david in sweden

No but seriously Glasgow...it was beginning to sound like one of those weekend media critics who condemn Saints because they don't play like Barcelona every week. Truth is every manager puts out a team he thinks will get the result he wants, and if they don't perform on the day....or, he guesses wrong with his subbing, then it's his responsibility. No team gets 100% possession, but even with Chelsea's second half " revival " we still managed 57/43 possesion in the whole game. Not bad - even without our players you mentioned. The change of strategy - using the same players - proves that MP is every bit as good as NA.....and the remaining fixtures will show us whether MP has that " X -factor " that Nigel lacked.

Exactly Colin..now why didn't he think of that ?

never my favourite "expert commentator ...." but at last Charlie Nicholas has admitted that we can play a bit .....

(1)...see # 425 again.. .NA had 5 wins in 22 games ....MP has 3 wins in 9. ..and better % of points. You didn't respond to the figures above...... (2) He made changes.....who said the prev. side he played was a strong one ? Chelsea had one of the best goalies in the world. Two England internationals with over 150 caps caps between them...and a £50 million striker...call that weak?

pace : the pace of Prem. League games is a lot faster than most internationals I've watched recently. missed a chance v. Liverpool huh! ----look who's talking. How can he be too old..... if he's scoring against teams who have many of the defenders he'd be likely to play against in a World Cup.? ......and surely he couldn't be worse than Cleverley?

They put in younger players and it'll take two years to discover thay can't cut it .......yet they still get selected..... NOTE TO " WOY" : play your best in-form players! (regardless). (1)... You are manager of the English national team and Rickie Lambert is the leading English scorer this season. What's so difficult to understand? (2) Have you noticed ..Rickie Lambert has a similar talent for scoring from free-kicks as David Beckham ....and RL doesn't miss penalties, either. (3)...The World Cup is next year..... do you expect Carroll ..or even Welbeck to score again before then? Questions ?

(a)...Not in the Premier League he didn't......5 wins in 22 games - isn't 54% - is it Glasgow? or looking at it another way.(statistically) NA achieved 22 pts.of a possible 66..this season MP's tally so far is ...12 poiints of a poss. 27 (b) ...Can there be such a thing as a weak side in a club like Chelsea? . Practically everyone in their first team squad is an international....... ©....who mentioned Alex Ferguson?

...perhaps it was the (rumoured) promise of £1.5 million bonus for keeping them up.......

Ah ? .....you were saying...?

..which is a great shame. He was on the tail end of his career, but turned in some excellent performances - between injuries.

I'm a great believer in the potential of some of our younger players, BUT being a success in the Academy is no guarantee of a Prem. league career. Although, Luke Shaw undoubtedly looked a top class player from day 1, and JWP has been a " qualified success " just looking back at some of the names who were alongside Walcott, Bale and Alex O-C in their generations Academy squads, it's hard to trace some of them today ...and a few have dropped out of League football altogether. I'm sure that there is huge potential in the upcoming U21 / U18 sides, but I doubt if more than 2 or 3 of them will have a lasting Prem. career.

my crystal ball is at the polishers until May, think it's better to wait until August to see the outcome of that one

the reason a team has a manager is for him to impose his authority on the team and utilise their best talents. NA did that for a couple of seasons in the lower divisions. All the good things said about NA were correct, and more, but Pochettino has taken us to the next stage ---and utilising the same squad, that surely says something for the man's expertise.

I think that NA was afraid to alter the status quo in August ...and play him upfront. JayRod looked lost when out out on the left wing. NOW ..give him a more striking role he's a success .....AND Rickie looks just as dangerous playing wider........ good solution alround.

in November.......I suggested we could finish above West Ham - doesn't look so daft now.

....and can be so calm with his sidefooted efforts.....

Great result .......it may have been Adkins' squad, but Pochettino has showed us how to play them properly......

guess?..what's to guess ? ..has Lawro EVER tipped us to win ?

I think this was the straw that broke the camel's back. How someone like NA (a former goalie himself) couldn't see the obvious flaws in his " goalkeeper-strategy " is beyond me. I think this was the beginning of his end after we lost at Arsenal. If KD had been the real thing, he would surely have got more recognition last season, (when England only had Hart to choose from). 20 clean sheets was a record partly due to our good defence. Most Prem. sides have one (or more) international keepers on their books...we had none. Whilst you can get by with a second-rate midfielder on the bench - goalies must be best you can get. If Cortese deserves credit for anything this season, it was signing Boruc when he did - even though NA refused to use him at first....I dread to think where we'd be if our only choices were between KD and Gazzaniga.

..maybe not regularly, but some of the more anonymous streams that I can watch on computer ......often show U21 games (sometimes afternoons)..... ..and in fact I did watch BOTH the U21 games v. Liverpool this season. Problem being that the U21 sides change from match to match, and it's not as if there is a settled side... A useful idea to give recovering / fringe-players an outing, but tough on youngsters on the way up....who need to be exceptional when they do get a game - if they are to stay. Take a look at the Saints OS and see the teams that have played in this season's games and you'll see what I mean. The major problem (except those with names like Walcott, Bale or Oxlade-Chamberlain)., is that they can look great at 17 ...but be lost to the "senior world" when they're 19, and end up in the Conference..if they're lucky.

agree with that one The 9. Shots on goal - don't indicate superiority in a game, or reflect the final scoreline. two instances that come to mind in recent years. ¨¨ We won 6-0 AWAY v. Wolves at Molineux (incl. Saganowski hat-trick), yet had only 8 shots (?) ....on target in the entire game. ...........and another where we had 20 shots in a match v. Reading at SMS .....and it ended 0-0. (Though it's not Saints'......Chelsea's win in the CL final last season v. Bayern was so one-sided .. I lost count of the shots tally when the Germans passed 25 ...but Chelsea won on pens. After the 95 mionutes...it's usually those that go in that count...except in World Cup games Mr. Blatter !

well one of us obviously had " a bit of brain fade on this one", . ...but I still think I was right - especially the solo run ...and the later disallowed goal seemed so memorable. For me it was always one match that I thought I remember best, still .......we'll have to agree to disagree on that one, then .. Was still a good result, though.... eh ?

pretty sure you're correct. I think he was given a 1 year extension last year...and he turned 33 in November.....a good chance for him to get another season .....or two...? in a lower league.

Yes he did, but it was Aston Villa actually, and I was there to see it. Result was 6-2. Villa were already down and out for the count, but they didn't lie down and die, either. Can't recall a more convincing individual performance before - or since. Very nice for me... as the last 3 goals were all scored at the Milton end and I saw them perfectly. Davies' goals were a bit of everything, and included a penalty, but some nice finishes -all with his feet - including a good solo effort beating 4 defenders which he finished from a close angle, and he'd even hit the woodwork earlier on .......and had a " good " goal ruled out for offside...should have been FIVE. Great game.

I always like to recall the game at Stamford Bridge in 1967.... when we won 6-2... and Ron Davies scored FOUR. -´(yes I know it was before some of you were born, but it's still a nice memory........)