whoateallthepies

Might be true but that's a shocker when you think about it.Less than a week to deadline day and we have no depth in the squad...oh dear.

This. But the worry is that with a few days of the transfer window remaining, can we get the required level of players in and in the right positions? I just hope that Cortese wasn't perusaded by the argument that Norwich and Swansea stayed up with largely the team that won them promotion. Ok, so it worked for them; but a big risk to assume that will happen again. On another angle; Adkins's seemed slow at substitutions today. Rodriguez was having a shocker wide on the left but waited until 75 minutes to change it. Steep learning curves all round I suspect.

Tonight's sporting headlines: Fashion designer with no knowledge of football receives brief from NC to design a new kit for the Saints. NC tells designer..."Remember, the most important thing is that we play in red; and white". Think about it...

Couldn't agree more...many factors in our success but he was so, so important in our darkest hour.

Anytime you feel sorry for them just take a drive through North End...ta ta ting ting ting ting ting ting ting...deliverance in the flesh.

Yes

We've had a great season, personally thought we would need 2 seasons to go up...but today was not good enough...too many of them were looking to others to sort it out...nobody taking responsibility. If we need 3 points against Coventry we might just cock it up. Still, only £90 million to throw away....SO SORT IT OUT!

Me too. Reading is gone. Three games left..treat it like a mini league...2 wins should do it...all we can do now is get behind the lads and sing them through. Bumped into de Ridder and Schneiderlin in town a few days before the Pompey game and got chatting...they seemed very relaxed and were really nice to my nine year old son...he asked them not to leave it to the last game...not sure he'll get his wish Can't wait till Tuesday...COYR.

"One Mrs. Wallace, there's only one Mrs. Wallace"

Best joke of the year so far!!!!!!!! Put that aside for the most ridiculous comment on the site awards 2011.

In answer to the title of this thread...it doesn't matter whether Adkins lives up to our expectations or not. The only person that counts in that respect is NC. I can only guess, but my best guess is that if we are not promoted at the end of the season, he will sack Adkins. Personally, I hope he gives him some money in January to liven the squad but who knows what his expectations, realistic or not, actually are. In answer to your second question, I wouldn't call it a 'masterstroke'; just another manager in a long line of managers who has been told to either keep us up or get us up. Best of luck to him of course.

When we set up the Saints Trust we were careful to make sure that we only ever claimed to speak on behalf of our membership; not supporters in general. We sought our members opinions and based our positions on that. Obviously we also had our own opinions too and we agreed to be interviewed by the Echo as long as they made it clear if they were seeking our opinion as individuals or as the Saints Trust, representing our members' opinions. That didn't stop keyboard activists slagging us off on a regular basis; but they were entitled to their opinion, no matter how ignorant of the facts or misguided. The Saints Trust has effectively ceased to be now and Nick should really do the decent thing and finish it off for good; will it come back in another guise? I hope so; and more successfully would be good. Even if it is just to annoy Stu in Romsey.

Could be loads of reasons; personally I think NC has lost interest...stated a while ago that he was only at Saints because he loved working with ML; well that's sadly no longer the case; you can always sound interested by trotting out a few well written press releases but I don't think his heart is in it any more. This is going to be a painful season for all. Best of luck to Adkins, you're going to need it.

I have no doubt that is the sentiment now...I simply don't accept it will necessarily pan out that way.

NC has stated in the past that MLs involvement was the only factor in his decision to come to Saints. If that is true then I don't see anything now to hold him and his family here. Personally, on that bais, I would expect him to leave as soon as a new owner is found. As for MLs family, why should they want to same things from life? They may have other ways in which they wish to continue MLs work and that may not include SFC. Maybe nothing will change and everything will carry on as before...but the reality is everything has changed and for me that means a very uncertain season ahead.

Someone please tell Pardew how to beat crap teams on crap pitches - soon.

I can add a few facts. I met with Andrew Cowan before he and Lowelife were first kicked out. Here are Cowan's responses to my questions: Could you have chosen to increase capacity? "Yes, the extra seating would add around 6,000 - 8,000 (that's my memory of the figure - it was a few years ago!!) Why haven't you done it on the basis that we often sell out? (we were still in the Prem at the time of our meeting) "It was just too expensive and we have higher priorities" What about the option for a train station? "We did explore this in the early days but the train companies wanted us to pay for it. We were never going to be able to afford that" Hopefully the new owners will be able to take a more expansive view when we get back to the Prem. Surely a deal can be struck with the rail companies. Personally I would tell the council that the ground is going to be expanded and the station is needed for H&S reasons to handle the larger crowds safely. With the amount of money the club would be bringing into the local community, they might just be able to twist a few arms. Here's hoping.

If our new owners don't know what being a Saints fan is all about...they f*****g do now!!! Get in!

My Dad and his mate Bob got to every game. Told a story about a Saints fan being stabbed up at Bradford? but never found out if that was true.

Played well = opinion We lost = fact We started 10 points from safety and 10 games in we are STILL 10 points from safety - fact Doesn't matter how much you keep improving, if you can't win you lose confidence and then you stop improving. We need to start winning...don't care if we play like muppets as long as we get 3 points.

AO is an idiot...it doesn't matter what he thinks.

That really depends on the other teams at the bottom...if they start picking up a few wins and we don't then we could end up 18+ points from safety...don't rate our chances if that happens. Getting back to the thread, my one expectation (and hope if there is any justice in the world) is that Oldknow will have proved himself a complete c**k by the end of the season and will be swiftly dealt with a la Everton.