John McGrath's Jockstrap

The thing nagging away in NA's mind must be that the team composed of fringe players and players frozen out by him did not produce any sort of performance whatsoever. Surely though it is flawed thinking in NA's mind that they would produce a 100% committed performance - but why should they want to spill their blood for a manager who isn't playing them?. If by fluke they had won ,great, if they don't , well - does it really matter for them personally?. If NA does get sacked at least they have a fresh chance to impress an incoming manager!!. Once this rot starts in the dressing room then normally it is the beginning of the end, and I think NA's comments after the match reflect this. I am sure Cortese has the game plan very clear in his mind and we have to trust him to make the right call.

As the interview says NA has to take the responsibility.On a slightly different slant why would Nigel expect that the so called fringe players would step up and produce a performance for him?. They are fringe players for a reason - and I am sure that Nigel has told them that they are and why they are. Why would you want to spill blood for a manager who doesn't play you/rate you?. You do not turn up at Leeds with an attitude of any less than 100% commitment and expect to get a result. My view is that there were certain players in that team - Davis, Chaplow,Guly,Butterfield, De Ridder etc who quite frankly have no allegiance to the manager because they are effectively frozen out of the first team. If he gets the sack ....so what??. The upside for them is that an incoming manager will make a fresh appraisal of them and they probably would take their chance on that. Once the rot starts it is very difficult to stop - unless you get a change at the helm (even though we know the tactic doesn't always work) .......have to trust Cortese's judgement to know when that time is reached......

Deano - many thanks and hope it isn't too rough going back to BHAFC. They clearly don't know too much about football unless they watched the last 3 years for Saints where you were the backbone of our promotions from the dark side. All the best !!!

Reading between the lines he is gutted to go. I think people forget as well as earning good wages there is a human element in all of this. Why would he want to go to Forest apart from getting a game every week?. It's not as though he had too much choice in the matter however knowing that a) his manager doesn't rate him in the PL, b) he would be warming the bench a lot. I'm sure his partner is overjoyed at the prospect of a year in Nottingham (not). Truth of the matter is...he is and will be a goal machine in the Championship, he isn't quite PL standard (especially in any formation except 4-4-2), he got us promoted at the time when we sucking air for scoring goals. Top bloke and if we get relegated we may well need him again.....and he will be warmly welcomed by all true Saints fans.....such is football !!. Ole Ole Ole Ole Billy Sharp Sharp!!!

Notwithstanding the point that you should never drive a car when consuming alcohol, it might have been helpful if Plod had tested him before the game on Saturday, as it would have explained his performance then.....

A lot has been said in the press about the "Southampton Way".....emulating the Barcelona approach. My point would be that farming these 2 out to average Championship sides on loan might not be the best developmental step for them......better to develop and monitor carefully in house. I also take Turkish's point that dropping them in prematurely would not be the way to go - however more starts in the right fixtures this season may have helped (Jamie Ward Prowse also in this category) - not only their development but intensify competition for first team places AND to rest regulars (our defence/ Hammond looked very leggy against Reading.

This has been a perennial problem for the last 3-4 years. We have had a succession of different players at RB and LB none of which have really claimed the position as their own. The current LB incumbent Fox has looked OK but would not convince in the Prem and Harding is better defensively (in my opinion) but no way Prem class. Similarly, although Richardson has had the RB slot most of the season he again has not really made the position his own - not Prem class (his first touch can be shocking) , and Butterfield - great distribution but poor defensive positioning - so again neither would cut it in the Prem. We have 2 outstanding young talents at LB and RB - Luke Shaw and Jack Stephens. At what point are these 2 going to get properly blooded in the first team?. It would be a baptism of fire to chuck them straight in at Prem level , but they need bigger game experience to develop, and it has seemed to be a missed opportunity this season. So when is the right time if the current first teamers are not doing it?....Thoughts all?.

Chaplow was subbed because he was on a yellow and given his foul ratio in 1st half he would not have lasted the whole of the 2nd. De Ridder came on and did well but we really gave up our centre mid from about 65 mins. Cork looked lightweight and we really missed Spiderman. Fox's distribution was poor tonight but Fonte and Hammond frankly looked completely out on their legs in second half. Reading were clinical up front and punished the lack of concentration by our CB's caused by that tiredness. This is not the end of the world - but Adkins is going to have to pull them up by their bootstraps for next week. I think there will be more twists and turns yet. Over to WHU to see if they can take the opportunity. Something tells me that they won't.....keep the razor blades in the cupboard for now......

I totally agree with Aussie Dog. What an indictment of a customer facing organisation if they can't string 2 words together. I'm certainly glad I don't have to deal with you as a customer if you think this is condesecending !. No wonder you aren't doing that kind of work any more if you think this is an acceptable way to correspond with people. I am sick to death of plunging standards of customer service - the excuse is always the same - we need it because computer says we do. Crap.

Often there is a lot of criticism of the management tactics..... but they got really got it spot on today against Palace. Palace were pretty much parking the bus in front of their goal today but playing with two up wide players most of the game with lots of 40 yard passes from the flanks switching the play finally unlocked it for us. Morgan was superb today. You could see from instructions that Guly was deliberately dropping deep therefore difficult to pick up.He is also a good header of the ball (apart from defending posts!) so very difficult for defences to pick him up on a run. I also loved the way Fonte was instructing Cork to sit in front of him on their goal kicks etc so confident he would win the ball in the air for Cork to pick up the 2nd ball !. Lots of good homework on Palace from NA and AC and it really showed.If only we could set up to same standard away...... but credit where credit due today !

I thought we bought Fox for his attacking threat but he does seem to stop 25 yds out to deliver diagonal (but sometimes good tbf) balls into the box. I really don't see much evidence of his so called attacking threat getting to the bye line behind defence and delivering really dangerous crosses. My main criticism of Fox is that he does get caught out of position too much..... and Llalana at the moment does not seem to have the energy and close down effort of earlier in the season. I think this is why Adkins made the switch vs Blackpool and Harding seemed to provide a better balance between attack and defensive cover. I also think for whatever reason we seemed to have more threat down the LH side in the last 20 mins vs Blackpool due to this. Good to see we have strong competition for place but Adkins needs to know who is 1st place LB is.

I have noticed in recent games that our pitch, previously commended (rightly) for it's quality, is noticeably cutting up badly in the pen area (at least at the Northam end). There seems to be much more sand/dry loam in it with a very bad bounce, cutting up etc. The pass/heads back of recent times from our outfield seems to be putting our keepers under more pressure as a result. I think this definitely contbributed to the Bart performance that he is (still) having nightmares about. Given that we like to play the ball on the ground from keeper out can't help feeling that at times this is an accident waiting to happen ?. This can be a glass half full/empty of course but given that most opposition keepers seem to hoof - I hope that that our groundsman gets the heavy roller out at HT just like the Rosebowl if we continue to play triangles in our box as we like to do!. Don't want to sound like Alan Titchmarsh......but can't help feeling that this is an accident waiting to happen?. Thoughts?.

Frankly, I don't really care. He is (was) a highly paid professional who couldn't handle his drink....hence the CPS decision. The major plus is that the other young lads at the club have hopefully watched and learnt from a sad incident. I think the club are also at fault for not properly coaching their younger players that they should avoid these situations at all costs whilst highly paid employees and representatives of the club. If he wants to get p*****d and play football go and play non league football......and that is probably what awaits him.....a waste for him and for the club.

From front to back..... KD was excellent. Back Four - Fox very professional and composed. Richardson's first touch is suspect but love his will to win. Hooiveld made very good choices the whole game. Fonte...off the pace today, and a great decision to sub him for Martin....he would have got a second yellow.Martin is a great prospect but his inability (which sometimes is good in a defender) to play it out will hinder his development. Mid - Guly....needs time out....too many passes astray which puts pressure on back 4, Chaplow - needs a lie down!!. MOM no question high energy/high commitment. Cork - where is the player we saw against Leeds etc and early games??.....he rarely won a tackle all day. Hammond.....worked hard, but really a Lge 1 player tbh.....frustration got his 2nd yellow. Upfront - Lambert was struggling today....but glimpses of brilliance.His pass into Guly denied by keeper was superb. Connolly - I am of the view that he really is at his best with Llalana.....they have a wavelength/intelligence. He was lightweight with hoof balls coming in today. SDR - what can I say.....his intensity today won us a point......NA is clearly working with his decision making - he will be a real asset second half of season. Will need Llalana and Barney back and soon..... Fans - we were superb today - best of all in the town centre lol !!.Crap location for a ground. A point won today.

Harding not really got going this season with injuries etc. We did need more cover than Dickson who undoubtedly would be exposed at this level defensively. Whether Fox was worth the 1.6M price tag is very debatable for me, defensively not as good as Harding (as well as link up down left with Lallana), but better dead ball delivery? - but a lot of money to pay for this alone !. It does take time for some players to bed into the team/living in the area etc etc.....as many threads have said probably too early to judge just yet. 2 interesting buys Fox and Forte. The jury is out for me on both - most of the time in NA we trust, but these 2 not at all convincing. In fact both FB positions are not the real deal for me despite the recent rave reviews for Frazer. My view is that longer term (might even be this season) that the real future lies in Shaw and Stephens. If you've not checked them out do so......

Why don't we just focus on building a new bus??

Darwin will always prevail. Enough said.

On a serious note, the 'presenter' should represent the public face of the club. Stuart Dennis looked like a man living on the edge of the dark side of 'something' most of the time, which probably meant he has watched us too many times; the new 'bloke' is, well,embarrasing as that public face of the club. Does the club not vet the performance of these people before hiring them to 'entertain' the fans - or is that asking too much and/or don't they really care??

In a word - no.

A mate of mine is on a break with his missus at Champneys Springs Leicester, came down for breakfast and was confronted by our esteemed squad getting their nosebag as well. This apparently is their boot camp until Friday it appears......

Don't see the fuss myself. Travel by tank. Problem solved.

Tearing up the bedsheets as I speak.....

As Nigel is thinking over things on his well deserved holiday, I wonder if he is pondering what to do..... The problem is this....if Chamberlain stays during the summer and next season (which we all hope) it cuts down on available transfer funds which we have to play with this summer. However, if a big club comes in during the early summer then let's assume we get £7-8M up front (if Cortese does his negotiating job properly) , which would enable us to buy say 3-4 high level Championship - bottom level Prem players with the money.....which could make us a true top 6 club...... The BIG issue is timing.....my question is - should NA be saying to Chamberlain's team we are going to set a deadline for next season planning - if you want to go - say by mid July - then we will have no option, but to support the move - which gives us some time to buy and bed in new players in pre season; if after this time - we will refuse all offers regardless?. If Chamberlain really loves the club this sounds like a sensible compromise?. Thoughts all?

Not sure why the Echo are talking DS up re "stiff competition to sign him"....this sounds like classic agent talk to get Saints to show the colour of their money. For what its worth I am not sure if he will fit the 2 year plan to get into PL - he looks like an average minus type Schneiderlin player to me. We need power and creativity in CM next year not somebody warming the bench. Adkins I am sure will make the right decision - he sees things that he does every day in training. But for me we need players eg Pratley, Danns and similar ilk.

Goodbye