Mowgli

Exactly my thoughts. Preferably Phillips though. At the end of the day west ham deserved it as they were actually the third best team in the league. The play offs are exciting ( so long as you are not in it!) but when third place is so far ahead of the rest it's hard to justify not going up. Plus west ham had to lift themselves after missing out on auto promotion on the very last day. That takes some doing so credit where it is due.

When you call them kids - no. But they are all close to challenging for first team place. It is clearly better to introduce them into a side that is 3-0 up and playing with confidence as a sub as opposed to starting them. If you are not going to consider naming players who are now officially part of the first team squad as subs why on earth are we running an academy!!!

Only in peoples heads on this forum.

European competition used to mean that the visiting side always played in the home colours if I recall. That was why we changed kits at home.

Personally I don't think he was seeking the limelight. He was badly advised. Did not see anything wrong in it myself (did not see too many Wednesday fans complain about Milan taking the limelight on Saturday). But it's not his natural style so it looked forced to me. For me though, the defining moment of the season was the shrewd January transfer dealings. Hooiveld, Sharp and Lee all good acquisitions and made a real impact on the run in.

Old gold for away preceded yellow as i recall 9even in living memory for me!!). I always thought stripes were what Saints were all about. Sometimes wondered why we don't just replace the white stripe with black for the away strip - that would look pretty classy I think. Red /white stripes with white shorts and red /black stripes with black shorts would ensure there is never a clash. Actually i seem to remember Hoddle planning to change the home kit to white shorts just before he left for Spuds. Something to do with picking each other out with more ease.

From a league one relegation candidate to premier league in 18 months? We're way past 'reality' already. CL must be part of the five year plan. Whether we achieve that is another matter entirely but that must be the aim. It was Lowes plan too but I have a bit more faith in NC / NA to get us closer to that.

Don't forget to resurrect this thread when we are in the top four at Christmas

Then why bother relying. This is a tribute thread to a top guy with saints connections who achieved something very special yesterday. Well done DJ and good to see Antonio andPrutton on the pitch celebrating too.

I see Big Fat Sam is rehearsing his excuses for failure early. Now complaining about the timing of the play offs. Not enough time to prepare apparently. More like the other teams can't wait to get at them!

lol at the OP analysing an eight minute contribution in a match that was already over. Puncheon could actually be the answer to our right midfield problem and, given he can play left or right, could work the swap over with Lallana quite effecitvely. Just needs to work at following instructions to the letter - and maybe develop his defensive game a bit. His first couple of games after his 'talk' to the Don were close to MOTM performances so we know he has it in him. Seems to fit in well with the other players too so the 'billy big boots' tags are probably way off the mark. Having said that, he is an interesting character. Followed him on twitter for a while but concluded his 'street' talk was indecipherable! Of course there is also Guly who could equally make that slot his own.

I would go for Schmeicel, Hopper and Phillips. If Blackpool get promoted, Phillips would probably stay so Rodriguez might be a good 2nd choice. We also need a centre back before too long but somehow feel Martin will step up.

Thought that was a good tackle by Cranie though. He has done the business no question and provides an alternative to Lee up front with Lambert. Lee has pace and will lose his marker whilst Sharp takes the defender with him and uses his strength to hold him off

Where are all those people who declare every game as a must win game? Today is your day too :-) Feeling nervous but confident. Enjoy the day everyone. I cannot believe how far we have come in such a short space of time.

We can beat anyone on our day including Blackpool, Birmingham and Cardifff. And, of course, Coventry.

Did not think I was down last night but woke at 4am thinking about the various permutations for te next week so clearly it has effected me. I'm gutted we did not get the title but as oters have said that is perhaps a tad greedy. I don't agree that we threw the title away. More that team spirit has seen us over perform this season and the nerves are starting to show. But they are for West Ham too so I think we will be ok. What puzzles me is all this talk of no plan B. it was certainly an issue under previous managers but Nigel has them playing 442, diamond, 451, long ball, into the channels, deep crosses, crosses from the by line, central, wide and switching sides. Sometimes we change our shape several times during a game. Am I missing something?

Sorry to be a pedant but why would you look at the uncontrollables on a day to day basis (just kidding)? I have presentation next month which will undoubtedly talk about bad outcomes, drawing a blue line and moving on; living in the here and now; etc. and there will definately be a few Portsmouth fans in the audience that will require an 'alternative' analogy. Any ideas?

We'll see. Interesting that his drop in form/ injury conveniently coincided with the start of court proceedings. He now has no excuse for focussing on the job in hand - and still only 27.

W*nker. Have you forgotten the role he played in getting us up?

Tomkins would never leave WHU. Had not realised Snodgrass was so young but would only need either him or Matt Phillips and not both. I don't think we particularly need another striker but if we do, then I suspect the 'done deal' rumours for Hooper have some credibility. Schmeichel would be my number one target over the summer. That aside, I think the team spirit will see us through. Don't forget we have some youngsters about to break into the first team and we need to fit new signings around them. Stephens and Shaw (if we can hold on to the latter) will be targetting the full back positions next season and Martin already has a clear 'reserved' sign on the left sided centre back position. Add to that Sinclair and Hoskins up front and Racine at the back, the future looks bright. But a special mention goes to James Ward-Prowse who is not only on the verge of the first team but judging by his tweets is absolutely chuffed to be part of the whole set up. Can see him staying at Saints a long long time and enjoying every minute - a bit like Lallana.

One of the best I heard was a couple of seasons back as the fourth official held up the board displaying '1 minute' - the guy behind me grumbled "this game's got 0-0 written all over it...."

Even if we are promoted Saturday the final day will still be stressful as we push for the title.

Great to have Morgan back but it has to be said that Hammond was immense against Palace. A MOTM performance.

Because if we are to expect youngster to show a bit of loyalty to the club, the club has to show a bit of loyalty to players who have served the club well. Barnard has averaged a goal every 2 or 3 games and is 3 years younger than Lambert so clearly gives us options despite missing most of this season with an ankle injury. He was immense in our promotion season from Lge 1. Dan Harding is a former U21 international and an excellent back up for Fox. Probably better than Fox defensively. Only 28 so a good few years left in him yet Butterfield has been a revelation standing in for Richardson thses past few games. Older than the others so some doubt how long he can maintain this standard but certainly good for another season. Remember he kept Nathanial Clyne out of the Palace side for a while. Butterfiled got an extension to 2013 whilst thothers got extensions to 2014. Good business in my view. My only concern is that if he is found guilty he is likely to get 15 months. No idea how that will affect his contract. Logically, it could amount to bring the club into disrepute so contract could be cancelled but maybe we should wait for the verdict first!!

Actually it is worth going on to the other sites to pick yourelf up. KUMB fans are still pessimistic about their auto promotion chances which adds realism to the debate. They have to win all their games and we have to trip up in two of ours. Not impossible but the odds are against it. The loss to Blackpol aside, our team have played well and have retained their confidence, workrate and self belief. Shame our fans can't do the same.