alpine_saint

I was talking about over the course of the season.

The only one of our individual signings I have criticised is Ramirez. When I describe our activity as "poor", I am talking about the balance and the addressing of existing issues. We should be damned grateful that Shaw has worked out as well as he has; that was a difficult one to predict; without him, we'd most likely be down already. If the existing issues (which were painfully apparent during the Reading home game last season when we surrended the title with barely a squeak) were addressed, we would have made even more progress.

No, not really. For example, there is the argument that Lallana doesnt do enough to support/protect Fox. But generally speaking, the front line do their job.

Whatever abusive picture it is you are trying to show, it is blocked by my company filter so I am sorry to tell you that it hasnt had the desired effect..

Oh, I am quite used to having my predictions thrown back in my face, whether they were deserved or not. And of course, there is always some creative accounting/misrepresentation when said throwing occurs. Its quite alright though MLG, it just makes me smile and pity the thrower, since I have better things to do with my life than track the veractiy of other contributors past predictions. I am perfectly happy, but perhaps a little nervous.

Nope. I expect Sunderland to beat us and pull away anyway, so better that Villa have fewer points.

I said probably not. Have you got a major malfunction ???

Survival first. We should be looking for a Sunderland win.

8th, yes, most likely. However, if we were top 5 and failure to address an issue in the transfer market caused us to drop, I would reserve my right to criticise still. 12th, probably not. The club are aiming for Champions League, btw.

Jesus, what drivel. At the beginning of the season we didnt do enough to reinforce the defence. The events of the season have gone far beyond proving that. Our attack has shown themselves to be up to the task, taking the lead in many games only to see the defence throw it away. The amount of points lost from leading positions tells a very important story. So, we are on the verge of survival which is satisfying. But if we had made more effort with the defence at the beginning of the season, maybe the talk of Euro football qualification next season would have more of a realistic edge. Certainly we would have been near to top 8. So, a couple of positions werent addressed correctly, hence the uncertainty to the end of this season and the slightly dreamy tone to the discussions for the target for next season, because we dont know how well the transfer activity will progress over the summer. I never expected Euro football qualification this season (I think fair play qualification would have been too soon for us as well), but looking at how the season has progressed, it seems to me that more could have been achieved. I can be satisifed as well as critique what happened at the same time, cant I ? Why must I be happy-clappy and say "survival great, nothing else matters" ? Because if lessons arent learned from this season, there is a risk of struggle next season.

I actually think all of our remaining fixtures will be a big problem for us. And I've explained why. If you assume getting the same results as the opposing fixture, we will get 1 more point. For me that is marginal. And if the last game of the season gets here and there is still a risk of us or Stoke going down, I see them taking the points. because they are simply better set up to mug a game than we are to take control of it. The WBA result has been coming because the team already think they are safe and have stopped scoring.

You are totally neglecting the transfer activity of other clubs in your "equation", imo. Why do you think they will stand still ?

I was under the impression that the Mali group doesnt exist much beyond paper work since MLs death.

Are there any major companies in the area around Soton any more ?

Imo, similar trasnfer strategy this summer will lead to relegation. I am sure you can work out my satisfaction level from that result.

I'll conceed that the threat this season is now low (though still present). For me, the risk next season is very high, when you consider our transfer track record and trying to approximately extrapolate some transfer behaviour of other clubs.

If you also see them as the teams around us, why did you ask me, FFS ? I referred to Glasgows post several times where he listed them. Seems I studied English harder than you did...

Yes, but its only natural to think "what if". If we stay up, I am satisifed. But thought needs to turn to how we will stay there, of course.

Hopefully, but for me thats the bare minimum required.

If we can have hindsight about position, can we have hindsight about the number of points dropped ? I would have looked at the amount of points dropped from taking the lead, and how they were dropped and say we could have been top 8 if we had paid better attention to the defence. I really dont know why some of you get so uppity about my comments each summer; we persistently pay insufficient attention to the defence.

Yep, I do think the result has been coming. The positive side of me hopes that it will provide the kick in the pants we need. As a few people have said, we looked like the team on the beach. "Bad day at the office" is utter b*ll*cks. And if you dont think the teams you listed arent the teams around us, its obviously been too long since you looked at the table.

I do wonder if MP is doing a particularly good job of keeping the players feet on the ground, especially after this weeks comments. On the other hand, at least he can find a win after an international break. And against superior opposition.

Yep, everything is wonderful, 'cos we arent currently relegated (I notice the juidicious use of "currently" - not that confident yet, are you ?)

Where did I say we should buy "Journeymen" ? And for me, your list doesnt look that different from min, just perhaps a little less black-and-white.

Hillarious. Really, you are wasted, you should be in Variety. Ramirez wont even be here at the end of the summer, imo.