Super_Uwe

Just a very bad day at the office. Blackpool really got their teeth into us and never allowed us to get any real play going forward (as highlighted by the amount of possession we had without really doing much with it). Disappointed for Billy Sharp that he missed his pen - they made a good point on the Beeb that he didn't really look composed or focused when running up; he kept looking over at the ref to see if he could start his run-up and stuttered a bit before striking the ball. But hey ho - we don't miss many penalties and so I suppose we were due one at some stage. The Blackpool that played yesterday though were excellent; quite frankly if they were able to put that sort of performance together each week then they would undoubtedly be up chasing for automatic promotion. Ince in particular was very good, we didn't really seem to be able to deal with him. Coupled with our bad defending that really sealed our fate. Overall though the West Ham result means we haven't really lost out, and if we can beat both the Skates and Reading then we will still be in pole position to win the title. I have full faith in the team to bounce back from that game though - whenever they've messed up in the past two years they have always come back the next week and got the result they needed.

The Blackpool game is especially hard to predict as they have been dreadfully inconsistent all year (only two teams have let in more goals away from home, but on the flip side only Saints have scored more overall than them). As rightly pointed out on the Football League Show at the weekend, their defending against Reading was nothing short of abysmal; not what you would expect from a team near the top. They still have a lot of dangerous players in their side though, a draw away from home would be more than decent IMO.

I fully accept it is part of the laws of the game, but to be honest the pictures you have posted prove that referees should be given some discretion rather than having to produce an automatic yellow. I am not saying the ref himself was absolutely shocking, just that this particular case is very very harsh.

I quite agree. Don't want to turn it into a rant but it just seems crazy that refs are forced to book players in situations like that rather than use their discretion. I suppose you could argue that players going near the crowd can cause them to surge forward, but even so this particular case really is very harsh. Perhaps when he scores next time round he should just stand still and look thoroughly miserable; at least he won't get punished for any over-exuberance.

As quoted on the OS: http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~2691546,00.html "I didn't want to rub it in Doncaster's face but obviously I've not played recently so I was delighted to get my goals and disappointed to get booked for high-fiving a little five year-old lad, but that's part of what the referee has got to do." Not being at the game, is that basically what he was booked for? If so that is absolutely shocking!

Just a great night all round for the Saints. Another few more weeks to push on and with any luck we could well be promoted before the last game of the season. Still a long way to go yet but the one good thing in our favour is that this squad knows how to win and win when under pressure.

Jonathan Forte is the closest player to Mickey Evans we've had. He may never play for the Saints again, but he will go down in history as having been in the right place at the right time when we needed him most. For that I salute you sir!

A snippet of his interview on the OS today: http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~2635145,00.html It's nice that he's happy to stay with us, but I can't help but think his career would be best suited away from St. Mary's. He desperately needs some game time to help build his confidence and fulfil the potential he showed as an 18 year old. Just can't see him getting a decent opportunity with us any time soon.

Indeed they have. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17153404 I suppose it goes to show that sacking your manager is not always the best course of action when you haven't really got anyone better lined up. Wish TC the best of luck though, I can't imagine it must be a great feeling knowing you are probably the fourth or fifth choice. On the other hand it might turn out to be a stroke of genius!

Exactamundo. My little lad was born three months ago and I can't imagine what it must have been like to lose your son so soon after being born. Fair play to the man, he's made the choice to move away from his family and try and make a fresh start. If there is any manager in the country who can get the best out of him it is NA, of that I have no doubt. Of course Saints can't be expected to give him unlimited time to settle in, but I am convinced he has the attributes to help us push towards promotion.

Many happy returns to the big man. He has been a talisman for us and has been worth every penny of the 1m we spent on him. So far he's shown all those clubs who doubted his ability at a higher level that they were 100% wrong - and I hope he continues to prove them wrong.

If Redknapp does get the England job, hopefully he will do the right thing and appoint Scott Parker as England captain. How he has managed to accumulate a pathetic 10 caps throughout his career is beyond me. I know he had a lean spell when at Chelsea but ever since he joined Newcastle and then West Ham he has been one of the best players in the Premier League for ages.

I don't think you are a million miles from the truth! Am just flabbergasted - most things in football fail to shock but this was plucked right out of leftfield! At the end of the day all parties involved have come to an agreement in the best interests of the football club which is terrific to see. The reality is that JP has got talent, if applied in the right way he could certainly help us get moving in the right direction again.

Hassan Kachloul was pretty good when you think about it. Shame he left the way he did but he helped to transform the team back in 1998/99. Remember Dave Jones saying something about him rocking up with a pair of football boots and that was about it. Classic!

Seriously though, what do you expect? If you were abusing me on Twitter then I would probably block you as well.

All very sad indeed. The trouble is that I really don't know what is best for the club. If we let him go on a free, what happens if he joins someone like Blackpool or Cardiff, actually gets his head down and helps them get promoted ahead of us? In some respects I think it would be a wise move - whilst we are still in the promotion hunt - to keep him on board with us. It is going to cost us either way, but frankly I would rather he was sat on his backside doing nothing than actually fulfilling his obvious potential with another rival. Of course you run the risk of p***** off other players in the squad, but the way they are playing and with the spirit they are showing, I don't think they really care that much. Also - if he carries on like that on Twitter, he's not going to find it very easy getting another club anyway. Not saying that he is completely at fault (some of the abusive tweets to him are way out of order as well) but if I was his agent I would be ringing him up right away and telling him to give Twitter a break for a few weeks before he says something he really regrets.

I'm not sure his size has anything to do with it to be fair? Also no-one is remotely suggesting that he's got the same ability as someone like David Silva. My point was simply that he is having a really good spell at the moment and is causing problems for all sorts of teams in the Premier League. Whenever England play in a major tournament there is always one player that sneaks in under the radar. If he carries on in this rich vein of form then I think he has a decent chance of getting a call up at some stage. However his indiscretion whilst at Saints may hinder him in that respect whilst Fabio Capello is in charge.

I think it's great what Nathan Dyer is doing at the moment. It's a shame that we never got to see the best of him but it was inevitable that he would go after being involved in that infamous theft. You have to give him and Swansea a lot of credit for bringing his game up to scratch. If he carries on progressing as he is then I think he has got a decent chance of sneaking into the Euro 2012 squad for England. Whether Fabio would be willing to call him up is another matter entirely, but on current form there aren't many better options on the wings.

Not sure why JP just doesn't buy out his own contract really. Seems to be a fairly sensible option for all parties although I can't see it happening.

Desperate result today but we are still hanging on to top spot on goal difference. It certainly is going to be an interesting month ahead for NA - he's got to try and halt the slide ASAP. I can see the odd new face coming during the next transfer window but I think he still has to keep faith to a large extent with the current squad. Top teams always bounce back in the end and NA will certainly want a response from his players. Losing Lambert for 3(?) games minimum will certainly be a massive blow.

Not a great surprise to me - City haven't really managed to pull away from the drop-zone and are very unlikely to be in the promotion mix later on this season. Bearing in mind he's only got 6 months left on his current deal I think £3 to £3.5m would be enough to secure his services in January. If we could sign him that would be absolutely brilliant, but we will have to wait and see.

I can't help but think that he's after another chance because he has nothing better on the table for himself - perhaps a tad cynical but I'm afraid it appears to be the truth. At the end of the day though the argument was between him and NA, but if they can come to an agreement for the good of the club then that would be great. We could do with a player of his ability and he is still our registered player of course. He would essentially be a completely free transfer for us in that respect.

IMO it's not so much yesterday's performance that will determine Bart's future but next week instead. I still think there's a reasonable chance he will start against the Skates next week (am hoping KD will be fit though as per NA's comments). This is NA's biggest challenge so far; bigger in some ways than getting promotion. He has to find a way of getting his head right so that, if he has to play, he's in the right frame of mind. Football is a crazy, crazy sport and it would not surprise me in the slightest to see Bart put in a MOM performance next week. Quite simply, he cannot afford to have an off-day against Pompey as it's doubtful he would ever be able to win the fans over after that. Anyway, all will be revealed this time next week...

Bizarre post.

Poor old Bart. Let's hope he doesn't lose it completely this second half.