suewhistle

Firstly, thanks to Bad Wolf for the stream link which worked pretty well. That was as routine a win as you will see, and it always felt as if Saints were playing well within themselves. With an FA cup reply on Tuesday and games coming twice a week for some time I've no issue with game management at the moment, although I'd like to see our GD improve. As Tessem said on the commentary, now we're second all we have to do is concentrate on our own game and if we do it well we won't be caught. I didn't immediately realise that we have a game in hand on Leeds although they are still the biggest worry, IMO. Che, KWP and Stu all looked a bit off their game, but it didn't matter. The latter definitely doesn't seem like a 90 minute player any more and thought he'd have come off earlier. Brooks looked tasty in just a few touches, and it will be interesting to see how long he gets on Tuesday. I have my ticket for that game: does anybody know how many we've sold?

I know a musician in Piemonte who went to Argentina to collect old Piemontese traditional songs, such was the emigration from the later 1800s. It was mostly uneducated agricultural workers and their dialect is still maintained in certain parts of Argentina e.g: https://www.cuneodice.it/cultura/cuneo-e-valli/quei-piemontesi-emigrati-in-argentina-che-mantengono-viva-la-storia-del-piemonte_75972.html Edit: the article makes the point that many didn't speak Italian, only dialect.

Blimey, I thought you were taking the piss!

Yes, that's what I do too, whether heading for Central Station or St Denys/Bevois Valley. I can only recall once when home fans were not permitted to transit using that route and I had to use Belvidere Road and then back ways, which was a pain. Can't remember the game but one of the teams with a big following of unpleasant fans, possibly Chelsea.

Factless Allen, no doubt. Can't remember who came up with that name but it so fits. Plus the writing style of a 14 year old, in the lower set for English.

Ooh, CB, you'll upset the Owl's forum too..

You buggers made me go and look, didn't you. Only 1 win in the last 5... I see what you mean.

Hmm, he might be reluctant to sign for any club who might pass us going in the opposite direction, unless they can afford to give him a 2/3 year contract, without a relegation clause..

I too went to the away game. Had a good time all round, thanks for the recommendation on here of Domo, decent pubs and a lift back to my accommodation from some Wednesday fans. We dominated there, and although they've improved so have we and added some directness through Fraser and generally moving the ball a bit quicker. I'd certainly be very disappointed if we didn't win.

I'm surprised you take him so seriously; lots of people don't. Deluded, WUM, Alpine's apprentice in negativity? Either way I personally often disagree with his opinions but with three posts a day CBA to waste one and my time. In a game of small margins at that level I don't think Mara is that far off, although whether he can bridge the gap is another matter. Don't see why not though, particularly at only 21.

I'm not sure whether it's the style of play or just the fact that we're winning, but the players seem more engaged too. Fraser is obviously enjoying his football and his additional directness really adds to the mix, and may give us a good chance of keeping him. It makes a change coming out of the ground happy! I joked to a neighbour at the cup match that yes, I had a season ticket and last season it cost me about 250 quid to see each win!

No, and I'd also add he has very little backlift on his shots. Way to go but none of the kids looked out of place on that pitch, regardless of "it was only against nnnnnn".

My friend from Hamble sat next to me on the sofa says 'take flippers'. Mind you, she hates football, even if she did sponsor my team. What sort of crowd are we expecting today? Now the rain has stopped might be a few more willing to splash out a tenner?

Huh! You should see our grass roots park pitches! A sea trout, a lost bass, and three mullet.

Bree not even on the bench so assumed injured which might help explain Stephens. So now the question is do I splash out £10 on Saintsplayer or try and find a dodgy stream..

Your post reminded me of the difficulties of manpower planning for football. It's not just "We'll need a new cost accountant in a year when Bert retires" and you get somebody new who just has a couple of months' notice to work..

A chance to give him the bird..

Hah! I said Black Jacks to myself before I saw Whitey's comment. Normally you'd splash out and buy 4 though..

That's actually quite a good summary of our game. Some of the coolness in defence and lack of panic looks like risk, but they manage it very, very well. There are long diagonal balls occasionally, Harwood Bellis and Bazunu have both contributed well but we still allow too much time for defences to reset. Speculative crosses someone called them, and although we've no CF at the moment we have enough quality players to benefit from them if we mixed it up a bit occasionally. We do create chances but either our finishing is woeful or we do one too many passes. On a separate point I thought Stuart A lost rather too many tackles and Che just a bit slow too: are they fully fit or just slowing with age?

Don't know that one, how does it go?.. There's always 'To be a Farmer's Boy', marching tune of the old Hampshire Regiment.

Yep. Presumably my local pub in the PO area has the red button on Sky, whatever that means. Not sure what the competition is that evening but they've split feeds before now so I'll go and dangle some turnover in front of them. There's a couple of other random Saints fans who occasionally go in so a vague chance. I'd rather spend £10 on a couple of pints than a dodgy feed.

I went along to the game today as a teammate had a ticket she couldn't use and Havant is a cycle ride for me. A patchy, scrappy game in all honesty and not such good football as I've seen before from Saints. The first goal was an OG as the number 6 tried to deal with a wicked cross, their headed equaliser was up the other end from a free kick and the number 9 left unmarked (although good movement). A back post header for our winning goal and although Portsmouth tried hard to equalise our subs helped see the game out, and started to get their passing game together, along with some excellent timewasting in their corners.. Edit: for those that don't know H&W is an artificial pitch which may have made a difference. I've trained and played on it and it's hard on the joints, plus plenty of petroleum jelly needed for your knees to avoid nasty scrapes..

I'll definitely check the replay..

Didn't I read on here that he wasn't that good, a bit pony in fact, and we shouldn't expect to get too much for him?

If he manages to outgrow his first babygrow unbeaten we'll get him the next size up!