Mowgli

Did anyone get further than the original claim of a factual view that was then backed up with rumours? Far too many people bearing grudges. At the end of the day we have had a series of colourful characters at saints these last 40 years or so. Love em or hate em they have all added to the tapestry that is saints. Let's look forward. Great times ahead.

Need to look up not down. We can make up the ground almost as quickly as we lost it over Christmas given our run of fixtures.

Ffs this is team building for the future around homegrown youngsters that does not even need £30m. If we want to strengthen by spending £30m we do not need to sell to do that. Why would you even consider selling one of your top players who relatively recently committed himself to the club??

I think there is great hope for Stephens and Turnbull but CBs take a lttle longer to mature into first team players. We've had a few youngsters who were tall for their age and took a higher profile as a result but never quite made the grade in the end. Waldron and Agboola strike me as the best examples to actually make it. Baird was great too but more a right back with us. Played CB regularly through his career though.

Not sure it needs a new thread. Pochettino has said all along it would be a quiet transfer window for us. Nothing has changed. Apart from the pedants who read between the lines that this means Shaw and lambert will be sold; Ramirez and Osvaldo are unhappy with training; poch and cortese have fallen out and of course a final attempt will be made to sign our 'non target' astori.

Will be worth watching as he gets a run in the team to see how these stats develop. I'm a fan but there's no denying he has yet to deliver. Just that I have high hopes for him - particularly when he starts playing alongisde Osvaldo..

Difficult to disagree with that too much really. All good players and I guess we all have favourites. One thing we can probably agree on is that the Keegan / Ball era was up there as one of the best.

We cannot sell Rickie. £8m will not get you a replacement anywhere near as good a him. He may not score quite so many goals these days but Jay and Adam benefit from his work deeper on the pitch.

I think the responses to your first suggestion sums up your knowledge of football. But to suggest rickie and Bally are our best signings in 50 years us equally ridiculous. Good players yes, but nowhere in the same league as Keegan, Le Tiss, Shilton, Chandon or Paine. Where Rickie stands out is his work rate both on and off the field that has enabled him to grow with the club from league one to the England squad. Truly remarkable and probably never to be repeated

Leeds are not having a bad season at all and handily placed for a run in to the playoffs. I'm sure they would prefer that to a cup run. Still, you can take the fan out of Leeds. But..... As for our support. I was impressed today. Only expected abou 10k and they made a fair bit of noise. Saints put a decent side out and treated the competition with respect. No complaints at all.

Was a real handful first half. Like most of the team,his performance dropped off second half. Still needs to get match sharpness but signs improving.

Was never on the radar.

No.

Wow. Knew he was good but that is amazing. Can't understand fans laughing at their own players though (Gazza)

Goalkeepers and centre backs tend to develop a little slower so strengthening with signings until Gazza, Turnbull and Stephens are reay is not a bad strategy. But we have plenty of options at left back. Fox is ok but not in the same tea as Jos. Targett is closing in but chambers and Clyne can both cover in that position. I think MP has rightly talked down the January transfer window as there will not be a lot of activity but I feel sure there will be one in at least. Maybe a fringe player running out his contract on loan too.

We don't need to sell. Shaw is key to this team. He doesn't want to go. We don't want him to go. End of story.

Andros Townsend now out for spurs

Would rather have Iker Casillas if he is available. That said, i can't help feeling there is an element of panic here. Boruc will be back soon. Davis is a good deputy for one more year and Gazza seems to be growing in confidence with each game.

Which backs up dr who's suggestion that the problem was not Osvaldo but the poor supply.

To be fair it wasn't the best thread in the world anyway. We just left Toon with a point which given their current form was pretty impressive. MP is managing to mix it up by resting players and giving fringe players an opportunity to shine so that we don't suffer any more injuries than necessary over the hectic Christmas period. Thereis no real justification for criticising his tactical awareness. Having players like lallana, lambert, Ramirez on the bench to have an impact against tired legs later in the game seems to be a good ploy to me. It's not been about the starting 11 being the best 11 for quite some time. Get in the match day squad and you have a big part to play at some point.

Fit enough for 45 minutes

It's probably decisive rather than helpful to keep opening old wounds as far as Lowe is concerned. Only branfoot was more despised. But there is a difference to picking up teenagers as we did in the past and having an academy as we do now. I sat watching our academy stars on Saturday and remembered they mostly joined the club between 1999 and 2004. The regime at the time (not just Lowe) has to take some credit for the set up at back then. George Prost was on of the best appointments we made. Maybe a bit of luck too because most of the managerial appointments were poor (starch an and hoddle excepted)

This was a serious thread until teenage saint got involved, at which point no one had said cork was better than Wanyama. FWIW I think Morgan would be wasted playing further forward as he can't really shoot. Tap ins following a let run are what he is good at. But yes, cork gives us good options in the middle. This is one zone on the pitch where rotation would be quite effective.

21 pages of garbage before anyone was able to name a saints player other than the goal scorer. It wasn't so long ago that Citeh were rebuilding from the lower leagues. I hope we never get quite that arrogant

For me the tackle that started it makes it goal of the season so far. I loved the text into Solent that said he still didn't deserve to be on the pitch and 'who's to say Lambert would not have scored it anyway'. You have to laugh.