Judging on what other boards are saying it seems we have become the team to beat after our recent run. On our day we can beat anyone.....just depends who turns up on the day, spectacular Saints or mediocre Saints. Just hope we give a good account of ourselves. I would like Osvaldo and Ricky to have a good game and get one each with spider scoring the winner!!!!
A 3-2 win? Would your pacemaker take that, Beddy? I know a few of us would struggle. Can we please have a nice gentle 1-1 where we score first and they get a highly controversial penalty in injury time so that we can all go home moaning about the ref. That's a proper football day out!
In truth I probably would have to slow the pacemaker down a bit......but heck it would be worth it to get a result....
Difference is Beddy now when we are mediocre we are still very hard to beat. I actually don't think we have played anywhere near our best yet!
Am watching match highlights on Sky (still off sick). Some interesting results from the weekend. Made me think...last year we wanted the lower teams to lose to top six sides...now we want the top sides to drop points. What a difference a year makes.
Given the choice, I'd still rather the Swansea's and Newcastle's were dropping points ahead of the Chelsea's and Arsenal's. I know right at this moment, it's very nice to jostling for a top four position, but it's not going to last the whole season.
No expectations from me just a lot of hope, confidence and faith in this team. The two results that convince me that we can mix it with the big boys are the wins at West Brom and Liverpool and even Alan Hansen says we are "A force to be reckoned with". Oddly enough, I think that our style of play is better suited to playing away from home and I can see us winning a few games 1-0. I suppose there is no better litmus test of the team's credentials than a trip to OT, but there is surely no better time to play them than now.
Agree with what you say. Hansen made me chuckle a little because he said the most dramatic and knowing sounding thing he could without actually knowing anything about what is making Saints tick along nicely, other than the clear evidence of the league position. Mind you, I think I'm having to change my opinion of Hansen and Lawro. Entrenched Northern and London football seers that they are, they do seem to be bending their necks down the map these days. It's taken them a good 12 months longer than many others to see the trend, but at last they are cottoning on.
I almost laughed when Hansen said that about Saints. He said it so reluctantly as if someone was holding a gun to his grandchild's head. You don't think....!!?
We're due a very good performance, where a team gets put to the slaughter, and I think it might be Saints. The international break couldn't have come at a worse time for you. You've started well but 14 points is very flattering, I can't see you maintaining the same level of performance for much longer. I can see us winning 4-1 and you eventually finishing around 13th or 14th. All the best.
Why is the break worse for us than you? I think you may be in for an unpleasant surprise. This isn't the old Saints you are playing the new improved version!
Think it will rest on where Moyes plays Fellaini. Too deep and we can get at him. Further forward and he'll get at us and Victor will need to be at his best. If we get to HT 0-0 then it's a big test for the old trafford crowd. Will they stick with the team or add to the tension?
I'm afraid yours is a comment of the uninformed. Don't feel offended by my reply, you are most definitely not alone. We finished 14th last season and were a much poorer team in respect of the rest of the PL, so I don't think we'll be anywhere near that low. We'll end up top half, and it only depends how much we improve by how high up the top half we'll be. For all of Saints 4th position, we've not been playing that well. In fact, if you look through an entire 90 minute match, we look slightly disjointed and we often lack creativity. But through that we do the extremely important things well. We are solid and tight, and that's an excellent basis to start from. The consistent creativity will come in time, and it must do if we are to beat the better teams and maintain our position high up the league. Or we'll end up as a very good team that doesn't reflect its position in the table, and that will simply not do in this era at Southampton FC.
Agree 100%. In fact, it's fair to say we are also due a very good performance where a team gets put to the slaughter! If you add that fact to Fergie's comment about us being the best team to visit Old Trafford last season, anything could happen next Saturday...
