david in sweden

No complaints at all. Not as young as some in the team, and although picked for all League matches has been subbed 10 times. OBVIOUSLY, he's not a 95 minute player every week, and NA knows this, but with 3 league goals (+1 cup) and more than a few assists, those " Brazilian" touches like yesterdays set-up for SDR - makes him worth his place in my book.

by City ..6-1 at Old Trafford. Hold on you're saying ..where's the Saints connection? Firstly ..if like me you've been an MU hater for several decades it'll bring a smile to your face..and the prospect of them coming up against the mighty ALDERSHOT next week with the EX SAINT Anthony Pulis in their line-up. OK complain if you want to ..but I'm still smiling at the result.

surely deserves his own thread after yesterdays sub.app. Not sure if Fonte was injured ..off form ..or what, but AM looked full of confidence as though he'd been playing all season. With Jaidi and Seaborne out, and not sure of Fonte's return date, were sure to see more of Aaron in the next few matches.

watched the game on streamed line, but thought he looked great as the " impact player " NA likes to call them. He certainly gets involved, but I thought his goal was superb, beating defenders then changing feet inside the six yard box and fooling the keeper...class IMHO. Not sure how he'd be for a full 95 minutes, but I still like the idea of starting with Connolly (so apparantly does Lambert) and then bringing SDR into the game as and when ...

...just trying the shirt on for size - was he ?

yes ...but surely we've been " victims " of that ourselves in the past; Walcott, Bale and Alex OC ?

Did they count the mascot, ball boys and the stewards, too ?

LOL very good!

he's said the same thing in so many different ways now, he can use playback better than Britney Spears .. (No!.... she's not joining either, but maybe there is something in that Skacel story ....?++! (oops sorry )

he was probably " playing hookey" from school on the day they studied irregular verbs !

The fair weather fans come out of the shadows when the team does well. I recall the heady days of our first promotion to Div. 1 (1966). After being battered every week by class opposition, the gate drifted down whilst the die-hard fans stood in the wind and rain every match. As soon as we picked up a bit of form - back they came with their Saints scarves, screaming at every player - even though they couldn't identify who they were - and had to look at the programme every five minutes. Still nice to get a good gate (record or not )..but I wonder how often we'll get that figure again ?

that's obviously the 90% we've beaten in the last 2 seasons. Wait a bit Ferguson, your turn will come !

difficult to say precisely. In Div.1 (old Prem.) season 1981-82, we went top after 1-0 win at Middlesbro Jan.30 and stayed top until mid March, but none of the teams we played in that time finished in the top 6 . Our form became very erratic, and although there were no major injury problems, we shipped a lot of goals and won only 2 of the last 9 games and finished a rather disappointing 7th. The only other likely Div.1 season would have been 1983-84 . Although we reached 2nd place in October we weren't consisitant enough to stay in the top 4 and came on strong in the end and went unbeaten in the last 10 games and finished 2nd behind Liverpool at a time when they won the League title 3 years out of 4. Going waaaaaaay back to our first promotion 1965-66, we were top at the time of the legendary 9-3 anniliation of Wolves in September at the Dell, but never made the top spot again but were promoted with a WOW finish of an undefeated 12 games run-in and finished 2nd behind Man.City. the second promotion 1977-78 saw us in third place from Boxing Day 77 until Easter 78. We only once made top spot with a 2-1 away win at Luton (remember them?)..but drew our last 2 games and again finished second to go up behind Bolton. Hard to find memories that go back so far, but much-related, tragic finish to the 1948-49 season when Saints finished 3rd after being 8 points clear at the top at Easter and gaining only 1 win in the last 7 games ..might well supply the answer. Last home hame was against eventual champs. WBA. The match ended 1-1 and we lost the last game and stayed down. The real answer to your question may well be NEVER..

I suppose this is what the pundits call " a six-pointer " ...what a stupid phrase! ...but it's clear that if we win.. we'll be 5 points clear, a defeat then we will drop to second .

I'm sure we will - after we've got promotion. There are some in our squad who are no better than CCC level and will surely be released ..at a price.

even stranger...in Sweden it's called... FLOOR BALL ! (?)

Well, sad but that's what a " squad " is all about - isn't it. The Chaplow's and Holmes' aren't regular first choicers but we'll see if they can come up with the goods when called upon, or maybe Nigel will be daring and " blood " one of those promising Academy talents ?...

I've noticed that some contributors are often very judgmental about new / unknown / little-known players ,or some type of " journeyman " players... especially if they come from a team in a League inferior to our own. But who can compare Dutch sides with CCC, or with SPL for that matter. It's all down to the manager's choice, fitness, form and who else has the same shirt at the time. Names come to mind are George O'Brien in the early 60's..Mark Dennis who was an outcast at several clubs only to become a hero figure under Lawrie Mac's guidance...and wasn't it Ian Branfoot who thought MLT inferior enough to exiled to the bench. Only when a player gets a chance to shine in a side where he " fits in " can you make a good judgment. On the evidence so far ..Jos seems to be a good prospect - irrespective of his past record / form . Decades of history have shown us that some players who are " useless" in one club, become fan-favourites at another If someone is " a Celtic reserve " doesn't mean he's no good, but simply not being chosen regularly

there are lots of clips of the Sverige v. Holland game on YOU TUBE. Kim Källströms " Beckham-esqe " opening free kick, Seb.Larsson's penalty (ala MLT) and see Mikael Lustig's quick throw-in to Elmander, to set up the winning 3-2 goal by ..Ola Toivanen.

......don't hold your breath, it's only the start of the season.....

.......neither can Wayne Rooney !

.......along with their I-PODs and computer games.

It may well be that the injury was not-so-straightforward as seemed at first. I really don't think the court case issue comes into the reckoning. If he had been fit, he'd have been on the bench at least. Six months after the injury... he's still not 100% ..sad memories of Pahars. Soon people will start comparing him with David Connolly's long-term injury history. We've got Rickie Lambert and ..TWO half-fit inside men. I don't see Guly and Lambert as a regular twin-striker role as no-one plays that style anymore. You need a big man, and a shorter, quick man inside to play-off him. De Ridder, Holmes and Forte are all good runners and can cross a ball, but they are hardly 20 goal a season types- are they ?