VectisSaint

Think it might be better to come 2nd (or even 3rd) rather than win the title. That way we can sneak up on the Champs League teams who won't realise that we have qualified or are any good. It was not considred important to win titles when we were in League One and Championship according to some on here thought it was of no consequence actually winning the divisional title. I assume this still applies in our quest to finish runners-up in the Champions League. My view is that we should have been trying to win the treble this year, but seems like the club is unambitious and only cares about the double.

Very good all-round performance, especially the first half. We were far better than against Fulham, partly because Hull were much better than Fulham (except in front of goal) and caused us more problems which we dealt with admirably. They tried to play us at our own game by pressing high up the pitch, but as soon as we scored they had to change to Plan B which gave us more opportunities. It was pleasing to see us try to extend our lead in the second half rather than sit back like we did against Fulham, when we did our best to let them back in the game. Wanyama was awful yesterday, at least 3 bad give away passes (and a 4th that he was lucky he won a free-kick) and that was before the howler that gave Hull a confidence boosting goal (to be fair Boruc was partly to blame). That was really the only down side of an outstanding performance, and we should have scored more. It would have been nice to see JRod score but his contribution nevertheless was top notch. Thought Ossie was going to get a goal as well, but Steve Davis was first in line and took his goal beautifully. Ossie looked very good when he came on, his movement and skill is top class. Adam deservedly man of the match, his performances this season have been brilliant, such a shame that the injury last season knocked him back so much after he had made a good start. At times yesterday I was reminded of past times with Channon, Ball, Williams, Keegan etc, some our play was awesome. Only other down side yesterday was the seeming communications problems in defence on a couple of occasions, when clearly Boruc called for players to leave balls, but was ignored and this cost us unnecessary corners. Thought JRod was excellent in defence by the way, his towering headed clearance was worthy of the best CBs. Once again though Fonte was the better of our CBs. Lovren s getting all of the praise this season for what he has brought to the team, but he has made Fonte look outstanding, what a pairing they now look. Was concerned before HT that Fonte was hobbling, and then Jos came out late for the subs HT warm-up, but hopefully with 2 weeks, it was only a slight niggle and should be 100% before Arsenal. Was Gaston dropped or was he unavailable? I cannot see whether he is in the Uruguay squad for their WC play off on Wednesday. MOTD mentioned several times that Suarez had been given dispensation to play for Liverpool even though technically he could have been prevented from doing so due to FIFA rules. Must admit I am coming round to the view that Gaston will be moved on sooner rather than later, maybe we are lining up a swap deal in January (for Banega?). Shame because I still think he will come good eventually, but his style does not fit with ours, c'est la vie.

He can clearly be seen in the video of training when Saints' England players were announced. Pictures 14, 17 and 38 in the training gallery.

Oh well, at least its 10 points in the Prediction League, every cloud and all that. Rubbish result. League Cup glory and pathway to the CL after winning Europa League next season. Long time since 1979.

To be accurate Gaston went off and they scored. But I don't actually think the two events were connected. Bit like Lee going off before they scored their first.

2 chances for Chung in the first 10 minutes, one pulled wide, one over the bar, second one made by Gaston. "Lee is causing some early concern in the Black Cats defence as he picks up the ball following a weaving run from Ramirez" Looks like we are letting them have some chances though, they seem to have got into the game more after our good opening.

From next season the winners of the Europa League will qualify for the Champions League the following season, so winning the COC this season could be a way (however unlikely) of achieving that aim.

I think he is clearly more talented than Mr Ripley.

His assessment for this season is probably fair. But its a bit odd to say last season this would have been a home banker, when the result was 3-3. So it looks like he may be better at predicting the future than checking on the past. Note in the Hull summary the following "they (Hull) are arguably the most organised team in the Premier League apart from Southampton". Merson seems to be almost a saints fan these days, for an ex-Skate that must be difficult. Wonder if anyone has ever compared merson's predictions with the slug-balancer, to see who is actually best.

Roma are incredible, still only 1 goal conceded with 15 minutes to go in their 10th game of the season (admittedly against bottom club Chievo)

Signs of senility I'm afraid, I knew I'd put the wrong name as soon as I posted it, but last post of the day and no edit facility meant my cringeworthy error was there for all to see :-) Of course I meant Maya Yoshida. I would not be happy seeing Bambi on Ice playing alongside Jos at CB, I'd almost forgotten that Mayuka was still our player.

Where have you been "hounded" for your opinion that Lovren would be the greatest loss? The only replies to your post are that we could not get an emergency loan for a keeper, which is a fact, due to the FA rules. Having had that fact pointed out do you still think Lovren would be the greatest loss? Maybe you do, some others agree with you. Personally I don't think Lovren would be the greatest loss, but that's just my opinion and I'm certainly not hounding you for disagreeing. IMHO Boruc would be the greatest loss. We have adequate backup for Lovren, the partnership of Fonte and Mayuka was quite acceptable last season, but that doesn't mean Lovren is no better than Mayuka, just that we have a reasonably good replacement. For Boruc we have Kelvin, and back to flapping at corners and crosses. I have lots of respect for KD for what he did for us and his loyalty but he is so far behind Boruc. Likewise with Luke Shaw, we have seen on more than one occasion that a combination of Clyne and Chambers is a decent backup plan, without having to use the diabolical Fox.

He even scored a goal for them, which is more than he has ever done for us. Of course both Steve and Kelvin Davis have also played for other teams in the PL, but neither played a part yesterday, although I'm sure Steve would have started if he had not picked up an injury in training.

Why? MP has demonstrated clearly that he will change a team to fit the circumstances. Stoke away are a very different proposition to Fulham at home. I would not be surprised to see Davis back in ahead of JWP although it would be harsh on the lad, may also be in place of J-Rod. Probably not much else changed though.

Great idea, the only stand that contains away supporters and you propose to call it ALL SAINTS Memorial. Move the away supporters and it might make sense.

Decent second half, game turned in the first half when their CB went off injured. Diabolical defending by both teams for the last 2 goals. Probably fair result, but Doddsy will be disappointed not to have won.

Deliberate policy by MP though to play kids in older age group, did the same at Espanyol, helps to bring them on more quickly by giving them tougher competition. Does mean we look a bit out of our depth at times, but in the long run it is a good thing. That said, I don't see too many players today who look that much younger or smaller than their Liverpool counterparts. Sad to see how many foreign players Liverpool are playin at u18 level, even though the Hungarian lad had to go off. They are talking about getting another one's international clearance. Think your "game over" remark may be a bit early (after 14 minutes), we seem to have come back into the game since the CB was injured.

coc?

Strange that 4 of the teams above us are in the defensive "avoiding the issue" quadrant, while 3 of the same 4 are in the Constant threat attacking quadrant. If we are to get to be Top 4 we need to work to get into those quadrants rather than where we are, at least if you believe the stats. Still, from the attacking viewpoint we would only need to average one more shot per game and one more goal scored per shot and we would move into the best quadrant, so we are not too far off despite the perception that we are not as potent up front as we would like.

This would be the same Osvaldo who was glad to be out of Italy because of the attitude of the supporters, how they don't leave players alone and their general lack of respect. I doubt very much that Dani is looking for a move back to Italy, seems like a poorly researched made up story by one of this country's trashy so-called newspapers. Its not like he needs to be in Italy to play for the Azzurri, he has been in the team and scored since he joined Saints. I will file this article along with some of the other trash in the circular file.

Hawkeye was first used at Stamford Bridge, Chelski v Hull on August 18th (Ivanovic header off the line)

Well you would have been better listening to the so-called experts. The boy Lineacre wanted to focus on Manure, but Shearer wouldn't let him and focused on us using footage that was not included in the highlights. Highlights were a joke, but what's new? Sky Match Choice highlights were better (of course they have longer) but missed the Clyne shot and the Schneiderlin run, and also most of our bookings (I think they showed only Vic's). The woman that presents Sky Match Choice is truly appalling, and Butch Wilkins is really not much better, but at least the highlights themselves put MOTD to shame.

3 chances for RvP

Doubt he will play today, given he wasn't involved last match. Does not seem to fit in with MP's plans at the moment and we have better options with Steven Davis at the moment. Still don't know why people need to be so rude about the bloke though, I'm sure he didn't amble back from international duty, as the OP states, due to time zones he is bound to get back later than players on duty in Europe. He is still one of the very few truly creative players we have but I see him being involved less and less and departing next summer.

Miller or Donohue, the origins of football in Brazil began with a departure from Southampton. Southampton truly is the source of football in Brazil. "In May 1894, he [Donohue] set sail from Southampton to Rio, leaving behind his wife and two young sons." It is worth bearing in mind that were it not for Miller or Donohue we would not be blessed with the legend that is Guly.