david in sweden

You're probably right Nick, except that Murty was still injured, Jaidi unavailable, Papa not match fit, Holmes still recovering and Saga on international duty. Our forward line was pathetically weak (and inexperienced). You can only play Lallana or Paterson if they have a tougher/bigger man to play off. Lambert is a goal scorer - but not a one-man strike force. Once Mills, Holmes and Murty are back fit and playing, (and we don't have to rely on Lancashire as third choice CH).... we'll have more options.

...now we prepare ourselves for an onslaught of replies citing Saints players that "someone " loves to hate ".Truth is that players who are injured, or out of form don't do it all right as soon as they're back, and this is the largest turnover in playing staff in the clubs 124 year history ! It 's taking time to get 8 new players working like a well-oiled unit, and the mention of Mellis is an example. Like all Academy players (in his case Chelsea) in team who train and play together week in /out for several seasons and naturally look good in a well-structured team....but we 'aint there yet ! You are probably right about Mellis, but thats not to say he won't improve in a few months. Looking at all the loan players we tried last season, very few were really good enough because they weren't experienced at playing in sides other than their own " nursery side ". AP seems to know what he's doing - and it's not his fault because nervous players miss chances and can't put the ball in the net (see last Saturday). WE don't need more players - we need more luck ! ....if we must buy ..get one more striker !

OK... OK... no excitement... it was only Salisbury Reserves....and we did have quite a few players on the teamsheet with first team experience. ....... BUT any win is good news and many of those featured were " out of favour " or returning from injury...even Pulis found a new spot at right back ! Players who are regularly in the reserves or on the bench have problems with confidence when they don't get regular games, but last night's performance has done no harm at all to team morale...and given a boost to the "forgotten men," who've been out of form, or spend a long time recovering from injury. Well done the Stiffs !

' Absolutely. A little understanding of history would tell us that both Ted Bates AND Lawrie McMenemy could have been sacked 5 times a season - if that were the case. It takes time, I think AP has the right idea, but not the right balance YET ! Lord grant me patience - but hurry !

..well not today, anyway!

have we worked out how to pronounce him ..is it WAY-GO ? ..WE -GO ? ..or ?

YES it was -quite right

.........and when was the last time we played Bournemouth in a competitive match, I wonder ? 19 **.......?

I agree. For once we don't HAVE to sell. OK ..we bear in mind that they are " not happy " and want to leave (if thats the case) but they stay put until we want to sell ..and at a market price.

Really goes to prove that players do react to / or against certain managers. Strachan had a hard time dealing with Kevin Davies and was glad to see the back of him.pity for us 'cos Big Sam knew how to steer KD - and WGS didn't. Mills thought he was better than he really was (at that time)...as did Cranie but in truth neither of them was worth a first team place when they left.

...and someone... please tell me that he at least UNDERSTANDS English ! The whole Agustin Delgado fiasco was made worse by the fact that AD didn't understand our language so well, and then he had to take instructions from Gordon Strachan (!)...who as we know, has his own special dialect. Having forked out £3 million plus on the deal Rupert Lowe should have invested in some reasonable standard of language education for Delgado...it might have helped.

His goal record sounds very promising when you consider the defensive morass that Italian teams play. Goal tallies are often very low and many include the inevitable " late-penalties" that win a game. If he is a genuine strike forward, and scores a few then he should do well.

Mmmmm ..with over 200 England caps between them, that must be some sort of record. Who was the smart manager who made that decision ?

.Easter ?... .I'd be glad if we were in a play-off place after game 46 !

" Wingers " YES, I remember them. Didn't we used to have them back in the 1960's ? I remember watching Paine and Sydenham at the Dell..they were wingers weren't they ? Haven't seen anything to touch them since. All we get now are " overlapping full backs" who often get caught upfield and leave the defence wide open.

.or do you really mean .." the boy did well " ? A classic East End grammatical c*ck-up which seems to have been around for ages. I can recall the legendary heavyweight boxing champion Henry Cooper using the " East End version " when commenting on his opponent, in an after-match interview ... in the late 1950's !

1) ..even without the missing Pulis, don't forget that both Mills and Holmes are out injured and they are both worth at least a bench place when fully fit. (EDIT ; yes and even McLaggon, too ) 2) unless I'm mistaken..?...we can still take loan players after next week and a few managers are going to be looking closer at their squads and wage costs so we might still get some more in ..... PLUS... 3) ANY player still " out of contract " - even after next weekend, can sign for ANY club, at ANY time. Of course you don't know which of the " golden oldies ", or " walking wounded " might still be available... but just how good do you have to be to play in L1 ?

Similar story with a lad called Alan Shearer, who was a schollboy keeper with ...Newcastle (!). before they let him go, and he came to us and began as a striker. Wonder whatever happened to him ...?

is always a great regret to clubs. Players we never quite signed and went elsewhere (ah well ) ..such is life ...... ......... BUT what about those we GAVE away. Players who were released /given away / loaned out - never to return. Over the years we've had our share: Dennis Wise, Kevin Phillips both released by Lawrie Mac (who probably thought them too short, but everyone was up against 6'6" Lawrie,) and then there was Graham Roberts (later Spurs) and all three ended up later playing for England. More recently Matt Oakley took over a year to recover from his injury, and our manager of the day (whoever that was ?) let him go and he was off to ..Ipswich/ Norwich? ..eventually Derby when they got promoted (at our expense) and now we can ponder those two youthful centre halves of yester year; Mike Williamson (former Torquay and on loan to all point east) now to Pompey for £3 million - is it ?...and a few weeks ago M. Mills (former Saints youth ) to somewhere? (via Man.City and Doncaster for the same sort of fee). I've always argued that we can't keep Acacemy lads forever once they've graduated and if they look OK we hang on to them.....but it is somewhat galling..at a time when we are hunting a good centre half, to see these two names popping up as transfer bargains (at ONLY £3 mill.) to think we once had them both - and gave them away.!

.and why do you think that was ..? if there was a potential signing in the offing, you don't want him injured .!

good for him, good for us. He must get regular games and this is a good chance. Michael has been with Saints since he was 12 ..(or even younger) in time... he may become first choice when KD finishes..? (not this season, or maybe even next either but many keepers don't mature till later.)

IF.... he was to go to Spu*s ....who would Harry want to move out .....? (and assuming that they didn't mind a move to L1..

It does seem that some people think that buying a new player is just like changing a tyre on the car. Afterwards everything runs perfectly..it doesn't! New players need to get used to each others game, various strengths and weaknesses. The sort of ball they like to play, how they defend etc, GOOD teams take time to develop and AP is just starting to do that. He wasn't here two months ago and neither was half of the team we fielded on Saturday - it needs time, and maybe two more for the squad before Wednesday morning.

Right or wrong a bad decision is a bad decision ! BUT you've touched on a subject that has often occured to me. Referees (or in crickets case -umpires) aren't afraid to consult one another in any case of doubt. However, many League referees seem to think they have a divine right to judge all situations and don't need help (of another pair of eyes) in match-changing decisions, like penalty shouts and goal line doubts. Cricket and Rugby have gone over to video replays - and ice hockey has done so for decades past - to decide questionable decisions. Obviously there are not video cameras at every level of the game but now that football has FOUR referees ..can't common sense prevail in such situations and have a little more cooperation between them? It is no wonder that referees are criticised so much. Just spend a few weeks watching TV games and see the result. Millions can watch a game (and all its incidents) only for referees to come up with " their own Hollywood version " and a different result. Who needs to bribe referees when so many are incompetent -and refuse help of colleagues.