Weston Saint

Excellent win, excellent tactics and Harrison Reed just shaded it for me as MOM closely followed by Long. One down side.....Fonte misses Crystal Palace after collecting his 5th booking. Down to 2 centre backs now.

The more I listen to Koeman the more I think we have one of the best Managers we have ever had. He tells it how it is. Straight forward, no excuses whilst still exuding optimism yet not forgetting reality. Big disappointment today. We had been getting great results until recent. Not fighting above our weight as the teams we have been beating are ones we should beat. Today though was a bad one result wise. Not the end of the world and plenty of the season left. Still think we will finish it the top 8.

City came here full of respect for Saints and played like champions. Every time in midfield when we had the ball they had a couple of players to take it away. We seemed to stand off them. Plenty of our players had off games particularly Tadic who did not have a clue how to cross a ball! I personally thought Wanyama had a good game. The three goals - Clyne should have tackled, it was clear he would be beaten for speed and he was. Davis sleep for the second and had the ball taken from his feet. As he went off soon after I am assuming he was suffering from his injury or just knackered. The third was the worse. Tadic crossing behind everyone and the break and goal was the sad result. Very disappointed because it shows we are not quite there yet. But overall a great season so far.

This explains a lot. I am aware you have very good sources and a good track record.

Levy has seen what Pochettino can deliver in the Premier with Saints. That is why he bought him in. He is foreigner with proven Premier experience. Spurs are not performing because they have the wrong players who just do not fit the high tempo game he wants. Levy has now gone for Mitchell to find those players. I said all along that Pothettino would struggle at Spurs if the players did not immediately buy into his way. When he came to Saints he had a ready made team who were bonded and played together for long time. That bond and experience is not at Spurs at the moment. Credit to our previous Managers for our position and he was an upgrade then even if he lacked a plan B. He will need time at Spurs and Mitchell may give him that time. Levy has to stop sacking sometime, surely!

When you lose a head of a department who is highly respected and effective it is always going to be a blow but he has been head hunted by Spurs who see themselves as a bigger club faltering at present because they have got the infrastructure wrong for so long now. We do not know what Mitchell was earning at Saints but it is well know that "backroom" staff are not well paid. I am sure Spurs will have offered him a large increase over his wages at Saints who maybe were unable to match for fear of triggering a wage war among the other departments. Perhaps Saints or he (or both) felt he had achieved his objectives and with all that is now in place including technology it was time for a new challenge (Mitchell) or a man/woman with different qualities (Saints). Maybe Mitchell felt he could no longer work within the constraints of the job or the people above him. It seems in going to Spurs he will not have to report to the Director of Football as he does now. The fact is we just do not know his reasons for going or Saints "reluctance" to convince him to stay. Suffice to say, he appears to have done a fine job at Saints and I for one wish him well in his new job.

Agree, better development path.

Cannot disagree with that.

Lallana having a decent game although his crossing is not great. Clyne having a good game and could well be a long term fixture Sterling is just not ready to play at this level in my opinion Not bad from England at present but they need a goal to cement there dominance.

Goal line technology at its finest. 1-1

I do not get all this blaming Lowe. The previous guys spent too much without a return and even though Crouch came to the rescue for a while it was too late. They gambled with our future and lost! Lowe came back in to see if he could rescue but there was no money to pay for a decent Manager like Pearson. That is why we went down the cheap route. Even then it was too late. If we had not been in the financial mess I am confident Pearson would have been engaged for a longer spell. However that is in the past. The present is beyond our wildest dreams from those dark days.

Has a nice chat with him and separately Gordon Watson on Saturday. Whilst he was at Accrington he paid one of the Inland Revenue bills because the club were having difficulties. Just before he left he decided he had taken them as far as he could without investment/introduction of new players but the owner said there was no money available. He decided to resign as it was taking up all of his time with no results. After he went the new manager bought in 5 players which Beats says spoke volumes. He wants to get back into coaching/managing and as he says, he is being allowed to visit clubs and watch the training, taking notes but not getting involved. I thought he left us when he was past his best and although he had plenty of time for me on Saturday his manner in the past has been a bit arrogant. I was with someone who sponsored him for 5 years and as a result sat with him on end of season dinners. He met him one on holiday in a lift. He said hello to James who just said hello and the rest of the journey in the lift was very quiet and uncomfortable for my friend. Suffice to say he did not sponsor him again.

I had a long chat with his Father last evening. I am going to keep the conversation private but Adam is aware of some supporters views. He still has a great love for Saints and is very aware of what the club did for him over many years. This will be my last post on the subject of Adam Lallana. I am a Saints supporter and would rather concentrate on players in our team, not those who have left for Liverpool, Man Utd or Arsenal.

The problem with issues like this is that it is a public road and those attending the Masonic Centre are individual people just like those who might park outside a "corner" shop when parking is at a premium. However the Masonic Centre should try to see what can be done to resolve the nuisance. It is not in Hampshire but I have given the OP an address and telephone number and hopefully some useful information to assist. Hopefully this matter can be resolved to everyone's satisfaction.

As far as I know he was never a real problem in the short time he was here. No one in the dressing room ever said anything to me and they have been forthright with views on other matters in confidence. This was a twitter quote from Michael Carberry this morning There was a strong rumour that he decked Warne in a bar and gave him a black eye. I mentioned it to KP's brother but only got a knowing smile. Warne was away for few weeks in Spain after so it might have had some legs. On one occasion after a game he was about to go to his chauffeured car. I knew there was a big crown waiting for him so asked if he wanted me to find a quiet was out. No he said, I will sign all their autographs, and he did, every last one. I think he did upset the club or at least the media perceived he did when he could not remember the name of an up and coming player who was in the first team. His name was Wood who is carving a good career with the first team now. On the day he announced he was leaving Hampshire he came upstairs but could not look Bransgrove in the eye. However Bransgrove has never had a bad word for him either in public or privately when we have chatted. Personally I think he is an arrogant tortured sole and no amount of man management would have changed his selfish self centred personality. However he was one of England all time greats for a while and that should not be forgotten. However I agree with his exclusion following the Ashes tour down under.

I will not dignify this with an answer

Absolutely. He got into this mess because of bad PR and is better keeping quiet and let his football do the talking. He is not a bad lad, just not getting the right PR advice. However, the hatred on here is uncalled for.

Little past snippet. When Lowe came back the club finances were in a complete mess. He wanted to buy Schneiderlin for £800,000 because he saw a real future talent. He went to Barclays and got the nod, or so he thought. When he had done the deal Barclays denied they had agreed to fund the purchase. With our finances as they were that was the straw that broke the back and any trust between banker and customer. It was the beginning of the end for the Ltd company. The rest, as we say, is history!

Whilst Bates is probably the best gloves man in England why has no other club come in for him or made an inquiry? Don't blame Hampshire.

Duncan, your invite to meet her fits in with her and the board wanting to re engage with the history of the club by inviting ex players (Ex Saints have 5 Presidential Suite tickets for the season to act as ambassadors) Le Tissier in the directors box for the Newcastle game, Benali given the half time slot in the stadium following his magnificent run and one of my friends, who has provided much of the sign writing of the club over many years, invited, with his son, into the Directors box for the Newcastle game as a thanks for the years of service. I think we may safely say that although we have a private owner who can do what she likes, she seems to be acting in a way that supporters can say "we have our club back" Long may it continue.

If they have settled their legacy debts ahead of time good for them. It means they will have money from their above average gates for Div 2 to compete. However, whilst owned by the fans the ceiling will come in the 1st div. Likelihood of financing for better just will not be available to them. A tin pot club with a tin pot ground does not breed confidence

Duncan, I kept an eye on Pelle throughout and you are correct he did not win many back to goal but what I did notice was that his presence meant the centre back could head the ball up and slightly forward and another Saints midfielder picked up the loose ball. It has the same effect as him winning the ball.

Don't be stupid. He is a footballer following a dream.

Lallana playing well so far. Pleased for him but we have Tadic whose skills are equal and whose body strength is better.

Back to where we belong. Well done Jimmy Adams and the team. This was always our main goal from the start of the season. Always in our hands and we played it out to perfection in the last few games.