Minty

I'm struggling to justify any of it... and I don't mean 'make excuses' for them, but come up with any reasons as to why we have been so poor so far? Is it our pre-season preparation, poor leadership/captaincy, individuals (most of them!) simply not playing to their standard...? I've seen some poor starts over the years but this one (especially the manner of it) already makes it feel like the worst as long as I can remember...!

Illustrious? Ha.

Poking a bit of fun is fine of course... I can just see it going further than that given some of the 'rivalries' on here!!

Wow, that IS pedantic. lol

I don't think ripping apart peoples posts from 8 months ago is really going to contribute anything. We've all spouted ******** at one time or another... let's just be happy at the outcome.

Saints' media liaison officer.

Puncheon going was a very good thing... perhaps not a defining moment, but it just went to show that no one was bigger than the squad (not just the team) that Adkins was creating. How often have any of us known that someone has been a disruptive influence in the workplace, but management have done nothing about it... and how does that make us feel? Well done on that one Nigel.

Wow, that was one hell of a post by Charlie... I'm not one to take any pleasure from it, I think I just feel a bit sorry for him really. The combination of negativity and arrogance that he is right and can't possibly be wrong about Adkins... that takes some doing.

I agree to an extent. We learnt more from the defeats, and used them to focus on what was required.

I'm not saying the budget and resources are unimportant or insignificant... clearly they are. However, to simplify things, if we take the two key things discussed here, namely a 'big budget squad' and an effective manager, which is more essential to success? I would say the latter. We have all seen supposedly poorer squads 'overachieve' (look at Brighton and Bournemouth this season) because of the way the manager has knitted them together and got them playing, but we rarely see 'big budget squads' achieve anything with a poor manager.

Some interesting posts above, and with respect, I am glad that some of you aren't a football manager! As has been shown in football many, many times, having the players and resources is one thing, but if you are unable to knit them together, motivate the team, pull them through the tough times, and maintain momentum through the good, deal with challenging individuals, work with the chairman, etc, etc, then that means nothing. I really do think too many people underestimate what is required. As of now, Adkins deserves praise for his achievement, end of story. His future challenges and achievements are for another discussion. He has done an excellent job in a tough league, in the face of a lot of pressure from fans. He has only been in the job since 12th September, less than EIGHT months, and has got us promoted despite this being one of the toughest promotion battles for many years. I have no problem at all that people like OldNick had doubts about Adkins when he first arrived... that's entirely natural. But the very fact that Adkins is so at ease with managing individuals and working with the team to create a positive environment is what gave me confidence early on. Having good players means nothing if they won't work with you or each other, and Adkins has brought a real positive vibe to the place, and I am confident that that can be carried into next season too and see us finish at LEAST top half, and I would suggest, probably play offs. But that's next season. As of now, Adkins deserves appropriate praise for delivering promotion and bringing such a positive culture to the club IMO.

With the greatest of respect to Jordan Sibley... sometimes his opinion of what a 'big' announcement is, does not match the fans'! Still, we shall see. I am intrigued by Claus' twitter comment though.

Sorry, just find it such a subjective thing, and what does it actually mean? As The9 alludes to, once there is agreement about how to judge it, i'd be happy to join in, but it tends to just be the kind of thing fans make up and argue about when their team hasn't actually won or achieved anything for years.

Who cares who is 'bigger' than who? Apologies Roger but I just don't see the point... all that matters is what happens on the pitch, and so right now, Brighton and the whole Championship and Premier League are 'bigger' than us.

I think you're spot on. I have more confidence in this set of players achieving this target than at any point in my time following Saints. Adkins has got them set up just right IMO. Mentally, we are right on the money.

Clearly precautionary because had Hudds lost, lets be honest, some of our fans if not a lot of them, would've been heading for the pitch...

Nope, that's spot on. One win now would realistically do it.

Forget Brighton and Hudds... we've shown today that we're getting better as the season reaches its clmax... perfect timing. Brentford may have had nothing to play for but we went there and did a very good job. Plymouth can still mathematically stay up, but they have to win both games and rely on others to not get any points. They'll be up for it but I am confident we have more than enough to do it. Win Monday, and it's ours. That's all that matters now. We can and will do it.

Needed a third option... 'We did our bit but trust Brighton...'

Not surprised at all by Hudds' result... but we are clearly good enough to make second our own without help from anyone else. Be confident Saints fans... we will do it ourselves.

The thread is now becoming funnier than the video. Irrespective of other accusations, one thing most people seem to have in common is that they just can't help replying one more time, to make one more little point or to try and get a snide comment in. What actually is the point of most of the conversation on this thread now? And yes, I know could ignore it, but I'm genuinely interested because I struggle to understand what motivation some of you have for seeking to constantly wind others up and/or having a go at each other. A bit sad surely...? In my eyes, this thread started as a bit of puerile fun. If you liked it, great, if not, so be it... and yet here we are with all sorts of crap!

270/3 now and the captain leading the way with 6 no balls and an economy of 5.66 ... great example!

Deja vu... Mods, please change the title of this thread to 'Is this a joke?'.

Stephens is exactly the kind of player who I think can grow with the club and become a valuable player. Coming into centre mid, as The9 says, is not easy, especially when you're in a crucial part of the season and expectation is all around. The team and manager have not any quality time to work together at all, everything has been achieved whilst also assessing the needs of the next game and dealing with injuries and suspensions, and usually with midweek games to complicate things too. Over the close season I think we'll see Adkins work hard with the team and formation, and players like Stephens will start to make more of an impact. Given his age, he is exactly the kind of player we should be keeping IMO, and with respect, I believe that too many fans still look at players in black and white terms. Martin is another who we absolutely must keep IMO. If developed correctly, they will become key squad members. It is difficult to know exactly how much better they can get, but they have a lot of potential and for players at this age it is the potential that is key, not whether they give perfect commanding performances week in week out already.

IF Brighton were contemplating throwing the game (and that is still a big IF), then they would be liable for a charge from the FA for bringing the game into disrepute. Now, we are not stupid and know they probably could do it if they wanted to, without it looking like they've thrown the game, but the players and staff of Brighton would throw away any semblance of integrity and professionalism if they were to even contemplate doing that. If a team is good enough, they should prove it on the pitch, and be prepared to prove it against others on the pitch. As much as they might not like us, to give any kind of advantage to another side would be as bad as any match fixing charge IMO.