Chez

just got back after a stop over in Sheffield, boy does Boro seem a lot further now that petrol is £1.40 a litre. Spent a fortune hoping for that promotion victory, but like so many other away games over the last 25 years I'll put it in the gutted locker and it'll make next weeks win even more special. Let me just say that I wasn't quite so philosophical yesterday especially walking back to the car having to listen to a couple of Boro fans saying we are a nothing club that will never be as big as them. Another lady pointed out that we only usually bring one man and a dog, which I guess is fair, except they do exactly the same. Easy now chez, enjoy the fact the skates have gone down and we'll do it next week. Not seen any clips, so bare that in mind, but I though the ref ****ed us. Should have been a straight red and the free kick was never a free kick that led to their goal. Chaplow's injury had a massive effect on the outcome of the game. I thought his runs were causing them huge problems, but as soon as he went off and attacking outlet went and we went off the boil. Nothing against Guly, but he is a different type of player and we needed that forward charge. Davis 6 caught very well, free kick was a pearler and the other was through a crowd, although I felt he had a good sight of it and was tad slow to get down. Perhaps that is harsh. Kicked well off a lumpy area. Butterfield 7 no pace but a reasonable game again. I call it the "Lee Dixon effect" whereby I criticised him on a TV game many moons ago and then he went on to have a stormer. I'd prefer Richardson though to give us that little bit more penetration going forward. I thought we let them come on to us when we could have put them under like we did at SMS. Too much respect. Fonte 6 Given a real tough time by Jukiwitz. He was up for the battle though and didn't make the guy's life easy. You can't ask much more. Or you could say he was bullied. Carried the ball well out from the back. He struggled with that a while back but seems to have got his confidence back. Or maybe I have. Jos 8 very strong Fox 7 another decent game. Their right winger is a handful but he didn't have a sniff. Not given an outlet by Lallana in the second half. Not given enough support defensively either if I'm honest. Lallana 6 When we needed him he disappeared in the second half. Get on that line, give Fox and angle and then play. Bottled several tackles. Guly would get murdered for doing the same. He's class, yes, but not beyond reproach. Worked hard, they all did, but we needed that little but more. Cork 7 Same old hard working box to box stuff. Gets nose bleeds in that final third though. Lack of goals from central midfield has been pointed out by some on here and to be honest I have never cared, but Bailey scoring drummed it home that we don't get enough of those. Hammond 7 battled hard as always, but didn't get hold of the game early on (after we scored obviously) and we were under real pressure. Gradually got into the game and we looked good in possession, but not enough control for my liking. Tired in second half. Chaplow 8 thought he was having a top top game Lambert 6 seemed to get frustrated by the service in the second half and perhaps rightly so as we struggled to find him. Sharp 6 got his goal but should have scored with the half volley. Thought he had a better game linking up well with Lambert. I'm not a fan, but every now and then I see a player.

Fancy dress I can live with, but there is something very wrong about jester hats.

absolutely, he's had a superb season, although strangely less to do than last season perhaps. There's hardly anyone on here these days moaning about him and having gone much longer in the second half of the season his somewhat questionable selection for passing out has not been an issue. In fact his kicking has been top notch.

he'd certainly add that much needed pace. I'd of thought the £100k a week wages wouldn't be an issue either.

Equally calm. I've said all along we'd get promoted. Very confident of winning tomorrow. Stay Calm. Carry on up the leagues.

I agree with several other posters that pace is essential. I still can't quite work out if Lee has real pace or not, but certainly out wide, both sides really, we could do with a flyer or two. I flagged up Moses months and months ago. I see every man and his dog fancies him now. He's out of our reach and won't come to us. A player with skills, strength and pace just like him would be ideal. Zaha is the best I've seen in the Championship. His temperament is a little suspect, but I think he'd get a little more protection in the top flight than has done in the games where he has squinnied. £7m seems a lot but he's a rare talent. Love watching him play. In the prem you need that little bit extra to create the opening and he can do it. Even against us he still managed to forge that chance out of nothing. Doesn't feel like an Adkins buy though. GK: Craig Gordon - out of contract, out of favour, young, world class saves, needs a move. Perfect. Jack Butland would be worth stealing from Brum if they are as hard up as I think they are. Perfect third choice and rising. RB: Stephens doesn't appear to be anywhere near the first eleven, so maybe Adkins gave Butterfield an extra year to give him a little more time to develop. The step up will not help either. Pace is required here as we don't appear to have much on either wing defensively. Liam Rosenior looked decent against us. Fabio on loan is a good shout too. Has Calderon burned his bridges? I rate him. But any move here will be dictated by Stephens and whether Adkins trusts Butterfield. On recent selections it looks like he does. LB: We'll stick with what we have. And why not. We can't buy a whole new squad. CB: We could do with a little more pace. I've rated Curtis Davis ever since he dominated us at their place in the 3-2 defeat under Red****. I thought he'd be in the England side by now and looking at the others there's still a chance of that. Brum are skint. If they don't go up they will have to sell. Wages might be an issue. LM: Really like Jarvis, but he'll get picked off by Sunderland or Fulham or one of the more established Prem sides. Buckly and LuaLua at Brighton have both impressed me and caused us all sorts of problems. CM: Now Legeitwood has gone up that's him out the window. He looks a terrific player to me. Jordan Mutch would be my next choice. Absolute class act. Check out the change in fortune of Brum once he returned to the side. My Brum St mate says £8m. Steep, and maybe if they are struggling financially we could offer half, but that just shows how highly he is regarded. real talent. Proper class act. Right age, wages not beyond us. Perfect. RM Zaha. See above. CF: Philips. Whether you play him out wide or down the middle he seems to have the ability and pace to threaten. £6m sounds a lot, but he looked absolute quality in the cup game last season and he's got better since then. We are going to need this little extra quality to compete.

no wonder they took so bloody long to serve everyone. Bastard opening those little sachets. Nearly missed our goal just after half time.

when the next parachute payment is paid. If it ever is.

sounds like my kind of place. I've been out in Dronfield, that's probably the downtown of chezvegas

it's traditional and nothing wrong with it at all. The rule about going onto the pitch was to protect players. Fans aren't looking to hurt players they just want to pat them on the back. As long as its good natured, and it should be, I doubt Boro fans would have a huge problem with it. To be honest if both sets of fans came on would that be a big deal? We mix afterwards so why not on the pitch? A skate suggested to me that Saints fans lack passion. Of course I don't agree with that, but this sort of thing is what they are talking about. Not selling out a title winning away end. Not going onto the pitch to celebrate...

kiss of death here but I got the impression that Steel was very average when I have seen him. Schmeichel had a good game against us at their place but hasn't been great this season or last. My favoured keeper would be Craig Gordon who I think is better than the championship keepers. Majewski has had a terrible season as has McGugan. Both have hardly played under two managers. The latter is good when he's good but terrible when he's not. I'm not sure the former is all that. Miller is always injured. Always. Looked great against us, but then got injured. He's cost them a fortune in wages and got little return. Massive gamble. Clayton is OK, but Mutch is a better player. Mind you wave a fiver at Bates and he'd probably sell him. Brum will be desperate to sell should they not go up. They are the side to raid.

It shouldn't be too hard. Boro doesn't have completely separate tiers as such

get in. What's the weather going to be like. Lots of rain could mean slipping on the grass in front of millions...

it will be easy if the stadium is half full as it seems it will be.

gutted for you. Still, if we win then we'll have the title to go for the following Saturday.

with it being on TV give it a few years and half of Southampton will have been there. Just got my ticket. Plymouth away was one of the greatest Saints game of all times. Watching games like this on the TV sucks. Nothing beats the atmosphere in the ground. Decent lot the boro fans so fully expect them to been.

Curtis Davies Jordan Mutch Matt Philips and because I'm greedy Wilfried Zaha

a lot. My Saint supporting pals have kids coming out their ears so only ever go to home games.

just for your interest Blackpool fans love us after we slaughtered their bumpkin manager at St Marys in the FA Cup last year.

with Roy Keane and Gerrard as CM players I wonder how Le God will make it into that side. Perhaps tactical voting from the mancs and reds and everyone else having a soft spot for the Tis.

absolutely not. They will raise their game against us as we've stuffed them several times and they think they were hard done by last time at theirs. No easy games in this league.

**** day, it will just make the win on Tuesday that more special

he crap in the middle. Touch not good enough. Out wide he has more space and a poor touch tends to not lead to giving away a goalscoring opportunity. He'll be fine on Tuesday

couldn't understand why Blackburn sold him, but perhaps that shows the gap between Prem and championship

I'd give Cardiff that award. We absolutely battered them but they were so well organised at the back we hardly had a sniff.