sadoldgit

Good enough for England but not good enough for a mid table Prem side?

I remember Mick Channon talking about Lawrie Mac. He didn't concentrate on tactics, he bought good players and let them play. As a manager do you take a bunch of players and make them play in a certain way or do you look at what you have and play to their strengths? Pochettino did well for us but we didn't win any cups and we finished mid table. I'll start hailing him as a football genius when he wins something. The leagues are full of also-rans.

He came. He saw. He conquered for a bit. He left. Not the first time this has happened in this country but the last lot at least hung around a bit longer and gave us roads, education etc.

It just gets better and better!!!

LOL. But on a serious note, most ex Saints strikers seem to come back to score goals against us.

Whatever was said or wasn't said, we are where we are now and things are not looking too shabby. Apart from the nice feeling of only Chelsea above us in the league, can you imagine how unbearable this forum would be right now if we had done a Newcastle?

Perhaps he is now going to run positive puff pieces every day through the autumn to make up for it?

One of the biggest calls for me this summer was to replace Boruc with Forster. Nothing wrong with Boruc (apart from having a screw loose - sorry Irene) but for me Forster's presence really helps to stabilise our defence. Next England keeper???

From what I remember of the summer RK said he wanted to keep MS and JR and to build his new team around them. He also said he was kept informed about those likely to go before he sat at his desk so it sounds very much to me that it was all planned rather than just happened haphazardly.

Agree totally that Chelsea look the biz. United have a problem at the back that they need to sort out. Nice to see Liverpool struggle but still early days and surely they must improve (?). Would be more than happy with 8th but if Ron can find a way to take the points off of all the dross - who knows. I think we will do better against the top teams this season. QPR, Burnley and Palace to go down. Maybe WBA instead of Palace.

Very happy bunny tonight. Koeman is awesome.

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The football was hugely successful but you can be successful without treating people like dirt. We also made 8th in the worst stripe ever and although I am sure many people would trade a kit for a decent finish looking like Liverpool never sat easy with me. We got to 2nd in the old Div 1 as afamily club with traditions and values. It can be done without the unpleasantness that Cortese often caused.

Have a lot of possession is all very well but you need to do something with it. When you win the ball back and counter teams are more likely to be pulled out of shape. If you are stroking the ball around teams have time to get behind the ball and make penetration more difficult.

Does it matter? If he was an angel for 6 months he went on to course all sorts of issues later on. Under his leadership we dragged ourselves back up to the Premiership so thanks for that. We have a new Board now who are demonstrating that you dont have to be a meglomaniac in order to run a football club so all's good.

My kids love it unfortunately and it costs me a fortune every visit. Mind you, the chilli squid is to die for!

10 quid for a bowl of noodles and if you are lucky you might find the odd bit of chicken or prawn hiding under a spring onion. What is that all about? Marketing genius or gulliible customers?

Good to read a balanced, non-hysterical piece after the weeks of doom-mongering from the likes of the Mail and Mirror. Of course, as he points out, it is way to early to get carried away but the signs so far are very encouraging.

Perhaps we should rename our bedwetters The Prophets of Doom?

Perhaps they were hoping he would knuckle down and fight for his place?

I love the way Branfoot, with a gutted look on his face, turns to Moody and says sit down when the ball hits the back of the net! Shame he scuffed the shot a bit but other than that, perfection.

No wonder he loves it here if someone gives him a polish every afternoon!

Is there such a thing though. I have many unhappy memories of standing an terraces in the 70s. I have been in crushes where I have feared for my life. Some people weren't so lucky and never made it out. All seater stadia may not be ideal but are far safer (IMO).

Probably as well that I am not voting as I have a very simplistic view of the situation. We are where we are because of hundreds of years of power struggles. Boundaries and discussions about power have been going on for centuries. At some point it is not unreasonable to say this is where we are. That point is long gone for me. Yes, by all means talk about the way that power/economics etc work across GB. But to take a vote on Scottish independence in 2014 makes no sense in the very complicated world we live it nowadays.

Yep, another one. Sadly many of those amazing orators got themselves assassinated! Tells you something about the plant we live on! What worries me about referendums is the lack of proper knowledge that the people making the decisions have given the power they hold. Listening to debates about the situation in my local pub (I live in England) is scary. It will be the same with membership of the EU. John Lennon used to sing about "power to the people" which is all well and good but when a large majority of the people don't really have a grasp on the facts it is a recipe for disaster. I wonder if David Cameron is thinking that the referendum was such a good idea this morning?