Port Said Red

No family ticket either, looks like two adults two kids will cost close to £200 more if they continue to go.

Certainly helped the pass down the line from TGH to Ross M on the 3rd goal.

I wanted to start a new thread on this, not so much Max himself but the tactics of the distribution. I don't quite understand the passing to the wings, it seems to me that it has a low success percentage, but it has been used by successive managers and goalkeepers. If the ball is over hit possession is given away, if it is under hit, you run the risk of an interception that takes the receiving player out of the defensive shape. That's before you have the issue of the likes of Bell and Mehmeti trying win the ball in the air. It's not so bad with Ross and Cam playing, but it still requires a degree of accuracy that few goalkeepers possess. Then you have the situation last night where, having made two good blocks and having the crowd calling his name, obviously gets a rush of adrenalin and hoofs the ball a mile out of play. I don't quite see what the advantage is compared to playing through the middle, unless any of the coaches on here can explain it to me?

I haven't approached him, but I have said before he looks a bit of a lonely figure sat outside Costa face timing presumably his family on a Friday night.

Really, really good last night. Not just the noise once we got on top, but the fact that we stayed as patient as the players when Southampton had the ball. There were none of the **** 'em up, get into them type chants, everyone could see how we were using our shape and press to keep them at arms length as much as possible. Maybe people are buying into Manning ball?

I shall stick to calling him "deary", I'll bet Manning never thought he would have luxury of bringing him on in such a stress free situation and be able to tell him to just go and have fun. I also think the atmosphere and the whole night will have convinced him he would be making the right move coming here.

I don't think it's about the offer we make, it's about what he wants his personal circumstances to look like for another 2 years. Does he really want to be away from home and a young family 4-5 nights a week? It will be a tough decision for him.

Well another referee would have handed out 4 or 5 tonight, so how many more fouls did he want them to commit?

Wow, that must have been fun for the locals!

Great centre halves usually come in pairs and these guys are no exception, I am struggling to remember when we last had such an effective pairing so well matched in their relative talents. They seem to get stronger and stronger with every game, Vyners pace covers for Dickie, Dickies aerial ability is a godsend for Zak. They are both relishing the way we are set up now as well, they have so many more options when they win the ball, they can stride forward knowing there is cover, they can pass short or long knowing there are options. For all the changes that Manning has made, they have been the bedrock for him to work from.

Mentioned it in the Fans Forum thread last week, @phantomsaid he would bring it up at the next meeting. AG1 was actually a little better tonight, but the non bus users were still walking in the road in front of the bus to avoid the queues.

I didn't feel it was a completely counter attacking style, it was always going to look a bit like that because Saints are obviously coached to retain the ball, but our defensive shape was so good a lot of their 68% possession was going backwards to their keeper. The way Vyner and Dickie are able to play out of defence because of the options they have is the biggest change. Instead of just clearing the ball they can run forward or make little short passes into midfield that change the angle of attack beautifully. I don't think it's very important, the back 3 has it's advantages in periods as well, people asking what the identity of Manning Ball is, I would say flexibility and adaptability.

Been saying it for months now Dave, some posters get so hung up on starting 11s, but it's been so much more than that for years now. Even before today's game, there were posters questioning starting with Mehmeti and keeping Cornick back, but it worked a treat. Potentially Southampton had the far better options off their bench, but every one of our subs trumped what they could bring to the party.

Only spoiled his performance with that misplaced pass straight after the break. I thought we were going to have a repeat of the Leeds goal for a moment, thankfully they missed.

It's almost like some people forget they are human beings, not robots that just need a recharge.

The core is still there isn't it? Dickie Vyner, Max, Tanner, James, Williams all playing some part.

Sensible not risking Cam after his knock, Roberts is fine as a straight replacement although different types of player.

Unless of course they have more information than you do?

Obviously I don't know the details behind this latest one, but the hamstring he did in November wasn't the leg they took the ligament from to replace the ACL. You are right that he has had problems with them throughout his career though.

Somebody, @Dollymarie?, posted a map on here a little while back showing the City and Rovers fans by post code and it was grim viewing for them. It reminded me of a sketch on the Two Ronnies where they did a spoof on the voting polls showing the UK as red and blue with a small yellow dot in the ocean. Ronnie Barker was saying "here you can see the labour areas in red, the tory areas in blue and out here (pointing to the yellow dot) you can see that the Liberal have Rockall

Of course, but he had lost some of his skills through the more agricultural defending of that period.

I remember being in the enclosure for a different game where I think WBA won 2-0, Cunningham looked like he was from a different planet, the planet Football. He moved like silk, every touch was measured perfectly and on at least 3 occasions even our fans in the enclosure would give a ripple of applause at a touch or a piece of control. Injuries robbed us of one the truly great players I think.

I am surprised I haven't seen any stories about the multitudes of gasheads heading to Stevenage for their huge "6 pointer" tonight. Surely they can't have given up on the play offs already?

I am sorry, I had to look this up for my own sanity (I worry about any memory lapses these days ), not to belittle you. The Orient game was a Saturday afternoon, 23/10/1971. I was approaching my 10th birthday. It was a great game, but doesn't quite fit the "great night game" criteria being discussed.

Weird, I always cite that Leyton Orient games as one of most memorable games, but I remember it as a normal Saturday afternoon? Anyway, one of my favourite night games wasn't that significant to anyone but me really. I had two older brothers (one no longer with us) both in the navy at the time, so its the only game I can remember where all three of us were able to go. We beat Plymouth 3-2, at 2-2 we got a free kick about 30 yards out in front of the East End where we were standing. Jimmy Mann put the ball down and I said "they haven't put up a wall", both my brothers (not being regulars) said it's a long way out, but I was pretty much celebrating the goal before it even hit the net. Great memories for me, first time in the ground with them both and then an equally rare evening in the pub with them after the game.