david in sweden

The " new stadium phenomena " happens only once in a lifetime .. but can have an effect of team performances because of "new surroundings ". The majority of my supporting years were at The Dell where the facilities /comfort factor ranged between prehistoric and nil. However, the close proximity to the playing area was a hugely beneficial factor when the fans started to sing and back the team. Many football biographies include comments about the "fear" of coming to The Dell. The move to St.Mary's gave a real facelift, but it has taken time for the atmosphere to come anywhere near that which Dell fans were capable of producing. NOTE: I had contact with a Liverpool fan some years ago, who was writing about L'Pools .." great years " in the 70's-80's, and he noted that the visits to The Dell ranked with some of their worst away results....even in those years when they won the title so regularly. There are some lovely old clips on You Tube of that period.

How does Charlie's scoring record this season compare with other English strikers?

......but there are still traces of the ..."bad day at the office " mentality with the media whenever we turn over a so-called "Big Club".

Nice to get plaudits for a change, but you can be sure that if the game had been played on Saturday, we'd have got 5 minutes near the end, and most of the comments would have been about the poor WHam display....rather than the way we got the win. The only consolation for WHam was that their goalie stopped us getting 6 .

No "gentleman " would make an agreemnet like that ......if he continues to improve ....we'll ask for £50 million ....plus add-ons....

is there an ENGLISH striker who has scored more this season so far ?

.my thoughts too.

Of course, Managers want the best deal they can get , too. .and Koeman certainly did in going to Everton. But they also want success for their teams which often involves "big money transfers" and the sort of salary levels that Saints are unable to match up to. It's not a case of Katarina not wanting to invest, but at the end of the day the FFP /FPP(?) rules that dictate how much we can spend. It favours the bigger clubs unfairly.

that's a point of course, but I wonder how many managers know who is available /suitable in the same way as the data that The Black Box provides. Of course every manager knows the players he wants to sign, but that is a personal thing and surely rules out a lot of good players they've never heard of. I can think that Koeman had a few names that the Black Box also threw up, but leaving it just to the Manager to choose everyone (ala Mourinho) does limit the possibilities of signing a good /better player. Giving the manager a " totally free hand " can also lead to someone buying another Osvaldo ....because he liked him from a previous club situation. . There seems to be a bit of negativity about possible interest in Ben Arfa. If Puel can get him to play as he wants then OK, but getting someone to " fit the formation " has to be the priority - if not - we end up with another Gaston. I can think that the Black Box found Alderweireld for us , but I wonder how much Puel knows / knew about Hojdbjerg before he came?

......or, are totally undisciplined (?)

Mmm?.......so much for the interview when Saints offered him the post and he said " he likes to work with younger players ...."

well were a bit of track as this is the Jake Hesketh thread but ....YES I agree with you. They came through the Academy where Martin Cranie DAJFU outstandingly as "the quiet one " and was capped for "young England" nearly 40 times between U17-U21 . Cranie had a baptism of fire on his League debut (v.Chelsea at Stamford Bridge) when given the unfamiliar LB role, had a shocker was even credited with an "own-goal " (which to be fair, he couldn't have avoided) It was a rare appearance at a time when Saints' fortunes were low. He never seemed to cope with the "physicality" of the first team and eventually followed Harry to "his spiritual home"..at a time when Harry eyes were already on the managers chair at Tottenham. After which Cranie drifted off to a succession of not very successful clubs, although he has since clocked up over 300 League games - most recently at Huddersfield. Matt Mills developed his game under the aura of Steve Wigley; (who like Stuart Gray and Dave Merrington before him) did a superb job as Youth team trainer, only to have their careers tarnished when given the "shi**y end of the stick " ..with the task of saving the club (at critical times when Saints had been deserted by defecting managers); Ball ....and Hoddle ....and in Wigley's case - Gordon Strachan). Mills was greatly influenced by Wigley, who left Saints for an assistant job at Man.City (when they were less successful than they are today), but as with Mills...when his mentor left City, so did Mick (although his career was slightly more successful) and featured a number of very high profile, and surprisingly big transfers to lesser clubs including one rumoured to be £6 million. Saints were on the slide by now...but had it been in better times, both might have stayed longer and indeed been capped at a higher level.

......and he (Olemola) ...did it very effectively. With a bit more luck, he might have got a couple of goals when winning the ball after making perfectly fair challenges on their keeper, which certainly unsettled him.

I read the report on the game (on a Spurs site), and whilst it was a fairly unbiased reporting of the facts, the three photos they attached showed their players in tussles with Saints players who " appeared" to be to holding/pushing their players. Pity they couldn't have been similarly unbaised with photos of some of their fouls on Saints players ...one or two which verged on brutality. The Spurs sending-off was the player's second yellow, although he was lucky to still be on the field by HT. when he fouled again soon after his first yellow. Not sure about the circumstances of Harley Willard's red. He got booked early on, but his second yellow seemed to be some "afters" following the Spurs player's dismissal. We couldn't see as he was "off-screen" but maybe the ref. felt obliged to even up the sides, as he also booked several other players after the original "handbags "incident. A poor ending to a spirited match, and I was pleased to see us beat a Spurs side ....even if it was U23's.

whilst he hasn't played for the first team this season, I noted (with surprise) that he was on the bench for the Swansea game. He's had a couple of outings for the U23 side, and usually DAJFU....so maybe Puel wants him in the first team set-up.(?) He must be the eldest amongst the former Academy graduates and has two good loan-out seasons in L1, and picked up 3 trophies whilst doing so. Lloyd also won a cap for Wales.... a while back, but is unlikley to make their current squad based on their recent excellent international form in Euro's.

under18's at present .....guess he might put a bit of weight on by the time he makes his First team debut ...2019 ?

I'd go with most of that..I think that (were he a regular player) JWP should have a " roaming role ". He is very creative, and must of his passing is top drawer. His pass (between two defenders prior to the second goal) was right on Long's toe, although Shane was unlucky not to score (again)...the rebound fell nicely to Hesketh.

although I detest comparisons (as such), there are times when you feel that a new / young player / reminds you of someone else / from a former era. Looking back 40 years....does anyone else think Jake's performance might just remind a little of the ...."young Steve Williams ".c 1976. Jake looked as though he was a part of the team from the first kick and he played with so much confidence, and ...for " a small fella "... he wasn't afraid to mix it a bit... even with the more muscular Palace players. I've watched him play for the U21 (now U23).. but I was very impressed with the maturity of his game....and the goal.

like " eurosaint " I'm somewhat impressed by those stats (42%)....but the original % figs. (issued last season) were meant to show the % of English players who get Prem. games (hence the lack of game time for players who are able to play in the International side).. .....in which case (removing the Welsh, Scots and Irish/ N.I. players ......I suspect the % English would be much lower.

One might argue that " we didn't let them play ". We had superior % possession in the first two games, and it was 50/50% in the Palace game. If you think Palace played " a weakened team ", then what sort of a side did we put out? I don't ever recall Alan Pardew expressing a lack of interest in any game. All teams try out some of their "B squad " players in such competitions, otherwise they'd get no " game time " at all. We also made a lot of changes .....and played FOUR Academy lads who aren't normally first choicers either. I agree we need more games to get a better assessment of " the Diamond system ", but we've played some good football - even if we didn't get wins in those early games. .

perhaps this will be the archetypal " winning system " that we've been looking for so long.....and we can wait to see if it's going to be " Diamonds forever...." .(...sorry I couldn't resist that one ....I'll go off and have another coffee.......)

Charlie Austin now doing his Pellé impression and looks good at it, but JayRod really has my sympathy as he is gradually getting close to that awful phrase "injury-prone". He is still not match fit and it may take time to get him for to be good enough to play a full 90 minutes....How long will he be out this time I wonder? Having two big strikers available is OK ..providing they are both fit. Charlie looks at though he still isn't 100% yet, but thankfully he does score goals. We can't just hope everything will just sort itself out, so I guess we should be looking for an extra striker, so in that respect .....January can't come quickly enough.

Good result .....although 3-0 or 4-0 wouldn't have been unjust. It might be argued that it wasn't Palace's strongest side , but it wasn't ours either. Only Fonte as a "regular" in the defence, but we looked solid at the back and we started the game with 4 Academy products.. (and had another 2 on the bench). Martina is looking very stable, and must feel that he is at least equal to Cedric on a good day. Yoshida looks better as a genuine CB than he does in his emergency RB role. Very lightweight (and relatively short) midfield, but who nevertheless exploited Palace's weaknesses. Both JWP and Clasie showed up more, but despite his tough-tackling - it wasn't Reed's best appearance and he did misplace a few passes but Targett looked a safe alternative for Bertrand - even though he doesn't have his experience.. Charlie Austin hits penalties so casually you'd think it was a pre-match kick-about..(shades of MLT)...but WHEN is Shane Long going to score?.... The thought of Redmond coming on - with his speed - must have been a nightmare for Palace's tiring legs, but he must also start getting goals - and SOON. Have left a separate paragraph for Jake Hesketh, who was clearly MoM by a mile, and that doesn't denegrate the efforts of the others. Young Jake showed a confidence beyond his years and took his chance well when Long's shot was parried by Hennessey. He is unlikely to become " a bench player " overnight, but we can be fairly sure that he'll show up in a lot more games in the future. Altogether a satisfying result. ..now onto Sunderland in the last 16. We know that 8-0 blitzing was an one-off, but Sunderland are increasingly becoming a difficult team to overcome and it's about time we had another goal feast against them to put that "bogey" to bed once and for all......and move on.

Charlie Austin and Jamie Vardy didn't have the benefit of a top class Academy training but are amongst those strikers who had to go out to work for a living.... whilst coming up through non-League football ....and made it to the Prem......the hard way. Without all the " educated coaching and skill tips ", they still know how to find the back of the net, and know how to take a chance without making 10 passes first. The type of players who simply enjoy scoring, and very unlike those £50 million strikers ....who give TV commentators an orgasm everytime they score - an occasional goal..

......and hopefully he will do that ....in the long term . Only problem being - if we are too successful, he might find his way up the list of replacements at Arsenal when Wenger retires next year. Can't see Arsene NOT bothering to recommend one of his own protegé's - can you ?