Professor

Liverpool don't have better players than Chelsea so after the win at Stamford Bridge I see no reason not to win at Anfield. As for the Leicester game they have been doing extremely well this year, but we did draw the game despite our players being exhausted after the international matches. Mane also had long haul flight to recover from. Now, with a full week for the squad to recover and prepare for next Sunday this looks a very winnable game.

Just to add, that I do think RK had committed himself too far before the game to giving Clasie a run out and that it was a mistake to do it when Leicester were beginning to boss the game. RK wasn't flexible enough to change his mind.

Agree with Northam Soul. Can't blame RK for the Davis/Clasie substitution as it seemed an obvious move. 2-0 up probably felt safe, Davis perhaps weary after the internationals and giving Clasie just 30 minutes to ease him into the Premier League. But as Leicester upped the tempo, Saints failed to respond and lost out heavily on possession. The more questionable substitution was Tadic/JRod as we needed more in midfield, not in attack. For me, I'd have much preferred to see Romeu coming on. We would still have had Mane and Pelle to provide an up-front threat. Surely that will be Kelvin's last game for the first XI. Can't believe that Gazza would not have done better and if not, why is he still on the pay-roll? Shame for as great club servant like KD to go out with a whimper but had Stek been playing, I'm confident we would not have let in two goals.

Mourinho is clearly upset by the £50000 fine, even though the money probably means nothing to him. But if the punishment has hurt, that is of course, the purpose - to deter a mouthy manager from blaming the referee when his team is second best. The stadium ban hanging over him is also an excellent tactic by the FA. Not sure he has self-control in his toolbag but it will be interesting to see if his ego allows him to cope.

There is view that the daily mail is not a newspaper in the accepted sense but is a right-wing propaganda sheet masquerading as a newspaper in order to encourage people to read it. As a propaganda sheet is of no value if no one looks at it, it must carry items that will attract attention. This theory postulates that readers will absorb some of the propaganda items while looking at the stories that attracted them. Speculation about players and managers at Premier League clubs is one way of drawing people to the paper. These stories don't have be true as long as they can be made to appear credible. The Koeman article is good example. Truth is immaterial as long as it is superficially believable. Much of the player transfer speculation probably is similar as indicated by how little of it proves to be true.

Rodgers derogatory remarks about Southampton when his club signed three of our players was completely unnecessary and may have been an indication of a lack of judgement. On the other hand, Liverpool have not done badly under him, being in the upper levels of the Premier League throughout, although to be expected given the huge sums spent on players. The real problem is the expectations engendered by owners who are ploughing huge sums of money into clubs such as Liverpool, Man U, Man City, Chelsea, etc., but as more money gets around the rest of the Premier League the gap between the top and the rest is closing. Sacking the manager is the common response with Arsenal being about the only exception.

It's not unreasonable to want to achieve a substantial pay rise by changing employer. It's what most of us do all through our working life. Where VW did behave badly was in failing to accept that he had tied himself to a contract and that contracts can only be set aside with the agreement of both parties. I agree entirely that whether his statement is honest can be judged on whether he agrees a new contract, assuming the report of a 5-year deal being on offer, is correct. But as fans, we need to accept that footballers have a career of about 10 years and naturally want to maximise their earnings during that period. Unlike us fans, they are not committed to playing for one club for life, whether or not they acquire an emotional attachment for a particular team.

If all on international duty return fit, I'd agree with an unchanged starting XI but maybe a little over-confident to play with only 10 so let's add Pelle.

Several people have rightly made the point that Mané's theatrical dives when he is fouled work against him, but the blame for that could be shared with the coaches who should have been explaining this too him for as long as he's been here. As for Mourinho's mindless rant he overlooked that penalty incidents are always analysed on national TV. When Mourinho refused to comment on the fouls committed in the area by his players, Lineker clearly took great pleasure in conducting a discussion about it on MotD. Outcome was another severe dent in Mourinho's already tarnished reputation.

There is vacancy for Rodgers. A Premier League side needing a manager is Lewes FC in the Ryman Premier. But would he be up to it........

Certainly a brilliantly taken free kick but Willian was cheating, having moved the ball about 5 yards nearer the goal than where offence by Romeu occurred. Unlikely that there would have been a goal chance from the correct spot - just check the highlights and look at the mowing pattern on the grass to see it for yourself. You have to wonder if Mourinho has coached his team on cheating when you consider the fouls on Mané, done by treading on his foot to make the foul less obvious and the shirt pulling whilst appearing to look in a different direction, to stop Van Dijk getting to the ball from a corner. If you put those actions together with the Manager's ludicrous rant against the referee and his failure to acknowledge decisions given wrongly in favour of his team, it looks like it could be a deliberate tactic. At least the ref did spot the dive over Stekelenburg. Having just escaped any punishment by the FA for his appalling treatment of the Chelsea team doctor Mourinho may regard the FA as toothless.

Surprised Rodgers hasn't been back to St Mary's to complain about the quality of his purchases and to ask if he can change them please. Seems he bought the wrong ones.

Mourinho was so right. The referee did have a poor game. How he managed to give 5 Saints' players yellow cards but miss all three of the Chelsea fouls in the Saints' penalty area takes some doing.

Seems to me that in Cedric and VVD we have fully replaced Clyne and Alderweireld with players at least as good and arguably better.

Holy Gadzooks Batman! Even defensive midfielders such as Wanyama and Schneiderlin have not only made chances for more forward players but have, occasionally, scored themselves. I believe that Clasie has more in his locker to be offensive, even if he is played as a DM. Use the equipment in the Bat Cave to check him out. BTW, even CBs score sometimes......

I've been a Saints' fan since the days of Derek Reeves, Terry Paine and John Sydenham but there other teams that I like to see doing well. Have long followed Brighton's results although have not been to their current ground at Falmer and have always had a soft spot for Boscombe but my interest in these clubs is challenged if they appear to be competing with Saints. Did not like Brighton beating us to the L1 championship although I did enjoy our win at Withdean. I've got no feelings for any other team in the Premier League and my interest in their results is only as to the effect it might have on Southampton's place in the table. But perhaps I'm unusual because so many people pay their Sky subscriptions to watch matches between teams that I have no care about at all.

If Clasie has recovered enough and is match fit, if only for a place on the bench on Saturday, he could give our midfield an extra attacking bite that could easily provide an extra goal. Presumably we may get some indication from RK at the press conference tomorrow if Jordy is likely to be in the squad. Clasie and Bertrand coming back is like having over £20m of new signings coming into strengthen a team that has already been playing well anyway.

Osvaldo did come on as a sub but only the last 5 minutes so not even long enough to get a yellow card, but it does grate to see a player who caused our club a massive financial loss getting even a modicum of playing time in a Champions' League game.

Very much approve of the inverted commas around "English" as there isn't very much that is English about most teams in the higher levels of the Premier League, including I'm sad to say, Southampton. At least we still aren't as bad as some, despite our Swiss ownership and Dutch management as we do still have a smattering of English players and the prospects of others through the Academy. But the Big Four have really become foreign football clubs playing in the colours of what used to be English football teams, so how they get on in European competition is of no interest to very many English football fans.

Chelsea are in a mess with big name players either past their best or not performing together as team. Also very susceptible to mistakes. Morale must be rock bottom, both as a team and in the confidence of individuals with the manager blaming everyone but himself. Saints continue to get stronger and after a draw against them at their place only 6 months ago, there is no reason why this one shouldn't be a win. Mane and Tadic should scare their rocky full-backs out of their skins and Pelle will cause plenty of panic.

Mourinho will be practicing his excuses this week as Chelsea's home defeat by Saints will be anyone's fault but his. Maybe the Doctor... Oh no, she's gone, so the ref...No, maybe a bit overdone, so how about the tea lady?

Don't thing Long would of offered more but he might 'have' offered more. Its not possible to 'of' anything as there is no verb ' To of'.

There may be a contract limitation on the total time of highlights they are allowed to show. Can anyone confirm?

Thought it was OK having Newcastle/Chelsea as the third match shown, after all a struggle between two sides in or near the relegation zone is always interesting.

A small niggle - shame about losing the clean sheet. Was surprised at RK's decisions on the substitutions. Taking off Wanyama for Romeu would have seemed to be the better tactic but he declined it. The midfield suffered by the loss of Davis, whilst Wanyama was left still having to take extra care not to get a second yellow. The other substitutions were so late in the game they probably didn't matter but control did appear to be conceded to Swansea in the last 15 minutes.