S-Clarke

I remember when he was first linked to us, he played in a very similar way to Kaka when he was in Italy - was actually labelled the Uruguayan Kaka by many sources. It's clear he has immense natural talent, but he's not really cut out for the hustle and bustle of this league from what I've seen of him. The Italian league is OK...but very slow paced, you can take time and care on the ball. Gaston still wants to do that here, but you can't - that's why he's often harried/pushed off the ball, or rushed to give it away. It was clearly an ambitious signing and exciting signing for us, but he's not worked out as we would have hoped. I hope he can grasp Jay's position and prove himself, but if I'm honest I think it's time for us to get the cash we can and let him move on - find someone maybe a little less glamorous, but more suited to this league and more importantly - our hard working/pressing style of play. I wouldn't say he's been a disastrous signing for us or anything at that sort of level, for disastrous...look at Osvaldo, now that's a signing that will cost us for a long time to come!

A general lol @ saggy chops and QPR too, what an utter mess he's made of that job! It's not his fault though, f'sure.

When I was just a little boy I asked my mother what should I be? Should I be Pompey, should I be Saints...Here's what she said to me. Wash your mouth out son, Go get your father's gun and shoot the Pompey scum and support the Saints.

Could be an oppertunity for him now, what with Jay out. But if he continues to be made of glass himself, then there's not much future for him.

Overrated in my opinion, not the sort of level we need to replace Boruc.

Most pointless footballer, ever. Looks like we're stuck with him, but no hope of him ever actually doing anything other than beating people up.

I don't know, I think he was really pushing for it. What's the alternative? Well****. And he's not scoring goals, again - no ****. I think he had a real chance and I'm devastated for him, the horrible thing with ACL injuries - unless they are treated very well - they do seem to hang around for the career, and continuous knee knocks seem to be the effect of that. Lets hope he gets the best of care, treatment and rehab. It's a long road back for him though.

6 months is best case, this will be a 9 month job in my opinion. Utter nightmare. Ok, now let's get a scouting for a replacement. Not replacing him next year will be on par with not replacing Killer!

Would take anything MLT says about this with a pinch of salt, has a clear agenda.

That was a great away day, a master-class from Wanyama and Lovren on the day. Had a bit of luck at times and Boruc pulled off a couple of great saves, but that result sort of set the tone for our start and we just went on from there.

What is the actual point of that? Good management. Time for another Delia rallying call I think? They obviously want a bounce effect in the last game they've got, next weekend against Fulham. Avoid defeat in that and they should be OK, but lose it...and they're gone. Last 4, Liverpool,Chelsea , Man Utd and Arsenal. They're only realistically playing for 3 more points this season.

That was a clear penalty though. Would be quite easy to see Tomkins hand movement, even if he was a bit far away.

Please stop giving him the benefit of a reply, he knows what's he doing, albeit incredibly poorly. Just ignore him and he'll go away eventually.

I guess Andy Carroll will go to the world cup because he's such a handful?

What a shambles. All the ref's need to be pulled back in during the summer and taught how to referee by someone who knows. The whole officiating side of the game is a mess.

I think it was more Owen's constant thigh and groin injuries which depleted his pace, as opposed to the knee injury. Jay is still very young and with the doctors and medical technologies available at the moment, if it is that severe, then there is no reason to believe that he cannot return to the same level as is now.

Right, ok then? I get the sentiment, but Lovren is on a different level than Fonte. The beauty is that they've worked so well together this year and have clocked up a great partnership, but Lovren is the future and to progress we need to sign players who are at a similar level to that of Lovren etc. We can stay still and threaten to stagnate such as WBA and Fulham, or we can actively evolve positions in our squad to improve the starting 11 and the depth. I hope that's what we're doing. You cannot say he's been bad for us, for me...runner up to player of the season. He is an absolutely terrific centre back,a pleasure to see a player of his calibre player for my club and I for one will enjoy every moment he is here.

Top 6, competing in and around Everton's level. Without a massive sugar daddy investment and an enormous collapse of a couple of big established powers in this country, we're not going to break top 4 or top 5 anytime soon. Let's not think of that as an achievable short-term target, because it isn't. 6th, 7th and 8th is, and for a self sustaining club such us ours, with some great young English talented blended in, is a great achievement in my eyes. That's why this seasons league performance has to be seen as a positive, it's been largely built around our young players and academy graduates.

Can't recall a player who is on a season long loan, the club paid a fee. And he's only a sub for a relegation threatened french team, I'm not exactly sure he's what we wanted, want or need.

Ah well, this will all end well. For what it's worth you are being incredibly negative and glass half empty about pretty much everything, which is no surprise. All we can do is wait and see, but most are in the agreement that this will be a pretty pivotal summer in terms of our long-term aspirations.

We need someone to replace Boruc as a first choice keeper, not to provide back up to him. And that's all that Stekelenburg would do. He can't even get into the Fulham side.

Yep, he's got right back into his grove over the last 2 or 3 weeks, forced himself right back into WC contention. He's so much more than just a big tall striker.

Usually what happens, and that will then condemn MP to never speaking English again, I imagine!

“To be completely honest it’s not looking good,” said the rueful Saints boss. “We need to assess him today and tomorrow but it’s not looking good. “It’s not going to be good for him, it’s not good for the team.” He added: “I can’t really know exactly what’s wrong with him or when I’m going to see him again in a Southampton shirt. “We need to analyse him today and tomorrow and know the exact reality of his injury. “All the players are really affected, not just about the result, not just about the refereeing decisions, but more than anything about the doubt of how severe his injury is.” He'd have spoken with the medical staff who would have given some sort of initial diagnoses, so that's not good to read at all. I think its an ACL one myself, just by the way he landed and the sheer pain in his face.

Don't joke, they'll only pick this up and pretend we're their amazing rivals. They're just our little mini brothers, who we help out every now and then.