Lazlo78

Hov hov, skal du have på munden, mester?

I haven't checked it on KUMB, but I'm quite sure they aren't too impressed with Jaaskelainen... could be wrong though, just a hunch...

Very good read on Lambert: http://www.footballfancast.com/premiership/southampton/why-the-classic-british-striker-still-has-a-place-in-the-game In the age of mobile, versatile front men and false nines, both Holt and Lambert represent a dying breed. While it’d be lazy to depict the duo as identical in style – Lambert is perhaps the more technically accomplished of the two, with Holt offering a more direct outlet of play – both seem to fit into a mould of play detached from the perceived Premier League remit for a modern-day frontman.

This Vegard bloke doesn't sound half as good as this guy: http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/opinion/a-blues-blessing-who-should-never-have-left-in-first-place-1-4520376 A cultured performer, a thinking man’s defender, and wonderful to watch in full flow. Rocha has perfected the wonderful art of ghosting in front of a striker to intercept a pass. With sublime intelligence and impeccable timing, it has become the former Portuguese international’s trademark. Swooping silently akin to the magpie stealing the family silver in the dead of night, he barely gets caught. Now that's a real world class defender, we should be looking at.

Nope, he's there. Look in the FLC: Scott McDonald (Middlesbrough)

Just updated the list in the first post. Did I miss out any of the young players leaving in the last year? Can't really remember any of them at the moment...

Quite reasonable translation, Danbert. Looks like this is going to happen...

Puncheon, Shaw and Cork have surprised positively - Hooiveld negatively (primarily because he seemed to be No.1 in defense after last season, so expectations were high). However, those aren't events as such. An unexpected event would be the equaliser against Chelsea, or Jay Rod's "dive" against Villa...

According to Soccerbase it's 98! http://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=16995 What is the most reliable source for this kind of statistics?

What were those chants? I couldn't hear them over the dutch commentators.... Pyncheon, he he... Pyncheon...

According to his Wikipedia entry he is just 3 goals off the 100 mark! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickie_Lambert 97 goals in 179 games is just insane.

Agree. First goal was a deflection off Maya, that I think would otherwise have gone straight to Boruc.

Another stat from BBC: "Southampton came back from two goals down in a Premier League away match for the fourth time (1W - 3D) and for the first time since 2-2 at Leicester City in Aug 2003."

The point takes us 3 points clear of Villa, and since we've also worked hard at rescuing the GD, we're also better in that department. What a novelty!

Nope. But maybe we learned something from that defeat that helped us tonight - who knows?

Today, Shaw once again showed maturity beyond his years. He is agile, quick, reads the game well, but his best asset to me is his cool head; he rarely makes rash challenges (Fox) or makes mistakes when under pressure (Hooiveld). In American Football he'd be the quarterback with that mindset. He is very thorough and concentrated in all his actions, be it defending from a winger, shielding the ball for a goal kick, or passing the ball upfield. Lately, he more willingly comes bombing forwards (is he growing in confidence and courage?) - against Villa there was a nice shot and today there was an assist to remember. In short: he has athleticism that many other players can match, but that cool head of his is worth it's weight in gold.

Shaw really burned Azpilicueta there and opened up the pitch. Punch's finish was class - I never thought he'd stick it in the net

I don't really have an issue with knee jerk reactions to players when they score (best player ever) or get a red card (worst player ever). What still bothers me about the Punch saga are those tweets that were directed at him just after the Cortese incident. There were some totally unacceptable threats and generally some shocking language directed towards Punch. He was the villain at the time, but even now when he's turned it around I wouldn't begrudge him if he still remembers that tirade of abuse from our "fans"...

That was some goal. In the recent months, Puncheon has shown that he is excellent at protecting the ball at his feet, quickly shifting it away from the defender, making space for himself. Did it several times in the second half against Arsenal, where he was a bit isolated on the wing. Today we saw loads of defending from Punch and some of that superb interplay between him and Clyne. Punch rarely frustrates me - even when he's just done another cut infield instead of getting to the byline. He does an excellent job of piling on pressure from the right side...

I rarely notice him (not because he's bad, but because I find it really difficult to follow the DM in detail when just watching a game) but today I really did notice how fantastic he is. Chaplow came on and battled away but you could really see the difference in class between Chappers and Morgan. One slight criticism: twice he let the ball bounce before trying to clear it and both times he lost the ball in dangerous positions. Apart from that a perfect game from a rather complete midfielder. Hooray!

Great result - we basically came back from the dead there!!! I feel like such an idiot for finally succumbing to the negativity with my HT PL-rant and then they go and do that. I'm truly sorry, team, my support will be unwavering henceforth

Twice Morgan has made the cardinal sin of letting the ball bounce before clearing it...

Why is time standing still?!

As I complained about at HT this was a boring game. Now my nerves have kicked in big time!

Shaw is a god...