Lymington Saint

I was also under the East Stand for the Villa game but towards the Milton End. Remember passing some very disgruntled Villa supporters on the way back to the car. Probably a sign of age but the cup is not what it was despite the BBC hype. Going to be one of the big teams that wins it again this year.

Brian Clough on Centre Forwards 'Get hold of the ball, keep it because it is yours, then give it to someone who can play' Problem is that the ball seems to bounce off him most of the time, and when he does get hold of it he rarely makes decent passes.

Lowe thought that appointing football managers was like appointing managers in business. You make appointments individually, not buy in a team. This was why Moyes didnt come. Lowe also believed in promoting through the ranks - hence Steve Wigley and Stuart Gray. Again, common in business but very unusual in the world of football. I think that this season is gone. Whoever we bring in has to be building for next season and try to move some of the deadwood on in January. I just want to see a team that it well organised, playing to a sensible system and players giving their best. Not much to ask really. And enjoy a few games.

I can't remember ever being less bothered about a Saints result. I think that we are all resigned to relegation this season. An intransigent manager and an ownership that is completely disengaged from the fanbase. I think that we have collectively given up and I can't see a repeat of the kind of protests that got rid of Branfoot. Which would probably be ignored anyway. Just have to hope that by the start of next season RM is gone and either SR are gone or they have got a competent CEO and someone who knows about recruiting players. Otherwise next season is going to be equally miserable.

I was in the West Stand for the Port Vale cup game - which turned out to be Branfoot's last game. My memory is of the directors box being surrounded at the end of the game by irate supporters giving the directors a hard time. He was gone the following week. Not sure that there is the same level of vitriol at RM. He is simply out of his depth. Problem at the moment is that the owner is distant and SR simply don't engage the supporters very well. Plus SR making really poor management decisions is looking like a habit, and sacking yet another manager makes them look even more incompetent.

RM gone now surely

Time to hide behind the sofa

This. They are either not looking and going to stick with RM for the time being. Or else they are looking at options and struggling to find someone any good who wants to take us on. Suspect that it is more likely to be the latter. Especially as SR know that get it wrong again and they are going to get binned.

Think the quality of the football may be part of the problem

First half was OK. We were set up differently and getting the ball forward quicker. Was much better than recently The real problem is game management and RM is clueless. We could all see that the Leicester right winger was causing havoc and the subs made no sense. He clearly doesnt make good decisions during a game and at Premier League level you just have to be able to do this. Expect that he will be gone by Monday

Interesting article in the Mirror popped up on my phone. Not sure how much credence to give it, although it does ring true. Says that the board are split on sacking RM. Ankerson still backing him. Says that the owner is not impressed with RM, and that Ankerson is also under scrutiny. My guess is that a couple more losses, especially if we don't beat Leicester, then RM will be gone.

Problem was in midfield and up front. Aribo and Smallbone really struggled. Was better late on when they were replaced. What was Armstrong and Diaz hugging opposite touchlines all about? Think RM needs to bring in some of the new guys from the start at Brentford

We have had this before. The problem is that the spur from the docks line westwards to Central was filled in and is now part of the school playing fields. So even if the old Northam station was rebuilt trains could only go north. The place for a matchday station is actually north of Northam road on the main line. Unfortunately there is a traincare depot there now and there isn't room. Think that we are stuck with having to walk back to Central. Although I would love to see the bridge over the railway rebuilt to be twice as wide to stop the bottleneck going up the steps I agree with you about improving the existing facilities. SMS was built as a functional stadium without too many frills. I can't imagine that the economics of expanding SMS are that great. Much as a 40k+ stadium would be great, if SMS was 35-36k, then I think that it would be enough.

https://www.westhamzone.com/transfers/west-ham-united-ready-to-open-exit-talks-now-in-new-flynn-downes-transfer-update/ This just popped up on my phone. No idea how reliable it is but would like it to be true

Frank worthington. Caused an accident on a motorway and drove off as he had a speaking engagement. Got a hefty ban. Also appeared in court in US numerous times for driving offences

Just watched it. Not an easy watch, but in an odd sort of way an uplifting programme. One fantastically brave man. If you haven't watched it then it is really worth picking up on iPlayer. Given all the nonsense going on in the world at the moment it does kind of put things into perspective

I am another one with it stuck in my head. Have a look at the vid below. Not sure who they are, but the footage of the post final whistle celebrations from 12:12 in is pretty good

McC commanded his box brilliantly yesterday. Couple of his punches went miles. Baz just isnt big enough to be a top keeper

We seem to have a plan B. 3 centre backs with wing backs really suits the players that we have. RM set us out yesterday to be hard to beat and Leeds barely had a sniff at goal. Play 4-3-3 as at the start of the season and we will get regularly hammered next season. It's not as good to watch, but way more effective against better sides.

In rugby the ref is miked up and clearly in charge. He asks what he wants checked it is put up on the screen and everyone can hear the conversation. In football the VAR team are in charge which undermines the refs. The idea of VAR is good but the execution is terrible. Had we had VAR at the LC Final then Gabbiadinis first goal would have stood.

I seem to remember that he was interviewed for the Saints job in the early 2000's while still at Preston. Wanted to bring his coaching team with him (normal in football), but Rupert Lowe wanted him to work with the existing coaching staff (normal in most businesses). Showed RL's lack of understanding of how football works (again). Would have been interesting to see what would have happened. We ended up with WGS, which was great until he realised that he couldn't work with RL any more.

Main memory is Derby kicking Gareth Bale out of the game at St Marys. Typical Billy Davies side.

Agree with most of the comments here. Rothwell's one redeeming feature is that he knows how to hit a football cleanly. Looks lost in midfield though. Brooks is clearly talented, but just doesnt work hard enough and disrupts the team. Neither fits RMs way of playing

Think it would have been simpler to make the league cup just for EFL clubs and stick with replays in the FA cup. This would free up midweek dates early in the season for Prem teams if that is what they want

So given that we aren't going to finish top 2, who do we want to finish 3rd? i.e. assuming that we don't mess up the play-off semis (big if given our current collapse in form). then who do we want to play at Wembley. My view is that our best chance is if Ipswich finish 3rd - even though we have lost to them twice this season.