Saint Charlie

If Mane's finishing is poor then Long's doesn't exactly set the world on fire either. Barely a difference between the two in that respect.

This. I think he has loads of ability and can be a matchwinner when playing well. Was excellent early on then has struggled as we have as a team in the last month (Everton aside).

Absolute rubbish IMO.

A member of the coaching staff just told me that isn't the case but that they have brought in Elijah to give them that option.

No downside to this and great to see early business.

Puncheon is a good one. Craig Bellamy was always a **** but said his training habits and professionalism increased massively during his career. Could also say Wayne Rooney has calmed down massively (although not necessarily to the benefit of his football). Andy Carroll was involved in a lot of silliness off the pitch but you never hear any of it now, although he is younger. There are always some that never do though: Ravel Morrison will probably be one of those.

Our squad (let alone Management) won't let him take the **** or he will just end up having to go back to Bremen in May. He must know he needs to knuckle down to start fulfilling his potential. At Twente he was considered one of the best Dutch prospects so he obviously has talent.

On a loan its pretty low risk for someone with nearly 30 Holland caps, who has played in a World Cup final and is only 27.

I actually think the opposite. He is usually composed and despite the odd scary moment is comfortable with the ball at his feet (both feet). What he isn't is a blood and thunder defender, more a thinker and an interceptor rather than tackler.

Yep, good example. Great goal that one. For someone with that talent we should use it more often. He should be creating numerous chances and with that technique should also be scoring more. Minus the niggly/thuggy fouls he reminds me a bit of a right footed Charlie Adam in that there is clear technical ability but its finding the best way to use it within the team that is difficult.

His crossing is excellent but he doesnt play out wide so rarely uses it from open play. His passing to feet is good but I can't recall any particularly creative passes he has made that have directly created a goal in the last two years or so. There must be some...

We havent seen them in any matches yet but I spoke to one of Leon Crouch's mates at the weekend and apparently Mayuka is brilliant at taking corners in training. All IMHO of course.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/southampton-set-move-5million-rated-slovenia-4674213 Just joined Dortmund.

His set plays are great but its still hard to see from open play what sort of player he is trying to be. Don't get me wrong, he is a good player with great technique but he does none of the above overly well in open play: score, assist, beat a man, break forward to link up with the striker, tackle, win headers, dictate the tempo of a game. Still not sure what role gets the best out him, certainly he isnt a number 10 or as effective as Davis in that advanced position and he is too lightweight to do the Wanayama or Schneiderlin (or Reed) role in the PL where those players need to be able to put a foot in to protect the defence. With everyone fit he would be a sub for me at the moment. Big 18 months for him IMO as by then will have played well over 100 PL games and can't be considered a "prospect" any longer so will be great to see how he develops as could be a really good midfielder if he works out what his best role is within the team.

Its obviously a fact he has had that second minor operation but that was reported a month or so back. I think people just underestimated the severity of the injury. Anything under a year is a good recovery. Walcott had similar and has barely featured since returning to the squad, takes ages to regain sharpness and confidence to make an impact at this level.

It doesn't really but just interesting that for all his goals so far he has only scored in one away match out of eight but in five of the nine home matches. Not saying he is incapable of scoring more away from home, far from it, but just pointing it out. As a team away from home in the league we havent scored more than one goal since August against West Ham and since that game have only scored 3 times in 6 away league matches. That will need to improve to stay in the top 6.

On loan and to cover for Mane it sounds like a great deal. End of the day he has 27 caps for Holland and has played in a World Cup final. A few years ago we loaned Dany N'Guessan.

Pelle by a mile for actual consistent impact on results. Both good buys though. Only question mark is having the same impact away from home. 7 of Pelle's 8 league goals have been at home. He hasnt scored away in the league since the West Ham game in August. Tadic also less effective away.

Lallana definitely one of Liverpool's better players (I know its popular to say he is rubbish and Tadic is better though).

Perfect

Who do we want to win the Liverpool vs Arsenal game? Currently 1-1 which would suit but I would prefer Arsenal (who will finish above us) to win rather than Liverpool who we can realistically finish higher than.

One start and we are already talking about how much he will be sold for. Dell sized mentality?

Why? They would possibly have more clubs come in during the summer and it would significantly weaken our chances of getting into the Europa League. As for the player its only another 4 months. He will have plenty of options in the summer.

Would be very disappointed if we sold him in January halfway through our best PL season. Pretty clear he will go in the summer which I think most fans accept and wouldnt begrudge him a move to a CL club. But January would be madness.

We didn't play the mascot?