Saint Fan CaM

My predictions... Liverpool vs. Cardiff (1245) - Liverpool win Palace vs. Newcastle - Draw Fulham vs. Man City - City win Man Utd vs. West Ham - Utd win Stoke vs. Aston Villa - Stoke win Sunderland vs. Norwich - Draw West Brom vs. Hull - Draw, although Brom might nick it

This game has got draw written all over it. Again.

Congrats...first one is always a bit special...probably the shock!

Would place a huge burden of risk on a club operating a top Academy like Saints. Just imagine...Saints invest big bucks in the development of a youngster, but his head could be turned by big wages and off he goes. Having said that, I suspect contract conditions would be tightened...something like "we develop you until you're 18, then you commit to us until you're at least 23"...I think something like that would be OK.

Areed. Top signing, but wage demands would kill a deal possibly?

Problem is you and others just don't get the difference between attacking the subject matter rather than the poster. If everyone did that, this place might return to being an entertaining place to share views. When you post well I actually think you've got some great opinions and humour too, but all too often you allow your sarcasm to get the better of you. You're not the worst and it's not just you plus the Mods should take more action perhaps.

Agreed...we are very lucky to have two of the best English right backs in the country playing for us. It will be harsh on Calum if he loses his place to a returning Clyne IMO.

And yet another thread is hijacked and spoilt by the usual culprits. To answer the question, the coaching staff got it right completely yesterday. What it does tell me is that we need a Lallana equivelent in January as there is nobody else like him in the squad and he will not be able to sustain his current work rate across all competitions in a season. Arguably having another like him on the pitch at the same time to replace Lambert would be ideal and propel us forward as Osvaldo and/or JRod would get more service.

While he's only getting a bit part it will take longer for him to adapt perhaps, but my impression of him is he's a finisher and not so much of a team player like JRod has proven to be. Lambert has also shown in the past that he has great ability to turn provider when necessary. Linking with other players is essential to the style of football we play and Osvaldo seems unable to click in that department at the moment. He needs at least until the end of the season though.

Meh. Can't stand the heat get out the kitchen. He always looked and sounded defeated to me.

This was a good point and we were unlucky not to pinch all three, but also lucky that Remy missed a complete sitter. Sorry, but Gazza is not really at a level that befits a Prem keeper. Lambert is drifting away from the pace of the rest of the team. Lallana and Davis were superb today, but if I had to buy just one player in January, it would be an attacking midfieldersimilar to Lallana. JRod looks the business, but Osvaldo is still not proving his worth...yet.

One word on this. Cork.

Yep, completely agree - this was by far the biggest positive from this game. In many respects I would say that Cork has a better passing game than Wanyama and so perhaps deserves to retain his place if he can defend that well..

Prepared to see us try to keep possession a lot and park a bus to limit the loss. This could be a very bad loss though...probably 0-4 and Gazza put in the dock once again.

Now is the time to see whether 'the Southampton way' is ready to face its biggest test yet. Do we have the quality in the wings ready and waiting to stake a claim? My feeling is we're at least one season and two transfer windows away from being fully prepared in terms of squad depth to face Prem life in the top 6.

Not a chance of it happening. But I wouldn't put a non-match fit, unwilling player into what will prove the most difficult test of the season. Would rather play our best Academy player frankly.

And what we know for certain is Poch is not responsible for the depth of the squad. Hence he will only take a battering if he shows that his nerve is breaking. I do not believe this will happen, however I am reminded of his last season at his previous club whereby lack of resources did for him I believe.

SRL has continued to perform within the constraints imposed by the system played. The key issue is that our main scorer in the past was successful due to the type of delivery into the box - typified by his first touch goal for England. Now we don't play like that - its all about quick short pass movements with the ball being worked into box so possession is not lost and the best contribution Lambert can offer is as the provider. He's good at that, but this also needs very good finishers to be in the right position to score - and therein lies the problem...we don't have enough clinical finishers or the attacking players have yet to 'click'. The evidence is in the number of goals we score now...significantly less. But this is specifically not the fault of Lambert...its a team dilemna that Poch needs to sort out.

Massive test for some of the bit players. Perhaps Poch will blood a youngster or two as its odds on we'll find this a struggle? Can't see anything other than 0-4 result...could be worse than that even...City look great at the moment. COYS!

Just got to look at the quality in the Arse team and the makeshift defence we had to endure. Having said that, we were beaten by a stupid training ground level error by Boruc and a idiotic shirt pull from a Championship level central defender who needs someone of Lovren class to make him look good. Lambert had a terrible game and J-Rod was not much better. Once Lallana came off we lost any imputus in attack - Osvaldo really does not have a clue. It really goes to show how thin on the ground certain areas of the squad are to maintain a position near the top of the table. Not investing in those areas in January will cost Cortese his dream this season IMO.

You can see that Boruc has been the difference between the two sides in simple terms. He's generally a good keeper, but stupid mistakes like this will stop the club achieving what Cortese desires and that means his days could be numbered.

know it's unlikely, but is there anyone with a spare ticket for sale please?

This ^

No way was Boruc to blame...fantastic goal by JRod - if I didn't know better I would say he deliberately put it into the ground to humiliate the keeper. Someone previously said JWP was like Beckham...first time I've heard that, but I totally agree...he is becoming a really excellent player with incredible delivery. We should have an advantage in the 2nd half with the wind behind us...just need to modify play a little and we'll be winning this as we're playing the better football.

Draw all over this. 2-2. Mind, if Van P plays, then it's more likely to be 3-1.