Alanh

Not sure how you can think we are weaker now than before the window opened. Louvren has unquestionably improved the defence. The addition of Wanyama to Cork and Schneiderlin for DM gives us better strength in depth than last season when we had to play S Davis there. Osvaldo didn't get to be Italy's number 9 without having something about him. He's only had about 90 mins for us so far so it's too early to tell whether he'll be a hit or a miss. Of the players leaving Puncheon and Mayuka were only ever going to be bit part players at best. As far as pace goes, it's going to come from speed of thought and speed of passing the ball rather than outright leg speed, as well as the overlapping play of our fullbacks and Isgrove off the bench.

This obsession with pace is mystifying to me. Our squad may not have any speed merchants in the Walcott, Lennon, Bale, Ronaldo, Giggs & Owen (15 years ago), mould, but don't people realise that pace in the modern game comes from the speed at which the ball is moved and the willingness of players to run at and commit defenders. We may not have been able to make this happen against Norwich but we have shown that we can move the ball around quickly, creating intricate patterns of passes which have unlocked defences (see J-Rod's disallowed goal v Sunderland, just 10 days ago). We also have players who can run at and commit defenders - J-Rod, Lallana, Clyne and Shaw all do this regularly when we attack. Puncheon did it regularly, but not with the sort of electric pace associated with genuine speed merchants. It would be nice to have a pacey player to provide an option off the bench and reports from pre-season and Barnsley suggested that Isgrove might be able to provide that.

Close game that could have gone either way. They got that bit of quality with the goal, but we could have matched it if Lallana's shot had crept inside the post. We looked sluggish today. In fairness to Norwich they didn't give us time on the ball, especially after our flurry at the start of the second half. The penalty appeals evened themselves out so no complaints there. Too many misplaced passes all over the pitch. Thought Wanyama had a poor game and was calling for him to be subbed around the time that Lallana was taken off and would definitely taken him off over Morgan. No reason to panic after one game but the points above about us struggling to score over the last 8- 10 games is a concern. It's up to MP to sort that out as I believe that we have the players, but we need to find a system that works for them. We definitely didn't have that today.

Close game that could have gone either way. They got that bit of quality with the goal, but we could have matched it if Lallana's shot had crept inside the post. We looked sluggish today. In fairness to Norwich they didn't give us time on the ball, especially after our flurry at the start of the second half. The penalty appeals evened themselves out so no complaints there. Too many misplaced passes all over the pitch. Thought Wanyama had a poor game and was calling for him to be subbed around the time that Lallana was taken off and would definitely taken him off over Morgan. No reason to panic after one game but the points above about us struggling to score over the last 8- 10 games is a concern. It's up to MP to sort that out as I believe that we have the players, but we need to find a system that works for them. We definitely didn't have that today.

Good question in the OP. I'll go for a new striker. If we can get the right one in who will score goals we are more likely to earn points as a result, compared to getting in another defender.

So we now have Dalek's pronouncement for the season - same as last last year, so finishing 14th.

That reminds me. What is Dalek's mantra for this season? I guess he's still formulating one after the yo-yo club theory didn't work out.

Agreed that MS and JC are an excellent combination but teams and players improve through competition and so it's important that when we bring new players in they are able to challenge the established players. Also, if we lose MS or JC for any period through injury or suspension then we need to see a player come in who can do as good a job. There is nothing from Wanyama to suggest that he is grumpy or disruptive, or as another poster put it, 'thick and money mad'.

Next season will be tough, possibly tougher than this one given that we don't have the element of surprise that all new teams have and the level of expectation from the boardroom and the fans will be higher. No sign of an air of complacency though that I can see. We know that a plan has been agreed with the owners that will fund the ambitions of NC and that is the most reassuring think that we could know at this stage. Over the course of the next 2 - 3 weeks we'll find out about new signings, the fixture list, a new kit and the friendlies that will set us up for the new season. No club has done all of those things yet so we aren't out of step with the rest of the football world to any degree that will put us at a disadvantage.

Massive overreaction IMO. We are in line with just about every other prem club with regard to signings - Fulham are just about the only club to announce a signing so far. You know as well as the rest of us that the club doesn't comment on transfer negotiations until they are complete so we aren't going to get any 'indicators' from the club, all we are going to get is rumour and speculation, just like every year. From previous seasons we can guess that the club will gear the launch of the new kit to the date it is available to buy - likely to be the Liebherr cup friendlies - so until those dates are announced all we can do is speculate. TBH the date that the kit is released isn't going to make a blind bit of difference to the club's performance next season. Good of you to apologise at the end of your rant. I guess you knew instinctively that you are in the wrong.

The cruise control switch on my 06 Golf has also failed. I was quoted £175 to replace by the local VAG garage. The cruise control switch is on the indicator stalk and the price was basically supply and fitting of a new stalk. No mention of steering column issues like your mate though.

There are a couple of water parks and the Zoomarine park within close distance, all just off the main A22 motorway. All of them run coach transfers if you don't have a car. Lagos is IMO the best town to visit on the Algarve, still feels like a town, rather than an overdeveloped tourist resort. No idea on places to eat in Albufeira as have only been there once, but its a tourist resort so you'll find all the regular options. Lisbon is a fair old hike - probably 3 hours drive on the toll road - but is a characterful old capital city. I've travelled there once from the Algarve and had an overnight stay. I don't think I would do it as a day trip.

I read an article about Guardiola's challenge with Bayern next season and it talked about how he needed to find a way to use a defensive midfielder as a third centreback when defending. The idea being to free the fullbacks of significant defensive duties, except when under real pressure. Perhaps MP will look at a system for us which allows us to switch between 4-4-2 and 3-5-2 more smoothly so that we have an alternative way of playing when required.

Just done a quick bit of research and it seems as though several similar sized clubs to Saints - West Brom, Swansea, Sunderland and Villa - are freezing prices for next season. Fulham have £399 adult tickets available in all stands for the second season in a row. Norwich and West Ham have made an 8 - 10% increase. Hopefully we'll end up with a similarly small increase and perhaps some sweeteners like the free shirts that Fulham give to junior season ticket holders.

Finishing higher up the table will make the sales pitch that we are aiming for the top 4 an easier sell to any player. The leap from 17th to the top is much less realistic than from midtable to the top.

Given that he's started just about every game he's been available for under MP I don't think there is a fundamental issue there. We do need to bring in more variety in centre mid so that we can rotate players, play in different ways against different opposition and have an option off the bench. As an example of what we should be working towards (not necessarily next season) look at Spurs, they have Dembele, Sigurdsson, Parker, Huddlestone, Holtby, Livermore and Sandro competing for CM in their squad.

Our no 1 priority has to be a Prem place next season so IMO we want a Swansea win or a draw. A Wigan win gives them momentum and give the media something else to write about regarding another 'great escape' being on. Wigan lose tonight and the media emphasis will shift to how big a mountain they have to climb given Arsenal away is their next game.

You're entiteld to your opinion but your track record isn't the greatest is it? FWIW I think your prediction of 41 points is close, but I think we'll get slightly more and as a result we will be safe from relegation going into the final day of the season.

Yeah, just did it myself and we can mathematically finish 18th. I agree, the sequences of results required and the changes in form for many of the teams below us means that it's not going to happen. I also did it based on what I thought would happen and had us finishing on 43 points in 12th. I think that's more realistic than 18th with 38 points.

Do the BBC league predictor and try to engineer it so that every team currently below us gets enough points to overtake us and we get no more. I'm pretty sure that it's impossible for them all to catch us.

Pretty Vacant by the Sex Pistols is the correct answer to this question. The rest of the song is OK, but the intro is the best rock intro bar none.

"Ding dong the witch is dead"

Even bigger hurdle is that the vast majority of fuel cost is made up of taxation. Sounds like the bloke in the pub hadn't really thought things through. The real way to reduce fuel (petrol / diesel) costs is to switch to nuclear powered electricity, or hydrogen fuel cells once they are commercially developed. The quickest way to reduce fuel (petrol / deisel) spending is to buy a car with a more efficient engine. The leaps forward in engine technology recently mean that 1.4 and 1.2 engines supplemented with turbo chargers and electric motors can increase fuel economy to something like 60 - 80 mpg and still deliver the sort of power output that at 1.8 litre engine delivered about 10 years ago.

From a fan perspective I'm pleased that Vettel did what he did. To have teams dictate the order that their drivers finish the race smacks of manipulation and sport should be about the best person winning, otherwise it all heads towards WWE sport / entertainment. The situation at Mercedes was farcical with Rosberg easily able to overtake Hamilton but being denied the opportunty and therefore us fans being denied a bit of real sporting action. It does raise the question of whether there should be both a team and individual world championship determined by the same results and same points. If the teams can decide which position their drivers finsh in then perhaps there should only be a team championship.

If effectively executed the strategy of 'parking the bus' is one of the most difficult for any team to counteract. Chelsea used it to win the Chapions League last year and I'm pretty sure all clubs have struggled against it at some point. I think MP will have to develop a different tactic to his preferred high pressure game when we encounter it in future, but in reality it's only 3 - 4 games a season and it's only going to be executed perfectly in half of those cases at the most.