Mowgli

Sky Sports currently analysing Big Vic's contribution to Saints and labelling him a liability!!

Alfie Jones was training with the first team today so another one to watch. Don't write Gallagher off too quickly. He is going to be a good player but was set back by a growth spurt.

Before Bridge both Saints and England were struggling at the left back position. So it's no surprise that we gave it extra attention from about that time. It was also Dave Jones who said they need to have experience at left midfield so they knew the right sort of ball to deliver.

Some good points all round - one of the best threads on this forum for quite a while. I agree with the points about the academy. We are seeing the impact on the academy of being a Div 1 mid table side. In five years time, I think we will see a batch coming through close to the 2005 cup final squad in terms of quality. As for this years signings I would add my two pence worth Cedric not quite as good as Clyne was but better than is. I don't really think we've missed Clyne. Five clean sheets has convinced me. VVD - like others I had reservations. No doubting his brilliance but it counts for nothing if you make schoolboy errors. Again, five clean sheets suggests an element of consistency coming into his game. Quite happy that he is as goos as Toby (but oh, wouldn't it be great to see them in the same Saints side!) Classy - getting there! Will never be a Morgan but if we play slightly differently we will not miss him. Morgan may miss us though..... Romeu - better than Wanyama in my book Austin - too early to say but looking good so far! Juanmi - I think he is as disappointed as we are. Again, no doubting his brilliance but does he really suit our style of play?

Well said. Even when he has a quiet day he still occupies two or three defenders leaving more space for Long and Mane to operate in. He had a quiet game yesterday but given that it is first match back from injury, I'll cut him some slack. And we won BTW

Has Oskar left?

Wow. Went to Players dinner with Malc back when the forum sponsored Anders Svensson. Really nice guy. Genuine and passionate about Saints. Sad loss.

I don't recall any hype about JWP, just criticism from most fans. Often the same fans that described Morgan as lightweight when we were in Div 1. He's been a bit lightweight himself, but has certainly toughened up this year and added a physicality to his game. He and Reed are very effective of getting in the faces of opposition midfielders and will hopefully improve. His free kicks are woefully short of the required standard though. MLT really needs to have a word.

Thank God someone else feels the same way.

Yeah, your idea of a really good player and RKs is somewhat different I suspect. He's talking about the likes of Messi and Bale...

Watch the interview on youtube. It's nothing like the article. He is happy here. He sees ambition and expects that to continue. Still too early to discuss new contract.

Happy with that line up. Prefer Cedric but it's not about who is the better player - it's about how we keep our shape without Wanyama in the side.

You've got to love the guy. I want him to do well just to prove the muppets wrong

No **** Sherlock . He is only able to do that when selected. In truth he has not had the best of times here. Injuries have plagued him but this year I will remember him for being first up for ore season training, a good display against Ajax I. The closed door friendly and an impressive performance today. Despite all his well documented problems you rarely see him without a smile on his face.

He's #3 or #4 actually. Close call between him and Gazza when you have two keepers out.

Nice thoughts. Still remember how well Kelvin did coming on for the injured Forster last season. Don't think he has too much to redeem himself for to be honest though. He's a back up keeper and a good captain in the dressing room.

Cedric and Davis both had knocks. As did Wanyama who spent half the game looking quite pedestrian as a result. Fonte got a bad knock late on and it was touch and go whether we would finish with 10 men. Not too worried though as we have more depth this season. I think the player we need to hope is fit is Lovren. Could be a game winner for us....

What next? Harry redknapp saying he turned down Liverpool before they offered it to Klopp?

Funny, I thought he was regular in our team. Obviously need to pay more attention on match days....

The press seem to think that Wanyama and Mane will be off in January. It seems inevitable that both will move on eventually (though even the best players to leave appear to be bench warmers - a la Schneiderlin) but as January is a notoriously difficult time to sign good players and as they are both under contract I would hope they will do the decent thing and stay till the summer. Personally I think Wanyama is really not that bright and is being led like a bull by his agent. If the money is good I could well see him go to Spurs where he will be better off financially but no better off football wise than here. He is more replaceable than Schneiderlin (maybe we can get him back cheap when he's fed up of Van Gaal messing him about). Mane is a bit different. Clearly a talented player who will do well in any team. But for me he is a very selfish player who gets away with it at Saints because he scores and provides so often. I think so called bigger teams will be less understanding. Maybe I'm wrong and I'll wish him well on his next move but by next summer we will hopefully have JRod approaching his old form to step up again.

A lovely self imploding thread. First the Daily Fail's hate campaign against Saints is exposed as just that by a balanced report on the same conference (thanks Saints86) and then St George embarrasses himself by slating Ralph for failing to increase commercial revenue just before the latest financial results show a 21% increase (I did wonder whether St G was trying to be ironic - in which case, apologies... ;-)). Why do some fans take such pleasure slating their own club?? Ralph is different thats for sure but he has proved his worth without a doubt, raising our performance abroad as well as our commercial revenue (with others I am sure)

This - the last thing we need at the end of the month is the 'new manager' effect.

Why the hell would you buy the most talented midfielder in the whole of the Premier League and then start him on the brench. GGGrrrrrrr.......

Having answered the question can I ask it back, given yesterday's performance up against Hazard?

I was surprised to see him in that list but he does get better every time I see him. RK seemed to sum it up - great going forward but defensively, Yoshida is a better option. Incidentally, before I saw any of the new signings play Juanmi was the one that got the pulse racing. Worth watching this one as RK says he taking a while to get used to the Premier league. Still hoping he will eventually emerge as a world class player.