Greenridge

And, one assumes, they were still paying him.

Would be nice if Claude could find a way of letting them play a bit more. I agree, Cedric has really come on this year and dare I say it, he's a bit more 'robust' than he was last season so he's definitely coming to terms with the physicality of the Premier League. There's absolutely zero comparison to him and Cuckoo and what they bring to the team.

But it's the same old story of cutting your nose to spite your face. OK, they're not paying his salary in your example but in reality they'd rather have the £30M in the bank and buy a replacement who will contribute to the team. I'm guessing with FPP now it's even more of an issue. I get your point though and agree. Would be nice for one of the financial big boys to actually do this one day. It might make players think twice but I highly doubt it.

Nathan the Welsh boxer or Tom the footballer?

Thanks for that insight. I wasn't referring to Liverpool just us.

Apart from the first twenty minutes the team looked far more comfortable in their roles, responsibilities and the formation than previously demonstrated. The substitutions at the end disrupted us more than it did Liverpool. I appreciate he was trying the run the clock down but it got messy and this was part of the reason. Best game for me from Redmond but he needs some time with Le Tiss or someone. Those misses were, erm, not good.

Still seems a lot for a 33 year old CB. Are there any other notable cases of players of that age and position (& ability / contract length) moving for a similar amount?

Are you saying he's not doing it on purpose? It's almost like you think he's pulling squad numbers out of a hat each week. What I find difficult to understand is that managers of the calibre of Klopp, Wenger, Mourhino, Conte and Guardiola haven't latched onto Claude's innovative strategy of changing between 5 and 8 players week in week out. They're really missing out and being short-sighted.

I was thinking more up front but yes you are right. If Fonte goes then we'll have to have someone in at CB as you say it seems Gardos is not felt up to the job / fit by the club. Actually one of the Swedish posters said yesterday (I think) that he had heard Gardos has gone on loan although if that was the case you would think we would have heard officially on that score. In saying that, Gardos' whole time at Saints has been off the radar so who knows.

This year will almost certainly have to be an exception which is largely of our own doing due to our lack of recruitment in the Summer window.

That's one game. How about the rest of the season?

I see Eddie went to school on our rotation victory against them in their FA Cup game today. He even out-did Claude by changing all 11 players. Didn't end to well though.

I was comparing their relative costs and contributions to the first team. Combined fee of c£10m is not insignificant for a club like ours. I appreciate Gardos has had the injuries but the club have shown little intention of getting him back in the first team fold.

Don't think that would be a surprise to anyone. Him and Forren have been poor and expensive signings.

Yes I'm sure you're right. I think I've mentioned before but I'm still a little surprised that Claude didn't have a little gem from the French leagues that he could have (maybe still could) have brought in. Of all his extensive experience in that country we 'only' have Boufal (and Pied I guess) to show for it. It's the one position that's killing us right now. Yes I think we have some other issues to address but getting the ball in the back of the net is the biggest one and it didn't take Nostradamus to see this scenario with our strikers might turn out as it has. Even most of us dopey fans could see it as a risk.

Maybe his judgment is questionable after stating at the start of the season he was happy with the depth and quality of the squad (or words to that effect). Pretty much everyone could see we were light up top and going to rely heavily on a player with an injury history and one not yet back to full fitness / former performance levels and one not blessed with an abundance of goals. Although that could have been lip service and he was not supported in gettting further reinforcements in.

I think I'm right in saying the first time he played LB was his first team debut. The rest of his young life has been spent in advanced roles.

The costs to host the game will probably outweigh the gate receipt income from what will be a small crowd.

Forster up front with VvD and Yoshi in goal. I like he look of that except for Boufal not being available.

Two great goals from us. Two absolute shockers for them.

It was clear we were short up front before the season started. Very clear. I'm surprised we haven't yet exploited Puel's undoubted knowledge of the French leagues for our recruitment. Other than Pied of course.

Thankfully all clubs have die-hards who will go through thick and thin but the commercial need for Saints, and all clubs, is to get additional support. Unless we turn things around then crowds will start slipping for sure. I would expect a pretty low crowd for this replay.

Hopefully they'll add to their seasons haul.

To me he's the epitome of the type of player a struggling club buys in the January window when there's some panicking going on. He's 29 and his previous clubs have been Livingston, Sterling Albion on loan, Leeds in their League 1 / Champ days, a relegated Norwich team and likely relegated Hull team. Hardly an inspiring CV but maybe that's just me.

Joking aside, it was made very clear when Claude was appointed that he was tasked to develop (and showcase) the youth at SFC. The rotation 'strategy' gives him the perfect vehicle to do just that. In saying that I completely understand our business model that relies on us either buying players with potential and selling them on or developing our youth and selling them on. This being the essence of long term sustainability.