shurlock

Slightly uncharitable of me- he did improve after christmas. and seems more willing to get forward and get crosses in from a deeper position (more so than from RM where he seems uncomfortable with being the most forward player - see Yeovil last week). Hope Im proved wrong but doesn't strike me as a player who can adapt at short notice to new positional demands.

"...With Graeme Murty still on crutches, Thomas’ absence at right back means Lloyd James is likely to be drafted into the position he filled so ably last season...." :confused: The most that can be said about James at RB last season was that at least he didn't get any worse as the season went on.

According to Saints Player, both Wayne Thomas and Papa Waigo are out. How does that affect the line-up and options? Presumably Jaidi, Trotman and Harding all start with James going to RB. Does that mean Lallana, Schneiderlin, Hammond, Mills in the middle with Saga and Lambert upfront. Will that midfield combo work? What if Saga doesn't look like he's up for it or Schneiderlin struggles with the tempo of the match? Would anyone take a punt with Holmes or Mellis?

General rule of thumb, the higher the division, the earlier you start them. Can be a scarring experience watching a pile of sh*t. Saw the cherries against ipswich in the mid 80s at a similar age in the old third division- never went again. Alternatively, take him to a part of the ground that has some atmosphere (in other words not the family enclosure)- at least it compensates for the lack of quality.

Peter Trembling in today's Guardian following Campbell's departure: "For any fan that bought a new Notts' shirt and had 'Campbell' printed on the back, I am pleased to offer a voucher for the club shop for a replacement shirt". lol Wonder what 'specials' they're offering down the road....doubtless there's a bunch of spurned inbreds with harry tattoos.

Away teams do get added impetus kicking towards their own fans in the 2nd half. At least denying them that might give us something at the margins. I don't think things like the Leeds 4-3 (not to mention some of the other great comebacks) would repeat themselves if they were shunted in the Itchen or Kingsland North.

NC/ML didn't arrive until May 22nd by which time alot of water had already passed under the bridge. Its an unfortunate fact that Pinnacle arrived and signalled their interest alot earlier.

and for papa when he came on.

All I've seen at the moment is a useful battering ram. I am not joking but Lambert has not yet had a gilt-edged opportunity, a one-on-one, real space in the box to get a shot away etc. We're talking 800 mins+ of football with us...

The guy cut it at Verona, alleged to be the most racist club in Italy (in reality its a complicated story as Tim Parks points out). Was greeted by monkey chants by his own fans but still went onto be a success. Worth reading Tim Parks "A season with Verona' which was written before Papa arrived (when they were still in Serie A) but is a fantastic book, possibly the best football book ever written. http://www.timparks.com/16.html

They had alot of shots on goal, but they were almost all outside the box.

His mother tongue is French, so he'll have Schneiderlin and Jaidi around him and must be pretty fluent in Italian (and no doubt Cortese speaks French and Italian, so there'll be support from high-up). Delgado and Papa are completely different cases. Delgado came fresh from Ecuador- at least, Papa's adapted to living in Europe, being away from family etc; Delgado was also injured (legitimately at first), so wasn't involved in the same way. Injury's a lonely experience at the best of times - at least, Papa's around doing what he's here to do - play football. Finally, was he actually offside - each and every time? Some of them looked marginal where i was sitting. Our lack of threat yesterday meant that springing the offside trap was going to be one of the only ways we really got behind Yeovil. More generally, Im quite happy to accept repeated offsides if it occasionally means a one-on-one.

Delighted we're up and running but still massive question marks over where the goals are going to come from. The midfield is too isolated from the attack, especially as we still look to go long. Would like to see us try something other than 4-4-2 if we insist on playing the likes of James and Lallana on the flanks while one of Schneiderlin and Hammond has to start in a much more forward position.

Enjoyed AP's reaction when Papa got booked for dumming and going past the keeper. Had a wry, wry smile.

Saw a bit of trouble past king alfreds on the stretch of dual carridgeway before the traffic lights. a few yeovil fans (couldn't have been more than 4-5) were being gobby, a punch was thrown and about 20+ of our lot immediately jumped them and it was lambs to the slaughter from then on. One yeovil fan -white shirt, bald head, was left behind and had his head stamped on, serving as kicking practise for passing fans. The OB were nowhere and when they did arrive, dragged some lad who from my vantage point was innocent. All in all, a bit cheap on our part, especially since it was a total mismatch numbers-wise and their lot weren't organised. Just a few strays being gobby which quickly turned into a feeding frenzy. Nothing more, nothing less.

si vous les haissez au point de les voir crever, applaudissez :smt041

Not just a question of how good Gillett is but is he better than the rest of what we have; certainly find it hard to believe that James is better than Gillett. James is like the guy with amnesia out of the film, Memento. Constantly has to look up for familiar objects and landmarks (almost invariably with a pained and gormless look) to remind himself where he is, not just where he is on the pitch. Good questions. Think Pardews replies were honest while diplomatic. And the rest of you lighten up, the curious case of Simon Gillett is not the Manhatten Project FFS.

Happy to see that Pardew is at the game - with mellis, waigo, even gillet scoring - players who are closest to breaking into the first team, lots of 'good' questions being asked.

Nice one- just a shame you'll never come close to any kind of honours list

Our set-up should respond to the fact that "smaller" teams will come to our place, be compact and stifle us. We shouldn't be waiting till the 50th min before we take the gloves off (at which time the nerves start setting in). We need to get into them from the off and go for that early goal that upsets their gameplan. Schneiderlin is a natural start for these type of games (possibly played in a more forward position???); more adventurously (though I doubt it'll ever happen) it would be great to see Saga, Lambert, Lallana and Waigo start together.

Apart from Swindon, AP has been pretty decisive with subs. If I remember, he made a double sub at half-time against Brentford and did something similar against Colchester. Naturally, when you're away from home and are either leading or competitive, you're a bit more wary about tinkering too much. BTW, saturday subs were spot-on. From thinking that Mellis was garbage against Colchester -a view shared by AP (Mellis was subbed at HT), he did a good job against Charlton. The guy offered plenty off the ball in terms of pressing and closing down as well as bursting from midfield. Holmes doesn't have that defensive edge not to mention hasn't played a competitive game this season. Asking him to adapt to the pace of the game under those circumstances would have been tough. Yes I probably would have made the subs earlier, though TBF there were no natural candidates to sub - Perry and Mills only really went off because they were tiring. I can understand giving Waigo two mins, especially if you read AP's comments about introducing Tevez too early. It was a risk-free way of giving him a taste of the game in preparation for a proper run-out. As others have said, we only came strong again at the very very end. Until then, I certainly wasn't thinking about going for the 3 points.

Wouldn't loan out McLaggon - this boy will add some variety aka pace when he returns.

Am sure if the opportunity arises AP will loan out Gillett.

Yep as sweet as they come (BTW trotman then missed a free header under the bar against Brentford. And we twice hit the crossbar from corners against Stockport).

'Keen' on what? Keegan, Shearer who the f**k ever were only 'keen' because Pinnacle was offering the moon on a string. Seems that MLT still believes that only the grace of god or some earthly equivalent -Brian Mawhinney- stopped any of this happening FFS