Chez

No one wants to look like a Scrooge. And no one wants to read about what players did badly when we have won, so it's best to keep negative comments to yourself. Maybe I can get the post count up for you. Forster kicking looks a little suspect, not helped by poor pitch. Is he fully fit and if not, what a risk. I wonder how Bertrand feels about playing in this centre back role. He is doing a great job, but will it effect his England position? Great that we can rotate the centre midfield. Either we have lots of quality or no stand out players. Putting the hatred on here from some of of Wanyama to one side, what's the best combination. Mane can't hit a barn door right now. It will come, but will that be before moaning fans start to get to him? Are we really going to to drop him or Long to play Austin?

As I understood it that's why he didn't get a move in the summer. His £85k a week wage demand combined with the transfer fee were too much. The fee has fallen, but I suspect the wages won't be far off.

Time will certainly tell, but right now Targett can only play against good opponents when he has Bertrand covering him. When Shaw played we didn't need anyone in front never mind behind. Targett has the first touch and composure, but I don't see him beating players. He doesn't have the pace required. He needs to bulk up and become far tougher.

Blimey. This will certainly be a post to look back on in five years time.

Makes a shed load of **** balls look half decent too. Pelle can't do that. We also seem to play the ball down the channels when Long plays, which is more effective than the long ball down the middle stuff we play when Pelle leads the line.

In a time when it's hard to relate or like footballers isn't it great to add another legend to the clubs history. Shame he couldn't have a MLT dell like ending, but there's plenty of moments that will live with me forever. I think I saw over 100 of the goals live! Someone point me to a video of the MK Dons hattrick as that has just come to mind for some reason...

You have to be kidding? Zaha took the **** out of him in the second half, or was that your point that as part of a five man defence he looks decent? I certainly can't argue that he has played well having been pushed further forward, but he has a bloody long way to go before I'm going to be happy to see him play left back in a four up against the likes of Zaha.

I haven't changed my mind about his finishing, The more time he has the worse he is, but I'm seeing stuff from him in the last month that I haven't seen before (or chose not to) and I am not sure why I didn't appreciate it before. I love a worker, but somehow ignored this in Long despite it being obvious. Loving watching him at the moment. bloody hell his work rate has become infectious. Before he ran around a lot, but it was in isolation and therefore pretty ineffective, but the rest of the side has followed his lead and as a result we are putting sides under pressure and they are not good enough to play there way out from the back.

Long proved beyond any reasonable doubt that premiership players can easily play twice a week with no problems. He ran his heart out on Wednesday, but he covered every blade again. Terrific display. I love that effort and it seems to have rubbed off on our midfield. The work rate and closing down has increased greatly and the results are obvious, more ball, more control, more chances and more points...

I've not seen a lot of him at QPR, so I will reserve judgement as to how he will fit in to our side and how he will help make us better. Singing strikers doesn't always add goals. You have to supply the chances, especially if they are goal hangers. What I can say is that I just can't get that Swindon game out of my mind. He destroyed us that night and because of that and his location I always thought that we'd somehow try to get him here at SMS, but of course our finances and situation never made it possible and I suspect there's no one at the club now that was there then anyway. What I saw then was that he has a touch of arrogance and nastiness that the top level players need. He also was real confidence in his own ability and is a clinical finisher. The fee looks small, just as the Cylne money was, but that 4.5 year deal at gods know what wages will be a millstone round neck if we somehow went down. But that's the non stop gamble of the prem and were not going down anyway. Great to sign an English player with something to prove...

Or save a ridiculous number of penalties? Haven't we got a keeping coach? Unless their is an actual job opening he will depart, for now.

Thank you for saving me from getting into a debate with the resident statto. Very well put by the way. Excellent post.

Bilic said a few days ago that they had no interest in Austin. Pardew said the same. Austin himself burned his bridges with Newcastle by snubbing them in the summer. Perhaps there aren't as many options for him as first thought. Wait until the summer and might be able to get a bigger wage by turning a transfer fee into his signing on fee. But his wage demands will still be large, his goals return will start to fade from the memory and his reputation for injuries may have increased. Add to that, he completely wipes out any chance of an England squad place by staying at QPR, so as much as he says he will wait until the summer...I'm sure of the wage is right he won't hesitate to move in this window. But will we pay that massive wage? If he's still the sharp,and ruthless player that I saw tear us apart whilst at Swindon then I hope so.

Why in earth lateness and other similar 'crimes' don't result in club fines, rather than being dropped from the team, is beyond me.

We made two very poor mistakes that cost us, but we dominated the first half and gave everything throughout. For me we looked the better side overall, although Zaha was perhaps best player on the pitch. So,yeas, I thought we played OK, certainly better than in many games this season.

We have played well in the previous three games without reward, so I was reasonably confident we would get a result last night. The difference between those games and this? Well we played a little better and the opposition were considerably worse. Focusing on us, there were some fantastic performances from a few players and some good ones from everyone else. Long ran more than I've ever seen him do so before (and that's saying something) and Davis and Romeu covered almost every blade of grass between them. I can see on this thread that all three get lots of praise, but I want to highlight the performances of the two centre backs. Ighala is a much better player than I gave him credit for. I knew he was big, powerful and quick, but he also has a touch and a great tight turn. In the opening exchanges he, and to a much lessor degree Deaney, looked dangerous, but Fonte and Virgil really got hold of them. They both got tight, were physical and didn't give them any room at all, and for me that provided the platform for our display. We gave them no out ball and not a sniff at goal. Both won headers, got foot ins and the ball was turned over time after time allowing us to dominate. Forster - great to have him back, but I felt uneasy when seeing him kick on that surface. He looked a little sluggish when going down for the two easy saves, but maybe they were so easy that was international. Kicking was below his best. I hope he is back to full fitness, but I'm nervous and thought he looked a little nervous too. Bertrand - looked comfortable in that left centre back/left back role. Very composed and made a lot of good decision in when to pass and when to go back to the keeper VVD - I think only Radhi Jaidi has been seen in a Saints shirt and won more headers. Brilliant display last night to add to many other good performances. Fonte - Not as quick on the turn, which makes him a little vulnerable, but made a few vital tackles when stretched. If we can keep both fit they may even improve as a pair. Targett - given and used the space very well in the first half. Two or three terrific crosses and also showed good composure in tight areas. Saw less of him second half and I felt he was easily out muscled on the odd occasion, which is my biggest criticism of him. The fact he starts at left midfield does raise question marks over our other midfielders, but it worked well. I thought the five at the back worked well on Saturday. There lots of moans and grown on here about it, but if it means to snuff out the opposition and get to see a lot of ball that is a good thing. Soares - Showed everything that is good and bad about his game at the moment. Great on the ball, pace to cause problems (and get himself out of jail), helping us going forward greatly, but he got caught in possession in bad areas, caught out of position and didn't win a single header. Classie - Woeful first half display. Every pass went wrong, didn't get tight enough to opponents and he got caught the wrong side of the ball on several occasions. The longer the game went on the better he got. Second half his passing was much more effective (as it has been the last few games), he became a pest defensively and was influential. Romeu - Another decent display. I was particularly impressed when he spotted the danger of squared ball that looked like it was setting up a player on the edge of the box. Very good reading of the play and determination to prevent the chance. I also liked his left foot striker. Excellent power on his swinger. I have to say he also got caught the wrong side of the ball a few times with Classie in the first half, they need to watch that, but for most of the game and especially in the second half they ran the show Davis - did what Davis does best. Ran and ran, showed his great first touch so many times you don;t even notice it, kept things moving by creating an option and making runs. He created chances too. He's a terrific player. You just have to play the right players with him in the right formation. Mane - I compared his effort in the first half with how he charged around at Chelsea earlier in the season and on that basis he didn't look up for it. But perhaps he was pacing himself, because he certainly got involved. One or two times he was almost too quick and the ball went behind him. The chances missed were frustrating. I imagine he pulled his hair out having been subbed for Tadic who then scored with a powderpuff shot. We have to ensure we get the best out of him. At the moment he's getting in positions. but not quite delivering. Long - His effort was essential to this victory. He was terrific. Worked and worked, won headers, got down the channels and scored a beauty. He won so many headers its not true. More than Pelle would perhaps? Give him time to think and he is not clinical, but if he doesn't have time to think he looks like a striker. I thought he should have got a hattrick. The misses and chance he didn't make his are what lets him down, but he could have missed an open goal last night and I'd still be happy with that he did. One thing I must say is that RK should have subbed him and not Soares at the end. He was on his knees and that's when injuries occur. Very poor management. Subs: Tadic, scored and kept the ball. Not sure there is much more to add. The formation meant we didn't have to worry about his defensive efforts. Pelle - as soon as he came on we hoofed it long and Watford won most of those headers. We need to play to his strengths, not fall back into a long ball side. Not his fault. You do see a drop off in closing down too though and there he could do more, especially when coming on as a sub. No excuses for tiredness of pacing one's self. Yoshida - not sure why Martina didn't get the nod. He played well against Palace. Having done so he did fine. Not sure why fans start grumbling when he comes on. He's made the odd blunder, but overall he has served us well as a reserve centre back. He's not first choice, but I certainly don't grown when I see his name on the team sheet.

I can offer some Insight and Clarity on this Today. He's at a Crossroads in his career, but because he's Fit and can Beat a man, he will strike Accord with fans. Hope he has his Passport, because once he gets to the City, he will be in his Element and will become a Legend.

Likewise. Adding to your comments, he's a very erratic passer. One decent ball that makes him look like Morgan, then three or four **** ones that makes him look like Wanyama.

Was there a better alternative? There are not loads of top class keepers available for a season loan or who would sign for us knowing Foster would replace them once fit.

Targett has the first touch to make it, but right now the combination of being physically lightweight and not pacey makes him a weak point whenever he plays, which was all the time at the start of the season. For me a season out on loan to toughen up would have been the best thing for him. That said who would have covered Bertrand? It's not like we could have got a top class full back in for one season, or even half a season whilst Bertrand was recovering from injury. Which in a nutshell shows how tricky it is to manage a squad, which is exactly why I tend to taper any blame.

as someone that gives Targett plenty of stick, I'd like to I concur with your assessment of Tadic. With the ball, pretty decent player (and to be honest the side struggles to keep the ball or create chances when he doesn't play), without it, pretty poor. Returning to the Caulker post, this is good news. I wasnt expecting a world beater, but I was surprised at just how slow he was, especially on the turn. Hopefully that will free up some wages for us to get another loan in ourselves.

You are right, in recent times I have tried to avoid taking sides, lay overall blame at a doorstep or offered a solution. I am not sure I can offer answers, explanations or a way forward that hasn't been offered by other more knowledgeable posters. I don't know enough or feel there is a silver bullet. My comment about squad management was specifically about the left back situation, and for me the misevaluation of Targett in preseason as being good enough for the premiership, even as a back up, this season.

Gotcha, in which case we are most definitely still playing the 'Southampton way' with RK at the helm.

What way? What the **** does: play the Southampton way mean?

Obviously the £2m grant provided by the football trust in 1995 to help pay for the new Fratton End and the other work required to turn **** Park into an all seater stadium wasn't enough, so they want another hand out.