Time to accept that it is unlikely we will go up

[Thedelldays]

In the top 2... Already we are playing catch up and playing poorly... I did mention a few weeks ago that the orient game was "must win" but got laughed at as there was so many games remaining

 

As CB FRY points out. The top 2 normally gather approximate 2 points a game and we would need to win around 10 on the bounce to catch up.. That simply is not going to happen

 

Time to stop worrying about getting to the prem is the next 3 years... Quite frankly, it's embarrassing to read whilst we are 3rd bottom of division 3

[doggface]

Agreed

[dune]

I just cannot see how we're suddenly going to transform from a toothless less than average team to championship form. We really are a joke of a club.

[John B]

In the top 2... Already we are playing catch up and playing poorly... I did mention a few weeks ago that the orient game was "must win" but got laughed at as there was so many games remaining

 

As CB FRY points out. The top 2 normally gather approximate 2 points a game and we would need to win around 10 on the bounce to catch up.. That simply is not going to happen

 

Time to stop worrying about getting to the prem is the next 3 years... Quite frankly, it's embarrassing to read whilst we are 3rd bottom of division 3

 

Yes I agree but NickG will come out with some statistics to prove otherwise.

 

I just cant see how we can put in a promotion challenge without Lallana and Lambert performing like they did last season

 

I suppose we could scrape into the play offs but where are we realistically going to get loan good players to spark the team

[dune]

What makes things worse is that L1 is nowhere near as strong as it was last seaon now that Leeds and Norwich have gone up.

[Fitzhugh Fella]

Must admit last night was sobering. I was looking forward to some improvement with the "new manager" syndrome kicking in but it was more of the same a la Swindon.

By the end we were almost a rabble and only Chamberlain last night came up to par.

Bringing on Mills for Connolly at 0-0 was Adkins first mistake - Connolly was doing nothing but Mills is very limited going forward.

 

We were talking last night about how incredible it is that we should go from firm favourites to also rans in one month - something went very wrong in the summer. Not pointing any fingers because it seems the truth is wrapped up in mystery but in the close season this club lost all the impetus built up last season.

Last night it was quite shocking to see the decline in the players who served us so well. Schneiderlin and Hammond are so one dimensional, Hammond is now a hoofer, Connolly looks like he's never played at the highest level, Puncheon was shocking, his shooting wayward and his judgement non-existant. Lambert was a shadow, Seaborne raw and out-of-his-depth while Davis (shot stopping aside) unable to come of his line for crosses. Well-beaten by an ordinary side.

 

Nigel Adkins really has his work cut out and when I looked at the bench to see the options it was almost unbeleivable how few we had.

Something has gone wrong, it means no promotion this year which is making the original 5-year plan look wildly optimistic imo.

[Wade Garrett]

It strikes me that we play well in the first half and crap in the second. Can only put this down to poor fitness. Like FF said, something went very wrong in the Summer.

 

Adkins needs to get a few loans in now to go straight in the side for Saturday, not many players deserve their place at the moment.

[GenevaSaint]

By the end we were almost a rabble and only Chamberlain last night came up to par.

 

Which is a sad state of affairs given his tender age in comparison to the other professionals (I use the term loosely) in the team.

[thefunkygibbons]

I guess one more loss will leave us at the very bottom of the table

[S-Clarke]

It is looking very difficult now.

 

We're only just in September but we can really only realistically have 4/5 more defeats all season if we want a top 2 finish.

 

We're going to need some never seen run of from from a Southampton side to even get close. I reckon we'll know end up sneaking the top 6, which isn't really good enough with the team we have.

 

I'd love to know what's happened, everything seemed to be in place before our last game against Southend. It's the stuff if nightmares!

[dune]

It strikes me that we play well in the first half and crap in the second.

 

I used to think this, but now I think what is happening is that teams show us respect for about 30 minutes (we were the favourites - junior man city lol) and then much like with the story of the Emperors new clothes they realise that what they were led to believe is ********. They then have a go at us and we are shown up to be the mediocre side that we are.

[Topcat]

We are almost at the point where of our remaining games we will have to win 65%, draw 25% and only lose 10% to get automatic promotion.

 

5 year plan? We are in year 2 and look like being stuck in L1. This 5 year plan looks unachieveable.

 

It all comes down to Managerial stability. In our last 10 years in the Prem we had the worst record for that.

[doggface]

As soon as the opposition score it's game over, last year we would reply with 3 goals!

[torsaint]

Think FF has got it right. I too believe something catastophic went wrong in the summer leading to the destabiisation of the whole club. The players either knew about it or sensed it and now can't wait to get away. Afraid it all ends up at Don Corteose's door. However plausible he may seem when the chosen few have dinner with him the reality may be very different. What a disaster.

[NickG]

Yes I agree but NickG will come out with some statistics to prove otherwise.

 

I just cant see how we can put in a promotion challenge without Lallana and Lambert performing like they did last season

 

I suppose we could scrape into the play offs but where are we realistically going to get loan good players to spark the team

 

don't need to, we all know the stats will show it is very possible for us to go up and certainly not too late - however, the team clearly is not playing well enough this season except in probably about 200 odd minutes in total.

 

The positives are its far from too late and we do have good players, the negative is they are showing no sign of wanting, or being able to perform.

 

Think it will only take two or three games for us to have a much better idea.

[NickG]

guess Mills is the only player he knows well at the moment?

[lordswoodsaints]

The hype was created by the media and the bookies,IMO it was always going to be a hard season full of pressure.

Last season was supposed to be a season of treading water whilst things settled,basically just a season of surviving but we really exceeded the expectation and that's where the bookies stepped in to declare that we will walk the league and many fell for it.

We lost a couple of decent players and they weren't replaced,the players that stayed seem to have got complacent or injured and pardew was sacked,I don't think he would have survived the pressure of expectation from us lot and NC anyway.

The result is a total breakdown of a football club,because of this I don't think NA will last the season...... It's not his fault but he will become a casualty of the failures.

 

But hey ho,life would be boring without a bit of drama.

Edited 16 September, 2010 by lordswoodsaints

[Harry Faz]

We are one dimensional - the loss and non-replacement of papa and antonio in the summer was a shocking error - not saying they alone would make everything ok, but they almost always changed the game in our favour when they came on .

[lordswoodsaints]

We are almost at the point where of our remaining games we will have to win 65%, draw 25% and only lose 10% to get automatic promotion.

 

5 year plan? We are in year 2 and look like being stuck in L1. This 5 year plan looks unachieveable.

 

It all comes down to Managerial stability. In our last 10 years in the Prem we had the worst record for that.

 

Sorry I don't agree,the 5 year plan is a load of 8ollox,any plan you make in football is probably never going to be achieved,it's too unpredictable,it's like walking into a casino with a tenner and saying to yourself I'm going to leave by midnight with £500 in my pocket.....it ain't going to happen.

Managerial stability is a myth,it doesn't exist for 99% of the clubs in all 4 divisions,man city,spurs and Chelsea all have a high turnover of managers and they seem to do just fine,in fact spurs and man city have had more managers than us.correct me' if I'm wrong but the statistics are that there are only 16 clubs out of 91 who have had a manager for more than 2 years.

 

Whatever the statistics are,the pressure of success and the desire to become a money making machine will always drive the need of frequent changes of manager.greed is king today.

Edited 16 September, 2010 by lordswoodsaints

[egreog]

Most businesses have a 2, 3, 5year plan which almost always have to be reviewed and rewritten........ Saints had better rewrite theirs now..........not a prayer of promotion with this sorry bunch........more chance of relegation which is a realistic possibility with no improvement from the so called "best squad in the league".....laughable!!

 

A total inability to score a goal (with the odd, very odd exception of Bristol Rovers) is unacceptable at this level. And the bilge that is posted on the OS by some poor, inept player about how the lads are "up for it" and "working hard to put things right" is even more depressing.

 

Bring on Colchester and watch the goals fly in.......just none of them will be for Saints.... wonder what the odds are on Saints NIL on Saturday.........now there's an opportunity!!!!!!!!!

[johnsey]

The hype was created by the media and the bookies,IMO it was always going to be a hard season full of pressure.

Last season was supposed to be a season of treading water whilst things settled,basically just a season of surviving but we really exceeded the expectation and that's where the bookies stepped in to declare that we will walk the league and many fell for it.

We lost a couple of decent players and they weren't replaced,the players that stayed seem to have got complacent or injured and pardew was sacked,I don't think he would have survived the pressure of expectation from us lot and NC anyway.

The result is a total breakdown of a football club,because of this I don't think NA will last the season...... It's not his fault but he will become a casualty of the failures.

 

But hey ho,life would be boring without a bit of drama.

 

Got to agree with most of this, I have a feeling the only change we might see is if a few players come in who can make an immediate impact. If this does not happen I think my feeling is money is/was the issue and were not as well off or well funded as we were led to believe.

[Legod Third Coming]

Must admit last night was sobering. I was looking forward to some improvement with the "new manager" syndrome kicking in but it was more of the same a la Swindon.

By the end we were almost a rabble and only Chamberlain last night came up to par.

Bringing on Mills for Connolly at 0-0 was Adkins first mistake - Connolly was doing nothing but Mills is very limited going forward.

 

We were talking last night about how incredible it is that we should go from firm favourites to also rans in one month - something went very wrong in the summer. Not pointing any fingers because it seems the truth is wrapped up in mystery but in the close season this club lost all the impetus built up last season.

Last night it was quite shocking to see the decline in the players who served us so well. Schneiderlin and Hammond are so one dimensional, Hammond is now a hoofer, Connolly looks like he's never played at the highest level, Puncheon was shocking, his shooting wayward and his judgement non-existant. Lambert was a shadow, Seaborne raw and out-of-his-depth while Davis (shot stopping aside) unable to come of his line for crosses. Well-beaten by an ordinary side.

 

Nigel Adkins really has his work cut out and when I looked at the bench to see the options it was almost unbeleivable how few we had.

Something has gone wrong, it means no promotion this year which is making the original 5-year plan look wildly optimistic imo.

 

What went wrong, looking at all the signs we now see, was that our manager was nearly fired in June.

 

He should have been fired in June. Or he should have been backed to the hilt.

 

Looking back, if Cortese set him promotion as a target, and he failed, Cortese should have fired him. I would have been up in arms, but it is clear Cortese cannot accept failure and that, in his eyes, last season was a failure.

 

From then on, Pardew must either have known his was a dead man walking, or that he would not be fully supported and backed in the transfer market - which is exactly what appears to have been the case.

 

This season is now a train wreck. I fully expected the players we have (and they are the best in the league) to beat MK Dons under Adkins, believing that all they lacked was discipline and organisation on the pitch.

 

It is now clear that the manner of Pardew's exit screwed the camp.

[Whitey]

I think people are going a little OTT here... last year we started on -10 and got to within 6 points of the playoffs by Christmas. We are in a better position now points wise with plenty to play for, so lets not write off the season just yet!

[simo]

Adkins out ?

[jjsaint]

I have no doubt that NA will turn it around, which means... we'll stay up. Seriously, we're on relegation form and have been all season (Bristol Rovers being the exception).

[Ian the Red]

I think people are going a little OTT here... last year we started on -10 and got to within 6 points of the playoffs by Christmas. We are in a better position now points wise with plenty to play for, so lets not write off the season just yet!

 

Quite right!

 

We are 8 points off the top, 7 from 6th, thats nothing. Last season 2 teams went away from everyone else, this has not happened this season. To write us off now is ridiculous at this stage. A couple of decent loan players, Barnard back and a win on Saturday and people will change there tune. To quote we need to win x% is a joke no one knows how the other teams will perform.

[saintant]

He has only just arrived but I fear Nigel Adkins needs to sit the players down and read the riot act to them. This just isn't good enough - they are professional paid a lot of money and they are currently cheating the fans who's hard earned pays those huge salaries. Too many of them are in some sort of comfort zone and need a harsh wake-up call. ML came in and saved this proud club from near extinction but this group of players can't even be bothered to put in a shift once they cross the white let alone in training. They are lazy, unfit and don't appear to give a toss. NA must sort out those who do want to play for the club and replace the rest. He can't afford to be Mr Nice Guy I'm afraid because this lot will just take advantage. Show us you've got a pair Nige and wade into this bunch of under-achievers. Oh and can we get someone on loan with some leadership qualities quick so that Hammond can be relieved of the captaincy cos this guy doesn't lead by example and shouldn't even be in the team on current form.

[alpine_saint]

In the top 2... Already we are playing catch up and playing poorly... I did mention a few weeks ago that the orient game was "must win" but got laughed at as there was so many games remaining

 

As CB FRY points out. The top 2 normally gather approximate 2 points a game and we would need to win around 10 on the bounce to catch up.. That simply is not going to happen

 

Time to stop worrying about getting to the prem is the next 3 years... Quite frankly, it's embarrassing to read whilst we are 3rd bottom of division 3

 

I've known this deep-down since when Plymouth scored, if I didnt already it know it from the way the summer unfolded.

[COMEONYOUREDS]

Right now I am struggling to see where we will get a result from, not creating any chances, only 2 semi-fit strikers, best player out injured etc. the list goes on.

 

However, cast your mind back to last season. We didn't win a league match until the 19th September, which was our tenth league game. From that point we went from strength to strength, and had it not been for the 10 point penalty we would have been well in with a shout of automatic promotion come the end of the season. We can turn this around, but the players need to get over whatever has happened before and pull their fingers out, as it is they who are underperforming in matches. We desperately need to make some loan signings, minimum 1 striker and 1 midfielder (with pace) or we will struggle to break teams down, but we've been saying this all summer. Personally I am just exasperated that this summer wasn't used effectively so we could hit the ground running, whether the fault of this lies with Pardew, Cortese or Reed etc. I don't know, but from a fans perspective it takes the ****!

[alpine_saint]

Must admit last night was sobering. I was looking forward to some improvement with the "new manager" syndrome kicking in but it was more of the same a la Swindon.

By the end we were almost a rabble and only Chamberlain last night came up to par.

Bringing on Mills for Connolly at 0-0 was Adkins first mistake - Connolly was doing nothing but Mills is very limited going forward.

 

We were talking last night about how incredible it is that we should go from firm favourites to also rans in one month - something went very wrong in the summer. Not pointing any fingers because it seems the truth is wrapped up in mystery but in the close season this club lost all the impetus built up last season.

Last night it was quite shocking to see the decline in the players who served us so well. Schneiderlin and Hammond are so one dimensional, Hammond is now a hoofer, Connolly looks like he's never played at the highest level, Puncheon was shocking, his shooting wayward and his judgement non-existant. Lambert was a shadow, Seaborne raw and out-of-his-depth while Davis (shot stopping aside) unable to come of his line for crosses. Well-beaten by an ordinary side.

 

Nigel Adkins really has his work cut out and when I looked at the bench to see the options it was almost unbeleivable how few we had.

Something has gone wrong, it means no promotion this year which is making the original 5-year plan look wildly optimistic imo.

 

You are in a very insightful mood today, Dunc.

[buctootim]

Its situations like this where good managers really earn their money. Most fans can spot that buying the top scorer in the league or a tall imposing centre back from the league above are good moves. Understanding why an apparently strong team has deflated to such a degree this season and what to do about it requires a whole new level of ability. I freely admit I have no idea whats gone wrong.

[huggleman]

I think Bristol Rovers was the turning point of our season so far, we finally click under Pardew and he get's sacked, Cortese's biggest problem was not letting him have the next game. If we had struggled to draw or lost THEN sack him! Maybe the players feel that no matter what they do the man upstairs aint gonna be happy?

[Topcat]

What went wrong, looking at all the signs we now see, was that our manager was nearly fired in June.

 

He should have been fired in June. Or he should have been backed to the hilt.

 

Hits the nail on the head. Instead Pardew stumbled along being resented by Cortese who then listened more to Reed and in the bust up decided to back the bloke in charge of the training ground,

[View From The Top]

I think I've resigned myself to a long spell in division 3.

 

I don't know what happened over the summer but it was clear at the Plymouth game that things were seriously wrong.

[Cabrone]

Still far too many games to go to rule out promotion. If NA can get a win out of these players and get their confidence up then they are good enough to go on a run.

 

We are still in a much better points position than we were last season so plenty of opportunity yet.

 

Top 2 is looking quite difficult though.

[MerceSaint28]

Well i completely agree Alps. I was one of the few who agreed with you over the lack of transfer activity in the summer, others on this board just stuck their head in the sand and beleived what the press were telling them.

 

We are at least 5 players short of being a championship winning side, the question is why does this not happen.

I am a licensed football agent and no a thing or two about football, so lets just summise a few things.

Firstly i am going to take the Pardew sacking out of the equation because Cortese clearly wanted to get rid of him ack in June and didn't. So moving on to the squad, which is paper thin, here are the problems

 

- Centre half - Jaidi is shot and should be a reserve at best. Seabourne is Pards only poor acqusition and is not of the required quality.

Martin is a good kid, but should be brought in slowly and not be thrust into first team football

Solution - Loan (Derrick Boayte)

 

- Centre Midfield - This was a problem all last season and having gone to the game last night, a problem yet again. Hammond sadly is neither an attacking or defensive midfielder and does not command the centre. We need a tough tackling ball winning midfielder who will do the dirty stuff and give the ball to more skilful players. Frankly it is disgraceful that Wotton is still on the books. Here is a guy who is no where near the required standard to be useful, why did we not buy a younger centre midfielder in the summer???????

At least Morgan is playing well, but he is being badly let down by Hammond and if we get injuries, we have massive problems.

 

Wingers - We only have 2, a promising kid and inconsistent Puncheon. We need at least 2 wingers to provide competition and pace down the flanks.

 

Strikers - I said i didn't know why we re-signed Connelly. Old, injury prone and does not have the pace we needed alongside Lambert.

We really needed a quick aggressive forward alongside Lambert. An Aaron McClean or Charlie Austin should of been targeted in the summer.

 

Personally i am completely confused as to Cortese's message. He wants to everyone we are a big club, we want to get to the Premiership blah blah, yet we spent no money in the summer, when the job was only half done.

 

Seriously guys, even if Pards was still here and our guys were playing well, we simply do not have a strong enough squad overall to maintain a top two place. There are too many weaknesses and the squad is paper thin.

 

Funny how Alps noticed this (as did i) and got slaughtered for it, maybe some of you are getting a dose of reality now.

Adkins you need loans and NOW!!!!!

[Legod Third Coming]

I think I've resigned myself to a long spell in division 3.

 

I don't know what happened over the summer but it was clear at the Plymouth game that things were seriously wrong.

 

I'm not sure that was the case. I watched that game on Sky - not the same as being there I know. But it does at least allow you to listen to impartial observation.

 

We came out of the blocks in that game and did everything but score.

 

One dodgy moment of defensive lapse then allowed Plymouth the classic smash and grab raid.

 

Now, call me old fashioned but I'm with Harry Redknapp on this. It was a goal out of nothing. They never threatened again. Never looked like scoring. We did. Several times.

 

It was a bad result, but it was no bad performance by any stretch. Nor did we look unfit. We simply looked like on another day we would have won easily.

[doddisalegend]

In the top 2... Already we are playing catch up and playing poorly... I did mention a few weeks ago that the orient game was "must win" but got laughed at as there was so many games remaining

As CB FRY points out. The top 2 normally gather approximate 2 points a game and we would need to win around 10 on the bounce to catch up.. That simply is not going to happen

 

Time to stop worrying about getting to the prem is the next 3 years... Quite frankly, it's embarrassing to read whilst we are 3rd bottom of division 3

 

So are you saying you knew all the crap since the Orient game was going to happen? You knew Pardew was going to get sacked after winning 4-0 and it looked like we'd turnned the corner, you knew wilkins would take over and be crap? you knew we'd get no more players in before the deadline?.Basically you had a 50% chance of getting that prediction right. I think it's a bit early to be claimming the title "Mystic Delldays" just yet. lets just see how the season pans out this time last season I figured we'd escape relegation by the skin of our teeth and turnned out to be a lot better.

Edited 16 September, 2010 by doddisalegend

[sandwichsaint]

This place is amazing. Never, ever, does it seem anyone will learn. Write off teams, managers, players, look stupid, do it again. It's September for ****s sake. What kind of fan writes off their team in September?

 

I'm not saying you're wrong if we go up. I'm saying you're wrong regardless. We should get behind the team and hope they can win as many games as possible under the new manager. We should have made the playoffs last season after a worse start. Being terrible for 4 or 5 games doesn't mean we'll be terrible for 46. From what people are saying, we're actually awful, not in poor form, we're just awful, Lambert, Fonte, Schneiderlin, Barnard and so on, clearly wouldn't be wanted by other L1 clubs? Or Championship clubs? Poor players right?

 

So are we going to get relegated? Because the attitude on here seems to be that this is permanent, the team is rubbish. So should we be really worried about that? Or perhaps is it in fact blatantly obvious we have a lot of good players underperforming and that didn't change with 2 days under a new manager?

 

Forget signings and injuries, look at the line-ups of the last few games. If you think all of those players played to their ability and we still lost, then fine, we're in serious trouble. But the reality of it is, the players available were good enough to win those games and performed woefully. It's been a dire start and it needs some strong management to turn it around, but the ridiculous suggestion it needs another complete rebuild is exactly the reactionary over the top toss that makes people on the forum seem so pathetic.

 

I find myself praying we win the next game not for the points, not to enjoy the win, but just to shut half of you lot up and get a bit more common sense around here. FFS.

 

Were you there last night? I went for the first time this season and was horrified by what I saw!

 

I am fully backing NA but clearly in terms of timescale and budget a complete rebuild is impossible at this stage but on last night's showing I would expect to see several changes for Saturday,

 

this team is in urgent need of a shot of footballing Viagra but where we get that who knows?

[alpine_saint]

What went wrong, looking at all the signs we now see, was that our manager was nearly fired in June.

 

He should have been fired in June. Or he should have been backed to the hilt.

 

Looking back, if Cortese set him promotion as a target, and he failed, Cortese should have fired him. I would have been up in arms, but it is clear Cortese cannot accept failure and that, in his eyes, last season was a failure.

 

From then on, Pardew must either have known his was a dead man walking, or that he would not be fully supported and backed in the transfer market - which is exactly what appears to have been the case.

 

This season is now a train wreck. I fully expected the players we have (and they are the best in the league) to beat MK Dons under Adkins, believing that all they lacked was discipline and organisation on the pitch.

 

It is now clear that the manner of Pardew's exit screwed the camp.

 

An interesting post.

 

So, not only NC should be blamed for a moment of indecision, but also all the fans and ex-players like MLT for sermonising on Pardew being kept on without appearing to have a f**king clue that the working relation between them was so bad.

[Pilchards]

How can we give up on our team so easily?

 

As people have said, sort our own team out and the results will slowly keep coming.

Once you get some results then the players we have will be far too good for any team in this league....

Having a inform Fonte, Spider, Hammond, Puncheon, Lallana, Barnard, Harding, Richardson, Lambert and some good loanees will rip **** out of anyone!

SIMPLE AS THAT

[Legod Third Coming]

How can we give up on our team so easily?

 

As people have said, sort our own team out and the results will slowly keep coming.

Once you get some results then the players we have will be far too good for any team in this league....

Having a inform Fonte, Spider, Hammond, Puncheon, Lallana, Barnard, Harding, Richardson, Lambert and some good loanees will rip **** out of anyone!

SIMPLE AS THAT

 

I agree with that. Adkins must quickly establish WHY they are playing with so little confidence.

[wild-saint]

Hey, look on the brightside. Noone is starting to run away with it this year. I think a lot less points will be needed for automatic promo and the playoffs this year.

 

The team is short on confidence and fitness IMO. lallana and barny back in the side will make a significant difference. A couple of loans in will also step things on and finally the new manager should be able to lift the rest over the enw couple of weeks. Im still confident that we will shake things up.

 

Although its been a tough start the league is far more open this year and thats a massive positive for me but then ive never been one to slit my wrist at the first sign of trouble. We seem to have a board full of frama queens and Divas who clearly give up at the first hurdle.

 

With every kick in the teeth and hurlde passed the reqards get greater!!

[ottery st mary]

Great Pards fan and gutted and very disappointed when he was sacked...

 

Big mistake by Sir Nic......Also the appointment of Sir Less is not going to work.......

 

Anyone who says, how do you know...

 

Years of experience when dealing with amateur control freaks..Let him go back to the FA and help them win all the World Cups in the cabinet..NOT

 

This is going to continue to be a thorn in our side and will eventually come back and bite poor old Nic on the bum..

 

But life will go on......NOW

 

if

 

OUR NIGE CAN GET TO GRIPS WITH A FEW LOANS AND SORT OUT A FEW HEADS......

 

WE HAVE....More than a good chance...

 

Let us not give up fellow fans...WE CAN STILL DO THIS....If not the play offs....

 

Sorry Sir Less...Pompey and the FA need you more than us..

 

 

Come on Nigel ADKINS......YOU ARE THE MAN...

 

OVER TO YOU SIR.

 

 

WIFM

[View From The Top]

I'm not sure that was the case. I watched that game on Sky - not the same as being there I know. But it does at least allow you to listen to impartial observation.

 

We came out of the blocks in that game and did everything but score.

 

One dodgy moment of defensive lapse then allowed Plymouth the classic smash and grab raid.

 

Now, call me old fashioned but I'm with Harry Redknapp on this. It was a goal out of nothing. They never threatened again. Never looked like scoring. We did. Several times.

 

It was a bad result, but it was no bad performance by any stretch. Nor did we look unfit. We simply looked like on another day we would have won easily.

 

After the game I said on here that the vibe was all wrong and there were clear issues on the pitch and then had a series of PM discussions with others who'd also picked up on it.

 

After the Orient game I thought it obvious that AP and some of the players were really disinterested.

 

The damage was done in the summer and it's going to cost us this season and it didn't just include the insanity of not replacing Antonio and Wago.

[SNSUN]

I've already put promotion out of my mind. THe squad's not strong enough as we've seen from Lallana's injury and Barnard's suspension. If it does happen, i'll be surprised and delighted, but I won't be suicidal if we don't make it.

 

You don't become a bad side overnight though, I reckon we're cursed.

[croydonsaint]

This place is amazing. Never, ever, does it seem anyone will learn. Write off teams, managers, players, look stupid, do it again. It's September for ****s sake. What kind of fan writes off their team in September?

 

I'm not saying you're wrong if we go up. I'm saying you're wrong regardless. We should get behind the team and hope they can win as many games as possible under the new manager. We should have made the playoffs last season after a worse start. Being terrible for 4 or 5 games doesn't mean we'll be terrible for 46. From what people are saying, we're actually awful, not in poor form, we're just awful, Lambert, Fonte, Schneiderlin, Barnard and so on, clearly wouldn't be wanted by other L1 clubs? Or Championship clubs? Poor players right?

 

So are we going to get relegated? Because the attitude on here seems to be that this is permanent, the team is rubbish. So should we be really worried about that? Or perhaps is it in fact blatantly obvious we have a lot of good players underperforming and that didn't change with 2 days under a new manager?

 

Forget signings and injuries, look at the line-ups of the last few games. If you think all of those players played to their ability and we still lost, then fine, we're in serious trouble. But the reality of it is, the players available were good enough to win those games and performed woefully. It's been a dire start and it needs some strong management to turn it around, but the ridiculous suggestion it needs another complete rebuild is exactly the reactionary over the top toss that makes people on the forum seem so pathetic.

 

I find myself praying we win the next game not for the points, not to enjoy the win, but just to shut half of you lot up and get a bit more common sense around here. FFS.

 

Well said, some common sense at last. Theres even someone on another thread calling for Lambert to be dumped. What would they be saying when he started scoring every game for that lucky club.

I am not saying we will get promoted, i am not saying we wont, i am saying just calm down, stop panicking. We will get some new players in Adkins will make his improvements and lets just wait and see.

Not sure at this nervey time if doubting the team is going to help.

Just a thought, Pardew was a well backed manager for a year and this was his team so maybe he bares some responsability.

[bjk]

Unbelievable,theres 120 points to play for and we're 8 points from the top,yeah the seasons over isn't it.There really are some bloody idiots on this forum.

[alpine_saint]

Unbelievable,theres 120 points to play for and we're 8 points from the top,yeah the seasons over isn't it.There really are some bloody idiots on this forum.

 

Oh dear. That old denial....

[maltasaints]

Buck stops at the players i'm sorry i wont accept the excuse that a manager is all the difference, they get paid well to do what any of us would love to do and cant get there **** together and get a result. Look at yourselves and get your **** together. rant over