The Kraken

Yeah everyone. Get behind the team FFS! Wiltshire Saint hasn't been to a game this season, but we should get behind the team like he does. Or says. Whatever, he's obviously studied the game in some depth and is very knowledgable about such matters. WS; you're obviously a very poor wind-up, or worse, a complete moron. I'm guessing (and hoping, for your sake) it's the former.

I've got a feeling we'll start 4-5-1 for this one. Not sure about who will start on the left, perhaps Connolly in a more defensive position than normal. If Lallana is out, it'll be interesting to see how we get by without one of this season's star performers.

The pair of you may remember it the same, but you're both incorrect; it was Dan Harding that backed off and allowed Williams too much space. Just watched the goal on youtube to make sure and Mills is backing up for Harding, so very unfair to blame Mills for the goal.

I very much agree with Verbal; I very seriously doubt that Hampshire Police would allow a groundshare. Imagine the logistical nightmare they would have with 15,000 Pompey fans descending upon Southampton every other week; it would be a policing impossibility. And given Pompey's pathetic level of support, plus the fact that plenty would refuse to make St Mary's their home, the cost of policing offset against our cut of the ticket share would mean it probably wouldn't make financial sense for them either.

Wes, while I do agree with you, there's just no way it will happen. The problem lies at the heart of having supporters trusts/associations in the first place. Just relying on quotes from Joe Bloggs, Saints fan isn't enough for the print media; personalities are given credence by having a title. In the case of NI its chairman of the Saints Trust. In the same article, Mick O'Callaghan as a representative of SISA. Now I wouldn't have a clue how to "join" SISA, from what I hear it would be near impossible, yet the Echo still routinely use these mouthpieces due to the title they ascribe themselves, and I guess its a very quick and easy way to get a quote that sounds like the reporter has actually done some research. There will never be any individual who can accurately report the views of all Saints fans into one sentiment. The Echo often prints selected views from individual fans, particularly after games. However, they will always revert to the same old faces for a quick quote, just because they have a formal title. That the title itself is redundant doesn't seem to matter...

Exactly this. All this bloke has to offer is constant sermonising about what a super duper fan he is. The latest article is no different. And he doesn't half come out with some absolute nonsense. I'm not entirely sure how attendances are related to our ability to make the playoffs, but there we go. He just needs to stop spouting off about being such an uber-fan and get on with just supporting the club without criticising others who do it in their own way.

I think you only have to read a small number of the threads on that board to realise the average mentality of people who frequent it. There's some crackpots on this forum for sure, but they're eminently more tolerable than some of the complete mongtards there seem to be on there.

As spectacular as some of those mentioned are (and I'd probably go with Connolly's against Norwich) I feel a shout out to Lallana's against Norwich is worthwhile, for the fact that it was a really slick move with excellent movement and interplay that cut their defence to ribbons, with a crisp, unstoppable finish.

Because, until Feb 20th, we have 11 games to play. A number of them against some pretty decent sides in this division. Now I don't think for a minute that we should go into any league game looking for any less than a win. On an individual basis it's how we should approach every league match, home or away. That said, I feel it's entirely unreasonable to suggest that it is unacceptable for us to lose any of the next 11 games. Are you saying that if we won 10 of those games and lost against Colchester, we should deem that form as unacceptable? Besides, it's a quirk of football that you sometimes don't get the results you deserve, and through the course of the season we (and the other teams around the top) will have to endure a "shock" defeat. It what happens, and you have to look at overall form rather than focussing on one-off games. I'd suggest that, if we're looking to achieve promotion, we probably can't afford to lose more than 1 or 2 of the next 11 games. I just don't agree with the sentiment that to lose just one of them is unacceptable.

What a ridiculous thing to say.

The only way I'd support a winter break would be if the clubs were forced to actually take a break, and that any friendly fixtures (even those behind closed doors) were strictly forbidden. This will never happen with the Premier League; the greed of all involved would just mean that they'd all be off to the Far East are other far flung regions of the globe to top up the bank balance, thereby making the true value of a winter break totally redundant.

Absolutely right. It's nice to play the fantasy football "who should we sign" game but Pardew has previously pulled quite a few rabbits out of the hat with some top signings that not too many people predicted or suggested. It's a very nice feeling to have a manager in whom you can place so much trust.

True, but there is also a great deal of mileage to be gained from adding to the mix with experienced pros from a higher division; Jaidi being a point in case. It's all about getting the blend of the team right. I think the team can get by in most areas of the pitch, though of course we can always improve. But I'd definitely like to see us sign another striker; I believe Lambert hasn't missed a game for us yet, and our style is very much defined by playing through him. I think Beckford is an unrealistic target, but he's certainly the type of player we need to be looking at, somewhere in the middle of the attributes of Lambert and Connolly.

He's going down, he's going down, Droopy's going down...

They just showed the Leeds goal on Sky Sports News. Nice finish, but a little disappointing we seemed to allow Snodgrass the freedom of Elland Road to pick up the ball, turn and pick his spot.

According to Alan McInally on SkySports, we can be disappointed to come away with nothing, as we matched Leeds all were just beaten by one very good goal. Disappointing, but I always considered Leeds to be the class act in this division, so no disgrace at all. Just need to pick ourselves up for Exeter, a convincing win in front of a big crowd will get us going again.

Bottom left

I'm not at all convinced that Plymouth would get anywhere near to capacity in the PL; all these "plastic" fans have gotten by without Premiership football for a very, very long time so I can't see why 35,000 extra would suddenly start following just because they're in one higher division. That said, you have to give credit to Plymouth as a whole for getting their arses in gear and achieving a successful bid. Something that was well beyond our own turgid rabble of civil servants. It's very much to the detriment of this city and beyond that we didn't come close to entering a bid ourselves.

Do we know if the away goals rule is in effect?

How do you "lose" a leg of a two-legged fixture?? You can be behind after one leg, you can score less goals than another team in one leg, but you can't "lose" it as it is just 90 minutes of what is known to be a 180 minute game. To suggest you can "lose" a leg suggests the first and second legs are completely separate, when of course they're not.

Excellent; let's leave it there then.

And Torquay's official site list it as a defeat. http://www.torquayunited.com/page/Fixtures/0,,10445,00.html

Yet Norwich have the game listed as a defeat. http://www.canaries.co.uk/page/Fixtures/0,,10355,00.html So I guess Torquay have got it wrong...

Seriously, if it means that much to you, take it up with the OS. They're still listing it as a WIN. The mentalists.

As long as the OS continues listing last night's and the Torquay games as WINs, I think NickG should keep his list the same. Especially as it quite clearly winds up the forum pedants and depressives so much.