david in sweden

Ings - Guidetti - Dybala - Tanda - Corona - Gyasi - Garcia - Kruse - Milic - Scamacca - Zarate - Kampl - Schneidge - Muriel - and Elia (of yes, well we did sign him...albeit on loan). .....but all the others are just a few selected from those named on various sites and in newspaper articles in the last couple of months......and we probably won't sign any of these. Sometimes I really wonder where journo's get their info. / gossip / from ...or are they all just playing Fantasy Football, like ordinary fans do?

AGREE -good analysis. He was probably worth the £6 million that Hull paid, but we made them an offer they couldn't refuse.

or even if it was Jack Wilshere (sic)..it would have been replayed on Sky every week for the rest of the season.

......yes.....(as was Jay Rod when he was finally allowed to play up front last season.)

AGREE, but it was a long hop, he was unchallenged and the goalie was well off his line. Mane put a great spin on the ball, MLT would have been proud of that one.

oh tell me about it, Minty. The media tried to diss him years ago because of his attitude, but he single-handedly won many international games for Sweden on his own. He's the stand out player at PSG, in what is a " not very exciting " French league, where he plays like CR..... but against big international opposition ....he often goes AWOL.

just watched the BBC interview with Clyne. When asked the difefrence between Poch and Koeman , he said that MP was more technical, but Koeman told them to go out and show what they can do. TRUE - although Poch's style was a step up on the " Adkins diet "....many players have talents they can't express when told to go out and DAJ .....it may get points, but stifles their natural skills. Koeman was a maverick who was inspirational in his playing days, and it's rubbed off on the squad. His goal-scoring record would put a lot of international strikers to shame. We've seen a new side to quite a few players, because without him we might have expected the likes of Clyne, Cork and Wanyama to go another 100 games before scoring another goal.... so far this season - our defenders have almost as many goals as in the whole of last season, yet we have a better defensive record than last season (so far), and the midfielders have already passed last seasons goal tally.

I'd go along with a vote for Toby or Clyne, but I'll save my end of season vote for Jose Fonte. Taking over as captain, he seems to be in total control and looks the real thing both on and off the pitch.

Agreed .....although I'm very surprised he's got away without a couple of yellow cards so far....

when you see a good team selected and then turning in a great performance, people are always inclined to say - we don't need him, he'll never get a game.... until the squad is suddenly decimated by injuries, suspensions and maybe an eventual transfer out. Surely the last couple of months has proven that you can never have too many extra players. When we are forced to put 4 Academy lads on the bench, it's obvious that we are short of fit players, and we need everyone available. It's good to have promising youngsters, but they can't all become " the ideal replacement " overnight.

I used to think the same about Nick Holmes,(all those years ago)... he rarely got MOM award, but always put in a shift.

after all that recent criticism, it almost seemed like he was being compared (unfavourably) to Ali Dia one match .....and then ended up playing like George Weah in the next.

Pellé has had so many near misses recently, you have to feel he'll surely get 3 or 4 goals in a game... sooner or later.

More of the Koeman humour, I see. (Sounds like the typical Redknapp quote that they were going to get Messi on loan for the rest of the season - but end up with Defoe instead. Agreed - there's always room in our squad for an " up-and-coming player ". Can we afford him, though?

despite the number 3 on his shirt, he nearly always ends up as substitute right back, and not so often at the back...or on the left. (I'm talking about Yoshida BTW -as some people seem to have drifted away from the OP.) - has rarely had a run of games in the past so as to be called ..consistant, but has quite looked capable in the last few outings. He knows the club.. and the formation and his team mates - certainly a better bet than importing ...yet another CB. Good decision.

well......he's halfway to Sheffield just now. Will he get an invite up there for tomorrow ......I wonder. He must surely be in the first team squad soon. 9 goals in 8 ...for U21s..... so far..

tha's absolutely normal for outgoing managers. The "full support of the Board " .....is the kiss of death for a struggling manager. Take note Brendan.

Seager now scored 9 goals in 8 starts for U21s. U21s do go top of table, one point clear of Chelseas U21 - though they have games in hand.

.....and charge them a bigger parking fee when they arrive at SMS !

precisely my arguement. Rodgers never saw Lambert as a first choice striker,(but as a back-up for another Suarez) who he failed to replace. Balotelli is a joke.... ... but he wanted Lallana more, but failed to realise that much of Lambert's success was a team built around the partnership of the two of them....and that our midfield was built around Lallana. He's rarely had them both on the pitch at the same time, and most often only given Lambert " the graveyard shift " for the last 10 mins in a losing game, and then condemns him to the bench for not scoring. Ricky wasn't great in every Saints game he ever played, and often went 2-3 games between goals, but there was a structure there that worked (for us) for much of the time. I noted that Lovren (playing his normal game) was blatantly responsible for one of MU 's goals. Further shame may come in Cup game at Bournemouth, as Rodgers has dropped Mingolet "indefinitely" for Brad Jones, and with Boruc in goal for Bournemouth, I might see a big upset on the horizon....and Liverpool looking for a new manager before the New Year. Losing that type of fixture has been the death knell for many nervous managers.

A good analysis dsr burnley, a situation that Saints are surely aware of. Not sure if Danny's boyhood dream of playing for Saints is an incentive to move, or he hates our guts for releasing him? One thing to be sure is ..his chances of getting into a full England squad which will be zero - if you don't beat the drop at the end of the season. Good luck anyway, Saints spent too many seasons at the wrong end of the Prem.table..... and it's heart-breaking to lose a good player (to bigger clubs), and not have a top class replacement.

We really need to look at JWP as Scheiderlin's (eventual) long-term replacement. Although he doesn't have MS' physical size, or experience of 200+ games....JWP is surely seen as an integral part of our future midfield,(and noticed by Roy H)-I can't see a fit JWP " sitting on the bench ". As far as the stats. go ..JWP had game time in 5 matches (4 starts, 1 sub,) before being injured. "our purple patch" (8 wins in 9 games in a 4-3-3 formation) had a midfield that was a variation of ; Steve Davis, Schneiderlin and Wanyama / Cork in a 4-3-3 formation. Since Schneiderlin's injury we've been forced to change formation, and had injuries in almost every game. S.Davis v.Leicester, Schneiderlin v. Man City, Cork v. Arsenal ...and now Hesketh v. Burnley. One stat. is that Mané has FINISHED just one game from only 9 starts. I agree with most of you on here that his performances have been less than you'd expect from a £12 million signing, but in his defence (if he needed any)....he came late - (didn't start until game 6 in the Prem. programme) and is (I think) the only Saint to have played in all of his country's internationals in the two breaks. It also means that he's missed training sessions, and every time he plays there is a different line-up and recently new formation. This is not meant to be an excuse for his poor showing in many games, but a possible explanation that must be considered a factor for sub-standard performances. He isn't be the first foreign player to fall foul of the Prem. quality offside traps, or its pace....but I'm sure Pellé must have missed far more chances than Mané has. Finally I agree with (many of you) above, in that Tadic was far better on the left (in early games), and less effective in midfield /on the right, but most importantly has been quickly "found out" by opposition sides and (like Pelle), comes in for extra attention from defenders thus reducing his effectivity in building attacks.

.or pushed off..for that sort of fee, at least we'd save money on a bullet..

Agreed. it was quite an eventful (full) debut..if rather short. He looked to have that calm, measured pass on occasions - and if it was a bit harsh for the yellow card, it was perhaps more enthusiasm than malice. But the foul on him wasn't even a tackle ...the ball had already gone, and if the ref. had been nearer the incident then (Keane) would surely have been red-carded. Sheer brutality.