... by a long shot, but he is (IMHO).....excellent at analysis, and communication. Good article.

Listening to /Watching interviews with Les Reed, Ronald Koeman, Jose Fonte ....and even lads in the U18 side, I would say EGO is the least of our problems. Les is the " spider in the web " as he is the only " Football person on the Board ". People are fond of highlighting his " failures", but IMO I learned more from my failures in life, than I did from my successes. What I do see...... is a high level of trust (in the system) and genuine confidence in their own ability to do (their own) particular job. The answer to (Vectis Saint's question on #3).... about Les Reed's (eventual) successor is ......if the Black Box has done its job properly..... Les already knows who it will be.

JWP will become a much-improved player (confidence-wise)...as soon as he nets his first Premier League goal. He's played well in most of the games I've watched, but somehow that elusive goal tends to devalue his importance to the side.

you've been reading my thoughts PRECISELY...(aside from the fact I've disliked them for the last 40-odd years). In the days I visited the Dell, Liverpool fans (successful in Europe in those days) were the most gregarious and would even applaud a good Saints' move, whereas Spuds fans were the most arrogant, obnoxious crew you could ever wish (not) to meet. Their grandfathers had preached the "Glory, Glory " double days at them for so long they still believed it.

The Swedish media was trying to diss him from the national side after the 2006 World Cup, only trouble was that successive team managers failed to find anyone to successfully replace him. Now that he joined the TV squad, he can get his own back....but .what few of them are willing to admit is - he's right.

Sad for Maya, but he'll be back all the sooner. Good for us. Let's hope we don't have to use him in an emergency. There are too many in the treatment room already.

that was " perhaps it's more the system than the player sometimes " I couldn't agree more (Minty / Unbelievable Jeff) I've seen good players leave (Saints / and other clubs) and find it difficult to settle in their new team. Sometimes they were simply a big fish in a small pond, but moving to a " bigger club " changes things. When the other club plays a different formation, or a striker doesn't have the wing service he once had, or the midfield player to give him those special passes - he becomes less reliable. Most recently, biggest surprise is Shaw at MU. LVP seems determined to ditch 4-4-2 (the successful Fergie set-up for almost two decades), and wants to use his 3-5-1 formation, with the result that Shaw isn't involved nearly as much as he was in his time with Saints, (in the games I've seen him in)...he looks barely a shadow of his former self. I don't think Rickie Lambert became a worse player after just 6 weeks summer holiday, but having bought him (and Lallana) Brendan failed to comprehend that both were successful at SMS simply because they had played together for 5 years, and yet he rarely plays them in the same game, and has often used Lambert as a sub for Lallana - instead of putting them together, yet they still play in the same league. Rodgers troubles' seem to multiply when he still wants to use Joe Allen (was OK at Swansea maybe) and can't decide if he can really accomodate Coutinho in the side..... and and I'm the only one on the Planet who thinks that Jordan Henderson is vastly over-rated? Players are successful because of the team they play in, and the successful formations they use, (and probably also the manager who believes in him). Beyond that they can be like fish out of water. The final result is; the right players who go to the wrong team. Carroll at Liverpool, Torres at Chelsea, Bale was the "real thing" at Spuds, but ......whatever did Soldado do for a living before he went there?

another good result for Anthony Limbrick's side........incidentally, where does he come from, I just can't fathom his accent ?

and no thanks to Mauricio Pochettino who thought he could rehabilitate him:blush:

can't say I've ever owned one, but plenty of people in Sweden have, it was a popular car. My neighbour still drives a model of that era. Volvo have always been a reliable carmaker in Sweden, and now is the only one (of any consequence). They are pretty sound on the road and were very progressive with safety factors - even 20 years ago. A bit of rust comes with a car of that age, but as long as it's not in vital parts of the chassis - maybe OK. If I were buying any car, I'd try and look at the history, past owners etc , and any major jobs that had been carried out /or not. (No repair seems to be cheap these days). can't say more - but good luck - whatever you decide.