david in sweden

I'm not denegrating Rickie in any way, but life is tougher in the Prem. and Beattie scored all his goals with us at Prem.level. Things are looking up now, but in Beattie's day... we had other outstanding players in the side who also contributed ....A.Svensson, Fernandes, Marsden and Ormerod. Just recently....we are playing more exciting football than many of us have seen ..in decades..and until now Rickie has (almost) been a one-man band, if we are still playing like this in May ......we can re-evaluate the history.

yes well I'm sure Rickie didn't think he'd become a "Rickie".... when he was 23 .

I guess I know what you mean, at least number-wise, his (present) 99 goals is very impressive.......but most of them were in lower divisions - weren't they? However, James Beattie (not my favourite player - by a long way) had some good seasons culminating with his 23 Prem. goals in 35 starts in 2002-03. (The whole team only managed 43 goals) He was the leading English scorer that season, and only beaten to the Golden Boot by Thierry Henry, and whilst Arsenal finished 2nd, Saints had to be content with 8th place. However, I have much admiration for Rickie and (if his form/fitness) holds out, he may yet gain greater glory.

Can West Ham survive ....OK it's a joke, right ? well.. .maybe not . YES - They are 3 points ahead of us, but Villa and Reading aren't laying down dead yet and WHam's remaining games are looking quite formidable. Their fixtures are a split between key games against several relegation sides.... and some more against some of the top six ....nearly all AWAY. Big Sam might be in a very unpleasant situation ....come April.

well.... he managed just 3 goals in 36 apps. prior to his loan to Bolton. I can think of several dozen midfielders in the past 20 years who have a better average than that .....so what's a " fair share "?

.he scores a lot of goals !

.....and you can always bank on Chris Baird to earn a yellow on a regular basis ..and even a red - on occasions.

in the longer term planning...there already is a " new Rickie "...who we signed in the summer.....his name is Jay Rodriguez. Didn't you hear about it ?

QUOTE OF THE DAY stood on the sidelines with their notepads ......." Mancini and Platt looked like bemused schoolboys waiting for someone to do their homework..." Daily Mirror. One of those days when you don't mind reading every match report you could find. Whilst The Star and the Mirror chorused their appreciation of Schneiderlin and Cork, the enthusiastic BBC interviewer added the name of Steven Davis to the list of heroes. Certainly he looks a different proposition since being used as a " change player " under MP's new attacking regime. It wasn't only people on the Man. Utd fansite who applauded the efforts of Jos and Yoshida at the back. and stats. like Lambert's input and Puncheon's winning interceptions looked nice too. The media circus joined hands in sorrow to comfort Mancini on City's " worst performance since....we don't know when." ..but the truth of the matter is that the Prem.'s biggest spenders have a squad whose - second choice players - ought to have been able to take care of a side that was down at 16th place in the table, especially when one considers that we really only had Lallana on the bench ....plus a couple of " bit part " subs.... and two others who have yet to start a Prem. game...... OK Citeh.. a bad day at the office?..or the start of something worse?....Mancini might do well to update his CV, before the Man. City Board start to think about looking for his longer term replacement. Certainly, a game that ranks very high in recent times, a sigh of relief from Pochettino...and credit to his " new look " side....and more positive comments that have been seen on this board for very long time.

after yesterday... they can be re-named Manchester ****eh !

well said. Some people are far too quick to make judgements based on one or two indifferent performances. He looks confident and is brave...and more acrobatic than you might think for his size .....(shades of Antti Niemi).

agree with your headline..and most of your points. Clyne has learned quickly, but many fans were convinced he was good by his attacking overlaps, but he was hopeless in the opening games; getting turned very easily, getting caught out of position, wearing the wrong boots etc. But they have all learned quickly... and he looks much better now. Likewise Steve Davis had difficulty adjusting to a side that leaked in goals every game but looks 100% better in our new faster-game style. His opportunist goal v. Citeh was a good example. Fox doesn't look a shaky as he once did and I don't tremble at the thought of him playing LB (when required) - as we all did in October....... finally I think Jos is a good team player. His " do-or-die" attitude shows he's not afraid of confrontation with big name players (rather like Michael Svensson - though he's not in MS class) and I think he is a little less rash in his tackling now and his clearance of headers v. Citeh were commanding.

Absolutely!...a point I made on another thread recently. He's not daft enough to let himself open to those "awkward " media questions before he feels ready ..he needs to get " Saints Fit " .

a quick word to Rickie, then. NO BURGERS and NO BEER ..and we might get another good season out of him then, or at least give him a chance to travel to Rio.

aha !.....so it's nothing to do with the way we've been playing then ?.......now I understand:nod:

good evaluation of a unheralded player. He was thrown in the deep end when Jos was dropped after the Arsenal (a) game, and it took a little time to find his feet, at a time when Fonte was very looking shaky, too. Although both he and Fonte have looked more confident since Jack Cork's return. Now he's playing with the "revived " Jos ....and now they are beginning to work well together. Barring more injuries......Forran may have to wait a bit longer before getting his boots on the pitch at SMS.

my point exactly. If cameras were used more in those sorts of situation, instead of the twice-a-season goal-line incidents... we'd have more balanced results. I'd like to have seen Joe Hart " penalty-saving genius(?)" ...facing up to Rickie Lambert !

Pochettino maybe manager but they were called "Adkins players " ....in the beginning, so what has changed? It almost seems that one or two of them LOOK like new players, unrecognisable from those early season "nerves". Isn't there a lot more aggression now ? ..and we're playing even further up the pitch and never giving the opposition a chance to settle on the ball. The media will say how poorly Man.City played, but I say we didn't give then a chance to play....and their poor defensive display...with the England goalie ..and that midfield giant Gareth Barry . no sorry ..they made mistakes and were made to pay for them ....just as we were at the start of the season.

as I predicted earlier..the track suit on the bus ruse.....was just camouflage.

that's just camouflage.......we don't know for certain that he's playing.

.....or anyone else it seems. Chelsea must surely be in danger of breaking our record number of managerial sackings. They've had 9... or is it 10 ?....(of the best managers available) ... in the last 9 years (?).. and Abrahamovic still isn't satisfied. In the " sackings lottery".......Cortese is just a beginner.

Plan B.......I think it's to actually score some goals after all that high pressure football.

I have noticed that this has always been a commonly-used phrase on Swedish TV news, and at first I might have tended to agree, but Swedes...in common with British subjects, are often widely travelled and it can be disturbing for someone to hear of (a) death in another part of the world...especially if you have someone close to you in that region at the time. Sweden always does as much as possible to get a victims remains returned home for burial etc, This was a major issue in the sinking of the ferry Estonia in 1994(?) ...850+ were drowned, and the almost 3000 who perished in the Thailand Tsunami in 2004 (?). I personally knew 5 people who were Tsunami victims, it seemed a lot (at the time)...at least in a country of less than 10 million people.

I think that's the real point..... Nigel Adkins, (who I greatly admire) was thinking like an (albeit new) English Premier League manager, and a relatively in experienced one at that, in a league where there are many European players / and managers. Whereas ...Cortese (as a European) was thinking in broader international terms. It appears (to me anyway)... that he must have considered that MP was more on " his wavelength." Of course, we won't make Euro football this season, and maybe not for a season or two yet, but the Prem. is over filled with " non-British managers " and most of them seem to be able to cope. MP fits the bill.