Saint Albert

Good play by Stephens to slide in Cedric, but he muffs the cross.

OMFG Forster.

Huddersfield enjoying a good spell of pressure right now.

Mounié drags the ball wide from the cut back.

Davis did well to stop the shot and clear following Huddersfield 's break off a Saints corner.

Forster is sporting a limp after stopping that goal scoring opportunity.

Forster may have done well there to take the ball off the striker's feet.

Davis almost in following a nice move involving Tadic.

Lemina did well there, showed speed and strength.

That was such a good chance for Redmond!

If you go down to the bottom of this Mirror article about Palace's interest in Liverpool's Sakho, they mention that Brighton, Newcastle and Palace are keen on Long: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/crystal-palace-liverpool-sakho-transfer-11056325

I don't know where this forum stands on ITK posted on other sites, but someone on RAWK (where posts of Saintsweb ITKs info such as Tom28 are banned), claims to have received snippets concerning the VVD fiasco as follows: 1. ~ Chelsea are planning on bidding shortly; 2. ~ VVD's representatives would rather see him go to Chelsea than stay with Saints; 3. ~ There is a conflict between VVD and his representatives because he still really wants to go to Liverpool. https://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=335603.12400

All the stories in the press today concerning VVD to Arsenal are based on the following tweet by an Australia-based Arsenal supporter, who is also a Fox Sports producer: https://mobile.twitter.com/JamesDoddUK/status/900660385644032001 It's just part of the great media crap churning machine.

News so good it requires three threads. I'm very happy for him.

The club has consistently said he's not for sale but often provisos along the lines of "unless a ridiculous offer is made for him" have been added to the statements, particularly in the early part of this transfer saga. It might give Les and Ralph an out if they decide to sell because VVD and his agent have burnt too many bridges. I'd be annoyed if he goes, particularly to Liverpool but I could never have anticipated that VVD would act up to this degree so I would probably be prepared to give Les and co. the benefit of the doubt. My biggest concern with his sale would be the knock on effect towards Cedric Soares and Ryan Bertrand's willingness to stay. Unlike VVD they seem to have acted professionally so far.

This could be a repeat of the Swansea game with Huddersfield looking to absorb pressure and create opportunities on the break. They're a limited team but have had a great start to life in the PL. I hope that Hoedt is ready to start. I'm looking for a reaction to the Wolves defeat. 1-0 Saints.

Deleted post. Linked to old story

I may be misremembering his posts but I think last week or so Tom mentioned that a bid had come in that was close to Saints' asking price, and was rejected. I interpreted that to mean a recent bid, but you never know. Liverpool did not make any bids during the blow-up in June. That info either came from the club itself or from one of its "friendly" journalists.

Speaking of scummy...bidding after making a public statement in June that they have ended their interest in VVD and respect Saints' position...that seems pretty scummy. Thanks for the info Tom.

I never would have guessed before this summer that VVD had the type of character that's been revealed over the last few months. Without deflecting from VVD's scummy actions, his agent has a lot to answer for. He won't of course but more than anything it would irritate me to see him make a huge profit out of this if VVD acts up to the point the club starts entertaining offers during this window. Lower than a snake's belly. Unfortunately it would not surprise me if Liverpool are the only club willing to pay what the club are seeking for VVD's transfer.

Watford were knocked out of the League Cup yesterday by Bristol City.

The "they should sell him now" bit of the article seems more like Palmer's opinion than anything else.

I did not know that. Probably explains the inside info. I assumed that the Kevin Palmer articles were one of the leaks that VVD and his agent complained about in the statement accompanying his transfer request.

Kevin Palmer of the Irish Independent has another piece on VVD. He says that the relationship between player and club hierarchy is too broken for him to remain with Saints. One of the exacerbating factors in the whole affair has been a residual of poor relations between club and agent following Koeman's "abrasive" departure last summer. http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/premier-league/the-inside-story-on-why-virgil-van-dijks-reputation-at-southampton-is-shattered-and-why-they-should-sell-him-now-36062647.html

I will be very interested to see how Stephens performs in the DM position alongside Romeu. This looks like a good strong lineup to me.