Whitey Grandad

Games of football tend to be won by the team that wants it more. Cup games also depend on who you draw and how strong a team they put out, and whether you're playing at home.

Trust them to get an easy draw

Interesting comment during the Bournemouth game last Saturday to the effect that players often have injuries when changing clubs due to the different fitness regimes.

My sentiments too but I think we're going to need more than one goal, 3 maybe.

'Players they've retained' may be the important bit. Every time there's a turnover of players the performances usually suffer.

I only saw the highlights but what struck me about their goal was the awful shape of our defence with two centre backs hanging deep and wide open spaces on both flanks. To be honest, I didn't notice Maya make a mistake but I found it interesting that an 'independent' writer should have brought this up.

From the Sunday Times today: Just after the half-hour, Palace found a way through the massed ranks of green. The goal, not for the first time in Southampton’s season, stemmed from a mistake by Maya Yoshida. Exposed one-on-one against Bolasie, Jose Fonte had no chance and Cabaye was left with a tap-in from the cross. It was a simple goal, but well-worked and thoroughly deserved.

I rather suspect they're happy with the way things are going. Does anybody think they've got any chance of winning the thing and getting into next year's Champions League? Who'd have thought it.

Twenty years ago all this would have been discussed down the pub, now it can be done from your armchair, but you're right.

But that our next game will? What chance do you give us of winning this one?

Any player's value will reduce to zero at the end of their contract. You win some, you lose some, but it is rare that a player will increase in value during their time at a club.

But talk of two in a row is meaningless now that they've lost one. We are now down to the odds on the next match alone. It is the difference between a priori and a posteori, as I'm sure you well know. Of course, it could be argued that football matches are not random independent events but now that Tottenham have lost does that make it more or less likely that they will lose their next? Who would have predicted that we would go on a round of losses after such an unbeaten one?

That's not really relevant. Think of it as losing two out of sixteen, does that sound more likely?

The 2 games in a row is irrelevant now that they've lost one. It all comes down to the next 90 minutes.

I think you are getting hung up over the price we paid for Long, undisclosed but believed to be £12m. Don't forget that we also loaned Gastón to Hull a couple of weeks later and it is entirely possible that there was some agreement to this effect, thus offsetting part of the contract purchase price. The whole premise of this thread is that we could sell Long and replace him with somebody better and cheaper. I think that's unlikely.

That was then and this is now.

Of course not, we are all free to think what we like and it's a good thing that we are all different, but you have made it clear that you don't like Long but have not suggested any player who could replace him. It's easy to be critical and negative but much more difficult to be constructive. In my (limited) experience I have found these to be feminine traits

I expect nothing and I don't expect to be disappointed.

At the moment you would have to say that Palace and Stoke are sides than us.

At the moment he's a much better player than Callum Wilson and will remain so for the rest of the season.

If we could, we would. You can't go advocating getting rid of a player and replacing him with somebody cheaper without offering up some names.

Yes but who do you suggest for a few million quid?. Just saying 'I wants' doesn't gets.

Ta. There must be a transfer window coming up in a couple of weeks