Clifford Nelson

I didn't have a problem securing my season ticket seat, but I went in person. However, I am not pleased with the deterioration in attitude of the ticket office. A year ago they couldn't do enough for you, looked smart and put the customer first. Now it has become a motley crew with a miserable outlook, unshaven, untidy, chewing sandwiches whilst serving and addressing you in single-word gruff noices. Someting has happened and it needs to be reversed.

I think we had a poorish performance against a very defensive team, assisted by an extraordinary one-eyed referee. This wasn't the fault of a single player. I nevertheless want to make a comment. Puncheon's performance, after a positive appearance against Blackpool, was back to what we are used to seeing, i.e. no penetration, haphazard defending, woeful passing, and no cooperation with his own fullback. The best combination we have got on the left is Lallana/Harding, without doubt. Dickson, when playing with Adam is repeatedly turning inwards and looking for anybody else to pass the ball to, leaving AL on the leftwing without the ball. Puncheon cannot work with either fullback which renders the left wing ineffective. I wonder if it is difficulty/unwillingness to work with other people which is causing all his problems here. I just can't imagine that his success at Millwall comes from similar performances there. Whatever people think my mind is made up: He isn't going to contribute to promotion at SMS. Sell, sell, sell! I'd also like to offer a small defense for Oscar. He eventually started to look like he was getting involved, and then looked better. To have the game going on around you is an experience for nearly all players when they play their first few games. It's only after a while you can see what they will become, and it is far to early to write him off, although I agree that he might not become a world beater.

I imagine you mean that the Lallana role is in the hole? I have never agreed with that myself, and was gratified by the interview with Adam in the programme, where he makes clear that the left wing is his preferred position. I can't imagine you mean that you want to see Guly on the left wing? In the hole - absolutely!

The dictionary suggests somebody qualified to carry out a trade. "The professions" tend to mean law, accounting, medicine and the priesthood, which are therefore considered "professions" and not trades. Confusing indeed. In football it carries little or no meaning apart from 'serious application to the job in hand', which therefore suggests a comparison with those who 'hasn't got a professional attitude'. Altogether a lot of ballox.

And it shows, Dave. It seems like the enthusiasm has released the ability as well. This is really starting to look as the football which I enjoy to watch, and nice to see a break from 4-4-2. Clearly the change was designed to counter Blackpools preferred formation, but it also made us less predictable, and therefore our runners weren't picked up. I wonder for how much longer 4-4-2 will be our preferred formation when we don't have to consider the opposition.

I have kept asking myself if I've ever seen the team play better than it did yesterday, and I'm struggling to think of any occasion in a very long time. Taking into consideration the changes made it makes it even better. I was thoroughly entertained, and I loved to see us play football the way it should be played. The 4-3-1-2 formation which NA sent out was tailor made, not only for playing Blackpool, but also for providing a space for an offensive CM. Maybe this is where Lallana will eventually play, he did very well, or, which is my preference, Guly. From there he can keep the attacking part of the team served with balls and ideas. It was another way of keeping all our striking options involved. Puncheon looked more positive than I have ever seen him, but did I see him pass the ball to the opposition a few times? Yes. Did he present an end product repeatedly? No. The MOM in my opinion was without a doubt Schneiderlin. I thought he had a stormer.

His fall-out with Crosbie is well recorded, as is not taking lightly being pushed to the bench by a 17 year old. Adkins could force him to stay, but how motivated would he be? And if he won't step back from his argument with the assistant manager, which it didn't seem like he was prepared to, then he will be a disruptive factor, and he needs to go. NA is well aware of our shortage of RMs, apart from AOX, and I will be surprised if we don't remedy this before the month is up. Some players are like it. Their confidence can't cope with not always being in the team. I don't think NA has got a choice, really. I don't think his talents suits the flowing, quick passing football which we are now playing, especially since he is not very quick at passing, and mostly slows things down. That doesn't make him into a bad player, just a player who doesn't suit us.

Apart from th boat show, Saints' home games are the biggest events in the towns history, when 20-30000 people come from miles around to watch our club. Bus companies are licensed to provide a public service. To cancel all buses under circumstances like that is irresponsible and stupid and the responsible persons should hand their heads in shame. On the timetables it is printed that they run a sunday service on bank holidays. There is no mention that on some other days they run no service at all. I couldn't believe that this was possible in a civilized country. That I managed anyway is no reason not to be angry that the bus companies profits are more important than to provide a service. I am thinking about old people with few friends and family, and young women (I saw three of them waiting for non-existant buses) who were put at risk. Shame on those on this forum who are prepared to blame people who are reliant on public transport for what is really the total failure of business.

I don't know why so many are looking at has-beens and discards, thinking that they will be strengthening us. Saints are supposed to challenge for promotion to the PL next year at this time, so why should we believe that kind of lack of quality will get us there. If we look at our squad it lacks depth, since a large number of the players in it are unproven (goes for all the youth players) or not good enough (Forecast, Pulis, Wotton, etc.) I would be very disappointed if new signings haven't got at least CCC experience, or even better. Sometimes I think that the club is more ambitious than some of the fans.

You shouldn't measure the quality only on the amount of goals somebody scores. Guly had an all round better game against Huddersfield, then he actually had yesterday, although that wasn't bad either. As usual you will always find a good number of backslappers for a goal scorer, even though they usually don't notice any other part of the game.

The current offensive play is fast flowing with a constant movement of the ball. That is exactly what Puncheon couldn't do. Give him the ball and he will look for somebody to take on, which slows the game down and gives the opposition the opportunity to re-shape the defense and to be prepared. I looked at the game today and thought how badly he would fit in.

The only criticism I can think of today is Seaborne's irritating crossfield balls in the vein of "why six yards if sixty will do". Can't make my mind up between Lallana and Guly as MOTM. In the attacking third we looked unbeatable, but in the defending third we didn't look quite as solid as we might wish. Schneiders had one of his better games, I think, and confirmed that either him or Hammond, together with Chaplow, is a better choice than to play them together. Exeter wasn't a bad team, full of positive play and passing football, but they collapsed when we scored the third. Tisdale is doing wonders down there with his collection of leftovers from the rich men's tables.

I hope Guly has now done enough not only to convince the club, but also the fans, that he deserves a contract here. May I also be so bold as to hope that he won't be left on the bench most of the time. Two assists and two goals in two games must surely be convincing.

There were a number of posters who seriously questioned what was going on in pre-season before a ball was kicked in anger. When it finally happened it wasn't a great surprise for them. There was no hindsight involved in that. A considerate amount of posters also questioned Puncheon's value to the team already in the spring, and looking at his history thought that there were reasons to be suspicious about why he kept yo-yoing between league and non-league, and whether he was mentally tough enough for when it wasn't going for him and he was in for some critique. I think it stands to reason that those concerns about pre-season and about Puncheon both came home to roost. It is most surprising to read those who now suggest that everything was just great, Pardew should have stayed in post, and, I presume, Puncheon should have been preferred to AOX. The likes of Stalin re-wrote history, but that's not a good enough reason to follow him. History is there to learn from, not to change.

Thanks for pointing out the "third" assist for Lallana, Dave. I can't remember the last time somebody assisted for two goals and also for what should have been another certain one in one game and been called "rubbish" and other similar epithets. Apart from that he kept Lallana, AOX and Lambert working with the ball all through the afternoon and helped rescue them when they were in trouble. I had a very enjoyable afternoon watching that remarkable rubbish.

I wasn't too impressed when he first arrived, but not playing regularly he was not sharp enough for controlling and passing. He has got that behind him now and he has certainly won me over. For a CM pairing I prefer Hammond/Chaplow two any other combination. He brings something else to the table by being a genuine box to box player. I don't think we should get too excited about his goal scoring even though he is likely to put away one or two every so often. 2 1/2 year contract means that we don't only rate him for L1 but also for promotion from CCC to PL. Looks like a good signing to me.

Barnard and Guly are so different as players so that they shouldn't be compared at all. Who is better? That depends on what it is you want. Barnard is working very hard, full of endeavour, predominantly to get freekicks and penalties, but is also so "in your face" and aggressive towards the refs so that he hardly gets anything. He gets a fair amount of goals. He is a striker, full stop. Guly keeps himself always available and moved the ball around a lot and at speed to keep others on the move a lot, to try to create goalscoring chances. He probably won't score hatfuls for us, maybe 1 in 4 in the long run. He isn't a striker, but has played his career as a continental no 10, i.e. in the middle of the three in midfield, i.e. "in the hole", sometimes further back, but definitely in midfield. If we are to persevere with 4-4-2 we don't have room for a "no 10" and we need to re-school him. Please note that he is not a winger. I know who I want to watch, and also who I think is more valuable for the team, but others don't agree. I wouldn't think of calling either of them rubbish or worse for preferring the other.

It is quite amazing the criticism Guly is getting from not scoring after having gotten himself into goalscoring positions. I can't recall Lambert has gotten anything like the vitriol, although until today he has hardly gotten himself into any goal scoring positions. AND GULY ISN'T EVEN A STRIKER!!! I hope he gets a contract with us for the very reason that he has never had the opportunity to play the role that he should be playing for us, i.e. the one of the offensive midfielder. We have, I'm afraid, got form in this department. If he's not getting a contract, I wonder why on earth we took him here at all. Our problem with him is that he ought to be the off CM in a 4-3-3/4-5-1, and not in a 4-4-2. In spite of that he kept RL, AL and AOX fed with balls all through the afternoon. He is very quick on the uptake and the reading of the game and he plays to feet at speed. He also makes himself playable most of the time, so he gets to see a lot of the ball. The amount of work he put in to keep AL and AOX performing was extraordinary. If I am exaggerating slightly, that may be so, because I so enjoy seeing that kind of football being played compared to the huffing and puffing and playing for free kicks. I feel it gives us some class which we couldn't afford to buy if we wanted a british player doing the same thing. I wonder if there is one, actually. So, even if others may not appreciate him like I do, how on earth can he be condemned like he has been by so many here today?

I think I completely agree with that, although I thought the assist for AOX was my MOTM Mr Guly.

I considered Lallana and AOX, but didn't have Lambert in the running. He scored an excellent goal, and I hope that it will break the ice for the rest of the season but he wasn't dominant. My vote eventually went to the one who had a foot in the goals of AOX and Chaplow, and in much more, although he didn't score himself. The speed of the footballing brain of the man when he plays well is awesome. Guly for me.

I don't know about the excitement about L1 players who have never played higher or hasbeens who stopped producing the goods a long time ago. Whenever we are promoted we will be left with a large amount of players who are not going to take us further and won't command prices in the transfer market. I think both NC and NA are too shrewd to go down that road. Surely we must be looking further than promotion?! There are already a number of our players who will have outstayed their usefulness when in the CCC. I fear that all the talk about how good our squad is and how much it has cost in comparison with other L1 clubs may have lead us astray. Maybe even NC believes the propaganda, and doesn't think that there is much strengthening needed. I suspect that we already have seen this squad at it's best, and only some new blood will re-energize it. But then we need to look at players clearly better than we have already,which is going to cost a large sum however we look at it.

The CPS can be notoriously slow to make decisions even though the evidence hasn't changed. Eight months just to decide what to do next is one experience I've had. At that time it had become an embarassment, and since they didn't want to air it in court they decided to NFA. It sometimes depends on illness, overwork, more serious cases etc. etc. Nothing either sinister or hopeful should be read into the delay.

Fitness shouldn't be discussed as if it had a merit in itself. If you are the fittest person around, but using it for the wrong thing, it isn't much to hanker after. It is difficult to find anyone suggesting that AP and NA are promoting the same type of football. The problem in the early part of the season had nothing to do with whether the players were fit or unfit. They simply, after some ten minutes of magic, resorted to disjointed long balls to Rickie's, or even Connolly's (!!!) head, as the only idea of how to unlock the defense. I think that it was clear to many that we had been sussed. The old tactic from last season didn't work anymore, and we had no idea what to do in it's place. And let's not forget that this wasn't much of a surprise to many posters who had been discussing it over a good many months. Fitness didn't have anything to do with it. We were simply doing the wrong thing. The criticism about pre-season also wasn't about fitness, but about that we didn't seem to use it to practice teamwork, nor to keep building the habit of winning. All kinds of players were getting run-outs, maybe for fitness reasons, but hardly to practice the way the team ought to play, and the choices of friendly opposition and the way we approached the games led us to lose or draw them. Again a good many aired our alarm at what seemed to be a strange way of approaching the league start, but we were re-assured by those who claimed that AP knew what he was doing and it would all come right as soon as we kicked off for real. I think reality showed flaws in that theory. It might be that our fitness was suspect as well, but it wasn't the primary reason for our failures. There is a similarity with another argument which is often taken out for an airing, i.e. that a manager must be given time, preferably many years, before all the hard work comes to fruition. What that suggestion omits is the understanding that it doesn't matter how many years you give to an incompetent manager, see for instance our own Ian Branfoot. For the theory to be right you first need to appoint a good manager. The problem with that is that we don't agree on what a "good" manager is, and owners or directors of football clubs knows no better than most of us. The difference between me, you and them is that they have the power to do it, whilst we only have the power to cheer or criticise. Regardless of the fitness I prefer NA's football, which is more pleasing on the eye and allowes players to play. What I'm not yet sure about is what he is trying to build here apart from the passing of the ball. Are we to persever with the inflexible 4-4-2 for religious or patriotic reasons, or are we eventually to join the rest of the world and move on. Why are we always the last country in the world which scraps the outmoded systems. We did the same with 2-3-5 and WM, for those interested in our history. The reason the Hungarian's made mince meat of us in the 50's were that we thought we were invincible and that our system was unbeatable, in spite of the evidence staring us in the face. And when reality hit it took years to catch up. Aren't we at the same junction now if we remember the World Cup? And why do we think that L1 or CCC football works off different principles?

It is much easier to express yourself clearly when you are celebrating a win. I don't think Andy Scott said anything of exceptional clarity or depth. Adkins can ramble on a bit, which we knew from before we signed him, and he still does. Probably somebody who speaks whilst he thinks. Pardew expressed himself pretty clearly, but failed to convince me most of the time. Either I thought he had the wrong solutions; the wrong analysis; or both. The only thing that was really clear to me was the lack of depth in the thinking. I am happy to let Adkins ramble for a while, because the end result is not in the interviews. It is in what he has seen so far of Pardews old team, how he intend to change things in January; and what that will get us in the end of the season. To me it feels like he just arrived "in the building". He has turned around our fortunes if we compare with Pardews start of the season and the few games under Wilkins. The lack of motivation by the players in the Brentford game was poor, but also something which we are famed for every time it looks like a win may be really useful. It is the Saints bete noir which has followed us under every manager for years, and to be honest I haven't got a clue how to get rid of it.

It was one of those days when the whole team seemed to play at about 80% of capacity and having lost any creativity. As for any specific critique I am absolutely clear that Schneiderlin and Hammond are not to play together. Both are very much the same, although I prefer Hammond. When we're under pressure Morgan plays two or three times as many 60 yard passes to the wingers, which becomes very predictable, an yesterday, typically, it all came to nothing. I'd rather see Chaplow making it difficult in midfield for the opposition, which is a completely different role from Morgan. I maintain my doubt over Jaidi, who constantly looks lumbering. Without Fonte we don't look commanding at the back. Apart from that I think we need to decide what our best pairing of centrebacks is. History tells us that one solid pairing is the anchor for a successful team. If we look at the bench yesterday there is a major story about how lacking in depth our squad is. A couple of injuries (Chaplow and Barnard) and with Puncheon gone to Millwall, there is nothing left there which could change the game. This is no reflection on Gobern, who is a totally inexperienced youngster, or Martin, but a CB doesn't change the attacking side of the game. This is, indeed, the leftovers from the Pardew regime, less Puncheon and with Chaplow added. January can't come quick enough to lift the team that is there with two or three quality signings. Brentford was a decent side, but we lost to two poor mistakes, and most weeks we have been better than yesterday. I hope Adkins is clear about why we return to this loss of inspiration. This is much how we played under Wilkins, with the team unable to pull themself together. We can still gain a top two spot, but things needs to be done to underpin that ambition.