spyinthesky

Rodrigues taken off at HT with an ankle injury This puts more pressure on the squad with the games coming thick and fast and an important League game at Swansea on Tuesday

If tickets were freely available I wonder what the demand would be? Potential to beat the 50k+ we took to the JPT perhaps?

Takes the shine off the win

The Philharmonic in Hope Street, about a 10 min walk from Lime Street, is always worth a visit

Add Boufal, Pied and Hesketh into the mix

Didn't know anything about Harry Maguire until last weekend's MOTD where he was promoted big style by the pundits for his display v Chelsea. Looked as though his style is similar to VVD.

Just as well we picked up 3 points v Leicester. The meltdown amongst us negative folk if we had lost on Saturday and seen our two main central defenders not available for the rest of the season would have been immense. We still have plenty to do in the League but unless there is a replacement central defender brought in what happens if Yoshi is injured or suspended?

In the circumstances I don't think that is too bad. There have been quite a few games lately, unfortunately a bit lacking in positivity, and many of us had the cost and time off work to follow the team on our European 'adventure', then I am sure all the 5k allocation would be taken up I really tip my hat to those who are off to Swansea next Tuesday If it hadn't been for this and we were

Don't know if it has been mentioned before but we lost our in form central defender, Mark Wright, with a broken leg in the last (FA Cup) semi final v Liverpool In an earlier SF v Everton our influential midfielder, Steve Williams, was hampered by injury so we don't have the best of luck

According to a report by CIES Football Observatory, based in Switzerland, Saints squad is valued at 221m euros more than their collective cost to purchase. Only four teams have better results ie Spurs @ 525m, Leicester @ 354m, Arsenal @ 279m and Liverpool @ 237m. Man Utd @ - 18m and Hull @ - 14m are the only negatives All seems rather optimistic and I guess very much dependent on how much individual players have left on their contract. Wonder what Jose Fonte was valued at for this study?

He played against Crawley in the Checkatrade Trophy too, as I recollect Wasn't put under too much pressure and have to bear in mind he is rusty after a lengthy absence but he certainly didn't look up to the rigours of Prem football on that display. All very worrying!!

Agree with this What is Steven Caulker doing nowadays!!!!!!!!!!!

Could it be season defining? Wins against Leicester and Swansea in the League and Arsenal in the FA Cup plus avoiding defeat v Liverpool - all looks promising. Poor results in the League, knocked out of both cups and even more meltdown. Add into the mix losing Jose Fonte and no adequate defensive replacement or offensive upgrade and all the good work of previous years begins to unravel big style. Sincerely hope the first scenario prevails.

I actually thought JWP played well but by the same token also thought he would make a decent Championship player. We could have played with a rush goalie as Harry Lewis a virtual spectator. Respect to the 1,000 or so Norwich fans who made the trip. What a truly awful performance from what was a Prem side last year

Whilst being somewhat disappointed about JWP's progress with the Saints and consider there are better options available (at a price), I have to agree in essence with your comments. I have never felt that JWP has ever put in less than a full shift in a Saints shirt. He is an intelligent lad who always stays on the pitch to applaud the crowd, whether his (and the team's) performance has been good, bad or indifferent. I appreciate this means little to most supporters after a crap display but at last he doesnt skulk off straight to the dressing room as is the case with some of his team mates. Perhaps I am old fashioned but I would prefer to keep my criticism of players to myself, or shared in a reasonable way with other supporters, rather than give out criticism either verbally or via internet postings. We all want players to do their best for our club and scapegoating of individuals does little to inspire confidence which is a great asset for many players.

Based on current form and notwithstanding injuries, transfers in/out what is the general view on likely points total this season? On current form, it is unlikely we would get more than 3 points from games against the top six sides, possibly only one ie Man Utd H Arsenal H Man City H Spurs A Chelsea A Liverpool A That means we would need to take between 13 - 15 points from the games against lower ranked teams to reach the magical 40 points ie Home games: Hull Bournemouth Palace Stoke Leicester West Ham Away games Swansea Watford Sunderland WBA Middlesboro Looking at the fixture list from this perspective it all seems doable but the team does need to find a way to score goals and hope that our better players (especially VVD) escape injury or suspension to ensure the squad is not put under further pressure. Hopefully the return to fitness of Boufal and Austin will help as will resolution of the central defender situation. However it goes without saying we do need to put some points on the board soon

It is a frustrating time but I cant agree with all the fingers pointed at Foster. Whilst I think he needs to be better coached about his position ie permanently stuck within his 6 yard box, apart from the Palace game, I cant see he has made any major bloomers. He would have assumed that the wall would have stood firm against what was basically a side foot free kick from Barton, so I don't blame him for this. Romeu was a little bit unfortunate to be penalised but that doesn't paper over the cracks we have going forward. Shane Long is now the very average forward I thought he was when we first signed him (I really hope he will prove me wrong again), Tadic is not firing on all cylinders and JWP not progressing as we hoped. I do think we are not getting the run of the ball but the results don't lie and it is very important we strengthen as there is definitely a relegation battle looming especially as we fail to get results against Leicester and Swansea. Beyond this I wonder how we will regress further if VVD is sold.

It would be interesting to see the result if a top team from the 30's played a team from todays Prem The tactics and conditions would be completely different. In todays conditions ie perfect pitch, light ball, physically strong and tall players able to keep hold off the ball, the Prem team would win easily. However play the game on a mud heap in the middle of winter, with a heavy leather ball, uncomfortable high cut leather boots, tackles flying in from every angle and it would be a completely different game. I still think todays team would probably win but wonder if the Prem side contained a number of foreign players, the game might not run its full course. The hefty challenges allowed in the 30's would not be well received by todays prima donna's.

Mirrors what I heard from a decent source in the City of London last month but without the 15% retained shareholding suggestion. Whatever happens I do hope it is for the good of the club but I am rather sceptical based on the results of other Far Eastern club ownerships in this country

Respect to those who are going up to Turf Moor with dodgy forecasted weather and ongoing expense of a very busy fixture list. Stay warm and safe and return with a decent result please!!

I actually did the 1963 v Man Utd at Villa Park. Went up on one of the many special trains from Central Station and, for some reason, was stood in a small group of Saints fans in the away end (main body of Saints fans were in the Holte End). In those days you could wear your colours (I had a home made blue and yellow rosette) without problems. Have been to every semi final games since apart from Leeds and MK Dons away and although getting a ticket for the Liverpool FA Cup game at WHL, had to miss out through illness.

Will Jose be writing his normal 'Captain's' piece I wonder?

Nor mine I can assure you!!

My memory may have played tricks on me as there were probably about half a dozen of 'girls' in a bigger group of Birmingham fans but I noticed them the most as I had never seen females within a group of football hooligans before.