SNSUN

Mentioned on previous sponsor threads but as I pass it each day on the way to work....

Rose has had a good season but still flirts with his team spot with Davies. Bertrand is our clear no.1 left back and has added versatility to his game by being comfortable in the LCB slot, and versatility in a tournament is a big thing. Fair play to England tonight, though p while they did look bright, the curse of our defence is there for all to see. It has been a weak spot for years. I think centre back is probably the weakest position now. Still our attacking options are now looking brilliant. Kane is class and created that goal on his own, Vardy's finish was excellent, and Dier scored a good goal and was solid in defensive midfield. I still refuse to get my hopes up though. This is England under Hodgson after all!

Gomez beats Forster. All the gushing over England being brilliant and they're 2-0 down.

Butland injured, Forster on. Hope he does well.

Getting a bit ahead of myself but I'm assuming having Oxo back on the books would give us another home grown player for European exploits? Either way, irrespective of cost, I don't like his injury record. Best steer clear, no matter how talented.

Cos he's still playing for Saints and not United! Seriously he's probably annoyed that it's taken him months to do what we all knew, including himself, that he was capable of. My best guess though would be he's annoyed at himself for not getting the hattrick. I wonder though, had that penalty been scored, whether we'd have gone on to win the game. Fate perhaps.

Hart injured - could be Forster getting a start for England.

If we could only keep one of Mané or Wanyama in the summer, it'd be Mané every time. Defensive midfielders are out there that can be bought. Mané has unique talents and will be tough to replace. He'll only get better too.

This is the epitome of why a 2-0 scoreline is dodgy. Fantastic win. I was at work for most of the game, and driving home at 1-2 when the last 2 goals went in. Nearly crashed the new car when Mané got his second. Great to see Pellé and Mané back in amongst the goals. Get Austin and JRod back and firing and we look seriously blessed up front again. Shame the season is not far off completion. Is Europe a step too far? I think the Leicester result will define that.

Following the 2 wins in a row yesterday and a second place with Kings Palace, I've had another good day today with winners in Unowwhatimeanarry and Ibis Du Rheu. (Also got money back as Djakadam came second in the Gold Cup.) Makes up for Saints losing me money by beating Stoke! (Worth it) First Cheltenham Festival I've come out with a decent profit!

Derby's new football advisor. Or Jordan's new manager, whichever triffic bloke loses their job first. Seriously I'd like Benitez if Newcastle go down. Still surprised he went there, he's better than that.

2 wins in 2 races, Vautour and Thistlecrack. It's a most unusual feeling for me!

Had one each way come in on Your Tent Or Mine but otherwise nothing. As per usual. I'm not as invested in it this year as I am past years, as money is tighter. I still hold ambitions to go some day though.

Shane Long is one of those players that we should be thankful we have on our team and don't have to face as an opposition player anymore, as he's both quick and hard working, giving defences little respite. I actually think, with the right ammunition in midfield next season, that Long and Austin could form a very decent partnership given time.

Cracking result, wasn't expecting that. I had a little worry that we might start slipping down the league as a tough looking run of fixtures comes along, and The Brittania is a tough place to go, but this was a welcome 3 points.

Looking at the line up, I'd be happy with a point today.

Clustered Prem table between West Ham in 5th and West Brom in 13th, maybe even Palace in 14th. We need to keep picking up points to stay in the top half of that cluster, as any run of poor form like late last year could see us plummet down the table. Need ideally 4 points at very least from the next two games, and Bournemouth will be the tougher of the two. They'll be well up for it at the Vitality. I'd switch to the back 4 and bung Mané in for Pace.

I couldn't give two monkey's farts about Leicester. Only Saints, and to that end I only wish for a Saints win. I think we'll get it too, if we keep up recent form. Leicester winning the league would be a massive David vs Goliath story, and even them achieving top 4 would be impressive, but I can't see the title happening. They shot themselves in the foot last week against Arsenal. Arsenal for the title for me, though they need to find some consistency quick. (Though I can see Spurs winning it.) IF Leicester win it, then fair play. The benefit of that will be an extremely interesting summer transfer window.

Some England players in the reckoning to go to France (and Phil Jones ha) were modelling the England suits today, and pulling off dodgy poses. http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/england-stars-harry-kane-dele-alli-gary-cahill-and-kieran-gibbs-model-new-marks-spencer-euro-2016-a3182776.html#gallery Would Bertrand necessarily go? There's a lot of competition in that position in Baines, Gibbs (who like Bertrand modelled) and Rose (who has had a decent season.)

Rodriguez will be fit before the end of the season and will bang in hattricks every game. He goes! Seriously though, how many injuries would Holland need before Stekelenberg got back in? :-)

I wouldn't mess with the FA Cup too much if it were up to me, certainly that small sides that earn a replay at home against a big team are rewarded financially which can help keep them afloat. If anything, it's the League Cup that needs reworking.

Oops, here's the link. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/rules_and_equipment/4371092.stm

This article regarding the Henry/Pires penalty has the rules, it's legal within reason. Suarez got his hattrick with the goal, though it begs the question, why didn't he just take the penalty?

What a difference 6 weeks makes! Well done to Mr Koeman and the lads. That'll confirm us getting the whopping telly money next season then, unless something out of the ordinary occurs!

Great win. We started brightly but after a decent Yoshida goal got us in front, it looked like we were content to sit back, knowing we're the masters of the clean sheet. Sure enough that's what happened, but not how it should've happened. I thought Wanyama's red was harsh, it was late not malicious. Clattenburg must've thought so too, as he went straight to his yellow pocket. I clocked that straight away. God knows why he changed it, I can only think the West Ham lot had something to do with that. I hope we at least appeal, whatever happens. It did ruin the game as a spectacle though, as not only were we rarely able to attack after that, but West Ham seemingly couldn't! Defensively we were very good. Not outstanding, we rode our luck, especially with the Carroll fluff that went straight to Forster, the Yoshida penalty shout and missed interception, and the Soares clearance, but still very good. We seemed to want the win more than they did. I've seen great things from Payet this season but he was poor. All the West Ham players had an off day, much to our satisfaction. Good job from Koeman, I thought he'd continue not using the 352 when I saw Targett was out, but then slotted the match winner in! I still think we needed an extra midfielder, Pellé was AWOL in the first half. Hey ho, onto the next game! Manager of the month curse? Sky curse? What curses? The way I saw it: (last post of the day so I'm milking it) Forster: solid as ever, great save in the second half. Another clean sheet. Humble in the post match interviews too. 7 Fonte: Solid as ever, goes about his job in the usual fashion if overshadowed by his partner... 7 VVD: MOTM. Just, in front of Clasie. Was dominant, didn't put a foot wrong. 8 Yoshida: Well taken goal and looks better in a back 3, but still made a couple of risky errors that could have hurt us. 7 Soares: Good game, could've done better with the header in the first few minutes. Risky sliced clearance though. 7 Bertrand: Good going forward in the first half, good defensively in the second. 7 Clasie: Thought he was very good. Crisp passing and good defensively too. 8 Wanyama: was dominant until his (IMO) harsh sending off. Thankfully didn't cost us this time. 6 Mané: it's not quite going for him at the moment. Hope he comes good. 6 Long: Worked his nuts off but a lack of quality. 6 Pellé: Awful in the first half, got slightly better in the second. Needs match practice. 5 Romeu: good when he came on. Steadied the ship. 7 Austin: perhaps should've taken his chance, but worked hard defensively when he came on. 6 JWP: not much impact.