Fitzhugh Fella

I waited for half an hour for the #1 bus Winchester to Southampton before finding out Blue Star weren't running. Nothing on website or in the Echo. Pretty **** poor show!

Thank God someone has accurately reported on how poor Richardson was today. He offers nothing going forward and his passing was truly shocking.

Madruss Richardson did not put in one quality cross and his passing was woeful. His first 8 passes went astray - I was watching him closely

I hear bridges have been burnt

Was in the Cowherds once with Peter Osgood, Gerry O'Brien and Jim Steele when Ossie chatted up a couple of birds and offered to give them a lift home. I was the only one who had a car (Ossie was banned, Gerry and Jim didn't drive) so it was down to me and Ossie. It was actually my Mum's car but I shared it and had it in the evenings. Anyway to cut a long story short I drove these two girls back to where they lived which was somewhere Sholing way and dropped them off. As I reversed out of their drive I hit their next door neighbour's car. I think Ossie was a bit nervous about being there so he just just said "let's scarper" so I drove off. The neighbour went ballistic apparently and the girl only knew Ossie's name and gave it to the police. The police called in at the Dell the next morning and got Ossie out of training but all along he said he had just met me and didn't know my name. That was the end of the matter except the next morning very early I had to take my car down to Merv's Garage near the Fitzhugh to get the lights fixed before my Mum spotted the damage. I remember a few days later in the Ecjo Lawrie Mac going on about hangers on at the club causing trouble with the players and thinking he must mean me.

My only slight worry is he is a tad injury prone, but he is a good player so let's hope he puts all that behind him.

And Stubsie is partial to a pie

Astute post. Yes Guly can frustrate big time with his finishing but today he worked his socks off and was a "presence" all afternoon. That presence was responsible for 2 of our goals - sometimes you have to look a little deeper at what certain players offer.

Thanks for the report back! Hope you survived the Fratton experience and your jabs were up to date!

Patred used to post on here didn't he? Seem to remember getting some interesting pms from him too.

I think there is going to be a lot of disappointed postees out there come May. I hope I am wrong.

Trousers - the allegations which NC apparently made to fans at a recent dinner and subsequently relayed on this forum were - if true - potentially libellous towards Begbies. I would be surprsied NC made them to be frank as I think he is a more cautious man than that. Don't think they should be repeated in any format on a forum. However there remains a lot of inuendo/gossip surrounding the whole takeover saga which will remain until the truth comes out one day. Is it relevant? I suppose while key characters are still "on the scene" it does have relevance plus of course it is always satisfying to get to the bottom of any story, especially if you follow the club's history.

They are taking a long time deciding whether to charge him are they not?

Don't sit on the fence lad

I think the mods did remove it or edit it. If NC said it then it is he who will not let sleeping dogs lie and I don't blame him because IF it is true then he came to the table very handicapped. Without that handicap and with more time last season could have worked out quite differently. There is a lot of crap been swept under our carpet over the last decade, some for good reasons and some not. I take your point but crap does not nor should not always remain hidden to spare the guilty.

There was some interesting but libellous allegations made on this forum yesterday that suposedly were made by NC to fans about the behaviour of Begbies during the takeover. While obviously you have to be careful the allegations were serious and if true should be investigated because the very future of our club was at stake at the time.

Taking fond memories of the Brentford game into another week. Aaaargh!

Is this an exclusive Dell Days - I thought the reasons AP was sacked are still ranked state secret status - a bit like Barnard's hernia (or not) operation?

Again - if we are 2-0 nil and looking like we were getting nothing from the game why not throw on the youngsters if only to give them a bit of experience? And don't forget we had nowt on the bench because for whatever reasons we have let a few go on loan to clubs in higher divisions. Puncheon is being missed. If he has misbehaved then ship him out but not BEFORE we have a replacement. Relying on the fitness of Holmes was poor judgement. Oh and while I am at it is Barnard recovering from his hernia op or hasn't it happened?

My point was to have a debate on a FORUM? As for Strachan I agree, but you got to admit his comments were quite interesting and this one was way OTT.

Do you honestly think we have? I can't see a lot of difference. Maybe my expectations were higher after AP left which is clouding my judgement but I don't see us any further forward performance wise. Sorry.

Yep brought a smile to my face too

And for me they are very worth using and I do!

Len - the club weren't too keen on a pre war ITN - on account of what they reckon would be little interest, so that idea is suspended for now. We are currently working on a massive who's who from 1885 - to date, hopefully published this time next year, if my editor David Bull can get his finger out. After that to use some of our pre-war stuff maybe a complete history of Saints in the FA Cup and maybe a coffee table type photographic book. We have plenty of other ideas ie Saints at War etc etc.

Gator you wont get too much wisdom from me but to try and answer. Eloquence? No not really - that you rarely get in football but it would be nice to get something that just makes a little sense. His comment re the game in my OP was nonsensical. Also the bit about Barnard was just bizarre. If he didn't want to tell anyone the state of Barnard's fitness just say I'd rather not say. We would all understand. (Do us fans have the right to be kept up-to-date with the players' injuries?) However I do concede if he had us playing decent football and we were consolidating a top 2 position I would cut him a lot more slack in my own mind and if it guaranteed promotion he could talk Swahili for the rest of the season. His intellect was something that was made a lot of at the time of his appointment and indeed he may well have plenty up top but it doesn't seem to be used in his post match analysis. My criticism is probably not fair and I hear from those that have met him that he's a really nice genuine guy. Trouble is nice guys don't usually make good managers. Time will tell but in football there is increasingly less and less time. Maybe I built my hopes up too much when he arrived because his CV looked good but after 3 or so months I am just a little bit underwhelmed. 3 months is a pitifully small amount of time when considering how long the managers of the past got but is about the length of time modern day chairmen expect to see some improvement. Maybe we should wait until the season's end but that would not suit NC's schedule.