SNSUN

For "competition for Sadio Mané" read "Sadio Mané's replacement". :-) I wonder if we're still interested in Odegaard too. I know he's been linked with Championship clubs recently.

I wanted five to go above Spurs but right now I'll take any win! Surely we can regain some composure and see this out. Surely? Need to see more from Mané IMO.

It's Leicester all over again if we're not careful, 2-0 up at half time and they bring on two pacey players. Hope not another 2-2 here.

There's definitely a gap opening up in the Prem and we're on the cusp of it. Hopefully we can be professional tomorrow and get the win and keep pace with the top lot. Win tomorrow and weirdly we're still only 5 points behind rampant Leicester. Understandably Bournemouth players will be well up for this, and will probably give an extra 10% but simply we are the better team. As long as we don't suffer 11 brain farts we should have enough to win comfortably, but as ever I'd take a scrappy 1-0 win. Stupid work, wish I could be there but Sky will have to suffice.

Liverpool at home. Bugger, they'll have picked up by then. Still the home tie will help. Can't help but feel the cup is Citys if they want it. Decent draw for Stoke too.

That's a decent team. I actually thought Clasie would start for game time but it should be enough to beat Villa. Defensively strong with a Wanyama and Romeu shield. Villa's team is weak but their bench is strong, so a few early goals for us could be key here before they can make changes. I'd like to see Juanmi show us why we bought him, and while I'm not pro-Ramirez per se, I do think he has qualities that can win games and hope we see his best. A decent Ramirez in the squad permanently would be a big bonus for Saints, even if he's not first choice. Seager on the bench too, could come on and make a name for himself. I'm going to stick my neck out and say JWP will be our most influential player tonight... :-)

A decent point. Genuinely thought we were destined to lose that. Pleased for Ramirez though not expecting any fireworks. Mané's red card was deserved but really couldn't have come at a better time, we were winding down the clock anyway and he only misses the League Cup game he probably wouldn't have played much of a role in anyway. I thought the defence was good, the midfield was good but we lacked any kind of cutting edge in attack today. I prefer Tadic on the left. Oh, and anyone see Bertrand berate Mané for not closing down the Liverpool player that assisted their goal? Shows awareness. Liverpool fans don't seem happy with the result, which is good. FWIW I think the ref was against us most of the game, two of their corners weren't, and a point was a fair result. Bournemouth have conceded 5 goals in their last two games apparently, so hopefully we can find our cutting edge again there next week. Lastly, I'm quite jealous of West Ham and Leicester's lofty position as we were accomplishing last season, but I'm quite liking this slow burning rise up the league!

Ah the good old reverse psychology, prompting Clasie to put in a MOTM performance!

Villa should hold off on appointing a manager for now, after all Mourinho might soon be available! :-)

Chelsea fans want Rodgers to replace Mourinho!

Obviously I want us to beat Liverpool but it will be difficult. We need to be at our best.I reckon Sherwood at Villa might find himself out of a job on Saturday, making Wednesday's game against Villa tougher as they'll want to impress any incoming manager. Just a feeling is all. So getting at least a point out of Liverpool will be key. I'm probably wrong though.

Bonfire night 1955, we just beat Coventry 3-0 in the Division 3 South. http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/division-three-south/1955-1956/table/1955-11-05 I was -25 years old.

30 years and we've only gained 10 places. (You know, if we ignore the extreme ups and downs we've had in that time...)

Really? One of my few good posts or one of my many guff posts? :-)

If they'd scored twice in the first half and we'd come back to 2-2 we'd be calling it a cracking point. As it is it's not a bad point against a team in form, and the stats alone show Leicester were the better team. Hope the Fonte and Cedric injuries aren't bad. Knowing what Leicester are capable of with comebacks this season, I had a look at half time on a 2-2 result, it was 90-1. I was tempted by that. Kicking myself now...

Need the 3 points today. Looking unlikely we will get them. Got a bet in play on Leicester scoring next, it feels like it'll happen. COYR

Crackle

Ignoring the academy players which I don't think qualify as "free transfers", Dean Richards wins it hands down. Solidified our defence post Monkou, helped move us on from relegation battles to actually competing higher up the tables, and while he Left acrimoniously we got a hefty fee for him. My personal favourite free transfer was Harding.

Anyone want to inform Newcastle the transfer window is 2 and a half months and a very busy Christmas period away... :-)

Papa

Went to Salou this year as we wanted to visit Barcelona without staying there. Lovely town, very clean, well landscaped and nice beaches, and also near other places like Reus and PortAventura which is well worth a day out. Also lots of shops, restaurants and bars, without going overboard on the youth element getting drunk! Very family friendly, when the wife and I finally get round to having kids, we're going back.

According to Soccerbase he oversaw the Skates win over Derby in the CCup this season. Burn him. Burn him at the stake!

Football 365 player ratings read : Bertrand is an obvious downgrade on Luke Shaw.... Really? Naturally Saints fans would be best placed to judge that. What do you lot think?

I think it was Debayo number 35... He's a big ****er ain't he! Good to see Clasie back again but strangest sight of all was seeing Ramirez!

Great nights for Saints players, especially captain fantastic Davis. Bang in form.