speculator

Why the plural? If Pardew wants to leave there is only one reason and that has been apparent in the past few weeks. He does not appear to be happy in his job and the reason for that? It can't be easy working for an unrealistic chairman who knows little about English football and who appears to have a very short memory. Given our recent history would anyone with an understanding of the game and our starting point this season have complained that we were not level with Charlton and Norwich having spent 2 or 3 million? Two teams who came down and managed to keep their squads pretty much in tact whereas we sold/released players to stay afloat and therefore not surprisingly have had to pay to strengthen and effectively give the rest of the league a 5 month headstart before our rebuild was starting to look effective. Pardew is making errors and does not look happy and who can blame him and he should go if this is true. However, the blame for this if true is not at Pardew's door and all this unrest has been generated by Cortese's ill-timed and badly thought out press release before the Pompey game. All he has managed to do was demotivate his manager and make his team nervous of failure and it's to their credit in between 3 indifferent resultys they delivered 3 memorable home wins. Cortese tells us there is no rift between him and Pardew? Really? I suppose he will be telling us next there is no nose on his face? Pardew has been hung out to dry in my opinion and deserves better but if true should do the honourable thing and walk away. In the meantime, I hope Cortese doesn't turn promotion from this league as his sole target in the infamous 5 year plan and turn it into fruitless seasons of near misses like Chelski's endless quest for Euro glory. Cortese can manage money but what about men?

Agreed as we clearly have the best keeper outside the premier league and one who resisted being wooed by a top flight team to stay loyal to us. A fact at many times this season i have been glad he did. Distribution may not be perfect but we would still be fighting relegation without his significant contribuion. Does not deserve an unjustified witch hunt by two posters who can at times come across as superior.

Very good post and the question you ask in conclusion is key but one we can only guess at the answer. At the moment i sense its the players letting us down as oppose the manager but that said its time for him to be a little less diplomatic in his post match assessments. I also believe that having done the hard work we get nervous according to Fonte because of the allegedly no rift between manager and chairman.

Austin? I agree with your sentiments but unlike most of our players Austin and his team mates displayed cool heads and a desire to win the ball back, a desire that was lacking in our side tonight. Austin looked quite useful and as he was plying his trade for Poole Town last season you have to ask yourself why did Swindon pick him up and no doubt for peanuts and not us. Surely our scouting network stretched to Poole? Puncheon had an awful game but at least he tried to provide some width unlike the headless Lallana and if the word consistency needs to be applied to any part of our team its in our wide positions where it is most applicable. Our central midfield were too deep and poor when Swindon had possession standing off and giving Swindon every opportunity to play. When we had the ball and and kept it simple we looked very good but to often we reverted to long lobbed punts up field that their centre backs just hoovered up with simple ease. These balls were fruitless but we didn't have the intelligence to work it out and kept on even when James had come on presumably with some form of managerial instruction. Defensively, I thought Fonte and Harding had good games because when they can at least they look to play the ball from defence whereas James, Thomas and Jaidi passing/crossing was very poor and hence their continual resorting to speculative hoofs, especially Jaidi. There was one brilliant peice of attacking playing in the first half when we played the ball from centre to left and switched it to the right only for Thomas to put in a ball that makes you wonder how some footballers can earn a living let alone get taken on professionally. I defended Thomas at right back after the Leeds game but based on that showing tonight we only have one option at RB and it isn't James. We didn't have enough width and anything we did create was usually initiated by Harding. Our CM pairing don't get forward enough to support the strikers and neither did the wide men hence Lambert was having to drift wide leaving Barnard to deal with two small houses in their central defence. Also in the first half our CM's had opportunities to run into space in front of their defenders or shoot at goal from about 25 yards out and they always played it square. At times we are too cute and casual and if the big 'I am' arrogance was on display tonight it wasn't in a blue shirt. Consistency only comes with the right attitude and we didn't appear to 'want it' enough tonight and we need players to be more direct and aggressive and play with their heads and not just use it as an opportunity to show off some fancy tricks and casualness as if we 3-0 up and coasting - Lallana, Puncheon and Waigo especially. All that said we hit the woodwork twice, had a disallowed goal (not playing with our heads) and had a shot cleared off the line and they only really came close with Austin's cross shot in the first half that beat Davis so frankly we should have won, even if we weren't value for it. Time for AP to start pre-season now and giving opportunities to other squad members to ensure next season we don't have a squad heavy in numbers but shallow in cover in key areas. Pointless moving players on for them to go elsewhere and do a great job and the time has come for AP to start challenging some of the permanent fixtures in the side to see what else we have at our disposal and inject some much needed urgency and intelligence into those who are showing signs of a casual attitude. Once he has done that and shown us all what he has to work with then he can give Cortese his shopping list because we are nowhere near ready for a top 2 place next season with this squad.

Told you I rarely bet! ..and at those odds it is hardly surprising given our propensity to draw away from home or worse lose against very beatable opposition. 10/1 for a team that cannot afford to lose one of it's last 12 games and then has to negotiate 3 games in the play offs that inludes one massive and nerve jangling final. 10/1!!!! Very poor value even you have the money to burn and decide to have a bet and win. Betting at those odds you will always lose in the long run and who would take 6/1? Still a backhanded compliment from the bookmakers who clearly think we still have a better chance than some fans would like to admit. Thanks for the info anyway.

I believe we still have a decent opportunity provided our irreplaceable players remain fit - Davis, Fonte, Harding, Puncheon, Schneiderlin, Lambert to name just 6. I'm not sure it's as tough we we think provided the team stay fit and confident and as fans we don't resort again to desperate nerve jangling whistling when we are protecting a one goal lead. Fear on the terraces induces panic on the pitch. All our homes games look very winnable with the exception of Charlton and after their demolition by Millwall at the weekend they are no Norwich or Leeds. After tomorrow night's match, home games against Hartlepool, Orient, Charlton, Oldham, Carlisle and Southend hardly strike fear into the hearts based on our home form and win all 6 plus a win tomorrow and we have 68points. Then looking at our remaining 5 away fixtures and the picture is equally rosy provided Pardew mixes up his team selection where necessary for bad pitches or beligerant opposition. MK Dons, Brighton, Bristol Rovers, Yeovil and Gillingham. At the moment only Yeovil could be regarded at worse as a tricky fixture and provided we avoid defeat and win 3 from 5 we have a promising looking 79 points. Surely that will be enough in this league for a play off place? I don't know the past stats but in the CCC 76pts would guarantee a place in the top 6 and sometimes even as low as 71pts if my memory serves correctly back in those heady days led by the mastermind Burley. Its a long way from being a mathematical impossibility - anyone know if the bookies are offering odds on us to be promoted? We should be about 66/1 but knowing those tight bookies I would take a less than generous 33/1 for a very rare bet.

Our back four are playing very well for home games at the moment and I think we will easily keep a clean sheet. The issue is that unlike Saturday we don't rely on one of them to score the goal. 1 or 2-0 to Saints and I would like to see Wayne Thomas keep his place at RB for the time being assuming Otsemobor is out for a while and make the latter work hard to regain his place. Puncheon was brilliant on Saturday and we need more of the same and for Lallana to note the benefits of playing wide. We need Hammond and Schneiderlin to be more attacking to stop Lallana cutting in and filling the gap between our strikers and central midfield. Whatever happens I hope we don't for some inexplicable reason revert to hopeful punts up field as we did second half against Leeds. Looks like a comfortable home win regardless of Swindon's false position.

Philosophy

Most of the time I have no issue with the postings of the ex-pats and quite often they are a lot more lucid and erudite than those living within the myopia of the SO postcode. If the ball was on the other foot and I was required to move away from Hampshire then I too would find the forum invaluable to stay in touch with all things Saints. For avid Saints fans and regular match attendees it must be tough to be asked to move overseas and give up the one major hobby that can't be replicated elsewhere. Not sure I could do it but also if the offer was too good to refuse it would be equally ridiculous to turn it down for the sake of watching a game of football once a fortnight on average and equally ridiculous to be chastised for doing so. All that said there are a small percentage of ex-pats who like to blow their own trumpet at every opportunity to talk about anything as long as it's not really Saints related. They rattle on about their ex-pat lifestyle either under some misguided apprehension we will be impressed or as some sort of cathartic exercise in lonely self-reasoning. It is the small percentage of self obsessed ex pats who give the majority a bad name and as if to prove a point I didn't realise that we had that many. For the record I don't think I have ever noticed ex-pats in Canada or Austria use this forum as some form of 'look at me aren't I great blog' and only to discuss football and other related matters as those of us based here at home and anyway with the internet and technology in general aren't we living in a global village? That cannot be said for some of the forum's resident and lonely self- absorbed bores in the Middle East and the West Coast of America who don't just confine their local activities to web forums but also like to hear the sound of their own voice on local radio. It takes all types but best not to let a justification seeking minority rule a relevant and entertaining majority that make this place a lot less insular and obsessively incestous as it is already.

They can be all the same but the size of the c o c k up does make a difference and whereas Mrs Thatcher had an £11bn deficit to overcome in 1979 I dread how Cameron and Co can even start to address a debt so huge it is beyond most people's financial comprehension. What is evident is that the last thing we need is for those who helped mastermind the events leading to our position of today, is to give them another 5 years to try and rectify the mess. I and no doubt many others would settle for a lesser c o c k up than carry on massaging the current one.

Good post most of which I agree. However, I would argue it was not gambling and more like greed or a bet to nothing in an easy bull market where for a good few years you couldn't lose provided you made good use of the assets on your balance sheet to generate cash for more 'bets'. It's not fraud to package a few good headline assets with a load of toxic junk but to then sell them under some trumped up name of Collateralised Debt Obligations is perhaps stretching things to far. 125% LTV Mortgages; salary multiples of 5 times plus any other income sources, i.e. The Tooth Fairy taken into account; average house prices 9 times the average salary and yet no one in the Government past or present predicted the crash? RIP Labour let alone the scholarly foolhardy Foot. Put's Blair's now infamous 'no more boom and bust' catchphrase into perspective - bust doesn't even get close to quantifying the levels of debt we have incurred under Labour.

I dont think 19 was advocating dropping all 3 but suggesting it was folly to play the same 11 and as near to our normal game as possible. Love him or loathe him he was right dont you think ?

Oh dear. For those who do nothing but mock they often run the risk of making themselves look very silly . 19c seems to have been talking some sense for a change.

Singing Pay up Pompey played into the hands of the blue few.They latched on to it and sang their play up pompey chant and momentarily it sounded like they were at home. Pay up Pompey is good for a laugh but counterprouductive to getting behind your own team.

(I was distracted mid word hence my even more tenuous looking link)

Ramadan

Based on our aspirations and the length of contract he has been given I would have to agree and despite the grief Hypochondriac is getting I agree with everything he has said. We don't need centre backs (Fonte is a great signing) who can play at left back etc we need specialist full backs and cover up front. The signing on the face of it makes very little sense but I respect Pardew and assume this suggests one or two names may be on their way out. In the absence of facts from behind the scenes this is underwhelming and as a club I didn't think we were in the position yet to be hoovering up all the 'young talent' to boost the squad like a League 1 Chelsea.

I don't believe anyone detests cricket when there are so many other things in this world that really warrant such strong language. Most people who don't love cricket are either ambivalent or simply don't understand it but detest it? I don't think that is the case but can believe people may detest the image of football and especially football related violence no matter how wrong those prejudices may be held. This comes back to the NIMBY argument and I guess there is a widely held perceived difference between ugly fighting and anti-social behaviour between factions of football supporters and opposing cricket fans fervently flicking through the pages of Wisden and spilling the cucumber from their sandwiches all over the pavements.

Aka Richard Fuld - his more common name seems to have appropriately failed the bad words filter.

Very fair comment and I would like to add two words if I may. **** Fuld.

Neither did it warrant the news coverage it received yesterday morning with BBC reporters at the station. Thousands of elderly and vulnerable people will die in this country this year because of the cold weather and inadequate provision made for them. It will be the same next year and every year after that and in a country that enjoys a relatively temperate climate that is shocking news but it doesn't inconvience some ar5e living in San Francisco and over here for his holidays (If anybody saw his interview). A thousand or so not so badly off Brits stuck on a train for 7 hours hardly constitues a major news story and passengers on those trains who gelt they were treated like cattle should try commuting into and around London in the rush hour. The only real nightmare was that the BBC chose to report it beyond a simple travel bulletin.

A throwback from the 70's if ever there was. As kids we always had an orange ball with Wembley written on them and one kick against a brick wall and that was that, end of ball. Orange balls? More like to be Yellow and Purple or some other garish colour combination and probably designed by the the likes of our clever marketing friends in America and Germany under the pretence it helps players read the flight or some such sports 'science' rubbish.

Surely, their only chance now is via the playoffs and there are plenty of banana skins in that pack with some managers like Davies and Jones who know what it takes more than Strachan does in this hellishly difficult league. Had Strachan had the close season and started from game 1 then maybe he could have done something but these days I find his management style too quirky and to keen to get out some pithy or witty comment which IMO is increasingly used to deflect his own shortcomings as oppose to nurture the belief he portrays that he is up there with Ferguson and Clough or had the background to manage the press as they have done and Strachan would like IMO.

You never see what you want to see, forever playing to the gallery.