The Incongruous Monk

Just don't forget it's a 7pm kick-off, not the usual 7:45 :-) Would be annoying to miss the first half.

As a pedant, that's not exponential :-P Step 1: +Points around the start of October is acheived Step 2: 23rd around the start of November Step 3: 20th around Christmas Step 4: Safe by mid-April This would be a good season for me :-)

I'd hope for about the same but that's incredibly unrealistic. Those results would see us pretty much walking this league. We're not that good. We're in this league because we were rubbish, we then lost our best players and got slapped with a points deduction. Hitting that kind of form that quickly would be nothing short of miraculous. I'd expect to see form approaching that towards the end of this season and the start of next though. Swindon and Yeovil were probably the only opening games I'd have been confident of us winning. In the event we were lucky to get a win against Yeovil. Expectations for this season seem to have risen too high too fast. I do now though expect around 15 points from the next 10 games and 15-20 from the set after that. By the end of the season I want to see us hitting 2 points per game on average in preparation for an excellent season next year. Unfortunately, I'm now at my post limit. Any more replies tomorrow :-)

Yes I'm for real. This club had become rotten to the core. No confidence. No knowledge of how to win. Completely overhauling a club takes more than 10 games. Turning this club round is more than a seasons work. It's a massive task. Simply signing someone who scored a lot in another team is no a solution, it's a step along the path. Lambert hasn't suddenly got crap, he's not scoring because the team around him isn't there yet. It is improving. As time moves forward expectation will rise. But my expectations don't start that high, that (for me) is simply unrealistic.

This is bang-on. I started this season expecting to hit zero points somewhere around the 1st October. If we get a result Saturday we'll be bang on. This season was always, always going to start slowly. The next logical place to set a target is either by position or date, Christmas being the obvious date to look at. Out of the bottom 4 by Christmas? Sounds about right. Then safe by 1st April (that may be a touch optimistic). Anyone who really believed (rather than just hoped) we'd rocket up the table at be looking at promotion was probably deluding themselves. Don't underestimate the damage the last 5 years has done. That takes a lot of undoing.

It's an attempt to get more kids through the gate.

"Director of Football" implies a different, lower level, of respoinsibility. When I head DoF I think, ex-player or manager, good knowledge of the technical and tactical aspects of the game. Involved in selecting, scouting, recommending players etc. A footballing role, just above the manager. "Sporting Director" is a board role just beneath the Chairman/CEO. Responsible for rubber stamping transfers and negotiating contracts but not directly choosing players. Ensuring budgets are properly spent and the football aspect of the business is run smoothly. Leaving the real footballing detail to the manager. Make any sense?

Has Cortese ever actually used the term "Director of Football", I've only ever seen "Sporting Director". The distinction is pretty subtle but potentially quite important.

Papa's paperwork is done according to the clubs Twitter account.

If Charlton's a "must win" we're screwed. We'll be lucky to bring a point back from the Valley. Charlton are clearly on excellent form right now which we are not. Whilst it's possible we'll beat them (someone will soon), it's not likely. Based on Saturdays performance our problem is in the wide midfield areas right now. Unless someone's taught Mills/Thompson to cross the ball we're going to struggle. Yeovil... that's another matter :-)

Anyone got an idea of ticket sales so far?

True, but one of them's on a season long loan elsewhere. Can you recall from a season long loan?

Surely that's 2 of our 3 goalkeepers. Let's hope Kelvin stays fit ;-)

The Football League website has the draw at 10:15 http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/CarlingCup/0,,10794,00.html *shrugs* (You need to click "draws" in the important dates box - top right)

I have a PDF copy here. Can email if you like.

There are 3 other Liebherr brothers it seems: Hans Jnr, Markus and Hubert http://www.answers.com/topic/liebherr-international-ag

Not too sad to see him go but doesn't that leave us a little thin in the striking ranks?

It's also worth remembering that Tony Lynam has stated that the appeal issue is not one that can't be overcome and it wouldn't stand in the way of completion. It seems that there are other undisclosed conditions on the league entry that he's not happy with. Whatever they are seems to be more the problem.

Quite simply this is wrong. SLH lawyers think it's wrong, the Administrators lawyers think it's wrong, the Pinnacle lawyers think it's wrong. Even the Football League seem to have some doubts and are trying to ensure the debate is never held. Under the law and the rules you cannot support this claim with any evidence. This is probably true but is also entirely subjective. Remember, also, that when push comes to shove the spirit of the rules is irrelevant. It's the letter of the rules that counts. It's been reported a number of times, and stated (on Radio Solent, perhaps elsewhere) by Tony Lynham himself that the issues with the FL were thrown up very late by changes made by the FL. Perhaps more foresight could have been applied but that's easy to say with hindsight. :-)

Also on OS: http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~1699043,00.html

Does anyone know exactly when that is? 17:00? 19:00? Midnight?

Spot on... except it's the FL not the FA ;-) Very different things :-)

The Echo has just Tweeted to confirm NO PRESS CONFERENCE announced yet. :-(

Seriously, the chances of Keegan having anything to do with Saints? Practically zero. Why would he?

Not before late September, quite possibly October.