saintant

Rather be a Derby fan me. I mean, imagine the excitement up there as they look forward to a vital match against Peterboro. And with both sides having nothing to play for it promises to be a feast of football. Hold on though, almost forgot, these teams with nothing to play for are only brilliant against Southampton. Yeah, stuff it...I've got a ticket for the Coventry match but I think I'll pop up to Derby and enjoy all the excitement up there instead. who'd want to be at St Marys to watch a crucial game that will see us win and get promoted?

You flatter Leicester...they weren't that good!

We could lose to Coventry on Saturday....strange things do happen in football. I mean West Ham might even beat Hull at home. Hold on though...two massive upsets on the same day...maybe not.

Perhaps for the health of a large chunk of people on this forum (and they know who they are as do the rest of us) it would be better if we don't go up. After all, these people are petrified at the prospect of of playing lowly Coventry at home. Imagine the sheer terror if we had to face Man Utd at Old Trafford - I think many wouldn't survive the stress levels. Better if we just throw Saturday's game and the play-offs.

Shock news just in....Chelsea players study videos of Coventry City ahead of tomorrow's vital Champions League tie. Di Matteo claims they are the nearest side to Barcelona in the world and is now confident he's figured a way to stop Messi and co. Meanwhile Nigel Adkins has his players studying videos of Barcelona as he knows that type of football is what his side can expect to face on Saturday. It's a funny old game.

So Hull will turn into Marks and Spencer Ladies second X1 as they have nothing to play for. Conversely, Coventry also with nothing to play for and the proud owners of one of the worst away records in the football league will arrive at St Marys, take to the field in front of a full house and defy belief by suddenly morphing into Barcelona - no, actually they'll even eclipse the standards set by Barcelona. They will weave intricate patterns all over a pitch where Southampton have a brilliant record but the Saints won't be able to get near these ball playing geniuses. At half time Coventry will lead five nil having missed three penalties. The only time Southampton will get out of their own half is when taking kick-offs. The Coventry players will be snapped up by Barcelona which is a pity cos that means they're back to square one next season with a ****e squad - maybe they should roll over so that all their quality players are not in the shop window. You know it makes sense. Not much point us even getting changed on Saturday!

No pressure on West Ham then? Am I missing something here? Why does everyone keep saying all the pressure is on us? Has anyone compared the home records? West Ham would be better off if their final game was away. We will beat Coventry comfortably on Saturday and West Ham may not even win against Hull - look at their home record which is pants. Too may panicking on here when we should still be very confident.

So surely the same will apply to Hull when they play West Ham on saturday. You can't just say only the team with nothing to play for against Saints will raise their game - also surely same for Leicester tonight. How much pressure are West Ham under compared to us? They have to win two and score enough goals to turn around goal difference whilst hoping we don't beat Coventry. If we were to calculate the pressure I'm sure there is way more on West Ham than us. Relax!

Since the only two options offered in this thread are either promotion tonight or promotion on Saturday by beating Coventry I'm not sure why anyone would prefer it tonight. Surely we'd all prefer it to happen in live play at St Marys in front of a capacity crowd rather than sat at home finding out West Ham have drawn or lost - where's the thrill in that? Now, if the offer is that West Ham win tonight and we are left in the lap of the Gods against Coventry I could understand people opting to take promotion today.

So Leicester won't bust a gut against West Ham but some think Coventry are suddenly going to sweat blood and produce a season best display against us.

Who else feels a bit down 2day? Ah let's see now....Coventry fans, Pompey fans, Doncaster fans, Rochdale fans. What's for us to feel down about? Still in our hands with one game to go against Coventry at home. It doesn't get any easier!

The league table does not lie. We have been top two every week so far for a reason. Equally, Coventry have been relegated for a reason. And the good news is - that idiot Bates won't be refereeing the game.

Can't believe people are scared of us playing Coventry for a place in the Prem. So who would we want to play then? Some say Coventry will be relaxed as they have nothing to play for. Well, the alternative is to be playing a side who do have an interest left in the season - how would that possible be construed as easier? So assuming we agree we want to be up against a side with nothing left to fight for who better than Coventry a team with a shocking away record, who will be minus one of their best players and who score few goals? Add to that the small matter that we've already tonked them twice this season and I have to wonder what some of you are afraid of. Surely if we could pick a team to play Coventry at home would be high on the list and for good reason. 32k roaring the team on at St Marys - if we can't win this we don't deserve to go up but let's at least view the game with some realism and perspective - we could not have chosen a better fixture to close out promotion so please stop trying to make out Coventry are suddenly going to morph into Barcelona at their best.

Just watched a re-run of the Football League Show which only confirmed my view at the time that the ref allowed Boro to take the free kick eaxactly where they wanted. Fonte is pulled up for a foul at least five yards outside the D on the right hand side. They place the ball two yards from the D just to the left of centre so ideal for a right footed curler. The referee made some disgraceful decisions including the fact that he stood and did nothing as Boro chose where they wanted to place the ball for the kick. Complete dereliction of duty at a vital time in the game. Master Bates is a very apt name for this clueless official.

Reference the point about our players trying to get a fellow pro sent off - I believe all the protesting came about because the ref informed them immediately that he was not going to book Hines. This despite the fact that he clinically scythed down Adam who was through on goal and would certainly have got a shot away. i think under those circumstances any group of players in the world would rightly feel aggrieved and rightly voice their total disbelief at such an unproffesional decision. I would love to know how that referee explains to the match adjudicators why he failed to give Hines even a yellow card for a tackle that was bordering on worth a straight red. There is nothing he could possibly say to justify his decision. I wonder if there is a single person who watched that incident who would side with the referee's decision - I somehow doubt it because it was just so clear cut as to be beyond argument. The only surprise to me was that Hines didn't start walking assuming a card was coming his way. Disgrace!

Sorry, that's rubbish. Watch the game again - we had all the clear cut chances and I can be gracious in defeat when it is deserved but we were clearly cheated out of that. Watch the handball not long after our goal - clear as anything and Adam Lallana appeals but of course, such an inept ref sees nothing. So it's ok that the ball was still in and Lambo had a clear run on goal then - that's not considered a game changing decision - get real. Again, a man should have been sent off and that's not a game changer - what is then? As for the free kick, yes all sides try to pinch a couple of feet but they took it on completely the wrong side of the D - it was yards from where the offence took place and the referee should have been aware of what was going on.

Officials cost us the game. No arguments, just a simple statement of fact. Four huge cock-ups made. We should have had a penalty in the first half for a clear handball. Sorry but if a defender holds his arms away from his body he is using them to try to block the ball - no different to lunging with your legs. The whole ball wasn't over the line when Lambo went clean through - likely that he would have scored. Don't even get me started on the way he completely bottled the sending off - that alone should be enough for him to have his badges taken away, absolute disgrace. Then there was the mystery moving of the ball for their free kick. The foul by Fonte was committed on the right half of the D yet Boro were allowed to take it on the left so that a right-footed player could curl it into the top corner. Watch replays of where the foul takes place and the kick is taken nowhere near that. We are still likely to go up but if we don't this referee has cost the football club millions - one of the most inept displays I've ever seen and he should be held accountable.

De Ridder must frustrate the hell out of the coaching staff. He has genuine pace, good close control and is not easily knocked off the ball, yet fails to terrorise defences in the way he should. He could do worse than studying a few videos of Aaron Robben, he might learn something. De Ridder must stop all the fannying about and become more direct. When he receives the ball his first thought should be either to drive down the flank at pace taking on anyone who crosses his path or duck inside and head for the penalty area. If he loses the ball sometimes I'm sure the fans will forgive him providing he balances that with some driving runs that open up opposition defences. He is capable of causing panic but not if he continues to disappear up his own backside rather than being more direct. Only once against Reading did he really drive at them but when he did boy did they panic and he got into the box to get a decent shot away. More of that please Steve and less of the pussyfooting around making crop circles on the St Mary's turf.

Have to go back to the root cause and that was the poor square pass played by Fox. There was absolutely no need to attempt it and I firmly believe that didn't just cost us a goal - it cost us the game. We were well on top at the time and Reading couldn't cope until that goal stalled our momentum and gave them a foothold in the game. Very expensive sloppy pass from an experienced pro who should know better.

Anyone who believes Ferguson will blood youngsters against us is living in cloud cuckoo land. He'll be desperate to beat us - and remember they beat Reading 3-1. He'll put out the strongest possible line-up available to him and will have them well fired up for the fight. We'll need to be right on our game and put in a full shift for 90 minutes and anything we get we'll earn - Ferguson will give us nothing for free. Still think we'll come away with the three points but it is highly unlikely to be a comfortable evening.

I think we will win but with a proviso. It is vital we do not concede cheap free kicks and corners because if we do Harte's pinpoint deliveries will hurt us. Hope Nige will be impressing this point on the players - the coaching staff are so thorough that I think that's a given.

Someone needs to teach him when to come short for the ball and when to drive forward for the ball over the top because he makes it very hard for the player in possession. He should be coming short taking a pass from Fraser then bombing forward for the quick ball over the top but he never does it.

To say we water our pitch to gain an advantage is rubbish. Does anyone seriously think we only water it on match days? I'm sure the sprinklers are on every day during dry spells. Our pitch is a credit to the groundstaff and gives equal opportunity to both sides to play proper football. The point about Blackpool's pich is that it had clearly been grossly overwatered up the centre yet the flanks were fine. Whilst there are no laws within the game to prevent this I don't think it is in the spirit of the game. All clubs should be responsible for providing a good playing surface and it's time referees were given the power to report clubs suspected of doctoring the pitch. That's not to say Blackpool didn't deserve their win because clearly they were the better side thanks to them having two quality wingers playing down the only decent areas of a shocking pitch.

I notice Jack Cork has claimed the Blackpool pitch was boggy. It did seem soft and our players were slipping all over the place at times. Has there been a lot of rain in Blackpool? If so it must be the only place in the country that has avoided the current drought. If I was playing the devil's advocate I might put forward a theory that maybe Holloway ordered the ground staff to over water it so that it wasn't conducive to our passing game. Surely that wouldn't happen...would it? Just my conspiracy theory as to why a pitch should be deemed boggy during one of the worst droughts in recent history. Must be selling a lot of brollies in Blackpool.

Woeful display today and thought we were very poor all over the park. Their two classy wingers Ince and Phillips ran riot down the flanks - would love them in our squad. We looked cumbersome, slow and devoid of ideas. Sharp had a shocker topped off by the penalty miss - he looked yards off the pace and it makes you appreciate just how good Rickie is. Need to get this out of our system quick and put in a good week ahead of the Easter fixture as we certainly can't afford another inept disply like that between now and the end of the season or things are going to get really nervy.