austsaint

What you say is true; but the scope for a smart, young manager (Howe) to take the next step in management is there. Look at Poch coming to the EPL with some moderate credentials from his time at Espanyol. I think we could/should look elsewhere if we have to but Howe looks to have something about him.

Good on them. I suppose they realised they were going to miss the final of the Australian A League played on the same day where their home town Club, Adelaide United won their first title beating Western Sydney Wanderers in front of 55k crowd at the beautiful Adelaide Oval.

So true - it's galling to witness the inconsistency.

When Dier committed that foul, Clattenberg reached into his pocket for the second yellow, but then ran upfield to the developing spotfire and didn't get back to Dier. Can the red be given retrospectively?

Well done Leicester - great sporting achievement. I'm not sure which game I enjoyed most - our win against City or the 2-2 draw just witnessed.

I've sent you a book. The DSMV - your issue is on page 254 - Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

Well, he lost possession several times in dangerous areas; either mistimed passes or completed ultra safe short ones and only made the one foray forward where he was given acres of space and tamely scooped the ball over the City goal. By contrast, Romeu hit the ground running, broke up City attacks, intercepted and got forward convincingly to be part of late second half attacks. In Clasie's defence, many better judges than I consider he's going to be up to speed and more effective next season - I hope he can be, but overall, for a player of his reputation and International experience he hasn't delivered a lot for us this season and very little yesterday where Vic carried him for the first half.

Fair enough Doddsey but I couldn't stand the stress of worrying that Spurs would overhaul Leicester so late in the piece. I'd rather Chelsea bring them to their knees tonight and we finish them off the following week.

Whelk; I'm no Clasie basher and there have been games where he has impressed but he was the stand out poor player for us yesterday, so much so that I thought Ron would bring Romeu on at H/T.

One of the odd things about tonights game is you finding yourself barracking for teams like Chelsea!!

Agree with your comments Stan, although I think Mane is going to be nigh impossible to replace. The other facets of his game which was so effective today were his touches, lay offs and passes, often one-touch, often to a player in a dangerous position. I just haven't seen many players like him who on the same day can play winger, striker and attacking mid with such impact.

He really was impressive.

As you say in your last sentence of fee paid for Sterling compared to Mane is laughable. Sterling this season has looked like a one dimensional, speedy winger. Mane has the game to play striker, winger or attacking midfielder. Quite apart from his goals yesterday his range of passing and touches to set up attacks were brilliant.

Thrilling stuff to watch - whether Citeh had their minds elsewhere or not, Saints played some lovely Football. Mane and Tadic just superb. Wanyama, Davis, Long, VVD, Bertrand all very good. If there's the faintest prospect of retaining Mane the Club must pull out every pound they can to do it. The only downside of the game was the horrible form of Clasie - when Romeu came on he looked so much better.

Frustrating to concede like that. Tadic, Wanyama and Mane outstanding - Long and Davo pretty good. Clasie totally abject and must be replaced by Romeu at H/T.

Don't forget Guided Missile.

He had an offer from the Hammers but elected to stay at Saints....the cynic in me thinks it was more about having a role and a comfortable life at Saints rather than warming the bench in East London.

Often, giving a **** about the shirt is due to not being good enough to wear a different club's shirt. Kelvin's a case in point.

I'd argue they are two of our most important players; particularly Mane. VVD and RB are the other two that fit the most important player category.

I'll go with that except for Romeu replacing Clasie.

And probably one of those who never asks a question during a chat. Don't you think?

Yes, he was wasteful, was Long. What didn't you like about Davo's running and passing today?

Yes, what did you make of that - thumped the badge too, maybe he's staying. Tadic great today, along with Romeu, Davis, Bertrand and Long.

Mane time.

Any ideas/theories on why Mane has been dropped to the bench?