david in sweden

RK will learn from this. Going to White Hot Lane and playing 3 men up doesn't work. We lacked the control in midfield and should at least have played 4-4-2. Spuds played 5 men in midfield and always had the extra player available whenever we got the possession. Good games from Wanyama and Clyne, but Schneiderlin looked off pace. Three terrible challenges from Danny Rose - and not even a yellow card.

Interesting .....that the media (BBC and Sky) have almost totally ignored this fixture on their home pages, (as though it wasn't being played.) Not a word about the game, (the only exception was Robbie Savage's BBC article on Friday (about Pochettino's new life) Are they afraid that Spuds might actually lose ...or that we might even win ...against one of the (" big clubs ) that are supposedly dominating the Premier League.?

YES and YES

....he came off the bench in the U21's game v. Norwich last week....

Naturally ...a great honour, but he knows that (for a striker) ....getting game time and scoring goals is all that really matters......

Ali Dia ? I mean, it must have been a secret, because no-one else thought he was a footballer ..

oh ?....is that what we have to thank you for ?...I did wonder.....

...only former players.... the next generation are still in the U20's squad.

Well theoretically NO !.....but he did come to the club in 2008 (aged 18) when we were about to be relegated to L1 (with those minus 10 points). He certainly had a few games with the Academy teams. He's played alongside people (of a similar age group) of Academy graduates; (Mills, James, Paterson, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Lallana) - even if he's mosty played in the first team. As I recall he got kicked around a lot by the " L1 type proffs " who show no mercy to young players, and he had some bad injuries along the way. Since then we have seen him develop every season, and has proven to be one of the few French players who settled well at SMS and blossomed as the club improved. His long overdue international debut was down to the French manager's refusal to pick him, rather than any inconsistancies in his game. Stats. showed him to be one of the best midfielders in Europe.

we should remember that he actually took a step down to join Saints in 2009 when we were in L1. He wasn't always on top form then, but since the Championship days he's got better and better. He's a good team captain and his call-up is well-deserved - if long overdue.

..think he had his rose-coloured glasses on when he said that. They might have done - if Spuds had kept him as manager, but with MoPo, they don't know where they'll end up ...or even if MoPo will be there at the end of the season.

nice behind the scenes reactions.

....and not before time Woy, let's hope Clyneee gets more than the last 15 mins. off the bench. Stones is useless !

Apparantlly, MU's long-time physio retired in the summer and they hadn't replaced him.......as yet.

......(although I accept he's hardly likely to be in the squad) .....surely Ryan Bertrand must be on someone's short list.. .although Baines' is an obvious choice, as Shaw is " out of sorts " with MU atm.

just on the subject of THIS......does anyone else think it's a bit unfair?.....If an outfield player does the same thing, it's a free kick ...but red-carding the keeper for the same offence seems harsh.

can only be good news, I've watched games on Fox Channel before and their " expert " studio trio were appauling, or was it just that they were American?

good to see them play at SMS, especially as it means ....it won't be too strange when they do get to the first team - except for those extra 30,000 fans in the ground.

seems that RK isn't afraid to use subs. - even when the game is going well, and so what better than to use three extra fit, energetic players who can give 90 mins. effort in the last half hour and use Plan B. I see nothing wrong with subbing in Wanyama or Cork for each other......or Mane / Long ......or perhaps even JayRod / Pelle . Just now we've got most of the squad fit, except JWP is out till the New Year (at least) ....but if we suddenly had a run of bad injuries?.... we'd need all the fit players we can get. It's a LONG ..season . Still 32 games to go ....plus a couple of cup runs?....and players going off for internationals ? ....think about it ! So ....expect a name or two more to be added in January to strengthen the squad (and there's still transfer money in the kitty)...

All valid points saints 1977. In the beginning, I accepted the language barrier part, but thought he would at least have made an attempt to use basic English at sometime during the season, but after a year????. Nothing. He surely never expected to get top four after our position at New Year, and the utter disregard for the Cup (as an entry to Europe) showed a bad misjudgement on his - and Cortese's part . Poor judgement in insisting we sign Osvaldo, when he knew the player had " a history " of bad behaviour, it showed that he didn't have the control over the player that he thought. A very expensive mistake !

I watched part of that game on stream, and Inter had a defender sent off early on and (bottom club Cagliari's Swedish striker) Albin Ekdal promptly netted a first half hat-trick. My goodness .....Italian football is slow, even at that level. Unlike the Prem..... most defenders laid off the strikers.... until the last minute, and then made leg-breaking tackles....BORING !!!!!!!!!

the most painful part of this was ...Spuds insistance that TF was a future England prospect and cost us a further chunk out of the measly Bale fee to get him and give him an overpaid 5 yr. contract. They saw us coming and it must have been a standing joke in their Booardroom for ages, when they cut back our outstanding payment when we were short of cash in 2009. We were well and truly conned.

History often repeats itself and often to the detriment of those who ignore its lessons. With memories of Hoddle's sacking still (happily) fresh in the memory for some of us, I think a win on Sunday wouldn't be enough to get Pochettino sacked, but it would put him on the "slippery slope " . Spurs are one of the few clubs who I love to hate.....not because of their players, (or even some of their managers along the way), but for their fans, who are (IMO) amongst the most insufferable I've met. Still living in the " time warp " of their double winning era, they need to get down to Earth and like ManU. experience life as an "ordinary" Prem. side - not one who thinks they should win the CL every season. In all honesty.... I'd give up a Euro place this season - if we get three points in a good win on Sunday.

We shouldn't forget that Pochettino was Cortese's choice in the first place. (Apparantly), NC was already plotting the change in November, although he didn't sack Adkins until January. I think the " greed /success " factor -(not necessarily a bad thing) was communicated to MP and he clearly felt safe with Cortese pulling the strings. I think a good squad system was in place, but in all fairness to Nigel Adkins, I do feel that he had taken us as far as he could. He was a v.g manager at Championship level, but that was about his limit. Pochettino inherited the same squad, but his tactical changes made the difference, and the team was supplemented by Wanyama and Lovren in areas that we clearly needed to improve. So far so good. I don't necessarily think they were MP choices,(?) but were probably on one of Les Reed's many lists but they proved to be good additions, and it showed in last season's resulting 8th place finish. Pochettino's ambition was derailed with Cortese's resignation / dismissal (call it what you will). It's clear now that MP felt uncertain after that - hence the delaying tactics whenever contracts were mentioned. IMHO Cortese may have played a significantly bigger role in Pochettino's desertion than has yet come to light, but time will tell. now onto HINDSIGHT. It's good to think you've made the right decision, and few would argue that with Koeman & Co. running the show , but the best way to judge his performances will be if we are better than 8th place in May. I don't think we would have sacked Pochettino, but Cortese might have done ....had he still been in charge, (such was the nature of his " succeed or be sacked " mentality). Hiring Koeman ...and seeing the dramatic changes in the team personnel ..and the results is something NO-ONE could have predicted....(except perhaps Ralph and Les,) who believed in him in the first place. Finally, try as I did, there was something about MP's mindset /attitude that bothered me. He convinced players they were a bit better than they thought they were, and were worth better than 8th place, and that " belief " and the players trust in him, obviously tipped the balance for those who wanted to leave. Many players who are good in one team, fail elsewhere simply because they lack the support they had in their original team, and I think that is starting to be seen for Shaw, Lambert and Lovren - (although they can cry quietly with their £100K /week contracts - if they need to). Pochettino....may find that he jumped out of the frying pan into the fire. If Spuds are only mid-table, and /or out of the Europa League by January, he may find Daniel Levy equally as vengeful as Cortese was.

well said Minty - agree 100% with both statements.