RinNY

Those three -- Osvaldo, Sinclair, and Kouyate -- would be fantastic. With them on board, a top 8 finish would be there for the taking, I reckon. Perhaps, though, Flamini might be worth a look still? On a free (free agent), very experienced at the highest level, can play defensive midfield, full back (did a great job as fb for Arsenal one season), or at a pinch even on the wing. The kind of versatile, seasoned veteran a good tram can always use. Don't know about anyone else, but I'm still a bit concerned about the fb position, and an experienced player who could cover both at need makes sense.

That was when he was imagining he might be able to move to mAn City or Napoli and play in the Champion's League. Now that he's been made aware of what his true levl currently is (i.e. Fulham) he may be more amenable to a move to lil ol' Saints, the mighty Man City of the south coast.

Jeez, isn't there any way to delete a post???

I'm not sure why people are so concerned about CBs: the Schalke game is not a fair measure, as they were a couple of weeks ahead of us in preparation, and we were still lacking Yoshida, who'll probably be a first choice CB. Last season both Fonte and Hooiveld did quite well, once they had adapted to the Prem, and I'd say they're about as good a backup pair as you'll find in the Prem (outside the top 3 or 4). Let's not forget, for example, that Arsenal managed to stay in the top 4 for years with Squillaci and Djourou as their back up CBs. Seems to me that, other than a striker, which we urgently need (can't expect Lambert to carry the load again), we need another fullback most urgently. Hope there's truth in the Kyle Naughton u.

I'm not sure why people are so concerned about CBs: the Schalke game is not a fair measure, as they were a couple of weeks ahead of us in preparation, and we were still lacking Yoshida, who'll probably be a first choice CB. Last season both Fonte and Hooiveld did quite well, once they had adapted to the Prem, and I'd say they're about as good a backup pair as you'll find in the Prem (outside the top 3 or 4). Let's not forget, for example, that Arsenal managed to stay in the top 4 for years with Squillaci and Djourou as their back up CBs. Seems to me that, other than a striker, which we urgently need (can't expect Lambert to carry the load again), we need another fullback most urgently. Hope there's truth in the Kyle Naughton u.

That really is appalling rubbish, isn't it? JRod's studs were never anywhere near Federici's face: he was holding his face after the collision because he took an elbow from the Reading defender running in, nothing to do with JRod. Basically, the attacker has just as much right to go for that ball as does the goalie. If anything, since JRod got to the ball first and knocked it past the goalie, it might have been a foul on Federici for taking JRod out after the ball was past him, if it hadn't gone into the goal that is. As for the studs up thing: JRod never had his foot much higher than knee level (which is hardly high), and if the studs were showing, that's inevitable when you raise your foot. As the pic posted above shows, his foot was back down, having made contact with the ball, before Federici got to him; his foot never made contact with Federici at all, and the three way collision -- between JRod, Federici, and a Reading defender -- was just the inevitable result of players going for the ball. Once JRod got to it first and put it through the goalie's legs, there was never any question of a foul. Sheer nonsense from those who argue that there was: if goalies cannot be bumped into at all without a foul being given, then half the goals scored in football would get chalked off!

Coming back to this next day, I must say a couple of things stand out to me in retrospect. Beyond anything else, our sheer composure during the last 15 minutes (10 of normal, plus the 5 of extra) was amazing. The way we passed the ball around coolly and calmly for minutes at a time, not even letting City players get a touch! That's the sort of thing teams like ManU, Arsenal, Chelsea, or City themselves do to you when in the lead: when have we seen Saints do that? We never l ooked like giving up our lead late on, as we have too often this season: a real tribute to the work Pochettino is doing with the team. The Barry own goal: not as incomprehensible as it looked at first. We had them under pressure, Lambert put across a nice teasing ball, and Barry had to have been aware that a Saints player (Davis?) was just a few yards behind him, running in to take that pass, so he had to deal with it, couldn't just let it go. Yes, he got it horribly wrong, neither putting it into touch nor passing back to Hart, but splitting the difference to score -- but the point is, he was under pressure, and putting players under pressure causes mistakes. I'm a big fan of Adkins, I hope and expect that he'll be with another good club soon, and will get another chance to prove himself in the Prem. That said, it now seems clear that he just didn't get the team ready to play in the Premier League. Yes, he was getting things right when he was let go; but just to see the difference between the way the same players and team are doing now, to how we did against Wigan at home (to name one of our most disappointing early performances), illustrates that Adkins really had not got the team properly organized and ready for Prem League football. The penalty shout at the end of 1st half: it was an absolute, stonewall penalty. Toure was beaten, and barged into Rodriguez from behind, knocking him over. How that wasn't given I just don't understand. Seen it half a dozen times now, and there is just no question about it. Rodriguez, by the way, is coming along so well, growing game by game before our eyes. The future is bright!

Cork plays what has, I think, been England's weakest position: defensive/holding midfielder. Parker is excellent, but getting on for a footballer age-wise, and Barry has always been more efficient than outstanding for me, & is also getting older. I can see Cork getting in there, alongside Wilshere, as the heart of a new look England midfield, yes, with Gerrard & Lampard playing more limited roles as they are gradually eased out.

What a great game! Can't think of a bad performance by any of our players: they were all very good to excellent, even guys like Fox & Hooiveld who looked so out of their depth at the start of the season. MoM for me was Lambert: he is so crucial to the whole way we play, and put in an immense performance today. Pity he didn't get on the score sheet. If he were five years younger than he is, he'd be in the England squad for sure, I reckon. At 30, it may just be too late for him, because Hodgson is clearly (& rightly) building with two years from now in mind. Cork could be MoM too: a wonderful job from him in central mid, just controlling the game, along with Schneiderlin, who also deserves mention. Rodriguez and Puncheon looking terrific. The future just looks so bright! Nice little cameo from J-W-P at the end too: looked assured and capable. Lallana excellent in his 20 minutes. All around, just a wonderful performance. Like most people, I was shocked when Adkins was fired, and felt it was unfair on him, and a risky move. Unlike many, though, I was willing to give Cortese the benefit of the doubt, because all his decisions have worked out well so far. Well, it's still early days, but I must say that so far Pochetino has raised the team's play another notch, with exactly the same players; and so far it's looking as if Cortese knew what he was doing all right! We can only be sure at season's end, but I'm so optimistic after that performance, Great days to be a Saints fan!

Whatever Cortese may be, he is not a coward. Persuading Liebherr to buy Saints, and agreeing to take charge himself when it happened, took guts. Sacking Pardew when he did, took guts; hiring Adkins (pretty much unknown at the time), and backing him the way he did, took guts. And whatever you think of firing Adkins, however much one may disagree (I think it was unnecessary myself), it was a decision that took guts! Cortese, like most successful businessmen, is ruthless and has a huge ego. A coward he is not. Get a grip, man!

I'm not one to get into fights here, but I have to say that this is really stupid! I mean, come on! Rupert Lowe had faults, certainly, but just ruined the club??? He facilitated the creation of St. Mary's stadium, and played a big role in developing our outstanding academy. He did not "just ruin" the club, even though he had a role in two relegations: there was good to his rule as well as bad. As for Cortese, where were we just before he took over? In League 1, with a 10 point deduction to start the season looming, and on the verge of bankruptcy. And under Cortese we won the club's first trophy in years, won two successive promotions, now sit 15th in the Prem, and are signing players we could only dream of in the past. A bit of perspective, eh? Yes, the firing of Adkins was a shock, and an unpleasant shock at that. Yes, it seems unfair, and it's hard top see sense in it. But Cortese has brought this club success we could only dream of a few years ago, He may be a ruthless so-and-so (many successful businessmen are), but he seems to know what he's doing, and so far has been a bloody good thing for the Saints!

I'm frankly stunned that this has happened: didn't see it coming at all (lots of rumours, of course, but they are usually crap), and I must say it seems really unfair to Adkins, who is a great guy and an excellent manager, doing a terrific job. I wish Adkins all the best for the future: he'll always be a big part of Saints' history, and I'd expect him to be a success elsewhere. That said, Cortese during his time in charge has gotten most things right, and seems to know what he's doing. I didn't like the Pardew appointment, but Pardew did a great job for us. I was stunned by the Pardew sacking, but Adkins came in and got us promoted twice. If Cortese thinks this is the right time to make a change, and Pocchetino is the right man to take us forward, I think he's earned the right to be given the benefit of the doubt. When you look at where we were when Cortese took control, and where we are now: his record of success speaks for itself. Let's all back Pocchetino. No booing, no Chelsea like disruption. The club is bigger than any one man, however much we may be dismayed at Adkins; dismissal: all behind Pocchetino now, I'd say.

Tactically, and given what he had on the bench, Adkins' substitutions made sense: the last thing you want to do against ManU with a 2-1 lead is sit back and try to soak up their pressure: they will pick you apart. Clearly Rodriguez and Guly were supposed to help provide some attacking strength in the middle of the field, help us press forward and keep the pressure off the defence. Unfortunately, neither of them managed to contribute anything! So blame them for not doing their job, rather than Adkins for trying the right approach. If we'd had Yoshida to bring on to spell Fonte for the last 15 minutes; or Cork to help out in a tiring midfield, fine: but neither was available. Personally, I might have tried Lee with his pace rather than Guly, but I don't fault Adkins for going with the more experienced player. We were definitely much worse as a team, though, when Lallana and Puncheon and Lambert came off: depth was the issue, with a very weak bench today. Bring on Ramirez, and Yoshida, and bring back Cork: then we'll look a lot stronger all round. On the whole, today was a promising game: just such a pity about those last few minutes ...

Fonte played well: made some crucial tackles, and his positional play was generally very good. The two late goals were down to players getting tired; this is what ManU do to team after team after team. Blaming Fonte for the fact that ManU have a knack of getting late goals is silly. The pity is that, with Fonte in particular so clearly tiring, we had no CB to bring on as substitute for the last 15 minutes ... except Seabourne who is clearly not trusted. But on the whole, Fonte played well. The team as a whole should have played further up the field in the last 10 minutes, instead of sitting back and inviting ManU's pressure. Guly and Rodriguez did nothing after coming on, and allowed ManU to dominate the midfield and press us back. When we can get Ramirez and Cork playing, that should provide us with more midfield depth and better bench strength too. But today, we played very well against ManU; for most of the game Fonte and Fox helped to contyrol and neutralize some very damn good ManU attacking players, along with the Excellent Clyne and Hooiveld and Schneiderlin. And while Davis was twice at fault with very weak passes out of the bacvk, neither actually led to a goal, and I trust he'll learn not to do that.

You may be in website design, or know people who are (sorry, can't be bothered to look through this whole thread), but either way a website is not about designers but users. Whatever clever, impressive, fancy work has gone into creating this new website, as a user the result is a fricking disaster! I've tried looking at stuff on the new OS, and it's just incredibly frustrating, the look (all that black? what's that?) is a turn off, the design is not user friendly at all in terms of finding one's way about the site. After three visits, each of which was more annoying and less helpful than the previous one, I for one will not be going back to the OS any time soon. So the web design -- whatever merits it may have from a purely "computer nerd" perspective -- is quite simply a massive failure! The previous OS worked fine, and I'm at a loss to know why it needed to be replaced with something so ugly, clunky, and user hostile.

Don't care what he does with the mustard, so long as he doesn't "cut the cheese". I'm thinking Adkins will decide whether he's good enough to play a role for us this season, and based on the pre-season so far, Adkins seems to rate him.

My impression has always been that it's the agent who's the problem: this Bursac guy in everything I've read him say comes across as a bit of a "tool". The deal was essentially all agreed untiul a "third party" intervened demanding payment. That sounds like an agent wanting a cut, surely? Vitesse don't want to give up part of the agreed transfer sum (ca. 4 million Euros, reportedly), and Saints don't want to pay extra over and above the agreed sum. And there it seems to rest: the agent isn't letting the deal happen unless one of the two clubs agrees to pay him. Just my guess based on all I've read ...

Mathieu Flamini (AC Milan) is now a free agent after failing to agree a new deal. For those who remember, he was a terrific central holding midfielder for Arsenal for several seasons, and also did an excellent job filling in a left back when needed. Never quite hit it off at Milan: had some injury issues, & couldn't displace Gattuso from the starting line-up (no shame in that!). He's still only 28, and I think he'd be a fantastic signing if we could get him: two out of him, Morgan, & Cork in CM would give us great options in that area.

Mathieu Flamini (AC Milan) is now a free agent after failing to agree a new deal. For those who remember, he was a terrific central holding midfielder for Arsenal for several seasons, and also did an excellent job filling in a left back when needed. Never quite hit it off at Milan: had some injury issues, & couldn't displace Gattuso from the starting line-up (no shame in that!). He's still only 28, and I think he'd be a fantastic signing if we could get him: two out of him, Moran, & Cork in CM would give us great options in that area.

I guess it depends whether he wants to spend much of his career sitting on the bench as a backup (ManU already have two top young keepers in DeGea and Lindegaard), or would like to be a starter. Given Davis' age, at Saints he'd be a starter before very long, if he's as good as advertised. Same goes for ManC's reported interest: does Butland want a career as Joe Hart's backup? I suspect not. The real alternative to us is more likely to be Spurs, who are also said to be interested: there he would have a real prospect of starting before too long.

On what do you base the notion that his wages would be massive?? They may have been for the past few years, but as of June 30th he is out of contract so his wages will be zero ... unless he can persuade another club to pay him something. What his wages on any new contract would be, will be decided by what sort of market there is for his services. Besides us, the only other club I've seen connected to him as yet is Stoke, and they'll hardly be offering him ManU or ManC type wages, you can be sure! The reality is, that Owen is going, one way or another, to be playing for much lower wages than he has been used to. Givenm that there will be no transfer fee, and the type of player he is, I'd think that teams like Stoke and Saints could make him, say, a 2 year offer at the high end of their respective wage ranges, and if he wants to play on for a while in the Prem (and he does!), then he'll look seriously at such offers. Would he be a fit for us? Well, at the very least he could fill the David Connolly role: experienced senior player of spotty fitness, but who can score some vital goals off the bench or in a spot starter role. Worth a punt, I'd say ...

West Ham deserve it, let's face it. The best three teams in the Championship, by a wide margin, have been promoted. That's as it should be, I'd say.

Does it have to be either/or? Maybe we could get both. Connolly's gone, and in my view we should let Barnard go too (along with Forte, Forecast, Dickson, and Seaborne: not good enough for the Prem, any of them). If we do let Barnard go, that'll be two strikers out and room for two in. And I'd say that Lambert, Sharp, Lee, Hooper, and Rodriguez would make a terrific 5 man strike force for next season (counting Guly as a midfielder, which is his best role).

That's easily refuted: we've scored 76 goals in CC play, 26 of them by Lambert; which means 50 by other players. 50 goals scored would already put us in the middle of the pack for goals scored; but if you assume that we had played another striker instead of Lambert and not quite as outstanding as Lambert, that striker -- let's call him A.N. Other -- would have scored some goals too. If we assume that as many as half of Lambert's goals are due to the "Lambert effect", and that A.N. Other would only have scored 13 therefore (which is being very generous I think to the "Lambert effect"), then we would have scored 63 goals: enough to put us 5th equal (with Reading!) in CC goal scoring. Not bad at all, and not the record of a one man team!

Exactly for what happened today: Ricky off injured, Billy Sharp scores the two goals to get us the win. You can't rely on one main striker all season long. That's plain enough, no?