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Palace will field a pretty strong team (they always do in the cups), and we'll likely pick a far weakened team. However, having Stephens, Yoshida and Targett might be giving McCarthy a very busy night, and we'll likely get smashed. That said, Yoshida had a good game against Prague - I just wouldnt trust them with the same continual passing along the back four as that game though without Virgil there.

It would be pretty disgraceful not to get 30k+ there tonight. Have been looking forward to this since the last day of last season. See you on the train from / to Waterloo tonight. Oh, and lets get a few chants of Southampton in Europa-pa-pa-pa going tonight. Hopefully the club give it a blast over the PA.

Notice that Rosicky now plays (again) for Sparta Prague. Never heard of any of their other players though!

Love the new version. Gutted they didnt get 'Pierre Emile Hojbjerg in midfield' into a line though.

I would be surprised if anyone (except the 'you can never say anything not 100% positive' band) would disagree that we look a bit light across the squad considering the number of games we'll have this season with the Europa games, and the injury records of a few players in our squad.

He'll likely be out more than he plays. Plus is known for being an absolute ****. Hardly an example i'd want at the club, unless being loaned out has given him a much needed message and kick up the behind and he's prepared to put his head down, try and keep fit and prove that he's a good footballer.

Any word on the good lad Gardos?

Has that been proven? I think the whole point of him possibly being loaned out is that he currently isnt at a level performance (and possibly fitness) wise to warrant being in our first team. If we get someone in who's better then I dont see what the problem is. The problem last year was the board relying on J-Rod getting back to the same level of performance and fitness as previously and it didnt happen...

Hesketh definitely deserves a chance, always looked good when i've seen him being skillful and with an eye for a key pass. Has a pretty good shot on him too (JWP take note). Johnson and Olomola also looked good, wouldnt be surprised to see Hesketh and Olomola get first team playing time in the not too distant future.

What time's the game? Be interesting to see which 'senior' players play.

He was out a while with an injury when first here and struggled a little for fitness, however, he seems to have good technique and does get stuck in and has a good range of passing, so think he'd be good alongside a bigger 'enforcer' type. He played pretty well in quite a few games I saw last season, but maybe didnt particularly stand out, but seemed pretty consistent, unlike Romeu and Ward-Prowse who are both prone to the odd stinker. I reckon he's more likely to score from open play than Ward-Prowse too.

Uh oh

Always liked the look of Hesketh, and should've had a couple more assists with more clinical finishing from J-Rod and maybe one or two others. Think he'll get a few chances this season. Rodriguez looks a bit of a shadow of himself still - grabbed a goal but also a few very tame efforts and not running through defences like he used to. Have got my fingers crossed he stays fit and works himself back to where he was but it'll still need time and at the moment he's still a little bit away from being ready for regular first team football from what I've seen. Good to see quite a few under 18s playing with the older age groups and looking good. Pretty sure the trialist QPR keeper didnt earn himself a contract...!

Fonte wont move to a club outside of European football... Surely?! haha! You can never know with the world of greedy footballers. I think if he leaves it's an absolute disgrace considering the amount we're paying him, the number of new improved contracts we've given him and the promise of coaching role etc.

They did tweet about him being at the match etc so dont think they would've made anything of it if he was then going to leave

I think a young, relatively inexperienced player can fully accept that they are below a full England international in the pecking order? Doesnt mean we dont want him - just that we might want him to gain more experience...

I've always thought he (and Hesketh) had something about them that meant they could well make it at Saints. McQueen seems much stronger than Hesketh though, so perhaps more likely to get there? Would be good to see him stick around and see if we can put him in for a few early cup games or some time off the bench and see what he can really do.

Fair play!

Jeez this would be a great signing.

It remains to be seen. I think most fans are not holding their breath but will be pleasantly surprised if he does more than a few games and photoshoots.

Bevis Mugabi?! haha

They would probably love it and blame someone we had paid 10 million for, even if they had a decent game

It's looking increasingly like we do want this to be the case, and it's been documented in the past that we want something like 5+ academy products in each match day squad. Always liked the look of Hesketh (reminds me of a young Lallana - possibly with better finishing), and think Reed will feature a bit more this campaign, possibly also Stephens - although likely behind VVD, Fonte, Gardos and Yoshida, so not sure how many chances there'll be there. I thought a few of the loanees got rave reviews? Seem to remember Lloyd Isgrove getting a fair bit of praise and Jason McCarthy was voted either Player or Young Player of the year at Wycombe albeit in League 2.

A few who have done good things in the u18s/21s (Jake Vokins especially) and a few others coming in who must be pretty decent. Looking forward to hearing a bit more about some of these kids over the next 2/3 seasons. Also, Harlem Hale looks like a proper badboy.

Not a position we need players with Bertrand and Targett, (so definitely fingers crossed not linked to Bertrand out) but he did look very promising at the start of last season before a nasty injury ruled him out for most of it...