The Kraken

I thought Guzan played the ball. Originally that's what I thought the pen was for, looked fine on the replay.

Good take Art.

Yep, not a very good one either (well, good enough to con the ref).

Blatant dive.

Really? Blimey...

What a waste. Great ball from Lambert, JRod didn't believe in himself.

1 corner and 1 great free kick position, both wasted with dreadful deliveries. Can we really not get this consistently right?

Don't like the look of our 442, I'd prefer more midfield numbers. Villa coming through us a bit too easily.

A less than convincing start by us; look very nervous.

Could be a great opportunity for SFC if he gets some proper game time and gets some match sharpness so that he comes back to us as more of a genuine option.

Mayuka wouldn't have been an option for today anyway, he's not played on the left for us at all and has been left on the bench before when de Ridder has played LM.

I must have been watching a different game. The de Ridder I saw was lively without really producing anything of note other than a well taken corner (which tbf Fonte should have scored from).

Hopefully we'll see the introduction of Dan Seaborne in the forward sweeper role.

Come on Diggers. Its true enough in fact that they played in League 1, but saying "its half a League 1 team" is disingenuous at best. Lallana was the subject of a multi-million bid from Fulham when we were in the lower leagues, we turned that down by paying him a massive wedge of cash. Fonte dropped down from being a revered member of a decent enough Championship Palace side to play League 1 for us, I'm sure he didn't do that for the challenge of it. Schneiderlin is only 22 now and was always tipped for higher things (signied when we were in the Championship and he was 18, don't forget). Even Puncheon has played on loan at Blackpool and QPR in the PL before getting there with us. Lambert is about the only one you can say who was an established League 1 player who has improved through the ranks (typified by him being the one that many wrote off on both pre-seasons of our successive promotions).

A concert venue/ice rink/basketball arena, kind of like a mini O2 or like the Ricoh Arena, would be rather good (if it would fit) Plenty of US indoor arenas combine NBA basketball teams with NHL hockey teams. Add in the ability to convert to a modern concert arena with bars and restaurants and it could be a real added attraction to Southampton; the Guildhall is hardly an iconic and built for purpose venue.

Bless.

Norwich seem to be doing quite well again with their half league 1 squad including the likes of Russell Martin, John Ruddy, Grant Holt, Wes Hoolahan and Anthony Pilkington.

Have you got an Artur Boruc shirt for sale?

That's the thing with Rodriguez; its not that (IMO anyway) he's a bad signing now because he's a poor player. And its not because he was overpriced; we paid the market value for him, and we had to agree a fee the fee we did for him in order to outbid other clubs who were willing to pay a similar amount. So we didn't get swizzed or anything like that. I just feel that, in this season, there were better options that Rodriguez for a club like us. We needed someone who could hit the ground running, and indeed the club were looking for someone who could challenge and replace Lambert straight away. In this season of consolidation I don't feel we should have taken such a risk and taken on a player who needs developing to such an extent. If we stay up then it becomes a better looking acquisition, as we should push on a touch and solidify our PL position (you'd hope, anyway). But until then I feel we lack a true alternative option to Lambert (as Villa have with Bent, Benteke and even Weimann in addition to that, for example).

Finished article? Behave. Even the most ardent Rodriguez fan will tell you that he has a long way to go before he's anything close to the finished article. Right now he's a youngish lad with a bit of promise who is starting to adapt to life in the Premier League, but still not worthy of a first team place and has a long way to go yet to prove that he can be a consistent hit at this level.

I'd walk through broken glass just to have her tuck me in. She's so pretty it makes me cry.

He'd be great at motivating the likes of Jason Puncheon, Guly and Nate Clyne too; he'd know just what to say to get those guys going.

"Kraken to get bedtime experience with Kate Upton" I think this is a great idea and should happen in the next few weeks.

Wemberlee, Wemberlee, he's done f*ck all yet this season but he's going to Wemberlee. Maybe.

Its not an embargo if other news agencies are reporting it though, really. Its just the Echo being left behind. I've said before I don't think the Echo did themselves any favours. That said, they had to do something to acknowledge the news was "out". They probably should have run a small story with a promise of further information the next day. Whether that would have sufficed for Cortese, I guess we'll never know. The club themself were caught out by the nationals publishing, and so published themselves but (from memory) late at night. All a bit silly, but the reaction from the club is over the top IMO, and they're cutting off their nose to spite their face.