Tom28

I personally think Isgrove will be gone at the end of the season. Too lightweight and not technically good enough. He's not a youth teamer any more really either. Think he got a one year contract in the offseason; I doubt it will get renewed.

In case you were wondering, the point where you lost my interest in your post was "Yep, as CB F says".

Thought Reed might get a start; he's looked impressive off the bench in the last rounds. Only JRod for Isgrove I got wrong. Surprised JRod is playing; I suspect that means Osvaldo will be coming in for him on Saturday.

Ok. I get it now. That's how your simple mind works.

I have seen us a lot this season (every game in fact either in the stadium or live on internet). We are really good. So good I genuinely think we could break into the top four. On current form, only Arsenal, Liverpool and City are better than us in my opinion, and we beat one of those teams already.

Again, don't feel sad for me. I don't understand your bit in brackets....that's like saying 'your side of the argument is wrong, if you leave out that little bit you said'.

Don't feel sad for me. I don't. I've not been sucked in by anything. I was at Wembley for our JPT win. It was a great day out, almost exactly as you describe above. Would I swap that for Champions League nights at St Mary's? 100 times out of 100 I would. You? If you wouldn't, that's fair enough, I can't argue with that. We all have our opinions. But for me, seeing the likes of Barca come to St Mary's would blow my mind, considering we were hosting Tranmere not so long ago.

Mourinho had spent £70m on players for that season, on top of all the money that Ranieri had spent before him. Chelsea had the squad to compete in, and actually have a good chance at winning, multiple competitions. You were correct in at least one thing in your post though.

I'm pretty sure Pochettino was asked during the Stoke pre-match press conference about reports linking Saints to a defender (unnamed and position unspecified) in January and he wrote it off. Now, normally that wouldn't mean anything because he could well be keeping things quiet but there was something about his reaction that suggested they genuinely weren't looking at bringing a defender in. He looked confused by the mere suggestion.

It's starting already.

4th.

Best post of the day

Best post of the day

It's a ridiculous proposition. There's no way of knowing that's how things would pan out. What I would choose is we give it our best shot at finishing 4th or higher.

What evidence do you have for that besides your own opinion?

It's a lost cause trying to reason with some of these people. Some muppets on here think it would be better to get relegated because we win more games at Championship level and it's more fun winning games. That's what we're up against!!

I agree with that. Except the Rickie bit - with Osvaldo carrying an injury, we can't afford not to have either on Saturday. As for your first point, yes European qualification carries risk, but that shouldn't be an inhibitor. We would just need to manage those risks. I think the management at the club would know how to manage it.

I agree. I know what I meant though!

How did winning the League Cup work out for Leicester, Birmingham, Middlesbrough???

I've been to every home game except Sunderland and West Ham, and I went to Anfield, and Bristol City in the League Cup.

Not for about 10-15 years. No. You? Is it any good these days?

15-25%. Thats 15-25% more than last season. Who knows what it might be next season. If we started playing our first choice team in both cups then I'd say our chances would drop back to 0%.

I'm done arguing with small timers. You'll always have a small club, 'it will never happen to us', mentality and no amount of me posting on here will change your minds. We'll see tomorrow night won't we. I come back to my earlier point; those of you hoping for significant presence of 'first choice' players in our starting eleven I think will be disappointed. If I'm right, please try to keep the moaning and complaining to a minimum if we play a second eleven and lose, and do try to remember that maybe there is a bigger plan at the club than what you may have in mind. Thank you.

If we were to qualify for the Champions League, it would raise our profile considerably, as well as our finances. We could attract better players and build the squad to be able to compete in multiple areas.

I'm sure it does appeal to the Football Factory contingent.