david in sweden

According to a report I heard, the fourth official used to sit in front of a TV monitor by the side of the pitch.. .....but the idea was abandoned because managers /staff from both teams used to " invade his area " and try to see pix./ affect his judgement on decisions. It's a good idea but why not find the man a secure area where he can't be influenced. It's crazy when I ...and millions of others can see the real action on SKY whilst the officials don't get to see ANYTHING: Surely ..." penalty shouts " and offside decsions are far more commonplace in a match than goaline incidents.

Surely the arguement was how the injuries to our key players affected our results, and not how many " injury points " we may have had as a club. Obviously Arsenal (and Man.City's)..." more experienced squads" have allowed them to continue to hold their standard, whereas our " big dip " in form came ....in the week's following Boruc's injury. Boruc missed 7 games, but Schneiderlin was also injured in the Chelsea game and was out for 4 matches. Wanyama was injured the following week (v. Villa) and missed 9 games, and after Palace (a)3 games. Clyne, too was out for 6 games (after Villa match) as was Fonte who got a knock in the same game, and wasn't fit enough to start until 3 games after. Lovren was injured in the game at Sunderland and was out for 5 matches. and we lost during Shaw's only absence (home game v.Spurs) "Injury points" - or not, the fact is that our form dropped dramatically in this period because we had a squad less than capable of coping at this level. Now (sadly) ...there will be quite a few more " points " in this table, now that Jay Rod is out for an extended period, and once again we have no suitable cover. Let's hope that Boruc is back SOON !

Hopefully yes, but it will take time to heal and patience from everyone at SMS. It's been a hard road for him to get this far, when you consider the "impatience" of some fans after last season's performances.

Quite likely, I was thinking the same myself. But at 32, he's surely at his peak...but for how long?. He's signed a 3 year contract extension a while back, but his game is not likely to improve much beyond this point...not as a front line striker anyway. I could see him in a midfield role of some sort...(Alan Ball could still turn it on at 36, as did Terry Paine in his day)....but if JayRod's absence is a long one, it leaves us without any other experienced strikers.

I agree totally with this point. In fact, the " whoever " must surely take the blame for signing him. We had a well-publicised £6 million bid for Jack Butland rejected ...(I bet Brum regret that now) ...and PG was our alternative. Gazzaniga's..half-a-good season...with Gillingham in L1...or was it L2 ?...wasn't good preparation for a Prem. goalie - not even Joe Hart... and then it took time for him to get the no.1 spot at Citeh. The second mistake was Nigel Adkins' obsession with having KD as his first choice keeper. (I'm not anti - KD) quite the opposite he's been an excellent servant to the club, but his shortcomings were quickly seen last season. However, nearly every Prem.side has at least one or two international keepers..(and I think Arsenal had three to choose from). and so.. when Boruc was injured at Chelsea ...." the poison chalice" was handed around again, as it had been the season before and now we see the result. WE have no suitable second-choice keeper. AGAIN ! Sorry Paulo (nothing personal).. but life is tough enough in the U21 side.. the Premier League is another world, and you shouldn't have been given the task...not yet anyway.

...I'd prefer to say, ......showing (very positive) signs of his old self......but as his best (if counted in goals).... was in his L1 / Championship days, although he did very well to hold form last season. Of course (at 32)...he's not as sharp as he once was (and he always lacked real pace), but nowadays he has more skill and guile than we saw in 2009 /10/11. He will find it increasingly difficult to last in 95 minute games, but I can see MP (and hopefully Roy H), using him as an " impact player " coming off the bench in future games.

I think almost everyone was " at their best" in the Norwich game - weren't they? quite a few " returnees " to the first team have looked a bit lame upon their return after a long lay-off. I'm not saying that Clyne is NOT a good player, but I think Chambers is the best choice just now. MP will probably rotate them in the RB spot.... until they are in real competition again. I also thought Wanyama looked off pace in some of his " subbings-in" since coming back from his long lay-off. There is always the psychological factor of fearing a recurrence of the injury after a long lay-off - even though one may have been " proven fit " it takes time to get back to your best. I repeat again, a well-remembered Alan Shearer quote (at the peak of his career) ....when he played many times despite " not being on-form" . He said; .. there is a lot of difference between being " fit enough to play " .....than being (properly) " match fit ".

I came back on this (Dan83) ...as a good example of the way that some journos tend to phrase their articles to sensationalise them with scary headlines. Some made it sound as though we had huge debts which were a liability and that " the big clubs " would be queueing up to " cherry-pick " our best players at giveaway prices. Although we owe those transfer fees, they cannot be considered a liability - unless we had defaulted on the agreed contractural payments, often spread out over several years. MY MORTGAGE is a debt, but cannot be regarded as a liability.... unless I fail to carry out the agreed repayments. Another example of the ignorance of many in the tabloid world who write such stories.

in my nerdy fashion, I've looked at the " historical " scoring record of many (past) strikers as some sort of comparison, when some new name is thrust into the media.... as a possible buy. Some of the Prem's big money buys (not all ours - btw) did well to have a career average of 1 goal per 3 games. The very best (Shearer was a prime example) AVERAGED better than 1 every 2 games. The fact of the matter is that some strikers who've had 1-2 good seasons become ridiculously over-rated when in fact they were only a success in ONE club. (think Torres, Carroll or Bent). James Beattie was a prime example, who did well in his mid-career with Saints, but didn't distinguish himself at all later (perhaps with the exception of a purple patch, when at lower league Sheff. Utd). The real successes are often those experienced players with good international careers who move clubs, at a good age... ..but even that is no fool-proof formula.....(think Delgado / Rasiak).

.....but the main difference being that Arsenal can still finish in the top 4 .....because they have strength and depth in their squad that we lack. .......I won't demean any of " our regular bench players " by name, but the thought that we would be dependant on many of them for more than a handful of games doesn't fill me with confidence........

....perhaps because we've tried the other three already

...you mean like ........the blind leading the blind?

Correct.......but the sort of experience needed to be good enough at this level comes from a season loan-out at lower league level in order to see if you can handle that...... Nigel Adkins' big mistake was thinking the (1)Championship-level KD was good enough for the Prem. and (2) that Gazzaniga would be a good back-up for him. Neither assumption was correct.

(Clyne).......not when he's fully fit perhaps, but on recent showing he doesn't look to be a shadow of how he was performing in the Autumn.....

it's not living in the past...but you will enjoy the future more.... provided you remember the mistakes made in the past....and try to avoid making them again.

well said. One of the few prophetic comments posted on here. The same can be said for our club. The euphoria we had in those first 11 games hasn't really proved to be " the new look Saints look ", and although we have contributed some sublime 45 minute periods in many games, we still haven't won some of those games that we should have. A fully-fit eleven (like the one we started with in August) looks impressive in action, but Boruc is our only Prem. standard goalie and when he's injured..... it becomes a nightmare. Likewise with Lovren. We are far too reliant on Adam Lallana....and although Rickie Lambert is still an enormous threat, he's no longer a 90 minute player. The Osvaldo fiasco may still come back to haunt us. Jay Rod's injury has no " return to training " forecast, and it may take some time for him to recover his recent excellent form, and when he eventually does, his future England prospects may look very poor. I've been amongst those who have followed the progress of our Academy talents (and continue to do so) but history shows that many of those who get to the first team- struggle to keep there places - and more often than not ....never make the required " Prem.standard ". Newcomers look good ..in a strong, successful side but to expect lads to step out of the U21s and into Prem.matches against international opposition players is too much of a challenge. They won't all turn out to be " clones " of JWP, Shaw and Lallana. I've been a fan for over 55 years ....and as dedicated as any of you, but it would be foolish to ignore the lessons of the past. We must strengthen properly in the summer, or face a traumatic next season.

except that the majority of the larger Prem. clubs have stronger squads to cope with such eventualities. Arsenal started the season without Giroud, and have been without Ramsey, Wilshere and Walcott for long periods and still manage to hold onto a top 4 place. I like our " first choice eleven " but a quick look at the bench players doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence. We have no strength in depth. all very nice to have Academy lads coming on, but it'll take a season or so for then to find their feet and become regular choices..... meantime .... we have matches to win. if we don't strengthen places like; goalies and central defenders in the summer, we could end up at the wrong end of the table come Christmas. Osvaldo was meant to be the eventual replacement for Rickie Lambert.....now with Jay Rod out, there's no guarantee he'll pick up his form immediately when he does return, but Rickie is still there! .

atm, .....I still rate Chambers ahead of Clyne, who still doesn't look 100% after injuries. Likewise, maybe start with Cork and put Wanyama on 2nd half. .and..IF MoPo is going to " experiment " with the likes of Reed and Gallagher (as previously indicated ), there's no better chance than v. Cardiff ..considering their League position. What ever the outcome .....I'll be there to watch the game .....(one of my all- too- infrequent visits to So'ton)

.....from being an " also ran" in the Chile game....Jay Rod has netted 16 times in 30 games...a truly excellent strike rate... at this level, and must have made Roy H. look up and take notice. We all hope the injury might have looked worse than it really is..... but with only 5 Prem. games left ......a serious lay-off would count him out of the WC reckoning, and maybe even the start of next season. Ironically, it may well make way for Rickie Lambert to take the last place for strikers in the 23 man squad. It was hard to see both of them getting there, but sadly (for Jay) ..fate has taken a hand.

maybe ....we ought to be a bit careful with that shout.....Cropper has been in goal for several of the U21s heaviest defeats. He may be tall (at 6' 4") ...but he looks to be in the Tommy Forecast category.

Er.....think you got that one wrong, Glasgow. Whatever, we saw in him as an L1 goalie...or was it L2?, he hasn't shown up much. He wasn't ready to be" KD's stand-in " last season (note that one NA) and nothing has happened to change my opinion. Artur Boruc has been out injured for 8 Prem. League games this season..and we've won only once ** in those 8 outings. KD stood for 2, but Gazzaniga has let in 12 goals in 5 games. ** Gazzaniga was in goal in the away game at Cardiff (won 3-0), but we were so dominant, he scarcely had to make a save.

the FA can't fine me for saying this, but don't you think that some referees are " homers " and don't give the obvious in case they don't get out of the stadium ......" unscathed ". the whole idea of having goal-line cameras is almost worthless when you see things like this happen almost every week. The SKY commentators are better placed to judge these decisions than the " officials ", ..........and you, me and a few million others can see that and it seems.....everyone except Sepp Blatter.

sounds fun, but SWEDEN is a bit too far away to be able to follow all the lower league stuff......which competition is it?

good fun, but surely your headline ought to have read " THE BOYS FOR BRAZIL "...then send a copy to Roy Hodgson