Nordic Saint

We now know how our goalkeeper recruitment is done. Somebody needs to teach them how to read the list the right way up.

Let's be clear about this. He is not just one of the worst; he is THE WORST. No other club in the league has a goalkeeper anywhere near as bad.

None of it counts for anything when you have a goalkeeper who's going to gift goals to the opposition. It was the same last season.You just know we're going to be stuck with him next season as well. If only we'd had a half-decent goalkeeper, what might have been.

The Championship will be weaker at the top end next year and Saints could very well win it. We'd probably also have a better chance of staying up then. If we scrape into the third spot via the playoffs this year, we'll probably come straight back down again and miss that window of opportunity.

Pompey fans will be hoping for 11-0 to better their record defeat to Leicester.

I'm not sure I'd even bring him on as a sub as he could throw the game away.

Our strikers, although they miss a hatful of chances, score goals in the Championship, but if we do manage to get promoted , we'll need to get a Premier League class striker or we'll be coming straight back down, bottom of the table. Ted Bates' purchase of Ron Davies was the main reason we managed to stay up the first time we got promoted.

Good effort from the starting eleven. The midfield put Liverpool under pressure and created good chances. With better finishing, we could and perhaps should have gone 2 or 3 goals ahead. THEN the subsitutes came on and we collapsed. Smallbone was like an extra player for Liverpool so it started to look like 12 players against 10. Whenever he got the ball he kicked it towards our goal and away from Liverpool's. He never even managed a single sideways pass, let alone a forward one. But, once again, credit to the starting eleven who ran their socks off and really worked for each other. Even Klopp mentioned afterwards how good Saints' midfield was in the first half.

Can we please sing more than one verse of what is supposed to be our song? It always peters out, like it did at Anfield tonight. because our fans only know one verse. Even one more would help keep it going. Oh, when the saints go marching in Oh, when the saints go marching in I want to be in that number When the saints go marching in. Oh, when the drums begin to bang Oh, when the drums begin to bang I want to be in that number when the saints go marching in. Oh, when the stars fall from the sky Oh, when the stars fall from the sky I want to be in that number when the saints go marching in Oh, when the moon turns red with blood Oh, when the moon turns red with blood I want to be in that number when the saints go marching in. Oh, when the trumpet sounds its call Oh, when the trumpet sounds its call. I want to be in that number when the saints go marching in.

To be fair, whenever I watch any TV games, the away fans of every club, wherever they are, seem to spend most of the game singing, "Your support is f...ing sh!t." This must surely be a great inspiration to the team they have travelled to support. Ours tend to be more polite, hence the popularity of the library song. Maybe we could further enhance our reputation next time by singing, "Is this a Carthusian monastery?" Although the home fans might well reply they find this rather obtuse, or words to that effect.

Elijah Anuoluwapo Oluwaferanmi Oluwatomi Oluwalana Ayomikulehin Adebayo has scored a hat-trick for Luton tonight. He's already a big name.

He's 40 so this is probably his final season. He's certainly had a remarkable late career. He won 50 caps for Portugal, a European Championship, a Nations League and a French League and made more than 20 Champions League appearances, all over the age of 30, and now he's won the Portuguese League Cup.

Another trophy for Jose Fonte. His Sporting Braga team have just won the Portuguese League Cup Final.

Only one? He must have put up a hell of a fight.

And Pompey have no balls at all

Or the level of Swansea at the moment. They were almoat as bad in the first half against us. I see Nathan Jones is sitting prominently in the stands, advertising his availabilty.

i.e. We are 2nd favourites behind Leicester. Championship Promotion Betting Odds | Football | Oddschecker

Not for Leicester fans, it isn't. They are depressed. Apparently, they've been conceding late goals and were expecting another one tonight. I saw this in the post match thread on Foxes Talk tonight: "Genuinely think So’ton walk this league, we are way off them atm.. Ipswich and Leeds inconsistent so we should get 2nd."

It's the historic trophy for the winners of the Football League. Of course it's decent. It would be the best league trophy we've ever won.

Ipswich dropping points tomorrow would probably place more importance on the result of that game than Leicester losing. If Ipswich drop out of the picture and Leicester pull further away, the one remaining automatic promotion place could very well depend on the result of that game at Elland Road. If we assume that we'll finish above Ipswich anyway, and most pundits and bookies do, then the best result for us tomorrow would be one that kept the possibility of both automatic promotion berths remaining open.

I agree. 4 points gained is better than 3. Leicester are expected to win and if they do, they'll prove they are uncatchable. But, if it's a draw or in the unlikely event that Ipswich win, the league title will still be achievable for us, and for a club whose fans have been starved of trophies, the Championship would be a big one. Leicester really shouldn't be as motivated as Saints to win it as they have won it seven times already. We've been runners-up in leagues and cups so many times that it would be great if we could break the habit of being 'always the bridesmaid'.

Hopefully you will in our next game.

Funny you should mention Leeds as they have already done what we are planning to do and moved the away fans at their ground from behind the goal to a corner in order to reduce their influence on the game. If Leeds felt the need to do it, then we certainly should.

I started standing under the chocolate boxes at the back of the Milton with Dougal and his mob in the mid-60s. We dreamed of having a proper covered end like most other clubs had, because a metal roof amplified the noise so much more. That desire for a covered stand was what eventually led to the first move to under the West Stand. I was living abroad when the roof was put over the Archers and we briefly had the setup for a half-decent home end so I missed out on that. But, when the dream of the '60s and 70s looked like it was finally going to be realized and we got a big covered end to sing under at St Mary's, imagine our dismay to see our most vocal young fans hide themselves away in the corners of the away end. Hopefully, these new developments from the club will put that right and we'll have the proper home end we always dreamed of. As for filling a home end with singers, it will be the way proper home ends have always been. The most hardcore fans, who sing the most, will be in the centre, directly behind the goal, and at times the singing will spread out to the sides. It's that central faction behind the goal which acts as a catalyst for the fans around them. You don't get the same effect when they are hidden away in a corner, where the sound is muffled. If you go the stadiums around the world with the best atmospheres, like those in Italy and South America, you will find that they nearly all have their noisiest fans behind the goal in a home end and the away fans tucked away in a corner or occasionally in an upper tier at the other end. The best atmosphere I've been in was at Boca Juniors' La Bombonera and that's exactly their setup. Their fans wouldn't dream of letting away fans anywhere near their beloved home end. I really hope a few nimbys don't spoil this really positive move by the club to improve our atmosphere and give us a home end to be proud of.