Clifford Nelson

In consequence of Guly being picked most of the time we must reasonably have an appalling manager! Who is this blind and befuddled idiot? He's only taken us through two consecutive promotions, so what does he know?! Adkins out!

The poor guy's only enemies are a bunch of fans who appear to appreciate sweat, toil and endeavour as the only yardstick for a footballer, apart from possibly love for the badge. If NA picks him it is because he is good enough for what it is NA wants him to do. It also appears that the players are appreciating him as an exceptional talent. Why is it so difficult to accept that? If Guly is rubbish, then so is NA for picking him, but I don't hear that being shouted by people in the stands. I hope we can sober up when it come to Guly and support him next season. That would help him repeating those performances when his talent has shone.

If Guthrie had been that good he had played first team football with Toon and everybody would have been happy. I wish we could be a little more ambitious rather than to get all excited about players who have been there and not quite made it. Somewhere else I see that Jack Butland wouldn't join Saints but go to a "big" club like Everton or Aston Villa! There is really no need to have such an inferiority complex. The ambitions of our chairman takes us to seek out young players with great potential for the long run to take us to much higher places in the PL than we so far have not even dreamt of. Lee Holmes in his farewell interview is talking about Champions League! Others who play or work for the club also talks about the surprising ambition which is pushing the club on. If we do what we've always done we will struggle year after year with avoiding relegation. NC should be well known by now by all of us not to do what this club has always done. The plans are different because he is looking to achieve something different. That doesn't include spending obscene amounts of money on established superstars, but to spot the future superstars and develop them in a club which has got access to all technology and new thinking not to leave any stone unturned. We will occasionally get our superstars, also the odd turkey and a number of also-rans, but it is the only intelligent way to progress. I kept on saying that the top 6 or 10 of L1 were no worse than most of the CC teams. We proved that. I now say that for an outstanding CC side they have nothing to fear from half of the teams in the PL. Norwich, Swansea, Villa, Everton, West Brom, Wigan, etc. Since they are the enemy I am starting to feel quite confident.

I totally agree, and I suggested the same after we were taken over, since we needed to get rid of a colossal amount of players who would never put on a first team jersey in anger. However, this was not the policy of the club, and a limited few found new clubs before their contracts ran out, saving us a bit of money compared with paying them off. He will see his contract out this year, and since his loan periods haven't been successful it looks that he will then have to look for a proper job.

He will be young, probably early 20s, with plenty of potential, ready to start pushing KD from day one, but bought with the plan to be a natural replacement one, probably before KD has stopped playing. Anything else will not meet the clubs ambition. I wouldn't be surprised if he is dutch or at least is playing in Holland. We can forget tried and tested keepers who never quite made it.

He is on a 5 year contact wwhich means another year to run, in my estimation. You can't release a player in the middle of a contract unless you buy him out, and that hasn't been the policy at SMS.

At 22 you should have established yourself in the first team wherever you play, to have been on the books doesn't really count. He has done nothing to convince me that the loan signing was a bit desperate and reflecting the possibility that Lallana might be out for awhile. Some people say that he did OK or well in the development team, but for the first team in a fairly full SMS he froze. Subbing him was a kindness.

I can't say that I get excited by interviews with NA, nor by information from the web site. It's all a bit sanitized and self congratulatory. But then it's also the job of NA to keep the team, and the fans, positive and not to dwell on the sometimes depressing aspects of a game. I was surprised to hear a journalist expressing the views of Temple on the air. To blame the interviewee for being boring?! That was a personal irritation he could have kept to himself, and I would be a bit surprised if he doesn't regret it.

Very few people get motivated by boots up the backside and baracking from the sidelines. I thought we already knew that Guly was motivated by encouragement. I'm quite sure that his less than fantastic performance lately is more related to the treatment he is receiving from those who ought to know better. Look yourself in the mirror and ask if you're proud of behaving in this way. I am somewhat encouraged to realise that I'm not alone, but hearing the bile from behind me in the Kingsland makes me cringe. It's 95% Guly, but on Saturday NA became "you black suited tw*t". I suppose that tells a lot about the judgements which are being exercised.

I have seen Guly play some of the most accomplished football I've ever seen at Saints, but it is now some time ago, and for some time he has been mediocre. I really think he is affected by the continous bile and the instant sighing every time he makes a mistake, like blaming him for the misdirected pass from Lambert on Saturday, which ultimately led to the first blue goal. If he has lost his confidence by now it only shows he is human. I am ashamed over the treatment he is being given at our club. No wonder he doesn't want to go out and meet the fans. On a happier note I'm delighted that we are on our way to the PL. A cracking result!

To me he looked fairly one-dimensional last year. Works hard, runs a lot, plays for freekicks and immediately irritates every referee who then will give him little or nothing. Playing with RL and with plenty of service in a very offensive team he scored a number of goals, for which we are all grateful. I'll be a bit surprised if he is still with us next season, but maybe NA sees something in him which I'm not.

£500.000 for a 32 year old on high salary demands who can't force himself into the first team in the PL? If that was to happen we would have changed what appears to be a clear recruitment policy of young and eager talent able to be part of a team. That wouldn't exclude some PL experience necessarily, but Upson is not it.

SDR and FR can't really play together since both see as their job to get to the bye line. With FR running from deep he tends to nullify SDR. To pair him with Butters clears that problem, and he got more ball to work with, but he needs to get a number of games under his belt before he can realise the potential he has got. But with FR coming back we're back to square one. It makes me wonder a bit why we bought an out and out winger into our system of attacking fullbacks. It is interesting to know that this isn't a new problem, but one which has haunted the game since 4-2-4 gave way to 4-4-2 and 4-3-3. Fans have been clamouring for wingers since 1966, when only winning the tournament forgave Ramsey for giving us the "wingless wonder". They make occasional appearances here and there, but with no acceleration space available any more they have been replaced mainly by attacking fullbacks. This isn't failure, but mainly a result of the development of the game.

It isn't a coincident that Richardson has provided 11 assists and Fox 10. It is the fullbacks who are providing the crosses in this team. It is therefore a bit silly to ask the wide men to do the same thing unless you put some restraint on the respective fullback. SDR's problems to shine may have something to do with that he has got constant competition on the wide right and that neither him nor FR considers themselves to be a provider. It didn't take long for Guly to find that out, and being a provider by inclination he is sending FR down the line. That, of course, means that he will play from deeper. To criticise him for it isn't very well informed.

I repeat: Has anybody actually seen this bloke play apart from his appearance at SMS? It is something about this loan which doesn't sit right for me and makes me worried. Is there a possible other deal in it if we're not going up, for instance? Like one of our players joining Spurs and we're keeping Falque? All my concerns about him is still there.

Having thought obsessively about Rupert Lowe for year after year this thread made me wonder when I gave him a thought last. That was a long time ago now, which gives me the idea that I have moved on. I don't think that "closure" is a collective experience but an individual one, which is based on how much blind belief we have in those considering themselves as our superiors. For me, being a naturally suspicious soul, who will question the motivation or our "elders and betters" at every turn, it took a while beyond the takeover. For Alps it clearly will take longer.

Apart from his game at SMS, who has actually seen him play before we arrived here? Did he set the world alight? Was he amazing? I keep sticking my neck out about this chap because I am very suspicious about 22 year olds who haven't managed to establish themself to play for any first team they have signed for.

In one respect you seem to make the same mistake as the club made when bringing Tommy Forecast here from Spurs. You could imagine that Spurs saw something in him as well, but you'll need a lot of imagination. Just like us they have had a lot of mediocre talent at times.

I made a careful comment about Billy's physique being rather more rotund than I expected last saturday. My season ticket neighbour expressed himself with rather more vigour. Then I remembered Lambert when he arrived and the amazing transformation he has gone through without losing his skills as a goal scorer. I think that Billy soon will be shedding a few pounds which will help him. Otherwise he is the first striker we've had for some time who is always seeking to get into the box rather than in other areas on the pitch, and I really like the look of that.

He seems to be affected a great deal by "form", whatever that elusive quality really is. He arrived here looking superb and then deteriorated to very average in the spring last year. He came back last autumn on great form, reminding us what we liked about him. He is now back from injury and had a bit of a stinker, admittedly not alone, against Millwall, where I thought he didn't win a single challenge. NA will figure out what it is that motivates him to play so well, but only at times.

I've seen 50 minutes of him play, and that was very poor. He is 22 years old and has never played regularly for any team apart from a year in Spains 2nd division. If he had all that fantastic talent I hear about I would have thought he'd be playing regularly somewhere by now. When we signed him there was a long thread running where the majority were enthusiastic about him and a few, like me, thinking it was an odd signing. After his first appearance for us I commented: Optimists 0 Pessimists 1. I reckon that's where it stands at the moment. Did he set the world alight in the U 21s?

And for me.

The question is Scheiderlin or Hammond, and Cork or Chaplow. I'm surprised from the comments that Chaplow isn't mentioned, because he shouldn't be thought of as an RM. My first choice is Hammond and my second is a form based choice of Cork or Chaplow. Those two should not play together, and neither should Schneiderlin and Hammond.

I hope that has answered the question about ambition and money. Nice to know that we eventually signed the striker who was our no 1 target in the summer. Welcome to the club!

That takes care of the behaviour side of things, which is a good thing. That's half the story. I still remember a player who seldom passed the ball and who endlessly ran into trouble. If that can change as well I will be enthusiastic to see him back. I suppose he will turn out at Millwall. That, in turn, suggests that SDR is nowhere near to a regular game. Has he upset anybody?