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We shouldn't be wasting any of our resources on this guy. F.*** him!

Spot on, look what Bally did for Stevie Williams and the club. If WS has half the impact of the great man, it'll be a fantastic signing.

I agree, and this impact and influence on other players is a measure that's probably not factored into the Black Box.

Sneidjer is only 30! Thought he was 32/33 ish

Whichever way I look at it, Forster was at fault for the first palace goal. IMO, a keeper has to gather that shot, OR, put it somewhere safe. He should be aware of where he can put it if he can't gather it and I think in this case it was possible for him to put it out wide.

At the moment, I'd give him a 6/10. Yes, he's had a couple of great games where he's made some good saves but shot stopping is goalkeeping basics; they can all do that. It's all the other stuff (as I've said before) that make a good goalkeeper a great one.

The game is 8th successive home game sell out.

Really? Wow!

How many games have sold out now this season?

When I bought my ticket I had the option to print at home. Then I got an email with a PDF attached which contained my tickets.

I only saw post or collect.

I was told that he is unlikely to play football again. I hope this isn't true but it came from a source within the hospital.

That makes him ideal for Spurs then!

Got my ticket. This print at home business is marvelous, and no £1 per ticket booking charge.

What?!!????!!

I do think there's a difference in mentality between the top and the bottom. It might seem obvious to say that but when you're at the top, you're there cos you're good and if you want to stay there you have to be good every week. No let up.

At the bottom you just need something every now and then, a big performance, a late equaliser, a lucky goal. Something. Anything that will help you get a result say 1 in 3 games. At the top that's just not good enough. You have to believe in your ability and stick to what got you there. That's another thing, you may change your style of play at the bottom, it gets desperate, panic sets in. You can't let that set in at the top, it has to be total belief and 100% concentration to get the job done.

Koeman has been there and done it and his winning mentality and coolness under pressure will help the players.

As Saints fans we are used to the odd relegation battle over the years and the pressure down there is immense, but now, being in the top 4, I'm finding it even more tense!

I'm not sure why, but, I think that at the bottom you only need to win/draw now and again to crawl out of the drop zone while others around you drop points. At the top, others around you are invariably winning, so when you lose/draw, you can lose ground quite quickly.

I think we were quite fortunate in our losing run that we had so many points before that and were in 2nd place, but if we lost 5 now, that'd be it, no top 4.

Thoughts?

Qualifying for the CL would be an awesome achievement for us. I don't know how much it's worth but let me ask another question: is it worth it? What I mean is, are we ready for it? How will it affect our league performance? Our squad is certainly not strong enough so can we rectify that in one summer? It's a very interesting time.

Obviously, I'm not privy to what Long's instructions were when he came on but it's interesting that he didn't really chase and pressurise, which is unusual for him.

There were a couple of instances where I thought he could've chased after a ball here and apply pressure there but he didn't. I guess he was told to stay goal side and provide cover.

Whatever though, fantastic result.

Sounds like cover for mane while he's away for the acon.

I called the ticket office on Thursday to ask how many I could buy on general sale the next day. They said it was unlimited.

So I rock up to the ticket office the next day and they asked me for a customer number (which I had) and said I could only buy 4! As it was, I needed 7. I was pretty pee'd off tbh.

what is it now, 2 goals in 5 games? That says it all.

does anyone know if he was similar at Celtic as a comparison?

yes, as I noted above, my celtic fan friend watched him many times and said he was prone to staying on his line.

I've not been convinced by Forster since his arrival, even before that for England. My celtic supporting friend said he's good but he likes to stay on his line and he's right. For a top class keeper, staying on your line is not good enough; you have to be a sweeper too these days.

The only crosses he's come for are easy claims, no-one around him. When it's crowded he stays rooted to his line. He's 6ft 7in for christ sake, he should be going through people, we all know how keepers are protected!

I say this not based on last night, or even the Villa mistake, but based on all the games he's played this season. Dodgy at spurs too remember?

Fair play, he pulled off some great saves at Arsenal but all keepers are capable of this; even Kelvin is a good shot stopper, but it's the other stuff, claiming crosses, commanding your area, kicking and distribution, and sweeping up that make a great keeper.

Sorry, but I feel he needs to improve in those other areas.

I think Burnley will risk losing Ings on a free transfer. If they sell him in January then they are relegated.

This is what I was thinking. Is he right for us? I don't know, but do Burnley cash in now (in Jan), or lose him for nothing in the summer? Do we have a first refusal deal? Lots of talk linking him with us in the summer.

I feel we need another option up front. We can't just expect JRod to come straight back in.

When Mane goes of to the ACON, we'll have little or no backup in that position and no option to play Long up top if Pelle is injured or needs rest/out of form.

We need something from this game. A point at least. A win would be a massive bonus.

I dread to think that we could come away from 4 games (after UTD at home) with 1 point. We cannot let that happen.

The main concern for me is that Pelle hasn't scored in 4 now and Tadic hasn't made an assist in 4 either if I remember correctly.

I think saints will really be up for this and have probably had their eye on it for some time. It's the first real challenge and test of our top 4 credentials. A win will really beef up our challenge and give us huge confidence going into the next games. However, a defeat won't be the end of the world. I'd take a draw.

Great read as noted on twitter.

having now seen more pics of the reception, why all the bare, gray concrete walls? It looks unfinished and dull.

Anyone know what Toby's wages are? I heard it is a lot, more than 60k pw. Anyone know?