david in sweden

....must say that I think we might have qualified ...had we had a decent no.2 goalie when Boruc was out injured or 10 games. KD and PG let in 20 goals between them and we won only ONE league game.

?? .....is their " billionaire " really a " billionaire"? ......or, just a very rich millionaire ? Anyone got a copy of the latest Forbes ????

I had hoped that most of the comments were kinder to RK rather than critical. Perhaps it's a bit close to home for me ....as I've helped teach / coach/ people with their speeches, presentations ...and even TV appearances in Sweden ..(for the last 30 years). It's pretty hair-raising for some, and Swedes in particular, who take that sort of thing very seriously. I'm pleased to see that Ronald is a bit more " laid-back " in his interviews .. but nevertheless I think he does well (all things considered)...especially as English is not his mother-tongue. At least, he makes more sense than a few other Prem. managers I could name who have the advantage of having been born " British " ....yet don't express themselves quite so well.

.....just wait until he scores his first goal and see what he does for a goal celebration .......

I think the only people who thought she WASN'T interested in the club, were those who wrote in every day that she was going to asset-strip the club and then sell it ! I'm prepared to believe that she didn't know too much about football, or Saints from the beginning, but she certainly seems to have learned a lot more since. When someone tells me that she really understand the off-side rule, I'll know she's making a lot of progress......as there still seem to be a lot of players who don't.

In his defence... I think he comes over a lot better than Pochettino.....and many of the others " non-Brits " who are managing in the Prem.... and is decidedly more interesting than a few of the English ones .... when you have a limited vocabulary you have to search for good responses when you get new question topics arising at a press conference..and it's not easy to come up with the right response. (It's a bit unkind to make fun of his linguistic faults, when we put up with Pochettino's droll translater for over a year.) Of course, RK's not word perfect, but I like him and his personal style - not to mention the effect he's having on team performances....

A great many people in the media, (and sadly... not a few on this site) had a field day in the summer predicting our early demise...and guess what ..? I think many are hiding behind the door and hoping no-one will remember their " idiotic outbursts " ..and with an eventual defeat ...will come back with headlines confirming their original mad prophesíes... Just typical of journos' who rave about the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham .. when they get one point from a game, but then conveniently overlook Saints' successful performances. I'm more than happy to ignore them all with contempt, and continue grinning every time I look at the Premier League table.........

Despite their lowly status it hasn't always been easy to get all the points v QPR....with our recent run of good form, this ought to be a 5-0 win if we play well and are to be taken seriously..... ........but I'd be equally happy with a 1-0.

I had no idea where this post was going, but it must have set a site record for the 67 responses .....even before the OP was posted

I'd agree with that , BUT he hasn't played 50 games yet ... and young players can come in and do well ...for a while, but lack consistancy in the longer term. A comment I've heard before from several managers (in interview) was paraphrased by Steve Bruce and Brendan Foster (amongst others). ......." the lad looks good for ...half-a-dozen games, but it's a long season and difficult for a young, newcomer to hold that sort of form the whole time" I know that Shaw did , but he had good support and our only other option at that time was Danny Fox so we were lucky he kept his form, but even JWP had a bit of a wobble in his first season. I'm hopeful Matt Targett will come good, but we don't need to rush him. He will play in the Chelsea fixtures anyway (as Bertrand is only on loan) but we could do worse than have both of them for next season, as RK has stated that we need two good players for every position. We saw what happened last season when Jay Rod was injured, and fortunately we do have cover for JWP's projected 12 week absence.

......think I may have seen the first one. ...after our " first promotion 1966 ", .....we went to (the then Highbury ground), on Easter Monday 1968 ....and beat them 3-0. (Having already rattled in 26 goals), Ron Davies was injured, and everyone groaned when saw 5'7" Reserve CF Micky Judd take his place, but Judd scored, along with one from Joe Kirkup and Terry Paine. The balding Jimmy Melia, (who got a lot of unfair " stick " in home games from a section of the Dell crowd,)....absolutety ruled the midfield....(an outstanding performance that would have put his critics to shame), against a very useful Gunners outfit, who finished in the top half of the table, whilst we had struggled all season to survive. A more surprising result to a game I can hardly recall watching. Historical note; I sat in a Stand that day, very close to a corner where.....an elderly policeman...(a man with a wonderful singing voice).. always sang a song prior to the kick-off of every game. In respect, the crowd held complete silence, and the applause from all sections of the ground showed their genuine appreciation. Something that you would perhaps never experience today.

ABSOLUTELY ! Stepping up from the U21's.... to face a World Cup player seemed just another day's workout for Matt. Well done to the lad. NOTE: " someone " on here contradicted a statement I made some months back.....but I do seem to recall that when both Matt and Luke Shaw were both fighting for a place in the U16 side, at a time when he was rated better than Shaw, but ..if he got injured ? ..(not sure) ......and Luke came to the forefront instead. Whatever it was / is .....it was a very impressive performance by any standards.

...don't disagree with any of that. (Sadly) he's never impressed me as more than a lazy, cheeky, moaning London yobbo...who thinks his club has a Divine Right to win every game.

....and I remember he was " pretty enthusiatic " about that screamer that Guly scored from outside the box,too

both sides will have had a tough League game on the Saturday, so it'll be interesting to see; who's fit, how many players will be "rested " and if the managers change the formations for the cup game.

I've had all day to think about this and I think there are many different angles to this historic victory. Koeman - had a team that beat Arsenal in CL some years ago, so he wasn't afraid of the fixture, although probably didn't understand much about the League (Capital One) Cup. Players - very few of the present squad have ever played against Arsenal before, let alone knew about the past games, so they no fear and no " historical curse " to burden them. Fans - For the younger contingent, they'd never seen us beat Arsenal, and many of them probably had fathers (or grandfathers) who could just about remember the last win at Arsenal (1987). ...........It feels like a " fear " (for want of a better word) ..about playing at The Emirates has gone, and we can look forward to the League visit with a lot less apprehension from now on.

how many decades have we waited for that result ?????

agreed, but Markus didn't have to work for him.....

I watched that game and I think we were on the losing end of it until that " Puncheon special ", the result looked good on paper, but was surely one of our luckiest point(s) that season.

Oh Him. well I'm sure his wife loved him, but who else ?...

yes, quite a few of the names in the U21 squad were U18 last season .. and a bit younger than that, too.

a few obvious observations and "guarded compliments" ....but losing...." a well-loved Chairman " ? Really? Who does he mean ?

I suspect that was a " job-saving " quote from MP last season... when things weren't going quite so well as NC wanted. Will be interesting to see how far " his new club " will get in the competition.. and as soon as they are " out of it ", then Spuds can concentrate on winning the Premier League :lol:

I think he'll try a couple of youngsters, maybe Reed and Targett ?.....but with Toby and Yoshida out, and no Stephens or Turnbull.... it looks like Gardos and Fonte at the back. He'll play Mane up front....for an hour ..and perhaps with Long or Tadic coming off the bench?. It's a good chance to use some Academy lads, but RK won't want to lose this game, with half of the Prem. sides already out of the competition. If we win this one, we'd look good for the SF's.