david in sweden

Lloyd Isgrove......I think he's already around 20-21, and for someone who hasn't made a proper League debut yet.... time must be running out for him to make an impression. I don't have stats, but I get the impression (from U21 games) that he's a " slimmish winger ..of sorts " and even if he has pace, we've got three full backs who do a pretty good job in that area at present. The U21's had a long-ish break over Christmas and he didn't feature much - especially as they'd given games to the likes of Lee and Barnard and Sam Gallagher earlier on. My guess is .....that unless MP was to " experiment unnecessarily " ( i.e he's happy with his present first choices).. then Isgrove may go the way of Reeves, Hoskins and others who only got games by dropping a division or two .....and were still lucky to get off the bench in their new clubs.

Historically.....the most successful young players have been gradually integrated into the first team one or two at a time, to play alongside the regulars. (ala Lawrie McMenemy's style in the early 1980's). Bear in mind, though entertaining to watch ..our strongest team has leaked in some silly goals, and despite having..average 11-17 chances in our recent games, we can seldom score more than 2 goals. Playing too many youngsters at the same time isn't going to help them as the Prem. is a very much higher standard than anything they may have experienced before and may only damage their confidence. Looking at those " weakened sides" we've put out in League Cup games against better class teams in the last year or so ; we still lost to Leeds (last year) and Sunderland this season...not a good omen. I'd like to see some more come in, but you need a stable side, who are playing well before making mass changes - just to try and prove a point. NOTE , the U21s haven't been at their best in recent matches, and so those lads who showed early season promise may have gone off the boil a bit. Silly to put someone in just for the sake of it. Personally, I'm happy to let the coaches play decide when to play who from the new recruits. Targett (not played yet) is rumoured to be Fox's replacement...but if he comes in for a game or two...and " does a Chambers " ...then I'm pretty sure that Shaw would get p****d off pretty quickly and likely to unsettle him. Shaw's debut (and to a lesser extent JWP's were quite exceptional)... others may take a bit longer.

oh yes ....tell me about it. You like stats.?.... try this for size. Peter Shilton argueably the best English goalie of his generation (and several others too) . One hundred and umpteen caps, played in three World cups.or was it four? (later Saints' most capped player ever).. signed by Lawrie Mac in 1982 conceded 18 goals in the first 7 games 1982-83 His fault? .....hardly, and he made some fantastic saves even then. Unfortunately, the four defenders in front of him might have done better if they'd done been concentrating a bit more.. Of course that was a blip in his career he won't want to recall, but goalies more than most tend to take the blame when a team concedes. Every keeper I've seen has made blunders, some worse than others. How many of us have given stick to KD over the years, except that he also holds the club record for most clean sheets in our Championship season and some contributors here rate his performance at Leeds that year as one of the best they've ever seen . As for Boruc ..his Fred Astaire routine at Arsenal didn't come off, but he and Begovic are about level on those shots that go blowing in the wind. So... if a side loses, don't just blame the custodian - especially if the men in front of him are dreaming of their holidays and not keeping their eyes on the ball.

If were him... I'd steer clear of that sort of issue until the end of the season. If things don't work out as he hopes, he can walk away easier, but if we finish the season strongly..... then he'll have a much better bargaining position.

Mmmm... but it's still a long way until the end of the season. To paraphrase Harold Wilson ....(who didn't ACTUALLY say this ) ......." A week is a long time in football. " Something to consider more seriously in May, perhaps.

Hey Paddy, I hope that you haven't been totally disallusioned by the raft of criticism / comments - so far. Some of the earlier contributors have highlighted most of the errors that I spotted on first reading. I assume that you are writing for an interested readership who aren't so well-informed as the regular fans in the UK, because most of the content is fairly common knowledge. You need to be a bit thick-skinned if you are putting out articles regularly, as there are always people who will criticise your style, grammar ...and just about everything else they don't like. Don't worry too much. We're all entitled to an opinion, but just don't expect everyone else to agree with you if you proffer one. Always check stats. properly and the spelling of names. My comments. You don't actually mention Jesus in the second article... but there are two mangers in the first sentence. Also, I'm not overly fond of the word " gaffer " which may have originated in the industrial north of England but never seems appropriate, although Tolkien even used the word in Lord of the Rings. If you dare to look it up on Wikipedia..... the actual source, and its current usage becomes even more un-clear. Nevetheless. Nice try. Keep going and re-read everything half-a dozen times before publishing articles in future. There's nearly always something you'll have missed. Good luck.

As a bit of a stats. nerd myself, I found both... In that Number AND All The Saints to be quite invaluable .....for several reasons. A quiet perusal of some of the club's history might deter a few people from starting up those more outrageous threads on here.... time, and time and time again. Once again, many thanks to the authors. Nice job fellas.

YES ........except that no-one is likely to be appointed until the accountants have finished auditing the books. Cortese has been signing everything himself for 4 years, (not suggesting he did anything wrong), but KL and the new CEO would want everything checked and above board before taking over..I would !

well I do hope so .....it's long overdue IMHO.

I wouldn't say it was a weakness in our playing style, but one in our finishing skills. Since before Christmas we've averaged between 11-17 shots in differing Prem. League games, but haven't scored more than 2 - (since the Cardiff game) - until last weekend. In the Villa game - (who could forget it ?) , we had 77% possession and 21 shots to their 6 - and still lost 2-3. No they weren't all on target, but some that were ....were well saved buy respective goalies, and to be fair when hitting a ball in a split second on the volley - it can go anywhere. Our strikers do seem to have more success ....when in possession and running with the ball ...(take last Saturday), whereas not so much when it comes to converting crosses into the box. Guess we'll get a few more when the lads improve their shooting prowess, but I can't fault the playing style. It presses teams so hard. My fun video of the week; is continually re-watching Merson (on Sky last Saturday) commenting on the Fulham game. We're not one of his favourite sides, but he has to admit were v.good.

as others on here, I send condolences to Sam and his family. Only a father could know the special pride of seeing his son play in the Prem. League and can only hope it was a final joy for Richard to see Sam playing in Saints' colours. R.I.P.

Rickie " whats-is-name " was 27 when he joined us .......so ...no idea to look at a 25 y.o. then?

He does have a great future, but at present there is no obvious place to play him. He isn't a Schneiderlin, or a Jack Cork-type and Lallana has a " roaming role " all over the pitch. For any 19 year old to already have had his experience in this divison is something quite exceptional. IMHO.....It's no cause for concern at present, he'll be there-or-there abouts for a while, before becoming a permanent fixture...in a year or two..

I watched the (changing) formations we played on Saturday and at times we had three at the back, with Yoshida in the LB spot... and Shaw playing in front of him (ala Bridge / Bale).

EXACTLY my point too. In my 50-odd years as a fan, the most dependable goalies we have been in that age bracket......experienced, acrobatic and no-one with lead boots, either.

SHAME! SHAME !

Theoretically, it goes someway towards regaining fitness, but is playing at U21 level really what we want for " recovering " Prem. League players? Everyone seems to make a big thing about the first teams' " bonding process ", and stepping outside of the "pack " might not be a good psychological move, and could undermine those lads who normally play. I noticed that several former players (now departed) had " run-outs " with U21s (Tadanari Lee, Barnard), but that was an effort to give them match practice and perhaps a PR thing - to help get " noticed ".

Matt Targett would seem to be a likely alternative AND Joshua Debayo ( a former Chelsea Academy lad ) we signed last summer....looked pretty good in some U 18 games. I wouldn't consider a 33 y.o ...who can't get a regular start with WHam (even if he is / was an international). Perhaps there's some unknown (to us) LB ....in Europe who's related to Lovren?. There's an age bias on this site...Some contributors are beginning to bleat over the fact that Rickie Lamber is TOO OLD at 32, and heavens above Artur Boruc is 34 this year.

......but a poor deal in reality. If Rickie had been sold and was playing " elsewhere "..... we have gotten a 0-0 draw at Fulham on Saturday

There is no Chelsea Academy in the accepted sense. The number of top players they have produced ...who've made a career with Chelsea in the last 10 years can be counted on one hand. They either let them go too early .....Cork, Sturridge, Lukaku, etc.......or they just disappear into the lower leagues. Whatever they're doing at Chelsea.... it 'aint working !.. (Like Pompey's Academy).....Chelsea's Academy has just become a channel for their young fans to run around in a blue shirt, with no likelihood of ever getting into their first team, which will be populated by a newer crop of £30 million signings .....season after season.

First game back after a long lay-off. Pleased to see him playing, but lacked that decisive touch he had early season. With Jack Cork playing so well ..he may have to fight a bit to get his place back in the near future, but glad we have some muscle on the bench.....ICOE.

It was " a bit difficult " to like the Cortese personality (MLT certainly didn't), but some Prem. chairmen have praised and been amazed at some of his decisions - especially those that have worked. He dragged the club, kicking and screaming into the 21st century ...and if there are no more changes in the near future, we'll still be a very good club with good admin.systems ...(aside from the odd ticket fiasco and parking charges.) I think the new CEO will (hopefully) allow history to come back into the club with the re-emergence of old "fan favourites / hero-figures " - even if they do have to pay for their own seats. Many fans respect our history - and the people involved in it - even if it's not all glory. Other changes may be minor......red and white stripes again? ....well ...maybe. if KL retains ownership in the long term, she may even become " a fan " . Maybe the sport needs a few more female owners (Delia's still at Norwich) .... instead of those super rich oil oligarchs. The new CEO will hopefully not feel the need to " change everything" again, and the club may return to that " family feeling " we once had, and have a stable management team off the pitch ....and a trophy-winning one on it.

In all honesty... I don't think that NA had the vision that MP has. Having Puncheon in the squad was rather like Osvaldo....sometimes brilliant beyond words, other times he was almost invisible. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking Nigel, he did a fantastic job ..as far as it goes, but he clearly didn't have the Prem. League mindset, otherwise he would have bought in big-time before we began season 1. The fact that he couldn't see the shortcomings of only having KD as goalie, or that Fox and Richardson weren't Prem.class and in players like JP he saw only what he HAD done, and not the fact that he lacked consistancy. I think NA was always looking back at where he / we had come from....and carried along on the wave of back-to-back successes, put faith in too many players who just couldn't cut it. JP included. JP may do well at Palace, I hope he does......(I quite like them as a club)..... but it may not be in the Prem. next season. I think Pochettino is looking forward ........to where we can go, and sees we have the right set-up to achieve it, and JP wasn't in his reckoning, for better or worse he's gone now and only time will tell.

I agree with you on that point, but if Lovren were to be out for 6 months instead of 6 weeks; I'd want a better alternative available than Jos Hooiveld - wouldn't you? (nothing personal Jos) Likewise we have recently seen the outcome of results whilst Boruc was out for a couple of months....with no adequate substitute. Several Prem. sides have upto 3 international keepers on their books. Those who were screamimg for us to sell Jack Cork two months ago will notice that (on recent showings).. Victor Wanyama will have a tough task to regain his place. Having a good first team (even without a Ramirez and Osvaldo) has proven OK, but we need players on the bench of equal ability to replace / challenge for places in emergencies.