derry

One of my favourite players. I often thought Ted didn't give him a fair crack because when he did he always looked a good player. I was in the Milton boxes the day he scored a header from just inside the penalty area. Ted brought in Gordon Brown a player from Derby to allegedly clinch promotion at inside left, he was rubbish and Brian was restored for the run in delivering vital goals. He was very good in the air and not bad on the ground and a good tackler. I thought he looked a lot taller than the 5' 11" he is reported to be. After leaving Saints he had a good career at Grimsby. I was sorry to see him leave. There is a very good obituary on the official site. RIP Brian you are fondly remembered.

Possession in itself is a false situation as it's what the team is doing with the possession and how many goals, shots, corners etc are produced. Really only Man City use possession to mount waves of attacks and pull teams apart. Top sides against bottom sides mostly works but a stubborn eleven defending deep can stymie all but the best teams. Since I've taken this view I've been appalled at the number of goals i've noticed being conceded by teams playing out short from the goalkeeper when making a poor pass, getting caught in possession or on a break having lost the ball on the halfway line after multple passes. Cut this out and you're well on the way to a clean sheet and a lot less vulnerable to counter attack. I now think Hasnhuttl has it nailed. Reduce the possession in our half and pass forward/break the midfield line quickly and go at the last defenders. McCarthy still isn't completely getting it but is getting there. Cutting out the possession in our own half needs the keeper to maintain a high percentage of kicking into the channels or to the wings rather than feeding the back four and often then having to clear himself. It's also better for the back four to put the ball into the channels immediately for the forwards to hunt down rather than start the possession round robin again by passing back to the keeper who often has to clear it from further back.. Such as Stephens to Ings against Spurs or Adams through to Ings against Leicester after a quick one two. Playing like this encourages our multiple pressing and high tempo. I'm not advocating a route one game but going more direct from the back and midfield and reducing the slow sterility and errors that occur at the back as a result of trying to keep the possession. For example Yoshida and Vestergaard completely neutered us against Huddersfield in the Cup just passing to each other and going nowhere.

Ron Davies would win every ball he went for because he wouldn't be standing around in the goal area, he starts his run to intercept the ball with his best jump. I have never seen anybody ever get as high as him. I watched Matt's 100 goals on TV this afternoon, he wouldn't have any bother either.

Possession is calculated by an automated system based directly on the number of passes made by each team when divided by the total passes gives the possession percentage for each team. Therefore in Saints case against Leicester, Saints made 42% of the total passes of which 52% were accurate. The 21% was the Saints accuracy percentage of all the passes made in the game, on reflection a meaningless figure. More of an indication of how successful we were pressing Leicester and how attacking our football was. On the other hand Leicester had 58% possession/passes, I think about 70% accuracy producing 5 shots and 2 corners. On the other hand we had 16 shots, 4 corners and twice the fouls. Really showing that possession with most teams isn't the best way to win matches. Our best results have come away with about 40% possession/passes. While at home we struggle, with our possession/passing up towards 70%, mostly in our half, and in some matches not even having a shot. I'm advocating at home dispensing with the aimless passing around and get the ball up front as quickly as possible just as we play away, even if we aren't that accurate and press to hunt down the breaking balls. If teams are sitting back, ignore it and just get the ball into their last third quickly, missing out their midfield and press the back line. Just don't pass it around in our half it doesn't achieve anything. Keep a solid base at the back to outnumber any break as we did against Leicester. The high tempo pressing combined with less passing is the key at home as well as away. Since Puel we have had high possession/passing figures without winning many matches at home.

You've lost me. I'm only considering our 52% of 42% possession. Good job football isn't about mathematics.

The channels are still there, putting the ball in quickly will mean a lot of balls breaking and it's up to the forwards to press in and win them. Tippy tappy at the back slowing the game down and throttling our supply to the forwards is why we are losing too many at home. Nothing to stop quick breaking from midfield or down the touchline as well. The important thing is the high tempo.

The possession figure 42% is around our optimum for winning games. With the other statistics, result, goals, shots etc it indicates more attacking less aimless possession which slows down and bogs down our attacking. The 52% I am using to demonstrate we don't need to have a high pass completion. We just need to win the ball and harrass the defenders into errors. It is what we are doing now getting the ball up front quickly and counter attacking quickly if we win the ball in our own half. I'm actually saying let the back four gamble,conserve energy, hit the channels instead of slow build ups, and then press hard, win it back in the opponents defensive zone. It works away, now play the same way at home. I don't want to see McCarthy rolling the ball out to the back four then twenty passes later under pressure punt it downfield.

OK if you insist, 21% of overall possession found a home.

I should have said 21% of our possession found a home although there isn't much of a difference.

At last somebody who gets it.

I keep pointing this out but our optimum possession for playing well and winning games is around 40%. against Leicester not only did we have 42% possession we had 52% passing accuracy so only about 21% of our passes found a home. We had three times the shots, Schmeical made seven saves, one kicked off the line, hit the bar twice. Possession at home just plays into the opposition's hands. Especially just waiting for something to open up in the massed defence ahead. Instead go with the statistics, give up possession, goalkeeper kicks long, defenders hit the channels or midfielders drive forward. Press the opposition for the ball out around their penalty area. Keep a solid defence and close down quickly as we did against Leicester. Especially don't give easy free kicks away inside our own half because that's often where goals come from. It's a different game now, opponents come to defend deep and break, now they are under pressure from knockdowns, breaking balls and nippy forwards causing problems. Under pressure and no longer able to sit back watching us pass it around going nowhere in our own half.

We should be supporting VAR as it is. Basically our defenders are setting up for opponents to break their offside line by holding the line and not retreating with the attackers. It's up to the attackers now to adjust for VAR and not attempt to break the line trying to gain a miniscule advantage. If they stay onside until the ball is kicked no offside. If they are caught out as they will be any goal is disallowed. It's not VAR it's attackers not adjusting for the scrutiny whilst defenders are being drilled in it.

Stopping just aimlessly passing about at the back, reducing possession into the 40% region, higher tempo, hard pressing, pace up front and getting the ball up quickly to them at the same time allowing our defenders to outnumber opponents attackers.

Added to the above. The optimum possession for our attacking game is 40% approximately. Our passing accuracy was 52%, that means that losing the ball up front doesn't hinder because we press to get it back hence the three bookings and 17 fouls. 70% possession mostly happens in our own half. allows opponents to consolidate win the ball and counter exposing our exposed centre backs. My point, Watford today, 44% possession, three goals, high pressing, plenty of fouls, shots etc, Bournemouth overpowered. It's better to get the ball up to the forwards quickly, running at the back four, rather than just pass it around as we were doing before the Arsenal game. The teams tempo is high, pressing is ferocious and teams struggle against it. Better to stick the ball up front even lose it and press it pressuring defenders than have a false possession statistic which unless you are Manchester City is a myth.

Leave VAR as it is. The more that any arbitrary margins move away from the technology the more we are back to subjective refereeing decisions and the more decisions will be given to big sides especially at home. Now the ball touches the attackers hand, fact no goal. Change it to referees decision and we're back to opinion. Offsides, defenders are getting it right, decisions are correct, it's time for the forwards to pay attention and time their runs better.

The response, "Course you did, Course you did"

That just proves that we did a lot of attacking. The higher the possession the more passive our offensive game. A great win, it could have been a rout. Everybody put in a shift and we got the result. Now the negatives, Hojbjerg playing passes without looking and giving the ball away. The prat who gave the foul away and instead of taking possession of the ball or passing it back to their GK he just left the ball to Perez who put Vardy in for their goal with a quick free kick. Not the first time, we have to be ruthless.

I remember well the supporters club giving the club £1000 so they could buy Jimmy. He really repaid that, scoring about a goal every two games.

The Echo did a full page today on George. I knew him quite well, first at Stoneham then later through golf. I used to talk to him most days. All of a sudden he wasn't there any more. He was driving a taxi then. The Echo said he was in a care home in Portswood suffering from dementia. He was a great player. Laid out ex Pompey Harry Harris playing against Newport County. One of the best right upper cuts I've ever see I remember Jimmy Shields well he was a real bustling goalscorer but suffered a broken leg which really stopped him in his tracks was never the same after. RIP Jimmy

Well that was garbage 64% possession rather Saints 40% with Yoshida and Vestergaard 24% just passing backwards and sdeways to each other. It's boring, the way we played until 0-9 and the way we certainly don't want to play like that again. The forwards were given poor service, Boufal was poor, Smallbone too narrow which didn't help, good goal. JWP and Romeu ok. Danso ok first half didn't look as good second half. Vokins ok, good goal but needs to fill out, very slight, not physically strong. Yoshida and Vestergaard need to be given a ball and made to pass to each other all day so they never want to do it again. It was a nonsense the way they played together and pretty well neutered our attacking slowing everything down. Luckily Huddersfield weren't even that good.

The back four played well. The midfield two were good. It's good that JP has stopped trying to play like Steven Davis, He is now getting involved, getting stuck in and using his energy to get around all over the field. They are now closer together. We now have good pace, Armstrong is a big plus. Great route one goal for Ings, That's the way to do it. Stephens was the best of the back four. Djenepo is still finding his way. Redmond worked hard but needs to be much more incisive with the chances he gets. Ings is a brilliant little striker. I do think Obefimi, bearing in mind he's only playing 25 minutes could have worked a lot harder. We also should have been putting the ball in behind Spurs quicker to take advantage of our pace towards the end. Another win with 41% possession. Being more direct does that and it works for us. One criticism, closing out the game in the last few minutes, two corners, what the hell were we doing putting them into the box. Keep the defence solid, keep the ball in the corner and play it off the defenders, don't leave us four against three. We held out but we have to be more ruthless closing the game out.

You really do come across as a proper prat. Firstly why would you think I'd get upset over something I have no control over and secondly why would I care what you think. I have a view I've expressed it, others have different views I accept that. I think the major problem is the cheating football world hasn't the self discipline to accept decisions and get over it. The sooner the better the FA copy other sports and come down hard on dissent etc the better the game will be. Happy New Year.

Interestingly the EPL have only adopted part of the FIFA recommendations, as the unused part by the EPL, is the referee not viewing the monitor and only taking the advice from the VAR. It appears that the VAR is following the FIFA guidelines to the letter, as one of the criteria laid down is advising the referee in the event of the ball crossing the goal line and before a goal is awarded whether there is any infringement that will stop the goal being given. As it stands unless either the offside law is changed or officials turn a blind eye the current criteria will continue to be applied.

So you keep saying. However the PL have just said that they will not be changing the criteria in mid season as it could affect the integrity of the competition, The international body have just emphasised the clear and obvious intention.