Professor

Quoting partly to prove I'm reading through all the posts. Would just say I was pleased Koeman kept Wanyama on because the side needed to defend the lead. Scoring more would have been a bonus but would make no difference to the result so keeping Big Vic in place was IMO the correct decision. Watching the game on a computer feed I was extremely impressed by the defence, especially in the second half when Arsenal did have a good share of possession. There seemed to be so many blue shirts defending the area that you wondered if we had brought players on without taking anyone off! As Koeman keeps reminding us, this is football and you can't allow yourself to become over-confident because things can change (as Arsenal discovered last season) but I am so looking forward to Saturday because of the opportunity for a great home performance. Beware anyone arriving at St Mary's with a bag over his head because it could be the QPR manager.

Watched the footage of Franny and Ralph running into Arlesford and the clips of them through the country lanes before they got there. Don't know where Franny lives but got the impression that the run started from his home. Anyone, any idea how far Ralph ran with him, because it looked very impressive and certainly more than I'd have done, even at Ralph's young age (in comparison to me now).

Assuming that the loyalty issues hadn't cropped up, I'd rather none of them had gone BUT I would have wanted the squad strengthened. If we still had all five, plus Pelle, Tadic, Gardos and Mane I'd be OK with that but doubt that we would have bought them in without the money from the sales.

Oh dear... Just watched the goals on the OS. Is it just me or was that a dive..........?

In many respects, Jose Fonte is the unsung hero. Took a drop in the league when he joined Saints in L1 from Championship aide, Palace. Along with Morgan, a remaining link to the L1 promotion side. Many people doubted that he would make the grade in the Prem but he's been Mr Reliable and chips in with a goal every now and then. It is the continuity provided by club stalwarts like Jose that keeps that team spirit going. Heard Koeman saying he decided to keep the team playing the way they were before and although he may have changed a few things, as well as the personnel changes, what has stayed the same looks like the source of the team's strength.

Like Brian Clough before him, he's had his teeth taken out and seats put in. You can't beat the old ones.........

I had the foreign language commentary on silence and over-played the commentary by Adam Blackmore and Dave Merrington via saintsplayer. This time the Solent commentary was in step with the video feed, only sometimes it runs out of sync. The defence was very solid, Fonte playing really well. As for Targett - good competition for Bertrand and all could easily make us forget Shaw.

If you subscribe to the idea of the multiverse, or quantum universes, (a good many physicists,including Stephen Hawking support at least one of the multiverse theories) there will be a universe somewhere where Saints will go on to win the title this season. Whether it will be in this universe that we inhabit, we shall have to wait and see. But where it happens, surely players would not want to leave the club, on the contrary, Southampton would be an attractive team to play for and of course, would need to recruit for next season's Champions League. Maybe Samuels already inhabits an alternative reality and gets a bit confused.

The comment about Pardew having left Saints at the wrong end of League One is entirely wrong. In any other job an error like that would warrant a dressing down but when the press have their knife in someone's back as they have with Pardew, truth doesn't matter. In 2010, Pardew took Southampton to within one place of the play-offs, despite the 10-point deduction that he inherited, and his team won the Johnson's Paint Trophy, the club's first trophy since 1976. When Pardew left in the August he bequeathed his successor (Nigel Adkins) a team that included future England players Lambert and Lallana, and which went on to win promotion. His place in Southampton's rise should not be under-estimated.

Not expecting Koeman to do a Pochettino. I think he'll take this game seriously and adopt his usual approach of continuity. May make a couple of unforced changes but nothing wholesale IMO. If Arsenal do play less than their strongest team, I can see Saints getting a result.

Today the BBC are reporting that Phillip Neville (ex-player who has miraculously become the BBC's football expert), thinks that Manchester Utd, in spending £150m, have bought the wrong players this summer and will need to spend another £100m before they can compete for the title. Obviously Man Utd made a serious error in appointing a respected international manager, Van Gaal, as their club manager when they could have had Phil Neville. Neville's opinion on behalf of the BBC is that there were no world class CBs available for the club to recruit and as a result they are letting in goals at an alarming rate. What absolute rubbish Southampton must have signed in Belgian international Toby Aldeweireld and Romanian international Florin Gardos. Unlucky that Lovren, who's reputation was better in the close season than it is now, was so sold on playing for Liverpool that unlike Luke Shaw, he would have rejected Man U out of hand.

Looks like an exercise in self-justification; presumably he predicted that Saints would do badly this season. He has completely missed the central point which is that the board stated quite clearly at the start of the close season that they did not want to sell any of the star players. Whether they could have done more to hold on to them has been argued over and over but the fact is that the sales were driven by the players themselves not by the club. For Samuels to present this as if selling players is Southampton's policy is knowingly misleading. The successful start to the season can be attributed to having appointed an exceptional manager and to signing replacement players of international quality who fit into the existing team. It is helpful that our players are not prima-donnas with massive transfer price tags and that the club is not under the glare of the media spotlight that the so-called big clubs have to endure. Maybe a player with a £30m price tag thinks he doesn't have to work too hard because he must be naturally gifted otherwise a club wouldn't have paid that much for him. Get up to £50m and that may apply even more. Not in every case, but perhaps in a few. Our players, even though they are internationals, still need to prove themselves. It's a shame that Samuels has written such a superficial piece when there is probably a lot more that a good journalist could explore with a proper in-depth analysis. I'd give Samuels 3/10 for grammar and spelling but minimal marks for content, accuracy and originality.

Did the defections begin with Pochettino? Lallana said he was dreaming of a move for the best part of half of the season, so maybe he was the first but it did seem that Pochettino's decision was the thing that sparked the exodus. Yet I know quite a few fans who were not that enthralled about MP as last season progressed. His pressing game caught the eye when he came here and he got early results last season, but in mid-season things fell away with some poor defensive performances against the stronger teams and as the season went on, a worrying inability to turn possession into goals. You couldn't wish him to go, given the 8th place finish but you could hope that the club would boost the squad with 2 or 3 quality signings even though it was possible to see MP as over-rated by the media. When Tottenham won the first two game of this season, it started to look as if MP was genuinely a good recruit for them but one point in three games and another tough game next week brings back those thoughts about whether his ability was exaggerated. I can't image there are many Saints' fans who would swop him for Ronald.

Results over 20/21 Sept went so well for Saints, that it's interesting to speculate what results would suit us just as well next weekend. These aren't predictions but are just thoughts on what results next week would leave Saints' fans as happy as they are today (Mon). Saints v QPR - win (obviously, because you can't be happy if your team lose and even a draw would be disappointing against Redknapp). Liverpool v Everton - Everton win Chelsea v Aston Villa - draw Hull v Man City - draw Man Utd v West Ham - draw Sunderland v Swansea - Sunderland win Arsenal v Tottenham - draw Leicester v Burnley - Burnley win Seems to me that mostly draws would suit us because then both teams drop points. If these results came about we would still be in second place but the gap to Chelsea would be reduced to 2 points. All of the teams in the seven places below us would be further away than they are now. Dream on zzzz......

Never been that keen on furry legs myself let alone ones with claws on the end, but each to their own.....

Can't believe that Rickie Lambert's dream was a series of 15 minute sub appearances. Its amazing that he hasn't lost his England place yet, although whether he will make the next squad must be questionable. Much as I would have liked him to stay at St Mary's, if we hadn't let Rickie go I suppose we may not have bought Pelle or Shane Long and at this stage of Rickie's career, despite his brilliant football brain, I think I prefer having the two we have bought in.

Dear Gemmel, I agree entirely that the referee got the decisions over Bony right, but I would also say that he got both decisions over Fonte right as well. You are correct that Fonte did get to the ball first but his lunge was careless and could have injured the other player. Getting to the ball first isn't a defence if a tackle is careless, reckless or disregards the safety of the other player. Yellow meant that the ref treated it as careless. The second Fonte incident wasn't a foul at all since there was no contact between Fonte and the Swansea player. The ref did give a free kick, which could be questionable but he rightly did not give a caution. On MotD, I thought the pundits pretty much agreed with what you have said but the voice overs weren't so accurate. It does show that quick judgement by commentators who like to behave as if they are the font of all football wisdom, should be discouraged by the BBC so that there is more consideration when opinions are given. A commentator's opinion is of no more value than any other reasonably knowledgeable spectator but it is too easy for them to abuse their position.

Maybe the re-attachment of Lovren's head hasn't healed yet only thyat would make him a little unreliable in the centre of defence. But it must have been heart-warming for him and the bench warmers to see their old club's result before their game began. Wonder if any of them have tweeted their congratulations yet?

I was very upset by the dismantling of the squad, especially the sale of Lambert, which seemed to be contrary to the stated policy at the time and while the club was without a manager but are there many who would want Lambert in the team now at the expense of Pelle? Lallana's determination to leave was extremely disappointing but would I want him now at the expense of Tadic? I don't think so, even without the injury issues he's had at Liverpool. Lovren left the worst taste in the mouth because Southampton had boosted his career and he had freely signed a 4-year contract. He looked hard to replace, but even with Yoshida covering for him, the team looked OK. The transfer fee has been a considerable boost in allowing team strengthening and with Alderweireld and Gardos in the squad Lovren doesn't seem to be missed. He seems to be having a few problems at Liverpool, maybe the size of the fee is weighing him down, and it could be that he would be doing better if he had stayed here but it doesn't look like we are missing him. Shaw was a loss and however hard Bertrand tries, he probably won't quite reach Shaw's level, but Luke is now on the receiving end of a few negative stories in the media. There's no doubt that big transfer fees do put players under a spotlight that might not be all that welcome unless everything is going well. This is an entertaining thread but I have a feeling that interest in the defectors will fade sooner than I'd expected because without them, Koeman and Les Reed have assembled a quality squad and a good looking team.

Although some people saw the Chambers sale as the last straw in the squad dismantling, in many ways he was the player to cash in on. He doesn't feel like the loss that Walcott, Bale and Chamberlain were when they were sold simply because its not often a club can get the kind of transfer fee that he earned without any real effect on the starting 11. Although he is getting game time, and Hodgson has used him for England, I still don't see him as a great loss, whereas the money has made a far more important contribution to the team strengthening.

An indication of how player values may change which is one of the risks always involved in player transfers. Osvaldo looked worth the fee when Saints' bought him, given his international status with the Italy national side but few people felt he was a success here even before the Fonte incident. Doubt if many people would want to swop him with Pelle, who has cost roughly half the price. If Osvaldo is now playing well, the pendulum of his transfer value could be swinging, although not sure if Southampton can benefit as I believe the purchase price to Inter (should they want to keep him) was already included as an option in the loan agreement. But if his form guarantees he leaves permanently, its probably a deal best done and the whole episode put behind us.

It could be that the known stadium capacity deters some potential customers from attending. Someone considering a casual attendance may find that the unfilled seats are isolated singles scattered around even though they may add up to a lot of seats. There can be several singles in the same row, despite the attempt of the ticketing system to fill seats in a logical order. Many people do not want to go to a game and not be with the person or people they came with. An expansion may well create a greater demand but it is a risk and may be difficult to assess in advance to make a case for the substantial spend involved. When Brighton were at Withdean they had a capacity of about 7,000 - 9,000, but at the Amex they have something like 25,000 capacity and it is nearly full every time. It would be hard for the club to measure any untapped resource of Saints' fans who would go to more games if the stadium was larger but wasn't it something like 44,000 Saints fans who went to Wembley for the JPT final.

Chambers didn't have much to do on his first away trip for a CL game. Unused sub for Arsenal's 2-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund last night, but worse still he lost out on a place in the back four to teenager Hector Bellerin who was making his first start, his only previous appearance being an extra time sub in a Capital One Cup game last season. Still, Callum can console himself with the thought that had he stayed at St Mary's he wouldn't have got a start ahead of Clyne anyway.

Alan Pardew, Manager of the season just two years ago, is now the Newcastle fans scapegoat for their team not doing well. For people to then go on a character assassination exercise is about as despicable as you can get. This thread has no place on the Saints' forum.