Well look who it is, it's #LemonLaces back to take you through another rollercoaster of a victory on our charge toward promotion. In a surprise to everyone, other than myself and my fellow lemon, Saints toyed with the thread gods by pretending it was only going to be a draw, before Diego Downes assisted the ball into the net via various body parts. What a cad and a bounder, keeping up that pretence until the last hand of the game. He does look a little like an old spitfire pilot though, so if the cap fits and all that. Onwards then to Pressed On North End. I was first Pressed On North End some years ago, and have very much enjoyed it ever since. Other presses that may be of interest include: Kevin Pressman - fat goalkeeper who always turned into prime Dino Zoff against Saints. Elvis Presley - fat singer The Printed Press - apparently something that can never be trusted, run by fat cats. Press Ups - to be avoided. Under Pressure - a classic ditty by Freddie Mercury and David Bowie. Chest Press - I must, I must, I must increase my bust. Pressed On North End are one of very few clubs who are also recognisable by their initialism, PNE. Other clubs that have this privilege include our Hampshire rivals, Portsmouth, or to give them the club's full name Portsmouth East & North International Soccer. If you were wondering, they aren't acronyms. Acronyms are names that come from the initials of an entity, that can also be said as a word - for instance, NATO, NASA and SIM. Initialisms are just the initials of the entity, but can't be used as a word itself. So the keen minded amongst you will notice that PNE is an initialism, whereas the Pompey one is an acronym. Congratulations. Gold star. With regard to the game, there were some players blowing out of their bottoms by the end on Saturday, but Stu and Fraser should be relatively okay, so I suspect they will start. Perhaps Russ might even give thought to the idea that having a direct replacement for Flynn on the bench, or someone that could come on to help him shore things up might actually be a good idea. And no, I don't mean Sekou. Referees and their assistants will likely be awful, but at least they'll have to make decisions themselves, be they right or wrong. Preston will probably have at least a single shot on target, so will score, but I'm going for a reasonably comfortable (in Saints terms) 3-1 victory. Saying that, Preston are keen on Win, Loss, Draw sequences, so it could be a draw, which would get on everyone's tits.
Saints are just tormenting us with hope. Still, nothing as enjoyable as a late, late goal in our favour. A strong finish to season will give us hope in play offs. Can’t see us getting auto…possible with one team to chase, but can’t see two teams falling away and letting us leap frog. However, not the time for too much despondency COYR
In the ever-increasing spirit of co-operative endeavour (a bit like being on a team, really) I also researched Preston, and words that are not a million miles from Preston. Words such as Prestatyn, a town in North Wales, which is a simple charade, and less prone to misunderstanding than Northampton (or Southampton, come to that). Then there's Prestone, a well-known brand of Screen Wash and coolant. Although not out of the same bottle. How about Sta-Prest, which I always thought was StayPrest, a make of trousers introduced by Levi Strauss, and worn by skinheads everywhere, who all wanted to be individuals, as long as they looked like each other. As to tactics, we should echo the first motorway built in Britain, loved by quiz people everywhere, which is the M6......Preston Bypass. If all else fails, we could divert onto the Bazunu Hard Shoulder, which passes right through Coventry. At least it did the last time one of their players tried to intimidate Gav. My prediction: Things Can Only Get Better, so expect a 3-0 victory.
Could one of our esteemed Mods please see their way clear to Stickying this thread, so that it sits proudly at the top, for everyone to see. Like us, in five games time
Tuesday 16th April 2024 Sky Bet Championship Southampton v Preston North End (20:00) Referee:- SAM BARROTT Assistants:- Daniel Leach and Mark Russell Fourth Official : Gavin Ward
Preston will be hurting,Norwich basically ended there chance of getting into the playoffs with the loss on Saturday. If we can score early we could go for the jugular. Definitely need a big win to get the goal difference on Ipswich.
Some really interesting selection dilemmas particularly due to the packed schedule. Does Manning come in and give us balance? Stephens or Bednarek at centre back - Stephens had a good game but Bednarek is arguably better in the air against a tall Preston side. Does Armstrong come into the midfield trio but who would you drop as all are playing well? Does Fraser give us fresh legs despite not being at his best and often better as a sub?
I think I would play Manning so KWP can play right back and leave the centre backs the same, then Armstrong for Smallbone despite a fine game and Brooks out for Fraser or another winger shifting A Armstrong to the right.
I have returned from Gŵyr, as we are now supposed to call it. Thanks for being good and grabbing those 3 points yesterday in my absence, maybe I should be out of range of the evil mind rays more often!
Pressure Drop first sung by Toots and the Maytals covered by Robert Palmer on a same named album are well worth a listen. Pressure will drop on our rivals should results go our way during the week.
I think you will thump them 5 or 6 nil. Unbelievably we could be 4 points behind you before we play again!
Really? I've tried not to look at the permutations, it only leads to disappointment. And believe me, disappointment is our middle name.
That's a bit unfair, what's he ever done to you? Anyway a couple of wins on the bounce and sanity goes out the window, when did we ever go for the jugular? What you really mean is "if we can score early the longer we've got trying to hold out against a team 18 points worse off and a -1 goal difference who have suddenly turned into Brazil". Or something like that.
