PokingFun

Unfortunately Derry, I don't believe that this method would be a high percentage strategy to achieve a short term plan. I mean, how long have Brighton and Bournemouth been scratching around in the lower divisions? Brighton seem strong, but Bournemouth are showing signs of cracking. We are showing signs of being well up to the task of promotion. To rely on hidden gems to get us up would be madness when we have some financial muscle for the league we are in. The scouting system should be identifying players for when we go up as well as a couple of additions for January. If a hidden gem comes along then fine, but it won't be the thing that gets us up, tried and trusted players in this league will though!

The reason behind this is simply that in previous seasons (before last year) we have been absolutely rubbish and lost more than we have won therefore it is natural that we would lose quite a few versus a new manager.

There is no new manager effect ..... sorry to disappoint ..... its a complete myth based on a study of actual results !

I think you lot should really stop egging each other on!

Probably the biggest myth in football!

Kelvin, 2 fantastic saves! Lambert still needs to play as he touch and game is good bringing others into play. Hammond, yes felt we missed him and NA rates him if you look at recent interviews. AOC, looks an absolutely fantastic prospect for us! Won the game today with his pace, trickery and a fabulous finish for his goal. The kid is good!

What, like B'mth, Sheff Wed etc who are top six as well?!?!

This is pathetic! What a **** take

I would suggest the sustained good form of last season is more than enough evidence that Pardew was capable of doing that. I think Adkins is doing well, but it is too early to say whether he can achieve the 2 points per game we will need on average to achieve promotion. I think the signs look very good but then I still felt we were not far away under Pardew and had we had some fortune in the first few games we would have been thereabouts as we have been solid defensively all season and it was a matter of time before our forwards started scoring. As for saying before Bristol Rovers no one would have cared if Pardew had gone, I really think you are way off the mark with that comment. Most Saints fans I have ever spoken to (and many do not frequent this site and are intelligent guys) have said they were happy to have Pardew at the helm. I was in that camp as well but think NA is also doing well. What will you say if NA draws the next two I wonder?

Ha Ha I like Wintonian's response! At least there are some sensible Cherries fans lol

Mick Channon?

Interesting that he played a lot of games last year for them and it seems that for whatever reason Ferguson doesn't fancy him and therefore he has been placed on the transfer list. There is no suggestion that he has lost any ability as he played 30 odd games last year so in L1 he should be very good for the division and a possibility of permanent if he does well given his transfer status. Slight doubt is the comment about having injuries to overcome last year but a risk well worth taken with a young, proven player from a higher division.

And we get revenue for a Box .... win win lol

What rubbish, Pardew had consistent results last season (averaged 2 points per game from October onward) so it's only really this season that you could call into question. I think his record last season and elsewhere in all seasons other than the Charlton debacle shows he can handle pressure alright, it's just for some reason or other we have had a slow start (and it probably is a combination of loss of fitness, preparation, loss of Papa and Antonio, injuries and so on). To say Pardew did not get consistent results after the initial period of Aug / Sep is laughable. Have a look at the average points per game in each month ..... it is usually between 1.5pts and 2pts per game (more often the latter).

Crikey are you still going today LGSC? Fair play to you for dogged resistance! I think we will agree to disagree on this one as I can see you feel very strongly but ultimately it will be a few more games before we know for sure whether NA has the minerals to take us up. He did it with Scunny so I have to have faith that he can do it with us as well but 4 games including three away and one where he had no preparation time plus the added disadvantage of Barney suspended, Lallana injured and Lambert still not firing suggests that he is doing reasonably well so far obviously in my opinion. If NA can sort out the home form (he has had one home game against a top 6 or so side) then gaining 3-4 points from every 2 away games will see us soar up the table with no problem at all. I respect that you feel differently, but we both want the best for Saints so lets wish NA luck and hope he can succeed. If he doesn't then I guess there will be another change at the end of the season or before and I'm not sure that would be a good thing either given our current state.

Well, let me tell you that away teams on average only ever win 25% of their league games and 25% are draws so a mid-table team would expect to take 2 points from the last two games. Norwich won the league last year averaging 1.75 per game and we have 4 points from the last two which is excellent return on away form. I'm forgetting the MK Dons game as NA had no time to prepare or anything. Give the guy time, he has done nothing wrong so far in my opinion.

He stuck with the same team that won away versus Sheff Wed though ..... your logic is flawed here. Why would he change the team after a good win? Holmes was decent against Colchester but maybe he is simply not fit enough to do 90 mins right now having been injured for so long last year ....

Extremely unfair on Pardew in my opinion. His record for us was excellent and who knows how he might have done had he not been sacked but going back on topic there is no reason yet for anyone to criticise NA. He has taken 5 points from last three games, 2 were away, we have conceded only 1 goal and I am confident the goals will come with confidence of winning.

OK, let me ask you a question ..... did you expect us to win away at Sheffield Wednesday? If not, then one can assume you would have been happy with 4 points over two games! Well, thats what we have got.

This thread is pathetic really. Pardew was a good manager, I think most people tend to agree that is the case but nonetheless we have had a poor start for whatever reasons. Nigel Adkins has had 4 games in charge and we have been defeated only once in those four games and that was in the first game with zero preparation time. Also, bear in mind that NA has had three away games in that four, the first of which was against a team that had won 6 on the bounce at home. He has also had some injury and fitness issues for some key players as well which is difficult to contend with when the squad is a little bare compared to last season. From 4 league games a mid-table team would expect to get 5 or so points so our form is mid-table right now based on 4 games and there are signs of improvement. You need to give the guy time to improve the team and he has already taken 5 points from 4 games which will be improved upon. The key thing for me is for NA to sort our home form out as 4 points from the last two away games is a decent return.

Ha Ha good retort Alps, a win is good, 2 clean sheets in a row and a chance next week to put Bournemouth in their place! Hopefully the upturn in fortunes will now happen but we need to be a little mindful that we are still short of cover in some areas of the squad. Still, 4 points from last 2 games is decent but that now needs to be the minimum for us to have a squeak of promotion / place in the play-offs.

OK, this is our record month by month during last season: August - 3 league games / 5 league points / Avg 0.6 per game / 2 x cup games September - 6 / 5 / 1.2 / 0 x cup games October - 5 / 12 / 2.4 / 1 x cup game November - 4 / 3 / 1.33 / 3 x cup games December - 6 / 12 / 2 / 1 x cup game January - 5 / 3 / 1.67 / 3 x cup games February - 8 / 4 / 2 / 2 x cup games March - 12 / 6 / 2 / 1 x cup games Apr / May - 9 / 17 / 1.89 0 x cup games I suppose if you were being picky you could argue that having 3 x cup games per month led to slightly lesser performance in those months but equally there were other months with no cup games where we averaged less than 2 points per game. This quite clearly shows that the main issue for us was the start coupled with the deduction when you look at the first two months. The cup had little to do with it as we averaged 2 points per game after the first two months which is league winning / auto promotion form. I would be interested to hear who you think might have been rested for the cup games and what improvement that would have made to our season. All I can see here is a team with a really good record month by month after the poor start and unfortunately the gap was too big to close in the end. Also, I don't actually recall that we had actually closed the ten point gap or ever got too close to 6th as the teams that ended up in the play offs continued to perform at a level that didn't allow our good form to close the gap on them. I think your view is harsh to say the least and most pundits I have heard from in the media suggest that to get us as close as we got was a fantastic effort.

I often hear that AP did not put L1 first last season but cannot recall any instances where our playing in the cups affected the league situation. It's not as if we had shed loads of injuries resulting from cup games last season that meant we were not able to compete .... What AP did do was play strong sides in the cups to maintain continuity and promote a winning mentality and he was successful at doing that over the course of the season post the poor start.

I don't even know who they are or why they exist and I certainly do not agree that the Liebherr family owe us any transparency other than what Nicola Cortese has already stated following Markus's sad death. I can't say I have ever agreed with anything any so called fans groups have ever stated, whether it is Saints or other clubs on SSN. Usually, it's some extremist mouthing off rubbish but the media boys do love a quote from an uber fan do they not?!

Who are SISA?