Who's with me? We've proven we can play better than this, we beat West Ham handily, we destroyed Birmingham and on many other occasions we've shown we can really play. Injuries and bad luck have played a part in our sour patch, but let's not kid ourselves here. This is not Hull's capitulation after a great start to being in the Premiership. This is not Newcastle's false dawn, being 15 points clear before Keegan started 'loving it'. This is a team that deserved to be in the top two, with quality players, a great manager and a chairman who gets it ****ing done. We have all the skills needed. Do all the doom-merchants genuinely believe that this is the start of the end of days? No. Surely not. Chaplow is back. Jos is nearly there. Puncheon has returned. Lallana found his shooting boots. We have a SCARY strikeforce. We can beat anyone in this division on any given day. Now is not the time to start thinking we can't. or that Nigel has lost the plot, or that the players have bottled it. No. Now we go out and win our next three games, grab the division by the throat, hate-**** it and make it our bitch. 3-1 next match. Lallana, Sharp and Lambert. Lets get it done.
Well done Ken, let's all pull in the same direction. I don't think we should be too critical of our team we should be right behind them willing them on.
Agree our strikeforce is up there with the best and there are still some returning players that need matches. Strikers win games but defences win leagues - we have it all! Nigel needs to tell the players and get them fired up to win games in the first half not chase games in the second half.
Being a fair minded Club we have given the others the chance to catch up and overtake, as, so far they, (WHU apart) can't be bothered perhaps we should just press on and leave them behind again, starting with Burnley.
At least we are in a strong position to turn this poor spell round. We'd be sweating if we needed results to avoid relegation, but at this moment promotion is still in our own hands. I know a few matches down the line it may not be, so now is the time for the team to get behind Nigel and for us to get behind the team. Other fans would love to be in our position and how they would laugh to see our hysteria now. We will be in the mix until the end of the season and that's better than being in the bottom or safe but with no chance of promotion. Will being right about predicting disaster make you any happier at the end of the season? Pessimists just protect themselves by being 'realistic' but you can't protect yourselves against pain, so we might as well 'go forward as one.'
They're all on yer taiils now! A play off spot should be achievable but what sort of frame of mind would a team that for so long looked invincible, be in come the day? Sadkins has his work cut out now.
We always knew that we wouldn't win every game but now we need to rember how to win one. Beat Burnley and hopefully West Ham and we can safely say we are back on route.
Not impossible. Burnley at home, probably yes. West Ham have lost recently and won unconvincingly, so why not? 3 Points ok to keep our push for promotion going, 4 points very pleased, and 6 points excellent.
Those who say it is in our own hands now are absolutely right. We are in a fantastic position to push on from here and win the league, or at the least get 2nd. We are in this position because we have been incredibly lucky, having had a terrible run of form since the beginning of December, and yet still being in second spot. But we can't go on relying on other teams screwing things up for themselves any longer. Cardiff and Birmingham are right on our heels and we don't want West Ham to start pulling away. If we can get back to the 2 points per game average from here on, we will get promoted. We did this last season, and we can do it again with the amazing squad that Nigel Adkins and Nicola Cortese have assembled.
Those who think the wheels have fallen off the waggon should think again. We have one of the biggest in depth squads in the division with players other Championship sides would fall over themselves to have. Remember the likes of West Ham and Birmingham still have Premiership squads and we have done well against them this season. All teams go through bad patches. I would rather they happen now and not the end of the season. I would like our forwards to be a little more positive in front of goal and to see more play being switched around. After a great start we have become a little too predictable but I am sure it will all come right in the end. We are due a thumping win to boost confidence and with a bit of luck and more common sense and fair play shown by referees we will emerge a Premiership side next season.
Like Jos Hooiveld's reaction to the FA Cup exit on Twitter [I hope he doesn't mind me quoting, as it is amusing and positive] Before we all start spewing our disappointments (understandable of course) let's not forget all the noses have to face the same direction. And we all know that Jos reckons Saints are bound for the Premier League. My nose is facing the same direction as Hooiveld's.
With the greatest respect, he is clearly indicating that there is division within the ranks. He is focused, while others, maybe are not so, he seems to be saying.
Oh, just mixed views from fans. Most were disappointed but supportive, but one or two were showing they were peeved. Jos was just quietly bringing the troops to order, and quite well too, I thought.
