austsaint

Long's had a good game.

He played well today.

And on his first half display he will get one.

Djuricic looking lively.

Have at least a couple of pints - terrific effort!

I took Ron bringing them on as subs. as an indication he'll keep both for next season.

Has to. Citeh will run riot if both Davis and JWP start in midfield.

Not long after Mane returned from injury and ACON, quite a few posters started to rate him as approaching elite status, despite his relative youth and inexperience in the Prem. Looks a good call to me - very few players in the game can handle a striker, winger, AM role the way he can. I do worry about a "big" Club coming in for him in the Summer.

He's a complex cove; our Alpine.

Good summary; and on the subject of Gazza, given the importance of next Sunday's game, why not start with Gazza and bring Kelvin on late in the game to rack up 300 appearances. Yes, Vlaar was unrecognizable from the superb World Cup defender 12 mths ago.

Apart from the obvious great displays by Mane and Long, Clyne looks to be back to his best and Wanyama is controlling midfield.

Leeds a few years back wasn't it?

It really has been.

Great goal.....funny thing is, for all our dominance...both JWP and Davis have been anonymous.

And you must be JWP's Grandfather.

Interested to know why you would pick Ward-Prowse as a starter. Surely Davis, despite his missed shots played a better all round game.

Yep, this guy (Mane) is star quality and the thought he could be bought cheaply is a delusion. What isn't a delusion is the likelihood that several "big" clubs will have noticed Sadio's unique skills and big offers in the Summer are quite likely. Hope he stays.

That was very noticeable today, with Spurs holding possession, like we did last season, for long periods, but with little threat. Spurs also played without width just as we often did under MP. A big difference we showed today was width, willingness to go direct with long balls and a player like Mane running at the defence and creating possibilities. The only thing I miss from MP's days is the sustained press, which admittedly left us out of energy in the last 20 minutes of the game.

Great game to watch and a joy to see a return of attacking football by Saints. Best game of the season by Pelle; Mane a handful all day, Bertrand, Morgan, Jose and Toby all good. Steven Davis and Ward-. Prowse were weak links in midfield. Good cameos by Long and Elia. In the end the difference was probably the performance of the goalkeepers. Sentiment aside, would like to see Gazza thrown in for the last four games.

Davis and Ward-Prowse look way too loose in midfield for my liking. Clearly a hand ball goal to Spurs.

Mane is one of the best buys SFC have made for a long time. This talk of his "failings and inconsistencies" make me chuckle - there were a few games early on where he struggled with the pace and style of game, but he has been among our best, week in, week out for ages, and without him a lot of our creative attacking play disappears. Two of his qualities I've enjoyed is his capacity to pick out a pass to a player in or around the box and his willingness to track back and assist defensively.

Really good summary S-Clarke. I especially like your comments about Mane; at times he has looked like an elite Prem player. Likewise, your comments on Bertrand, Clyne, Maya, Fonte, Toby, Vic and the sure to be missed Morgan are all spot on. Of the misses, maybe Tadic needs to be included with Pelle despite their bright starts to the season. Shane Long, despite his work rate, has to be a miss, his lack of touch and control is a glaring weakness at this level. Just a small quibble with your comments about JWP - I don't think you can say he has the lot technically when, at this stage of his career he doesn't have a left foot to talk about; when/if he improves that aspect of his game your assessment might stand up.

Your description sounds more like JWP than Davis, even allowing for the penalty v Hull.

Reed's time will come; as others have mentioned, Cork going could be assessed as a vote for HR's future once the well stocked defensive and holding mid-field is reduced with Morgan's exit. I can see Reed becoming more expansive in the box-to-box mould as time goes on. If anything, Ronald seems to underrate Reed to the same extent he overrates JWP.

Indifferent from Davo and Tadic. Morgan, Fonte and Yoshida all good. Mane easily our biggest attacking threat - has provided three brilliant deliveries to Pelle, Davis and Clyne.