Chez

start ahead of Davis in the hole? That's bold. I'd of started him ahead of JWP in the hole last night, but not sure I'd dropped Davis. I'm not sure RK had a great deal of choice but to play him on the right side last night. There wasn't really anyone else he could play there having decided to rest Tadic.

I don't want to side with someone that slates him no matter what (i.e you), but I can't argue with those comments. I really wanted him to shine last night, but he just didn't look strong at all. Maybe you can put that down to lack of match fitness though.

I thought Target looked poor, especially in the first half. There was a 30 second period early on when he failed to clear properly and gave the ball straight back to Villa about three times in a row. Better opposition would have punished us. The Bacuna chance came from him getting the run around. His crossing, certainly in the first half was terrible. Like the side as a whole there was some improvement in the second half (keeping the ball better and slightly better crossing), but overall I was far from impressed. I certainly wouldn't say he was good. In his defence its not easy coming into a side for the odd game. You need to get into a rhythm and get your confidence up. Personally I think the first team action has come a little early for him. I don't think he is quite ready yet. Having said that, it's nice to have another youngster coming through.

I thought he was terrible in the first half. He looked unhappy playing out wide and sluggish. Maybe he isn't match fit as he certainly looked to be pacing himself. On the ball his touch wasn't good enough and he gave the ball away a lot. He was exactly the player people who don't rate him paint him to be. Second half he looked sharper and much more of a threat.

Fair point. I was surprised that RK didn't give him more of a chance. He tried to get him out the door as soon as he arrived. He must have been given the heads up on his arrival or Gaston made a seriously bad impression in the first week of pre-season training. Water under the bridge now. I for one though hope he has one or two great games in the next few weeks forcing Ron to consider his options going forward.

perhaps imports should be given the same time and grace? I know 23 is old for a footballer in this day and age, but for some players their best days are still in front of them and Gaston could well be the one of those. I'm not for one minute saying he has justified the fee or that he has good reason for not shining, but I still don't quite `get' why fans on here wrote him off so quickly. I guess its hard to get over the fact he costs so much, despite the fact we don't really pay his wages these days.

he was decent at Fulham the week before the Arsenal game as well. if he had come through our ranks (and thus without the price tag and wage) I wonder how differently he would be treated on here? Likewise ff we'd spent £10m on JWP would he have more fans on his back on this forum?

How much would Lallana cost to buy, say at the end of the season, I wonder?

would you drop Pelle (like Wenger has done) to play him (Theo) down the middle, or would you play him out wide (where he doesn't really want to play)?

How about we try to win this bloody cup or are you holding out for a Champions League place again Dalek?

I'd go with as strong a side as possible, but possibly Fonte, Davis and Wanyama need a night off. Ronny will know best their of course. But I don't want to see another line up/display like at Sheffield. Stek Cedric - VVD - Yoshi - Bertrand Romeu - Clasie Juanmi - Ramirez - Tadic Pelle

I've always liked him, but then again I often have a soft spot for flair players disliked on here. For me he's the ideal player to come on to replace Davis after 70 minutes, especially if we are chasing the game. He can be frustrating, but he has genuine talent and can unlock a defence. Not sure why I am bothering singing his praises as everyone has made their minds up about him now haven't they?

Shilton and Hately played against USSR in 1984 a few weeks before the skate joined AC Milan

You are right, I retract my statement.

By the way, £113.7m of revenue yet we put season ticket prices up. Disgusting.

£62m of debt looks manageable whilst revenue is £113m, but what if things had gone pear shaped last season and we had been relegated? I guess the majority of the debt being to Kat means we wouldn't have had anyone breaking our door down to get paid.

They absolutely battered Yeovil. Hopefully other teams can scrape draws like this otherwise they might get back their rightful level of the third division

They certainly did. Handy that as they would never have allowed the Victorian building to be knocked down, especially to be replaced by the monstrosity they have planned now. Four years on and the now retirement flats have still to be built, although planning permission is now finally in place and **** flaps has sold the land to the developer.

Wonder if they would have been mentioned by Ron if we had lost?

Blaming the ref is a classic defection tactic by a losing manager, but in this case the whole world could see through that as they weren't on the wrong side of decisions. Serious questions are going to be asked about his ability to turn it round and hopefully he won't. If he had any class or really was special he'd admit to his and his teams mistakes, offer some praise to saints and then tell the world he'd be working hard to out things right. Instead he acts like a ****.

Original poster said billionaire owner right? Well in that case the first thing I'd do is make tickets free. I can't be arsed to think or worry about how that would work, my staff would sort that out. Yeah ok we will need a bigger gaf to put you all in. No worries. Character, safe standing, better access, right beer etc. Will all be incorporated, as will stands that are right up close to the pitch like the Dell instead of half a mile away. Oh and all the traffic nightmare, that will all be sorted....somehow, by er, my people. Anything new fangled (I will decide on that, but roughly speaking taking us back to pre 1985) won't be allowed. No wifi, no fans taking selfies or bringing in iPads, no corporate hospitality, no big screens...maybe big screens. I'd need to think this one through better.That won't mean I can't return to even older days either meaning no sponsors on shirts and no crappy half time entertainment. I am looking to take the match day experience (I ****ing hate myself for typing that) back to 1985, but without the violence. Just football. Nothing else. I don't want to move with the times (watching wise), I want a club that is traditional in every way possible. In terms of the team and training etc they can be as forward thinking as they like. The home kit would have Navy blue shorts and players would have to wear black boots. Er....not sure that else. Maybe some sort of tardis like area under the stands where everyone can get a comfy seat to drink their half time beer assuming it still can't be drunk in the stands. Depending on how many billions I might even build one of those underwater hotel complexes and stadium on reclaimed land by the waters edge just to show the skates what they might have got if one of their phantom owners had been really rich.

The BBC website says fans of Premiership clubs are all protesting against ticket prices. Are any Saints fans doing anything at the Chelsea game? Not attending would seem to be the only real way of protesting about prices, but I guess that isn't going to happen.

Er, they must have had a slight problem there...too bright?