Itchen_block4

Silly question, but I do think playing together regularly could give us quite a bit of an advantage. The media wouldn't give a **** either, so that's another advantage. I think we'd be good enough to qualify from the groups and knockout football is anyone's game, although I'd expect us to be cut up by a team with quality in midfield. We'll get that in the PL though and we'll need to find a way of dealing with it.

From what I've been told when I've enquried, there is a vehicle with a lift, but it's not equipped for the user to remain in the wheelchair when the coach is moving. It's pretty useless for someone who is wheelchair-bound.

This doesn't happen. In the Chapel stand, to get to the concourse from the raised balcony, you have to go through a one-way door and be let back in by a steward. From my place int the itchen balcony, I'm not sure where direct access to the concourse is. The last 2 pitch invasions involved going outside the stadium and re-entering through one of the main exits. Still, the prices in the concourse are expensive, the food is average and the queues are long, so we don't miss much. One thing they don't do that would be very useful would be wheelchair adapted vehicles with the travel club. Distance train travel is very expensive and not all stations are accessible.

As a wheelchair bound supporter myself, I'll give my insight. I go to games with a mate. He helps me to get to my space. We buy our ticket at a concession price. The enabler may be free, but we split the cost to keep things fair. If he couldn't go, I could go with someone else and not pay any extra. If I couldn't go, he would have to pay a top up fee and anyone he went with would pay full price. That last innovation came in this (last) season. In L1 when we weren't expecting a big crowd, he could use the ticket to get in with a mate. Although that was nice, I don't object to the new system and he doesn't either as it's only fair. Many disabled people (a lot of blind people too) are very independent and don't really need an enabler, but since they're part of the price many do bring a friend. Individually assessing everyone is more difficult and expensive than allowing enablers in, so don't expect the policy to change.

Assuming Ferdinand has talked himself out of contention, would Ryan Shawcross be the next centre half in line? Solid and underrated because Stoke are percieved as synonymous with alehouse football. Stoke would have gone down by now if they were ****e and as one of their key players, I think he deserves recognition.

Got no sympathy for them. It's a day out for them too and they should pay a concession price like all the other disabled supporters.

Most good teams play some form of 433/4231 and midfielders don't have to run around like lunatics to control midfield. A 442 can be dominated by good midfielders, which we're lucky to have. A box to box midfielder plays the attacking and defensive roles of 2 men and to do that in these days of fitter players, you need to be some super-pumped-up beast like Yaya Toure. Not many players have the stamina.

With no one dropping into the hole, it's often a choice between sideways or the Hollywood ball. The midfield is too deep and the forwards too far forward to really make anything of the space.

That's just a friendly, they'll be well up for ****ting us.

Jones was crap, but to his credit at least he looked like he gave a ****. Was Gerrard attempting hollywood passes? Didn't notice that myself. If he was, I'd have welcomed someone being creative in that turgid and dreary midfield.

I'll cut Downing some slack. He put in a very inviting cross in early on that Carroll should have put away and he looked decent defensively. I'd point my finger at Barry and Milner who just sat deep and did **** all.

1. Man City 2. Man U 3. Arsenal 4. Chelsea 5. Liverpool 6. Spurs 7. Everton 8. Fulham 9. Newcastle 10. Aston Villa 11. Sunderland 12. West Brom 13. Swansea 14. Stoke 15. Saints 16. QPR 17. West Ham 18. Reading 19. Norwich 20. Wigan

I have it on good authority that we have enquired about Gio Dos Santos from Spurs. Nigel thinks the out of favour winger/attacking midfielder could really add some quality at a knockdown price as Spurs no longer want the player. It seems as though he's been around a while, but he's still only 23.

There are funny road signs: Mole St Reta Rd Basta Rd Ebo La to name a few.

None of our senior players is an immovable object to an ambitious, talented and determined youngster. That's what we need to maintain at Saints if we're going to bring youngsters through. When young players turn into immovable objects, they either move on or you have a brick wall to the next generation of youth. When several players come through and stay at the same time, you get a golden generation. A golden generation can bring great success, but unless some very tough decisions get made, the once-golden generation can turn into a very ragged looking team of 30-somethings. Maintaining success is really tough and I can't help admiring Fergie for managing it. Back to the present rather than whimsically speculating into the future, the 4 lads that have been promoted to the first team will be able to show what they can do in pre-season. If they have the talent and the attitude, there's no reason why we shouldn't throw them in early. We need to assess them and do what's right for them.

Agree with the first bit, he'll certainly add some energy and excitement to a rather uninspiring group of players. Even with the best will in the world, we'll need a lot of luck to win the tournament, like Greece did in '04. The second bit - hindsight is 20:20. Many of us had our doubts. If we had Chamberlain last season with his pace and the quality to make the most of it, I do think we could have won the league fairly comfortably. I doubt he'd get picked for England, but I don't think it would have held him back either. Walcott didn't get a game for 2 years. Maybe the fee that we prised out of Arsenal for Chamberlain made Wenger use him more sooner or maybe what Wenger saw in Chamberlain persuaded him that he was ready to be thrown in. Either way, the doubts weren't unfounded. Wenger likes to play roulette with the youngsters he signs and on this occasion Chamberlain's number came up, but it could have been very different.

They like to meet players to check they aren't ****s, so literally could be anyone.

Zaha is all tricks and no end product. I'd rather we didn't sign him.

Plymouth being a ****hole that's miles from anywhere might have something to do with them not attracting serious investment. Anyone (not just footballers) with any ambition leaves the place as soon as they can. It's why there are more Argyle fans in London than there are in Plymouth.

Robinson is a really good keeper. It's the nature of being the England goalkeeper - you drop one clanger, the media crucify you and you never get seen again. Retiring from internationals must be the best decision he's made for a long time. I wouldn't be surprised if he attracted a lot of interest.

Wotsit!

Not sure Sharp would be too happy with the OP's team, not sure he'd especially like playing as a wide forward. We could try Sharp/Lee leading the line with Lambert operating in the space and making up the numbers in midfield when required. Or we could stick with a 442 until Lambert leaves/retires and get molested by the good teams. That last one doesn't require much to change, but change needs to happen for us to evolve as a club. The change will take some pragmatism from Nigel Adkins, which is something I trust him too do and it makes me glad that we hired him in the first place and not some dinosaur like Fat Sam.

No-one wants us to sign players that aren't good enough. For "squad player", read 'player with a reputation that isn't so large that he expects to be starting every game regardless of form'. Squad players add strength to the squad, players that aren't good enough are deadwood, which we had a lot of under Lowe/Sturrock/Wigley/Redknapp.

Even on FM, 442 doesn't get you above mid-table in the PL and you get royally shafted by the good teams. I'm also prone to quitting the game and restarting if I don't like the result. Currently I have a high-flying PL team with an average age of about 23 and no wages above £50k. It's clearly a long way from reality although elements of logic persist. I think we'll need to move away from a classic 442 to do more than battle for survival each season. Wingers with pace, ability and flair tend not to be great defensively and we need to provide defensive support to make the most of players like that.

I wouldn't be surprised if he did have such a clause in his contract. I very much doubt he'll be playing Championship football next season, being fairly young and having good prospects.