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Bad news - good news. It seems that Newcastle are up against it, in trying to avoid the threat of impending FFP " punishment ". With rumours of high-salaried players like Kieran Trippier and Callum Wilson on the move, Newcastle may also have to sell Isak PDQ. Newcastle have a replacement (for Trippier) in Livramento but there will surely be major changes in Eddie Howe's squad before 1st Feb. The good news for Saints ...is that Ryan Fraser (already on loan until the summer) may be available at a reasonable fee by then - or sooner?

ONLY three bookings may make him seem like a choirboy, (especially compared to Bednarek's record so far), but having picked up an early booking he was only one tackle away from a red card, and to lose our best defender for the remainder of the game (and potentially the next) must have been a fact that played into the equation the moment the ref. put his hand to his pocket . ANYONE on a yellow card is a "ticking bomb" especially a defender. Whilst I agree with those (above) who commented of Stephens " indifferent performance" ..with hindsight ..Jack is still on the way back and all things considered ... it was probably the correct decision anyway at the time.

He clearly impresses in training (match fit,) and needs to see the team play from the bench, and get to know everyone PDQ.

As someone who spent the first of my seven decades as a fan attending games at The Dell, I can recall that all parts of the old ground were always quick to break into " When the Saints ..." at relevant moments. Often the sounds of " the Dell Choir " would drift across surrounding districts of the city at a time when the majority of the fans had standing places. We sang loud .. to the accompaniment of several thousand fans in the stands above stamping their feet on the wooden floors. The sound brought fear to many visiting fans, and even seasoned internationals players have said they loathed visits to Southampton because the atmosphere surrounding games at The Dell was so provocative. IF ....a suitable plan can be agreed, the very prospect of " a wall of Saints fans in The Northam End " might become our sort of " Kop", and as was always quoted ..." like a 12th man on the pitch ". Those who long for an opportunity to stand in the "new Northam " should begin by practicing their singing voices.

Lawrie McMenemy's famous man-management formula "you have to kiss some, and kick the others " started to work after his first season's relegation. His subsequent squads got better and better with time, with the FA Cup win in 1976, and a promotion back to Div.1 two seasons afterwards, we looked darn good. Nowadays, the " honeymoon period " is much shorter (e.g.. Nathan Jones) and RM came into a newly-relegated club, who'd sold their best players and,... introduced his own strategy (Russ. ball) and we had 3 " lucky " wins (albeit against poor opposition) with all 3 won with late goals. He had half of a new starting side, whilst the rest were mostly the young players who had survived the " cull " that followed the relegation. Those young players whose fiery baptism in the Premier League that will haunt then forever, have improved, (and even I see a future for Mara). Given that most of RM's critics (on here) were fast out of the gate with calls for his sacking after those disasterous September fixtures, few people can now deny that 20 games unbeaten is very impressive and (although not always pretty).. for the most part, it has been very effective. Whatever the success of his management style is , Russell Martin has been " my manager of the month" every time since the beginning of October.

That season was 1973-74. Lawrie McMenemy appointed assistant manager in summer 73, took over from Ted Bates.. (had been manager for 18 years) In November 1973 Ted Bates took a back seat and ..Lawrie Mc. was appointed first team manager ....when Saints were 8th in the league. Despite a 1-1 home draw v. Spurs in his first match, his teams won only twice in the following 10 games. The real nightmare began when we lost 0-7 at Ipswich in February 74. (High scoring Ipswich finished 4th that season). Saints won only 3 times in the final 15 matches, and the very rare feat of beating Everton 3-0 at Goodison Park on the final day of the season (with Peter Osgood scoring his first goal in his 10th appearance), was no consolation as we finished in 18th place and were relegated To Div.2 ...along with Man Utd. and Norwich . (the first season that the bottom 3 teams were relegated). There were no dramatic changes to the team (the exception was Brian O'Neil's absence) and the signings of Peach and Osgood was too little too late. Mick Channon who had scored 16 times during the early part of the season.... managed just 5 goals in the last 26 games. Major changes in the next two seasons were enough for us to get a team good enough to beat Man U in the 1976 Cup Final, and McMenemy's " new look " gave us some great signings in the next 10 season (returning to the top tier in 1978). We finished top half every season afterwards, and narrowly missed the title in 1983-84 when finishing in 2nd place behind champions Liverpool. NOTE to Bad Wolf.. if you weren't around to see games during that period - you missed some of the best football in the entire Post-war period.

Some our young talents may still be " age-exempted " from the 25, and there's no certainty that all those (named above) will still be here on 31st January . Meghoma and Edozie are still "underage " , perhaps Mara and Alcarez, too? Ché Adams may still move, + plenty of media traffic on a possible KWP move to Chelsea? Holgate may yet be recalled by Everton, or get an alternative loan elsewhere? .. .maybe we should re-visit this on 1st February?

OOPs ! We maybe in a similar generation ?, ..I saw my first game in January 1959......and watched the 1960's teams through into the First Division promotion. I went back to correct an error in my original post, and seemingly " lost " Terry's incredible record of appearances somewhere ... in the edit. A sad oversight on my part about one of my favourite players.

Am not denying that, but I think he inherited some good names when he arrived at Spurs and gave Harry Kane a long overdue run in their first team, BUT there are no prizes for second place and Spurs still haven't won anything in the reign of the last three Popes... Every manager wants " those sort of signings ", but I think Chelsea still have a few expensive names from the Lampard and Potter era, and I wonder how much more they are allowed / willing to spend, as they are still unpleasantly mid-table and a run of bad results might leave them nearer the drop zone, ( but can't ever see them being relegated...) but Poch's days may be numbered if he doesn't get some good results PDQ.

Surely a win-win short term deal. His face may not fit at Bournemouth under their new coach but he has good pedigree. Man Utd Academy, a former England youth player.. .and a good term at Blackburn, and some Prem. action on his CV. He looks " broad enough to handle himself " in midfield, ( a type of Romeu clone?) ..also a likeable personality in interview (shades of Rickie Lambert) . At the moment... I'm well-satisfied anytime we sign a player who's over 6 feet tall. Welcome Joe.

Poch. obviously had " personal skills " that went home to some players and he did help stabilise the team, who had Lambert, Lallana and Rodriguez on form but I found it disappointing that he (perhaps inevitably) hopped off to Spurs.. (definitely NOT my favourite club) ..who took a hard hand when denying him a translator for team talks and media interviews. He seems to have " claimed" a lot of credit ...for developing the young Luke Shaw,(?).. who was already an established player in the side from the Adkins era. Given the enormous sums of money that Chelsea have spent in the last 18 months, he's not cutting down trees a.t.m. at Stamford Bridge.

There are two sides to Cortese's tenure with Saints that warrant some comment. Firstly.. Identifying Saints situation ..he got Markus Liebherr to buy the club and save us from the grasp of some alternative asset-stripping crooks. His overview of the outdated 20th Century administration wrought havoc to the lives of many of the Saints faithful, but was doubtless necessary and he introduced strong financial limitations, including the dismembering of the then-Academy and possibly the loss of players like Tyrone MIngs. Here endeth the first lesson..... but sadly the man who on his own admission knew nothing about football, or the history of the club he had acquired. His subsequent ban on former heroes like MLT and Benali didn't endear him to the fan base and was just one of many contentious measures he introduced. The worst action as he took control over the role of D.o.F and personally agreed / or refused all transfer deals. His poor judgment is historical. In a Sky interview...(some time after his dismissal) Alan Pardew, (who had also laid the groundwork to Nigel Adkins two promotion sides) said Cortese questioned his judgement and asked .. " Do you really want to pay 1 million for a 27 year old striker from L1 .?..." (namely Rickie Lambert) After winning JPT trophy, Cortese refused to pay 2 million that Reading wanted for the on-loan Michial Antonio ..(he felt was too-much). At this point it should be stated that almost the entire squad that Adkins used to get us back up to the Prem. cost... less than 6 million pounds. Back in the Prem. Cortese begrudgingly paid 7 million for Jay Rodriguez (he did get something right), but then his mishandling of transfers hit epic proportions when he reverted to his "European contacts " , (who aware of his footballing ignorance must have seen him coming), when he doubled the transfer record and spent 13 million on Gaston Ramirez . When asked why he signed for Saints ? Ramirez said " I couldn't believe how much they offered me " (suggested he was paid 65K / week). Impatient with what he saw as a lack of success by Christmas, Cortese savagely sacked Adkins and then brought in Mauricio Pochettino ... (someone who to this day has failed to impress me).. and was allowed to buy in " a player of his choice " ..that was Dani Osvaldo. That fee was an even more impressive 14 million + salary, and despite the memory of his fantastic solo goal v. Man City , most fans will easier recall his notorious training ground punch-up (with Jose Fonte)... which led to his suspension and eventual move away to foreign parts. (A chapter that will be unlikely to appear in Pochettino 's sometime future autobiography). The total of these two ill-judged deals cost the club around 50 million (fees +salaries) was believed to be completed with "loans" at high interest rates. Sadly there were other equally underwhelming deals, but for lesser fees. A burden that stayed on the books for several years afterwards. At last Cortese's long-awaited departure from SMS was celebrated by many of us.

perhaps not quite the same situation. By this time we had already used 19 different players, and Stephens had been injured in the previous game, and It was Holgate's nightmare debut (after he had only signed two days before and most likely hadn't been introduced to everyone) . JWP and Tella had both gone. It was only 2nd outing for both Downes and Fraser .... and no-one had really come to terms with " Russ ball ". We were 3-0 down at HT ...and the game was already lost. Bednarek was injured during the game but stayed on, but Holgate went off after 64 minutes and was replaced by Charles in only his 3rd game. Adam. A up front with Edozie (!)... who was ineffective and Adams and Fraser both came on after 45 minutes ...as well as an (unfit) Aribo but it made little difference to the result.

Big-name club YES, but JJ must surely realise that he is a very small fish in the Chelsea ocean, which means that you are.... just another name on the payroll. I noted that some years back .. Chelsea had 35 players OUT ON LOAN to various League clubs in one season, so it's a hard road to the top at Chelsea. Recalling that Tyler Dibling previously tried his luck at Chelsea, (returned last year after being unable to settle there) but now has a second chance to get minutes with the first team whilst his nearest rival ...Dom Ballard is out for the rest of the season after his injury whilst on loan at Reading. Young talented players are walking a tightrope and avoiding injury whilst fighting for bench place in the first team, so we should wish them better luck when properly fit - which means a darn sight more than just being able to kick a ball when back on the practice ground.

As "a bit of a nerd " with stats. I agree that 200 is a notable landmark nowadays, but historically not so unusual as several dozen others who have reached that mark. A lot fewer have passed 300 ..... and (on my count) .... barely a dozen are members of " the 400 club " they include : MLT 540, Mick Channon 510, Jason Dodd 466 Nick Holmes 444 John Sydenham 401 Interestingly; ** Claus Lundekvam is the only " non-Brit" to get past 400 games for Saints.

..............can't help thinking that a few games with the U21 side might have been a win-win situation for the club. The U21's have lost several key players so far this season ( loans / injuries) and need some goals........ and the same could be said of Mara. Considering the small amount of minutes he has played .. he needs more game time ....and scoring at the lower level would also be good practice.

1- Newcastle have already written him off, and he wasn't being selected for a start place, and he's " unpopular " with the manager. 2- he'll be 30 in February and has a season-and-a half left on his contract, Can't see them giving him a new contract, and they would be ......more likely take the opportunity to get him off their already very costly payroll. 3- If he continues to perform for Saints, we'd be daft to ignore the chance to sign him for " a nominal fee " .

Yes - he is relatively young and still has a lot to learn, but I can't ever see him as a first choice striker. ( compare : Dibling was a real handful for his 20 minutes.) It always feels like 10 men... plus Mara. He is not " a team player " rarely seems to get involved . In that aspect he reminds me of Boufal. He can go AWOL for long periods, and then pops up with a spectacular attempt on goal...scoring occasionally, he missed two/ three good chances yesterday but is otherwise rather ineffective in the general teamwork.

Stand out players, debutants ...and occasional faces Captain Jack - ran the whole game in the first half. He and THB were superb all over the pitch.. Ryan Fraser deserved a hat-trick - once again. MoM for me. 2 goals and an assist. Good showing from hard-working Alcaraz and Smallbone - both unlucky not to score. Charles moved around well, did nothing wrong but not outstanding. Mara got his goal but squandered several chances in first half. Goes AWOL too often. What can you ask of Ché Adams ? . 12 minutes on the field and got his regular goal from the bench. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Debut for Joe Lumley. Looked confident, safe pair of hands and not afraid to come out and use his feet. Cameron Bragg - got his 10 minutes when the game was already safe , but slotted into MF with ease. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Holgate..... DAJFU but not outstanding, but still nowhere near KWP..... on an ordinary day. Both Meghoma and Amo-Ameyaw got 90+ mins. game time away from the U21's - good experience for them. Tyler Dibling showed up well for his 20 minute outing. Won a corner and hit a post. Well worth a place on the bench every week. Now onto round 4 ....whoever that is going to be.

I think I'd go along with that " trousers" . Makes you wonder how many U21/ U18 lads will be on the bench. Some people on here suggest we should play Bazunu anyway, but I think that logic says; -Joe Lumley Is on a season contract and hasn't played a game yet, so we have to see how he performs. - In the worst case scenario (a defeat) .....at least we won't end up losing 3 points in this game. - McCarthy will (finally) be out of contract in the summer, and so we will need ANOTHER keeper as cover for Bazunu. . - a good showing, and maybe more cup games later on will give us a chance to access Joe's capabilities.

.... you sound quite sane to me, but my meaning was that.... I wasn't suggesting that referees could choose games, but that instead of selecting " neutral officials "... from Devon or Durham....and considering it was a public holiday ...in mid winter.. the FA's choice of ref. may have been made based ....on purely geographical considerations. One of the Saints' Christmas games (Swansea)? was refereed by Keith Stroud who is a well-known Hampshire man . Back to my original comment.. When the TV screening began the camera was centered on the two teams waiting in the tunnel. The sequence I watched was at least one minute long, during which time the ref. was smiling and joking with Grant Handley (the Norwich captain) which suggested to me they were already "well-acquainted" , and in fact Handley looked more than a little embarrassed that the ref's conversation was so one-sided during the entire time that they were standing there. Jack Stephens was standing at the ref's side but was totally ignored - even upto the moment that the teams ran onto the pitch. Perhaps they were " long-standing pals " but I would have thought that common courtesy would dictate that the ref. greet both men, and to his credit Jack Stephens kept a blank expression, but looked thoroughly pi**ed off at being so rudely ignored by the match official. The fact that the ref. could only yellow-card the Norwich player for the dreadful foul on Edozie, and that he later ignored at least one good penalty shout from Saints.. might suggest that he wanted to ensure that the wheels were still attached to his car after the game was over.

Interesting note; when watching the pre-match banter in the tunnel, I saw the ref. was laughing and joking with Norwich captain Grant Handley, whilst blatantly ignoring Jack Stephens, who was standing beside him. One wonders if he was a " neutral ", or if the FA could only find a well-known local man in the New Year break? Certainly some of his decisions were scarcely " neutral" . Without VAR, he still had to dish out 4 yellows to " the Canaries " (none against Saints), whilst the "attack" on Edozie would have been a direct red card if watched again. (as we saw on TV). I always come back to the same argument (as in this case) that foul was cruel and deliberate and just might put (Edozie) out of a number of games whilst " the yellow card " ..is no punishment at all ...when " the offender " will be back in their team next game. Even without VAR there should be a case for "retrospective punishment" . You can't expect to have wrong goals re-instated, but just because a foul is missed by the referee doesn't mean it didn't happen and the evidence is obviously clear on TV screens. I noted have that some media outlets interview referees for their opinions on "doubtful decisions " ( VAR, penalties etc,) so why not ? We are at looking at potential "career-ending " incidents that would considered to be " criminal offences " if committed in the streets. Many of you will surely say this is not feasible, but just a few years back I saw Jamie Vardy go back and stamp on Van Dijk's ankle (whilst the action was in the other half of the field, and the referee was unsighted). Nothing accidental about that at all. VvD was out for 6 months with the resulting injury, and It didn't change my opinion of Jamie Vardy's character either.

We really should stop complaining about those "lost points " despite the long run undefeated, but the question remains Where did they go wrong? ..when we dominated games so much yet still dropped points (mostly away b.t.w.) These stats. give some interesting answers... % possession shots result Rotherham (h) 80 22-4 1-1 Preston (a) 72 13-12 2-2 Huddersfield (a) 78 16-10 1-1 Coventry (a) 72 12-11 1-1 Norwich (a) 75 21 -7 1-1 AVERAGES 75,5 84-44 = Given the shots/goal stats. one might call it 10 points lost Possession does deny the opposition the ball, but we really need to convert more of the chances that come our way. YES - there were individual errors in some games, and a couple others where the opposition goalie played very well, and one or two more where the goal should have been 6 inches wider, but the fact remains that without a genuine "second striker" (on a par with 13 goal Adam Armstrong), we do miss a real attacker who can convert those " missed " chances. Without Ross Stewart's availability, and the likelihood of Ché Adams departing soon, we really do need a proven goalscorer to ensure we can overtake Ipswich AND stay in the top two, and thus avoid the pressure of the " play-offs" .

Thanks JRM, what a good insert. One of many classic matches v. Norwich which first date back to the 1950's when both sides played in Division 3 (South). Both moved progressively upwards over several decades, and until a while back ..were still playing each other in the Prem. Interesting personnel in the Saints line-up included Neil Maddison (who came as a schoolboy from Darlington in 1984) shortly before another lad from the North-East named SHEARER. (whatever happened to him ?) . Team also included Frannie Benali, and Jeff Kenna, a two-footed full back who kept Jason Dodd out of the reckoning until he joined Shearer in the title-winning Blackburn side. Le Tissier's hat-trick, (one of several he scored for Saints) is a good history lesson for those fans too young to have seen him play, and this rare goal from Ken Monkou also guaranteed the three points that eventually helped Saints survive (despite MLT's 25 goals). These young players ...(and quite a few others) came through Dave Merrington's Youth project .. (long before the word Academy was introduced into the sport. Norwich goalie (on that day )was Bryan Gunn ( son Angus is ex Saints ) and current Norwich custodian , is like his father before him, Scotland's goalkeeper.

I really want KWP to stay, but there has been a lot of " fake news" / bad sources about potential deals with Johnson / Downes / loan Ings that it's hard to ignore. Time will tell, but please replace " criticism " (yr. words) with my " comments " , because I stand by the rest of my text on the others. (above)