eelpie

Where are our statos when they are needed for this crucial thread? How many times have we hit the woodwork and not scored? How many times have all our opponents against us hit the wood work and not scored? I bet if we knew and all these near misses had gone in we would be in exactly the same position on the table as we are now.

But there ain't anything anyone can do about it apart from 'hope' (if that is what you want) that the Liebherr family withdraw their money and sell the club to asset strippers and tyre kickers. Do you really want to go through all that again? leftback? For me, I just hope that Nicola is learning from experience, because we are far better off with an impatient Cortese than without. Perhaps he is reading leftbacks criticisms (and I am not saying that they are not justified) and taking note. When is the next fans forum?

Complacency and fitness - in two words! The season STARTED poorly (Alpine you are premature - this season is NOT over) because of half-hearted pre-season fitness training. It is evident for all to see. Perhaps we benefited last year by signing players with superior pre-season fitness training than we ourselves had provided. I'm even beginning to believe that Wotte's pre-season preparation last year was better than AP's this year. The problem early last season was not fitness imho but that the players morale was completely shattered and our squad was not good enough (and Pardew does deserve much credit for restoring belief and determination into the squad then). For whatever reason this year AP and his players had looked knackered after 45 minutes until that superb but too late victory against an off-form Brizzle. Clearly Pardew had lost the plot. Nigel's Yeovil analysis pinpoints weaknesses that AP doubtless was aware of but had failed to put right. But no Alpine. The problems with the team have been pinpointed. So they will be corrected.

Why wasn't Virgo sent off for his foul?

Mark my words. Pompey will be relegated and Saints, Brighton and Bournemouth promoted. Times they are a changing. New era, new rivalries.

Swartzburg Mountains, South Africa. My son texted me the JPT Final scores last March. He had my tickets, lucky b****r cos my fair lady wasn't keen on me canceling our holiday. It was because I wasn't watching that we won. The sacrifices we have to make!

First he needs to be up and running more. But he has been unlucky not to score on several occasions. When Nigel gets him fitter he will be immense again.

Good result. (I mean your written English is improving)

BBC are rating Weds with 64% possession. Is that right, anyone at the ground? Saints seem to be getting most of the action.

And Guly has also been on the score sheet for the SaintDevs. He should be played on Saturday.

You're somewhere over the rainbow

Interesting that this old thread has been revived with associated reminders of our poor form this pre-season, as the old topic of lack of fitness has been haunting us again. I have been wondering if it could be possible that the reason that last season we were fitter than this is that last year's 'lost pre-season' was run by Wotte. Could it be that Wotte succeeded in better fitness training in the important first weeks of last year than AP did this year? Could it also be true that the players that AP brought in from other clubs last year (even over-weight Lambert) had better fitness preparation form their previous clubs than our own players this year? Wotte's team may have been demoralised losers, but were they fitter? This year's evidence could suggest so. But why? That is the question we need to ask? (This should really be on it's own thread, but I cannot start one))

Sprinting is not always essential when it comes to speed on the pitch. What counts as much is the rate at which a player dribbles past the opposition players. Holmes did that well and purposefully on Sat.

Did anyone notice what James's contribution for Colchester was when he came on? It seemed to coincide with our better period (when we also had Homes and Dickson on the field)

However, when players ran forward with the ball they weren't always supported by others, so they had no one to pass to and consequently got blocked. We were constantly stifled by a Colchester team who were able to intercept passes easily. So we had chances but could have made more. It was better when Holmes came on because we suddenly had a wider pitch to play in. We should have had a couple of penalties from handball too.

WE could offer the Echo a TSW Whinge column.

Goodbye then Daren.

You left one out. Who was the fit player?

Unfit, unfit, unfit unfit unfit unfit unfit unfit unfit unfit unfit.

A question I would have liked to ask had I been invited is when will he be holding open forums for supporters? Even Lowe did that (reluctantly) though he had to answer to shareholders

Not only that but they look too scared to tackle in case they get thumped.

Adkins Adkins Adkins Crosby Adkins Adkins Adkins Adkins Adkins Adkins Adkins Adkins best team from what he's seen so far

Perhaps he would have made a good DOF (had he got on with NC) And are the any successful managers who don't have egos?

I agree it has been a massive gamble (and mistake) to change manager, and I was quite confident that AP with all his faults and talents would have succeeded in achieving promotion. But possibly the delay in appointing AP's successor is a sign that NC intends to get this right rather than making a hasty decision that everyone regrets. We can only hope and grasp at straws that he does.

You are being naive, docker. According to The Guardian, SFC made a loss of £9 million last year. If they are correct we are not rich. We (I mean SFC) are spending the Liebherr Estate's money. I am not saying that Cortese hasn't made mistakes (and he was wrong and shortsighted to ban press photographers, however Cortese WAS the driving force behind the purchase of the club and IS responsible to the Estate. Should the Estate think that SFC is no longer a worthwhile investment they could pull out and leave us with a 9 million debt. Add this year's prospective running costs and we would not be such an attractive proposition to another buyer. Dejavu? We supporters have to hope that Cortese learns from mistakes and that he and the Liebherr Estate continue to support the club.