SaintJackoInHurworth

Boruc's performance against Everton was solid and by far his best performance in a Saints shirt so far. I genuinely hope he can keep it up. However, I am not about to get as carried away about this as some others on here. The sad facts of the matter are that in previous performances he has looked decidedly jittery at times and nothing like a world class keeper. Against Arsenal he also did really well (and probably had a little more to do than he had against Everton), but at the start of that match he made several clownish handling errors that could have been costly. It even got a comment on the MoTD coverage that evening. Confidence, however, is a funny thing and I hope that having gained some from a couple of clean sheets and the removal of the handling errors he will now go on to live up to the billing which you are giving him. At the same time, I hope too that Gazzanigga will grow in confidence and ability over the next few years to live up to the promise that he showed at Gillingham. Finally, though, I also hope that if Kelvin Davis (a keeper who has remained incredibly loyal to the club despite some awful treatment by the boo-boys) should be called on again this season, he will be given more of a chance than some on here have given him. Don't forget that it was he who performed so well for us in goal over the Christmas period and beforehand, earning a sustained spell back in the side for his consistency. It was only when we came up against Arsenal on New Year's Day that he lost his place to Boruc - for whatever reason that Adkins decided to make that change (or was it Cortese's decision?!) So, in summary: lets not get carried away, but let's also stop berating our keepers for the slightest wayward kick and get behind whoever is in goal - whether it be Boruc, Gazzanigga, Davis, Cropper or some other new keeper that we might happen to sign in the next couple of weeks!

I can't believe there are some people suggesting that we were nearly beaten and fortunate to get a draw. We completely dominated the first half (all of the TV highlights were Saints chances!) and should have been 2-0 up at least by half time - credit to Everton's defence and keeper for keeping them in it. Yes, there were 2 chances that Everton should have scored - but apart from that they barely had a shot on goal. They had a period of about 20 minutes at the start of the second half where they crowded the midfield and stifled our attempts to get forward - the result of a great tactical shift by Moyes rather than Saints getting tired (though the half time break had also possibly broken our momentum). During that period they grew in confidence and got the aforementioned chances. However, as the 2nd half wore on, we came back into the game and had as much of the ball as them if not a little more. Indeed, I would venture to suggest that we ended the game the stronger side. The game highlighted what we already knew - that without Lallana we lack options down the left hand side - with the exception of Shaw (who was again excellent!). It would be good to bring in someone who can play on either flank and can provide a better option than Guly. However, at the same time, I am wary of us doing anything that might undermine the confidence of Lallana who is a vital player for us. As for those who suggest that Ramirez is not doing the business, you clearly need to watch more of the game and note who it is that is combining with the other players to create many of our chances! Similarly, those who want to criticise Puncheon really are living in the past - this season (including tonight) he has been brilliant for us. All round it was a great performance. I hope that Ramirez's injury is not too serious and I also hope that Lallana and Forren will both soon be match fit.

I wonder whether, if the new manager fails and we end up getting relegated, the Liebherr family might actually decide to sack Cortese? I personally want to acknowledge that Cortese has achieved some good stuff for the club. However, that gives him no excuses for the arrogant, stupid decision made in sacking Adkins. Just as many managers who have achieved success have later been sacked when they have failed to continue the success (e.g. Benitez at Liverpool) I hope that Cortese himself will face the wrath of the club's owners if and when this ludicrous decision is shown up as the biggest mistake made at our club since the days of Rupert Lowe. I want to see Saints successful - and I believe I can honestly say that I want that MORE than Cortese wants it. However, I do not believe that this is the way to achieve that success. I fear that not only is it a decision devoid of any common morality, but it is doomed to failure. This is a sad, sad time in the life of our club.

I'm driving to this match from Darlington if anyone wants to car-share - even for just part of the journey. I've put more details here: http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?41411-Travel-to-Liverpool-for-those-in-the-North This may apply to this traveling from the East Midlands or Sheffield and not just those going down from the North East or West Yorkshire (though if you are travelling from either of those, get in touch!) Thanks!

I haven't heard from anyone about this and the offer still stands. I could detour via Leeds or similar to pick someone up (e.g. from Leeds station) if that would help. At the end of the day I suspect sharing lifts could save somebody out there some money and could save me a little too. As well as those travelling from the north this may be of interest if you are travelling from the East Midlands or similar and wanted to car-share across the M62 to share fuel costs. Get in touch if you would be interested in this. Thanks!

Thanks - that's great!

OK, clearly the club's focus has got to be upon the Norwich match as that is the next one and as things stand they are very much the sort of team we would want to be beating - not that I am taking anything for granted mind you! However, I can't help but notice that IF we do manage to beat Norwich and meanwhile Spurs beat Liverpool, then we go to Anfield next week only two points behind Liverpool. At the same time we would be seen as the club in form while they would be the team struggling for form! Add to that the fact that both Adkins and Lambert are from Liverpool and it could become a hotly anticipated match!! I am going next week, making my first ever visit to Anfield so I hope that the above scenario will perhaps become reality and that maybe, just maybe, we can go to Liverpool, get a win and leap-frog them in the table!! COYR

Is there any free street parking in reach of Anfield? I've never been before and would like to know where I am best to head for in order to park. I am happy to park a mile or so from the ground. Thanks!

I am travelling to Liverpool from Darlington next week. If anyone who is also travelling from up north would like to share lifts then let me know. This could be: * Someone coming from further north who is likely to travel down the A1 past Scotch Corner OR... * Someone who lives somewhere between Darlington and Liverpool (along the A1/M1 or M62 corridors e.g. Leeds) I am happy to drive and receive contributions towards petrol or be a passenger and make a contribution. I will try to check back on here sometime over the next few days or message me through Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neil.jacko. Cheers!

Fitzhugh Fella:

I take it you missed the poll that was done on this site? While Saintsweb can't be taken to represent all fans, it certainly represents a significant sample and the poll clearly showed that over 50% did not like it. I imagine, however, that there will have been many who bought it anyway as it represents Saints return to the Premiership.

Just think what our sales would have been like if they had chosen a kit that the majority of fans like! I can't believe that it has outsold last season's kit, though maybe pricing has something to do with it. I loved last season's kit and bought it as soon as its price was reduced at the end of the season! In my opinion, it strikes me that the club's claims are either a complete fabrication or that the Premiership glory-hunter factor has come into play and we have also sold a lot abroad in the light of buying Lee, Yoshida, Mayuka, etc.

My reason for resurrecting this thread was not in any way to suggest that Martin was the answer to our defensive woes. It was written as some have rightly noted in the light of Seaborne's untimely recall to the squad against Leeds (a match which I had the displeasure of witnessing) and in the light of the change of manager at Palace. Ultimately, whether or not Martin has a Premiership future, it is doing him and us no favours if he is rotting away without any chance to play for a team in the Championship. I hope that either Holloway helps him to get sorted or that it is possible for the loan to be cancelled so that he can be loaned out somewhere where he might get some experience (or in a worst-case scenario, that he can replace Seaborne as our fourth/fifth central defender).

I don't think Adkins should go just yet as I don't think any manager would be able to lick that defence into shape tbh! I think we need a bit more loyalty not less and I think it is shameful how we treated some players in the summer - especially as some of the players have not been replaced with players who have shown themselves to be of any better quality than those that have left. That having been said, I do have my doubts about Adkins and always have (I have always believed we made a mistake when we let Alan Pardew go). Adkins certainly has a great ethos about how to play the game, but he needs to instil some more drive into the squad as well as a dose of Premiership nouse! Sometimes we are a poor man's Arsenal, passing ourselves to death without any finished article. I understand why we bought Rodriguez and Ramirez in the hope of doing something about that, but I think it has got to be more than having the players with potential. There has got to be some fresh ideas, drive, passion and intelligence too. Reflecting on our transfers in the past year or so, Mayuka. Lee and SDR have not been good buys and the jury is still out on Yoshida, Rodriguez and Davis. Ramirez looks like he could well be a great star of the future, but he is far from the finished article yet, while Clyne has imo been one of the better buys, but also has much to learn. Alongside this we sadly let a few players go in the summer who in hindsight may still have something to offer. I am particularly embarassed by the way we let Billy Sharp go. While he may not be the highest quality, nevertheless what he may lack in quality, he more than makes up for in workrate - something this current squad is lacking! Of course, we do not know to what degree Adkins has directed the transfer policy or whether this has been left up to Cortese. Either way, mistakes have been made and these must be rectified in January. At the end of the day, I am not convinced that changing the manager now would be the right option and, like under Rupert Lowe, it could be a fatal decision which further destabilises a fragile position. If, however, Adkins does go then personally I would love to see Joe Jordan as manager or coach, but would not want Redknapp anywhere near the club! Gary Neville may be able to do a job, but he has zero experience of Premiership coaching.

I'm listening to 5Live. Must search for a TV stream! At the start Savage was saying that Wbrom were the better team, but within a few minutes he is now saying Saints playing well and a poor start from West Brom!!

In the light of the change of manager at Palace, I thought it might be timely to resurrect this thread. I wonder if Holloway might give Martin the chance of a game? He hasn't done so today, but I guess time will tell. Can I just clarify... is he on a season-long loan or just on loan until January? If he is on a season-long loan I hope that if Palace don't play him this will be cancelled so that he can either: a. be loaned somewhere else where he can get valuable experience, or b. be added to our squad instead of Dan Seaborne - I personally think he would present better back-up than Seaborne, though hopefully we will sign a couple of better first-choice defenders in January, in which case it could be that there will be no space for either of them this season.

Really? Perhaps you could enlighten us as to what I wrote that was inaccurate? Do you doubt the statistics about how many goals we have scored and the comparison of that with other teams? Go check the facts and you will see they are correct! Or maybe you don't think we are usually slow starters, in which case I would suspect you must only be about 8 years old having started to support Saints a year ago when for a change we did actually start really well? Or perhaps you still doubt our financial situation despite the fact that every transfer window we outspend what the doubters proclaim? Please do share you superior knowledge with us...

Spot on! This is just complete media nonsense. It goes a bit like this: * Hmm, 'arry is without a job - who could he go to? * Hmm, Southampton have spent loads of money and are near the bottom - they could sack their manager. * Hmm, 'arry seemed to do very well at Spurs and we thought he was going to be England manager - surely he will get a job in the Premier League. * Hmm, 'arry lives in Bournemouth and doesn't want to move from there. Working in Southampton would be very convenient for him. * Hmm, 'arry used to be manager at Southampton - perhaps they will sack Nigel Adkins so that he can go there. * Aha! (Journalist's brain whirrs slowly) Maybe 'arry could get a job at Southampton!! Wow! Of course... that's it! * Now, when would this happen...? Hmm... (brain continues to whirr slowly..) * Perhaps if Saints fail to beat QPR that will be that for Adkins... * Hey, look at that...! The next match after QPR is against former Saints manager Alan Pardew's Newcastle - that would be a great game for us to talk about! Imagine the column inches... * (Brain slowly whirrs some more)... yes! It's gotta happen! Redknapp to be revealed as Saints' manager in a home match against Newcastle in about three weeks' time. * Wow! I'm a genius I think! They might give me a pay rise if I have guessed this one right! Cue: article in press...! Incidentally, FWIW, as many have pointed out apart from his spell at Spurs, 'arry has been a dreadful manager at many teams. He has been particularly poor at working with younger players - hence at Spurs he decided he would let someone else do the coaching for him and then just take all the credit. I think getting rid of Adkins would be counter-productive and would create the same sort of uncertainty we experienced in our relegation season. Incidentally in that relegation season, 'arry's record was worse than all the previous managers we had employed that season and he at the end of the season he sacked Jim Smith to make him a scape-goat for his own failings. He then appointed Kevin Bond who was even worse and we made an atrocious start to life in the Championship. Some of you will point to 'arry's success at Spurs and the development of younger players that has taken place there, but I refer you to my earlier identification of how Redknapp has achieved this success... he has got someone else to achieve it (namely Joe Jordan) and then taken the credit for himself. With this in mind, if for some crazy reason we decide to sack Adkins then my personal preference for successor would be Joe Jordan and not any of the other names that people have mentioned. If we are to change anything in the club's coaching staff, I would personally be pleased if we could keep Adkins and bring Jordan to work alongside him - that would be an amazing partnership!

OK - I am fed up with all the wrist-slitters on here! Let's look at some positives... * We have scored more goals than any other team in the bottom half of the Premiership. * We have scored as many goals as Arsenal. * We are the joint 8th highest scorers in the Premiership so far this season. * We have got as many points at home this season as Arsenal. * All of those statistics are despite the fact that we have played 6 of the top 9 clubs in our opening 8 fixtures. Reading and Liverpool have only played four of these teams, Stoke City and Norwich only five. * We are not bottom and are only one point behind the two teams directly above us!! A win against Spurs could potentially see us jump up to 15th in the table. * Our players are inexperienced at this level. They will get better as they grow in experience. * We have maintained a (numerically) great level of support despite our difficult start. * Unlike many of the teams towards the bottom of the table it seems likely that we will be able to spend money to attract better players (especially defenders) in the January transfer window. * We were only narrowly beaten by the Manchester clubs who dominated the Premier League last season and were close to drawing against them or even beating them. * We are usually slow-starters and get better as a season progresses. My advice to you all is this: 'Keep The Faith!!' and 'In Nige we trust!'

Can't be bothered to read this ridiculous thread... ...any change of manager would just be a repeat of the mistakes of Rupert Lowe. Nobody is going to do any better with this crop of players than Adkins. If we change manager we must be prepared to be relegated, to lose half the squad and to begin to rebuild again. If we stick with Adkins he and the players will gradually together amass the Premiership experience necessary to turn things around. In our favour is the fact that QPR, Wigan, Norwich, Reading and Villa are also woeful - especially up front where we are strong. In addition, in January we will have the chance to right the mistakes of the summer and buy some quality defenders. We might even be able to cancel Aaron Martin's loan and see if he can do any better. He is certainly a more disciplined defender than the ones we are playing at present. Adkins has made mistakes and I am sure he would admit that; but people learn from mistakes. To change manager would just invite someone else to make the same mistakes and to begin the learning process a lot later. One thing I believe is that we need to stop changing around keepers and give the jersey back to Davis, working to improve his confidence and decision making. His start to the season suggested to me that he was affected by his past experience. If he can just get past that he can once again become a hero in goal. Boruc seems worse than Davis and Gazznigga just doesn't have the experience yet. Finally, I have to point out that Adkins has a lot more sense than to go with fans' wisdom for how to set up a team. I would suggest his decision to play Lambert from the bench was in no way a statement of Lambert's ability but was a tactical decision based on the idea of keeping things tight in the first half and then letting him come out at full energy against a tired defence in the second half. It worked earlier in the season and Adkins obviously thought it was worth a go again. We can criticise him all we like for trying things, but as Albert Einstein once said, insanity is 'doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results'. I am pleased that Adkins is not content to just keep doing things the same way when things are not going right.

When we were 2-1 down today we were well on top from what I can work out reading match reports. Then Wham were given a questionable free kick followed by a clear push on Fonte in the area which resulted in the handball that gave them the penalty. Yet, BBC spent no time analysing the free kick awarded nor did they notice the blatant push on Fonte that led to the penalty. Was this bias from someone within the BBC or was it just poor quality analysis? The resulting goal was pivotal and changed the course of the game. If the referee had got either decision correct then WHam wouldn't have had the goal and who knows... maybe we would have got an equaliser? Surely the BBC should have picked up on this?

Judging by the Adkins interview for the BBC, this is the current phrase which Adkins is using to gee up the players: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19615244 (check out the interview). It seems to have worked today and sums it up perfectly! So... perhaps it's now no longer "We're all on the bus together" so much as "Together as one!" Bring it on!

4-1-1-2-2 formation with a front two instead of just one up front: ---------------Davis----------------- Clyne----Yoshida-----Hooiveld----Fox -------------Schneiderlin------------ --------------Davis/Cork------------- ---Ramirez------------------Lallana--- ---------Rodriguez--Lambert---------- Subs Gazza Fonte Cork/Davis JWP Mayuka Puncheon Richardson In this Schneiderlin acts as holding player and spreads passes out from the back, while Davis or Cork act as box-to-box players and link up play. Lallana and Ramirez have a free-ish role behind the forwards to roam and cut inside or get out wide as required. Rodriguez provides that extra bit of flair in and around the box and across the front line, while Rickie does his usual hard work all across the front and provides knock downs for others or gets on the end of crosses, etc. to score. We would use this to press forwards and keep Villa on the back foot keeping a high line, while ensuring that no runner is allowed the space and time to get behind the defence should Villa break forwards.

...we have been naive in our first four games and have paid the price... ...we have not signed the defensive cover that many of us expected... ...we put in a particularly poor performance against Arsenal... ...we were frustrated that our transfer dealings were not completed by the start of the season... ...we have been surprised, confused and disappointed by some of Nigel's selections and substitutions... ...our first team kit is NOT a Saints kit - the colours are wrong... BUT.... ...IT IS TIME TO END THE RUBBISH!!!!!! Despite all of the above... ...we are still only 1 point behind Reading, 2 points behind Liverpool and QPR and 3 points behind Sunderland and Norwich all of whom have had FAR easier fixtures than us to start the season. ...we are the ONLY team to have scored against Arsenal this season. ...we scored TWICE against both Man Utd and Man City. ...we have spent the seventh most on signing new players of any teams in Europe. ...we almost beat both Manchester clubs and were beating them. ...we have had huge support at all of our matches. ...several members of our squad were on international duty last week, beacuse we have some great players. ...our squad is young and inexperienced and will get better and better and better! ...Liverpool have Man Utd away in their next match and QPR have Spurs away, whereas we have Aston Villa at home. ...Norwich have got to play Newcastle, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal in their next four games, we have got Aston Villa, Everton, Fulham and West Ham - our fixtures are relatively much less difficult (though not being stupid enough to suggest that any of those games we have any right to win). ...Portsmouth are towards the bottom of League 1 even before they have had any points deducted. We are in the Prem! ...Ramirez, Yoshida and Mayuka will finally get a full week of training with the squad this week. ...Kelvin Davis WILL grow in confidence once he has got a few clean sheets and made a few great saves and realised that he CAN cut it in the top flight. ...we have scored in 3 out of 4 games we have played and we will score goals against most teams this season. ...We will have learned a lot from playing such quality teams to start with and can now start to apply those lessons in the games ahead. SO, let's get behind the team, the manager, the players and NC and stop all the moaning; and let's wait and see where we are at Christmas! We will not be bottom and may even be mid-table by then. If I'm wrong and we are bottom THEN you can moan all you like... IF you really think that is going to help!! This fact is undeniable - the players, manager and club need one thing more than anything. They need US to get behind them and give them our rapturous support, to cheer them on to victory. They do not need a bunch of grumbling, moaning, negative losers - just look where that got Blackburn and Bolton and Birmingham and Middlesbrough... I could go on!! So let's end the rubbish NOW!

I don't think it's jealousy - just anger at the mess he made of trying to keep our club in the Premiership and the money he wasted on poor quality signings, PLUS the public criticism he then aimed at the players when they needed encouragement in a potential relegation situation, PLUS the way he jumped ship back to P*mpey so quickly and then proceeded to criticise Saints. There were always very good reasons for the way people turned against him and they remain still.