austsaint

My hope that Salisu isn't another Forren is based on reported good performances in La Liga against quality attacking players. Surely he would have been found out.

Yes, more physical, more involved and he showed a touch and a passing range I hadn't seen before. I'd doubted him from the 6 or 7 appearances I had seen but happy to admit my error. His knee did seem to buckle during the injury incident - let's hope it's a ligament strain and not a major problem.

Jury no longer out on Smallbone. Had a really good game tonight (v Leicester) - good range of passing; pressing, tackling and an excellent first time shot on goal. Hope his injury is not serious.

Good summary. Thought Walcott did quite well though and when switched wide was able to provide several good crosses. Armstrong, probably our best player tonight was also guilty of coughing up possession. A very good first half fell away in the second - Leicester looked one of the better sides played this season which was compounded by the absence of Ings. Smallbone put in a good first half shift and young N'lundulu showed he should be ahead of Long in the pecking order. Diallo again impressive though the yellow card slowed his influence.

Based on the first half of the Leicester game, Smallbone looks a better player than Slattery anyway.

Unlucky to be behind. Very impressed with Diallo and fair play to young Smallbone tonight so far. Ings is a big miss of course.

I don't think Long would be a starter for many Championship teams these days. Agree though that the likes of N'lundulu, Vokins and Valery are definitely beyond League 1 level. Jury is out on Smallbone; when/if he gets his next opportunity he needs to demonstrate something more than we've seen.

Aaron "Doc" Martin comes to mind.

Hate to be pedantic but the 32 yo rapidly diminishing striker who doesn't score many goals turns 34 in a couple of days time. The two year contract extension was a baffling decision.

I find myself agreeing with MLG quite a bit recently? Adams definitely gives us a physical and hold up presence.

Diallo has to keep his place - JWP keeps his. Where does that leave Romeu?

While I agree with this - two other things are obvious. Diallo is too good a player not to be on the park regularly, and Romeu's form puts him in the "first picked" category. It's a problem, but a good one for Ralph to sort out.

Just for the record, most Saint's supporters like Sadio Mane and loved his time at St Marys. Calling him an animal seems way out of line to me - KWP did play well and his battle with Mane was one of the highlights of the game.

Having just watched the game again, several things stood out. Diallo's game was just great- his work rate, positioning, tackling and intercepting, range of passing and time on t Yep, Diallo and KWP could/should be in that team of the week. I don't think I can remember a better full game debut by an "under the radar" player than the one played by Diallo. Whoever scouted him deserves a pay rise.

Very hard to watch that final 45 minutes, but what a win - made all the sweeter with the replacement Saints and subs all playing their part in keeping out such an expensively assembled opposition. Diallo confirmed what a lot of people could see from his cameos; he's going to be a very good player and once again KWP showed he is right up in the top echelon of right backs.

I think he might be imitating your satirical piece immediately above. If he isn't.....you might be right.

That was the glaring issue for me too. Whether it's been Redmond, Armstrong or Djenepo working on the left with Bertrand, there hasn't been that overlap run and understanding between LB and wide attacker for some time. I still think Bertrand has the run in his legs but we haven't seen it consistently since Redmond was playing consistently well and on occasions Boufal. Overall you have to expect some flat performances at this point and even if just one of the disallowed goals had stood v Fulham and tonight there would be scarce room for criticism. Walcott, both midfielders, Stephens and KWP all had good games. The Ings disallowed goa was a joy to watch for the three seconds the goal stood.l

You might be right about TAA, but give me KWP over Walker any day of the week. One thing we could surely agree on is Walker-Peters has been a great buy.

The bench may have been lightweight but surely Nlundulu on for Long earlier was an obvious move and Armstrong's game was again sloppy - he could have made way for Djenepo. Forgettable game but no lack of graft and effort. KWP once again stood out....I haven't seen a better RB in the Prem than him. Midfield were ok; I thought Diallo grew into the game, and he's going to be good for the Club. Walcott and Adams had their moments too.

Nor was he playing as well as Bertrand is.

If he was a racehorse they would be checking his freezebrand markings and taking swab samples. He's earned every plaudit!

Let's hope the Echo story is right. Bertrand's been great for the Club, and he's such a lithe, athletic type I think he has 3 or 4 seasons left at a top level. Recent criticism of him slowing down and not making those overlapping runs and byline crosses might be partly under instruction and partly due to the patchy form of Redmond and Djenepo.

I'm not as confident he will boss the game, but his brief appearances and track record point to him fitting in well. Fair to say though, he is being asked to fill big shoes; Romeu has been superb.

Yes, Romeu, KWP and Vestergaard were all outstanding today. Romeu now not just a DM but has licence to get forward and thread passes into dangerous areas. I thought Vest may struggle with the speed of their attack but he read play well, stayed calm apart from that moment with RB and delivered passes VVD would have been happy with. Is there a better RB in England than KWP? Has to be the best bit of business Saints have done for quite a while. Theo combined well with KWP and really put the blow torch on their RB. Bertrand's an interesting one - it's not long ago he was marauding down the flank and sending great crosses in, particularly when Redmond was combining well, as was Boufal at one point. I wonder whether the patchy form of Redmond and Djenepo has interrupted the fluency of his game. It's certainly blunted the attacking threat on our left channel. Still a very encouraging performance after that first 15 minute blitz and as others have said, in the end City seemed happy to waste time and play a containing game

Settle down Ginge. Up until a year ago, JWP was not living up to the many chances and opportunities he was given - fair play to him and Ralph, his last 12 months have seen his outfield game improve and narrow the gap on the skill of his dead ball delivery. Anyway, good to see you're having a laugh...have a good Xmas, all the best.