BallBoy

My usual position is that we need to keep our players if we intend to progress. Players such as Bale, Walcott, Shearer and Oxlade-Chamberlain are pretty much irreplaceable regardless of how much is paid. This may be the exception if the £30million figure is correct. (a big if) We are unlikely to be able to get a better left back than Shaw but that sort of money could help us in more important parts of the pitch. We desperately need forwards and cover in various other positions. That money could go a long way. If Shaw were the only one to go and the money effectively re-invested in the team then I could live with that. I would much rather keep him and still invest £30million but that is probably hugely optimistic.

It's not hatred, it's just good old football rivalry. It happens everywhere. Liverpool/Everton, Celtic/Rangers, City/United, Cardiff/Swansea, Real/Athletico, Spurs/Arsenal. I have always said that I am happy for Pompey to do well as long as they stay where they belong - below us. I cannot help but quietly enjoy their current status. I try to be magnaminous to my pompey mates but cannot help dropping the odd comparison into the conversation. The trouble at the moment is that it's just too easy. Innocent questions like "who are you playing this week?", "who was that who got sent off?" or "good luck for the weekend" take on a whole new meaning.

Really sorry to say this but, if JRod misses the rest of the season, as seems likely, then he will miss the World Cup. At best he will be recovering fitness. Hodgson will not risk this on an untried player. I am gutted for him. He is an honest, unassuming lad who was playing his best football ever. On a personal level, I share his pain.

I have just had a rant at my wife who knows nothing about football. She thinks MP should be sacked but that would be to ignore all the good that he has done. I havn't felt as angry about a team selection before as this one. It was a good team but it should have been our best. we had a great chance to make the quarter finals with all the excitement that brings. MP threw this game and I am furious. It has been a great season but this has put a massive dampener on it.

I am angry about this. We have never got into this game. I know it is not over yet but we have basically thrown this game with the team selection.

Agree with most posters. This is disappointing. If they can be on the bench then they can start in my opinion. Massive gamble when fans are looking to this to define our season.

I am exhausted but buzzing. A fabulous game of football to watch. Would have loved a win and we deserved it but, on our day, we can match the best teams in the league. There were no poor (or even average) performances tonight. Special mentions for Shaw, Cork and Maya but, for me, Morgan was at his imperious best. It is easy to forget just how good he because he is not flamboyant but he makes the game look easy and was easily the best midfielder on the park tonight. Great game.

I really don't think Pochettino would go. Remember that he had been observing Saints for several weeks or even months before he came here. He is not an impulsive man (except when he is tackling Michal Owen).

It's difficult to watch the game except with a Saints focus. The reality is that not one England player had a good game. They all found it very difficult. I thought Adam had more good touches than most. Probably the best of the new boys. Even Townsend, who was supposed to be our great new discovery, did nothing of note when he came on. J-Rod, sadly, never got going. He looked nervous in the tunnel. It didn't get any better for him. It's a really tough call to step up to international level. To do it in such a disjointed team must be heartbreaking.

Fantastic. I am buzzing. That 1st half performance was as good and as dominant as any we saw when were steamrollering through the lower leagues. The stats are just incredible and Fulham are no mugs! The amazing thing is that there is no luck involved. We deserve to be where we are and the dropped points against Sunderland, West Ham & Man U now look clumsy. From the very 1st day of the Saints "Plan" we have been ahead of schedule. I had never dreamed we could come this far so fast. Great team performance. Lallana & Clyne must now be knocking on the England door.

Absolutely love the Neville/Carragher piece. Totally awesome. I have been supporting Saints for almost 50 years and I do not remember two such knowledgable pundits praising us this much. Living the dream!

Quite incredible that we are 4th in the league without even hitting top gear yet. Everything is good. Goals from both our forwards to boost confidence, clean sheet, all good performances, getting good reviews and on a different planet to our neighbours down the road! I think it's a shame that the response from our fans is less than when we lose. Some expectations are just a bit silly. I think we are now building on a very solid base. Lovren is the find of the season. Strong, assured, comfortable and a leader. Even the very best centre backs have dodgy moments but he recovers brilliantly. Fonte is the most improved player of the season. We have 2 excellent full backs. Wanyama may look unpolished at times but what a player to have in front of the defence! All good.

Terry the barber in Woolston.

A village near the River Itchen watching the boats. Probably Ocean Village. Good journalism! Having said that he seems to have his head screwed on and happy to be here.

I agree with this one. That is probably our best 11 (with Yoshida) and the forwards should frighten anyone. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Wanyama proves to be the missing link who is strong enough in midfield to get the best out of our flair players.

Why on earth are giving this any credibility at all?

This may be a stupid question but none of my friends/colleagues seem to know the answer either: What is the Active USB card included in the season ticket pack?

I can't believe I actually lived through the 70's and 80's and never even knew about any of this. Must have been watching football or something!

Why do we always have to assume that rumours are true? Anyone can post anything on a website. I do not necessarily doubt that Winchester Red has a friend at Tottenham but he could be a wind up merchant or just passing on a baseless rumour he heard himself. There is basically nothing in this. Last week we had all sorts of rumours about Cortese's position which turned out to be nothig at all.

If we had scored 1 more goal today we would have been level with Fulham on points, goal difference and goals scored. We also drew both games with them. Does anybody know what would have happened? The only difference was that Fulham won 1 more game than us. Would that have kept them above us? Totally hypthetical conundrum for sad people like me who enjoy looking at league tables.

I am glad that, for once, we have stability moving into the close season and on to the next. This rarely seems to happen with us. We now have a very solid foundation, an ambitious chairman and, hopefully, some finance. I, too, have some misgivings about Cortese's single minded approach and his midas touch is unlikely to last forever. It is, however, much better than the alternative of looking for a new manager and chairman as we prepare for yet another season of improvement. This next step upwards is the toughest of all. I have genuine doubts that we can progress much further without a significant increase in revenue. At least we can have a shot at it now.

All credit to Swansea to keep on playing regardless of their relative position. They could easily have folded at 1-0 and 2-1 down. They could have settled for a draw but, no, they remained totally professional and kept going to the end. That's the way it should be. Well done.

The big problem is that we were all becoming mentally attuned to looking up rather than down. The teams performances against West Ham and WBA in particular reflected that. We need to change that mindset and start playing like a relegation threatened team again. That is not as easy as it sounds. Recently Wigan, Villa and Sunderalnd have all shown that attitude and won crucial games. Sunderland are the classic example of what happens when they relax again (6-1 at Villa). That makes our game against them both fascinating and worrying. Which manager can get the attitude of his team right? I suspect that Di Canio will not get it wrong twice. I don't want to be going into the Stoke game still needing something but I think that is probably going to be the reality. For what it's worth I think Fulham are in freefall and games at home to Liverpool and away to Swansea look like a real challenge to them. We would still need to get another point to finish above them if they lose both. Despite relative positions in the table Fulham are my outside bet for relegation.

We all hoped we would not be in this position of having to work out all the permutations. But the reality is that we are on the slide at a very bad time. Todays events in both the Premiership and Championship show that promotions and relegations can hang on a thread. Todays results could not have been much worse for us. For what it's worth I have just played with the BBC predictor and been as fair as I could. We ended up surviving on a goal difference of 1 with Fulham going down! 6 teams were within a point of relegation. I gave us a point against Stoke. This is completely unpredicatable but I think odds of 20/1 against us going down are nonsense. We are playing nervously and without penetration at the moment. It has to change or we could well be gone.

Have to agree with the general consensus. For me Fellaini was immense against us. Not spectacular but incredible control and strength. My top choice. Lukaku and Hazard (in the cup) were a bit special too.