Adkins refuses to give up on Saints defence (From Daily Echo)

loosehead wrote:
Does this mean he thinks they're good enough for the Premiership?
If he does then at the end of the month it's good bye Adkins as I can't see us getting any results with this defence.
Surely he must know they're just not good enough?

Ted Rogers wrote:

loosehead wrote:
Does this mean he thinks they're good enough for the Premiership?
If he does then at the end of the month it's good bye Adkins as I can't see us getting any results with this defence.
Surely he must know they're just not good enough?

He can only work with the players he has! What other options are there?

I would far rather see a story that's a rallying cry from the local paper supporting our great club which in turn then generates a flood of positivity from the genuine fans posting on this site!

Too much to ask? Let's have a thread where we concentrate on talking football, formations and Saints only!

Who cares what's happening at the shitehole down the road? Don't entertain or respond to any non Saints fan spouting nonsense and on a wind up.
Come on you Reds, I'd like to see another defensive formation on Saturday - Gazza, Yoshi, Jos, Clyne and Shaw. With Spider, Cork, Gaston and Lallana with Ricky up top.

costa gaz wrote:
I think the return of Cork will make a difference.
Some one to protect the back four.
Also Fox is exposed far too much and needs some help from our left sided midfielder, Lallana is just not doing this right now.
The Adkins way of we will score more goals than you, worked in the lower leagues. Time for a re-think Nige.

Lionel P wrote:
Adkins may be right. From the Saints matches that I've seen, it's the midfield that is really poor, just giving the ball away all the time, or punting long balls downfield where the forwards have no chance. In that situation any defence is going to get more pressure than they can handle. A lot of the time there is such a lack of pace and skill they would struggle to win games in the Championship, never mind the Premiership.

City Saint wrote:
Desperate times require desperate measures. Put five at the back, a strong back four with a solid DM in front or sweeper just slightly behind. This implied a return to the dreaded diamond. But we look so naked deep down our flanks we need to shore up the defense. When we start turning losses into draws, and draws into losses, maybe we will build the kind of confidence (and squad) needed to play attack-minded football.

Ted Rogers wrote:

loosehead wrote:
Does this mean he thinks they're good enough for the Premiership?
If he does then at the end of the month it's good bye Adkins as I can't see us getting any results with this defence.
Surely he must know they're just not good enough?

He can only work with the players he has! What other options are there?

I would far rather see a story that's a rallying cry from the local paper supporting our great club which in turn then generates a flood of positivity from the genuine fans posting on this site!

Too much to ask? Let's have a thread where we concentrate on talking football, formations and Saints only!

Who cares what's happening at the shitehole down the road? Don't entertain or respond to any non Saints fan spouting nonsense and on a wind up.
Come on you Reds, I'd like to see another defensive formation on Saturday - Gazza, Yoshi, Jos, Clyne and Shaw. With Spider, Cork, Gaston and Lallana with Ricky up top.

OSPREYSAINT wrote:
It is said that the squad are being taken away somewhere for two days, presumably on a team building exercise, hopefully nothing risky but also not too cushy. I have visions of Rambo copping a paintball in the eye, or Lambo crashing into a wall on an Army obstacle course.

Matt Allen wrote:
We can win this weekend, Swansea are there for the taking - we need to be the 12th (or 13th) man and get right behind the team and manager as we always do.

Come on Saints, we can do it - together as one!

Flashin the pan wrote:
Adkins, there's a vacancy going at Pompey right now, if your up for it. You and Appleton have simular traits, can't win games that often and the football is mostly dire. Strong possibilty saturday's game with QPR who some class players in their side will result in another loss and more stick for Mr. Adkins. Some southern clubs are really struggling...maybe Bournemouth can do better this season.

Saintsayer II wrote:
I would like to see Cork either in the back 4 or as a sweeper in front of them

loosehead wrote:

Ted Rogers wrote:

loosehead wrote:
Does this mean he thinks they're good enough for the Premiership?
If he does then at the end of the month it's good bye Adkins as I can't see us getting any results with this defence.
Surely he must know they're just not good enough?

He can only work with the players he has! What other options are there?

I would far rather see a story that's a rallying cry from the local paper supporting our great club which in turn then generates a flood of positivity from the genuine fans posting on this site!

Too much to ask? Let's have a thread where we concentrate on talking football, formations and Saints only!

Who cares what's happening at the shitehole down the road? Don't entertain or respond to any non Saints fan spouting nonsense and on a wind up.
Come on you Reds, I'd like to see another defensive formation on Saturday - Gazza, Yoshi, Jos, Clyne and Shaw. With Spider, Cork, Gaston and Lallana with Ricky up top.

Surely as a manager he must have noticed last season he needed to strengthen his defence?
I also said we needed a midfield ball player/tactician /general as we had the strikers but they had to keep coming back for the ball or to defend.
he Adkins had the chance at the beginning of the season to strengthen both positions defence & midfield but instead concentrated on attack or attacking players.
surely your not saying Fonte is good enough for this league are you?
If he has a full strength squad & comes away with nothing over these next three matches I'm sorry but it's good bye Adkins as I can't see him surviving after that

Flashin the pan wrote:

Flashin the pan wrote:
Adkins, there's a vacancy going at Pompey right now, if your up for it. You and Appleton have simular traits, can't win games that often and the football is mostly dire. Strong possibilty saturday's game with QPR who some class players in their side will result in another loss and more stick for Mr. Adkins. Some southern clubs are really struggling...maybe Bournemouth can do better this season.

Wrong week...the Swans are playing instead and the rangers game soon follows on.
1-2

Flashin the pan wrote:
Adkins, there's a vacancy going at Pompey right now, if your up for it. You and Appleton have simular traits, can't win games that often and the football is mostly dire. Strong possibilty saturday's game with QPR who some class players in their side will result in another loss and more stick for Mr. Adkins. Some southern clubs are really struggling...maybe Bournemouth can do better this season.

Alicesdad wrote:
The last paragraph of the article is a laughable abuse of statistics which simply shows the writer hadn't met the word count for the the article or was bored and needed to pad it out.

Adkins must work with what he has. Stunning observartion.
But the players must work at what they are supposed to do too. Their individual performance is weak and does not justify their status as premier players. In the end they will be sold and replaced of they do not raise their game. Thats football.

Clyne shows great potential, Fonte needs some mentoring/coaching and I havent given up on him yet. Yoshida is learning about a whole new game at Premiership level but has international experience and may have what it takes once he settles. Fox needs more help from the mid field as he is often left exposed by poor midfield cover and he gets caught out of position. I don't know whats up with Hooifeld, but he has lost assertiveness. I though he woudl be the one to mentor Fonte but now I'm not so sure.

This is all well chewed stuff and just regurgitating thoughts going back weeks.

Not much else to talk about today.

Or maybe there is ... I was in the Saints shop the other day and frankly I dont like the shirts. I seldom get drawn inot this area of debate but I have seen them on MOTD and at the ground and after a few weeks of tolerance I think they are simply not in line with the Saints image going back decades. We have had some pretty odd patterns based on red and white over the years, but the current strip is just not Saints. I remember that grey strip that Man Utd had on when we beat them 6-3 years ago. That strip was never worn again, Ferguson saw to that. We should do the same. It's not an ugly or unpleasant strip, it's just not Saints.

... or we could talk about the weather ...

St Retford wrote:
I think the defence was much, much better against West Brom. No one would have stopped their second and the first was a deflection which should have been ruled out for handball in any event. Other than that I think Gazza only made one save.

I think the whole team is being set up to focus more on defence, which is why I don't think we created as much going forward. We'll get there.

SaintMax wrote:

St Retford wrote:
I think the defence was much, much better against West Brom. No one would have stopped their second and the first was a deflection which should have been ruled out for handball in any event. Other than that I think Gazza only made one save.

I think the whole team is being set up to focus more on defence, which is why I don't think we created as much going forward. We'll get there.

I think we got away with ball retention in the championship, then picked our own time to score, and so the team were set up to attack.
In this league the format has been found out as we are not good enough to keep the ball, and not quick enough to respond to a counter-attack.
So we defo need to learn to park the bus.

Stroppy_gramps wrote:
Made up story by the DE because they don't have anything else to say.

Clearly posted to try to provoke debate from which rumours spring.

White and red till dead wrote:
And therein lies the problem...

Confucious wrote:

Stroppy_gramps wrote:
Made up story by the DE because they don't have anything else to say.

Clearly posted to try to provoke debate from which rumours spring.

I think that's very unfair. I was dreading an article this morning headlined: "Adkins gives up on shocking defence" - so this story is both big and good news and quite a relief to me.

Too many newspapers concentrate on things that have happened and completely fail to mention all the very important things that haven't happened.

I produce a "shadow version" of the Echo in my mind every morning and, apart from the Adkins refusing to give up scoop, my main stories today are.....

* Cortese doesn't run off with Adkins wife and all Saints money

* Ramirez not killed by piranhas in bath

* Hooiveld not having sex change op

* St Marys escapes demolition by earthquake which didn't happen.

* Lallana not going to "Time Travel" seminar now re-scheduled for last week

* F@rts not to be banned in Kingsland unless wet

Puddletown Saint wrote:
Good debte today guys

Consistant back five

Gazza Nath Jose Yos Shaw

Bite and energy in midfield

Cork JWP

Flair on the flanks

Adam and Punch

Goals up front

Gaston and Rickie

Subs

Davis Reeves Jos Spider Jay Makuya and Seagar

St Retford wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

St Retford wrote:
I think the defence was much, much better against West Brom. No one would have stopped their second and the first was a deflection which should have been ruled out for handball in any event. Other than that I think Gazza only made one save.

I think the whole team is being set up to focus more on defence, which is why I don't think we created as much going forward. We'll get there.

I think we got away with ball retention in the championship, then picked our own time to score, and so the team were set up to attack.
In this league the format has been found out as we are not good enough to keep the ball, and not quick enough to respond to a counter-attack.
So we defo need to learn to park the bus.

I agree actually. I think we could get away with losing the ball a lot more in the Championship as most teams didn't have a strike force clinical enough to punish us. I think our passing needs to get 10% more precise and then we're in business. Hopefully Gaston will get up to speed very quickly in this department as his fitness improves.

kent141 wrote:
The orange faced Adkins loses a bit more of the plot everyday, but can still do no wrong with the happy clappers .

kent141 wrote:
The orange faced Adkins loses a bit more of the plot everyday, but can still do no wrong with the happy clappers .

SaintMax wrote:

St Retford wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

St Retford wrote:
I think the defence was much, much better against West Brom. No one would have stopped their second and the first was a deflection which should have been ruled out for handball in any event. Other than that I think Gazza only made one save.

I think the whole team is being set up to focus more on defence, which is why I don't think we created as much going forward. We'll get there.

I think we got away with ball retention in the championship, then picked our own time to score, and so the team were set up to attack.
In this league the format has been found out as we are not good enough to keep the ball, and not quick enough to respond to a counter-attack.
So we defo need to learn to park the bus.

I agree actually. I think we could get away with losing the ball a lot more in the Championship as most teams didn't have a strike force clinical enough to punish us. I think our passing needs to get 10% more precise and then we're in business. Hopefully Gaston will get up to speed very quickly in this department as his fitness improves.

Gaston will be a relevation I think as long we we can set the team up around him and have two midfield biters/ball winners to break down the opposition and hold the middle of the park.
It can only get better..!

MGRA wrote:

kent141 wrote:
The orange faced Adkins loses a bit more of the plot everyday, but can still do no wrong with the happy clappers .

not sure why you think he is orange just because of one polarised photo taken by a sports photographer !? I saw him recently and he is not orange !? Also I think you will find the "happy clappers" as you call them know full well that he can do wrong, but just do not see the point of banging on about it all the time. No one who knows anything more than the tiniest bit about football would admit that the last game was a tactical disaster from start to finish. BUT..... the realism is hitting home for supporters and manager alike that the wrong players were let go / brought in and we have what we have until Jan and just need to get on with it. Ditching NA will achieve nothing and if he can pull it around before Jan and keep his job and we stay up , even if its 17th then its job done. You just repeating the same thing time and time again is not making you super-credible.

St Retford wrote:

MGRA wrote:

kent141 wrote:
The orange faced Adkins loses a bit more of the plot everyday, but can still do no wrong with the happy clappers .

not sure why you think he is orange just because of one polarised photo taken by a sports photographer !? I saw him recently and he is not orange !? Also I think you will find the "happy clappers" as you call them know full well that he can do wrong, but just do not see the point of banging on about it all the time. No one who knows anything more than the tiniest bit about football would admit that the last game was a tactical disaster from start to finish. BUT..... the realism is hitting home for supporters and manager alike that the wrong players were let go / brought in and we have what we have until Jan and just need to get on with it. Ditching NA will achieve nothing and if he can pull it around before Jan and keep his job and we stay up , even if its 17th then its job done. You just repeating the same thing time and time again is not making you super-credible.

Don't reply to the needy little pr1ck. We're TALKING FOOTBALL today. Did you not get the memo?

Over the Edge wrote:
Defending starts with strikers,, if our centre forwards lose the ball they must track back, hassle and not allow the opposition defenders time on the ball, (most footballers are quite thick, if you give them time to think they will do something that hurts your team).

The midfield need to concentrate on supporting the defence not just the centre forwards, they must win the ball and play it simple but affectively, forwards or backwards, they must pick up players from set pieces better.

The back 4 need to stop worrying about making mistakes, (they look as nervous as a kitten) every time they receive the ball, also ''if in doubt give it a clout'' ,,,hoof it,,,clear your lines,,,whatever they want to call it JUST DO IT,,,the opposition won't score from their own penalty box or half.

The goalie needs to install confidence in the defenders around him, they need to know he will come off his line gather the ball a play it simple, he needs to dominate his box and shout at his defenders, there seems to a distinct lack communication, the defenders need to have the confidence to know where their goalie is and that he will play the ball forward simply without putting them under pressure, which happens with Boruc and Kelvin, the constant changing of goalies is a worry, Gazza looks the best of the three IMO, therefore stick with him.

Finally if it aint broke, DON'T fix it, the dodgey substitutions at key stages in the game need to stop, if we're winning don't change it to shore up the defence and sit back, teams will rip you apart.

If we like suggested it may not be the prettiest football in the world,
(but this league aint a beauty contest) but may might just get a result.

Rant Over

St Retford wrote:

MGRA wrote:

kent141 wrote:
The orange faced Adkins loses a bit more of the plot everyday, but can still do no wrong with the happy clappers .

not sure why you think he is orange just because of one polarised photo taken by a sports photographer !? I saw him recently and he is not orange !? Also I think you will find the "happy clappers" as you call them know full well that he can do wrong, but just do not see the point of banging on about it all the time. No one who knows anything more than the tiniest bit about football would admit that the last game was a tactical disaster from start to finish. BUT..... the realism is hitting home for supporters and manager alike that the wrong players were let go / brought in and we have what we have until Jan and just need to get on with it. Ditching NA will achieve nothing and if he can pull it around before Jan and keep his job and we stay up , even if its 17th then its job done. You just repeating the same thing time and time again is not making you super-credible.

Don't reply to the needy little pr1ck. We're TALKING FOOTBALL today. Did you not get the memo?

SaintMax wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:
It is said that the squad are being taken away somewhere for two days, presumably on a team building exercise, hopefully nothing risky but also not too cushy. I have visions of Rambo copping a paintball in the eye, or Lambo crashing into a wall on an Army obstacle course.

Jesus I hope Guly doesnt give anyone else a dead leg.

costa gaz wrote:
I think the return of Cork will make a difference.
Some one to protect the back four.
Also Fox is exposed far too much and needs some help from our left sided midfielder, Lallana is just not doing this right now.
The Adkins way of we will score more goals than you, worked in the lower leagues. Time for a re-think Nige.

OSPREYSAINT wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:
It is said that the squad are being taken away somewhere for two days, presumably on a team building exercise, hopefully nothing risky but also not too cushy. I have visions of Rambo copping a paintball in the eye, or Lambo crashing into a wall on an Army obstacle course.

Jesus I hope Guly doesnt give anyone else a dead leg.

Pointless post blasphemy and a quote that has no credence whatsoever, yellow card for you.

MGRA wrote:

Over the Edge wrote:
Defending starts with strikers,, if our centre forwards lose the ball they must track back, hassle and not allow the opposition defenders time on the ball, (most footballers are quite thick, if you give them time to think they will do something that hurts your team).

The midfield need to concentrate on supporting the defence not just the centre forwards, they must win the ball and play it simple but affectively, forwards or backwards, they must pick up players from set pieces better.

The back 4 need to stop worrying about making mistakes, (they look as nervous as a kitten) every time they receive the ball, also ''if in doubt give it a clout'' ,,,hoof it,,,clear your lines,,,whatever they want to call it JUST DO IT,,,the opposition won't score from their own penalty box or half.

The goalie needs to install confidence in the defenders around him, they need to know he will come off his line gather the ball a play it simple, he needs to dominate his box and shout at his defenders, there seems to a distinct lack communication, the defenders need to have the confidence to know where their goalie is and that he will play the ball forward simply without putting them under pressure, which happens with Boruc and Kelvin, the constant changing of goalies is a worry, Gazza looks the best of the three IMO, therefore stick with him.

Finally if it aint broke, DON'T fix it, the dodgey substitutions at key stages in the game need to stop, if we're winning don't change it to shore up the defence and sit back, teams will rip you apart.

If we like suggested it may not be the prettiest football in the world,
(but this league aint a beauty contest) but may might just get a result.

Rant Over

I don't subscribe to that way of playing in the Prem... I would play 4-2-3-1. Have a sole striker who does not run his guts out. Have two holding midfield players who play across the pitch together behind the midfield 3. This has to be the way forward.... Saints are not pacing themselves over 90 minutes and 4-2-3-1 would solve this. We have the players to play this and for me its the obvious answer.

St Retford wrote:

MGRA wrote:

Over the Edge wrote:
Defending starts with strikers,, if our centre forwards lose the ball they must track back, hassle and not allow the opposition defenders time on the ball, (most footballers are quite thick, if you give them time to think they will do something that hurts your team).

The midfield need to concentrate on supporting the defence not just the centre forwards, they must win the ball and play it simple but affectively, forwards or backwards, they must pick up players from set pieces better.

The back 4 need to stop worrying about making mistakes, (they look as nervous as a kitten) every time they receive the ball, also ''if in doubt give it a clout'' ,,,hoof it,,,clear your lines,,,whatever they want to call it JUST DO IT,,,the opposition won't score from their own penalty box or half.

The goalie needs to install confidence in the defenders around him, they need to know he will come off his line gather the ball a play it simple, he needs to dominate his box and shout at his defenders, there seems to a distinct lack communication, the defenders need to have the confidence to know where their goalie is and that he will play the ball forward simply without putting them under pressure, which happens with Boruc and Kelvin, the constant changing of goalies is a worry, Gazza looks the best of the three IMO, therefore stick with him.

Finally if it aint broke, DON'T fix it, the dodgey substitutions at key stages in the game need to stop, if we're winning don't change it to shore up the defence and sit back, teams will rip you apart.

If we like suggested it may not be the prettiest football in the world,
(but this league aint a beauty contest) but may might just get a result.

Rant Over

I don't subscribe to that way of playing in the Prem... I would play 4-2-3-1. Have a sole striker who does not run his guts out. Have two holding midfield players who play across the pitch together behind the midfield 3. This has to be the way forward.... Saints are not pacing themselves over 90 minutes and 4-2-3-1 would solve this. We have the players to play this and for me its the obvious answer.

I sort of agree. I think even if we wanted to (which I don't) we couldn't turn ourselves into a Stoke or a West Ham or one of these teams that is really hard to break down and wins ugly games of football through attrition.

I think we have to play to our strengths and make teams scared of our threat going forward. I want them afraid to commit men forward because they know they'll likely be punished for it. Man United have been patching up a dodgy defence like this for years. We just need to start zipping it around with confidence and the quality we've got up front will start to tell.

SaintMax wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:
It is said that the squad are being taken away somewhere for two days, presumably on a team building exercise, hopefully nothing risky but also not too cushy. I have visions of Rambo copping a paintball in the eye, or Lambo crashing into a wall on an Army obstacle course.

Jesus I hope Guly doesnt give anyone else a dead leg.

Pointless post blasphemy and a quote that has no credence whatsoever, yellow card for you.

sorry - Iove Guly and he would be the first on my team sheet week in, week out.

SaintMax wrote:

St Retford wrote:

MGRA wrote:

Over the Edge wrote:
Defending starts with strikers,, if our centre forwards lose the ball they must track back, hassle and not allow the opposition defenders time on the ball, (most footballers are quite thick, if you give them time to think they will do something that hurts your team).

The midfield need to concentrate on supporting the defence not just the centre forwards, they must win the ball and play it simple but affectively, forwards or backwards, they must pick up players from set pieces better.

The back 4 need to stop worrying about making mistakes, (they look as nervous as a kitten) every time they receive the ball, also ''if in doubt give it a clout'' ,,,hoof it,,,clear your lines,,,whatever they want to call it JUST DO IT,,,the opposition won't score from their own penalty box or half.

The goalie needs to install confidence in the defenders around him, they need to know he will come off his line gather the ball a play it simple, he needs to dominate his box and shout at his defenders, there seems to a distinct lack communication, the defenders need to have the confidence to know where their goalie is and that he will play the ball forward simply without putting them under pressure, which happens with Boruc and Kelvin, the constant changing of goalies is a worry, Gazza looks the best of the three IMO, therefore stick with him.

Finally if it aint broke, DON'T fix it, the dodgey substitutions at key stages in the game need to stop, if we're winning don't change it to shore up the defence and sit back, teams will rip you apart.

If we like suggested it may not be the prettiest football in the world,
(but this league aint a beauty contest) but may might just get a result.

Rant Over

I don't subscribe to that way of playing in the Prem... I would play 4-2-3-1. Have a sole striker who does not run his guts out. Have two holding midfield players who play across the pitch together behind the midfield 3. This has to be the way forward.... Saints are not pacing themselves over 90 minutes and 4-2-3-1 would solve this. We have the players to play this and for me its the obvious answer.

I sort of agree. I think even if we wanted to (which I don't) we couldn't turn ourselves into a Stoke or a West Ham or one of these teams that is really hard to break down and wins ugly games of football through attrition.

I think we have to play to our strengths and make teams scared of our threat going forward. I want them afraid to commit men forward because they know they'll likely be punished for it. Man United have been patching up a dodgy defence like this for years. We just need to start zipping it around with confidence and the quality we've got up front will start to tell.

I would take 'win ugly' right now over pure football. Forget Barca, make us that annoying Liverpool team in the last 4 of the European cup

Lehman Bros Banker wrote:
What a carry on. Saints firm favourites 1/2 for relegation and Adkins 1/3 for the sack (BetVictor odds). Cortese will have given Adkins just one chance to get 3 points against Swansea, or the dirty stuff will hit the fan. Saints are already breaking records for all the wrong reasons. We certainly don't want to be challenging Derby County for the lowest points ever in the Premier. Get it sorted on Saturday. COYR

SaintMax wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:
It is said that the squad are being taken away somewhere for two days, presumably on a team building exercise, hopefully nothing risky but also not too cushy. I have visions of Rambo copping a paintball in the eye, or Lambo crashing into a wall on an Army obstacle course.

Jesus I hope Guly doesnt give anyone else a dead leg.

Pointless post blasphemy and a quote that has no credence whatsoever, yellow card for you.

sorry - Iove Guly and he would be the first on my team sheet week in, week out.

kent141 wrote:
The orange faced Adkins loses a bit more of the plot everyday, but can still do no wrong with the happy clappers .

OSPREYSAINT wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:
It is said that the squad are being taken away somewhere for two days, presumably on a team building exercise, hopefully nothing risky but also not too cushy. I have visions of Rambo copping a paintball in the eye, or Lambo crashing into a wall on an Army obstacle course.

Jesus I hope Guly doesnt give anyone else a dead leg.

Pointless post blasphemy and a quote that has no credence whatsoever, yellow card for you.

sorry - Iove Guly and he would be the first on my team sheet week in, week out.

Card rescinded

kent141 wrote:

Lehman Bros Banker wrote:
What a carry on. Saints firm favourites 1/2 for relegation and Adkins 1/3 for the sack (BetVictor odds). Cortese will have given Adkins just one chance to get 3 points against Swansea, or the dirty stuff will hit the fan. Saints are already breaking records for all the wrong reasons. We certainly don't want to be challenging Derby County for the lowest points ever in the Premier. Get it sorted on Saturday. COYR

Obviously a skate.

devonsaint2 wrote:
kent141

what a miserable person you are.

you are not a supporter, just a whinger.

SaintMax wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:
It is said that the squad are being taken away somewhere for two days, presumably on a team building exercise, hopefully nothing risky but also not too cushy. I have visions of Rambo copping a paintball in the eye, or Lambo crashing into a wall on an Army obstacle course.

Jesus I hope Guly doesnt give anyone else a dead leg.

Pointless post blasphemy and a quote that has no credence whatsoever, yellow card for you.

sorry - Iove Guly and he would be the first on my team sheet week in, week out.

Card rescinded

Oh crap, give me back the card, he needs a rocket up his ar se and is not the player we need to win and retain the ball in the middle of the park - bring back Jimmy Case!! (I once had Jimmy Case's peg in the home changing room as a young 17 year old playing in a hampshire senior cup...)

SaintMax wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:
It is said that the squad are being taken away somewhere for two days, presumably on a team building exercise, hopefully nothing risky but also not too cushy. I have visions of Rambo copping a paintball in the eye, or Lambo crashing into a wall on an Army obstacle course.

Jesus I hope Guly doesnt give anyone else a dead leg.

Pointless post blasphemy and a quote that has no credence whatsoever, yellow card for you.

sorry - Iove Guly and he would be the first on my team sheet week in, week out.

Card rescinded

Oh crap, give me back the card, he needs a rocket up his ar se and is not the player we need to win and retain the ball in the middle of the park - bring back Jimmy Case!! (I once had Jimmy Case's peg in the home changing room as a young 17 year old playing in a hampshire senior cup...)

up saints wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:
It is said that the squad are being taken away somewhere for two days, presumably on a team building exercise, hopefully nothing risky but also not too cushy. I have visions of Rambo copping a paintball in the eye, or Lambo crashing into a wall on an Army obstacle course.

Jesus I hope Guly doesnt give anyone else a dead leg.

Pointless post blasphemy and a quote that has no credence whatsoever, yellow card for you.

sorry - Iove Guly and he would be the first on my team sheet week in, week out.

Card rescinded

Oh crap, give me back the card, he needs a rocket up his ar se and is not the player we need to win and retain the ball in the middle of the park - bring back Jimmy Case!! (I once had Jimmy Case's peg in the home changing room as a young 17 year old playing in a hampshire senior cup...)

think i have lost the plot or missing something who's needs a rocket up his arse

OSPREYSAINT wrote:
Just watched Adkins on Skysports News, interesting what he said, blows Tebourbas theories into a cocked hat, he said he has a great relationship with NC and no such conversation about getting the push has happened yet, do you think he is telling fibs or just using a bit of spin to raise morale?

devonsaint2 wrote:
kent141

what a miserable person you are.

you are not a supporter, just a whinger.

OSPREYSAINT wrote:
Just watched Adkins on Skysports News, interesting what he said, blows Tebourbas theories into a cocked hat, he said he has a great relationship with NC and no such conversation about getting the push has happened yet, do you think he is telling fibs or just using a bit of spin to raise morale?

St Retford wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:
Just watched Adkins on Skysports News, interesting what he said, blows Tebourbas theories into a cocked hat, he said he has a great relationship with NC and no such conversation about getting the push has happened yet, do you think he is telling fibs or just using a bit of spin to raise morale?

I think Teboura might be full of sh1t. I think he has a grievance with Nicola which he's not man enough to settle in person so he comes on here and spreads poison behind his back.

It's what I reckon, anyroad.

mrtein wrote:
When they say underfire - the only people Atkins is under fire from is the press. fans, playes and cortese have all stood by him.

the level of negativity from the echo is very sad. They could be inspirational. And its nothing to do with selling papers. i dont think a negative atkins article effects paper sales. Its their little fued with the club.

Mr McMurray - get behind the club or stop writing about it...

St Retford wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

St Retford wrote:

MGRA wrote:

Over the Edge wrote:
Defending starts with strikers,, if our centre forwards lose the ball they must track back, hassle and not allow the opposition defenders time on the ball, (most footballers are quite thick, if you give them time to think they will do something that hurts your team).

The midfield need to concentrate on supporting the defence not just the centre forwards, they must win the ball and play it simple but affectively, forwards or backwards, they must pick up players from set pieces better.

The back 4 need to stop worrying about making mistakes, (they look as nervous as a kitten) every time they receive the ball, also ''if in doubt give it a clout'' ,,,hoof it,,,clear your lines,,,whatever they want to call it JUST DO IT,,,the opposition won't score from their own penalty box or half.

The goalie needs to install confidence in the defenders around him, they need to know he will come off his line gather the ball a play it simple, he needs to dominate his box and shout at his defenders, there seems to a distinct lack communication, the defenders need to have the confidence to know where their goalie is and that he will play the ball forward simply without putting them under pressure, which happens with Boruc and Kelvin, the constant changing of goalies is a worry, Gazza looks the best of the three IMO, therefore stick with him.

Finally if it aint broke, DON'T fix it, the dodgey substitutions at key stages in the game need to stop, if we're winning don't change it to shore up the defence and sit back, teams will rip you apart.

If we like suggested it may not be the prettiest football in the world,
(but this league aint a beauty contest) but may might just get a result.

Rant Over

I don't subscribe to that way of playing in the Prem... I would play 4-2-3-1. Have a sole striker who does not run his guts out. Have two holding midfield players who play across the pitch together behind the midfield 3. This has to be the way forward.... Saints are not pacing themselves over 90 minutes and 4-2-3-1 would solve this. We have the players to play this and for me its the obvious answer.

I sort of agree. I think even if we wanted to (which I don't) we couldn't turn ourselves into a Stoke or a West Ham or one of these teams that is really hard to break down and wins ugly games of football through attrition.

I think we have to play to our strengths and make teams scared of our threat going forward. I want them afraid to commit men forward because they know they'll likely be punished for it. Man United have been patching up a dodgy defence like this for years. We just need to start zipping it around with confidence and the quality we've got up front will start to tell.

I would take 'win ugly' right now over pure football. Forget Barca, make us that annoying Liverpool team in the last 4 of the European cup

I'd take three points however they came, but I don't know if winning ugly can ever be our thing with the current group of players. We don't do parking the bus or sending it route one - we play football. It'll come good at some point.

Stroppy_gramps wrote:
Made up story by the DE because they don't have anything else to say.

Clearly posted to try to provoke debate from which rumours spring.

kent141 wrote:

Confucious wrote:

Stroppy_gramps wrote:
Made up story by the DE because they don't have anything else to say.

Clearly posted to try to provoke debate from which rumours spring.

I think that's very unfair. I was dreading an article this morning headlined: "Adkins gives up on shocking defence" - so this story is both big and good news and quite a relief to me.

Too many newspapers concentrate on things that have happened and completely fail to mention all the very important things that haven't happened.

I produce a "shadow version" of the Echo in my mind every morning and, apart from the Adkins refusing to give up scoop, my main stories today are.....

* Cortese doesn't run off with Adkins wife and all Saints money

* Ramirez not killed by piranhas in bath

* Hooiveld not having sex change op

* St Marys escapes demolition by earthquake which didn't happen.

* Lallana not going to "Time Travel" seminar now re-scheduled for last week

* F@rts not to be banned in Kingsland unless wet

idiot.

OSPREYSAINT wrote:

mrtein wrote:
When they say underfire - the only people Atkins is under fire from is the press. fans, playes and cortese have all stood by him.

the level of negativity from the echo is very sad. They could be inspirational. And its nothing to do with selling papers. i dont think a negative atkins article effects paper sales. Its their little fued with the club.

Mr McMurray - get behind the club or stop writing about it...

Atkins?

SaintJD wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:

mrtein wrote:
When they say underfire - the only people Atkins is under fire from is the press. fans, playes and cortese have all stood by him.

the level of negativity from the echo is very sad. They could be inspirational. And its nothing to do with selling papers. i dont think a negative atkins article effects paper sales. Its their little fued with the club.

Mr McMurray - get behind the club or stop writing about it...

Atkins?

Yawn, sorry to keep banging on about this, but the Daily Echo is a local fecking newspaper. It's job it to report on things, but spread a message of cheer across the land.

On the main news section of the Echo site, why don't I see people commenting about murder or crime stories slagging the Echo for painting a negative picture of the city?

Surely they should just write stories saying what a nice day it is and how everything is fantastic.

It's rubbish. Sure, NC would love for journalists to just eat up only the kind of stories he wants the club to be associated with - maybe community work, nice positive stories about how great the club is. While there is a place for this, there is also a place for stories that comment on obvious, clear problems and challenges that the club is facing.

If you want to know what truly lazy safe journalist is, let the Echo bow down and re-print SFCs press releases as NC would like them to do, then, after a few months, you could slag them off for being a lap dog for the club.

SaintMax wrote:

SaintJD wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:

mrtein wrote:
When they say underfire - the only people Atkins is under fire from is the press. fans, playes and cortese have all stood by him.

the level of negativity from the echo is very sad. They could be inspirational. And its nothing to do with selling papers. i dont think a negative atkins article effects paper sales. Its their little fued with the club.

Mr McMurray - get behind the club or stop writing about it...

Atkins?

Yawn, sorry to keep banging on about this, but the Daily Echo is a local fecking newspaper. It's job it to report on things, but spread a message of cheer across the land.

On the main news section of the Echo site, why don't I see people commenting about murder or crime stories slagging the Echo for painting a negative picture of the city?

Surely they should just write stories saying what a nice day it is and how everything is fantastic.

It's rubbish. Sure, NC would love for journalists to just eat up only the kind of stories he wants the club to be associated with - maybe community work, nice positive stories about how great the club is. While there is a place for this, there is also a place for stories that comment on obvious, clear problems and challenges that the club is facing.

If you want to know what truly lazy safe journalist is, let the Echo bow down and re-print SFCs press releases as NC would like them to do, then, after a few months, you could slag them off for being a lap dog for the club.

I sense an Echo employee in our mist.

mack chinnon wrote:

kent141 wrote:

Confucious wrote:

Stroppy_gramps wrote:
Made up story by the DE because they don't have anything else to say.

Clearly posted to try to provoke debate from which rumours spring.

I think that's very unfair. I was dreading an article this morning headlined: "Adkins gives up on shocking defence" - so this story is both big and good news and quite a relief to me.

Too many newspapers concentrate on things that have happened and completely fail to mention all the very important things that haven't happened.

I produce a "shadow version" of the Echo in my mind every morning and, apart from the Adkins refusing to give up scoop, my main stories today are.....

* Cortese doesn't run off with Adkins wife and all Saints money

* Ramirez not killed by piranhas in bath

* Hooiveld not having sex change op

* St Marys escapes demolition by earthquake which didn't happen.

* Lallana not going to "Time Travel" seminar now re-scheduled for last week

* F@rts not to be banned in Kingsland unless wet

idiot.

Agreed.Kunt.

SaintMax wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

SaintJD wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:

mrtein wrote:
When they say underfire - the only people Atkins is under fire from is the press. fans, playes and cortese have all stood by him.

the level of negativity from the echo is very sad. They could be inspirational. And its nothing to do with selling papers. i dont think a negative atkins article effects paper sales. Its their little fued with the club.

Mr McMurray - get behind the club or stop writing about it...

Atkins?

Yawn, sorry to keep banging on about this, but the Daily Echo is a local fecking newspaper. It's job it to report on things, but spread a message of cheer across the land.

On the main news section of the Echo site, why don't I see people commenting about murder or crime stories slagging the Echo for painting a negative picture of the city?

Surely they should just write stories saying what a nice day it is and how everything is fantastic.

It's rubbish. Sure, NC would love for journalists to just eat up only the kind of stories he wants the club to be associated with - maybe community work, nice positive stories about how great the club is. While there is a place for this, there is also a place for stories that comment on obvious, clear problems and challenges that the club is facing.

If you want to know what truly lazy safe journalist is, let the Echo bow down and re-print SFCs press releases as NC would like them to do, then, after a few months, you could slag them off for being a lap dog for the club.

I sense an Echo employee in our mist.

Midst too..

SaintJD wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

SaintJD wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:

mrtein wrote:
When they say underfire - the only people Atkins is under fire from is the press. fans, playes and cortese have all stood by him.

the level of negativity from the echo is very sad. They could be inspirational. And its nothing to do with selling papers. i dont think a negative atkins article effects paper sales. Its their little fued with the club.

Mr McMurray - get behind the club or stop writing about it...

Atkins?

Yawn, sorry to keep banging on about this, but the Daily Echo is a local fecking newspaper. It's job it to report on things, but spread a message of cheer across the land.

On the main news section of the Echo site, why don't I see people commenting about murder or crime stories slagging the Echo for painting a negative picture of the city?

Surely they should just write stories saying what a nice day it is and how everything is fantastic.

It's rubbish. Sure, NC would love for journalists to just eat up only the kind of stories he wants the club to be associated with - maybe community work, nice positive stories about how great the club is. While there is a place for this, there is also a place for stories that comment on obvious, clear problems and challenges that the club is facing.

If you want to know what truly lazy safe journalist is, let the Echo bow down and re-print SFCs press releases as NC would like them to do, then, after a few months, you could slag them off for being a lap dog for the club.

I sense an Echo employee in our mist.

Midst too..

No, just someone who believes in a free press and doesn't like to sit in a corner covering my eyes and ears.

SaintMax wrote:

SaintJD wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

SaintJD wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:

mrtein wrote:
When they say underfire - the only people Atkins is under fire from is the press. fans, playes and cortese have all stood by him.

the level of negativity from the echo is very sad. They could be inspirational. And its nothing to do with selling papers. i dont think a negative atkins article effects paper sales. Its their little fued with the club.

Mr McMurray - get behind the club or stop writing about it...

Atkins?

Yawn, sorry to keep banging on about this, but the Daily Echo is a local fecking newspaper. It's job it to report on things, but spread a message of cheer across the land.

On the main news section of the Echo site, why don't I see people commenting about murder or crime stories slagging the Echo for painting a negative picture of the city?

Surely they should just write stories saying what a nice day it is and how everything is fantastic.

It's rubbish. Sure, NC would love for journalists to just eat up only the kind of stories he wants the club to be associated with - maybe community work, nice positive stories about how great the club is. While there is a place for this, there is also a place for stories that comment on obvious, clear problems and challenges that the club is facing.

If you want to know what truly lazy safe journalist is, let the Echo bow down and re-print SFCs press releases as NC would like them to do, then, after a few months, you could slag them off for being a lap dog for the club.

I sense an Echo employee in our mist.

Midst too..

No, just someone who believes in a free press and doesn't like to sit in a corner covering my eyes and ears.

who said that?

On Thu 1st Nov saintforever wrote:
it must be thursday - echo always start the adkins saga on thursdays (thats if they have finished the one from the week before)

mike saint wrote:

Ted Rogers wrote:

loosehead wrote:
Does this mean he thinks they're good enough for the Premiership?
If he does then at the end of the month it's good bye Adkins as I can't see us getting any results with this defence.
Surely he must know they're just not good enough?

He can only work with the players he has! What other options are there?

I would far rather see a story that's a rallying cry from the local paper supporting our great club which in turn then generates a flood of positivity from the genuine fans posting on this site!

Too much to ask? Let's have a thread where we concentrate on talking football, formations and Saints only!

Who cares what's happening at the shitehole down the road? Don't entertain or respond to any non Saints fan spouting nonsense and on a wind up.
Come on you Reds, I'd like to see another defensive formation on Saturday - Gazza, Yoshi, Jos, Clyne and Shaw. With Spider, Cork, Gaston and Lallana with Ricky up top.

Well said. Team looks good to, we have missed Cork in midfield.

MGRA wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

St Retford wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

St Retford wrote: I think the defence was much, much better against West Brom. No one would have stopped their second and the first was a deflection which should have been ruled out for handball in any event. Other than that I think Gazza only made one save. I think the whole team is being set up to focus more on defence, which is why I don't think we created as much going forward. We'll get there.

I think we got away with ball retention in the championship, then picked our own time to score, and so the team were set up to attack. In this league the format has been found out as we are not good enough to keep the ball, and not quick enough to respond to a counter-attack. So we defo need to learn to park the bus.

I agree actually. I think we could get away with losing the ball a lot more in the Championship as most teams didn't have a strike force clinical enough to punish us. I think our passing needs to get 10% more precise and then we're in business. Hopefully Gaston will get up to speed very quickly in this department as his fitness improves.

Gaston will be a relevation I think as long we we can set the team up around him and have two midfield biters/ball winners to break down the opposition and hold the middle of the park. It can only get better..!

Gaston will be indeed. The morons here who ridiculed me because he played on monday soon shut up when it was clear he was a million miles away from being ready. That injury causes nerve damage and he should have been rested properly and allowed to get back to match fitness/sharpness in the proper time frame.

mike saint wrote:

Ted Rogers wrote:

loosehead wrote:
Does this mean he thinks they're good enough for the Premiership?
If he does then at the end of the month it's good bye Adkins as I can't see us getting any results with this defence.
Surely he must know they're just not good enough?

He can only work with the players he has! What other options are there?

I would far rather see a story that's a rallying cry from the local paper supporting our great club which in turn then generates a flood of positivity from the genuine fans posting on this site!

Too much to ask? Let's have a thread where we concentrate on talking football, formations and Saints only!

Who cares what's happening at the shitehole down the road? Don't entertain or respond to any non Saints fan spouting nonsense and on a wind up.
Come on you Reds, I'd like to see another defensive formation on Saturday - Gazza, Yoshi, Jos, Clyne and Shaw. With Spider, Cork, Gaston and Lallana with Ricky up top.

Well said. Team looks good to, we have missed Cork in midfield.

Beer Monster wrote:

On Thu 1st Nov saintforever wrote:
it must be thursday - echo always start the adkins saga on thursdays (thats if they have finished the one from the week before)

Indeed - this is starting to get tedious now. Why isn't there a story on Appy jumping ship to sunny Blackpool?

Come on DE, do us a favour, we demand to see the tea lady and her scooter doing the rounds at Krap Nottarf before Tesco build on the flotsam

SaintAsh1964 wrote:
It's not just the defence that has been poor this season, the midfield have been caught out of position far to many times too, the 1st goal vs WBA was a clear example, Lallana goes infield to joint Davies and Spider to close a player down, leaving Fox exposed down the left so the play is moved back outside where Lallana should have been but there is just space there, the attacking player moves back inside compressing the play looks to shoot at goal and spider ambles toward the attacker and as he shoots turns his back away from the player! I'm pretty sure Atkins does not practice this on this on the training pitch, it's just poor play, the defence is only as good as the midfield and our midfield is far too open, we need to defend better as a team as in the same way that we need to attack better as a team, the 2nd goal was also down to the midfield loosing possession in the final third with no midfield cover, that's what we need to work on, our defending as a team.

Saintsayer II wrote:
I would like to see Cork either in the back 4 or as a sweeper in front of them

saintshorse101 wrote:

MGRA wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

St Retford wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

St Retford wrote: I think the defence was much, much better against West Brom. No one would have stopped their second and the first was a deflection which should have been ruled out for handball in any event. Other than that I think Gazza only made one save. I think the whole team is being set up to focus more on defence, which is why I don't think we created as much going forward. We'll get there.

I think we got away with ball retention in the championship, then picked our own time to score, and so the team were set up to attack. In this league the format has been found out as we are not good enough to keep the ball, and not quick enough to respond to a counter-attack. So we defo need to learn to park the bus.

I agree actually. I think we could get away with losing the ball a lot more in the Championship as most teams didn't have a strike force clinical enough to punish us. I think our passing needs to get 10% more precise and then we're in business. Hopefully Gaston will get up to speed very quickly in this department as his fitness improves.

Gaston will be a relevation I think as long we we can set the team up around him and have two midfield biters/ball winners to break down the opposition and hold the middle of the park. It can only get better..!

Gaston will be indeed. The morons here who ridiculed me because he played on monday soon shut up when it was clear he was a million miles away from being ready. That injury causes nerve damage and he should have been rested properly and allowed to get back to match fitness/sharpness in the proper time frame.

the `morons` who ridiculed you only did so because of your insistance that gaston would not play until december at the earliest! if you remember at the time, many including me said he may not play until december, however you came in for criticism for the way you made your argument. i could drag it all up again but thats not going to help anything is it?
with regards gaston on monday, i said that i hoped that NA would not feel pressured into bringing him into the game too soon, i think its obvious that he was not `match fit` and should have been on the bench to come on in the second half. as for your assertion regarding `nerve damage` trust me you wont know more about that than me! and i can tell you that if gaston had nerve `damage` there is no way he would have even played on monday or for several more weeks! having said that, pressure in his leg may have caused compression on the nerve, but when the leg was drained to release the pressure, which was done pretty soon after the injury, the nerves would recover in next to no time, with rest and medication. have you ever `pinched` a nerve in your shoulder or neck? it recovers very quickly. as i said i know about nerve pain and damage, though i am no `expert`, but i do know that injury caused by crushing action is far worse than the compression injury that gaston suffered.
i am not trying to pick `a fight` or call you names! all i am trying to do is move he debate on and to explain that gaston would not have suffered from the injury levels you claim. again i have not worked on his case but i do know from personal experience.

darune wrote:

mike saint wrote:

Ted Rogers wrote:

loosehead wrote:
Does this mean he thinks they're good enough for the Premiership?
If he does then at the end of the month it's good bye Adkins as I can't see us getting any results with this defence.
Surely he must know they're just not good enough?

He can only work with the players he has! What other options are there?

I would far rather see a story that's a rallying cry from the local paper supporting our great club which in turn then generates a flood of positivity from the genuine fans posting on this site!

Too much to ask? Let's have a thread where we concentrate on talking football, formations and Saints only!

Who cares what's happening at the shitehole down the road? Don't entertain or respond to any non Saints fan spouting nonsense and on a wind up.
Come on you Reds, I'd like to see another defensive formation on Saturday - Gazza, Yoshi, Jos, Clyne and Shaw. With Spider, Cork, Gaston and Lallana with Ricky up top.

Well said. Team looks good to, we have missed Cork in midfield.

Did someone get sent off? I would add Punch to the mix and play the 4-2-3-1 as Gazza, Clyne, Yoshi, Jos, Shaw - 2 holding Schneiderlin & Cork - Mid three Punch, Gaston, Lallana and Ricky up top!

darune wrote:

mike saint wrote:

Ted Rogers wrote:

loosehead wrote:
Does this mean he thinks they're good enough for the Premiership?
If he does then at the end of the month it's good bye Adkins as I can't see us getting any results with this defence.
Surely he must know they're just not good enough?

He can only work with the players he has! What other options are there?

I would far rather see a story that's a rallying cry from the local paper supporting our great club which in turn then generates a flood of positivity from the genuine fans posting on this site!

Too much to ask? Let's have a thread where we concentrate on talking football, formations and Saints only!

Who cares what's happening at the shitehole down the road? Don't entertain or respond to any non Saints fan spouting nonsense and on a wind up.
Come on you Reds, I'd like to see another defensive formation on Saturday - Gazza, Yoshi, Jos, Clyne and Shaw. With Spider, Cork, Gaston and Lallana with Ricky up top.

Well said. Team looks good to, we have missed Cork in midfield.

Did someone get sent off? I would add Punch to the mix and play the 4-2-3-1 as Gazza, Clyne, Yoshi, Jos, Shaw - 2 holding Schneiderlin & Cork - Mid three Punch, Gaston, Lallana and Ricky up top!

loosehead wrote:
Does this mean he thinks they're good enough for the Premiership?
If he does then at the end of the month it's good bye Adkins as I can't see us getting any results with this defence.
Surely he must know they're just not good enough?

Ted Rogers wrote:

loosehead wrote:
Does this mean he thinks they're good enough for the Premiership?
If he does then at the end of the month it's good bye Adkins as I can't see us getting any results with this defence.
Surely he must know they're just not good enough?

He can only work with the players he has! What other options are there?

I would far rather see a story that's a rallying cry from the local paper supporting our great club which in turn then generates a flood of positivity from the genuine fans posting on this site!

Too much to ask? Let's have a thread where we concentrate on talking football, formations and Saints only!

Who cares what's happening at the shitehole down the road? Don't entertain or respond to any non Saints fan spouting nonsense and on a wind up.
Come on you Reds, I'd like to see another defensive formation on Saturday - Gazza, Yoshi, Jos, Clyne and Shaw. With Spider, Cork, Gaston and Lallana with Ricky up top.

Beer Monster wrote:

On Thu 1st Nov saintforever wrote:
it must be thursday - echo always start the adkins saga on thursdays (thats if they have finished the one from the week before)

Indeed - this is starting to get tedious now. Why isn't there a story on Appy jumping ship to sunny Blackpool?

Come on DE, do us a favour, we demand to see the tea lady and her scooter doing the rounds at Krap Nottarf before Tesco build on the flotsam

devonsaint2 wrote:
kent141

what a miserable person you are.

you are not a supporter, just a whinger.

Saintlee72 wrote:
Watching the game the other night, I couldn't help but be impressed the way West Brom were set up. Flat back four, 2 holding midfielders. 3 attacking midfielders and one up front and I have to say, it worked a treat with their full backs bombing on with one of the two holding midfielders sitting in on the cover. I may be wrong but does anyone agree that is the perfect formation for us with Gaston, Adam and JP in midfield with Lambert up top.

loosehead wrote:

Ted Rogers wrote:

loosehead wrote:
Does this mean he thinks they're good enough for the Premiership?
If he does then at the end of the month it's good bye Adkins as I can't see us getting any results with this defence.
Surely he must know they're just not good enough?

He can only work with the players he has! What other options are there?

I would far rather see a story that's a rallying cry from the local paper supporting our great club which in turn then generates a flood of positivity from the genuine fans posting on this site!

Too much to ask? Let's have a thread where we concentrate on talking football, formations and Saints only!

Who cares what's happening at the shitehole down the road? Don't entertain or respond to any non Saints fan spouting nonsense and on a wind up.
Come on you Reds, I'd like to see another defensive formation on Saturday - Gazza, Yoshi, Jos, Clyne and Shaw. With Spider, Cork, Gaston and Lallana with Ricky up top.

Surely as a manager he must have noticed last season he needed to strengthen his defence?
I also said we needed a midfield ball player/tactician /general as we had the strikers but they had to keep coming back for the ball or to defend.
he Adkins had the chance at the beginning of the season to strengthen both positions defence & midfield but instead concentrated on attack or attacking players.
surely your not saying Fonte is good enough for this league are you?
If he has a full strength squad & comes away with nothing over these next three matches I'm sorry but it's good bye Adkins as I can't see him surviving after that

MGRA wrote:

saintshorse101 wrote:

MGRA wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

St Retford wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

St Retford wrote: I think the defence was much, much better against West Brom. No one would have stopped their second and the first was a deflection which should have been ruled out for handball in any event. Other than that I think Gazza only made one save. I think the whole team is being set up to focus more on defence, which is why I don't think we created as much going forward. We'll get there.

I think we got away with ball retention in the championship, then picked our own time to score, and so the team were set up to attack. In this league the format has been found out as we are not good enough to keep the ball, and not quick enough to respond to a counter-attack. So we defo need to learn to park the bus.

I agree actually. I think we could get away with losing the ball a lot more in the Championship as most teams didn't have a strike force clinical enough to punish us. I think our passing needs to get 10% more precise and then we're in business. Hopefully Gaston will get up to speed very quickly in this department as his fitness improves.

Gaston will be a relevation I think as long we we can set the team up around him and have two midfield biters/ball winners to break down the opposition and hold the middle of the park. It can only get better..!

Gaston will be indeed. The morons here who ridiculed me because he played on monday soon shut up when it was clear he was a million miles away from being ready. That injury causes nerve damage and he should have been rested properly and allowed to get back to match fitness/sharpness in the proper time frame.

the `morons` who ridiculed you only did so because of your insistance that gaston would not play until december at the earliest! if you remember at the time, many including me said he may not play until december, however you came in for criticism for the way you made your argument. i could drag it all up again but thats not going to help anything is it? with regards gaston on monday, i said that i hoped that NA would not feel pressured into bringing him into the game too soon, i think its obvious that he was not `match fit` and should have been on the bench to come on in the second half. as for your assertion regarding `nerve damage` trust me you wont know more about that than me! and i can tell you that if gaston had nerve `damage` there is no way he would have even played on monday or for several more weeks! having said that, pressure in his leg may have caused compression on the nerve, but when the leg was drained to release the pressure, which was done pretty soon after the injury, the nerves would recover in next to no time, with rest and medication. have you ever `pinched` a nerve in your shoulder or neck? it recovers very quickly. as i said i know about nerve pain and damage, though i am no `expert`, but i do know that injury caused by crushing action is far worse than the compression injury that gaston suffered. i am not trying to pick `a fight` or call you names! all i am trying to do is move he debate on and to explain that gaston would not have suffered from the injury levels you claim. again i have not worked on his case but i do know from personal experience.

well on what I learned he was never going to be fit until late Nov' at the earliest. It was as simple as that. I did not make up the nerve damage thing and its now obvious to all that he should never have taken part in the WBA game. I could make a judgment on how bad his injury was but I was obviously not to know that he would be played way way before he was fit. I would take no pleasure in being right on this and in fact was hoping to see him prove my info wrong and set the game alight on monday and I take no pleasure now in the fact he probably will not play this weekend.

Jameski wrote:

Beer Monster wrote:

On Thu 1st Nov saintforever wrote:
it must be thursday - echo always start the adkins saga on thursdays (thats if they have finished the one from the week before)

Indeed - this is starting to get tedious now. Why isn't there a story on Appy jumping ship to sunny Blackpool?

Come on DE, do us a favour, we demand to see the tea lady and her scooter doing the rounds at Krap Nottarf before Tesco build on the flotsam

They do have that story, just not in saints news section

Saintsayer II wrote:

Saintlee72 wrote:
Watching the game the other night, I couldn't help but be impressed the way West Brom were set up. Flat back four, 2 holding midfielders. 3 attacking midfielders and one up front and I have to say, it worked a treat with their full backs bombing on with one of the two holding midfielders sitting in on the cover. I may be wrong but does anyone agree that is the perfect formation for us with Gaston, Adam and JP in midfield with Lambert up top.

And any 2 fro Davies Cork or Spider in front of the back 4

Saintlee if Nigel wants some help how about me and thee applying for it

saintshorse101 wrote:

MGRA wrote:

saintshorse101 wrote:

MGRA wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

St Retford wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

St Retford wrote: I think the defence was much, much better against West Brom. No one would have stopped their second and the first was a deflection which should have been ruled out for handball in any event. Other than that I think Gazza only made one save. I think the whole team is being set up to focus more on defence, which is why I don't think we created as much going forward. We'll get there.

I think we got away with ball retention in the championship, then picked our own time to score, and so the team were set up to attack. In this league the format has been found out as we are not good enough to keep the ball, and not quick enough to respond to a counter-attack. So we defo need to learn to park the bus.

I agree actually. I think we could get away with losing the ball a lot more in the Championship as most teams didn't have a strike force clinical enough to punish us. I think our passing needs to get 10% more precise and then we're in business. Hopefully Gaston will get up to speed very quickly in this department as his fitness improves.

Gaston will be a relevation I think as long we we can set the team up around him and have two midfield biters/ball winners to break down the opposition and hold the middle of the park. It can only get better..!

Gaston will be indeed. The morons here who ridiculed me because he played on monday soon shut up when it was clear he was a million miles away from being ready. That injury causes nerve damage and he should have been rested properly and allowed to get back to match fitness/sharpness in the proper time frame.

the `morons` who ridiculed you only did so because of your insistance that gaston would not play until december at the earliest! if you remember at the time, many including me said he may not play until december, however you came in for criticism for the way you made your argument. i could drag it all up again but thats not going to help anything is it? with regards gaston on monday, i said that i hoped that NA would not feel pressured into bringing him into the game too soon, i think its obvious that he was not `match fit` and should have been on the bench to come on in the second half. as for your assertion regarding `nerve damage` trust me you wont know more about that than me! and i can tell you that if gaston had nerve `damage` there is no way he would have even played on monday or for several more weeks! having said that, pressure in his leg may have caused compression on the nerve, but when the leg was drained to release the pressure, which was done pretty soon after the injury, the nerves would recover in next to no time, with rest and medication. have you ever `pinched` a nerve in your shoulder or neck? it recovers very quickly. as i said i know about nerve pain and damage, though i am no `expert`, but i do know that injury caused by crushing action is far worse than the compression injury that gaston suffered. i am not trying to pick `a fight` or call you names! all i am trying to do is move he debate on and to explain that gaston would not have suffered from the injury levels you claim. again i have not worked on his case but i do know from personal experience.

well on what I learned he was never going to be fit until late Nov' at the earliest. It was as simple as that. I did not make up the nerve damage thing and its now obvious to all that he should never have taken part in the WBA game. I could make a judgment on how bad his injury was but I was obviously not to know that he would be played way way before he was fit. I would take no pleasure in being right on this and in fact was hoping to see him prove my info wrong and set the game alight on monday and I take no pleasure now in the fact he probably will not play this weekend.

so if you did not `make up the nerve damage thing` where did you get the info from? you say "well on what I learned he was never going to be fit until late Nov" where did you learn this? all saints said was what the injury was and the expected recovery period. now i will take what the medical staff say, working with the player and assessing his injury first hand, over any internet medical board any day. as i said late nov-early dec was near the given recovery period and could have been right, however have you heard the saying `its not what you say, its how you say it`? as i said there is no way that gaston suffered nerve damage! he may have injured a nerve, though this would have been an compression injury and can be treated relatively quickly and easily, and trust me i do know quite a lot about nerve damage and injury, i have had enough specialists, physios, pharmacist, nurses and doctors explain all about it too me!

MGRA wrote:

saintshorse101 wrote:

MGRA wrote:

saintshorse101 wrote:

MGRA wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

St Retford wrote:

SaintMax wrote:

St Retford wrote: I think the defence was much, much better against West Brom. No one would have stopped their second and the first was a deflection which should have been ruled out for handball in any event. Other than that I think Gazza only made one save. I think the whole team is being set up to focus more on defence, which is why I don't think we created as much going forward. We'll get there.

I think we got away with ball retention in the championship, then picked our own time to score, and so the team were set up to attack. In this league the format has been found out as we are not good enough to keep the ball, and not quick enough to respond to a counter-attack. So we defo need to learn to park the bus.

I agree actually. I think we could get away with losing the ball a lot more in the Championship as most teams didn't have a strike force clinical enough to punish us. I think our passing needs to get 10% more precise and then we're in business. Hopefully Gaston will get up to speed very quickly in this department as his fitness improves.

Gaston will be a relevation I think as long we we can set the team up around him and have two midfield biters/ball winners to break down the opposition and hold the middle of the park. It can only get better..!

Gaston will be indeed. The morons here who ridiculed me because he played on monday soon shut up when it was clear he was a million miles away from being ready. That injury causes nerve damage and he should have been rested properly and allowed to get back to match fitness/sharpness in the proper time frame.

the `morons` who ridiculed you only did so because of your insistance that gaston would not play until december at the earliest! if you remember at the time, many including me said he may not play until december, however you came in for criticism for the way you made your argument. i could drag it all up again but thats not going to help anything is it? with regards gaston on monday, i said that i hoped that NA would not feel pressured into bringing him into the game too soon, i think its obvious that he was not `match fit` and should have been on the bench to come on in the second half. as for your assertion regarding `nerve damage` trust me you wont know more about that than me! and i can tell you that if gaston had nerve `damage` there is no way he would have even played on monday or for several more weeks! having said that, pressure in his leg may have caused compression on the nerve, but when the leg was drained to release the pressure, which was done pretty soon after the injury, the nerves would recover in next to no time, with rest and medication. have you ever `pinched` a nerve in your shoulder or neck? it recovers very quickly. as i said i know about nerve pain and damage, though i am no `expert`, but i do know that injury caused by crushing action is far worse than the compression injury that gaston suffered. i am not trying to pick `a fight` or call you names! all i am trying to do is move he debate on and to explain that gaston would not have suffered from the injury levels you claim. again i have not worked on his case but i do know from personal experience.

well on what I learned he was never going to be fit until late Nov' at the earliest. It was as simple as that. I did not make up the nerve damage thing and its now obvious to all that he should never have taken part in the WBA game. I could make a judgment on how bad his injury was but I was obviously not to know that he would be played way way before he was fit. I would take no pleasure in being right on this and in fact was hoping to see him prove my info wrong and set the game alight on monday and I take no pleasure now in the fact he probably will not play this weekend.

so if you did not `make up the nerve damage thing` where did you get the info from? you say "well on what I learned he was never going to be fit until late Nov" where did you learn this? all saints said was what the injury was and the expected recovery period. now i will take what the medical staff say, working with the player and assessing his injury first hand, over any internet medical board any day. as i said late nov-early dec was near the given recovery period and could have been right, however have you heard the saying `its not what you say, its how you say it`? as i said there is no way that gaston suffered nerve damage! he may have injured a nerve, though this would have been an compression injury and can be treated relatively quickly and easily, and trust me i do know quite a lot about nerve damage and injury, i have had enough specialists, physios, pharmacist, nurses and doctors explain all about it too me!

you are a self proclaimed expert. yet the reality is every other club in the premier league would not have had gaston on the pitch on monday. Why is it exactly you think he was incapable of playing properly on Monday ??

kent141 wrote:

Confucious wrote:

Stroppy_gramps wrote:
Made up story by the DE because they don't have anything else to say.

Clearly posted to try to provoke debate from which rumours spring.

I think that's very unfair. I was dreading an article this morning headlined: "Adkins gives up on shocking defence" - so this story is both big and good news and quite a relief to me.

Too many newspapers concentrate on things that have happened and completely fail to mention all the very important things that haven't happened.

I produce a "shadow version" of the Echo in my mind every morning and, apart from the Adkins refusing to give up scoop, my main stories today are.....

* Cortese doesn't run off with Adkins wife and all Saints money

* Ramirez not killed by piranhas in bath

* Hooiveld not having sex change op

* St Marys escapes demolition by earthquake which didn't happen.

* Lallana not going to "Time Travel" seminar now re-scheduled for last week

* F@rts not to be banned in Kingsland unless wet

idiot.

Saint Joe wrote:

Lionel P wrote:
Adkins may be right. From the Saints matches that I've seen, it's the midfield that is really poor, just giving the ball away all the time, or punting long balls downfield where the forwards have no chance. In that situation any defence is going to get more pressure than they can handle. A lot of the time there is such a lack of pace and skill they would struggle to win games in the Championship, never mind the Premiership.

Well said ! games are won & lost in midfield if we don`t hold up the ball and keep giving it away the defence is under pressure all the time, every time its cleared it comes straight back .........I know the defence is sloppy but the midfield don`t help matters ....
If we are going to win games we`ve got to wise up quickly.......Move Fox up left of midfield as he`s no defender,we can`t do any worse

MGRA wrote:

Over the Edge wrote:
Defending starts with strikers,, if our centre forwards lose the ball they must track back, hassle and not allow the opposition defenders time on the ball, (most footballers are quite thick, if you give them time to think they will do something that hurts your team).

The midfield need to concentrate on supporting the defence not just the centre forwards, they must win the ball and play it simple but affectively, forwards or backwards, they must pick up players from set pieces better.

The back 4 need to stop worrying about making mistakes, (they look as nervous as a kitten) every time they receive the ball, also ''if in doubt give it a clout'' ,,,hoof it,,,clear your lines,,,whatever they want to call it JUST DO IT,,,the opposition won't score from their own penalty box or half.

The goalie needs to install confidence in the defenders around him, they need to know he will come off his line gather the ball a play it simple, he needs to dominate his box and shout at his defenders, there seems to a distinct lack communication, the defenders need to have the confidence to know where their goalie is and that he will play the ball forward simply without putting them under pressure, which happens with Boruc and Kelvin, the constant changing of goalies is a worry, Gazza looks the best of the three IMO, therefore stick with him.

Finally if it aint broke, DON'T fix it, the dodgey substitutions at key stages in the game need to stop, if we're winning don't change it to shore up the defence and sit back, teams will rip you apart.

If we like suggested it may not be the prettiest football in the world,
(but this league aint a beauty contest) but may might just get a result.

Rant Over

I don't subscribe to that way of playing in the Prem... I would play 4-2-3-1. Have a sole striker who does not run his guts out. Have two holding midfield players who play across the pitch together behind the midfield 3. This has to be the way forward.... Saints are not pacing themselves over 90 minutes and 4-2-3-1 would solve this. We have the players to play this and for me its the obvious answer.

Tirau Dan wrote:
all those spouting about Cork.. give him a few games and they'll turn on him with vitriol forgetting the poor sod has been out of football for ages.

Fan means always through thick and thin win or lose.. Let the manager manage!