the saint in winchester

On the OP's hypothesis, I'd take any and all of their front three - McManaman, Kone and Maloney .... Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew .... (showing my age now)

It's been in the papers today ... well, Daily Mail anyway ..... no alcohol, win or lose. Too much still to play for.

As others have said, it puts fire in their bellies and gives them self-belief. However, we need just 2 points from 2 games and we are safe. Concentrate on our own situation. As long as it isn't at our expense, happy for Wigan to survive. If I had the power, I'd have Stoke go down for their route one long and high ball rough and tough anti-football.

3-0 win for Wigan ... sadly.

I have never been comfortable with our points total, with the games we still had to play. Right now, Villa and Wigan are amassing the points, and we are left hoping Wigan drop points or one of the other teams (Sunderland, Norwich, to name 2) misfire from here on in. We need 5 points from 2 games, so in reality that is 6 - to win both - to stay up by our own actions. I'd be surprised if we win both, although not impossible, of course. We are relying on teams below us to drop points and for Saints to squeeze home. Squeaky bum time.

Yes, I'd have Ox back, I'd also have Walcott back. But can't see it happening. What wage must they be on now? We couldn't match it ... and we shouldn't. Let's have Wayne Bridge back too. Any chance Brighton can lend him to us for a game or two now they are safe in the playoffs?

Bale goes all over the pitch, right to left to centre, so I would choose one player to man mark him. Wherever Bale goes, our man goes with him. For me, our man is Nathaniel Clyne. He is the only one with the pace to stay with him. Match players to positions after that, but first name on the team sheet for me is Clyne.

Assuming Shaw is out... Boruc Richardson - Fonte - Yoshida - Clyne Cork - Schneiderlin Puncheon - S.Davis - Mayuka Rodriguez Subs: Davis, Forren, Lallana, JWP, Lambert, Hooiveld*, Targett * * or any defender from U21s with pace

we will lose the two away games, so really need at least 3 points from the two home games.

What's he on now? £100k? £200k? Would he come to us for £20k? I accept that if his contract is expiring, then he will have to take what he can get, but I am sure we would be outbid.

I'd prefer to see Stoke go down, but right now it looks like Wigan.

This from the Southampton FC Facebook page: Southampton FC News and Updates is posting about Southampton FC. [h=5]Like Page Southampton FC News and Updates [/h][h=5]Saints for Europe???! Saints are closing in on a potential Europa League spot. With just five games remaining in the season there is a very real chance that Mauricio Pochettino’s men could qualify for European competition via the Fair Play League. ... Saints currently sit fifth in the Premier League’s Fair Play table. But, significantly, three of the teams above them – Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United – look likely to qualify for Europe via the league, meaning they would not use any potential Fair Play spot. The only other side above Saints is Liverpool. In a major boost to Saints’ chances, Reds boss Brendan Rodgers has indicated his side would almost certainly turn down the Fair Play place if offered it. [/h]

It's a fact of life now that club teams in this country are multi-national. Look at your Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City squads to confirm. As David correctly points out, few managers are English too so their priority is their club side. There is no incentive to provide the next generation of England's elite, nor to rest any current internationals for an upcoming international fixture. Diversity and relaxation of quotas of overseas players has resulted in this. I'm not saying I believe either is right or wrong. It's just a consequence. Of course, as Saints fans, we would recommend Clyne, Shaw, Cork, Lallana, Puncheon, J-Rod and Lambert to Mr Woy as players he should be seriously considering for his upcoming England squads. Stop watching the Manchester and London clubs, Roy, get down to St Mary's. The future is bright, the future is predominantly red with a splash of white.

I started the season dreaming of "mid table obscurity" so if we achieve that I shall be ecstatic. Bring it on.

21:32 Confirmed : Warnock walks. Taxi for Adkins? One way from Otterbourne to Leeds?

Confidence to the point of arrogance - some of the posts on this thread. This will be a tough game. They will have targeted this game as a winnable one and were saving themselves for this one. Would love to see us win, but they have beaten us before. I'm nervous. Would be overjoyed at any winning score line.

According to one of our contributors .... Ex landlord of the Chamberlain Pub in Sholing. I can neither confirm nor deny this. But maybe phone or visit there to take it further. Wow, this is like Who Do You Think You Are.

£7M is not to be sneezed at, and if they can throw in Ivanovic too ....

Maybe we can send them Guly and bring back Sharp.

Lee Molyneux scores 3 in 30 minutes! Get him in.

Heck, I hadn't considered that .... but he wouldn't have to move house or for his kids to change school. It's a possible ... but I think he will maintain his gardening leave until he has agreed compensation, probably over the summer, and then take up a new role for next season.

Not sure why MP was so concerned after the game about the penalty given and saved. Yes, wrong decision, but Boruc saved it. Move on. The shirt tag by Shaw on Holt in first half went unpunished, so one given wrongly, another NOT given wrongly. I counted 2 where we should have scored and a further 3 where we could have scored. The big issue is that we are not converting our chances. Until we are, we are in trouble. Start converting them and we will be winning games. A much better performance than last week vs QPR, to be positive. And yes, whoever above commented on MP's odd substitutions, I agree with you. We should be increasing out attacking threat at 0-0, not withdrawing them to crowd out the midfield.

John McGrath would NOT have run back to the goal line, make no mistake. On the OP's hypothesis, yes, I believe we are. He would have been perfect in our 4-2-3-1 setup on the left of the 3. I hope he comes back and proves me right.

Boruc Richardson Fonte Yoshida Shaw Cork Schneiderlin Chaplow Davis j_rod Mayuka Subs: K Davis, Clyne, Forren, Ramirez, Puncheon, Lambert, Lallana

We need to make major changes for the next game. I'd retain Boruc, Fonte Morgan and Rodrigues, that's all. The rest can be rested and have to earn their places again.