St Marco

We still have plenty of time to buy some players. I think what worries people is that this season we will have lost Clyne, Morgan and Toby. However you want to look at it those three players were huge for us last season. To replace them with proven quality will not be cheap. Martina is a squad player and I hope he does well. But he isn't at the same level as Toby or Clyne and I think you have to say that is fact. We have a few weeks until the 1st game in the Europa league and I really hope the club doesn't just panic buy now.

But it would appear we didn't have a bid even accepted for him. I don't know if we even got to the stage where you can speak to Toby. I think the whole "legal action" thing ****ed them off and they chose not to deal with us. If a club did that to us I doubt we would want to do business with them either. What will be interesting though is to see if the club follow through on that threat or let it go. Personally I would just let it go. He is their player now, we ****ed up by waiting so long.

Welcome to the forum. I don't buy it for a second. Firstly are you seriously saying AM could not afford £1.5m? And then saying if we offered them £15m they would reject it? How can they not have the money and then reject a big money offer for a player who they want to sell? Seems a bit contradictory no? Thirdly if someone threatens you with legal action I doubt it will endear you to them will it? You are less likely to want to deal with someone like that. I have no idea what happened but what I do know is nobody seems to have answered the question I asked yesterday. Why did we leave it until the last minute to buy the player when we had an agreement to buy him? If a deadline had passed which results in us getting compensation why didn't we buy him before that as was our right to?

"‘I was there on Saturday, I looked out of the window and the queues were ridiculous" Bit harsh isn't it, doesn't he know they are in the fourth division? Can't be that bad?

I been in NY for the past month so not really kept up with the whole Toby thing. But skimming through this is what I don't understand either. Why did we wait until the contract/agreement was about to expire? We should of paid the agreed amount the moment the window opened. You can't blame Spurs for wanting to buy a player who is available. We should of had it done and dusted ages ago. If we had an agreement to buy the player before a set deadline (when it expired) and we didn't then we ****ed up.

Yuk what a terrible looking kit

Like him or hate him without him we wouldn't be where we are now. To say he is un-proven in the PL is laughable. He left when we were 9th...

These are the ratings based on performances http://www.whoscored.com/Teams/18/ They are pretty interesting. Would be great to see Reed get some starts next season as he has a bright future. JWP is rated our worst outfield regular and hard to disagree really. Surprised at Forsters numbers but I guess it is hard for a keeper to get 8-9's based on performances. In the whole league Morgan was the 9th best player. Shows why he is in such demand.

Thought it was a penalty myself. I think we would of been annoyed if it was the other way around and not given. But should not have been a red card at all. Defoe was not in control of the ball and was not denied a clear shooting chance. So to get a red was very very harsh. JWP though had a very poor game again and think a break would do him good.

So mystic Jeff how do you see our summer going then? Also when can we expect that US consortium to take over like you said? Personally I start to get worried when old Les starts coming out talking about transfers. Especially when he says "Our intention is not to sell" etc. Leaves it open for the "player wanted out, we got a great deal" comments.

Personally I define it as this "a person or thing that is competing for the same object or goal as another, or who tries to equal or outdo another; competitor. " By that logic everyone in the league is a rival as we are trying to outdo them, be better than them. As you mention Portsmouth that is a true rivalry that has been developed over a long period of time. We don't dislike each other simply because of our geographical locations. We have a long history together. We have probably played each other competitively around 70-80+ times. We have played Bournemouth twice in the league in the past 55 years. It doesn't have that rivalry because there has been no history to build up. No emotion, no ill will of each other. While some along the coast may try and hype it up and create a rivalry I myself will remember the good that we did for them. We have sent them countless players, we have had friendlies with them. Let them use our facilities and staff. And as much as they hate it being said we helped them in their need for help financially. These things do not sound like the actions of a rival. Would we do that for Pompey? No chance. When they were in financial **** we just laughed at them. So as I said it isn't about how close you are to someone. It is about the relationship you have with one another. All my Bournemouth fan friends wish us well and the same goes for my Southampton ones. Our relationship has always been a good one and I have no doubt it will remain that way. Who knows if Bournemouth establish themselves and stay in the same league as us then that history and emotion can change into something else. But right now they are only a rival in the sense that I want to beat them, get three points and finish above them. No different from Man Utd or Leicester.

Delighted to see them come up, they deserve it after playing so well. A remarkable achievement to get from where they were to the PL. That said I don't see them as rivals. They are along the coast about 30 miles. Reading are about 40 and I don't see them as rivals either.

Thought we deserved to win that game. Our defence kept them quiet especially Kane. Davis should of stopped first goal and done better with the second. S Davis I felt played better than what some are saying on here. Was always involved. Made some decent headers from their corners. Did some good passing and a couple of nice runs. Got himself into some great positions and should of scored at least once. Some shocking misses. But that has been the story for a few players recently. Pelle looks like his old self again, chasing balls and harassing defenders. Mane was probably motm for me. Total live wire with some neat tricks. Nightmare for defenders. Although I think he dived at least once. Roko needs to have a word. JWP did some decent corners today but in play was just a passanger I think taking him off for Long was a good move. Long was more effective in play and that cross for Pelle was sublime. Elia did ok too, some nice corners that Fonte was unlucky not to score from one. All in all I think keeper should of done better.

Davis - Miss = Can't really blame him as not played much but when he has to come in don't think we can rely on him. Replace in summer. Forster - Hit = Think he has done well overall. Has not had to do too much and has made a few mistakes but will learn and improve. Clyne - Par = Started off great but since Christmas has not really been himself. Maybe the contract/future stuff is affecting him. Bertrand - Hit = Been quality and very consistent. Great buy. Fonte - Hit = Probably our best player this season. Solid player and has improved a lot since the start of the season. Alderweireld - Hit = Another consistent player, great first season. Hope we can keep him. Yoshida - Par - Has done alright when required. But don't think he is a starter. Will need someone in summer. Gardos - Miss = Not really done anything, seems very injury prone. Replace in summer. Targett - Hit = One of the youngsters who has a big future in my opinion. Will improve a lot. Schneiderlin - Hit = Great season for us. Wanyama - Hit = Same as above. JWP - Miss = On the contrary to what someone wrote above. He doesn't have it all....No speed, no trickery, no strength, can't shoot, can't tackle. And I don't believe he is a set piece specialist as some claim. Will need to improve a lot next season to justify being here. If his position is to be the advanced CM position then he will have to start chipping in with goals. Davis - Miss = He has not done bad at all but the recent performances have been pretty poor. I think time has caught up with him. Replace in summer. Tadic - Hit = Our top assister and has contributed with important goals. However he seems to have no consistency. One minute he can be brilliant and the next terrible. But for a first season I think 7 assists and 5 goals is a good return. Elia - Miss = Not sure why he is here tbh. Reed - hit = Very solid defensive midfielder when brought in. Has a bright future ahead of him. Be nice to see him get more game time. Djuricic - Miss = Same as Elia Long - Miss = Was never going to justify the price tag. Always gives 100% effort and chases everything even when it seems lost. But technically not very good. Can't take people on and shooting woeful. Replace in summer. Mane - Hit = Our best attacking player without a shadow of a doubt. Might be worth playing him as a forward. Pelle - Par - This is the hardest one to judge imo. Pelle is a quality player. The first half to the season he was amazing. Since Christmas he just doesn't look right. The effort and ability seem to have gone. Needs to regain his composure in front of goal. Koeman - Hit = Not sure how anyone could say he has not been a hit. Everything about him has been great. His interviews, his honesty. It is very refreshing. My only concern is a lack of a plan B when things are not going well. Continuing to play people out of form regardless of other options is a bit Burley esque. But I have no doubt once we move a few players on he will get the right replacements in.

Wanyama out, Toby out, Bertrand took a knock so will see if he ok. Pelle and JWP/Davis woefully out of form. Think we can afford to put some youngsters in for the next game. Based on recent performances I don't think it is likely we would remain 5th/6th anyway. Not enough firepower.

He clearly is a good player just going through a terrible run of form. You can't really blame him. My concern is Koeman keeps playing players who are struggling for consistency. Pelle and JWP being the main ones. Has to be time for a change for the next game. We won't get 4th now and dropping to 8th would take a spectacular **** up. Let Reed, Taggart, Mcarthy, Mqueen and Seager have a run out in the remaining games.

JWP done **** all since he came on. That foul was stupid to give away when we are chasing the game

You are having a laugh. We have dominated the game from start to finish. The only time they have got near our goal is when we make mistakes. They haven't got there by being a good team...

Stoke are terrible. We should be winning this one.

Should of tipped it over tbh

And that is how not to take a corner!

That's how you take a corner JWP

Awesome play by Tadic there

This should be our starting 11 every game. Look far more balanced around the pitch.

Haha pretty logical subs as neither helping us keep the ball. Should allow Long to go further forward.