spyinthesky

I remember when we were first promoted to the top tier in 1966, we were in mid table for most of the season until Ted Bates signed full back Dave Webb who, if my memory is correct, scored on his debut at Wolves in a 1-1 draw, sometime in March/April. Myself and a few mates from school were part of a small group of Saints fans who made the journey. The team then went on a run of around 10 games unbeaten and ended up as runners up to Man City. We need a similar run of games to get into the top 2 as results in the play offs are so uncertain.

I think Perry McMillan is/was a (Unite?) rep for local Taxi Drivers. He also ran a local (Weston based?) youth team, Sky Blues, named as such as they were the only team approached (Coventry) who helped provide a kit. Nick is OK and has been a consistent Saints fan for many years.

I am feeling fairly confident about this game as I did ahead of Gillingham, Sunderland, Rotherham & Preston. Therefore expect a 2-1 or worse defeat.

Question is, if we do get back to the Prem via the Play Offs how much money (and decent recruitment) will be required to stay there? Something north of £100m will be the minimum

Good point but he had been wiped out by a bad tackle a bit earlier which the ref didnt give so that may well have affected his mistake.

Agree with you on the striker comment. We had enough chances to bury Birmingham and need someone who can cause problems with his head in the box. Hope Stewart can get fit soon and add that ingredient up front.

KWP for me but agree Downes played well If we had taken all our chances it could have been six.

Agree, KWP is class and it would be great to keep him. Much prefer him at Right Back but can see him being moved to LB to cover for Mannings suspension> Question is will Holgate or Bree fit in at RB? There is a suggestion that Taylor-Bellis may be rested for the Preston game with Holgate or Charles as the replacement which may well unsettle the back four. Hopefully Ross Stewart will be available soon thereby allowing the disappointing Che Adams to leave in January for a reduced fee, Perhaps use any available cash to bring in a decent left back as Ryan Manning has been disappointing and Larios seems forever injured. Shame Peraud was allowed to leave.

He was a two footed player and could hit a shot with power from both feet. Dont think he was ever booked.

Interested in your view of the options. Adverts (no thanks) or do I have to pay more than £3 per week for access to something that is US financed?

Fair comment but I would rather pay the equivalent of £3 a week to watch relatively decent, advert free, content from the BBC than a lot of dross on other channels

Sat in the garden this afternoon enjoying the sunshine a couple of beers, reading through yesterdays programme and notice two errors and one photo of interest: 1. Matchday No 9 v Leeds Score was 3-1 but apparently the goalscorers were Tella 49mins and Adams 90+4. Different game than I was watching!!!!!!!! 2. Museum Piece by Duncan Holley (always a good read, thank you Duncan) Apparently St Marys beat local rivals Freemantle in the Hants Senior Cup Final Replay at the County Ground on 24th February 1994 ie 100 years after the actual event. Bit of a time warp perhaps? 3. 'Blast from the Past' had an interesting photo of Brian Clifton scoring as Saints beat Rotherham 2-1 on 14th April 1962. I was probably there but cant remember the game. What I do recollect was the state of the pitch in the Spring ie worn badly through the middle, the predominance of supporters wearing raincoats and hats, the age of the spectators standing on the Milton end (30-60+) and the relatively few youngsters in the crowd holding ex war time rattles (I had one painted in red and white which used to accompany me home and away). 4. No mention was made of the game 27th April 1964 when we had to score six goals in the last home game of the season.to secure the 100 goals for the campaign in Division 2 (ie todays Championship) This we did with a 6-1 hammering of....Rotherham...

With my positive hat on (a very rare situation) we should have conceded a penalty at Stoke and drawn 1-1 and then gone on to a deserved win over Rotherham providing 4 points. The circumstances helped us at Stoke but not at home v Rotherham but the outcome was 4 points and three games unbeaten which hopefully we can continue with after the International break.

Like the majority of fans I am very frustrated by the result. But at a lower level I have played in decent sides when we murdered opponents and didnt get a win. I also played in a cup game where we struggled to get a side out against a team three divisions higher and we won due to a fantastic performance by our keeper. Today was reminiscent of this. Rotherham were very poor but their keeper made at least 4 'worldy' saves and on another day, if we had scored a second, I think we would have won comfortably. All that said the substitutes ie Aribo and Mara and to a lesser extent Fraser added absolutely nothing (again!!!)

Think last time we played there Victor Wanyama scored our goal in a 1-0 win

Baz is doing OK and his distribution is very good as is his speed in/around the penalty area. I would have liked him to be an inch or two bigger but nothing can be done in this respect. Most/all 'keepers get better with age and Baz is a nipper in the overall 'keeper equation.

I just hope that a fit Ross Stewart brings us the type of central strike we have been crying out for. There seems to be a problem with Che Adams and Mara is nowhere near good enough. Could possibly do with another midfield player. Aribo offers nothing and I am a little bit disappointed with what Flynn Downes has done after his first decent performance. I just hope he is still recovering from his bout of food poisoning and will improve when fully functioning.

Just got home random thoughts eg 1. Thought AA was offside when he received the ball for the first goal. 2. Bit concerned that Smallbone would get a second yellow for the tackle in the first half. 3. Otherwise Ref seemed to want to book our players whilst letting Leeds get away unpunished for similar offences. 4. As we had kick off, I guess Leeds won toss and decided to change ends, to our advantage. 5. Thought Baz had a v decent game and looked better than the Leeds keeper. 6. Sulemana made a big difference to us. However he didnt seem at all pleased to be hooked and he and RM ignored one another by the tunnel. 7. More grit and determination by the team but Leeds were the better side in the second half. 8. Bednerak and Taylor Bellis formed a decent central defensive partnership and they seem to have changed which side they are defending since last week and that seemed to help. 9. Would prefer to see Charles replace Smallbone in midfield. 10. AA worked very hard and deserved his goals. 11. Hope Ross Edwards is a 'proper' CF and will offer a something a bit more in the central striker position. 12. Once again, in my eyes, KWP was MOM for Saints. For once I have enjoyed a Saints performance at SMS. Let's hope the momentum continues.

At least when RM was at Swansea their fans had goals to witness at both ends. The goals for number seems to have dried up as the goals against are going up big style.

Me too and even avoiding cracks in the pavement hasnt worked!! I am also haunted by some poor results against Leeds. The 7-0 hammering at Elland Rd in the 1970's another 2-1 reverse away when I was alone amongst the Leeds fans and I was the only voice loudly appealing a very dodgy penalty given for a 'foul' by our 'keeper Gerry Gurr against Billy Bremner. And one of the earliest games I took my youngest boy along to during the Redknapp era when we were 3-0 up at HT and lost 4-3.

That is likely to mean quite a number of Leeds fans in amongst the dwindling band of Saints loyalists

It seems to me that we have a squad which has cost more to assemble than most|Championship Clubs, we pay our players higher wages than most Championship clubs and yet we are now in the bottom half of the Championship and even suffering a tanning from a League 2 team in the League Cup with our best left back shoved in as a makeshift central defender.. I just hope we dont draw a resurgent Pompey team in the FA Cup. That could really be embarrassing. The real worry to me is that we are down on a slippery slope which, as a very long term supporter, will probably see me out before it turns round!!

Downes was poor today but as someone who suffered from Campylobacter food poisoning in the past I can assure you it takes quite a while to recover fully from it and I reckon the bacteria is probably still in his system. I will give him the benefit of the doubt on this. Smallbone offered nothing apart from one shot on target and a myriad of backward passes. We are so open to quick breaks are are generally pedestrian going forward. KWP the best of the bunch as usual but yet another very disjointed performance. I feel as low as I did under Branfoot and again when we went into admin in the Championship and got beaten regularly until the drop into League 1. This year the change from early season optimism to the current shit show is immense and the Manager, Jason Wilcox and all must take most of the responsibility.

I thought the pitch at the beginning of the season looked in superb condition. It has since appears to have deteriorated with some brown patches in a couple of areas.

Wouldnt surprise me if Boris came back to 'rescue' the Tory party and lead the country in a 'Brentry' campaign