Lazlo78

Stream froze a nanosecond before Snodgrass hit it, so I haven't seen the goal. Cack

Patient build-up from Norwich. They're clearly a decent side. Free kick in a dangerous position

Sooo close from Gaston!

To some extent I'd give credit to Norwich. They look fairly solid and we can't grab the game by the throat like we did against a rather poor Newcastle side. Makes it even sweeter that we have inched in front, 'cause it's going to be a real battle today. Norwich will keep plugging away until the final wistle...

Weeeleaase pussy wiiooot

15 minutes of Saints pressure followed by 10 minutes of Norwich dominating the game. This one is very open. Extremely nice defending from Shaw there!

I can't promise to show up, but I'll make sure to keep a close eye on this thread!

How appropriate given that this is the very game the previous owners of Pompey have been playing for a decade now

Excellent call, pap. I'm with you on that one!

Vil du lige komme med udenfor og gentage det?

Obvious trolling from the wig-man. He's sitting at the computer laughing at this thread right now

WBA has really surprised me. Losing Hodgson and replacing him with Clarke looked like a recipe for a midtable team falling apart and getting relegated. But ehrm, they failed to read the manuscript?

Agree wholeheartedly with Chez's assessment of our recent development into the "Southampton Way v.2" - some key players coming back and a slightly different 4-4-1-1(?) line-up (and seemingly a license to punt a few for the keepers?) has done us good. We really look like a competitive Premier League team now. My conclusion so far is that the bedwetters probably overreacted when we lost to teams now placed 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 15, while the happy clappies shouldn't be carried too much away by wins over teams placed 14, 18 and 20. I'll acknowledge that the team has matured a lot, but maybe we weren't that bad in the start of the season and maybe we're not that good now? On to today's team. For all our criticism and doubts about Gazza we have a 20 year old goalkeeper as our first keeper. Even though he will make some errors along the way, we're blessed if he turns out to be the real deal. Same with Shaw. He hasn't been up against the top sides as Fox etc. have been, but he looks a real neat and tidy player. He's now a regular starter in the Premier League at age 17! Only worry is that it's a tough job to ask him to perform at top level for a full season, so hopefully Fox will keep pushing for a place in the team. But today we had a back 5 with ages 17, 20, 21, 24 and 28. In midfield it seems that Jack Cork was the missing piece. It's difficult to spot what it is he does so well, but others more capable than me have analysed what it is he adds to the team. Schneiderlin keeps evolving as a player. He's had one relegation and two promotions with this team since joining in 2008 (incidentally he chose us over Pompey: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/s/southampton/7477504.stm) but I think his stock has never been higher with the fans. So many times have we heard that he is not up for lower league football and that Arsene should come and get him. But not anymore Gaston is looking the real deal - not only as offensive playmaker but as a full blown midfielder who can hassle the opponent and tackle. He really gets stuck in - oh and even though he looks like a seasoned pro in the middle of the park, he's only bloody 21! And how privileged are we to have a home grown talent to captain the side? Lallana may or may not be classical captain material, but he is a real fighter and a creative, probing player who causes opposition defenders loads of trouble. Not a distinct profile in the team but an important player nonetheless. Puncheon I don't get. Troublemaker, bad attitude, only looking like trying when playing for a contract, frozen out and loaned out multiple times. How did we end at a place where he is one of the more exciting players in the setup? I find it impressive that an unpopular player has managed to redefine his role and shown himself as an able PL-player - even though I still wait for him to revert to his old ways and for everyone to sigh with relief and say "NOW I get him". Interestingly, Puncheon, at 26, is the senior part of the midfield with ages 21, 23, 23, 24, 26... Lambert up front is no longer our one-man army. He's still every bit as good as he has been, but people around him are stepping up. The longer he can keep going, the longer Rodriguez gets to settle at PL level. Lambert's age of 30 lands us at an average age of 23,36 for the starting line-up today. Not too bad, really...

Highlights: http://www.101greatgoals.com/gvideos/southampton-2-newcastle-0-highlights/

Funny enough, we look like a solid PL team today. We dominate the game, but as always we know a defensive blunder (or a few) could be waiting just around the corner, and Newcastle have the players up front to punish that... COYS!!!

I really think we can dictate the game today. However, Ba and Cisse are able to win this game by themselves, so we need extreme concentration in defense...

Ah, I see it wasn't spot on: officialsaints Newcastle team: Krul, Santon, Simpson, Williamson, Anita, Cisse, Gutierrez ©, Ba, Tiote, Taylor, Ferguson. #saintsfc

A Danish Magpies supporter guesses at: Krul, Simpson, Taylor, Williamson, Santon, Tiote, Anita, Jonas, Sammy Ameobi, Cisse and Ba.

Maybe it was merely a case of confirmaton bias, but it seemed to me that a lot of nutjobs chose the "at least our local media do critical journalism" angle in the recent thread about The Echo. I imagine it was partly due to our experiences with Neil Allen

If this is Pompey folklore, I'm glad it isn't my club. Forget Bobby Stokes, Keegan, Le Tiss at the Dell, the JPT final etc - the immensely likeable Ricardo Rocha hit a Saints supporter with the ball!!! Neil Allen, you are a despicable excuse of a small time journalist. Journalism is supposed to be about asking the difficult questions, unravelling hidden agendas, communicating complex matters for the readers as objectively, reasoned and factual as possible. Your only contribution is one long line of subjective, ill-researched, propagande pieces for whatever cause you feel is worthy at the moment. It's not journalism. Do some blogging instead if you can only be arsed to ramble on about your own opinion and disregard any kind of perspective or rational argumentation. I live in another country, and I still find you bottom of the barrel when it comes to local journalists...

I know he earned his nickname some time ago, but actually he's joint top scorer in League One with 11 goals this season

It was in '99 and the game was replayed: One of the most controversial incidents in FA Cup history sees this fifth round result in 1998-99 effectively count for nothing as a replay is arranged (following an offer by Arsenal) due to the furore surrounding Arsenal's late winner. Kanu marks his arrival to English football by setting up Marc Overmars to score rather than returning the ball to Sheffield United, who had kicked the ball for a throw-in out owing to an injury. The replayed game at Highbury would end with Arsenal again winning 2-1!

You missed the central point - that you are addicted to watching the most entertaining slow motion car crash in human history. We're in it for the quality humour! Pompey is my lolcow (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=lolcow)

And presumably Barnsley are able to offer contracts that last longer than the average menstrual cycle... The players can see monkeys on rocks every matchday - most notably The Chimp With The Bell (TCWTB). Though not as many as on Gibraltar as they are becoming an endangered species on Portsea Island...

Fair enough if you were right. As it happens, FCN were in possession when the ref stopped play. Look 2 seconds into the video clip...