melmacian_saint

If unlike over here he is allowed to play around freely with the same 66m quid that propelled us from the shadows of L1 to the Prem at his new job and improves his performance of the 2nd part of last season and his tenure during this one with Saints, then we may have let go a manager with bags of quality. Until then, no evidence can be presented that Adkins is better than, for a start, Pochettino, and after that, McDermott or Warnock themselves.

Maybe they meant home crowd? Arsenal in '03 is clearly the record PL crowd, but they probably sold out their full allocation, while I'm not sure Liverpool did that on Saturday. Maybe it was a record for Saints supporters at home in the Prem?

I honestly think we would have a better PR figure to deal with any issues and weather the storm when necessary (e.g.Adkins dismissal, which I don't think would have been dealt with any different in terms of timing and the actual decision), which quite frankly we've lacked since he passed on. Other than that I think nothing would've been different, both on or off the pitch. The Echo row started with Markus still here from what I recall so I guess the local journos are not necessarily in the right side of things (maybe not in the wrong either). Having said this, maybe it would have been sorted out already as Markus didn't seem the kind of person to hold grudges.

I don't know but I think this will end up being a last-day battle between Wigan and Sunderland. You don't get poor decisions and last-minute goals your way every week.

Referee's having a very important role in the fight for survival. The Ref association need to get rid of some of their old weights. Foy, Halsey....age has taken its toll and their are out of touch with football nowadays.

I think he may not just be the great keeper he was. We may have signed a player right on the peak of his career under the radar. Great swoop even if at a late date. Shouts about how he should've played all games: that low cross he assuredly caught in the 2nd half is the proof of how his fitness has improved from those early days. He started playing when he should've done it, and now he's back on track he is the keeper we will need to take us to another level.

Rodriguez Davis Lallana I would say. Or Puncheon rather than Adam. Steve Davis is not given enough praise for the assurance, flow and tempo he gives to our passing game. We never look clueless regarding what to do with the ball whenever he's around while with others trying to overdo every move we often run out of ideas and end up passing it around the area for no good reason. He is also one of our best attacking players in terms of defensive work and pressure on the opposition's lower midfield.

He's starting to get that confidence of a top striker. Ceteris paribus, next season will be his!

Protocol is usually 1.5 hours before KO I would say.

Just in case you haven't noticed, this is not a tribunal against Cortese, it's against the Football Club! If everyone just puts their anger aside for one split second maybe posts about this issue can become reasonable. While it was harsh to see Adkins go that way, and results haven't put the ghosts to bed so far, if a manager does not achieve promotion through the FL with an investment in players worth 33m then you might as well swing him from the Itchen bridge. The big test was this season and I remember several posters on here (including myself) criticizing Adkins again and again for mistakes particularly in subs. The home game v. Fulham springs to mind as one where there was outrage against him. So even though his positive and cheerful and all-round good guy manners were something we all enjoyed, this does not mean he was a good manager especially for the PL. Is Pochettino? We sure hope so.

Actually Fonte put 2 beautiful crosses into the area which Lallana at least on one occasion failed to tuck away.

Is this their desperate attempt to cash-out of the PL before they return to NPC obscurity for another 5-6 years?? Johnny boy probably knows that given this is our shortest away day and many of our fans are actually very close to Reading then no matter what price he puts we will sellout the allocation...

His mission is exactly that: To ensure that they're still alive by the deduction deadline, hence carrying the sanction to next season, when they are inevitably relegated to League Two after his form worsens in April. Given the short timing, no wonder he is on his bike!

So could most teams last year when their game in hand was against a Man U team cruising for the league title but expected to be prudent as City were increasing their (eventually confirmed) threat. Wigan were also further away from safety than QPR are now...didn't mean much. Around this time last year if I recall correctly too. Reading for me is the only one ticking the box so far, but hopefully no surprises in their very own Tourmalet of away days at OT and SB. Hopefully Villa will bring a halt to QPR's burst through the table, even if temporary. The 33-group will probably do it the dirty way with scruffy 1-0 wins in the middle of a series of draws. Newcastle will steer away by beating most if not all of the lowly rivals they play against. Wigan will burst to life as usual and get some momentum going to pull away even if it takes them to the last day. In the end, I think it'll be 2 dreaded places fought between us, Villa, Sunderland, Wigan and QPR. Given our lack of edge, I fear for us under pressure from the need to get results. Hopefully we'll come out alive. Also, if we go down (knock on wood), I suspect it'll be because of the goals we didn't score, rather than those we may yet concede. It almost always is the case. Just like conceding 4 when scoring 3 wasn't good, 0-0 draws or conceding 8 in 10 games won't see us through.

Love how people slate Yoshida for his **** crossing, Fonte for being late making up to he who shall be named below's error, Shaw for his non-penalty, but... Jos Hooiveld was outstanding. Really looked the new giant Cannavaro out there! Some people here need to watch a replay of the game. He can't attack a ball in the air clearly despite being bigger than most players, he can't pass a ball and he HOOFS (it is not a long pass for any deluded people on here) the ball recklessly every time he can't find a short pass right in front of his nose (despite being able to pass it to a fellow defender or to the keeper). We loose mobility and numbers in our passing game when he is playing as he is static and looks like the ball burns his feet. He was also lucky not to have a penalty given to Norwich for a lazy push on Holt in the first half. And YET, people here say he played really well.

Wrong. New full back needed that prevents us having to play Jos Hooiveld in case of injury needed. And Forren to get a kick up the arse.

Was it just me that found Beattie to come very good when we moved to St-Mary's? He always seemed inconsistent at the Dell, but the move to SMS definitely brought the best out of him. Looked such a great forward player, with a good level at every aspect of his game. Finishing, set pieces, passing, pace.... Legend for what he did for us IMO. How dependent we were on his good form showed the moment he left us.

Fox is our other LB in a squad where the other choice is a 17-year-old revelation initially rushed into the first team due to injuries... Unfortunately he WILL play on several other occasions from here until the end of the season. Afraid there's nothing we can do.

This happened earlier in the season and we conceeded 8 in 10 games if I'm not mistaken, and an unfit Boruc still wasn't our no.1 so if a couple of Kelvin and Gazza's errors had been avoided we would've had an impressive defensive record (of course not difficult after our start to the season). In fact at some stage I recall Clyne was a better option at LB and if it wasn't for Richardson's injury Fox would probably never have started any more games for us after Villa at home in the first place (where he was subbed at half-time in a 4-1 comeback win). Speaking of QPR's goal I still don't understand why Fox went running to the goal line even before Boruc had committed. He could've easily put some pressure on Remy who had barely controlled the ball and took a lifetime to get a shot. Surprising the short-termism of most of our Championship preseason signings. Apart from Cork none of them have really been up for it this season...

Apart from the excessive Redcrapp singing, something wasn't right at SMS yesterday. Very grey atmosphere from the first minute. I was in the Itchen/Chapel corner and towards the final minutes saw a guy a few rows in front of me literally tell two mates behind him who were discussing QPR's second goal and our poor performance to each other to shut up. They had been talking normally throughout the game. The moaner's mates were all please with his attitude towards the other two as well. Incomprehensible.

I actually think we will do well there. Liverpool play a passing game and so we will know how to pressure them. Long-balls forward to Lambert could also prove more effective as Lambert is bigger than Agger and may only have to scrap with Srktel. And if the QPR defeat has something good to it is that the players have now put themselves under pressure to perform and so I believe we will be highly motivated for this one and Chelsea regardless of the Norwich result.

If we start hoofing balls to Lambert from the 10th minute Bassong and Pilkington will be on it. Not that it matters because we've shown to persist on dead ends until it starts costing us. Regardless of that hoping a good result at Carrow Road. They are in the exact opposite form that saw them scrap a point from St.Mary's. Having said this, we pretty much were in a better place results-wise back then...

Well one good thing is that we've now got a first team able to hold on to those stars for longer. Agree with the comment: a full season in tough NPC for a 16-year old is better than just a half-season where he was promoted as a starlet and took the first train out. We must remember he never played for Arsenal that season when he was already a starter with us. But it was a different background by then. If only we had held on to our PL status that 2005, maybe we would still have them alongside us.

I remember a few months ago a fan claimed that a Trust takeover in its current form (i.e. debts to pay, income, funds, budgets etc..), when subject to a Football Manager testing, came out with the result of "struggling in the Conference South"? Somehow this sounds much more appealing to me than liquidation. Maybe an all-time record slide down the pyramid in the cards? Fratton Park in the Southern League sounds so hilarious....

Pretty much. Less games and more specifically a lot of different timetables. I imagine that unless we're playing on the afternoons/evenings on Saturday/Sundays the crowd is not even significantly bigger. Even when we last were in the PL the timetable variation was nowhere near as big. A big difference with other local pubs near football grounds is that they attract some of the local population as well as some of their city centre crowds. Afraid St.Mary's is not that kind of area where people will go unless they are watching the football. Too far from the city centre and the pub itself is quite isolated.