david in sweden

This bit I totally agree with. But we need someone with enthusiasm as manager and I much prefer NA's blend of h*******t, than some mealy-mouthed type apologising for poor results and telling us how tough it is at the bottom. No-one minded listening to him enthuse ....when we were going through L1 and the Championship like a dose of salts. I don't see anyone else coming in at this stage....continuing with the same players ...and expecting a big turnaround. If NA is still here in January and we are in the same situation....I'll relent.

..in a word ...YES! ......and the one who believed that most of all ......has the cheque book. I've got nothing against his ambition, but we 'aint gonna make it with this mob, the sooner everyone realises that - the better.

my ambition issue was settled in May, Alpine. We got back into the Prem, anything else ...is a bonus. After 27 seasons in the bottom half of the top level, and often surviving by the skin of our teeth in the last game of the season....it's just deja vu for me.

I'm sure most posters have already come down on one side or another....but that question.....seems a bit oddly phrased; I have no trouble with the English language ..being born in the So'ton and having taught English for almost 30 years, but..I've often seen " media reports " that answer one question with another question.. Do you think he means.......? (A)....I expect there to be rumours ...(about the situation)....or......(B) ...I expect (NA) to get the sack... (as per the rumours) ....not totally clear ......depending on which way you interpret the answer.

........and he is entitled to. You and I are not the only ones to have published a thread on that whelk, but most people seem to dismiss that fact. Do they think we've lost to another 8 sides who are less worthy. There are many faults with our present situation, but I feel sorry for NA that he has to take the blame for everything from the fixture list's computer to the players that he was "given" rather than the ones he wanted. .

Managing / Coaching is a " team job " . That's why we have a team of assistant managers, goalkeeper coaches etc. Of course, there are managers who " can't give up the game " when they get past 40, and still join in the training sessions, but I'm guessing most of those track suit pics. are just for the club's PR. Tough old pros who like to go out and train the players every day are those who do the (real) work. Then the manager will seek their advice, but probably still pick his own favourite players. Redknapp for instance.... that's why he had Joe Jordan do the job for him. REVEALING COMMENT: Anders Svensson commented on the " dying days " before our relegation in 2005. In a Swedish TV interview he laughed when asked to comment on Redknapp in particular. He said (as I recall) .....He (Redknapp) was hopeless. He knows nothing about football, and never discussed tactics. There was no dressing room talk before the game and we hardly ever saw him.

I'd persist with Adkins, because unless Cortese can unveil a top grade manager .tomorrow ........we'll be stuck with a caretaker for weeks whilst he interviews interested parties, and only get worse! (if that's possible)

can't give you names, but AT LEAST ..three or four defenders....and even ** a top class keeper. (not another... I hear someone say...). BUT even if we say that Kelvin's time has gone (though not necessarily) ....neither Gazza or Cropper are going to be in the running for a year or two.....depending on where we are then, and Boruc has had no chance to prove himself properly yet. I'm sure he, too would like a stronger defence in front of him. ** even the world's best keeper can't do everything single-handed. When Saints signed England World Cup goalie Peter Shilton in 1982.....our defence leaked in 18 goals in the first 7 games (!) .....Mind you, we played 5 of the top 6 clubs in those opening fixtures ...(if that scenario sounds familiar?)

..couldn't agree more .......(and maybe not only two)....quite a few of us wrote about that - even in the Spring. and whilst we may have seen the last of Seaborne as a squad player, I think we know too little about Martin (still developing) and the Palace nightmare proves nothing.....for me - the jury is still out on him.

the end of the Swedish season - as the Arctic winter approaches with a few extended comments for those who keep a weather eye on the Swedish game or, have visited on previous occasions. He may be 36 now... but Anders Svensson is looking forward to European football next year after Elfsborg took the Allsvenskan League title in final game at the weekend. As their midfield dynamo, Anders plays a dominant role and even scored 2 goals in last week's games - (including one that is in for the Swedish Goal of the Season). Despite letting an 8 point lead slip away after the summer break to strong, late challenges from Häcken and Malmö, Elfsborg came with a flurry at the end and went into the last game needing only one point to secure the title. They actually drew 1-1, but it was enough. Häcken's attack netted 67 times in the 30 game season, but despite winning their last game had lost some vital games earlier in the season and ended up in second place. 2 points behind. Sadly for them, Malmö couldn't get the better of AIK in their last game, losing 2-0 to AIK (who had the best defensive record in the league). Unfortunately, AIK's front line has been short of real firepower and despite losing only 5 games all season, they had drawn 10 of their fixtures and ought to have been good enough to win the title themselves. The draw sickness also affected the country's two best-known sides; Gothenburg and Djurgården (in Stockholm). They both finished as poor midtable sides and played out 12 and 13 drawn games (respectively). At the bottom, Gothenburg side GAIS (some fans may recall the friendly summer game there in Strachan's time).. finished a miserable bottom - having won only one game all season. Örebro will go down after their very disappointing season and the play-off for the remaining place will be between Gif Sundsvall and the third-placed Halmstad outfit from the Superettan to join the two already promoted sides Öster and Brommapojkarna. End of the season's report and a quick thanks to those who have been in contact during the year - (but now we concentrate on Saints' future.) .

Whilst I agree that Martin needs more games in order to get in the pecking order..I was surprised that it wasn't Seaborne who went out on loan..... Dan Seaborne played only 4 league + 2 League Cup games last season. Many severely doubted if he would be fit enough to play again. Fortunately he recovered his health, but not his form....(such as it was). Aside from this, his sum total of apps. had been in the L1 side, where he was not always first choice, either. Few players came out with any credit from the debacle at Elland Road, but the Leeds commentator, who tbf....was fairly kind with comments said that Seaborne was totally out of it ..on several occasions. Aaron Martin maybe younger, but his relative inexperience didn't show so much last season when he was suddenly catapulted into the side after Fonte's long injury absence. In all, he made 9 league + 4 league cup and 3 FA Cup apps. ..and scored 2 goals into the bargain (inkl.one as oncoming sub. in the Derby game.) The outcome is now that Martin has been omitted from Palace's (now successful) defensive set-up to the extent that he can't even get on their bench regularly, let alone on the pitch, whilst Seaborne has hardly distinguished himself in 3 rather lame League Cup outings. Overall - some poor decisions there somewhere. After the Leeds game Nigel Adkins made it plain that many of those who (played-if thats what they did ?)....had disappointed and one gets the impression weren't likely to be featured again so quickly. Depending on WHO is making the decisions come January.....I'd loan out Seaborne (somewhere) and bring back Aaron Martin before his career rots away on the Palace training ground.

TRUE ..although I think it's fair to say that for some of the bigger clubs, their Ice Hockey obsession is greater than their interest in football. I think it goes to show the poor level of Superettan..as Brommapojkarna will find to their cost when they move up into the top league. Their greatest achievement may not be getting promoted, but the ability to survive through next season.

...if only !

best result for us really, despite going bottom. At least neither of them will move too far ahead of us. some consolation to note that in a game with ....39 shots (more than half off target).... they only managed 2 goals between them. The down side is probably that the very fast-moving and physical nature of this game was seen with a lot of big guys handing out some very hard tackles ...and not a few dangerous fouls. It doesn't auger well for a team like Saints who like to play the ball around but are dangerously " lightweight " in midfield, and a bit slow at the back.

OK. I might have said positive, but that assumes that he had something to build on, but only 4 points and near the bottom isn't confidence-building start - is it ? He didn't sound like a man playing Russian roulette, but then again .......you don't know who was holding the gun. If I was to sack anyone at the club it would start with some of our defenders. The only problem is.... it's easier to replace a manager than a player when it's outside the transfer window.

going back to your own point.#12. Every manager knows the side he'd like to pick, but it's Sod's Law that governs.. who's fit / available etc. Being without key players often decides the final result. I'm sure Adkins' best side would have included Jack Cork who featured in every League game last season. Unfortunately no attention was paid to the back line which needed some serious additions in the summer - but got little. Our two "remaining" CB's showed all their defensive shortcomings, and Kelvin Davis' record number of clean sheets last season counted for nothing when he stood behind that lot, and we had two full backs who were great at overlapping, but .....very average as defenders. However, we're stuck with what we have....... The very brief view we've had of Ramirez showed that he is a class player. Having predictably lost those early games (that many people had expected) he showed a bit of style v. Fulham and even scored against Everton. Of all the players we might have lost through injury, we had the bad luck to be without him. Being without the likes of him or Lambert or Lallana would have a similar effect. On early season showing, we have little alternative choice as to who we pick from.... the rest. Sadly few of them have inspired confidence in the rest of the team.....or the fans.

TRUE ! remembering the likes of Monk, Mills and Williamsson. Martin may not be Premier League material atm, but IMHO he does have a good future - given time.

EXACTLY !...you know I wrote the same thing a week ago and the pessimists on the site criticised the comment....so be prepared for some flack !

AS for game time; Jay Rod has started 5 games and been subbed in 3 of those. Rickie has started 7 and subbed 3 times but came on as sub. once (Man City). I won't bothering to counting the minutes but it's a bit different. However, I think you were one of many people who noted that Jay Rod wasn't very effective in his early games when being forced to play left wing. I though he looked quite a different player in the Spurs game where (despite the result) he looked more of a threat. Our conversations have drifted off my original post which was about trying to avoid total dependance on RL ....and the necessity of giving our alternatives (Mayuka, Lee) ....a bit of playing time. Personally I don't see Guly as a real striker despite the fact that when called upon last season he netted 9 times before Christmas, and in several cases won the points in those games. However, like some others in the squad - he doesn't seem to have made the transition to the higher level in only 3 games +3sub.apps. I fully expect to see Rickie playing in every league match this season, but not necessarily from the start each time. That's not my wish, but NA has to justify the acquisition of the others named - even if they weren't his choices and he did / didn't buy them.

YES it was.......and it's a lesson we haven't learnt because nobody is still around (at the club) who can recall that. The difference that season was that Beattie was the only real striker we had at the time. Pahars was still injured and the rest of the story is almost too sad to relate. The second highest scorer was Ormerod with 5, Fernandes 3 and the Svenssons scored 2 each. Beattie's great season was our salvation he scored 23 of only 43 league goals. At least now we have some alternatives to look at, and if we are not to continue our total reliance on Rickie (good as he is) then we must give other strikers a bit more game time than a 20 min.sub..

I don't think anyone's denied that, but why is it that some people seem to think that " subbing " someone after 70 mins. make it sound like he didn't get a chance to play? .when do we give others a chance?. He was less than good against Fulham, yet played the entire match against Spurs and didn't look much better. Next you'll be saying that Mayuka and Lee were a waste of money because they can't get into the side....others must get a run-out sometime...especially the strikers. How long to you (reasonably) expect RL to be our top striker.......and who will suddenly replace him if he (suddenly) isn't there one day .?

of course, but being out injured for ....how many weeks?....isn't the same as maintaining fitness week in and out.....it'll take him a game or two to get back to any real form providing he is 100% fit.

well that goes without saying, but despite out defeats we've had TEN different goalscorers in the Prem. already this season. Yes Rickie 's got 4 of them (in the first 5 games), but he hasn't scored in the last 3½ games and we must give others a chance and not just hope he'll get one or two......thats not enough to win with our goals against average.

...at last..somebody said it !