david in sweden

Absolutely...I think Leicester were pretty dumb to sack Eriksson after such a short time, but they had no patience in the short term and expected overnight success. You can sign as many players as you like (Sam), but they'll expect you to create a promotion side just like that - and you'll, find yourself out in the cold when they fail.

Honestly speaking - I never got into this " love-in " some people had when Bart came as an up-and-coming teenager. After 4 years .or is it .5 ? .......you'd have thought he would have been strongly challenging for KD's spot, but doesn't look the part (IMHO). I don't have Adkins' confidence in him - even before the Blackpool blunder. He may look great in training... but that doesn't affect our points position - does it ?. He needs real games - certainly, but we are talking about someone who (on today's showing will be our no.2 keeper - when we get promoted to the Prem.) and good as he (still) is ....KD's days are surely numbered in the no.1 spot. We must find at least TWO reliable keepers - if we are to be considered even a fairly good Prem.outfit . We can't rely on Ricky scoring goals every week. In our first sojourn with the top flight (1966- ). Ron Davies goals' kept us up, but we had the worst defence in that League, and stayed up by the skin of our teeth almost every season. The fiasco signing of Forecast must rate alongside Ali Dia, but unfortunately Forecast came with a five year contract (hurts me to even write about it ) - so for that reason I'm not even considering him as a future Saints "anything ". If Bart is loaned out for half-a season, as I think he should, it'll gives us the answer to his future and won't cost us valuable promotion points at the same time.

I've been on here saying that we should have had another striker since before the summer. It's clear to anyone that Lambert is so influential that we are virtually lost when he is "off form " , or as v. Donnie (injured). It seems loads of people came on saying ..No, we shouldn't .....because (a)...we'll never find anyone as good as him - so let's not bother .. or (b)..if we do.... the new guy will get upset if he can't play every week.. or ©... Ricky will get upset by having someone threatening his position. RUBBISH to all three suggestions. This is professional football, not nursery school. Players who play well will get picked, or at least get some playing time each game. Spurs had Pav on the bench (again) today .because his regulars are on form / a bit better ..and Harry was very glad of it, Pav scored the only goal to get then 3 points. NOT having cover for your best player, especially when he is a big striker....is sheer lunacy! Fortunately (for us) Lambert had been both fit and on-form for most of the season, but he's had no-one to play with.

I agree. I like him, too but he's scored only once in the last 6 games, Lambert has scored 6 in the 5 games he played in. ( absent v. Doncaster.) But strikers should be scoring goals ! Don't think that NA wouldn't have left him on the bench - if Barnard or Connolly had been fit. (They'd have eaten some of the chances we've missed in the last month).

Agree again, but it's the easiest 5 game spell in the season - if you look at the rest of the programme.

Like Guly..like Lallana.. but everything you say is true. Guly looks good when the sun shines - ala Brazilian style..but he doesn't like winter weather. Since we've lost Chaplow..its been only 5 points out of the last 15 (!) ..hardly promotion form -is it? Again today. Lots of possession..pretty football, but it's down to Ricky again to get a point. Without Barnard AND Connolly we are very thin up front. Either of them would have eaten some of those chances we had today.... Playing Schneiderlin as extra man when we are attacking is a Plan C, Nigel..for all his fine passing moves he couldn't hit a barn door at 20 feet. Let's hope we still hold on to our luck until we sign those TWO new strikers in January. We need TWO . Connolly has been out " too long " for my liking ....and Barnard is out for the season (rumoured on this site) If Ricky gets injured again !!!....It's down to Jonno Quick, Ryan Doble and Sam Hoskins ! (you think I'm joking- don't you )

After today's performance... maybe we'll take another look at (Huddersfield's)... Jordan Rhodes. He scored FOUR today in the derby game v. Sheff.Wed. at Hillsboro' As I recall he was pretty good last season and Huddersfield were extremely unlucky not to come up to CCC as third side.

I'm pretty sure that a straight red is an automatic 3 game suspension (full stop). Two yellows in the same game (becomes a red) and is a one match ban (as Hammond had). A certain number of yellows over a longer period (Five I think?)... becomes a one match suspension. (someone can correct me if I'm wrong there.?)

If you read the BBC article - he doesn't suggest that he's going to sign 25, but as I read it - he's got all sorts of ideas, players he's looked at, perhaps one or two that he's set up deals for ..but I'm sure that by the end of January he'll have signed more players than we have..and probably got rid of a handful, too. As I wrote in #1...I find it rather strange that he's saying ....so many. Nigel obviously has a shopping list too, but it was clear in the summer that when we didn't sign..Sharp, or Jay Rod ..or Maynard (Brizzle said we never bid for him anyway)... that NA had run out of " targetted options " and didn't make a panic buy anyway. If (Sam) has so many options (as he says) on his list...he obviously hasn't thought through who in particular he wants - for what role. When Nigel didn't get who he wanted..he left it. Sounds to me like Sam is panicking.....though the " mind games " theory put forward here may well be true but is a dangerous ploy - if it suggests he doesn't trust ANY of his present squad. Not good for team morale, either.

It's not a two horse race, but most people see West Ham as our main challengers in the Prem. promotion race, so I was very surprised to see that Sam Allardyce admitted that he had a "short list " of .. 25 players, who he's been looking.. at as possible targets when the "window " opens in January. It means that he's convinced his Board that he needs to buy in... more than a few players... to guarantee the Hammers a quick return to the Prem. If thats the case..then I'm sure they will find the money ..." from somewhere ", but in reading the storyline on the BBC site, I considered that it really sounded a note of desperation in a statement like that. Surely there is a warning here following the recent dismissal of Sven-Göran Eriksson at Leicester who bought in about a dozen players in the summer. It's clear that just having extra players in the squad is one thing... but moulding them into a team good enough to win promotion in the Spring sounds like Mission Impossible...as Eriksson found to his cost. I'm sure that Nigel Adkins has a list for buys in January, I just hope that it's short enough that he knows who he will buy and where they will fit in.

Pompey like Norm, I'm also a 50+ year fan. (so don't criticise our allegiance now)..BUT you clearly don't understand what it means to be a grandfather! (still it is poor planning to have a clash of KO times, especially as a lot of kids playing Tyro League will dream of playing for Saints when they're older...) derby games have always been few and far between, and with saints going up ..and Pompey's future (financially uncertain)..it might be decades before there is another season like this one.

oh come on Dibden, when are you going to get a sense of humour....? I 'm pre**y pi**ed with all the Ali Dia references that still come up 15 years after the event!

...now you're beginning to talk ..when's he signing did you say ?

.are you into crack, now?

quite right. I thought I recognised him in at least one photo..and young Ben Reeves as well.

sounds like I'm three times older than the rest of you ! however, the historical background to the rivalry is quite the reverse. My late father was Saints fan as a boy and in the post WW2 period (Saints were Div.2 whilst Pompey were Div.1 in those days and had won the cup in 1939). Many fans used to travel down to Fratton when Saints played away games. In the post war times, travel was very much more difficult. Few people had cars, train stations were more, but many trains ran much slower than todays high-tech jobs and even a trip to the Midlands could be a whole days journey -if you got to the ground for kick-off time ! Coaches were more popular but sometimes took just as long, especially if fans wanted to stop at a few pubs on the way home ! Pompey were the " big brother " and the animosity we see nowadays probably started in the early 60's when both sides were in Div.2 - and a feud developed between Saints (then) star player Terry Paine (5'8") and the pompey left back (former marine) Roy Lunnis (6'4"). Lunnis seemed to object to Paine making a fool of him by continually passing him by on the right wing, and in turn floored Painey a few times. Despite his lack of stature, our Terry was never one to take this lying down and often ankle-tapped the lofty Lunnis in return. There were no red/yellow cards in those days, but between them they totted up a few bookings and the occasional sending off...unfortunately this anger spread to the fans who carried it over from match to match. I always enjoyed local derby games. It's the next best thing to beating a top London side or one of the top six. These days the most that can be said is; it's a consolation to beat them -- if you don't get promoted but they'll brag a lot about beating us - if we go up - and they go down !

wow ..you were skating on thin ice with a headline like that ! you stood a good chance of being blacklisted - until we read the rest. One of the most controversial contributors to this site.. " Alpine" does have some very special viewpoints on some things..

for the first time in their history. I recall that when Nick Holmes managed them a few years ago, they made some progress to second round (?) and ended up playing TWO games v. Sheff.WEDNESDAY.....can't remember exactly when ?....anyone with a good memory ?

I'm pretty sure that my membership is due again in early january. Have lost track of payment details. Can someone PM me ..with address of where to send the cheque and proper " payee name". Is it just Saints web ? ..or..