I've been reading through a few of the threads after another bad night for the saints and there is a very common theme with the posts, there are IMO the fans who say it how it is about the saints current run of shocking results dating back 2 months, then there are the not sure how to describe them the fans who are a little deluded and over protective of all things saints. I personally think that we have been shocking since the start of december and only 2 league wins in 10 or so games proves this. So my question is at what point do the deluded over protective saints fans actually start posting something factual rather than just filling this site with the normal "in NA we trust" "get on the bus/boat on our way to promotion" "we are 2nd in the league get behind the team" I fully expect a backlash and I'm sure some one will post the oxford English dictionary meaning of the word supporter, all I'm wondering is at what point do the ever optimists think well maybe we aren't going to win the league maybe just maybe NA isn't the messiah. i am 100% behind saints and NA just getting annoyed with reading posts from the same people saying the same things.
Saint Kitch we are all disappointed with recent results but some of us remember where we have recently come from. Just look at the skates. We will turn this blip around and even if we don't go up this season we have still performed above expectations. We are not deluded just passionate for our club to do well and some of us don't like fans who constantly snipe.
The fact of it is, bad runs happen. We have a group of players who man-for-man, is as good as any other team in this division. You can look at the facts of it, as injuries started to stack at the time we started losing, we lost Chaplow who is a key player for us, along with some other important players and we did not have the depth to cope with that. I've said from the start of the season that we had a great first eleven but that the squad was short on quality overall. I still feel that is the case. We have shown evidence already this season that we can outplay teams in this league comprehensively, that fact does not just change like that. Also, bad runs just happen sometimes, there are many examples where a team goes on a downturn for a month or two before getting back on top, due to injuries or any number of issues. Look at Wolves a few years back. They were abysmal and then went on a tear and went up. Sunderland did the same thing. Aside from all this, where is the upside in believeing we're ****ed and now we'll struggle to make the playoffs or what have you? It's so much better to have a bit of positivity and a little faith don't you think?
i wondered how long it would be till i got look what could of happened post, this thread has nothing to do with what could of happened 3/4 years ago i'm sure we have had enough threads about that on the old 606 time to let it go. Just saying i'm not sure how helpful it is pretending everything is ok when its obviously not. this thread is not a dig at southampton fc as i personally think that a top 6 place would be a great achievement this season given IMO NA lack of ability in the transfer market. (just my view) its more of a dig at posters on here who always come out with the same stuff
I am disappointed with the results because I am not interested where we came from but where we need to be going. I bet Nicola doesn't say to Nigel well done lad we could still be be playing in Div 1. That is history. It is this clubs future that now matters and rather trageically by Saturday tea time we could be fourth. Nigel has to think very hard about the way the team is playing at the moment as it seems all creativity and flair has been stifled out of our players. That is not because of the fans. We have (apart from the boo boy idiots who were out in force again last night) all been behind the team.
What would you have had him do? I'm always curious about criticisms of transfer policy, because it's not often a straight comparison e.g. Nige should have done this, instead of doing that. Our signings have all been fairly solid so far, not completely sold on de Ridder yet, but Jos, Sharp and Lee are great, proven or promising respectively. Fox has proven a good buy if a little inconsistant on occasion and Falque clearly has talent and is a squad player on loan. Do you feel we should have spent more? Spent differently? Signed a person in particular? IMO a few players look too much like they are playing not to lose right now and aiming not to make errors, rather than being confidant and playing to win.
Just how good are we with with getting the best out of players? N'Guessan couldn't get a look in when he was with us and he was crap. Last night he was like a differnt player finding room and scoring a good goal.
I have pretty much based this on the fact that NA can't seem to attract players proven at a higher standard all of his aqquisitions have been from a lower level same level or unknown, when AP was in charge he was able to get top quality signings and we were bottom of league 1 on minus 10 points then not sitting top of the championship.
It doesn't really matter what we think...it's what the team believes. Hope they feel as deeply disappointed as us at the result, but also hope they believe they can go out and win games. We certainly don't want them to lack faith. More annoying was the late goal for Birmingham..the ability to grind out results can be the difference between success and failure. On a side note...have never seen so many separate posts on one game,
That's always a difficult thing to look at. With only a small sample size you could make the argument way more than it's worth. For example I could argue that Alex Ferguson can't get anything out of players because Forlan and Barthez were terrible at United. Different strokes for different folks, N'Guessan had a rep with Leicester fans as being inconsistant, but it's just about the way your team plays, you can't build a team around the needs of just one guy. Unless he's really ****ing good.
Which of his signings was proven at such a high level? I may just not be thinking of them but I really can't think of anyone who came from a higher level to play for us under Pardew.
I am one of those you talk off, but you have missed my point entirely. I didn't ever expect us to be where we are and for those of your "type" who say "well we must take advantage of it now we are here".... why on earth didn't Blackpool sack Holloway after being in the European places in November (or whenever it was).... simply becasue they were realistic with their expectations. My expectations, (and you can go back and look it up) where that we would finish between 10th and 14th in the league. So, for me I am very happy that we are enjoying being where we are. I don't believe that it'll be alright, we'll get back to winning ways soon, I just am very grateful for the season we have had so far. There is a subtle difference in what I have said and what you are suggesting we/I think.
To save me looking back through 9 months of posting .... Saint kitch, what were your expectations for this season, before a ball was kicked?
There do seem to be two distinct camps at the moment: the pathetic boo boys on the one hand and the slightly delusional 'Adkins is God' brigade on the other. I' would have slapped myself for saying this a few weeks ago, but with each game I'm starting to find myself slide somewhere into the middle. Adkins is the best manager we've had since Strachan and we are still 2nd in the league, but our early season joy was very much propped up by our irresistible home form - which has evaporated alarmingly overnight. Our away form all season has been average at best, and with trips to West Ham, Blackpool, Leeds, Middlesbrough still to come, I just don't realistically see us finishing in the top 2 unfortunately. Away from the pitch, there is no denying that club is in the best shape I can remember for a long time: financially stable, ambitious and with achievable long-term plans in place. As people have been saying, a glance at our neighbours down the M27 (and a fair few other clubs in the league) should make us rightfully grateful and proud of this stability. It is undeniable that the form table makes for alarming reading though: 0 wins in the last 5 games. The season has been going for 6 months now, in the first half of this (August 6th - November 6th) we won 14 games in all competitions (70% win record). In the last 3 months, we've won only 5 in all competitions (31% win record). Basically - we had the form of champions for the first 3 months whilst the last 3 months have been relegation form. A 70% win record throughout the season would see a season-long return of 97 points, a 31% win record would only bring 43 points. Essentially, we were great for the first half of the season and have been **** for the most recent half. Half a season is more than a blip, perhaps this is us starting to find our level a bit more after massively overachieving? Even if this is the case, we have still progressed from last season. And as long as year-to-year progression is evident, I'll be more than happy and 100% behind Cortese, Adkins and the players
I still think we'll finish 1st or 2nd. Halas. Only relegation would be a disappointment. Maybe we are finding our level, but the wild swings in the data as Beanpole posted indicate something different to me, to me they show that we came in on a tear playing a passing game that blew other teams away, then we dropped off due to a number of factors. I still honestly believe to a man we have one of the best first teams in the league, probably West Ham's is only *just* better in a couple of positions, and I think we'll find form again.
I'm not sure I'd quite go so far as to say I was deluded SK but I'm certainly one of those who have consistently said that NA would iron out any creases. My basis for this is similar to a principle used in recruitment - "The best indicator of future performance is past performance". In other words, you only have to look at NA's track record to set realistic expectations based on what he's achieved so far. After our lightning start to the season, I predicted a comfortable play-off place. I quickly changed this to an auto place and, I still believe that's what we'll get. However, putting all other arguments (luck, injuries, decisions etc) to one side, you could now say that the indicator of future performance is the last ten games. I don't think it is, but you could. I am now genuinely concerned about our form from a confidence perspective. However, as I only get to see televised or streamed matches, what I've seen recently is a team that just needs to shoot when the opportunity presents itself and get the ball forward a little more quickly, two things that I think will be remedied quickly.
