david in sweden

and so it is in many other professions, too. Many top managers move from one industry to another quite successfully.

+1 these are obvious priorities - aren't they

so do I, but historically.... it takes 1-2 seasons for a new young striker to get established and become a first team regular. Let's be patient with young Sam. He's not likely to start too many games before the end of the season, and if he scores even 2 goals ...I'd be very surprised ...(though highly delighted) but not expect him to replace RL next season.

I think MP and Adam tried to distance themselves from that particular criticism, it was more like Nicola Cortese's departing shot at KL. Now we have been dubbed the cry-babies of the Prem.

Justin Timberlake ??........was that poll amongst members in his fan club, or .....?

Amen to that Norm, ..this isn't about the man's football nous but helping staff and players to go out on match days with the right mental attitude. I've been attending seminars and listening to people (for years) who often aren't in my profession, but found their advice / experience far more rewarding than many " so-called experts" in my own.

THIS ! ..reflects my comments all season.

Disappointing ....of course. The first Wham goal was a crime....(and despite what MP said)...it must have upset the players mindset after we dominated the first 20 mins. and conceded to a clear off-side goal. 25 shots ....only 5 on target. Worse than poor when you look at those stats. but without going back throught he commentary texts, I'd say that a lot of those weren't from our " strikers " and when defenders and midfielders can't even get a shot on target we have to start asking bigger questions, considering we dominated a poor Wham side who just got lucky on the day. Despite is excellent possession stats. can't help thinking that Schneiderlin isn't what he used to be .....if we have such good prospects lining up in the Academy perhaps it's time to give them a longer run, and wait for Arsenal to come back with a realistic bid .....I still like Cork in the line-up and although Wanyama can bully his way in possession, he gets caught too often and his final passes are often very poor. Rickie isn't what he was last season but until we find a genuine replacement then we must continue with him. It'll be unfair to judge Sam.G on the basis of one game and a handful of sub.appearances. Ramirez did brighten things up a bit, but I'd like to see him playing a full 90 mins....for a few more games, if we are to believe that he has a future here. Despite a below par performance yesterday, Lallana still looks the most consistant player on the pitch and always puts in his shift ...and a bit more. Bring back Lovren and we still have a strong side on paper, but it's obvious we lack that early-season consistancy. Some thoughtful purchases / and even sales in the summer should be seriously considered.

Osvaldo scores .....thank goodness for that. If he continues to do so, then Juve won't ever want to let him go and we'll get a good deal by selling him.

I agree with that statement, but the reason behind it (no penalty given ) was nothing short of criminal ....he was standing so close. It was a stone-cold penalty and the player handled deliberately. If you think Lallana was angry, I won't tell you what my reaction was .

.......and you're quite right. Window Cleaner. Back when Gordon Strachan was manager, he gave an interview and said that ..(something along the lines of ....in future we wouldn't have a Reserve side (composed of second rate players and young hopefuls) but all young players and TBH ..... I thought he was crazy. well so much for that stupid idea. A few years on ....it was Walcott, Bale, Surman, Dyer, Lallana and AOC .....all from the U18 and U21 sides ...and a lot more promising names since. So the very idea of having players on long contracts just so they could play second class football for season after season ....just waiting for someone to get injured is so out-of-date now. Can you imagine a team of Gulys', Hooivelds' Forte's and Barnard's.....and a choice of 4 different goalies? ..because that's what you'd get. The future is the Academy. When I first supported Saints (over 50 years ago) " Reserve players " like David Chadwick, Tommy Hare, Ian White and Davie Paton turned out season after season for " the Stiffs", and hardly ever got a match, let alone a run of games, and very few players got a debut before they were at least 21. Nowadays ......any player who hasn't made a name for himself by then is moved out to a lower league club. Times change.

it obviously depends on the personnel we have as a strike force, whether we play 4-4-2, or 4-5-1-......or whatever. " Someone" obviously though that Osvaldo would be the answer to replacing Rickie, but that's all gone up in smoke now, and Rickie is still here. If we suddenly see Sam Gallagher getting goals in his future games, then we might build a team (and a new formation) around him and JayRod I 'm not alone in projecting the signing of another top striker in the summer - am I ? ......after that we'll see the formation that suits best.

How about a mention for his best contribution to our success......? I'd suggest the two League games v. West Ham in our Championship season. He scored the only goal in the home game (1-0)...which gave us the three points.....and another goal in the 1-1 draw at Upton Park. FOUR points that made a lot of difference at the end of the season, as we got an automatic place and WHam had to endure the play-offs.

agree entirely, but recently have seen several incidents where the ref. allows the advantage and play to continue, and only pulls back the game if it doesn't work..

Maybe.....I've read daft-er suggestions than that on this site recently....

maybe..... part of the " Cortese vision " that he didn't tell anyone else about?

Exactly:?.....like they never heard of telephones, computers or e-mail.....

Mmmm..... I thought of that one, too .......

I've stated my opinion several times on this now. We should agree ....to disagree on this one, Barry.......

this is the referee's revenge on Saints. I can't believe that he was chosen by picking his name of a hat. It's been done to teach us a lesson for daring to question their authority. Of course... the games with WHam are amongst the toughest and most physically competative and I fully expect MC to strain his wrist reaching into his card pocket throughout the game... .......though he's hardly goinmg to be brave enough to red card a WHam player - is he ....and forget the idea of getting any more penalties. The history of these games- since the Championship season- are littered with yellow and red cards and don't expect him to do us any favours. BUT NO ! ....maybe I'm misjudging him ...perhaps after watching the video of the Everton game, he's seen the error of his ways (and the blatant handball that he didn't award) and will apologise to Adam.. well maybe ....we 'll see.........

well pardon me for that oversight, Barry.....but as KD has played in almost every cup game in the last two seasons, I didn't really expect to see Boruc in goal ....did you...honestly? Rodriguez and Schneiderlin did get on as change players, but after seeing the pic. of Fonte's leg (after the Hull game), I didn't expect him to be named -even on the bench. If you're going to blame anyone for the defeat...then you can hardly blame KD. I'd like you to name a keeper who could have saved that Sunderland goal. We lost 0-1....and Lallana and Lambert (argueably two of our best " fit " players) ..both missed sitters. I think the reason for the loss was those squandered chances ......even the " regular players " look tired. The Sunderland side was chosen from a squad that hadn't played in a week, and some of those - even longer ago, but it doesn't mean it wasn't their " best team ".

But surely they are....nearly everyone on here is talking about a " weakened team " ....we have a squad that the start 11 is chosen from. A lot of people here who are complaining think it's a weakened side when we don't have a " normal " start 11. The team is chosen from the players who are fittest and tactically the best for each game, and that's not always the same. That's what I heard Perez say (in interview) ....I 'm inclined to believe it.

It is a good job that we don't play 3 games every week, but if we EVER get to a Euro competition...there will be times in the season when we may have to. We'll need a team of " supermen " for that. weakened team YES, but I am also convinced that Perez was telling the truth when he said there were injury and fatigue factors for some players who didn't start, but were on the bench instead.

I think it was the strongest side (injuries, fatigue factors , third match in 7 days)--.see my post above. I'm not the manager, but I don't rate many of the rest. Our first choice team is very impressive, but there is no strength in depth on the bench and almost every time we've had injuries/ suspensions, the replacements have showed up very poorly. I realise that most of them are not his chosen players, but you have to use what you have ....and IMO ...I'm not convinced.

I realise that many fans are upset / angry / disappointed that we lost the Cup game, but has anyone considered that we might have played "our strongest side"? Fonte's injury in the Hull game was horrendous - if you saw the pics. and Schneiderlin came off injured, too. They probably weren't capable of three full games in 7 days - even though they were on the bench. Few people would be cruel enough to blame KD for their flukey goal, but we have to admit that Lallana and Lambert had golden chances that an U18 player could have out away - but they just had bad luck. Some of Sunderlands " nine changes " must have been pretty fresh, as some of them didn't even play the previous weekend, and certainly hadn't had a midweek game as well. I'm disappointed too, but it's hardly as if we've been winning the cup every other year and gone out to an L1 side...as one or two other Prem. sides did.