Minty

I agree to a point, it sometimes looks like naivety, but I wonder if it's actually single-mindedness? He has faith in his tactical ability (there can be no doubt he has won us quite a few games with his tactical changes too) and so sometimes doesn't want to change something which he believes will come good. Fine lines of course, he is far from perfect and improving all the time... but at least he is improving, and I think the club as a whole can only benefit from keeping the faith with him. Personally I've always backed him 100%, have said I will do so all season no matter what, and stand by that.

At least we appreciate this, I do feel some people try to labour the points too much!

This debate is also difficult when we don't know what our budget was/is... some are talking as though we have little or no more money to spend, but the club obviously were happy to spend that amount on him and were still chasing other players (according to Adkins at the time). I do accept that we could have bought other players for similar money who would've had more impact than Rodriguez... Michu currently looks to be the best value signing of the summer IMO, and I would've loved to have got him. But as things are, with the formations we've played and other players in form, I think it's a touch harsh to be too critical of the Rodriguez signing.

The way I see it is that over time, players contribute to the clubs success... so perhaps my wording was wrong, but just because Rodriguez has not yet done so, does not mean he won't. Clearly Lambert has done so, but it *could* be the case that over the next few years, we start to play him too much and he starts to lose his way and cost us points... unlikely I know, but technically possible. But he has obviously contributed a huge amount to our progress since his arrival. I would also add that the club are clearly very forward thinking... they had a 5-year plan to get into the Prem and I have no doubt that Rodriguez signing was made with the next 5 years in mind, not just the current season. I think they are looking at a longer-term replacement for Lambert and felt the investment NOW, will be returned in the future. We shall see. I have faith in him.

Well, I think that brings us back to the same points made when the transfer window was open: Why does buying Rodriguez mean we didn't buy someone else? How did one transfer prevent another? How do we know it was one or the other? We simply don't know. It's pure conjecture. All we can do is discuss the relative merits of those who were bought, and I for one think Rodriguez has potential and look forward to seeing him play more and grow. Some can't see the potential, some wanted someone who would make an instant impact, each to their own.

They're being kept out of the team by players in form. That's a great 'problem' to have in my book.

It's only worrying if we have no more money to spend, and/or don't think that these players can step up and continue to improve (as pretty much the whole squad has since the season started, evidenced by the results). But my point still remains IMO... the price tag, and the current ability should not be intrinsically linked. You can only judge a price tag once a player LEAVES a club, and can objectively look back at what they contributed whilst at the club. It is far too early to be making judgements on Rodriguez IMO.

I see. I that case, like the Trust, I am also confident that they are not far away now from the outcome that the majority of people think is best: That they will be liquidated, and will have to start a phoenix club at an appropriate level.

Does Clyne look like a £1m player? Does Lambert for that matter? I think we need to rise above using price tags as some kind of yardstick of current ability. For me it's simply that Rodriguez has a lot of potential, is *starting* to show some of that, even playing in the Premiership for the first time, but has quite some way to go. His movement is good, his touch and sharpness needs some work (but so did most of our players coming in to this season, and was a key reason for our poor early form), his finishing looks ok to me but he needs a goal or two to get the confidence up IMO. But he's a work in progress, and I fully back him to deliver on that potential under Adkins (and Lambert's) tutelage. The price tag is not his fault and he shouldn't be burdened with it, but I think he'll repay our faith in time.

You're close, probably more like:

So, any idea how many total pledges of £1000 have come in so far? I can't see a nice big totalizer on the PST site, announcing to their world their successful campaign, which I was expecting to see given how they are the bestest...

I think btf simply means a school should not be based on ONE religion, and agrees with you that education should include awareness of ALL religions for the reasons you state.

More goals would be nice but I *really* want a clean sheet...

His Facebook is simply:

Although I'm not doing GSR, I did my first ever 10 miles in training last week, in 1h 25m, which seems decent enough considering I'd never run that far before!

Not sure how... as I said above, in ANY system, the crux of the matter is you still have attacking players trying to attack the ball, defensive players trying to beat them to it, and a goalkeeper who should try to catch the ball if it is feasible to do so... how does the system affect that?

Doesn't matter what the system is, this is ultimately the crux of it. Once the ball is in play, just get to the ball first. That does obviously require some judgement of the path of the ball, not just kamikaze rushing towards it wherever it goes, but as Nigel Adkins has said many times, football is a simple game, and this need not be an exception. With regard to Benteke's free header in the second half last Saturday, although Adam was moving towards him and trying to (feebily) block his run, it is Yoshida who makes the run out from the 6-yard box to attack the ball, as you would expect one of the 'big 4' to do, but gets underneath the ball.

Any doubts about whether he was worthy to fill the number 7 shirt have been utterly dismissed over the last few years. That says it all.

Hope you don't mind but I'm gonna join in on this... I'm not doing GSR, but am currently building up my training for a 10k at some point and then probably go GSR next year. Currently got a 10k PB of about 47.30, which considering I only started running properly in June this year, I'm happy with. Plus, I'm only using Endomondo on my Android phone, and it usually cuts some distance off where it briefly loses GPS signal, or I do tight corners, so it could well be quicker. I'm upping my distance gradually for my long runs (did 14k on Friday evening), and about to start doing more tempo and speed work (been using the Bupa training plans for guidance: http://www.bupa.co.uk/running/training/training-programmes/). Next thing is to get my feet checked out as per Colin's advice above, and see what I can get my 10k time down to.

This. Just cos Gary Neville points it out on Sky, doesn't mean the coaching staff don't see it. Chances are, Adkins and his team had looked at it all Saturday evening or Sunday morning whilst preparing the players' debrief session for the game.

Fully agree with The Kraken, which is why, this post apart, I personally don't see the point in adding to any threads that cast any kind of doubt on his tenure. I know the vast majority of people are discussing it only because they wonder what Cortese is thinking, but I think the more we discuss it, the more credence it gives his potential removal and I just think that would be utterly ridiculous. If we are truly building something for the future, then lets just do that, and not add to speculation after just 4 games, or indeed after ANY run of results, good or bad.

Ugh, well it was...

http://www.thefirstrow.eu/watch/140766/9/watch-arsenal-vs-southampton-fc.html is working for me...

They're introducing a new smart card system to replace the tokens. All the info is here: http://www.southampton.gov.uk/s-environment/roadsandparking/itchenbridge/itchen-bridge-automation.aspx

The only restaurants I know of that cater for Vegan's in Southampton are Nemaste Kerala and Indian Melody, both Indians. There are other places but they're mainly cafes (like Art House). Bengal Sage and Bangkok Brasserie in Winchester (part of the same group) also cater for Vegan I believe (certainly have a good range of vegetarian food), and are excellent. Nothing that I would say was really 'top' quality though.