Crouch Ender

17 mins of music on 01271 number, then straight through - no ringing in between which took me by surprise but thankfully managed to compose myself enough to book the tickets...

He travelled to West Ham with the squad, along with Bart, Harding, De Ridder and Barnard - none of whom made the match day 16. This group were out warming up on the pitch beforehand, leaving when the 16 came out for their warm-up. So it appears he's fit but not being selected at present, most likely because he was a bit off the pace v Millwall (as I undertstand it - I wasn't there) and Puncheon has claimed his place (in effect).

The bottom line with Alpine is he's a Saints fan who doesn't actually understand football. It seems this poster is in the same boat.

The fact that this thread has focused on the missed header tells you all you need to know about his defensive performance. The lad done well.

You're spot on - and I'm pretty sure it was reported that way too.

171 all out with a lead of 201, that is - as I'm sure you meant to say. Let's hope they can.

Not really as Sir Woody came back in post 83 to imply that today's medical was for the Tunisian defender. He made no comment on the De Ridder transfer that had happened since his initial post.

You're right that there's not going to be an article taking him to task about it. But it is the sort of thing that the Observer's 'Said and Done' column may well pick up on when it resumes after the season starts - exposing hypocrisy is its stock in trade. They've certainly drawn attention to Redknapp's bull plenty of times, e.g. see http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jan/16/said-done-fifa-eddie-howe. Someone could always write in to the journo there drawing his attention to Wenger re AOC etc. - but then as DD says they all do it so what's the point...

Van Persie scored didn't he? After those 2 Delap headers. Wigley was still in charge then though.

OK, I'm laughing now as you had me fooled before. Very good.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry... Deppo - how many games do YOU think it is since we've won, likewise since we've kept a clean sheet? Please do have a think about it before sending this, fella.

Barney had been getting stick from the home fans all afternoon so this didn't surprise me - evidently his Southend pedigree counted against him. I was in the West Stand myself (not behind the goal where those Orient fans are ) and several Saints fans got escorted out by stewards after he scored - with a few fists flying at one point. As for the game, second half was definitely smash n grab, first half we played much better but hey, that'll do nicely.

You're right he didn't play wing back but as I remember it Van Damme was on the left wing and Jones on the right wing, with 5 in midfield altogether. But Van Damme was certainly no winger and Jones was totally out of his depth and got moved to partner Crouch pretty swiftly, but the whole first half was awful anyway. Camara made all the difference in the second and we then made a game of it.

The Channon goal gets a nice little write-up in a Guardian piece from last year about great team goals - it's no.3 on the list: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/jul/17/joy-of-six-great-team-goals

So Millwall would rather be in the play offs than get automatic promotion then? Pull the other one....or is this another wind up? The outcome is a bit of a shame though.

Agreed - no booing for Cortese evident from where I was in 542. Big jeers for Marcus and lesser cheers for Nicola but cheers nonetheless. Only heard booing when the Carlisle team was announced and of course when they didn't carry on the Mexican wave.

I wholeheartedly agree with the second part of your post. And this is precisely why Winkleman can't be considered a 'top bloke' in my book, no matter how decent and down to earth he appears. But alas, I don't think you're right about them disappearing - as has been pointed out their attendances are the 6th highest in the division. They have arguably currently found their 'natural' level - being in the top half of L1 and either challenging for promotion or not being too far off that. I'm sure AFC Wimbledon will get promotion to the FL at some point soon but would they be able to match the MK crowds if they get to L1?

I just got the last seat left in the Itchen or so I was told. Otherwise they'd have been putting me at the back of the family centre - thank Marcus it didn't come to that. Don't ask why I hadn't sorted this out before. V quick getting through on the phone though fwiw.

?? Leeds lost 2-0 away to Exeter on 16/1. Which puts our result in perspective perhaps. The play-offs haven't been realistic for a while anyway.

Reading some of the comments on this thread about Ormerod reminds me why I rarely bother to visit this site these days. He was 'an average L1 player' apparently - well I like that kind of 'average', given that when we bought him in November 2001 he'd already scored 20 goals for Blackpool at that level in that season. The fact that he continues to play in the division above L1 also demonstrates what 'an average L1 player' he is, doesn't it? As for his time with us, he was 'sh*te', apparently, simply running around a lot. OK, so he didn't score a hatful of goals at Premiership level (do you really think Barnard would?). But given that he played in a strike partnership which enabled us to finish 8th in the Premiership, does 'sh*te' really sum Ormerod up? Not unless you have minimal understanding of the game, I would suggest. But anyway, welcome to Lee Barnard, and yes let's hope him and Rickie do the business together.

Sad news indeed. Not long ago but I'll always remember the fantastic atmosphere when we played Southend the last league game of the season in 2006. We beat them to get into the play-offs - they were already relegated. The shared chanting for Bally was brilliant - as was the way their fans clapped those of us who went passed their coaches after the game.

...whereas at half time you perceptively said 'What a load of crap! normal service resumed!' Great result and a convincing performance by all accounts - as others have said, it feels really good to be a Saints fan right now.

Same here. Leeds hit the ground running that season - they'd retained Wise as manager so he had a full pre-season with the players and was able to instil the siege mentality that enabled them to claw those points back. Bates also took back control of the club after administration. So they had a measure of stability that we simply have not had since our relegation - it's not a valid comparison.

The columnist explains why he didn't choose that in his bit about the Saints goal.

http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=15030