A couple of weeks off after Saturday of course... Whilst player fitness levels seem to be fine, watching the post match interviews with Nigel I couldn't help but feel he's looking a bit knackered from the recent run of games. A lot of hours put in over the past couple of weeks no doubt. Let's hope NC gives him a few days off for R&R - God knows he deserves it!
It probably is a good time for Saints - but it doesn't mean I like it though! Lallana should be 100% fit after the break as well which is a bonus and I think the squad as a whole needs a rest.
The international break comes just at the right time in my opinion - gives Adkins and the team a chance to rest up, regroup and prepare for a tough run in through to the New Year. There's a lot of games over the next few months, so the team need to be fully focussed and prepared.
Agreed about Nigel, probably true for quite a few of the players too. Fonte seems to be out of form, I wonder if he's knackered too?
Not good timing. Great timing! Obviously a huge annoyance for us fans, but the team is more important. I can go without one weekend of football for the sake of the team, and how the season might eventually pan out. The guys have put in a fantastic amount of effort so far this season, and in particular the fixtures since the last international break have not been. Four big games against Derby, West Ham, Reading and Boro, and three successive Tuesday matches. And whilst we're are certainly on a good form, we're not on blistering form. Draws vs Reading & Derby and a defeat to Palace. Not bad results of course - all away, and all vs tough teams - but sides on blistering form would win them (hence the "blistering" form). So it's not like this break will stop us in our tracks.
Fonte has had niggling injury problems, which he is now over and that has coincided with an improvement from him last 2 games
Fair enough, but I still think he'll benefit from a couple of weeks without actually playing a match.
Just worried about winter in case we have a big freeze, which is more than likely. We don't need a backlog of games like we had in April last season.
Shouldn't worry about that, most Championship grounds have under-pitch heating to simply melt away the offending snow and ice
its still a worry, whether there is under-pitch heating or not, you've got to take various things into consideration such as fan safety around the ground, travelling for the opposition, the forecast ahead (the potential for more snow etc)
Sod all that! It wasn't like that in the past! The country's gone health and safety mad! I used to walk to The Dell in a blizzard with ice all over the pavements, stand on the terraces, get frozen to death and soaked through - I never made a fuss!
true, the country has gone health and safety mad - just i know games have been called off in the past because of these reasons
I bloody hate the thing, and it's a bit peculiar when people are suggesting that the international break gives players a rest from their overly congested run of matches, when it's the international break that causes the extra congestion in the first place. However, I've heard that the players quite like it, so if it benefits them...
Talking of snow and ice,i got a pair of these things that go on your shoes and has metal spikes on them so you don't slip up on the ice,look pretty good,every football supporter should have a pair so we don't get games called off! haha.
Yeh i suppose that's them,don't know the quality of them yet though because i got them from Asda for 8 quid haha.
