The Kraken

JRod has got some serious scoring to be done if he wants to get on the plane; that was an opportunity to get a tiny chance and he didn't take it. Roy has already said that there will be no more surprises in the squad, and JRod would be an enormous surprise. Not out of the question but I wouldn't think he had the slightest chance. Same reason why Luke Shaw has no chance. Kieran Gibbs is the de facto third choice LB. JRod's goal scoring form for us since the England game has, hats off, been brilliant.

I'm sure he'll be devastated...

It's Saints FFS. Anything can happen. #tranmere

On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say it is very important.

Yep, the negative energy on here could have a disastrous effect on the team's performance today FFS.

There's also a case to be made for ditching stability when your goalkeeper has conceded 10 goals in his last 4 and a bit games. Not that Kelvin is much of an alternative option IMO. We really have been exposes with Boruc's absence.

Southampton FC ‏@SouthamptonFC4m Kelvin Davis returns to the #SaintsFC bench after injury, replacing @codycropper.

For a side that won the league by double digits last year, its absolutely atrocious.

Fletcher is in midfield. Valencia just went to right back.

Stuart Pearce used to get a rough deal at the Dell. Pearce took out one of ours with a "robust" tackle and Neil Ruddock got him back with a tackle that must have come in with one of Ruddock's legs at chest height; disgusting foul. Blatant red these days but Razor just got a ticking off and a yellow.

Predictable. But United's back 4 of Rafael, Evans, Smalling, Evra is shamefully poor.

United currently 2-1 down to Hull (having been 2-0 down after 13 minutes). I think United need a bit more than Adam Lallana to sort themselves out. David M:lol:yes. (I still think they've finish this season in 3rd or 4th though )

From these comments. "Looks more of an Arsenal type player to me, he'd be better than either of our wingers at the moment.. but he is more of a free role player." and "I don't think he has the step up to go beyond Arteta-like levels. Good player at good club." Another compares him (favourably) to Nasri. There's far more positive comments on there than negative ones about Lallana (and SFC, to be fair) but I'd agree with most of them in that for the money he'd cost them, he's not a signing they need right now.

Just had a read of that and most are quite complimentary. I don't really see very many incendiary posts throughout that. And I think this fella has it right: "He's decent. So was Young. So was Fellaini. I'm sick of buying decent. Our first team needs elite quality that is up there with the best players in the world, not Adam Lallana." Fair enough point IMO. There's one thing fitting in to United's team; there's another thing going in and taking it up a level as Ozil did with Arsenal. Could Lallana play for a top 4 side? Yes, I believe he could. Is he the signing that United need right now. No, I really don't think he is. And as "believe he would be better off staying put", others suggest he would be a better fit for Arsenal or Spurs. Again, a valid point IMO.

Its not clear cut, no. But the opportunities you get from going to a big club are enormous, even if you don't make it as a first choice player. I think I'm right in saying that Adam Johnson spoke out against City and gave it an "if I had my chance again I wouldn't have signed for them" statement. Pretty sure I read it at the time, I didn't go along with it then, I don't go along with it now. What the move did for Johnson was immediately propel him into the England reckoning (he was called up a month after signing), and a showcase at one of the best clubs in Europe. As it turned out, he wasn't quite good enough for such a high ranking side, the launch from mid-table Championship to challenging for the Premier League title was too much. But it set him up financially for life and, despite being mainly on the bench in his times before leaving, was still very much in demand from other PL clubs. That is much less of a risk that it could have been signing for, say West Brom, hoping to do ok with them then moving on up. He got given a great opportunity, he was found short of the required level but his profile will be much higher than it ever would have been had he not signed, and that is a huge career boost in itself. There are arguments for players staying at smaller clubs. But not many, and there are so many benefits to moving a big club that turning down such a move is very, very much in the minority.

I think you miss the point. Not that he was an established PL player; but using him as an example of Lallana should think twice about signing for a top 4 side. Johnson was going nowhere with Boro when he was signed for City, in the league in any case. It was a great move for him to go to City.

Well I was just struggling to see the analogy, given that Adam Johnson was playing for a Championship side at the time of his signing (a championship side who didn't look like they were going to get promoted, and indeed haven't done since he left). Seems a strange example to make to me.

Are you talking about Adam Johnson?

I'm an old fashioned fart, and I like the rule as it is. I find it ridiculous when you see the like of Tuilagi playing rugby for England. Pietersen in the cricket is massively borderline, though he does have at least some family attachment. I also think it should be a rule that international managers fulfill the same requirements as the players for the nation that they represent. Call it old fashioned but international football should be that, and not a massively watered down version of it IMO.

It's not about whether clubs make zero mistakes in the transfer market; its the proportion of spend on players that do and don't work out. Spurs are getting pelters this season from all corner for spending all the Bale cash (and then some) on players who are under-perfoming compared to expectations. Everton on the other hand have spent relatively little, made some excellent loan signings, and Roberto Martinez is being lauded for it. We've made some amazing signings in the past few seasons. There's also no getting away from the fact that we've also spent proportionally an awful lot of money on players who haven't or aren't quite working out. It's perfectly valid and not trolling in the slightest to point that out.

Well said Duncan. Although manji is quite possibly the most bitter poster in m-board folklore so I'm not sure of the wisdom of such a benchmark.

I thought it was a twitter thing hashtagconfusedkraken

I can only think that 110 was an alt, and got thwacked by the b-an stick for that. If he got b-anned for posting a consistently contrary view then I find that a bit of a shame. He was a bit of a tit but everyone's entitled to a viewpoint, however incendiary others may view it.