Professor

Shame for Gardos, but two mistakes close together won't have been missed by Koeman

Excellent game by Shane Long, not just the goal but his constant threat.

If Saints win away at Hull we move onto 22 points. Everyone's personal preference for the other results may depend on whether the target is a 4th or 5th place finish, which would be marvellous, but it would be very rewarding to see the club competing near the top for as long as possible. How about the following:- Newcastle v Liverpool - Home win Arsenal v Burnley - Away win unlikely so lets have a draw Chelsea v QPR - ditto Everton v Swansea - Draw Hull v Southampton - Away win Leicester v West Brom - Home win Stoke v West Ham - Home win Man City v Man Utd - Draw Palace v Sunderland - Who cares.......? Well, I suppose Palace and Sunderland fans do. Doubt that this list will match the Lawrenson predictions, but on these results we would close the gap on Chelsea and move further ahead of the teams below. Unlikely, I know but nice to imagine.

The Sun. Nuff said

These journalists are only interested in about 5 clubs in the Prem and are the same ones that are constantly hawking our players around those clubs. It would be unrealistic to think we won't lose a single game in the next two months but that doesn't mean we should expect the meltdown that occurred in the run-up to Xmas last year under Cortese and Pochettino. If we do achieve no more than two defeats out of the next 10 games, that would be a remarkable performance that would upset a lot of those same journalists as we would still be above several of their cherished clubs. BTW, if you google 'Daily Express Football' you get offered 5 links to football clubs:- Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City. Looks like the press have already decided their readers don't want to read about the club laying second in the table.

If the journo who wrote this story is an angler, he'd be proud of the bites he's getting. Ignore it.

IMO, that's not it. The option to buy at a fixed price is in place as part of the loan deal and although Bertrand could refuse an offer there is no advantage to Southampton in exercising the option early. If they did it would be Southampton who would then carry any risks such as loss of form or injury. If Ryan is still performing in May as well as he is now I'd expect the club to sign him based on Koeman's current comments, but things can change, for example if RB picked up an injury or suspension giving Targett a run in the side and if Target performed beyond expectations. As Bertrand said: You've got wait and see, but he's talking about an offer from the club, not whether he could go off and tout himself elsewhere, when he's actually got stability here after years of uncertainty.

Absolute rubbish, Typical re-hash of an old story aimed at selling newspapers to a few football fans who are unfortunate enough to follow Tottenham. The inclusion of the Townsend element is a giveaway as it shows that the journo who wrote this is long out-of-date.

Not sure we should worry too much about the bros as Wanyama came here from from Scotland and Mané from Austria. Even Holland has quite cold winters. Sounds like Big Sam might be barking up the wrong tree, or just barking.... It is true that St James' Park in January might be a bit on the chilly side but it is the same for both teams and Newcastle have to play there ever other week. When I played amateur football in mid-winter I managed to keep warm by running around and that was without stands keeping the wind off, 30,000 bodies surrounding the touchline and under-soil heating. I reckon they will cope.

At the end of October last year, after the ninth game of the season we had one point less than we have this year with the OS saying it was Saints' best start in The Prem, which makes this year's start even better. The team that played the ninth game included Boruk, Shaw, Lovren, Lambert and Lallana, all now elsewhere as well as our currently injured pair of JRod and JWP. Only four of the team that beat Fulham in October 2013 played against Stoke on Saturday but as Nick G has illustrated, the replacements: Forster, Aldeweireld, Bertrand, Steven Davis, Jack Cork, Tadic, and Mané were either already in the first team squad or can be seen as improvements on those they replaced. Last year, results took a dramatic dip in November and December. At the end of October 2013 we had P9 W5 D3 L1 = 18 points, whereas this year at the end of Oct we have P9 W6 D1 L2 = 19points. In 2013, up to 31 Dec, the next 10 games produced P10 W2 D3 L5 = 9 points. It is because I simply don't believe that under Koeman, this year's team will produce such poor results over the next 10 games, as Pochettino's team did last year, that I feel we can stay in contention for a top 4 spot. Like this year, November and December last year did include some difficult games but last year's team lost two of the less difficult against Sunderland and Aston Villa. In this so-called difficult spell this year, only 4 of the 10 games would you pick out as being any harder than what we have had so far, Man City, Arsenal, Man Utd and Chelsea but even 3 of those games are at home. Also, our opponents at the top of the table can't all pick up maximum points as in several games they play each other. I see all of this as reasons for optimism and if we are still in the top 4 at the halfway point of the season, then why not at the season's end?

I wonder if Mourinho, Wenger, and a few others have their post-match interviews pre-written. "The referee failed to give us a free-kick or a penalty"; "Free-kicks/penalties were awarded against us that shouldn't have been"; "The other team should have had a player sent off"; I didn't see the incident where one of my players dived/committed a foul". Its all so predictable and boring.....

Had to go back three weeks to pick up the Shane Long thread. That may be that the critics are easing off, or that he's only had limited game time. I'm hoping he is in the starting XI in the cup game at Stoke. At the various clubs he's played for he always seemed top be a player that you noticed and I'm much more comfortable having him our side than if, for example, he was in Stoke's team. For me, he's looked confident and assured when Koeman has played him and his lack of playing time is more down to the quality of the players he's competing with for a place than any defect on his part. He must be raring to go, so this week could be great opportunity.

Don't think it's a case of being upset by Lawrenson because his role isn't that big a deal, and you can't blame a washed-up ex-footballer from taking money that's offered to him. It's the BBC I would criticise for keeping him on long past his sell-by date and promoting him as their 'football expert'. His predictions for the games on Sat and Sun produced one correct prediction and 8 incorrect while the amateurs he was supposed to compete with predicted 4 results correctly. His comments on Saints' prospects for the season are equally meaningless but its a shame the public should be subjected to them.

I was sorry to see this post, especially if Micky is a Saints' fan. Two defeats away from home to teams expected to be top half sides, and each by a single goal, suggests we might do the same to them at home. Some fans naturally feel that expecting success makes the disappointment greater if it doesn't come. Others take the more logical approach, that our squad might have 12 or 13 good players but that injuries and suspensions will weaken the team as the season goes on, leading to more defeats. But there is another view, which is to be optimistic. There were at least 4 players on the bench against Stoke, whose presence in the starting XI would not weaken the team at all. In addition. there are 2 or 3 others with first team experience. We have two quality players out injured who are expected to return in the New Year and there is a transfer window in January if the squad needs to be enhanced. And of course, we may not suffer the spate of injuries that some people fear whereas our opponents are faced with the same issues and some of them may suffer more than Southampton. If we are still in the top 4 at Xmas there is no reason why we shouldn't be at the end of the season but as Koeman would say, every game is difficult and it is always the next match that matters. As fans, we should take it one game at a time and enjoy the ride.

This is the point. He's entitled to an opinion but opinion should not be stated as fact. The role of a pundit should be to give opinions supported by evidence and argument so that the viewers, who will all have their own opinions, can take what the pundit says into account. Simply making an assertion adds nothing to a debate. As for his appearance last night, it looked as if the BBC's make-up department had prepared him for a role in a drama as a down-and-out.

Got the impression that the pundits on MotD2 were shocked Lawrenson's arrogant and rather stupid attitude. While they were trying to have a sensible discussion about Saints and WHU being in the top 4, Lawrenson stated forcibly, that neither will be there at the end of the season as if that was an incontrovertible fact. In reality, the only fact was that he could not possibly know. Stating opinion as if it is fact has no place in serious discussion and is more likely to reflect prejudice based on insufficient evidence. In Lawrenson's case, he was behaving like a spoilt child who wants to stop something being said that he doesn't want to hear. I'm only sorry that he didn't stick his fingers in his ears and start going "mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm".

Of the players that left, only Lambert looked replaceable so it is massively to the credit of Koeman and Les Reed's scouting department that none of the defectors are now thought good enough to have a place in the present starting XI but it is always risky to make historical comparisons unless you were there. UB's lifetime may be too short to include 1980, but the signing of Kevin Keegan must be the most impressive the club has ever made. Keegan was twice the European Footballer of the year and had appeared in the European Cup Final for Hamburg in the year that he signed for Southampton. It was the 1980 equivalent of signing Messi or Ronaldo and was completely out of the blue.

West Ham fans are probably a bit disappointed looking back at our 3-1 win over them at their place in August. If they had won that game and all other results had stayed the same, it would be WHU in 2nd place and us in 4th. A good reminder that however much teams fight for points as the season goes on, points in August are worth the same as points in April and sometimes they make all the difference. That could also be true about Goal Difference with ours now looking very healthy and equivalent to an extra point.

Not abad set of results for the weekend. After our win, any points dropped by teams in the top eight was a bonus. West Ham winning was worth our while, firstly to see Saints go second but also to show our players that Man City are not invulnerable. Swansea winning had to be expected but it was a shame that Arsenal won at Sunderland, especially as both goals were complete gifts. Man City and Liverpool dropping points was more than we might have hoped for. As for Man U v Chelsea, the result hardly matters to us since Chelsea are expected to be runaway champions, although a draw would mean both teams dropping points so perhaps that would be marginally the nicest outcome.

I thought the club should have sacked Pochettino back in March/April when it was clear from the media that he was intending to break his contract. The team was stagnating with points being lost that should not have been and his inability to turn possession football into goals was frustrating. As it turned out, the club saved £2m by letting him break his contract and we are so much better off now, whether it be by luck or judgement. The interviews in English, forced on Pochettino by Tottenham, make his refusal to speak to Saints' fans in our own language now look like an insult. The much talked about exodus, that hardly any of us welcomed, has turned out to be a blessing in disguise and is even described by some as a clearing out of dead wood. Not only quite content with seeing Tottenham lose today as it drops them down the table, but also very pleased for our other ex-manager who left us with a far more positive legacy.

Let's be fair. Lovren - and Liverpool - did keep a clean sheet today against the mighty Hull.

Don't think Korman will be entirely satisfied. After controlling the game in the first half Stoke were allowed back into the game in the second half and could have nicked a point. The two errors by Jose stood out as a low point but we got away with them. Given the number of chances, we really should have got a second goal and maybe we would have if at one point in the first half, Tadic had gone for an assist with two Saints available, instead of a weak shot. But am I happy? Absolutely. In the end it's the result that matters and seeing the league table tonight is amazing.

If you predict football results on form and home advantage you won't get them all right but you will get more right than wrong. When Lawrenson predicts AGAINST form he is just relying on luck. Looks like his prediction tool is a piece of paper and a pin.

Surely the goal credited to Tadic should also be an own goal because Mannone's kick just bounced off Dusan's foot and into the net.

I was a bit sceptical when the first rumour was supposed to be that Southampton would hi-jack Kuyt's move to Feyenoord at the end of the season. By the start of the 2015/16 season he would be 35 and inevitably, time would be catching up with him. But a later rumour is that we might go for him in the January transfer window. That would make more sense if we are in with a shout for a top 6 place or better as he would be cover for Pelle in the last 3 months, just when cover might be needed.