OldNick

I put this on another thread, whilst not winning saturday was disappointing if you look at the form and how things went last season these things happen. 'So I looked back at this time last season to try and guage how our results went. The 9th game from the end of last season we beat Leicester 1-0 after drawing a game home to Ipswich and away to Wolves. 2 of those games would have been seen as must win. We followed the home win to Leicester up with the 5-0 away defeat at hull (due to some unfortunate injuries etc). The then 'must win 'game of Coventry finished in a 0-0 draw and then a loss to Cardiff ( i was confident we would get something there as they were looking to the cup final and had nothing to play for). A vital home game then came up which was high flying Bristol city which we won 2-0. Charlton away we drew 1-1 and then had the Burnley home 'must win' game against a side who were playing for their holidays. We lost 1-0 at home. That put us in dire straights and left us with the daunting thought of away to WBA and home to high flying play off chasing SU. Thankfully a brave display at WBA got us a point and left us with a 'definately must win' against SU. Basically Im trying to point out that whilst (even Wotte has said he expected us to win 1 of the 2 games) it is a real blow not to have won either of the last 2 home games there still will be twists and turns and we can still do save outselves.'

Ladysaint i got an answer back to my question 'have we narrowed the pitch under Wotte' and got a reply of NO. So i hope that clears the question up for you, if you have confidence in me of course.

I'll try and get a definative answer.

nothing like a die hard is there? You of course can do as you wish but I dont believe that the players can't be arsed as you put it.

Thanks MrG

I hold my hand up as I would have liked him here. As another has said we should wait and see.I myself thought that Norwich getting Gun as their manager was a bad mistake but after the last 2 games it looks right

Thanks Lady saint. i was going to look and see if the bit you put last week about the pitch being narrowed. Iwonder if the track the linesmen leave over the season would be evident and being set back, if you see what I mean

I cant remember who was down with us, but some must have been as Leicester only dropped into the bottom 3 last game of the season. OK we havent won many recently but we have only lost 1 in 6 or so games. The defence has tightened (very much like last season) and so perhaps iam clutching at straws but it is not all over by a long way.

I think it is still wrong to encourage people to borrow at present. Look back to the early seventies when Harold Wilson had gone cap in hand to the IMF to borrow above our means, and then printed money (it is now call quantative easing) within a year we had rising inflation. Normally to quell rising inflation the interest rate has to rise. House prices will go up if the unemployment rate doesnt increase but with the amopunt of job cuts around I doubt it will be for a few years. There will be a levelling off for a period as people with money in the building societies etc look to invest elsewhere to get a return and somay go into property but they will be squeezed as rental returns are going down as there are more properties to rent and so prices are being slashed to get a tenant. Only this week my daughter rented a property in London and rents have dropped nearly 30% in some places. THis makes the return on an investment poorer and so soon thiose investors will stiop buying and prices will drop again. As I suggested more than a year ago on here, get rid of any credit card debt at all costs as we are in for a rough time. Even if it means forgoing a holiday or a tv etc.

I couldn't get to the game yesterday due to business commitments and have read quite a lot of the reports of the game and got somes views who did go. I do understand the fans disappointment and I agree. So I looked back at this time last season to try and guage how our results went. The 9th game from the end of last season we beat Leicester 1-0 after drawing a game home to Ipswich and away to Wolves. 2 of those games would have been seen as must win. We followed the home win to Leicester up with the 5-0 away defeat at hull (due to some unfortunate injuries etc). The then 'must win 'game of Coventry finished in a 0-0 draw and then a loss to Cardiff ( i was confident we would get something there as they were looking to the cup final and had nothing to play for). A vital home game then came up which was high flying Bristol city which we won 2-0. Charlton away we drew 1-1 and then had the Burnley home 'must win' game against a side who were playing for their holidays. We lost 1-0 at home. That put us in dire straights and left us with the daunting thought of away to WBA and home to high flying play off chasing SU. Thankfully a brave display at WBA got us a point and left us with a 'definately must win' against SU. Basically Im trying to point out that whilst (even Wotte has said he expected us to win 1 of the 2 games) it is a real blow not to have won either of the last 2 home games there still will be twists and turns and we can still do save outselves. The Blackpool game will tell us a lot and after that game if we lose whilst we wont be down our chances of safety will be slashed dramatically.

i know this thread is about something different but your avatar sent a warm shiver down my spine, an iconic picture of big Ron. Is there a bigger image i can see somewhere?

Reading back at your posts and i found this one , it is scary. Strangely enough we are on the same points now after 4 more games.It shows what a hole we are in but alos illustrates to me anyway if Wotte does get us out he has done a marvellous job. Quote 'When he walked in the door we were 18th. He wasn't really in charge when we slipped lower after immediately losing at Plymouth (down to 20th I think). At that point we had achieved 38 points from 33 games (1.15 per game and sat 20th I think). Then when he left we were 20th and managed 16 points from his 13 games (1.23 points per game). So during his tenure he stabilised a fall and managed to improve on the points per game haul of the previous 33 games. In the context, a result all round.' End quote.

Your last sentence is as regrettable as any of Stanleys. I love reading all the Liberal stuff about how they are ashamed of our Empire. If it wasnt for the wealth of our Empire, you wouldnt have the lifestyle you enjoy now. It was due to people who rightly or wrongly went about the world developing commerce and yes there were some majpor downsides but dont sit in your ivory tower thinking you are not enjoying some of the fruits of it. The British Empire gave lots of good to the world as well as bad. Forget not that some countries even now shouldn't be able to rule themselves. Would it be better that the rule of law to our standards still be used in Zimbabwe or in other states? If it wasnt for the Empire Germany would have invaded us with ease and that the war would not have been won. It was due to us to be able to get people who saw us as the motherland to fight alongside us. They were not press ganged, but were proud to be part of the Empire. it is easy to pick all the faults and use that to beat us. No Empire and we would be in the same category as Greece without the tourism and weather.Iceland would be probably on par.

So the 'Saints fan' who made the complaint has caused our club to be destabilised and effected the players mind set in an important period , great. I do not condone the players but some people gob off and then run off to mummy when they get a reaction.

James was nullified by having to watch Teale. Saga was not up to his frorm as he had been so far, I just hope he can regain it quickly

If you say that the Plymouth game was nobodies as it is hard to say who had the control on the day, but typical of saints others have the manager arrive on the day and they win (eg Notts forest) but we lose.We indeed lost 4 and drew 1 of the previous 5 including fa cup and so would have been low in confidence after the poor appointment of D&G. NP did ok hestill took us to the brink, although it was great that day when we were saved

That is true

i understand all that, but the germans would have 'educated' the children and through the schools would have erased these things. Not correct of course but the Nazi's would have sorted it in time. By now we would have had 3 generations where the young would have been brainwashed and t would all be cleaned, a bit like 1984. As for things that happened and soldiers on the streets that was a mistake by politicians at the time of the uprising early in the 20th c. At that time the IRA had lttle support as soon as they were arrested then the mood changed. I think the bloke who just has been jailed in Iraq for throwing the shoe at Bushwill be seen as a mistake long term

fair comment, and its quite good getting these news feeds.Wel done to thought to do it.

things that happened 300 years ago is not my responsibility.There are problems in the world that are kept going hundreds of years on , its ridiculous. There are just people who need strife so they can get their way...does that remind you of anything closer to home?

great realistic post IMO

Saga has done well but the last few games has lost his spark again.Lets hope it is reignited saturday and he chases like he did when he first came back.

Very true, Surmans miss is hardly up there with Pruttons at WBA. Yes we expect AS to score but I think as much a defining moment could be the ball coming back off the post, or SU injury time winner.Each in their own way could be crucial at the end of the season. To my mind the biggest factor was not the Jan experiment , but not stopping it 4-5 games earlier, Wotte in charge then and perhaps we might not be fretting so much now.

Duncan I believe if he keeps us up he deserves higher praise than NP.In the context that a new manager in under LM and LC was always going to get more leeway than a Lowe appointment.Wotte didnt even get a days honeymoon period. Fans like NP for the way he united the fanbase, that was his major plus IMO.I wish we could read back to this time last season and see if all those who worship him now were at that time asking for him to have his contract extended for 3 years. i doubt there were many threads on that then. It is said that he took on a demotivated squad, but they were only 6 points from the play-offs.He did an adequate job and if we had gone down I suspect the majority of fans lauing him would be distancing themselves now. Wotte is not gods gift to managment either but he inherited a team in a lot worse state of demotivation than NP did. The fans had turned completely against the whole club and the players were feeling the wrath of fans , and getting booed off many times. I understand Um's point about being in the background but Jan was in charge of the tactics the style of play and all the other decisions a manager makes. I suspect many have held positions in companies where they can see the manager making right ricks but not being able to change them until they got the job. I hope Wotte will save the day, I know RL will have got out of jail to a degree and that will irk some but surely the club staying up is all important not some getting one over RL. The summer then may bring a change of leadership, I dont know but IMO if Wotte keeps us up he deserves 100% to keep his job.In fact even if we go down, because we need to try for once to keep the club moving as one. NP has left,the majority of fans were against it including me but the things iam hearing about the new regime should give us hope and that is what I want.

i dont think so.