Red And White Barmy Army

Crewe for example. I thought this was going to be an excellent idea with only 10 or so academies, but the problem with categorisation is that all of the category A's are going to be put in the same group. So even if our academy is 10x better than Spurs/Reading, parents may well consider them of the same ilk when making the decision of which academy to put the next Theo in. It doesn't feel as special as I thought it would be, so although it may improve standards across the board, there has to be a risk that we won't get the preferential treatment that we deserve for being as good as we are. Further, where is the incentive to improve further once category A status is obtained? Are the standards going to get progressively more difficult every 2 years? Will chairmen of the best academies get complacent and only start investing further when the academy is in danger of slipping down a category? I think it would be better to score every academy out of 100 - for example 10 scores on 10 different items like coaching, sport science, academic support, etc, etc. And then maybe say the top 10 every season are category A. Next 10 are B, etc etc. That way the parents can make better educated decisions, the academies know where the most investment is needed, and chairmen have an incentive to keep investing and maintaining standards in line with the progressions that other clubs are making across England. Just a thought...

To the chorus of Paloma Faith - Picking Up the Pieces. original but probs too many words and a bit too pop ( ) Ri-ckie's knock-down And Jay is Picking up the Pieces He's scored again We're winning now And Saints are climbing up the table The lyrics look crap on their own but it sounded decent in the shower this morning.

I feel the song by The Saturdays is called for... but I can't really be bothered to think of some words.

oh rubbish. 17th?

Thursday 7th June 2012 AD. Probably 11.27am.

hmm good point but i don't think norwich and swansea have had that much 'experience' in their squad. qpr have on the other hand and were the closest to going down. i think the spirit is more important. And although chaplow and hammond aren't prem 1st team quality, hammond is our captain and both seem quality lads who help to maintain our cohesiveness. I just don't think Davis would be inspired to help the club reach new levels - as you say, he's seen it all before. If it aint broke, don't fix it.

sorry that must have been one of the worst uses of an appostrophe ever. *comes

This is exactly the type of player I DON'T think we need. We can't disrupt the squad by bringing 5/6 average signings - we need to be very careful and bring in the best players we can get in 2/3 select positions, i.e. RM and RB + either a GK or CB or striker if one come's available. I think Cork, Morgan and Hammond all do a very similar job to Davis.

The new Ted Bates statue goes wrong again.

We used to get them put up for televised matches only. Not sure if they are still doing this which is why it looks like everyone has got them, or if everyone has actually got them permanently now. But I agree, it does modernise the stadium's look a little bit.

4-4-2: Davis, Baird, Fonte, Hooiveld, Bale, Chamberlain, Morgan, Surman, Lallana, Walcott, Lambert. Subs: Niemi, Seijs, Dyer, Skacel, Jones. Gaffer: Burley... wait, Adkins. Jesus, that team would be top 8 in the premiership now with no problem

Did I mention that I need a ticket? c103@hotmail.co.uk pretty please.

Still on the look-out and refusing to resign myself here! c103@hotmail.co.uk if there is just 1 spare ticket floating around please!

If that guy (or anyone else) only wants to sell both of them together then I would be more than happy to go in the cov end with any other loners out there!!

Still searching for a ticket! If anyone has one spare, or knows of one going, then please e-mail c103@hotmail.co.uk

My hat's still in the ring and I really am desperate! missed out last year despite having a ticket due to unforescene circumstances and now can't seem to get to this one for different reasons! Times like these when I consider getting a season ticket despite living over a hundred miles away for most of the year! c103@hotmail.co.uk

Is it still available Ant? If it is, or if anyone else has one spare, could you please e-mail c103@hotmail.co.uk thanks!!

I would very much like 1 ticket please! c103@hotmail.co.uk thanks!

Jesus Leicester are crying out for a 4-5-1 here. Need a DM to stop Nolan and wingers to stop the full backs getting forward so much. Come'on Nigel Pearson, you know you still love us. Just stop these bloody crosses and tear apart their gaps on the break.

2 tickets pleease! Only just found out that I can make the match. Will be around Hampshire until the game if I need to pick them up sooner c103@hotmail.co.uk

Well made program? Are you serious?! Had biases left right and f*cking centre. Conveniently put in the bit where Flavio Briotorri (sp) told them to put on a certain player and then cut to a clip of him scoring a header a bit later on. I wonder how many times he told them to send on a player who fell on his ass. And they did well to brush over the quick hiring and firing of Paul Hart for some reason. There was something else which came to mind which I can't remember now. Made me feel very very lucky to have Cortese tbh! He may have a touch of arrogance about him but it is nothing compared to those freaks.

B for sure. 1) I don't want to see the skates disappear - rivallry between 2 professional clubs is a good thing. 2) Promotion would be tainted - we have worked hard enough for long enough to deserve a clear conscience when it does happen. The challenge we bought into at the beginning of the season was to be in the top 2 after playing 46 games. We couldn't win the away leg of our rivallry. Sucks to be us, but West Ham still had to go to Millwall, etc etc. My conscience isn't comfortable with effectively gaining 2 points (potentially 5 if hyperthetically speaking there was a shock result at SMS later in the season) due to something we didn't control. We didn't win the game at Fratton so we deserve to be 2 points worse off than we could be. If anyone can be comfortable with gaining points that weren't as a directed result of what happened on the football pitch then I question where they would draw the line... paying the ref etc? 3) If we don't get promoted this season then it will happen soon any way. 4) The skates (and others) will be whinging forever more. The players and staff deserve more credit than some of the criticism which will undoubtedly come out of it. 5) I want them to exist for long enough so we can play them (and thrash them) in April. 6) Players can become conditioned very easily - if they're subconsciously thinking that they can gain points without putting effort in or without winning some of toughest games of the season, then you never know when a player might prefer not to track back or to play a half-hearted ball into his own midfield. I just think it's better that we limit our confounding psychological variables because the players seem to be in a good place right now.

It is good that NC is listening to the fans as individuals in a sensible environment where things can be discussed properly. He also has the opportunity to communicate with the fans without the media getting hold of any evidence or direct quotes which can be twisted. If some of the main snippets filter through to the fans then that's good. I'm sure in an ideal world he would like to communicate with every single one of us without external influences of media etc but I'm sure he wouldn't be able to say half the things he seems to without sensationalist media trying to undermine him. This club feels extremely stable at the moment and it is by-enlarge down to his tight-grip. I do think he could still do the fans forums but you can see why he doesn't want to - it takes 1 muppet (media or fan) to start ranting on about something, and all of a sudden the media thinks that it is a view representative of larger sections of the fan base. Thus stability is lost. If he publically updated us every time a brick was laid on the training ground or a plan was drawn up for re-developing SMS then lots of people would jump on the bandwagon. And then something inevitably goes wrong or NC changes his mind about something (which he is perfectly entitled to do) which leads people to start thinking he is not in control of a situation. Equals more criticism and less stability. Who wins? As for the closed minded individuals who think these meals are a 'waste of time', I guess they might be a waste of time for you because you have to sit on a message board for days and get in an argument with everyone who disagrees with you. These are a good way to communicate straight to real fans in a controlled environment where matters can be discussed sensibly. If they don't interest you then so what? Some of the information does interest me and plenty of other supporters even if it isn't 100% reliable all of the time. And it clearly is of interest to NC because he has taken opinions on board and acted upon them. Take the catering for example. He is open minded enough to listen to a variety of opinions, which is probably why he is an extremely successful business man.

Was an absolute rock for us. Spoke to a couple of Reading fans who were moaning at Coppell for letting him go on loan while their defence was falling apart iirc

I pointed out that he listed himself as a director of SFC on his linkedin page a few months ago