BARCELONASAINT

I can't remember the last time i wasn't the slightest bit interested in us possibly advancing to the FA Cup quarter finals. It just says how much we could do without the distraction of the FA Cup. I really hope Tonda gives all the fringe players a run out and the first team are nowhere near Craven cottage come Sunday. Will be very interesting to see what side Wrexham put out at home to Chelsea. I really hope they put a full strength side out and pick up injuries to first team players as a result.

You won't find a bigger fan off Scienza than me, he is absolutely the heartbeat of this Saints side and his rise from the leagues he has come from is quite unbelievable. The gap between Premier league and Championship is huge and i do wonder if Leo could hold his own in what is a very brutal league. My one concern about his ability to step up is he is a bit lightweight. He has all the skill in the world but he gets knocked off the ball a lot (yes like Grealish he draws fouls) and his shots are often very weak. I think he would do very well in La Liga, Italy and France. I wouldn't deny Leo a chance to play Premier League football if not for us then someone else because his story is what every kid out there would love and it just shows kids not to give up on their dream.

Personally I think we will fall short of the top 6 places, the damage was done earlier in the season leaving us with too much ground to make up and the home game against Charlton just compounded things. We don't have a lethal front line, Stewart we have been nursing all season to try and make sure he gets minutes (he's decent when he's available) Larin has some good attributes but he is not a lethal striker and they are who we are relying on up front. Thankfully other players are chipping in with goals but you really need your strikers at this stage of the season to be firing on all cylinders and ours are not!

we made really hard work of that!

just want the second goal to effectively kill this game off

Derby and Hull winning, dam!

oh i hope to god Stewart hasn't picked up another injury

Derby have equalised and no prizes for guessing who scored ffs!

The pressure is all on Saints, no one expects a Wednesday side that have only won one league game all season to get anything form todays game. They will be playing with complete freedom now that relegation has been confirmed and will absolutely want to put in a performance against the money bags team of this division. I expect us to win, we absolutely have to win to stay in the hunt for a playoff place but i won't lie I am nervous about this afternoons game.

you are of course correct but even you must agree that the sentiment people are referring to is "when Saints are nailed on certainties to win a game" we have a horrible habit of fucking it up!

"Complacency is the last hurdle standing between any team and its potential greatness"......the players cannot walk onto the pitch with the thinking this game is already won or they will become the second south coast side to be beaten by Wednesday this season! On paper we win and win convincingly but we have an awful habit of making the easy so very hard!

Having been a goalkeeper myself there is no dispute, you do have to be a bit mad to play the position and although at times these "mad" goalkeepers might give their defenders and manager nightmares they ultimately are prepared to put their heads in where it hurts! Peretz is really growing on me, he's quite a character!

we are at the point in the season where every home game is a must win if we seriously want one of the playoff spots. I already believe Saturdays draw will ultimately prove very costly. We have to put together a run of convincing performances starting tonight to have any hope in my opinion and we have to be better in the final third.

don't know if they will keep it open tonight because of the game but warning to anyone driving that the Itchen Bridge works re-commenced last night and the bridge closes to all traffic both ways from 8pm! **Ok just seen that they should keep the bridge open tonight until all fans have left the area to help with congestion**

You absolutely have to win your home games if you want to be considered serious contenders for the playoffs. We huffed and we puffed on Saturday but ultimately did not have the quality to unlock a poor Charlton team. For me Saturday killed our chances of reaching the playoffs despite the table obviously showing we are very much in the race and my sole reason for stating this is our inability to win the sort of games we played on Saturday. Must win game tomorrow night? 100% yes!

honestly there have been some quite ridiculous comments about this incident. Mourinho making himself look every bit like a Sam Aldyce a complete dinosaur. I have no love for Vin Junior seeing as he plays for that white shite but it's 2026 and some fans, players and managers act as if they are still dragging their nuckles in some cave somewhere!

Would be very surprised if Charlton didn't win tonight

The draw is a decent one IF we are serious about trying to progress to the next round. However the weeks leading up to the cup game will no doubt decide how much of a rotated side we put out! If we continue our good league form and sit in one off the playoff positions or literally just outside then absolute priority has to be given to the league and i would expect a rotated side (certainly not our strongest)

If we really want to reach the playoffs there is little wiggle room for error now, we simply have to win our home games and get the odd point here and there away from home. Should make for an exciting but very nervous run in!

With the way the Cup results have gone today it is highly likely with our luck we will be drawn away to one of Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea or Newcastle

And even further to be considered in the same standing as Lawrie Mac!

Has a non-Premier League side ever won the FA Cup? A non-Premier League has never won the FA Cup, but teams from outside of the English top-flight have won the competition before the rebrand of the Premier League in 1992.

For me the club are making a decision on what is best for the clubs future not what football fans romantically would like to see. If we go back to 1976 when Saints won the Cup there was not the Sky money and there was not the huge wages being earned by todays players. It is all about money today even if we do not like it! Even if we a slight chance of reaching the Premier League then it has to grasped and the FA Cup play second fiddle to it.

I'm not sure why some are getting worked up about us playing fringe players for this. We are 1 point away from the playoffs and as far as the club and finances are concerned the Premier League is the Holy Grail. Can you imagine the fallout on here if we had played a first 11 and any of our better had got injured. It's just not worth the risk for a competition that we are unlikely to win.

A little bit upset by little Southampton wasn't he. Hope there weren't any bridges on his way home!