Winchester_Saint

I think Leeds are a better side but not by miles. I agree that that cup game was a one off - every single Leeds player (except maybe selfish Beckford) gave it 110% for the team and played like their life depended on it whereas Utd had a mixture of unimpressive youngsters and off the boil regulars. They edged it at Elland Road against us and overall have a stronger squad - players such as Kisnorbo (what a rock!) show just how difficult they are to break down and of course up the other end they have Snodgrass and Beckford who have the quality to put chances away. They will definitely go up this season along with Norwich - by far the best two teams we have come up against so far.

Yeah I think you're right, therefore waiting as long as they possibly can before telling us how many tickets we can have. Didn't they only get around 10k for their FA Cup match at home to Burnley? Surely they will get more for this one, although it is on TV which always makes a large amount stay at home. I'm sure our allocation will be snapped up quickly when they eventually go on sale.

Funniest thing was their review of the Pompey match, in particular Townsend's summary of their financial mess! What a laugh!

Awesome halftime entertainment potential there!

Wash your mouth out son, Perry has been awesome! 37 now isn't he? And still he puts in almost faultless performances - his anticipation, decision-making and experience is superb. A top pro is Mr Chris Perry!

Kelv is club captain and therefore AP thinks it's better to have him on the bench than a young reserve goalie - if Bart were to get injured then Kelv could quite easily come on and just let a defender take the goal kicks. I'm sure it's better to have Kelv in the squad than a young, unproven reserve.

Wayne Thomas is on 7.5k a week I believe as that was one of the main issues when we went down, the fact that he had been out injured all season and must surely take a pay cut if he were to stay with us in League One. Of course, he didn't, and therefore is still on a silly wage for a backup defender! I'm sure his contract expires in the summer of 2010, too, so some facts seem a bit dubious in this story! Certainly wouldn't lose any sleep over seeing him leaving, providing we can get a few more CBs in. Would free up some wages in any case!

+ 1

Yeah the officials are very poor in this league but you can't surely blame Papa's numerous offsides on the officials?! Yeah of course some of them would naturally be errors by the linesman but in the game against Wycombe Wanderers, for example, he was offside 7 times and got taken off well before full-time - say 2 or 3 were mistakes by the linesman, that still means he was offside about 5 times against a very poor team. This is a guy who is our top wage earner, too - what do you make of other aspects of his game? To me, apart from having a bit of pace, he doesn't seem the most technically gifted, either.

I don't understand the people who stick up for him saying give him time to settle and all that - staying onside isn't something which you have to get used to or adapt to in another country! He is 25/26 years old and has played in Serie A and at international level - he must know the offside rule! He has played at a higher level than the majority of our players and is on nearly £10,000 a week - even by being on loan he is our top earner. For all that - Serie A and international experience and top earner at the club - you would expect more from him. The amount of offsides he has racked up already is almost laughable, hence the offside songs which have emerged recently. I was there at Leeds on Saturday, too, and although no-one played particularly well for us, Papa's first touch and passing was pretty bad. The only reason he didn't get caught offside was because he was playing on the right! Only his work-rate and some spells of determination trying to win the ball back made it worthwhile him being on the pitch. Sorry, I'm not trying to target him or anything like that - I thought there were worse people on the pitch on Saturday such as Lloyd James - but for a player like him who has been playing at the top level for a few years now, he should know the offside rule! Oh and to back that up with some evidence - he was offside 7 times against Wycombe before he got substituted! 7 times! Wycombe! Apart from that, seems a nice chap!

Ha ha classic! Legend for a night!

Have to admit when I saw Papa, James and then Wotton step up my heart sank each time! To be fair, though, Papa hit an excellent penalty and Wotton's, to take it to sudden death, was brilliant under pressure. Firmly hit right into the bottom corner! COYR!

Yeah I was a few rows in front of these jokers. What a bunch of idiots. Don't bother coming back whoever you are

Sat in the Chapel for the first time in my life today as running low on money at the mo. Actually really enjoyed it although the amount of kids running around and changing seats and up and down made it feel a bit like an after school club. Most of them weren't interested in the game either and the little kid behind me kept comparing his hotdog to a dildo! Another little kid kept telling his friend to 'suck his mum' - family stand?!

the saint in winchester I'm with you mate! Would have loved to have seen Mr Pards today - shame I was at uni all afternoon!

Have to agree! Ordering 3 tickets tomorrow providing I still can! Another example that everything about Leeds is dirt

Best of luck Michael, top pro and top bloke

I'll be there with two others. Hope we beat dirty Leeds

Saintsweb raped!

I banged a Brighton bint once

Gotta be Pompey at home! Just imagine the build up/excitement around the city. We would be clear underdogs but if we won...wow!! Still think Northampton will be a tricky test today though. We will have to be very professional and determined

Was at that game at St James' Park four seasons ago when he was carried off after that nasty injury. Thought at the time how impressive he looked for an 18 year old. At 22 he is still young and has bags of potential - now is the time for Bart to show just how good a keeper he is! If he keeps playing like he did against Charlton then there's no worries!

Yeah I agree with bringing Mellis on for a bit more energy and height - Lallana had worked his socks off - I just didn't understand taking off our striker who, although he had a bad game, can score in a flash and also provided the only height up front for when we knocked long balls forwards. Maybe it's just that I don't rate Papa! He got himself offside yet again on two good occasions, one of them being that time that he rounded the goalie. Never mind, AP knows a lot more than me!

When 'Pompey fan on a string' was sung by a group of about 3 people close to me in the Northam yesterday I actually thought at the time that this song hadn't come up as much recently! 'Oh when the Saints' is much better sung at normal speed than that slow, droany version which everyone speeds up at different times anyway which makes it sound pants with people singing all over the place, and 'Hello, hello' wouldn't make the top four which you seem to suggest, I don't think. How about 'Red and White' or 'We love Southampton, we do' or 'Southampton til I die'? They hardly make guest appearances - they are sung at every home game! At least I remember belting them out this season at every match!

Yeah spot on. Can't understand why AP took Lambert off for Papa with 6 minutes to go - yeah Lambert had a poor game but he was the only one with a bit of height and strength and it was pointless just pounding balls up to Connolly and Papa in the last 6 or 7 minutes. Neither of them were going to win anything in the air and Papa managed to rank up his 1,587,458th and 1,587,459th offsides of his career in those crucial last 5 minutes. Work it out, Papa you plank