Nordic Saint

Our scouts have been watching Huddersfield defenders Jon Stanković and Tareiq Holmes-Dennis, who impressed in the 0-0 draw with Man City.

Underdog victories in the cup are always good. Unfortunately though, big Millwall games are usually tainted by violence. If they get to Wembley and lose (or win), there will almost inevitably be violent scenes. Their first though after winning yesterday was to head straight for the Leicester fans: http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/article/2/10774158/metropolitan-police-confirms-three-arrests-after-millwall-pitch-invasion

Who's complaining? Lighten up. You obviously don't get the magic of the cup, do you? You're right, Fabrice, that was a strong Burnley team that Lincoln beat. Now for Huddersfield to beat Man City and, of course, Saints to beat Man United.

Non-league Lincoln City through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, showing how far you can go when you field a full-strength team in every round. I've got a feeling Leicester might win it this year to complete a back-to back 'double'. There have certainly been some unfashionable cup finals in recent years, like Portsmouth v Cardiff, Wigan v Man City and Swansea v Bradford City.

I'd just like to congratulate the club on its excellent handling of ticket sales, right down to posting out the tickets as early as possible. Even the fan in Yorkshire who doesn't go to home games but goes to 3 or 4 away games near where he lives, who's been moaning online about not getting priority, got a ticket in the end

It was probably Koeman's career plan to go to a big club, preferably Barcelona or Arsenal, at what he expected to be the completion of a highly successful 3-year contract with Saints. I don't think any of us realistically expected him to stay here for any longer than that. If the club had made it clear they were happy with that, I guess he would have stayed until the end of this season. Would we have done any better? It's hard to say. The new contract he has with Everton has presented him with a bit more of an obstacle. He may feel he has to stay there for at least another year.

This seems to confirm it: http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/revealed-referees-your-premier-league-club-should-love-and-loathe#:XhvzHTtKw3rxsA

There aren't many teams in the country that would average more than 21,000 in League One. There have been none that have managed it in the last 4 seasons. When your stadium capacity is just over 30,000, part of that is allocated to away fans and there are 24,000 season ticket holders it is difficult to build a much bigger 'core support' than we already have. We have averaged over 30,000 in every top flight season we've ever had at St Mary's so there really isn't room for expansion of our core support. The same was true of our last 5 years at the Dell. But, the move to a bigger stadium showed how quickly our number of regularly attending supporters can grow if there is room for it.

It will be interesting to see if all penalty takers and even forwards with a clear shot at our goal all aim for the bottom corners against Forster in future. This may ultimately work to Forster's advantage as it will make them more predictable (if he can get down to them in time). I still think Forster is one of the better goalkeepers we've had over the years. His clean sheet record is outstanding.

It would be quite funny if they tried to enforce Islamic restrictions on footballers at the Qatar World Cup. Un-Islamic hair styles might cull a few of them but tattoos are frowned upon so that would get rid of just about all of the rest of them.These moral codes are subject to constant revision, however, and do vary from one country to another. At one time, it was forbidden for even male footballers to expose any part of their legs. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-crackdown-on-unislamic-hairstyles-forces-footballer-to-have-pitch-side-haircut-a6977321.html

He has already had big club experience with Chelsea and won FA Cup, Champions League and Europa League winners' medals. Yet, we probably wouldn't get a massive fee for him. He's got no real reason to leave and we've got no compelling reason to sell him so there is every reason to believe he's here to stay for a few more years, which is good news for us.

And you come across as a complete w@naker who I could probably flatten with one punch...just saying. Good win today, eh?

Wonderful. Just what we needed before the final. That Gabbiadini is some player!

The point is that fans who rarely go to games seem to be the ones who are most abusive towards season ticket holders who attend games regularly and who justifiably feel more let down when our best players are sold and when the team plays badly and loses. If you're not investing a lot of your own money and time, you shouldn't really criticise those who do with all of this 'bedwetting' and 'self-entitled' nonsense, as you haven't used a large slice of your budget or spent hours travelling to and from games. Fair enough if you comment on the games and the club. You have every right to do that. But, as for being abusive towards loyal fans, no.

I seem to recall quite a number of fans though that the fact Mane had signed a 5-year-contract, meant he'd stay here longer than 2 years. I expected 3 years at least. But, experience has taught me now that if they're one of our best players and remain injury free, they're sold after just 2 years. So, are you telling me that it's pointless to have Sims as a favourite player as he is going to be sold as quickly as Shaw and Chambers were? Anyway, I would like to see a bit more continuity in our team and from what I've read on here so would some of my fellow fans while, admittedly, some others on here really don't seem to care who is in the team or even whether we win or lose.

It seems to me that the fans who go to games regularly, especially us season ticket holders, are generally more interested in supporting the players and more upset when they are sold whereas those who don't or can't go to games regularly, especially, for some reason, those living in America, seem more interested in supporting the owner and board of directors and are not particularly bothered when players are sold but do seem to get very upset by and even abusive towards those who are. Of course there are exceptions but that seems to be the general picture.

Not really. I thought that we'd keep Wanyama and Mane longer than we did. I've learned my lesson now. Van Dijk has been viewed as a player who is going to another club almost since he arrived. But there is another factor: he is obviously our best player but Fonte was a favourite player of mine for years and I always thought that his defensive partners, Lovren, Alderweireld, van Dijk got more than their fair share of the credit for our great central defence whereas Fonte was taken for granted. Anyway, getting back on track, I've decided I do have a favourite current player. I mean you've got to have one, haven't you? It's part of being a football fan. Ever: Channon Now: Sims In both cases I followed their progress through our youth system. I remember the first time I saw Channon in a reserve game I went home and told my Dad, I've just seen a brilliant player. He’s going to be famous one day. I felt the same way when I first saw Sims play. The thing about Channon is that no matter what other clubs he played for, and they included Pompey, he will always be remembered as a Saints player. It would be great if the same could be said of Sims one day or any other of our star players.

Boufal so far: http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/sofiane-boufal/leistungsdaten/spieler/232271

Yes, I'm growing to like Romeu too. At first he just seemed to be a fringe squad player but now he plays a really pivotal role in the team and it does seem that he is here to stay.

The turnover of our best players is so rapid now that I don't have any favourite players. In the past, they included Channon, Le Tissier, Lambert, Lallana, Mane, Wanyama and Fonte. I'm reluctant to still think too much of van Dijk as a Saints player because it is possible he has already played his last game for us before being sold in the summer. I guess one I hope will join that list is Josh Sims if he isn't sold as soon as he becomes a first team regular. I understand that the revolving door policy helps the club make money but it really weakens the bond between fans and players. I also feel the same way about the team. I knew who the Saints teams of previous decades were and could name the early 70s, late 70s or early 80s elevens, for example. But, when I look back on the past 5 years, I'll just remember a mass of players in transit. You really need a core of players to be together for a minimum of 5 years to have a team you'll remember. The support at St Mary's is coming under increasing criticism, even though we still fill the stadium but I guess many fans feel the same way as I do and find it hard to identify with the players and team, knowing that they are just passing through here in transit. I went to the 1979 League Cup final and supported 'my team' and I knew very well who they all were as they'd mostly been with us for years. But, I don't even know who'll be playing for us in this year's EFL Cup Final. I'll still be vocal in my support but I don't feel the same bond that I used to. We even now have a new breed of fans who have a favourite owner and director of football but actively dislike the players and when they are sold don't seem to have a word to say for any of them. I don't agree that this is because all footballers are greedy. They have always been relatively well paid compared to the rest of us but if their job were that easy then anyone could do it. There's not much point watching a sport if you don't like any of the players.

For those who wish to express their adoration of Les Reed, join Les Reed's biggest fans, Leslie and Del: http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/southampton/forum/189482/a-song-for-les/#12 who seem remarkably similar to this other biggest fan:

Andre Marriner is the referee for the EFL Cup final. That is very good news as we have an excellent record with him, including our 8-0 win v Sunderland, 4-0 win v Newcastle and 4-2 win v Man City.

He was a very good player but he has been crippled by injuries, is semi-retired and would fail a medical at most clubs ( but not Southampton). However, in the event we can get him fit enough to play a few games before he needs treatment again, and he still has full mobility, he should improve our defence. The fact that he crashed his Ferrari into a bus stop whilst drunk at the wheel suggests he hasn't been taking very good care of himself though. It will be surprising if he is anywhere near fit enough as the last time he was able to play was more than a year ago. This is what happened to his career before he stopped playing: http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/martin-caceres/leistungsdaten/spieler/54935/plus/0?saison=2015 http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/martin-caceres/leistungsdaten/spieler/54935/plus/0?saison=2014

He's playing both Wanyama's and Schneiderlin's roles, which is why ultimately he gets overrun and top teams are able to camp their midfield in our half of the pitch, relatively undisturbed. We've got a plethora of mediocre 'attacking' midfielders who can't shoot and can't tackle, and one of them is usually used alongside Romeu, but does little to help him stop opposition attacks.