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No Hojbjerg in the squad - injured?

Would definitely back this. If Forster's injured (holding his leg, very slow etc) then he shouldn't be playing - his performances haven't warranted continual selection and surely the new guy cant be that bad?!

All I know is Isgrove and Gazzaniga almost certain to go, probably Stuart Taylor too?

Ever: Le Tiss (obviously) Current: Potentially Boufal but currently Van Dijk

Has he been unveiled yet?

So many ITKs have told us it's done, he's definitely here etc etc. Look out for his unveiling at Saints (or Sunderland) by lunchtime I guess!

He has also played quite a few very dodgy passes straight to the opposition (including in the Liverpool game) - perhaps not unlike Yoshida used to do sometimes. He's also redeemed himself being good in the air and have seen him make a few decent runs with the ball. Lets see how he does. He would be the perfect player for a bit of the famed rotation, but being relied upon to be a premier league quality centre back straight away is a massive risk.

Last couple of seasons we have known we're short of depth up front and at centre back. We sold most of the goals from last season and relied on the injury prone J-Rod and Austin (surprise - both are currently injured!) and Long, who's never scored more than a handful of goals in a season. We've tried to counter this with Boufal (signed whilst injured, and has been on and off injured) and now Gabbiadini (haven't seen him yet), but neither are the main front man we need since Pelle left. Maybe we're moving into more of a Liverpool attacking midfield / forward role formation, but we're not scoring many at the moment so fingers crossed Gabbiadini hits the ground running. We've sold our captain and starting centre back with the promise that he wouldnt go without a replacement. That replacement wasn't Yoshida, as we all knew that if him or Van Dijk got injured we'd be relying on someone with no experience at this level (and who hasnt stood out as an amazing prospect before - Stephens) and someone who's been out injured for near on 2 years (Gardos). Surprise surprise, Van Dijk gets injured the next match and Stephens gets chucked in at the deep end. He hasnt done badly so far, but he's obviously still learning and unfortunately, looks like at the moment he might make mistakes leading direct to goals. Overall, we've tried to address the striker situation, so lets see how that works out, but is this guy really going to score 3 a game to be better than the ones we concede? Puel's been given a pretty tough hand with the squad noticeably weaker than last season, but if we can get Boufal and Gabbiadini to be playing regularly and on form, fingers crossed we can start putting the ball into the back of the net more often.

A worryingly slow news day considering the very obvious holes in the squad. Reed needs to pull the striker and centre back out of the bag otherwise there'll be a lot of very unhappy fans. Can't keep cheaping out on us Les! Haven't lost hope yet but it's very unlike Saints to leave it so late.

2.5 more points than having Gardos and Stephens at centre back? So we're only going to get another 5 or 6 points all season?!

We are ridiculously short of goals so would be crazy to sell a striker even if we are bringing one in. We have a lot of injuries - we're another injury short of a bit of a crisis up front (like we are at the back). Seems very arrogant of J-Rod to be pushing for a move when we helped rehabilitate him for 2 years, gave him a new massive contract during that time and have got a goal for god knows how many hundreds of thousands of pounds we've paid him. He wasn't playing previously because he looked poor and well off the pace in the early games of the season, and we had a striker scoring goals. Has looked better (and much fitter) recently and is hence getting games. He's still being rotated as he has tired near the end of games and we need to manage his fitness as he'll hopefully keep getting fitter and stronger. Would be a shame if he left but you never know in football I suppose.

LOL! I hope he's a better player than playa!

Didnt watch all of the match (can you blame me?!) but was he really that bad? Didnt look awful in the 10 or so minute snippets I tuned in to. McQueen should have stopped one easily, Stephens was misplacing passes and Lewis should have saved the fifth. Like you said, he's been out ages, hopefully he's still on the way back and is understandably rusty. Would however be very concerned if we dont get at least one centre back in.

Why did we sign Taylor if he isnt even going to play in a game like this? Lewis isnt ready, and this could do more harm than good for him

Did really well last night in his first proper test. Won a LOT of headers, swept up after others mistakes, and a few dodgy passes aside generally looked very good. Would have been a travesty has that 'penalty' been given at the end - you know it's not a penalty (and therefore a massive dive) if Carragher doesn't even think it is!!

Been pretty impressed with Sims when i've seen him as he offers something a few of the others don't - the desire to get forwards and take someone on. Surprised he hasnt played a bit more, but sure he'll get plenty of game time (mostly off the bench) to the end of the season, and I'm sure he'll improve his decision making and be a useful player for us. With regards to the other academy products: McQueen - been very impressed with him, looks solid at left back and offers a lot going forwards. Looks more of a natural footballer than Targett. Reed - has done ok but nothing particularly special in the few chances he's had. Can be a bit rash. Stephens - not really tested - wouldn't be surprised if gets ripped apart if plays tomorrow though... We cant expect him to come from nowhere to a first team centre back so hopefully we wont have to and he gets a few more games off the bench til the end of the season. Hesketh - Real shame he seems injury prone as has looked the real deal in his few appearances. Continually the best player on the pitch in the u23s and can score goals from outside of the box!!

Well he's well and truly c**ked that one up hasnt he. Wet Sham? Really?! I suppose their fans think they're the best club ever, but most of those I've met are cockney idiot lad types who arent on the brightest side. They probably think they're getting some sort of bargain here with the Euro's winning centre back - little do they know he's likely to wrestle someone down for a penalty in the first few games. I dont wish him well - he was the captain and paid very well (with the offer for more) but it wasnt good enough for someone who spent a few weeks hanging out with Mr Ego Ronaldo and just proved himself to be as greedy as the others (but with less ambition). A move purely fueled on money - I'd suggest we all print off some 'monopoly money' to throw at him from the crowd when he returns!

Agreed - constantly lowering expectations, and expecting Reed to ignore the obvious. Reed's done a good job in the past, but no striker and no centre back might be taking it a bit too far!!

Here's the low down on the players VVD - First name on teamsheet Yoshida - Now First Choice by default - has looked shaky in the past but generally good this season Stephens - ONE appearance at centre back where he was totally untested. Looked ok in a couple of games at right back but no real evidence is good enough to start in the prem at centre back Gardos - Been on and off injured for about 2 years, and only made the bench once(?) this season with zero first team appearances. Had previously looked good in a few matches, but would be a massive risk to think he'll play much. Cuco - OK as right back cover, again never seen at centre back but I've got a feeling could be a bit of a liability. McQueen - Why would he play centre back?! We'd be getting really desperate if that was the case. Jones - Looked pretty good in u23 games, but never made a first team appearance and would be a massive gamble to throw into mix at such a young age for a centre back Wood - behind Jones in the pecking order, doubt would get a look in at the moment. If one of VVD or Yoshida gets injured or banned for a significant length of time, would we really be alright with totally unproven players as their replacements. Maybe ok if we're happy to keep losing to save a bit of money, but would stink of Saints being cheap.

Is Stuart Taylor ever going to get a game for us?! Seems a fairly pointless signing if they thought Lewis was up to it. Lets hope he doesnt do anything stupid tonight like the penalty in the first leg, as other than that he looked ok.

That's not really true though is it... Maybe missing their best 4 or 5 players, but they still played Gabriel, Gibbs, Coquelin, Elneny, Xhaka, Ox, Ramsey and Iwobi for large parts of the match, and all of those make either the first team or bench every week. I agree that they'll probably field a slightly stronger team for the FA cup game, but to say we only beat their 3rd team is a bit harsh.

If Wilson was available (unlikely, especially for the price we'd want to pay) he'd be a good shout for sure.

I think this might break the forum - we've found something everyone can agree on!

Puel is in my opinion obviously being pushed to promote and play academy players by the powers that be - just read the commentary that came with his appointment, his continual rotation of players, (somewhat) unexpected debuts / selections, the 'promote from within' quotes about new players when we're obviously short in areas, and perhaps the least subtle clue - the massive bigging up of the famed academy products on our official sites / social media whenever they get into the matchday squad or play... I'm not saying this is a bad thing - but we can only sell so many great players and be able to unearth another Ox / Walcott / Bale from the academy... JWP is obviously the managements next big hope but it hasn't quite happened (as yet).

City, Chelsea, Utd, Spurs etc would be out of sight by now with all these chances we've squandered! Come on J-Rod!