david in sweden

I think maybe many of us wouldn't .......if only Claude Puel hadn't mentioned him ....and Thierry Henry.... in the same breath.

I agree with a lot of that..... .although there are other (social) factors.. ...in that older players with young-ish families often prefer to " stay put " at one club, where they feel " appreciated " than move on (yet again)....and try their luck in pastures new. Those single " Yuppie players " who only need to move to another flat ..in another city with their girlfriends, and who have eyes on a blossoming international career, with a " big money " club who will pay them £100K /week .....to sit on the bench every match.... may have another viewpoint. The older players whose careers may have " peaked " , look forward to every game with enthusiasm....and although I can't recall if it was Doddsy or Frannie Benali,(nearing the end of their careers) who said it......" even getting selected for a reserve team game ....feels like a Cup Final ". Hopefully, both Davis (and Fonte) still have some mileage in them, but when they eventually finish, they will both be " hard acts to follow ".

........have you forgotten the " London bias ", Turkish ?..... Jack Wilshere playing for lowly Bournemouth, is not the same as Jack Wilshere playing for the " Mighty Arsenal ".......

I was thinking the same thing ....Don't know if Targett is 100% yet, but although Burnley is always a tough game, maybe Puel will give McQueen a chance to start? Yoshida?....well he has had the no.3 shirt for a couple of seasons, and (as I recall) DAJFU whenever he played LB. Unfortunately, Maya hardly got a look in whilst Clyne and Bertrand were (rightly) first choices, and whenever he played "emergency RB " things often went pear-shaped. I think he is a better CB than a full back, (but he might not get past Fonte or VvD in their current form, although he has played CB in 3 of the recent 6 clean sheets.)

I think it took a while (almost 8 years of loan-outs to 6 different clubs) for Ryan to recognise his own potential.... until he joined Saints permanently. During that time ....he clocked up almost 200 League games plus around 40 games at England youth level. Statisically +/- 250 games is " mid-career " for many players. Not saying that he lacks confidence, but he might never have expected to be England's first choice no.3 with that sort of past, but he always DAJF England when selected. I also have to "buy in" to the arguement that "big club " players - especially those in London - get "an edge" when they play for a top 4 side. Just look at Spurs. I think Bertrand is technically better than Rose, (although to his credit Rose has done better this season), and Bertrand is approaching that " late 20's age " when injuries take...just a little longer.... to shake off. Hopefully he can recover fitness and form soon, and may get into Southgate's squad for the next international break. As for the future?...if Wenger gets the England job...you can be sure both Bertrand and Rose will have to fight off Kieron Gibbs for the LB spot.

Every team has a tactic that often involves players like Tadic and (formerly Mane) getting much more attention than they actually do of the ball. Steven Davis is rarely out of the action for very long in any of his games. He makes the midfield tick over and turns up all over the place, frequently doubling as an extra defender....(although I'm sure he himself would admit that he ought to have scored more often that he has.... given some of the positions he gets into). If he scored 8-10 goals a season, people would be using that much over-used phrase " world class "..and not without good reason. He always gets the plaudits in his games for N.I. but few of those same journos write so freely about his contributions to Saints' games. A player whose qualities I have admired since Day One....and who disproves the theory that careers start to go downhill after 30....

(on Schneiderlin)...a nice thought, but the old adage of .."never go back " often rings true. ..think I'd prefer to remember him as he was ....when he played so well for us, and leave it at that.

Don't see Boufal getting 90 minute games for a while yet anyway....even if he is match fit. The prospect of having Redmond and /or Long coming off the bench at 60 minutes must be a nightmare for opposing defenders with tiring legs ----don't you think ?

....you might also get some extra work as a translator for people with dyslexia.......

after all this time, I'm sure he'd like to play regularly, otherwise why did he come in the first place?. Unfortunately almost 2 seasons gone and (sadly) he's been injured far too much.

well at least they'll be able to pay the stewards...sorry steward

well it could be considered so .......when you look at the expenditure of the clubs above us .....and the size of their record signings.... .....but I still think an average buy of £7 -10 million is good pretty good business. I haven't seen stats. about it, but I can think that a fair proportion of the Prem.clubs have a bigger record signing than we do ....

nowadays I'm sure they would, but in bygone years......some fans always seemed surprised when they saw a new face on the bench.

.....which averages out at around £12 million for each of them..which is still " chicken feed " for a Prem.side....and we seem to get good deals... at good prices.

think this is about right. Being " fit enough to train " is nowhere near the same as.... "being match fit ".... especially for a Prem. club. After such a long lay-off, I guess there's no hurry to rush him back into the side, and until he shows up better than VvD or Fonte, he's better off where he is.

...Er....is that a good omen ...or.. ?

well of course ..the really big spending clubs have forked out 2 or 3 times the amount we have.....but looking at those above us we still end up in the top 10 Prem. sides Although £182 million sounds a lot ....if you say it quickly ....we don't actually spend those huge sums that many others have done.. ....AND if you look at our first team squad of 24/25 players, it works out at an average of around £7.5 million per player....which is not so bad in today's market.

yes agreed. ..(and nice for you that you have a wife who enjoys talking football with you) . ..but with Claude Puel " jinxing " him with the " Thierry Mark 2 " brand....a lot of people expect to see him scoring more often....and in fact ...so do I .

......that about sums it up for me, too. Southgate is only holding the fort for (goodness knows who?)...and if England lose games/points on his watch, those players will be tainted for life....along with those infamous players who missed vital penalties at major tournaments .. Oops sorry Gareth..didn't know you were listening.

well it used to be the Johnsons Paint Trophy to most of us.... A well-argued debate on today's BBC football site points to " the rights and wrongs" of allowing some Premier League clubs to have their "B team" (U23's) to take part in the competition, which we can recall..... we won in 2010, but which had previously only been open to L1/L2 clubs. Those of you interested enough can read the article for themselves, but I wondered just how many people who regularly read / visit this site actually follow our U18/ U23 sides with any degree of interest. In bygone years, when I was still living in So'ton ....I used to walk to The Dell and watched " the Reserves " (as they were then) at every opportunity, but found that many fans who came to first team games knew little of nothing about those up-and-coming youngsters and could scarcely name more than 3-4 of " the Stiffs ". I'm wondering how many of you ...if you're still reading this ..actually follow the the Academy / U23 sides.. .or even go to Staplwood to watch games? I manage to visit SMS and get in a few games a season, but have not yet managed to watch the youngsters " live ", (although many are on YouTube nowadays). So what's your response? ..Do you follow the Academy sides...or just follow the first team matches?

both defences shambolic at times. The sort of suicidal poor back-passing you'd expect from Yoshida... but had to keep reminding myself that he wasn't playing . Enough chances on both sides to have won it ....or a 3-3 draw with better finishing. However, one point and another clean sheet - away to the Champions... can't be bad. Romeu MoM by a mile. When are Redmond and Long going to score? .....not for another two weeks anyway.

without seeing / hearing the entire, unedited interview.... no-one can (or should) make a judgment on this type of " sensational " journalism. The small clip of the Black interview may seem damning, but do we hear what the previous questions were ?...or indeed if the clip was the answer to an obvious question. If these cases ever go to court, or a tribunal of sorts...it'll become reminiscent of the "Watergate Tapes" scandal (for those of us old enough to recall that fiasco).

well 20 posts so far.... and opinions are more of less evenly split...... There's more to selecting " the best team on the day " and it's down to the manager to carry the can IF things go wrong. I'm reminded of Lawrie McMenemy's quote : " as a manager you can never win. If we win, fans say the team played well...if we lose ....it's my fault because I picked them "..... Leaving the four regulars at home was obviously preparation for the Leicester game, bearing in mind that had we had a better start, we'd have been higher than 9th .....but with the resurgent Everton, Liverpool and Chelsea already showing good form, we can't expect to see them finishing lower than they did last season, but will we? I repeat my pre-season prediction that it'll be a good team that finishes 10th this season.....and tough luck on some of those who finish lower than 6th. Predictably losing the Pelle / Mane goal tally shows up glaringly, and although Shane Long had his best-ever season last time around, he's struggling now and whatever it is that " Thierry " Redmond is expected to produce - it's a long time coming. Thankfully Charlie Austin hasn't forgotten how to score and the big uncertainty around JayRod's fitness also remains a big question. I belong to the "old school" that likes seeing a big striker up top, but being totally reliant on Austin is a bit unnerving. Puel made the judgment that we need to try out " the rest of the squad " early on, in order to assess their potential for the League run-in in April / May, (and who will make the eventual Europa League play-offs - should we qualify). Introducing the likes of Hesketh (who has enormous potential IMO) only goes to show Puel's commitment to the Academy concept and Jake ....will need to put Thursday's game down to experience in " big boy's football" and move on. Thursday's call was a brave one, and although we should have been better, those " second choicer's" who came into the side DAJFU and are one step closer to succeeding. By Christmas we (hopefully) will have qualified in this EL group, seen a return of form from JayRod, Long and Redmond ....and see exactly what Boufal is capable of.

....and I think it was only ONCE!

.....for goodness sake ..no-one suggest Eric Black.