PokingFun

Disagree that Connolly is finished. He still looks like he can do the job when unleashed at this level, its just that we have better options in Lambo, Guly and Barney. Still useful to have him here until the end of the season as we won't get better "cover".

This is absolutely bang on Bill!

Thats the point though, our squad is now almost at an optimum level. They are all needed and there is not a player I can think of that does not come in and do a very good job when called upon right now.

Alpine, if Lallana gets injured for a length of time then there is not a player that can replace him and we already have some cover in the form of Ryan Dickson. You seem to fail to grasp that if we are getting injuries then other teams are also going to be in the same boat its just pot luck as to exactly who gets injured. At the moment we have 2 x good keepers, 8 x good defenders (cover for each position), 3 x good CM's plus Gobern, 2 x good midfielders for each wide position, 4 x quality strikers plus Doble. In addition there is also any youth prospects that may be under the radar at the moment. That all says to me we do not need to strengthen unless we sell someone, E.g. Punch. I also don't expect NA to sell Punch unless we get a stupid offer AND we can get someone in as well. The worst thing we can do is to buy / loan for the sake of it and lower the quality of the squad. We have stability and balance at the moment and that has contibuted massively to recent form. No need to bloat the squad with "cover" players who won't have a hope in hell of being the desired quality in the Championship as we can get loans in if we have a mini crisis (which would just be bad luck). I have said it before and will say it again, if we do not go up automatically, it will be absolutely nothing to do with cover in the squad as most of our players are good enough to get into the starting eleven of most L1 teams, even those teams in play-off positions now.

Maybe the clubs we have been bidding to don't want to sell their better players?

Comoli and Fergie in the stands .... uh oh!?!

In my mind I think all we need to do is pick up an average of 2 points per game (i.e. win our home games and draw or better in away games on average). That is achievable based on our current form and if we continue that then we will end up either 1st / 2nd as no other team seems capable of 2 points per game in this league other than Brighton. 2 home wins and 2 draws I'd be very happy with but 7-9 points should be the minimum target. If we can get 10 or more then that will be excellent.

I was in there as well and had no problem with the kids but have to admit I was very disappointed that the club had not thought to at least allocate everyone who had paid for a ticket (including those that had a child going free) a seat. I agree on this point with GM that the club surely must have known how many people were coming as they sold an individual ticket for each person, even the kids had a ticket although they were going free so there is no excuse for not knowing how many would turn up. Other than that though the kids had a great day (pics with Barney and Lambo as they were leaving made them very happy), we won well and we all went home happy.

What do you think of the result though Alpine?

He missed the bit where they were singing "you're not famous anymore" like every other club that visits St Marys these days ..... to be fair to him, he is quite protective of their achievements and rightly so but the chants are friendly banter really and I'm sure he knows that really. Anyhow, we might play them again next season as that PL bottom half is pretty tight!

Nothing wrong with that at all, but to build for next season we should be only looking at players capable of playing at play offs or better in the NPC and those players are hard to come by when we are in L1. January window is not the best time for signing those sort of players unless we are willing to break the bank which is not sensible either. NA and NC have said we will bring players in if they improve what we have got and thats a good philosophy in my opinion.

No team has cover for every position (well not two in each position of the same calibre anyway). Under NA this team has been as consistent as it gets in L1 so I would suggest that means we have every chance of automatic promotion and if we didnt sign another player but kept everyone we currently have then we are in good shape. Our third and fourth string CB's were good today, Bart was decent, we have a great midfield for this league and striking riches most only dream of. If we get an injury crisis then that will be bad luck. You cant pay players in L1 to sit around doing nothing on the off chance a crisis might come. Remember most teams are going to be weakened more than us by their own injuries / suspensions. My guess is that we will be fine.

Yep, definitely a coincidence as I beleive he cannot speak English let alone read it ;-) ... great goal by the man today!

I think a more central role suits him much better than being a typical winger. He can influence the game more from there rather than relying on pace and crossing.

I know, lets face it, not so long back we were 22nd and going nowhere according to some on here and now we are 2nd its still not good enough for them. Today was very very good and if anyone tells me that Blackpool side today wouldnt cut it in our league then they're talking rubbish. Its easier to finish outside of the top two than in it in any league, just ask Chelsea right now!

Point is we have a stronger squad than anyone so if we do not add to it that will NOT be a reason for failure and I think Adkins and the players know that. No one has sadi we will walk the league but i think there is naturally an air of confidence about our prospects and why not.

Have you not noticed we have won 4 games in a row now?

To be honest even booing Euell was cringeworthy. I cannot recall him doing anything to warrant any abuse other than being in a ****ty set up which was not his own doing.

Good man, that was exactly my point! :-)

TDD, calm down pal, I included myself and a few notable posters with a winky thing ..... my point is things are progressing well regardless of what rantings happen either way on here .... have a well earned beer buddy, it's been a good weekend!!

Well, thank christ Nick G, Alpine, Delldays, Pokingfun et al aren't in charge eh fellas?! ;-) Why cant we just enjoy our progress. I mean, we are making progress aren't we?

Every team has to cope with a player out of form here and there. It does not necessarily follow that the answer to the problem is to throw money at that problem and make things worse possibly. Just look at Ipswich and Roy Keane ....

I have done so and our record is about as good as most other teams in the league last year even after the poor start when we were still building. We lost only 6 games away from home all season and only Charlton and Brighton lost less (5). Leeds and Norwich had more wins and went up but technically we finished within 3 points of Leeds who had a worse home record than us. To say we would not have won away today if Pardew was in charge is just plain wrong Alpine. How many wins away exactly do you expect any team to achieve?

Make that 4-1 Austin again!

Why do you have to be so radical with your comments about NA and the associated sarcasm? I don't see anyone think he walks on water, just comments that he is doing a very good job for us in the early part of his career. I don't think anyone can dispute that at all. Averaging over 2 points per game assuming it continues (and there is no reason to feel it wouldnt) is simply a good effort that will get the automatic promotion we need and god like status does not come into it. Contrary to what you think, it is not easy to get a team full of perceived stars for the level to perform consistently (E.g. Chelsea right now) but that is exactly what NA is doing so at L1 level. If we all took your view then NA is clearly on a hiding to nothing as if he gets the team up anyone could have done it but if he was to fail he would get slated. With you he cannot win.