Clifford Nelson

OK, so we have dominated the odd game. But the haphazard way we have sometimes done so, and most of the time haven't, especially off late, suggest to me a flaw which goes beyond just picking the right players. The best teams have got an "identity", as AP once said, but he seems to be looking for it, rather than imposing it.

I don't think it is the end of the world to play L1 one more year, but what is concerning is our inability to dominate games. It wouldn't guarantee wins, but asserting ourselves on the pitch makes it easier. The team had the confidence to do that a while back, but has lost it again. As I view the games I'm not sure what they have been sent out there to do, or maybe more to the point 'how' to do it. As a result we are repeatedly playing at the level of the opposition, or worse, we are being dominated by teams without our individual quality, but they are doing what they are doing since years back. Shouting, or in other ways trying to inspire the individual players, will not improve this. What is needed is a certainty from management of how we are to play football. To change formation in the middle of games doesn't help to convince the players that we are doing the right things. Lack of confidence has crept in amongst the players; we can see it on the way the team plays; and so we lose our confidence as well. Changing AP is not necessarily going to change that, but there is a risk that NC thinks in those terms, since he has got management background, rather than a football one. Ask yourself why the best managers always assert a way of playing the game.

Like you say, it's up to management. But management has already shown not to have any conviction of how this team should play football. And if AP isn't too sure, how could we expect any confidence from the players? The 11 who are sent out to do battle needs to be certain about how that battle is to be fought, i.e. they need a shape to play within to become a 'team' and not just 11 individuals.

I'm also concerned about only changing manager and hoping for the best, but it's more than just selecting the best 11. You select players to do something specific as a team. Current problem is that AP doesn't know what that "something" is, so we end up playing poor football and fail to assert ourselved. Just changing AP for another manager who equally doesn't know what it is he is trying to create won't help at all.

That looks like an intelligent analysis, not only because I agree with it.

I don't believe for a second that success comes from trying shuffling the players around until you find your best 11, which is bandied about here. AP hasn't got a conviction about what type of football he wants to play, and another three months isn't going to change that. I sincerely hope that before we shuffle AP out of and XX into the managerial chair, NC makes reality of the prospective sporting director to make some decisions about what football this club is to play, and then appoint a manager who fits that bill. If not we are continously taking pot luck at the future like we have done for years. This is not a decision that can be taken by the temporary manager (they are all temporary).

At this level of football and with the players we've got I would expect us to dominate the game, but we're not. I would also have expected that since we keep on losing the lead, we would have figured out why, but we have not. I would also expect that the manager had some conviction about his tactics, but he has not. His changes of formations and player positions in the midst of games seem to bewilder the players. With our new scouting network we should be very clear about how we should approach every team. We won't always win, but we should set the pace and rhytm of the game, but we do not. (Smaller niggle is that Waigo grabbed hold of the game against Stockport, playing alongside Lambert, so why was he wide right today? Another one that Puncheon has made a name as a pacy left winger, so what was he doing in the middle? Has AP now decided that Lallana is our most talented left winger, after having tried to play him repeatedly in the middle?) We have now managed to play wonderful attacking, passing football, and we have also huffed and puffed, played head tennis, and knocked it long for Lambert. We seems to have settled on the latter method in spite of it's obvious shortcomings in bringing us down to the level of the opposition. Why? Something is not right with what is going on at the moment, but I'm not sure that returning to the managerial merry-go-round is the answer, at least not at this point. This club needs some tactical re-think about what kind of football we should be playing, which is desperately missing. This is why I rather see a technically gifted Director to instil some fundamental spine to what this club is about football wise, regardless whatever manager is appointed to do the job. That person is not at the club yet. It is not NC, who has never claimed to understand football on that level, nor is it AP, who increasingly looks like he needs some stearing. As he once said about the arrangement: Managers comes and goes, but the club remains.

Good question. I was merely trying to capture what they might have been thinking. Something which extists in the provinces, meaning anything outside London, really, or maybe we should include Manchester and Liverpool...Do I give a...Not really. Small club I suppose it means, but outside the top five how small are we?

The amount of players who seems to have gone backwards after leaving us is endless, although there are, of course, two kinds: Those who thought that they were a big fish in a tiny provincial club, and then found that their appraisal of themselves was grossly exaggerated, and those who needed to find their own level, and then played for several years happily for Swansea, for example. It's much harder to think of those who left and made a great success of it.

That's it. This is the squad we will support unto the end of the season. There are one or two who have some proving themselves to do. Otsemobor showed a couple of nice footballing touches going forward against Stockport, but nothing of the presence I would expect from a defender, which explains him not playing at a higher level. If he can find the motivation from somewhere, then maybe. Seabourn looked OK, but hardly more. He has got some growing to do before he can claim that CB space for himself every week. Fonte looks the business, and about Puncheon I haven't got an opinion yet. Then it's a matter of all the players who are still here, but will never play for us. Lancashire gone for the end of the season, as I think, are Thomson and Poke. But all the rest of them are still here, as I forecast. Is it not the time now to pay up their contracts and retain a squad with only players who are competing for a place and those youngsters we firmly believe in?

Waigo showed today what he can do playing up front. Barnard produced another question mark and looked decidedly lightweight. Strange for somebody with 17 goals behind him. If we carry on this 4-4-2 than we ought to look for two out of the three Lambert, Waigo and Barnard, assuming that we will get little out of Connolly. That way we can play Antonio without necessarily benching what is a player of genuine class. 8 goals from his so far limited appearances is a bit of a sensation.

When we play like the opposition we are likely to be brought down to their level. Today was another example. Bringing Waigo on turned the game, even though I don't know what he did to energize Holmes and Schneiderlin to make them look really good. Class player he is and he created three good chances when earlier we collectively couldn't create any. Wotton did his best as usual, however we categorize his best. Let's get off his back. AP picks him and is responsible for not replacing him with a younger and better version, but who's just signed a left winger instead. Who would have done the job better today? Gillett? Must also own up that I enjoyed Antonio's antics today. If he could learn to cross the ball it would be even better. Any chance we may see more of one of our most talented players from now on? I fear that Waigo will be back on the bench next week. In spite of everything he has now scored 8, which is not back for somebody who hardly ever plays.

I found it highly interesting how we arrived here tactically from the early days of 2-3-5. It's also interesting how we, at so many stages of development internationally, have doggedly been holding on to whatever we had at the time, thinking it was the "correct" way to play football. An up to date echo of that is Merrington's beliefs on Solent, which he clearly shares with many others both professionals and fans. What brings progress is the opportunity to counter the oppositions attacking system and upsetting their ways of defending. This is where I'm struggling with the thought of hanging on to a straight forward 4-4-2. All opposition knows how to play it and how to defend against it, and even though we often have the better players we are brought down to the oppositions level of game, and then struggle either to score or to hang on to a lead. I am not sure that AP is a tactical master, even though he appears to be a good motivator with a usually good nous for players to recruit. When it comes to tactics he hasn't, at least yet, designed a way to play which caters to our strengths and upsets the opposition. That's where Puncheon comes in: Was signing a left winger the priority ahead of getting hold of a playmaking replacement for Wotton?

I don't object to a quick leftsided player, but I was convinced that we were looking for a CM anchor/playmaker, as we were only looking for one more. More importantly though is to stop are hoofing tendencies and have the bottle to play football also in midfield.

I'm mostly thinking about what purpose he is bought for. He appears mainly a winger, so it doesn't seem to be as a CM specialist, which I thought that we were desperate for, mainly as a replacement for Wotton. Antonio, Waigo, Holmes, Mills (possibly), and Lallana - there appears to be a few wide players around, but the shortcomings have been to grab hold of the middle of the park. All this is of course an academic exercise if we keep on bypassing the midfield with aimless headers, clearances, and KD aiming for Ricky's head. We will probably only control midfield if we are confident that we can retain possession there, and if we are not trying we are not likely to succeed. A bit of a surprising signing, but he must be part of some plan AP is working to. Can't quite figure out which one, though.

I couldn't agree more.

I'm even prepared for him to try something else altogether, even though I'm not sure what it would be. But the midfield must be made to play and not being bypassed in this simple huff and puff, clear and hope and "hit it long for Ricky" style. It needs some kind of diamond formation to secure it and a clarity about how it is supposed to operate. Then, after the first defensive header we need to gain control, and not head it another three or four times without purpose before we clear it long again. A straight forward 4-4-2 is not the way forward.

The Echo might well not be a great paper, but it is the only one we have in our area. It appears to be owned by an american company? That is a problem we have as a nation which will hardly be helped by an andry boycott by the Echo. (Remember Cadburys?) Local charities also needs publicity, and they rely on the Echo amongst other media. Banning journalists from the SMS building on a non-footballing event is going way over the top. The OS and the Forum reaches a limited number of diehard fans, no more. The rest are reached by BBC South and Radio Solent, and the Echo, which also publishes the Pink. The cavalier attitude to press freedom here I find quite breath taking. This is a country which has fought for freedom, let's stick to that proud history. It didn't come with conditions that it had to suit various businessmen. NC and the Echo needs to sit down and start again, this will just not do.

I don't quite understand the dislike of the Echo, which is the only local paper we've got. They seemed to have upset NC by publishing material already in the public domain, and have then been banned from SMS when used by other organisations for non-football matters. Saints needs a local paper and the paper needs Saints. The two parties should sit down and talk to each other, but it's not quite as simple as just having a go at the Echo. How can a newspaper possibly agree not to write about what is already in the public domain?!

AP has shown to be a good motivator and his signings have generally done well - although I'm not one of Antonio's greatest fans and I wonder about Seaborne, but it's early days - so is the lacking nous tactical? Let me quickly add that I don't mean that simply as choice of formation.

Every team in this english football knows how to defend against a 4-4-2 system. They do it every week and have done for years. We really need to be a bit smarter and trust the quality of the players we have. They have shown already that they can handle a 4-5-1 formation with cultured passing football, possession, and the chaos it causes for defenses to see a number of midfielders coming running against them. It seems to me that AP believed that there is something inherently "correct" in 4-4-2 and that other systems are aberrations. I don't know what you'll do with Barnard or Connelly in a 4-5-1, but I do know that I favour a system which helps us win and if it ends up being entertaining, that much the better. If not 4-5-1, then it's time to be really creative, not to go down to the level of our opposion and therefore making it easy for them.

What kind of question is that? Solent has broadcast every Saints game for as long as I can remember!

Why do you have that feeling? How many old players can you think of that are coming back and making a success of it. He's already failed quite spectacularly once, and since one of the Nelsons once played on the same team I can see why. I'd rather have somebody new who will fit into what AP wants to do. A defensive playmaker to do Wotton's job but better would be my thought.

He offered me a cup of tea once at Staplewood. Really nice guy, but sadly a victim of the Reep/Hughes era. He believed they knew what they were talking about and he was wrong.

Wotton and Perry are two experienced older pros with a lot to teach the youngsters. The comparison ends there. Wotton appears to be the only one who seems suited at playing the defensive CM in a 4-5-1 formation. That doesn't make him technically gifted, but his reading of the game isn't bad, and he works hard at it. I'd like AP to find a younger defensive CM to replace him in the longer perspective, but if he was so awful as you describe it sounds like we're playing with 10 men rather than 11. I don't think we would have done as well as we have done if we played at that disadvantage.