CanadaSaint

You'd take Schneiderlin off? At times he's been the only one holding it together.

Sam's getting a bit of a pass because they're right up there but I'm sure there's a lot of pent-up frustration with the style - or lack thereof. A few bad results in a row, which I think is going to happen, and it could get nasty. Pressure city for the team if they're already commenting on it now. As I said on another thread I don't think they're a shoo-in for automatic promotion, not by any means.

I hope that's right but there's no such thing as "a minor groin injury". Many of them turn niggling and recurrent. Fingers (and everything else) crossed.

They also have Cardiff and Leicester away, and also Leeds - who have a better squad than their position shows and will benefit from the management change.

Top notch. Great timing for a trip home! Our depth is excellent - probably the best in the division (and the best we've had in a very long time), and that will count for a hell of a lot come April. Everyone keeps anointing West Ham as an automatic but I'm not convinced. There are some good teams with momentum in this division. I would laugh my arse off, pretty much literally, if they had to battle it out in the playoffs or - better still - miss out altogether.

I know these injuries are worrying but I feel much better about our depth these days.

Champions on goal difference.

Fair comment, and I agree completely about Scunny. However, Morgan and Corky are two of the players who IMO have yet to deliver the kind of consistent, high-level performances that would suggest they can be comfortable one league up. Yes - that was a "knock" on him when he arrived, deserved or not, although he's answered it very well this year. He's done well in not just consolidating but setting the pace, but we had (as a number of posters pointed out at the time) a lot of Championship-standard players in League One, with some who even seemed capable of playing at Premiership level. That was something he never had at Scunny, but now we're talking about a much bigger jump, and that's why I have some reservations. I hope - and believe - that he does know who needs replacing, and that he'll do a good job of it despite the high value he places on loyalty and togetherness. He has certainly made some very good acquisitions and worked them into our systems, as Dig Dig points out. My comment wasn't a criticism of his ability so much as a concern about the dangers of excessive loyalty to players who have been great for us but probably won't be able to cope anywhere near as well in the Premiership (Kelvin being a very good example but certainly not the only one). We have to recognize and act on that before the end of August or else we have to wait an agonizing four months before the next window opens. I'm voicing the concern precisely because I think he's a very loyal kind of guy.

I don't have many concerns about Adkins but one of them is this. He demands high-level loyalty and commitment from his players and he gives exactly the same in return. A lot of the squad closeness comes from this quality - they seem a very tight bunch. The question is whether he will be able to see the need to upgrade on all those players that are key members of the current squad but may well be unable to cut the mustard in the Premiership, and there are quite a few. Kelvin is a good example of the dilemma - one of the best regarded keepers in the Championship but IMO well short of what we'd need one division up. My worry is that Adkins' track record - getting promoted but arguably failing to consolidate - suggests that he might have problems in this area. My hope is that this occurred for budgetary reasons rather than excessive loyalty or tactical inability. I agree that it's too early for this discussion but I sure hope that someone at the club is thinking about it.

You haven't been here long, have you?

This makes nice reading: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/feb/18/southampton-derby-county-championship?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Ffootball%2Frss+%28Football%29

I just get the feeling that we're a much stronger club than we were when we were on our great run. Far more options and much more depth. Touch wood and whistle, we'll take a lot of stopping now.

Strangely, we're losing the possession battle 58/42!

Lots and lots of good signs here. It's like we're heading back to September/October/November form, but with more tactical options and more squad depth. If we can get on the boil now I don't think we'll come off it.

We're on our last sub though, DD.

Never been another one like him in my book.

Pity. He's one I thought we might look at if we get promoted!

I can't help but think of all the times that dear old Claus plodded up for corners in the utterly futile hope of scoring, and now Jos has two goals in two games.

I read it too and I don't think it's remotely clever or funny for pap to go over there and debate with unarmed people. And then again ...

After what the club has done with Rickie Lambert, who IIRC was also accused of being fat and unfit, I really fancy our chances of turning Billy Sharp into one heck of a player.

So are West Ham without Nolan and Taylor for the next two games, and without Taylor for the one after that?

Absolutely. With that result behind us and the squad strengthening, I think we can go back to October/November form.

I'm actually a bit disappointed but pleased at the same time. I thought we had more than enough to see them off if we'd had the courage to go at them as soon as they went one goal up and one man down. Still a good point, though.

Corky at right back. With him sitting on a yellow, WHU will go at him if they've got any sense. All the more important for Puncheon to keep them occupied on that side.

I think you're right.