Mowgli

I thought it was well known that the players pick the captain. They picked Ads

Just don't get your hopes up. Inter already seem to be cornering us out of the Osvaldo market. Damiao has well and truly blown us off and Banega has gone very quiet. Lamela - well, now you're talknig but would Roma want to see both him and Osvaldo leave?

Happy with what we have to be honest but an extra striker option should not dismissed. I probably need to try one of these computer games to see what everyone is on about. The idea of just keeping buiyng players until you win something still seems a far inferior strategy than geting a coach to improve the players that we have. I'm thinking especially of the likes of Jos, Fonte, Yoshida, Mayuka, Guly and Fox who I think have the potential to be really top rate players but just need to to be coached to cut out those silly mistakes. I know... ....most won't agree...

I take it we've not made the 15 yet

I love the way people analyse Ramirez performance yesterday so succinctly yet they couldn't even be bothered to leave their key boards and go and watch the match.

That's the sort of purchase Harry Redknapp would be looking at. I like to think we've moved on a bit since then.

Good post. The centre backs know their game is different when fox plays so they cover well for him when he is on one of his attacking runs. I thought that was the whole point in buying Wanyama. When the centre backs get pulled wide, he drops back to fill the gap.

Most of the youngster signing contracts now have been with club since they were 7 or 8 so technically they qualify for a testimonial too!

Could be adding BT Sport to his TV deal....... ....great news though if he is committing himself to saints. He has a massive future it seems. It got me thinking how and when this all changed. RL wanted to keep the youngster together but finances forced him to sell. Cortese wanted to but failed with The Ox even though his vision seems to have been key in the change. I sort of think we have a lot to thank Ads and Luke for because hey have stood firm and acted as a role model for those that follow.

Its a new name to consider but averaging one goal every fifth or sixth game is not going to wing him many fans here. However, I do agree with you that having a predominance of English players is good for the future of the club - and indeed good for the future of English football!

Its a bit sad you can't read the quotes in your own article. He told reporters:"In the next two years I want to be back in the Champions League with Southampton and I believe it’s not unreal. When quizzed on whether it will take time to get to that level, Pochettino said: "Why in a couple of years? It might be next year. You've ignored the concession I made to assume that the target was fourth for this season in the interest of sliding in your oh too familiar 'told you so' quote (yawn).. Anything less than 6th would indeed be a disappointment IMO. I'm delighted that the ambitious plans of the last two years have exceeded fans expectations and long may it continue. But don't come out with this 'they walk the walk but not talk the talk' as the evidence clearlysuggests otherwise.

I don't recall any quote from MP or NC about finishing fourth. I think they have suggested that Europe is quite achievable within the next couple of years. But for the sake of argument lets just say they did. At the end of next season you can wag you finger at their failure (if that's what it is), but to criticise them before the season has started is just silly. Neither of us knows what will happen with the current squad. NC and MP / NA have talked the talked by getting us back to back promotions followed by a mid table finish in our first season. All this whilst the fans have said they are being unrealistic and it would be far better to consolidate in the Championship as opposed to trying to run before we can walk. Back to back promotions - said many of the fans - would only result in us going down again because we do not have the depth in the squad. So just who is being realistic?

The fans are to blame for being unrealistic. Modest purchases in the summer have served us well these last few years. Evolution rather than revolution. We don't actually play with wingers now so not sure why you identify that as a target. Our wing backs are fine. Keeper and CBs are fine. Midfield probably amongst strongest in league. Rickie is the joint top English striker from last year so whilst a Damiao would undoubtedly be a good investment Rickie is still the man for me. JRod can play up there and Mayuke seems to have been reborn this pre season and attracting plaudits. So overall I think we are fine. Does not mean a star purchase would be unwelcome - just not essential.

Well said. I find a lot of the other comments on here quite cringeworthy. My Gran once told me if you can't say anything nice, its probably best not to say anything at all. Clearly SDR has talent but for one reason or another we never saw the best of him at St Mary's. I think that is due to the fact that he was accustomed to a role where he ran at defences and had the luxury of relying on others to do his defending for him. The you tube video shows how he excelled in that role and his confidence soared as a result. At Southampton, we expect people to track back and SDR simply does not have defending instincts. Combine that with the fact that we do not use wingers in the traditional sense anymore then his chances were always going to be limited to cameo appearances. Hope he does really well wherever he goes. He never lacked effort. Unlike others, I think he could do a really good job at Championship level but it has to be a team that can supprt his style of play.

Its not as discreet as I was hoping....

SDR and Lee won a lot of admirers early on. I think to be fair the people you are talking about are true die hard Saints fans who really want to see people succeed with the club. Given the choice I would rather spend a few hours in the pub with them than someone who *****es, moans and criticises at every opportunity. Wouldn't you?

Cracking result. Our teenagers just got a draw from a team almost as good as Portsmouth....

I think the original post probably ranks at the same level as Monk and Cranie who were fortunate enough to make it to the Premier League eventually

Correct. Started his career at Welling.

I can't help feeling we are missing the real point here. It's not just about ability, it's not just about pace, it's also about work rate. MP seemed to indicate last year that Mayuka would have to work a lot harder in training if he was to have a future here. SDR did seem to impress with his work rate toward the end of the season so got a few cameo appearances from the bench. This year they all came back to work hard per season. I suspect Sharp and De Ridder came back not as fit as MP hoped and they failed to impress in training. Much as I admire Billy Sharp as a person, and I really wanted him to be a success here, there seems little point in giving him a chance when he is so clearly off the pace in so many ways. I will remember his huge contribution to push us over the line to get us to the Premiership though.

Remember Rickie Lambert? Sharp failed to hold down a first team place at forest last year and- excluding penalties - averaged a goal every 5 games

Good call (although they are also talking about Harrison Reed as a natural leader for the future). The next wave also has Seager and Rowe of course. Exciting times!

I can see Chambers breaking through this year as well. Turnbull is good but competition for CB is stronger and as they develop a little later he may have to wait a while longer.

#like. Only on the basis that it is better to vent to each other than to the team we are supposed to support

I only came on this forum to cheer myself up and I wasn't disappointed. Overall I thought the first half was pretty even. As others have said, chambers Isgrove and puncheon all stood out. We do have a few players who consistently fail to perform to their potential in friendlies (SLR, Lallana and Fonte to name but three). The whole idea of these friendlies is to develop match status. That's partly about fitness but more about focus and integration in units. Overall a decent workout.