S-Clarke

That was a potentially tricky game which we just swatted aside like it was no bother. That second half was as good as we've played all season, just too good for them. It doesn't matter how good teams at this level play against us if we play like that, they just can't get near - it's game over at that point. We're playing like a PL side in the wrong league right now. No one had a bad game, no one had a 'good' game either - everyone was 9/10 without doubt. I was really impressed with Smallbone today, his use of the ball was superb and he was everywhere on the pitch - a real presence in there. In fact the CM area was just heads and shoulders above them, they were truly dominated in there. I never really understood the negativity towards Fraser when he signed here. He was always someone, as an opposition fan, that I dreaded coming up against and he's showing us exactly why you'd dread a player like him if you were on the opposite side. He runs all game, tackles, chases, hassles and he's got genuine quality - he's a proper old fashioned throwback type wide man, really love those sorts of players and there aren't many if any as good as him at this level. Another PL player at the level below. Since September what we have done is nothing short of incredible, I didn't see it coming. It's an historical run that has clawed ourselves back into the automatic promotion debate, and this run has meant that we will likely be in and around that debate for the entire season now. It's going to be a really exciting second half where we genuinely have something to play for now. There will be bumps and dents along the way, no doubt about it, but all I can say right now is bring it on - play as we are and no one can handle us at this level.

Other departments underneath the first team will sign players, this is not a signing that's anything to do with the first team. All clubs recruit at all their levels, but social media means that even the most random young kids names get leaked and it's published as ''Southampton sign x'' - but it's not like that, we've just recruited a kid. It's always happened. Signing a kid for the academy is not linked in any what to what we do with the first team today. They're two separate streams.

FFP is the biggest load of bollocks the football suits have given us. I totally understand why we are constrained, due to our massive outlays in 2022 and Jan 2023 - but we've pretty much recouped all of that through sales, so it should provide us some flexibility. It's only 'fair' for the big clubs as they can continue to spend as their commercials will generate their shortfalls, whereas the smaller clubs - which this was supposed to help - end up more constrained than they were previously. Go figure.

Oh yeah no doubts, it will probably trigger a bigger rebuild than this year given the loans we'd lose as well as our remaining permanent players and out of contract guys. Will prob end up needing to build an entirely new 11, with less money and a lower rep. Certainly won't be easier. We'll worry about that in May should it become a thing though!

Absolutely, it's fun when you're a big fish and have the muscle to compete at the top end, but 2 more years at this level and that advantage will have evaporated and we will transition into a Stoke, Swansea Watford etc quite quickly. This league is a bitch to get out of, that's why we seriously need to take this season by the horns as the options we have at our disposal are ridiculous for this level (KWP being one). We're giving it a good shot now though, really looking forward to the 2nd half of the season. I don't want to think about what will happen should we fail this season though...!

You're on your other persona today then. Hard to keep up with you. Who will you be tomorrow?

I do remember seeing some calls for him 'as a name', along with shouts for Gerrard and Lampard. No idea why as none of those have ever showed anything in management.

Birmingham getting what they deserve, perfectly stable under Eustace but their owners wanted celebrity coverage over in the US, so they picked a celeb manager rather than an actual manager. They'll go down imo, Rooney won't be there by the time they do, but he's killed them.

Walsall just destroyed last season's giant killers, Grimbsy, 6-1 at their place. Not one to take lightly!

He did take a bit of a knock at the end of the first half during a corner melee - poss a hit to the head, not 100%

We only got 10. Martin out.

Definitely take a point at the start of the day, no matter how dysfunctional Norwich are this season they do still have flashes of high quality for this level. We pretty much bossed the ball as expected, but we weren't very penatatrive with it. We didn't seem to take many risks in the final third and played it safe quite a lot, it was a really drab game if i'm honest. We may have edged it in terms of deserving to win it, but I can't be too upset with a 1-1 either. 10 points from 12 over Christmas is absolutely insane, these lads have pulled it out of the bag during a brutal run. These periods are the periods where either your season dies a death or it's breathed into life - and we certainly breathed genuine life into it for the 2nd half.

How does that work? Carvalho is a wide player, Che is our only fit out and out striker. We need a striker even if Che stays, so if he goes I cannot see any possibility that his replacement would be a wide player. It would leave us so unbelievably short in a proper number 9 and that would cost us. I hope the club aren't that daft!

Good player, he was excellent for Burnley last year - him and Tella used to go in tandem quite a bit, either side - very similar players. Sounds like he's had injuries which is why he hasn't played much this year, but Burnley's approach to this entire season has been truly bizarre in general terms - forget about the players who got you there, and regress with players who are worse.

He got a season ending ACL the week after he joined them.

It feels a bit OTT celebrating a win over Utd these days, it's kind of expected. You've had a really poor day if you don't.

I think the quality of the PL this year is as bad as I can remember it. Credit to Luton for coming back and almost snatching it, but what are Chelsea doing? They're just a mess. Luton giving it a good go, but competent teams wouldn't have let them do that. Everton have had 10 points deducted this season and are above the bottom 3. No clear team for the title either, just a miss mash of inconsistency. Makes for entertaining viewing, but the quality is certainly lacking.

Such a class CB - him getting a consistent role in the side is one of the main reasons why we are so good defensively. The bloke is a leader, very vocal, good on the ball (technically) and his head is like a magnet. He's ticks pretty much all boxes you want from a modern day CB. We did well to get him, a massive coup at the time. The obligation to buy 'if' we go up was another mega clever bit of business - just have to hope we get there.

THB won't be far away once he starts playing in the PL, he's already PL quality really - stunned why Burnley didn't make a push for him, they had a weird transfer window. Edozie still has a long, long way to go. So much experienced quality in front of him, he'll need a season or 2 of playing consistently in the PL before he's in the discussion - similar situation as Eze I think, probably never going to be 'quite' good enough.

One of the toughest away games, I see it similar to the Watford game. Some good players in their team, but not a particularly 'good' team. Lots and lots and lots of criticism of their manager as well, I think 90% of their fan base want shot of him. It's not a happy place at the moment, so I hope we can take advantage of that.

I thought Plymouth made that difficult, they defended really compact and it was hard to find space. The criticism I had was we didn't move it fast enough at times in the first half, but our approach in the second half was more direct - the goal for Che was just a run over the top, which totally beats their low block and bypasses that number 10 area. They should have been 1-0 up though, no doubts about that. Not sure what the lino saw to suggest he was offside, but we'll take it. It was the double blow for Plymouth though as we played it quickly, caught them totally out of shape and for the first and only time we had some space in that number 10 - and Charly took that chance. The goal at the end was frustrating because there was simply no need, we got ourselves into a muddle and Bazunu was given the ball back when he wasn't best placed to deal with it - although you can't excuse what he did. All Gk's have moments like that though, just part of the life of being a goalie. I'm absolutely stunned at what we're putting together right now - we're better at this stage (points wise) than we were the last time we got promoted from this league. To come from where we were, at points 12-13 behind the top 2, to now being just 3 points off 2nd spot with an equal goal difference is amazing. This squad was always capable of doing this though, so it's nice to actually see a structure in place which is allowing our PL quality all over the pitch to dominate this level. Leeds were best placed to nab 2nd, but now they're 6 points behind us so you have to say the focus is now on us. I didn't think we'd be in the automatic promotion talk at all, but we've turned it around and have put ourselves as one of the favourites to get that 2nd spot now I think.

Shame about Larios - but I remember seeing him play for us and thinking he'd snap in half if someone tackled him. He did not look like he had the stature for English pro football, not sure he ever will. He'll make a career for himself in the lower leagues in Spain I reckon.

I thought the first half was a bit laboured from us, we were giving the ball away too much and when we had it we were too slow to move it. The goal wasn't really coming, but we'll take it! Good finish by THB, could have easily skied that. Second half it was far more open, I think QPR are better than the table suggests, but we did cope with their attack - in the second half it was always us most likely to score in my opinion. Adams - Jesus Christ, through on goal and he just passed it back to the keeper like he was his own player. That is standard Che though, it's what you always get from him no matter what level. We really need to evolve from him and get an actual striker soon. Defensively, once again, sound. THB and Bednarek are one hell of a partnership, really impressed with them. Fraser brought so much when he came on (again) and stretched the play whilst they were pressing. It wasn't an amazing performance, better 2nd half, but we are on record-breaking runs of results here. These sorts of runs get you auto promotion, this season is a bit of a freak at the top though. The table is really starting to take shape though - 3 relegated teams far and away from everyone else, Ipswich the only odd anomaly really. I think you can nail us 4 on for the playoffs, but that 2nd spot is still there and this Christmas period will be pivotal. Leeds have got as much of a sight on that as we have. I do look at the final game of the season and wonder how huge that could potentially be.

Our focus needs to be replacing Ross long-term, not filling in for him. The club needs to admit they made a mistake with his signing and start again with a striker who is a long-term option or us. Stewart won't be, and neither will Adams.

A pointless risky signing when we didn't need to make one. We had the money to spend on a proper striker who was fit, but we didn't. By the time he plays for us it will be almost 2 years since he's been playing regular football. He isn't coming back to the level he was, it's pointless hoping for otherwise. A disaster of a signing. We need to use January to replace him, not fill in for him. He's done here.