[Archived] Southampton 3 - 2 Rovers

[SuperStella]

Lundekvam now OUT

[Ricky]

No room for Matty in the squad. Is he injured or just so far down the pecking ordaer that he doesn't get a look in anymore.

[Robertson]

Do not think he is injured, must just be down that pecking order, how Yorke gets in instead of Matt is beyond belief really.

[Tom Pringle]

how Yorke gets in instead of Matt is beyond belief really.

If you'd seen the game on Saturday, you'd know why.

[Robertson]

I was at the game on saturday!!!

he ran about, held the ball up a bit, erm, missed a few headers and erm that is about it.

deserves his place for the rest of the season

[Manchester Blue]

So the time he set up Emerton or Tugay or Dickov don't count do they not. Yorke was quite possibly our best player although that's not saying much. I would think that justifies his inclusion this week.

As for the rest of the season well who knows but I haven't heard anyone say he should be included all season based on one game.

[stuwilky]

Yorke was quite possibly our best player although that's not saying much. I would think that justifies his inclusion this week.

In my Opinion Yorke was the best Rovers player on Saturday. I've not seen him play like that for some time.

[Robertson]

I would agree that he was one of our best players, and agree again that it doesn't say much.

But the again, the view that I take is that he has to have several outstanding games to make up for the dire performances he put in last season, though he is not the only player that applies to.

I just look from a defenders perspective, as I am one, and think 'who would I rather not play against, who is going to give me a harder time'. My answer would be Matt everytime.

Or dickov. Or Gally.

Plus there is the question of attitudes but I am not even going to go into that. Hey, hope yorkie scores a hatful and we have a great season, not saying I am right, just trying to justify my beliefs!!

If he performs well, because he does have the talent, then of course he should be in the team. I am just surprised he got the chance in the first place.

[American]

Why? Because you watched the entire preseason training and got to see how each of them were performing?

[Robertson]

Yes. i was hidden in the bushes with my camera

I have seen players down the years who have been unbelievable in training, both professionals and people I have played with, but dross when it comes to the actual game, which, correct me if I am wrong, is the only game that actually matters. Not some 5-a side kick about.

I am basing my opinion on what I have seen in games and heard from mates etc who seen them pre-season, has Yorkie been banging them in????? I think he is just going to continue on his self destructive downward spiral, Matt on the other hand can only improve, fingers crossed.

And how can I love a player who when he misses chances??

[SuperStella]

Referee: Andy D'Urso

[Robertson]

In know, that is bad news, but it could have been Rennie....

Perhaps the start of a new thread, worst referee??

Suppose none of them do us any favours on the penalty count!!!

Long Live tanned playboy sensation Anders Frisk

[CAPT KAYOS]

- Andy Arsehole -whoops D'Urso is reffing.

Keep up SS

[SuperStella]

sorry

[Flopsy]

Yes. i was hidden in the bushes with my camera

and you didnt see what other members of the squad were up to? Useless peeping tom you are

As for the Matty vs Dwight bit Matty hasnt impressed me since the liverpool game last season. And ive watched quite a few reserve fixtures

[Tom Pringle]

I was at the game on saturday!!!

Then you shouldn't be disputing his place in the team!!

[Robertson]

Just thought Matty should be in the squad, and Thommo, and that I should win the lottery tomorrow, is it to much to ask for????

As for predictions, how about a 2-1 win, Yorkie to score both!

[1864roverite]

interesting

southampton have beaten rovers 16 times and vice versa for Rovers

there have been 10 draws

southampton have not won their opening HOME league match since 1990

dickead durso in charge

guess what will happen ???

ps a decent bet

de pedro to score the last goal in the game and bet365 will return all other losing bets !!!

[Philly Rover ®]

Despite all the negativity I feel at the moment, I have one devil saying we will win and one on the other shoulder saying we won't.

TWO DEVILS?!?!? Poor cap'n... most of us have the angel/devil combo. No wonder you're so negative all the time.

[SuperStella]

Wonder what the odds are for us to get our first pen tomorrow?

I have a sneaky feeling for some reason. Must be the meds.

[Tom Pringle]

I believe i'm right in saying this. Bellamy11 hasn't missed a game for 18 months. The last game he missed was Leeds (Not sure if it's home or away)

But in that very game, was the last game we got a peno...

You do the maths

[FourLaneBlue]

It'll be the away win at Leeds you're thinking of tom - we won 3-2 and Dunn scored a penalty.

[philipl]

Well, if we are going down the road of forecasting Rovers will win a penalty (with D'Urso in charge !?!), I'll forecast we miss it and the game will end 0-0.

Oh dear, the beeb will have no more "interesting" facts to include in their weekly write up about the Rovers.

[Anti Euro Smiths Fan]

The Guardian are reporting that Sturrock will be sacked if Southampton lose to the Rovers.

Back in 1912, the Titanic departed from Southampton docks in what was to become one of the most fateful voyages in world history.

The "unthinkable" happened, and the great ship was sunk.

To a lesser extent, there seems to be some rather stormy waters down at St Mary's at the moment.

Five months ago, I'm sure it was unthinkable to Paul Sturrock that he could be out of a job by the end of August.

But if they lose to Rovers on Saturday, Sturrock could well be thrown overboard and (metaphorically) sunk from Premiership management.

In February this year, when Sturrock made the relatively short journey along the south coast from Plymouth to Southampton, he seemed regretful of the timing of his appointment.

"It is a sad day. I don't want anyone to think that this is not a gut-wrenching decision for me," he said at the time.

"It has been very difficult. The timing was very disappointing, to say the least. I would have loved to have finished what I started at Plymouth, but football is like that at times, it can kick you in the teeth."

If Rupert Lowe, Southampton's chairman, decides to kick Sturrock out of the club just a couple of games into this season, then it's a fair bet that the Scotsman will rue even more the timing of his departure from Plymouth.

In his short five month stay at St Mary's so far, Sturrock has become unpopular with fans due to his perceived preference for long-ball tactics. His signing of the ex-Portsmouth beanpole striker Peter Crouch didn't go down well either.

Whisperings in the press first started towards the end of last season that players in the camp were unhappy with Sturrock's unorthodox training methods and managerial style.

There have also been reports that board members have been unhappy with Sturrock allegedly turning up late for training, looking unshaven and dishevelled.

Sturrock himself blames the spate of media stories on "agents who are looking to destabalise the club".

"I know exactly where this is coming from," he said. "Certain agents are trying to unsettle this football club, because they are the ones who stand to benefit from selling players."

One suspects that he's got James Beattie very much in mind.

O'Leary says that Beattie is "desperate" to move to Villa Park, but so far the Southampton manager has refused to lower his asking price.

The silver-haired and somewhat portly Sturrock looks almost unrecognisable now from the slim attacking player who performed for Scotland in the 1986 World Cup....

As a player with Dundee United, Sturrock was part of the most illustrious period in the club's history.

He won a Scottish League Championship medal with United in 1983, and the following season the team reached the semi-final of the European Cup. It's inconceivable that a club the size of Dundee United could reach the semi-final of the Champions League now - but 20 years ago the game was very different.

United lost narrowly 3-2 on aggregate in their European semi-final with Roma in 1984. (If they had beaten Roma, Sturrock would have come face to face with his Scotland team-mate Souness in the final with Liverpool.)

In 1987, Sturrock was part of the Dundee United side which lost in the UEFA Cup final to Gothenburg. The club's 5-0 home thrashing of Borussia Monchengladbach is regarded as being one of the best displays by a Scottish side in European club history.

This heady success that Sturrock had as a player with Dundee United contrasts rather unfavourably with some of Southampton's performances under his management.

At Villa Park last Saturday, the Saints were reported to have been lethargic and uninspiring in their 2-0 defeat.

From a Rovers point of view, with Arsenal away, Man United at home and Newcastle away in our next three fixtures after St Mary's - it's obviously imperative that we get something out of this game.

If Southampton do beat us, it will be the first time that they've won an opening home fixture since the Premiership started in 1992.

My prediction:

Southampton 1 Rovers 1.

But I'm desperate for us to win....

Edited August 20, 2004 by Anti Euro Smiths Fan

[1864roverite]

regrets ???? I have had a few, but then again to much to mention..... hahaha

may ring true then at aroun 1515pm tomorrow