spyinthesky

Good job we didnt shell out for Broja this season. Looks like he might have another injury having been taken off on a stretcher at Goodison Park this evening

And Cardiff's Reserves at a time when they were really struggling. Only 2 late goals won the day and we very nearly conceded at 3-3.

Looks like this will be played in front of one of our lowest FA Cup 3rd Rd games in recent times. Expecting a crowd of around 8,500 including approx 600 hardy fans travelling up from Swansea. Pre-season size crowd but without the warmth and anticipation. I am not sure I will be feeling a tinge of pride for keeping up my support in the face of adversity or an overwhelming sense of gloom, doom and despondency for wasting £21.50 and having to suffer another dire performance when I could have stayed at home and watched in the warmth and comfort of my living room on the TV.

I guess you have seen O'Brien-Whitmarsh playing? Presume he is decent.

I truly believe if we went down to 10 men early on in a game against a team at the top end of the table the score could easily be double figures.

I share your pain my friend. There were some pretty dire days at the old Dell when Branfoot was in charge and Guy Askham was the Chairman. I remember on 1-1 draw with Notts County when the offical attendance was 11,000 but there were probably no more than 8,000 in the ground. To be fair the standard of the Premiership has moved on a lot since then and the largely honest toilers who turned out for Saints at the time would struggle in the same way as the current team in today's game. That said the team at the time may have struggled but they were no where near off the pace of the game as the current mob. The gap between the players who turned out on Saturday to play a mid table team who had played 3 days earlier and had not won away so far this season was immense and that has sucked the life out of many supporters.

I have a ticket and expect to sit in an almost empty stadium listening to a thousand or so Swansea fans taking the piss out of us and our association with our dear departed Manager. Perhaps Juric will pick a side likely to represent us in the Championship next season which is likely to result in a dispiriting 2-0 defeat against a team that was spanked 4-0 down the road recently and make our collective feeling of acute depression even worse and underline the challenges to be competitive next season. McCarthy Bree Taylor Downes Wood Bednerak Amo Ameyo Aribo (!!!) Manning Archer Armstrong

Can't disagree with your comment. His bloody wife is just as bad in her field....what ever that is!!! All that said, I wonder what our collective view would be if we had, as reported at the time, signed him (for approx £1m? when he was playing for Fleetwood. Whatever we all say about the git, you can't dispute his ability to score goals and if he had signed for us, VVD would not have got crocked.

I agree with Duncan re his comments on BBD. I have a mate who is a Blackburn Rovers season ticket holder. Like Duncan, my mate reckons BBD is a confidence player and certainly seems to have spells when he is a regular goal scorer and others when hie is frankly 'crap' as per his outings for Saints so far. The only glimmer of hope I have seen so far in his career at SMS was a very tidy goal in the game v Lazio pre season when he cut inside a curled a beauty into the net. Apart from that he has done buggar all and doesn't look fit. I whole heatedly agree with Duncan's opinion on Sports Republic. Off the field I believe they have done pretty well and credit to them (or the Commercial Dept perhaps?) for that. Overall though, the purchase of players, apart from one or two exceptions, has been dreadful and whoever is in charge of recruitment should be looking for alternative employment.

The sad fact of life I cant see the current Saints side scoring anything beyond 2 goals even on a good day, which is a bit embarrassing.

You're right Viktor Gyokeres did Ok at Coventry then went to Portugal and is now likely to be subject to a multi million £££ transfer at some stage.

Harika hikaye!!!

Looks like one of our old Corporation buses depicted in the supporters flag!! Allez Va!!

Does Ivan speak English?

What's the situation with Bella Kotcha? Is he actually training? Presume he still gets his £60k ish a week wages?

Fair play to Russell. He's invited Swansea fans to stay over at his gaff in Winchester on New Year's Eve before heading down to Fratton Park for the New Year's Day game v Pompey. He and Lucy will provide a hearty breakfast using part of his compo from his exit deal with Sports Republic.

Deadline dates 1st January to 3rd February so plenty of time to get rid of dross and bring in a load of new blood, at reasonable cost and ready for next year's assault on promotion!! I hope!!

I have to agree with your comments. KWP is one of my favourite players who consistently puts in good performances but he was not very good last night although I think he was often exposed along Spurs left flank. Downes was one of our top players last season but it is no real surprise why West Ham werent that worried to keep him and then negotiated a decent fee for him. Manning, who to my mind, is no more than an average Championship player, exceeded my assumptions last night and put in a very decent shift. Spot on with Aribo and Arma, the later in particular last night. Fernandes did OK and Dibling excelled going forward and is beginning to slowly improve on his against the ball play. Currently we are shipping vast amounts of goals but I reckon our back line is not as bad as the goal difference indicates although it was very porous last night. Midfield is nowhere near strong enough to offer protection and as far the forward line is concerned, what can I say apart from nondescript. I reckon most teams could play with a youth team player in goal as we never seem to threaten the important area between the opponents goal posts. The club seems to have gone for quantity over quality when the amount of players did not contribute anything last night ie Tall Pall, Taylor, Bella Kochap Bereton Diaz Lallana Fraser Bree Edwards Ugochukwu Loan Cornet " Stewart Injured (permanently?) Larios " " Smallbone Injured plus Sulemana who got hauled off after 15 mins and has contributed very little since his £20m+ transfer

Ron, Cardiff benefited from European One, Two and Three funding from the EU as well as other capital that the Welsh Assembly managed to obtain from Central UK Govt. When I was younger Cardiff Bay and surrounding area was decrepit now it is buzzing and the city has two decent sports stadia. Southampton and the area generally has only received crumbs off the EU and UK tables in forms of Investment. Dont expect any influx of capital now we have left the EU and at a time when the Govt is trying to fill a significant financial black hole. You are right to say that the city receives revenue via third party revenue streams but none of this finds its way directly to the Council. IF, and its a big IF, the aggregate companies can be persuaded to give up their rights to the land on the west side of the Itchen River then there may be institutional investors willing to underwrite the cost of leisure, commercial and housing developments in the space available but probably concentrating on housing, similar to the development at Woolston on the eastern side of the Itchen.. However this has to be balanced against the City Council's desire to see their development plan on land they own from the Central Station to the Holiday Inn progressed and this is stalling due to lack of financial backing. As for increasing the capacity of St Marys, I think this is well down the pecking order of priorities. When you compare the £80m it cost to expand the Anfield Rd end at Liverpool's ground, to the £32m the club spent to build St Marys, it provides an idea as to how much building costs have spiralled in recent years.

Remind me of the piece from 'This Country' when Kerry and Kurtain go round singing...'He's Dead'..after hearing about the death of one of their old teachers. I can visualise more than a few Saints fans walking around singing....'He's Gone...

Couple of things Ron. Cardiff Bay was financed by a lot of European and UK Govt grant funding and the Council does not put any money into the port nor does it receive any direct revenue from the cruise business apart from rates and rent on the Carnival Offices at West Quay.

I'd be surprised if the MOU has anything in there specifically about stadium capacity. I imagine that the discussion with SCC was opportunities for developing the waterside land and possibly the old Gasholder site and industrial units at the back of the Chapel.

I must admit that I have wondered about the fitness level of our players. I am sure there are statistics available which show fitness levels. Would Russball tactics mean that players are spending too much time passing the ball in training rather than improving fitness?

I enjoy going when we win, or at least seem capable of winning, I tolerate going when our performances are bad (as has been the case for quite a while in the Prem) but I still go as, unfortunately. It is like a drug, expensive and addictive. I am very weak willed so I am so grateful that I have never smoked or taken illicit drugs otherwise I would be wrapped in a blanket outside of West Quay All that said I do find myself needing a bit more alcohol than normal recently to get me through dire times post match.