Professor

Hoddle was so good at bringing talented players into the England squad. So good that Matt Le Tiss couldn't get a place in 98, even after his hat trick against Russia

The Dell lost a lot of its charm when the all-seater regulations came in and capacity dropped to 15,000. Before that, being crushed into one of the Chocolate Boxes at the Archers Road end was definitely an experience. I remember being in there for an FA cup game against Arsenal, around the time we signed Charlie George and I'm convinced people in the boxes had to take turns at breathing. You certainly got to be on good terms with the people crushed against you. When Saints scored and we all put our arms in the air to cheer, you couldn't put them down again. In the 15000 capacity days a new stand at the Archers Road end replaced the old boxes while the club began the search for a site for the new ground. Rupert Lowe said at the time that a new stadium was essential to Premier League survival but ironically, the cost of the stadium meant the club might not be able to afford relegation. Much as many people justifiably dislike Redknapp he did make a real effort to keep the club up in the relegation season and in the end, one more goal scored to turn any home draw into a win would have done it. But despite the pain that followed the move from The Dell, it has certainly panned out very well, if unexpected.

Regretfully, I can't see Osvaldo starting against Arsenal unless Rickie is injured. Its not a game to play two strikers and I think Poch will want to stick with a successful team unless changes are forced on him. Much as I like Osvaldo, Rickie is just too good to drop. As well as his header to set up Schneiderlin's goal against Hull, he set up Lallana for the run that led to the penalty and made a brilliant flick in the one-two that almost gave Lallana second goal. Far more than just a striker. He'll be a considerable worry for Arsenal.

We did better against Man U at Old Trafford than Arsenal did so therefore we should beat Arsenal. This is the clear logic that my father used when he did the Football Pools for 50 years and failed to win his fortune. But Dad, this time I think logic will prevail!

Just been counting chickens that might hatch over the next couple of weeks and if we get a win and a draw from these next two away games, the title cannot be discounted. Its true that our squad depth is shallow if we get injuries or suspensions in the New Year but there is a solution to that. That solution is to open the cheque book in January in anticipation of he massive increase in income that can be earned from CL football. If we do get 4 points from those two games, I feel certain that Cortese will be seriously examining potential targets.

Everton win or draw with Liverpool, Saints win at the Arse 2-0. That'll do nicely.

Apart from the Archers Road end with the concrete boxes, I thought the ground looked adequate for Division One and later The Prem as the two matching 2-tier stands were better than a lot of other clubs but it was before grounds were redeveloped for all-seating. Prior to all=seating at The Dell, which reduced capacity to just over 15,000 I had been in the ground as part of a 30,000 crowd. But it wasn't only the ground that was small, it was the pitch as well with the edges of the penalty area quite close to the side touchlines. Always seemed to me that Saints were good at playing a close passing game because the pitch was so small they had to.

Since Reed, Gallagher and Isgrove were all in the squad for the League Cup game at Sunderland hasn't the question already been answered? As with Chambers, the problem for them all is that there are established first team players ahead of them in the first choice 11 but as the season goes on and injury or suspension creates gaps, chances will come.

Not disappointed in the result but it has shown that our second string isn't as good as we might have expected.

Don't give up the day job, Joe. Football management might not be for you.......

Surprised at the pessimism from some. Saints are a better team than Stoke so it follows that Saints should win. The way we play also seems to negate home advantage. As always in football, there is an element of luck, one side can have one chance and score whilst another can make a dozen chances and have them all close misses or saves, but unless we are very unlucky, I see us winning this game.

If Zaha is not good enough for Man U, he's not good enough for Southampton but on principle loans are not good from clubs you are competing against as you can't use the player when you play the loaning club. That looks like giving an unfair advantage that should be avoided.

All this criticism of Lawrenson (I refuse to use the disrespectful and infantile shortened version that his school-friends still apply to him) fails to recognise a published FACT. He is the BBC's FOOTBALL EXPERT. That means he must know more than even the crisps salesman. Given his expert status, it would be unwise to disregard his prediction prior to the Fulham game, that Saints will not only drop out of the top six but will finish in the bottom half of the table. To underline his confidence in his football knowledge, it would be good to hear that Mr Lawrenson had offered to walk from the BBC HQ (in Salford) to the SMS if Saints do somehow contrive to finish in the top half of the table so that he could apologise for his string of incompetent predictions. Even better if he did that and Southampton FC refused to let him in. But unfortunately, because he is THE BBC's FOOTBALL EXPERT he must be right and Saints' fans must steel themselves for a string of bad results. Just as an afterthought - in case the BBC send him to St Marys' at some point to sit next to commentator at a Saints' match, could the Song-Writers of the Northam come up with some encouraging words of welcome?

Out of respect for the Stoke City fans, Jack Cork should not be in the starting line up this week and Saints will have to make do with Wanyama in the holding midfield role. Maybe it will give Stoke an advantage, but sometimes you just have to make sacrifices. Interesting to see how different the Saints team will be this week compared to last January when there was no Boruk, Clyne, Lovren, Wanyama, Lallana, Osvaldo, JWP or Davis.

At 18, JWP is playing for a top 6 Prem team. QED.

Few goals scored could be due to the 10 outfield players consisting of 6 defenders, leaving only 4 to get the goals in open play. Has paid dividends in getting us into the top 6 but leaving us short on chances in the opponents area. Two top quality strikers but few strikes between them because possession and pressure too often breaks down before we get in range of goal. The two available spots in midfield are crucial, of which one rightly goes to Lallana, leaving one place for Davis/JWP/Rodriguez/Ramires. MP has tried dropping Rickie to have Rodriguez on but its so hard to leave out Davis or JWP that Ramires isn't getting used at all. Fact is, whatever midfield combination is used we are staying strong in defence but not scoring enough goals. Maybe the Fulham game is the one to give Ramires his chance in the Davis/JWP slot to see if a moment of flair can make the difference. Even Fulham have managed to score 4 goals in a game. We should be able to do the same to show we are worthy of being a top 6 side.

His lack of time on the pitch suggests he is an under-used asset and that perhaps a speedy wide player would add more to Pochettino's options but if we get a couple of injuries in mid-season, Gaston is genuine quality available to step in. Unless they get a remarkably high offer and have a player in mind to fill his spot in the squad, can't see the club letting him go.

If Spurs or United want a Left Back for £25m we should agree the price and reluctantly let Danny Fox go.

I agree with Window Cleaner that if we win, the story for the papers will still be focused on United. Can just picture: "Pressure Grows on Moyes as United fall to win against Southampton." Expect very little credit if we win whilst if lose I can see it being portrayed as United putting their poor start behind them. Wouldn't disagree with Saint Tony's comment about our squad not being at the level of the Big 6 but if that is true over the squad as a whole, I'm not sure it's true over our preferred starting 11. Having some weaker second string players only matters if you have to put them on the pitch for too long, which as Saint Troy said, depends on whether we get injuries in certain positions. That could affect us later in the season but it shouldn't be a problem at Old Trafford unless anyone comes back injured from the international break.

If you were doing the Football Pools (remember them) as my Dad used to, then based on League position he'd put this down for a draw. Problem with predicting draws is that a bit of luck for one team or the other and one goal scored or a chance missed can turn a draw into a home or away win. My Dad never made his fortune on the Pools anyway, so what did he know. It's hard for Saints' fans to predict a win at OT because you pinch yourself and assume that something that good just can't happen, even though it is what happened at Anfield. Fact is we go into this game with a good record earned over 2 months of Prem football, good players, a team containing a lot of international players and players who are confident. The tools are in place to win this, we just need the luck not to go against us. To people worried about strength in depth, it doesn't matter how good United's reserves are, they can only play 11 players plus subs and we have a good enough squad that our subs are a match for theirs.

Having already beaten Liverpool at Anfield there is no logical reason for Saint's fans to worry about playing Man U at OT. The two-week rest should be of more help to us than it is to them and would anyone argue as to which Manager is more likely to send out the better prepared team? 2-0 to the Saints.

With Boruk and Lovren I now feel as good about the defence as I did in the days of Neimi and Killer and that's no disrespect to Fonte and the FBs..

Was pleased to see that Danny Fox got some deserved credit in the press today. The abusers really need to think about what they are doing, if thinking is within their mental capacity. Up against an exceptionally speedy winger in Dyer, widely described by the media as Swansea's best player, Fox came into the game with few games behind him so not surprisingly it took time for him to settle, but he did better as the game went on and deserves his share of the praise for a back four and GK keeping another clean sheet. A squad player such as Danny Fox needs encouragement from the crowd, not sarcasm and those responsible for the latter should ask whether they really care about SFC.

Fox did very well especially up against Dyer who was a real handful. The crowd could have done more to help him instead of sarcastic cheers when he broke up an attack. Crowd attitude can affect a player's confidence and its time people got off his back.

It's far too early to get carried away but only 2 teams have more points than us after 7 games so anything is possible but the only thing that can be predicted with certainty is that we will not finish with less than 14 points! If you do project that average of 2 points per game so far, then 76 points would not have won the title last year but it would have been a Champions' League spot. A couple of thoughts: 1. That even the so-called big clubs have bad results. Even if we were to maintain a high ratio of wins to draws and defeats, it also depends on how well the others around us do and whether some of them go on having bad days - like Spurs today, and it sounds like Arsenal were lucky to get draw at a ground where we got 3 points. On the other hand, Chelsea and Man City are looking very strong. 2.Mention has been made of other clubs having more strength in depth. It's true that might make a difference when suspensions and injuries come along as the season progresses but those other clubs also have more games to play than us, because of European competition. I will make a prediction. If we win at OT, the betting odds on Saints winning the title will shorten dramatically. I still wouldn't put my own money on it though.