Dusic

Quite evasive on whether VVD will play but said everyone is fit and available . I would put him back in. He will only regain sharpness by playing and we did 't fight so hard to keep him only for him to not play.

Its certainly not that simplistic. Playing two strikers is a misnomer if you don't get the ball to them. Against Watford we lost the battle in the centre of midfield so having a static Austin instead of say, Redmond would have made zero difference. We need to play our attscking midfielders (Tadic, Redmond, Boufal) into some form or find a way for them to be effective. Derry-esque selections with no midfielders won't be the solution.

Hoedt and Hooiveld are basically the same player but one is younger and better (we hope). The way Hoedt stands, runs and hits a crossfield pass is scarily similar to Jos. (No suprise that passed you by).

I would go for: -------------Forster------------ Cedric-VVD-Hoedtveld-Bertrand -------Lemina-----Romeu--------- Redmond---Davis----Tadic -------------Gabbi-------------- There is nobody not in that lineup who is i.) Better than anyone who is or ii.) Has shown any reason when they have played that they deserve to start.

With the U23s it is simply down to the players not being good enough. Its pretty obvious to anyone who has watched them that the following players will never be PL quality: Bakary, Wood, Little, Cook, Barnes. Massive questions on the progress of Slattery who has more potential than those mentioned but isn't showing improvement. The first four of those will probably never play regular football above L2 level. Barnes possibly L1. They are also hampered by having few forward options with Sims and Hesketh injured and others who almost certainly won't make the grade (Seager and Olomola) out on loan. Hopefully in the current U18/16 generation there are some better prospects.

Have our U18s or U23s won a game yet this season? Might just be a perception but they seem to lose almost every week.

So basically we can't select any of our midfielders? That obviously won't work (or be what happens). The personnel is what it is. They are mostly good players, we need to find a way of getting the best out of them. I can guarentee the number of PL games this season when none of Tadic, Redmond, Boufal or Davis start will be zero.

Assuming he comes through the game tonight, and makes himself available for selection, VVD has to come in and start on Saturday. He is the best CB in the PL, a threat in the opposition box and also a leader in the way he plays - we fought hard to keep him, so play him.

In a season and a bit he just never seems to operate in dangerous areas. He doesn't do enough off the ball to find space and doesn't show enough urgency on it.

Please can we never play JWP as a no10 can ever again? He simply hasn't got any of the attributes needed to be good there. Very often feels like successive Managers have tried to shoehorn him into the side when he doesn't deserve it. If he isn't being picked wide right then he is a sub for me.

We haven't scored in nine of our last 11 competitive games. We have scored 1 goal from open play in 5 games this season, all against teams we would think ourselves to be better than. Four of those at home. Our fixtures until about November are relatively kind, but then it gets much harder. What can we do to sort this out, as stats like that will only lead to a relegation battle if continued?

Saints never do either.

Sounded from the embargoed section like a similar lineup to recent games as he mentioned liking Redmond on the left as another player (Tadic) was on the right. Possible question mark over Lemina as wasn't training with the team today after Intl duty. VVD definitely not in the squad. Pellegrino does come across well. I have trust that he will get it right, hopefully sooner rather than later given our ludicrously fortunate start fixture wise.

Keep it on the clipboard to paste in next week, Nipper.

Tadic still our best creator. Play him into form.

Ervine has had a terrible season!

Wouldn't say JWP has done anything either versus Wolves or as a sub in the other games to say he should come back into the starting XI.

Lemina subbed off. Wasnt watching but he looked tired apparently. Hopefully we can build him up to 90mins soon.

He could sit out the whole season and he would still be very desirable to the top teams. If anything it could prolong his career in the longer term so I wouldn't cling to this (or anything World Cup related either) to determine what he does.

If he starts playing for us it wouldn't bother me. He is our best player and I'm aware not everyone who plays for us probably wants to be. He was a ****, but ultimately I want Saints to win and he would give us a much better chance to do that. Next time he plays for us I won't be booing or singing pointless chants about him. What does that achieve?

Would consider Eric Black as a front sweep for this one.

Intl football is so slow it is quite hard to judge how he would do in the pace of a PL game but you wouldn't really want him being dragged into wide areas. Can't really think of a current PL defender he reminds me of, a better version of Hooiveld is all I can think of: lanky, languid style, long legs and nice left foot. Tonny Vilhena who we nearly bought for about £1m a few years back from Feyenoord looks very good. Similar to a Lemina type. Would have been a bargain had we got him for virtually nothing.

Watched the game the other day and first half of NL's match today. Hoedt solid if unspectacular. Tidy on the ball, wins headers. His movement and mannerisms are quite similar to Jos Hooiveld actually. Nice weight of pass on his left foot. He does look slow and quite stiff but few 6'4 CBs are much different which is what makes VVD a freak.

Tadic is also excellent at combining with his full back and playing them in on the over/underlap. Often overlooked but full backs a key part of how we play and he is excellent in this regard. Its only really his lack of goals that let him down.

He has already been here for a whole season. During that time we have struggled for goals and he has struggled for starts. I personally would start him as the no10 but Puel rarely did and now Pellegrino isn't picking him either. He will start to get demoralised. If he isn't starting by Jan I can see him pushing for a move as it would be 18 months at a club he would have expected to be a key player at. His situation needs to change quite soon I think otherwise it could be like Clasie where it was: "he is still recovering from an injury", "give him a whole pre season", "he needs more game time" etc and before you know it two years have gone by without many highlights. Hope he starts versus Watford. He will be fresh having not played Internationals. Tadic and Redmond have been poor so far this season in a non-scoring team. If he doesn't start this game then its clear MP isn't a huge fan I think.