Graffito

Yes scoring in the PL trumps scoring in the League Cup, the FA Cup and probably the CL qualifiers. Someone tell Roy. As I said though, it can't be just goals scored that Hodgson is assessing players on. If it were, there would be a case for Crouchy Crouchy (so good we named him twice) because his England scoring record is very good and a lot better than Welbeck's. It has to be all round play and how a player fits in the system. So why not Lambert? I don't know but where would you play him in Hodgson's system, who would you drop? He could fill the Rooney role admirably but that isn't going to happen, nor should it, unless there are injuries. Other than that it's bringing Lambert off the bench for plan B which would probably mean going long and not utilising all his capabilities. What would really **** me off is if Carroll got back in ahead of Lambert.

I've been trying all week not to think the unthinkable. It won't happen will it?

Seen enough from Rodgrigues to be able to agree with that. My guess is that it's been a confidence thing with him. Performances remain uneven but overall on the rise.

Walcott, Defoe, Lampard, Rooney all have more goals when you include other competitions. This doesn't take account of appearances and in any case I think Lambert deserves a go because as we know, and others are slowly catching on to, his contribution is much more than goal scoring. I think Hodgson is pragmatic and isn't fixated on future competitions. After all he might get the sack before he makes a tornament. I'm not aware of Hodgson having said anything specifically on the subject of Lambert. At a guess it could be Lambert's lack of pace more than his age that explains why people like Welbeck or Defoe gets in ahead of him and we can't really put Lambert ahead of Rooney.

We sometimes confuse form with ability. There's context and any number of variables affecting performance. Torres, for instance, a great player badly out of form and who needs a change of club. Someone said would you take him for £5m. In an instant. He'd be great in our set up.

It wasn't a pen but "handballs" similar to Fox's are given more often than not. There's only one solution, tie all outfield player's hands behind their backs.

We began to sit deep in my opinion because the defence was worried about a) the ball over the top and b) Newcastle's pace. This stretched the game, left a lot of space at times between midfield and defence and undermined our pressing high up the field, something we were able to do for the first 15 minutes until Newcastle demonstrated their intent. Tbf there were a few of us pre match highlighting the dangers to Saints high press of the long ball forward. Personally I thought Pochettino would have had a plan B to counter it as it can't have been the first time someone's thought of playing him that way. Other than moving Lallana to the right I couldn't see any change in tactics during the game.

So Shearer invents a new offside rule. It's called "technically offside" which isn't offside as we all know it because although a player may be offside, he scores with a great shot and he scores for Newcastle Utd so the linesman would be imprisoned in the changing room if he gives it so the goal should stand. Glad that ones cleared up because it was bothering me a bit.

I said he took a while to hit the target not that he failed to hit the target. In other words I'm not disagreeing with you and I think Ramirez is worth persevering with because he'll come good as long as the Manager, who after all is best placed to do so, can find a way to get the best from him.

Some Managers are able to be complimentary when they've just won the match but struggle to be so when they have lost, Ferguson springs to mind. Pardew was magnanimous in defeat when we beat then at home. He's a good bloke IMO.

Ronaldo was a show pony to start with and regarded as a bit of a mummy's boy by other United players. Henri came as a winger who took a while to hit the target in his first season. Remember Drogba being always impressive, even before he joined Chelsea. Someone made a good point about Fellaini, a player I thought was crap at first but who clearly isn't but isn't he another that's been asked to play a different role from that which he played when he arrived. So lets not give up on Ramirez just yet. There's obviously talent there. It's up to the Manager to make the most of it.

Yes he was injured. Sore @rse.

Reckon he should have calmly side footed it into the bottom left hand corner like a certain England international.

He did. The balls up that was relegation was a double act. B@llock Chops and Lowe. With Lowe long gone, Redknapp will get dog's abuse on Saturday whether Uncle Dave like it or not.

Shall we swap him for Samba? After all, they need goals and they paid £12m for a CB. Surely only a fool would do a thing like that.

That's why he's a local commentator in Abu Dhabi.

The only thing I almost agree with is the point about tactics. I saw no significant change in tactics during the match, only changes in personnel but I think you cannot make that into a general criticism of Pochettino's tactical ability. Someone who reads the game better than I will no doubt put me straight. As for the rest of your comments, just one observation, Yoshida played left back against West Ham.

Do you think the ref was blameless? Was there no element of luck in any of Newcastle's goals? If Shaw had a knock, how was it a mistake to bring on a replacement left back?

Once a year the Rabbi would invest a goat with the sins of the community and run the beast out of the village and into the wilderness. One year the goat returned, sending the village into panic so the village decided this year and every subsequent year to throw the poor beast over a cliff to make sure it never came back to embarrass them. Saints lose a football match. Someone has to be blamed. It's written in stone.

The elephant's still in the room so which donkeys are still on the pitch? We won't go down.

Though Newcastle's pace stretched us (our defence seemed to be playing deeper leaving a lot of space between defence and midfield) they didn't have to work too hard for that victory. It just wasn't our day, from refs decisions to 50:50s, to lucky ricochets, to our performance. Although nothing went our way, ultimately we were architects of our own downfall. Inevitably Fox will get lambasted by all and sundry but he couldn't do much about the penalty decision. I think the handball was accidental. Tbh I don't know why Shaw was subbed. Puncheon looked bright when he came on and might have replaced Rodrigues sooner as he'd offered little.

They asked me. I guess they asked others too.

A long ball, if indeed they are a long ball team, could be effective against our pressing game. I'm sure Pochettino has a cunning plan. It's not like the ball ovr the top hasn't been tried against his system before.

A legal challenge will be expensive and probably time consuming. I doubt this boy's paying for it out of his pocket money so someone must be behind it. The FSF has had a legal team ready to go on this issue but a challenge has had to come from an individual. I wonder whether a decision subject to Judicial Review will mean the match cannot proceed (unless the bubble is dropped). A decision against the police could have major implications for the policing of demonstrations.

What sticks in my mind about Paul Sturrock is all the stuff at the time about him slurring his speech because he was a drunk. Comes out years later he has Parkinson's. We're far too quick to judge sometimes without knowing the facts.