sadoldgit

I just hope that Nige doesn't put out a weak team

Perhaps if there was a Champions league place at stake clubs would take it more seriously? Also I think that the semi's being played at Wembley too devalues the day itself. Shame really but at least we are still in it!

When I was a kid the F A Cup was a big deal. Since United decided not even to bother a few years back it seems to have gone downhill rapidly. We have gotten used to Prem teams fielding weakened side but now even 3rd tier clubs are at it. Okay, we got a result yesterday but if you leave out your better players you are basically saying the competition doesn't matter. We are never going to win it but a good cup run beating "better" teams used to give clubs such a lift - not to mention some welcome extra dosh. Now clubs are too scared of dropping out of the Prem or too intent on getting there that they don't worry about it any more. Sign of the times I guess but very sad all the same.

Chuck Berry

You are right about Brighton Nick, but they keep pulling results out of the bag.

We have been fortunate Ron. Making second whilst still losing 7 games shows how open it is this season. Pardew didn't have that going for him last season with the top clubs keeping clear water between them and the rest. Having said that Adkins has kept plugging away and the last three results have been excellent. We have as good a chance as anybody but I would feel more comfortable with a couple of new faces. Things certainly look a lot brighter than after the Brentford game. Can't remember too many Christmases when we won all of the games.

Still two wins in two games in the Premiership, I doubt very much if he is bothered.

It wasn't in the first half of the season Nick and the debacle against Brentford wasn't that long ago. If we are to keep this up we do need some more quality in.

When Burley joined us his stock was very high after an excellent job at Herts. A lot of Saints fans were chuffed to have got him. He had to strip out a lot of dead wood but put together a decent squad quite quickly and hada team that could score goals and win games which is something we hadn't seen for a while. We were as good as anyone in the CCC in his only full season with us. Sadly Wilde had blown the cash in one go and instead of building on a good season Burley soon lost his 3 best players (all of whom are currently scoring goals in the Premiership) and the an Exec even came out and admitted publically that our promotion push was over. Can't blaming for taking the Scotland job but let's be honest, people like Ferguson would not touch it with a bargepole and there are good reasons for that. The Palace job was never going to be easy either with no cash to spend. He has been unfortunate recently, losing points in the last seconds. That sadly is football. He is experienced and he will bounce back. Sh*te managers do not get their clubs into Europe or into play offs.

At least he got us into the play offs which was the most we had to cheer about before Pardew won us a cup. He is not a woeful manager and did a great job at Ipswich and Hearts. The Palace job is a poisoned chalice. He has achieved a lot more than the middle strand of managers in this country. What is it with people wanting ex employees to fail? It is not as if he did a Redknapp and took us down. Good luck to him in the future where ever he ends up.

Keith Lemon.....waste of air

Oh for the days when we used to stuff chidren up chimneys! The Empire (which has cost us dear over the years since the sun set on it for the last time) was built by expoliting the proles of this country. They quit rightly got hacked off and after a period when the workforce wanted a greater share of the fruits of the labour the arch right winger decided that we wouldn't actually bother with producing things any more (coal, cars etc) so we can do away with nasty strikes and we shall just become a country that provides a service. Now the growing (or stronger) economies are the ones that produce things for others to buy and the once mighty Great Britain is left at the mercies of the dollar. Some would argue that we have the right wingers to thank for that. Still, who knows, one day we might be mighty again, it is just that the uniforms worn or now McDonalds and KFC and not redcoats.

Wouldn't that make us second????

To be honest we have been fortunate in that whilst we have stuttered teams ahead have not pulled away. He will need to find more consistency this half of the season but we are in the frame and that is the crucial thing. It will be interesting to see who he brings in. I hope you are right about good times ahead but there is still a lot of football to be played and we need to do better for the rest of the season.

LOL awesome!!!

Saw him play against Cardiff for us and he was terrific in the 2nd half after taking some appalling stick in the first. The facrt that he is still in the Prem says all you need to know.

Excellent result. Hopefully we can push on and keep this going now. Pleased for Lambert.

So don't read my posts then, it really isn't that hard you know. My point is that I find it hard to believe that players would go staright from doing nothing to full on training with no warm up prep whatsoever. Pardew and his team are not stupid. I also don't believe that Pardew went out of his way to sabotage our season knowing that he would be off soon. Players lose form, they also pick up injuries. Nice to know how intensive the training was when at the time the anti Pardew brigade were telling us the opposite was true. Still, at least the spin has moved on from sh*gging players wives etc.

How do you know what the training programme was?

Give it a rest. It is okay for you to blame people but not others. I suppose Pardew went out of his way to sabotage our season did he? It will be interesting to read your posts if we don't go up this season. No doubt NC will come out unscathed. The bit you don't get is that no one on here knows exactly what happened and what didn't happen. Not so long ago it was all about Pardew sh*gging players wives or punching players. Then it was he didn't train them hard enough. Now it is he trained them too hard. Go figure. People like you still take rumour as gospel to suit your agendas. He is having the last laugh though as we struggle in Div 3 and he is back in the Prem.

As you were seemingly "in" on what went on pre season then DD feel free to enlighten me as to exactly what happened? If this training regime was so awful how come the whole squad didn't go down with injuries? And why were we led to believe that they weren't worked hard enough intially?

Eh? Where do you get a conspiracy from? IT seems odd that a professional athlete, along with others, is fit but not fit enough to train hard. STrachan didn't seem to have a problem putting the players through their paces. But you might be right...perhaps it is a conspiracy? Afterall, we were intillat told the players weren't trained hard enough and now it seems they were trained too hard? As for doing too much too soon, surely if you are in good condition it must be hard to do too much too soon?

So he was very fit, but not fit enough to train hard??? Hmmm...

Indeed Ottery, Adkins will need to find away to get points on the board week in week out. Let's hope he can do it this season!! All the best to you too.

There was as much chance of Fergusan managing here as O'Neil. These people are top managers and want to manage big teams. O'Neil has nothing to prove to anyone and why would he drop to the 3rd Divison when he can get a top job anywhere?