shurlock

Not that simple - for instance, alot of people here are accused of being happy-clappers; but in reality they are nothing of the sort. They are happy to write this season off as a transitional/learning one on the strict condition that next season we take the league by storm. In their own way, they are no less demanding than the "negative posters", though that's masked for now. Assuming we don't go up this one, next season is going to be very interesting. As the gratitude/relief of still having a club wears off and as the quality of squad is improved to dwarf anything else in the league, so i can see more and more people getting on the backs of players if performances don't go our way. I Wonder how the team will deal with that kind of pressure - Stockport was in many ways a taster.

Please enlighten me - wtf were people singing knees up mother brown? Stewards had to relent on Saturday. Usually they have the back rows netted off but they were open this time round - so basically anyone -right ticket or not- could move and find a place there.

nah i'd call them the drummers, powerful and able to maintain the rhythm and tempo

Yeh thought the translation wasn't completely accurate - didn't capture Papa's frustration. He basically says that when he came here he was supercharged to show his qualities but when you hardly play its impossible to do so. But fair play to Papa - was watching him do his runups on the sidelines and rather than just concentrating on his own stuff he was pretty active in clapping the play of his team-mates. I wouldn't blame him if he moped or questioned what the f**k he was doing here.

Would be the missing link, the heartbeat of the team - busy, energetic, capable of breaking play up in a way Wotton can't and allowing us to maintain a high tempo (a problem with the slightly ambling/pedestrian Hammond and Schneiderlin). Nobody gives us that at the moment. I'd generously raise the offer one more time. Fact is we're on the way up and they're on the way down - contrary to what warnock says ambition has nothing to do with it, as most palace supporters admit. F**king Warnock over would also be a nice side-benefit!

I don't actually think its an either/or. The more i see Papa, the more I think he's not a RM but a striker whereas Antonio can play on the wing. I would play both. For me the question is whether Papa starts ahead of Barnard if we play 4-4-2. 4-5-1 is another matter - if you want natural width i would pick Antonio over Papa; if you're effectively playing with three strikers up top -a 4-3-3- I would opt for Papa.

And what role would Waigo be given? Asked to start/stick to the right or allowed to come inside. He's been much better when he's gone straight down the middle. Similary with Puncheon, he drifts inside alot with good effect, though again it could leave the team short of width. Antonio seems to be the only player in the team who provides natural width, even if he's not just yet quite at the same level as the others.

Strange old atmosphere - a widespread sense of entitlement among the fans that we just had to turn up coupled with the cold which made it hard to get excited about things not helped by an excruciatingly lethargic performance for the first hour. Even the goal wasn't celebrated coz people assumed it would be disallowed. Northam was a morgue - typical of late while the Itchen was up its own a**e singing filthy co*kney songs (knees up mother brown). The whole ground seemed to be in its own little enclaves. Looking further head, today might be a sign of things to come next season assuming we don't make the playoffs. As the gratitude/relief of still having a club wears off and as the quality of squad is improved to dwarf anything else in the league, so i can see more and more people getting on the backs of players if performances/stretches of play in games don't go our way. I think this is underestimated on the forum. Some people are accused of being happy-clappers; but in reality they are nothing of the sort. They are happy to write this season off as a transitional/learning one on the strict condition that next season we take the league by storm. In their own way, they are no less as demanding as the so-called pessimists, though that's masked for now. Will be very interesting to see how the team deals with this pressure - and how much slack is afforded.

For those of you who weren't at Millwall or Brentford, just to remind you that Seaborne was awful. Put today in context - at home to the bottom team who are the second lowest scorers in the division.

well said.

Agree with this as well- pards strikes me as a bit of a control-freak who prepares for everything in minute detail. As a result, prefers players he can drill instructions to. Contrast this with the more laissez-faire approach of a manager like redknapp who likes players to express themselves. Not saying one approach is better than the other but it clearly affects team selection.

completely agree-everything quickened up after he came on and while the ball didn't stick all the time, he played the ball to feet, often first time. Great flick around the corner to set holmes free which should have led to a 3rd goal. Has to start down the middle, at least in a 4-4-2 rather than RM and seems to have a decent understanding with lambert. Definitely better than lambert's understanding with Connolly and so far with Barnard, though it's still early days.

Could James and Wotton be redundant even now with Puncheon, Schneiderlin and Hammond in the middle and Lallana/Holmes and Antonio/Papa on the wings? Hard to see either James or Wotton starting in the middle, though James might slot in on the right.

Just hope there's enough quality amongst our DMs to win and get our creative players the ball, without going long all the time.

Still it introduces new forms of discrimination - namely against lower league players who will have played in earlier rounds of the cup -in particular the FA cup- and the teams that buy them, also typically from the lower leagues. If you're a CCC or Prem player, you may not have even played a game when the Jan transfer window opens. The rule, so far from helping small teams, actually hinders them.

Lambo, Semi and Dannzy - it'll be the three scousers.

Last post was cack. Better one instead wemberly, wemberly, we're the famous southampton and we're going to wemberly followed by history, history you're the skint/skate bast*rds and you'll soon be history.

yep, dave, fat bird and others will be firefighting elsewhere.

Am upper block 4 ST holder, not going anywhere - too much water under the bridge and coordination necessary- suspect the usual faces won't either.

wemberly, wemberly, we're the famous southampton and we're going to wemberly followed by oblivion, oblivion, you're the skint/skate bast*rds and you're heading for/going to oblivion.

Would be a shame to see Gobern go - rate him over Paterson. Still remember how he changed the game up at Preston where we came from 2 down to win 3-2. He was played on the left that day but looks good in a CM role - tidy in possession and athletic in getting box-to-box.

Am not a million miles apart from you - its early days, so strong conclusions are unjustified. My attitude is that NC has set the bar high for the club, indeed intimating that the sky’s the limit. The 5 year plan is not some piece of empty rhetoric spun by tirekickers and fantasists but is a genuine yardstick by which we will judge him. How he deals with success will be just as important as his ability to respond to setbacks. Like everyone else, I'll be watching him very closely. What cannot be denied is that this a fantastic target, especially since we’ve been used to aiming low. What matters most is what happens on the pitch and while I’ve been one of the first to grumble about recent performances, I can also see that the groundwork is being laid for the future, everything from recruiting a lower-league managerial who’s who for a backroom staff through a state-of-the-art training ground to attracting established CCC players to drop a division. People initially worried that the new regime wouldn’t spend any money; now people are worrying we are spending too much! I trust that this is part of the 5-year plan and been properly accounted for – so yes I’m willing to give NC the benefit of the doubt. The points you raise are independent of an to this – and if you want to deal with them its quite easy to put across the other side: thus we do not fully know why the Ward deal fell through –because of the media leak, because Seaborne was our first choice or because Ward was carrying an injury – of course the other side is going to cry blue murder – the most important thing is that he gets the best for; we’ve spoken to death about the Echo; the jury’s out on Oldknow - perhaps he was a necessary evil –like you, ive heard a lot of negative things about hime- he was useful to help find the bodies and provide some initial continuity but that’s it. Finally his piece on the OS was bound to be a little self-referential – after all, he was responding to personal criticism “Nicola who?”– for me the tone was a tad defensive and earnest (maybe due to his straightlaced swiss banker background), but I attribute this to an eagerness to calm anxieties –expressed on here- that he might bugg*r off. Odd that for an alleged narcissist, he’s been pretty keen to stay out of the limelight. But as i;ve said in another post, they're essentially storms in a teacup. Granted NIC driven and will ruffle a few feathers – some will find it uncomfortable sometimes with justification but sometimes not because they’re just another vested interest that's grown fat at our expence. He’ll make mistakes but hopefully these will lessen over time as he acclimatises to the environment. His desire to bring in a DoF suggests that he is self-aware, that he’s happy to defer to experts and was an acknowledgment he has a lot of learning to do. As I say, what bothers is the madman tendency of some on here to join the dot and infer from them that something more sinister is afoot. If there’s evidence, reveal it. I’m all ears. Otherwise stop preying on peoples fears - they're raw enough.

Pretty selective i'd say - KD made a string of saves in the 2nd half. Watching their goal again, really think KD should have come out for the cross. It was headed in from inside the 6 yard box!!!

Assuming the Puncheon story is true, still think if we dont have a CM who can take the game by the scruff of the neck and start attacks, we won't see the best of any of our AMs. Its no coincidence that the likes of Lallana struggle when we play hoofball.

Because in the absence of evidence to the contrary, the benefit of doubt should go to NC. He's made clear public statements about where he wants the club to go and what he's willing to do to get us there. They allow us to scrutinise the difference between words and actions. If there's any inconsistency, we will then be able to hold him to account. To date NC has lived up to his word -investment in players and infrastructure and attempts (albeit sometimes clumsy ones) to listen to fans - hence various charters and polls. Of course, its still early days and that should temper any happy-clappy exuberance but the idea that you should be naturally suspicious when the only evidence we have is positive borders on presuming an innocent man guilty. If there is evidence, happy to listen to it and make my own mind up; put up or shut up. The spat between the Echo and the club only reinforces this position: at worst, NC may have overreacted, misreading the media culture in the country that goodwill in terms of access doesn't necessarily give rise to any more gratitude or sense of reciprocal responsibility. In turn the Echo has revealed its colours by the lurid and disingenuous stories its run - today is stunning proof. But ultimately all this is a storm in a teacup and die over time -possibly why NC hasn't felt the need to go on the record or a PR offensive (today's OS story was possibly only run because fans might be worried). It certainly doesnt support why some here are talking in dark, hushed tones and implying that this incident forms some larger, more unsavoury picture - especially as it irresponsibly feeds on the raw nerves and anxieties caused by all the turmoil and politicking of the last few years.