PokingFun

Handicap he was given is around -10 points based on his own record with Saints this season and the SAME TEAM as Pardew / Wilkins ..... I would say a 3-4 game less season than the rest is a big handicap to automatic promotion wouldn't you?

Man City are not and Chelsea are not and they have spent how much exactly ..... the people having a pop at NA on here are laughable, truly laughable ....

Only Man U, Arse, QPR and Brighton in any league of ours or above are doing better than NA .... do you get it now?

Its not common sense if the task was a massive one in the first place. Its great that were in with a real chance even after the **** start post Wilkins. Its not common sense that some of our fans are having a pop at a manager whose record in his respective league is up there with the best around in other divisions. As I posted before, only Man U, Arse, QPR and Brighton have achieved what NA has points wise so far this season as an average per game and therefore he deserves much respect to have that record and be in there with a very good chance of automatic promotion. His average over 20+ games is a reasonable sample to suggest that will continue and if it does we will be promoted, simple as that. If we do get auto then I hope everyone acting like gods gift here will give the man the plaudits he will deserve as he will have overcome a huge handicap that our start gave him regardless of what his brief from Nicola was. Lets be honest, whoever took the job was going to be told "promotion is a must" and I'm sure would have responded "of course boss" and get on with it which NA has done. Expectation is one thing but lets also have some realism and give NA some credit and support rather than question everything he does after a run of 4 unbeaten games (3 away) and 8 points ..... I dont give a **** about the performances, its results that count and overall NA is getting them!

In my opinion Saints are not far behind. We have a similar record under our new manager and also it's not that long ago that BHA had a 5 match sequence with no win. Every team can hit a bad patch. Our fans seem to think getting nearly 2 points a game in the last 9 games when 6 have been away games is poor! Cringeworthy.

I was replying to the comment that you have a better manager than us. NA record is as good as Poyet's.

At last some common sense prevails. We are a consistent side. Our rolling 8 games points average has been between 1.9 and 2.2 per game since NA arrived. That is consistent!! For those that dont understand, 2 points per game is VERY good. Only Man U, Arse, QPR and Brighton have achieved anywhere close to that average. This is a results business and so far NA results are as good as can be REALISTICALLY expected.

Brighton had a head start on us after the rubbish start caused by others this season, simple as that!

I agree that there is little point comparing the two records given the different circumstances but what both records do suggest to date is that the guy is extremely capable at this level and also at Championship level potentially given the right backing which he should get with us. His record with us to date also suggests he can handle the pressure as his points total since day one has been around 2 per game all the way through which is a good return if you ignore the unrealistic people that expect us to win every game regardless. Unfortunately for NA he came in after the poorest of starts and this is masking the true impact he has made with the team since taking over from Pardew / Wilkins. By the way, I'm not saying whether he is better or worse than AP, FWIW I think they are both very good managers but there is no doubt in my mind that had NA had the team in his hands for a full pre-season and start then we would be at least above Bournemouth and really pushing along with Brighton who are having an exceptional season. I don't think he has an issue with handling the pressure as he seems very calm and rarely panics from what I have seen to date.

How on earth can you say this above? He was managing in a league higher, over-achieving with a small squad and budget, that is pressure regardless of how you spin it! The expectation here will not have affected him and hasn't in fact. The guy is achieveing an average points tally of just under 2 points per game over 23 games which is auto promotion form. Its not his fault that between them Pardew, Wilkins and Nicola contrived to only take 4 points from our first 6 games before he came to us. If he had been here pre-season and achieved the same results as he is now then we would be on a points tally of around 57 (29 x 1.96 points per game) which would place us firmly in second with 3 games in hand on the team below us (B'mth). The fact is that if auto promotion does not happen this season then it will not be NA fault if he continues to achieve around 2 points per game between now and the end of the season. It will be down to the almighty f*** up that manifested itself during pre and early season before NA was appointed. In fact, NA has in reality had to overcome a 10 point deficit to improve from early season form to where we are now. I think some of you should look at his record based on results only and not our current league position as this is tarnished heavily by early season form (which he had no control of) and the fact that we have a fixture backlog. Anyone who thinks he should be doing better than 2 points per game is quite honestly deluded. That is rarely achieved in this league.

But beat Exeter, Carlisle and drew with P'Boro and Hartlepool (2 points per game despite 3 tough away games ..... )

Some of the guys on here are crazy bleating about the results of this team. I have detailed below the home and away points per game amounts achieved by NA since he came here (excluding the MK Dons game as he didnt work with the team for that one). Home Record Played 12, 27 Points Won, Average 2.25 per game. If this continues (and no reason it shouldn't as last 8 home games have achieved around 2.13) then we will achieve between 16 / 18 points at home from remaining fixtures. Away Record Played 12, 18 Points Won, Average 1.50 per game (1.64 if you exclude MK Dons and 1.83 if you base it on last 6 aways) then we will achieve between 14 / 16 points. My guess is that we will achieve around 32 points between now and the end of the season giving us a total of 81 points. Brighton 2.03 per game = 35 extra points from 17 games = 94 points = champions B'Mth 1.72 per game = 24 extra points from 14 games = 79 points Hudders 1.68 per game = 25 extra points from 15 games = 77 points P'boro 1.61 per game = 24 extra points = 71 points So, assuming teams continue at current form rates then we will get promoted and the key game is definitely not losing to B'Mth away in a couple of weeks. Beat them and we will be well in the box seat. They will have to come out and play against us as they will desperately need to beat us. A draw is actually no good to them and this should allow us more space to play in rather than cope with the proverbial bus parked. Another interesting point to note is that only twice in around 16 games has our 8 game average dipped below 2 points per game and that has been when we have had played an extraordinary amount of away games. E.g last 8 games = 1.88 per game even though we have played SIX out of eight away. Rest assured, were still in good shape and now have everyone back fit. There is no need to panic right now people. Take 6 points or more from the games versus Brighton, B'Mth, Charlton (H&A) then we will be on our way up given a usual run of form for all teams around us. I'm still certain some of those teams around us will drop many points yet. Now off to the bookies to see what price Saints are for Auto promotion. :-)

18 points out of 27 since 1st January and that 9 games incldes SIX away from home. That is pretty much excellent form this year. We are grinding out results when not playing as well as we can and also when we have player/s missing for games. I suggest we all wait until we have caught up our backlog before passing much more judgement on how we will finish. Some of you guys need to get real .... other teams have had a lot of home games in their recent run of form, we have not had this so should remain confident.

Some might call it realism that we wont win every away game this season regardless of expectation of fans ....

Full time, excellent result!!

Only dropable if we have a better keeper available. Bart is not as good as KD, about 6 previous managers suggest that so they cannot all be wrong surely?

We scored 4 goals FFS, defensively we were poor but not poor overall. Why can't people accept that we will not win every game. We have taken 10 points from last 5 away games which is excellent. We need to look at the bigger picture here. We are still achieving an average of 2 points per game. Continue that and we will go up. Most people getting wound up on here are simply knee jerking.

Arsenal? Have they not been champions before?!?! Man Yoo v Everton?!?! Your comment is untrue.

Thanks Go Go, much appreciated.

Hi Guys, I'm off to Guildford to see a mate today but want to see the game and he doesn't have Sky. Just wondered if anyone in the Guildford area knows of any pubs that will have the Saints game on instead of the usual PL game. Cheers, PF.

You say that but I work in an industry that has an Ombudsman and often they actually support the consumer rather than the organisation even though the organisation may have done something not quite right on a "technicality". Also, these Ombudsman type organisations are generally not too consistent in applying their own rules either as I have come across similar cases (in my industry) numerous times where we get totally different judgements (sometimes by the same person adjudicating). I don't believe the fact an ombudsman organisation saying anything one way or the other means one was right or wrong given my experiences but I do believe that if the club is a member of such an organisation then it should honour the ruling of such a body otherwise there seems to be little point in taking part .....

Easy enough to wander down to SMS for any fans view or wander into Soton High St and find any Saints fan for that purpose. Having said that, personally, I am happy to have my own opinion on all things Saints and really don't care what he (or any other fan) says to the press either as this guise of fans rep or not as surely football is simply a game of opinions and each individual has theirs and can easily put their own views forward including if there is a need to put someone straight should they be asked if they agree with the view of NI or any other fan, press report, and so on.

Particularly not Nigel himself. He has never said that this is not his squad so I suggest it is his squad and he is doing a very good job with it too. Every confidence in him.

Still the best passer of a football in this country. God knows how anyone wanted to play him left mid for England!

Not rating him at £1.5m + makes sense as Lambert only cost £1m and his record over a longer period was as good, if not better than Charlie Austin. On the Swindon link earlier someone stated that Sam PArkin went to Ipswich before and never reproduced the form he showed at STFC so that is an example of where these things can go quite wrong if the player has not been proven over a significant period of time. I would think £1m tops has to be about right for a L1 striker who has only proved himself over a short period of time as it is a gamble to sign someone like that in my opinion.