SaintJackoInHurworth

Just to clarify the 'may find themselves down into fifth' remark... Man Utd's next match after this is not until the Sunday. Both Liverpool and Saints will have played on the Saturday (and will therefore have played for a possible 9 points) and while it is highly unlikely that Saints will have done enough to overtake Utd on goal difference, it is possible that Liverpool could win all three of their games (against Newcastle, Hull and West Brom) and therefore find themselves a point ahead of United. With that particular combination of fixtures coming up it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that Utd could be under significant pressure by the time they play against Everton on 26 April. (Anyway, that's my lot for today - hopefully it has been a useful discussion!!)

I'm sorry but there are a lot of people who are, in my opinion, over-predicting how Man Utd will finish the season. I accept that they have ben in great form recently, but with some very difficult fixtures ahead that could well change. They have been very lucky in far too many matches this season, but who is to say that their luck will not run out. Take a look at their fixtures in isolation: 12 April Home v Man City - this is the match Man City need to show their superiority and to reignite their push to finish the season well. With Costa out injured they may even sniff the possibility (however feint) of catching Chelsea. I predict a narrow Man City win. 18 April Away v Chelsea - even without Costa, Mourinho will have his side well up for this match and Man Utd will be unable to cope with them. A clear Chelsea win. After those two games Man Utd may find themselves back down into fifth and with their Champions League credentials under scrutiny. 26 April Away v Everton. With Everton reinvigorated and keen to finish the season strongly - especially against Man Utd, this will be another tough fixture. It could go any way. I have predicted a draw, but who knows?! 2 May Home v West Brom. After three tough matches this should be respite for United, though this is the sort of fixture that Pulis relishes. Nevertheless, I predict a Man Utd win - though possibly only just with more questions about Man Utd's ability to see the job of Champions League qualification through. 9 May Away v Crystal Palace. You would expect Man Utd to win this, but Palace have been a revelation under Pardew. It's the sort of tough match that a team under the spotlight feling the pressure of the struggle to achieve could end up drawing, which has been my somewhat leftfield prediction! After all they won't necessarily win all the apparently winnable fixtures. 17 May Home v Arsenal. With Arsenal finishing strongly and hoping to finish at least second, I believe they will be too strong for United. They will be particularly motivated for this match after past experiences - even without Ferguson at the helm. 24 May Away v Hull. With Hull battling to avoid relegation this match will not be as easy as it might appear. They won't be strong enough to beat United but with home advatage they may secure a draw. The pressure could also get to United.

In the light of today's results, I thought it would be worth revisiting predictions I made before about the end of the season. Unfortunately, we didn't get the draw I (optimistically) hoped for, but it doesn't make much difference to the predictions: Team................P......GD....Pts Chelsea..............38.....36.....92 Man City.............38.....34.....83 Arsenal...............38.....29.....82 Liverpool.............38.....10.....72 Southampton.......38.....20.....71 Man Utd..............38.....27.....68 Tottenham...........38......5.....63 Nevertheless, that one point could well be enough to cost us a Champion's League place. On the other hand, though, Liverpool's heavier defeat than I predicted could make a significant difference too! I've put Liverpool down to defeat both Newcastle and Hull in their next two games, but what if they fail to win one of those games and only manage to draw? It could still leave Saints in with a chance of a Champions League spot. OK, I know I'm dreaming here! My real point is that there is still a long way to go and many things could change between now and the end of the season. In particular, despite of all the talk about Man United looking likely to qualify for the Champions League, I still want to point out that they have to play Man City and Chelsea in their next two games. Lose those two and suddenly their confidence will be much less and, who knows, they could even lose to Everton in the following game. On a more pessimistic level, what happens if we barely win another game this season? Could our current expectations of playing in Europe next season be proved wrong? Finally, I wonder how today's results impact upon other people's predictions? My guess is that most people won't have predicted much different than the actual results we saw today, so it probably won't have much affect. So... how do you see it now?

Which team does McNulty support? I would guess at Man Utd as he is overly optimistic at how they will do and overly pessimistic about Man City's chances. Of course he could just be a pessimistic City fan! Anyway, here are the key Barclays Premier League Fixtures for rest of season for sides in the top 7 - assuming that they will remain in the European qualification places (i.e. assuming Swansea, West Ham and Stoke don't catch up) together with my predictions... Saturday 4th April 2015 Arsenal V Liverpool 2-1 Everton V Southampton 1-1 Man Utd V Aston Villa 1-0 Chelsea V Stoke 2-0 Sunday 5th April 2015 Burnley V Tottenham 2-2 Monday 6th April 2015 Crystal Palace V Man City 1-1 Saturday 11th April 2015 Southampton V Hull 2-0 Tottenham V Aston Villa 2-0 Burnley V Arsenal 1-2 Sunday 12th April 2015 QPR V Chelsea 0-3 Man Utd V Man City 1-2 Monday 13th April 2015 Liverpool V Newcastle 2-1 Saturday 18th April 2015 Hull V Liverpool 1-2 Stoke V Southampton 0-1 Chelsea V Man Utd 3-1 Sunday 19th April 2015 Man City V West Ham 3-1 Newcastle V Tottenham 1-1 Saturday 25th April 2015 Southampton V Tottenham 1-0 West Brom V Liverpool 1-2 Man City V Aston Villa 3-0 Sunday 26th April 2015 Everton V Man Utd 1-1 Arsenal V Chelsea 2-2 Wednesday 29th April 2015 Leicester V Chelsea 1-3 Saturday 2nd May 2015 Chelsea V Crystal Palace 2-1 Hull V Arsenal 1-2 Liverpool V QPR 2-1 Man Utd V West Brom 2-1 Sunderland V Southampton 0-2 Tottenham V Man City 1-2 Saturday 9th May 2015 Arsenal V Swansea 2-0 Chelsea V Liverpool 2-0 Crystal Palace V Man Utd 1-1 Leicester V Southampton 0-2 Man City V QPR 4-1 Stoke V Tottenham 1-1 Saturday 16th May 2015 Liverpool V Crystal Palace 2-1 Man Utd V Arsenal 1-3 Southampton V Aston Villa 3-0 Swansea V Man City 1-2 Tottenham V Hull 2-0 West Brom V Chelsea 0-2 Wednesday 20th May 2015 Arsenal V Sunderland 4-0 Sunday 24th May 2015 Arsenal V West Brom 3-0 Chelsea V Sunderland 4-0 Everton V Tottenham 1-1 Hull V Man Utd 1-1 Man City V Southampton 3-1 Stoke V Liverpool 1-2 This would leave the final table looking like this: Team................P......GD....Pts Chelsea..............38.....36.....92 Man City.............38.....34.....83 Arsenal...............38.....27.....82 Southampton.......38.....21.....72 Liverpool.............38.....12.....72 Man Utd..............38.....25.....68 Tottenham...........38......5.....63 OK - I've probably been overly optimistic about Saints results and overly pessimistic about the results of Liverpool, Man Utd and Spurs, but it's not beyond the bounds of possibility is it?!!

Hopefully by the time it gets to the Cup Final we will have already qualified for Europe in 6th place or higher. If we can get 19 points from our remaining games then I reckon that should be enough for us to achieve that. I believe Man Utd will get no more than 15 points from their remaining games and they may possibly struggle to even get that much, as they have to play against all of the other top 7 clubs apart from Saints in their remaining fixtures. I can't see them picking up more than two or three points from those games and they can't surely win every one of the other games (including one which is away against Everton).

Incidentally, for those that suggest that the statement 'The Stripes Are Back' is only a reference to Adidas, perhaps it is worth remembering this: And then there's also this: In other words, ever since Saints started using the #TheStripesAreBack hashtag last summer it has been a reference to a striped kit. The one thing that is interesting about our current kit and the marketing for it, however, is the presence of the diagonal stripe through it. I wonder if this, together with Turkish's absolute assertion that we are going with a sash kit, acts as some sort of hint that maybe we are going to go with some sort of diagonal sash stripes on next season's kit?

There is another possibility... that the new kit is both stripy and sash style - i.e. some trendy stripy design from one shoulder down. A couple of years ago when some people were saying that we should stick with the sash and others were arguing for a return to stripes (prior to us having the horrible Liverpool/Forest pinstripe design) I suggested that possibility and using my very limited graphics software (i.e. Paint) I tried to produce a vague mock up of that idea. So, if they do go with that I think they should give me some royalties!! lol

OK, using the prediction website I came up with the final table looking like this: Pos Team Pld GD Pts 1 Chelsea 37 51 87 2 Man City 38 42 83 3 Southampton 38 38 77 4 Arsenal 38 33 76 5 Man Utd 38 36 68 6 Tottenham 38 14 68 7 Liverpool 38 12 63 8 West Ham 38 6 54 9 Everton 38 3 51 10 Stoke 38 -6 48 11 Swansea 38 -19 47 12 Newcastle 38 -12 45 13 C Palace 38 -15 39 14 West Brom 38 -17 37 15 Sunderland 38 -19 36 16 Aston Villa 38 -33 30 17 Hull 38 -25 29 18 Burnley 38 -26 29 19 Leicester 37 -27 28 20 QPR 38 -36 24 However, in a dream world where we go on to win every match, the final table will look like this: Pos Team Pld GD Pts 1 Southampton 38 46 87 2 Chelsea 37 49 86 3 Man City 38 40 82 4 Arsenal 38 33 76 5 Man Utd 38 36 68 6 Tottenham 38 14 68 7 Liverpool 38 12 63 8 West Ham 38 6 54 9 Everton 38 2 50 10 Stoke 38 -8 47 11 Swansea 38 -19 47 12 Newcastle 38 -12 45 13 C Palace 38 -15 39 14 West Brom 38 -18 36 15 Sunderland 38 -19 36 16 Aston Villa 38 -33 30 17 Hull 38 -25 29 18 Burnley 38 -26 29 19 Leicester 37 -27 28 20 QPR 38 -36 24

A year and a half ago Benefoot, a website that analyses the best of Belgian and Dutch football, produced a piece on emerging talent. It's interesting to see who was included in that: http://www.benefoot.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/BeNeFoot-Eredivisie-Top25.pdf - turn to page 2 to see the contents page. You will see the names of Djuricic, Vilhena, Blind, Clasie, Van Dijk, De Vrij, Eriksen all there.

BBC Solent Sport ‏@solentsport 5 minutes ago #SaintsFC finalising a loan move for Benfica's Serbian midfielder Filip Djuricic. Set to be their only business on #DeadlineDay.

I wasn't sure whether to bother with this, but the sexist and selfish comments of some of the dinosaurs on here have convinced me that I should. As I live in the north of England nowadays I am unlikely to ever go to see Southampton Ladies play. Nevertheless, I would be delighted to hear that they are being successful in the same way that I am pleased when I hear about the under-21 and under-18 teams doing well. Yet, I believe that the reasons to support it are far more than just that potential for mild contentment at seeing other Saints success. There may well be direct commercial benefits in the longer term if the club is successful as someone has pointed out already; but perhaps even more significantly a successful ladies' and girls' team could also have an important and significant spin-off in terms of the support for the club. As a husband I would love my wife to take more interest in football and as a Dad I am pleased to see my daughters both supporting Saints. Yet while football remains a male preserve it is really difficult to encourage a real interest in football from them other than when I take them to the occasional match. With a successful ladies' and girls' side it increases the likelihood that women from Southampton (and beyond in my case!) will engage with football and will encourage both their sons and daughters to take an interest too. So, yes, please Katerina, support ladies football in Southampton and let's see the spin-offs as our status as a family-friendly club is further enhanced with many more female supporters. PS For those of you who are only motivated by sexist thinking, just imagine the terraces full of beautiful young Southampton ladies cheering on the men's team because they themselves were encouraged to be involved in football!

If we get end up in the bottom two (or three?) we will get relegated to Division two though, so I hope our results will pick up!

I notice that while the first team are beating all-comers, our youngsters have not had a great start to the season. Is there a reason for this and should we be concerned? Is this a consequence of the shake-up in staff at the end of last season or is this a consequence of poor coaching last season and thus justification for that shake-up? Or is this a consequence of promoting players to a higher level, so that players are being asked to step up? Or is there some other explanation? Maybe there is no explanation and it is just one of those things? I don't want to raise alarm bells unnecessarily, I am just curious!

I agree that waiting until he is 5 or 6 is the best policy. I was thinking about taking my second child to her first game and she will be 6 in March, but I'm probably going to wait until next year at least. My oldest is now nearly 9 and I would say last season was probably the first time that she really took interest in most of the game and even then she was beginning to struggle a bit towards the end I think. My advice is to make sure you talk to them about what is going on all through the game. Point out certain players and their shirt numbers. Tell them a bit about that player (e.g. that Pelle is supposed to try to score most of the goals, that Forster saves shots in the goal and is allowed to use his hands as long as he stays in the penalty area, etc.). Explain other things too, like the shirt colours of the opposition (away colours, etc.) or if you're at an away match, why Saints aren't playing in red and white, etc. Talk about the floodlights and the referees, the areas where home and away supporters are, the bench where the managers, coaches and subs sit, why people are cheering, booing, etc. Also get him to ask you questions if he has any too. Of course, all of those tips work better the older they are and the more you have talked to them about football beforehand, so my advice would be to start these sort of conversations now. As for other things that can keep them entertained and/or focussed, try sitting them on your lap or shoulders (with sensitivity to those behind you!), stand them on the seat (be careful though!); teach them some simple Saints songs (the ones with nice words!!) like 'Oh When The Saints!' and get them shouting support like 'Come on Saints!'. In short, get them involved in the game if you can, rather than giving them things that only communicate that actually what they are watching is boring and that the DS or whatever is better! Like others have said, reserve those sort of things for half time. If you need other things that go a bit further than all of this, then try some of the following which are all about watching the game: * Get them to shout 'Come on Saints!' whenever a certain player touches the ball. * have a competition based on the number of completed passes by saints players in a move. They go first and count passes, then after possession is intercepted the game passes to you and it is your time to count (aloud!) completed passes and see if you beat their score and so on. Play it for ten minutes or so or for a whole half and see who gets the highest score. * Choose a player each and count the number of times they touch the ball. Whichever of you has chosen the player who makes the most touches in a certain period of time is the winner. Hope these are helpful ideas!

So... can I ask my question again... Will the club replace snagged shirts or only shirts where the seams are pulling apart? PS None of my past shirts have ever snagged as easily as this shirt - this has more snags on it after wearing it once than many of the others that I have worn numerous times. This is not just an annual complaint about the shirts - I have never before complained about shirt quality - even when we had a really cheap shirt with iron-on sponsorship transfers when we were in the Championship during the Lowe era.

Can you actually get snagged shirts replaced? Or is it only shirts where the stitching has started to come loose? I agree with those on here who have said the snagging problem is awful with these shirts and it is a problem that did not occur with any previous shirts. I didn't wear my shirt when I first bought it, then decided to wear it to travel in a car to our holiday in Malvern. I ended the day with two snags on the shirt after the first day of wearing it. If I could replace it with a shirt without any snags (and hopefully one that didn't snag so easily), I would do so. My main problem is that I don't live in Southampton, so I can't just drop in to the club shop when I feel like it - I have to wait until I visit my parents at Christmas or send it through the post.

How about this for an alternative starting line-up? ..................Forster Clyne....Fonte....Alderweireld...Bertrand ...............Schneiderlin .......Ward-Prowse.......Davis Tadic..............................Isgrove ....................Pelle Subs: Boruc, Gardos, Yoshida, Long, Cork, Mane, Wanyama. I've assumed Gardos is not yet fully match fit to be given a starting berth and that Mane won't have trained with the squad enough yet. I've also reasoned that Koeman may have taken note that Newcastle are vulnerable and that we seem more coherent without both Wanyama and Schneiderlin in defensive midfield. I have also reasoned that Koeman will have had a bit more time with Isgrove, Fonte and Bertrand who have not been on international duty to plan some tactics which can be implemented on Saturday and that those who haven't been away on international duty may be fresher - hence he may opt to give Isgrove a start. Of course, I recognise that my own reasoning could be an argument for starting with Wanyama too!

Hot on the heels of transfer deadline day everyone seems so excited about signing Toby Alderweireld that Florin Gardos has not got a mention. It's worth remembering that he is a Romanian international centre back and that the reason he hasn't started yet is that he has been unfit/injured. He is also no youngster just developing as a player, but a 27 year old experienced footballer. Surely, the next couple of weeks give us a great opportunity to get him fit and then to get him into the side? Or does everyone just think we have bought him to sit on the bench as back-up to Fonte and Alderweireld?

BBC just been going on about there being a special 'sheet' that can be submitted to allow an extra hour for transfers to be completed, so we could still be waiting until midnight!

So... have we signed Alderweireld? Has the medical been completed? What is the delay? Are they just waiting to complete the other deal (for Sadio Mane?)? Is that one happening or is he going to Spurs?

Yes, you're right.. it's a rubbish connection! Also though, being on holiday in Malvern, having travelled down here on Saturday, my laptop and phone have tried and tried to get a connection to my rubbish internet connection in Darlington without success... strangely enough! Yet, the continual attempts of my computer and phone to connect to a connection completely out of range are rather like the continual repetition of the same joke on this thread.... Or to put it another way: 'Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.' (credited to Einstein) Which leads to the question: "Insanely unfunny" - a title to credit to me for criticising the sarcasm on this thread? ...or one to credit to those who repeatedly sneer at anyone who doesn't either like (in my case) or understand (in the case of many others) their humour?

I'm glad to see that this thread is finally getting back onto topic a little after the massive discussion about Boruc (why doesn't someone start a new topic to discuss that?!). Anyway, perhaps I can help to get things back on track... I've been trying to think through which potential transfers have been discussed recently and come up with the following summary: Potential Signings * Toby Alderweireld (Atletico Madrid) – Koeman has ruled him out as not possible * Virgil Van Dijk (Celtic) – Strong rumours that we are interested even though Koeman has previously ruled out signing another CB. Rumours have resurfaced after Celtic exited Champions League. * Jordy Clasie (Feyenoord) – With Schneiderlin, Wanyama, Cork, JWP, Reed, Davis, Ramirez, Tadic, Taiider all available to play in central midfield it would seem strange to sign another player in there, but on the other hand if he is good enough or has that much potential then why not?! * Andros Townsend (Spuds) – MoPo has said he’s going nowhere and the inevitable pressure to sell Morgan make it unlikely we would deal with Spuds. * Nathan Redmond (Norwich) – Young player with bags of potential and would give us another option on the wing as well as Tadic and Isgrove. * Danny Ings (Burnley) – Ings apparently declared his commitment to Burnley earlier in the summer and there has been little recent news about Saints potentially signing him. * Alessio Cerci (Torino) – Rumours that Arsenal are in the market to sign him and leading the race. * Davie Selke (Werder Bremen) – a new rumour with other rumours that Bremen are cash-strapped and that Benfica are also interested. Potential Departures * Artur Boruc – Upset at losing his first team place and dropped from the squad until his position is made clearer. * Morgan Schneiderlin – The club have stated categorically that he is not leaving. * Gaston Ramirez – Ronald Koeman has declared that he is not going anywhere despite rumours linking him with Sevilla. * Jack Cork – Koeman has also said that he will stay according to the BBC. * Jay Rodriguez – As above = not going anywhere. * Jos Hooiveld – Rumoured this week that he may be about to go to Burnley. So... is that a comprehensive list? Have I missed anyone?

I can't believe the sarcasm on this thread. Even worse I can't believe that some people actually don't realise that it is sarcasm and some have even gone as far as to apparently become convinced that it genuinely was deliberate! How gullible can you be! Worse than all of this I fear that maybe there are less being sarcastic than I think. I also seriously suspect some people are unsure what to think but dare not speak out the obvious fact that it was a fluky miss-kick for fear of being ridiculed. Well, for my part, I don't often do sarcasm (as it is the lowest form of wit), so let's just acknowledge that it was a moment to both cringe and laugh at the hapless Shane Long and to hope that somewhere he does have some ability to warrant the massive amount of money spent on him. As for those debating seriously whether this might possibly have been deliberate, all I can do is roll my eyes and shake my head in disbelief! Please... just think about it - think especially about the air shot that brought the whole comical incident to a close and realise that that is not the kick of a player performing an amazing trick but the kick of a buffoon who has just accidentally struck the ball with his standing leg and yet still tries to follow through with his kick like some kid in the school playground! In short, I am putting my head above the parapet of sarcastic wit ready for whatever tirade anyone might wish to launch at me as a result. Though to be honest, as a mere 'registered member' here, don't expect me to respond anytime soon! PS I appreciate that the whole reason for the sarcastic wit was that this subject didn't, in some people's opinion, need a thread of its own and that it has been extensively discussed elsewhere. If it doesn't need a thread of its own, why not close this thread now before it gets completely out of hand! Thanks.

All this talk of wingers, attacking midfielders and strikers, but not one mention of Gaston Ramirez! Is there some assumption that he is about to be sold or abandoned to the garbage heap? If not then he is surely another option for us - either out wide, up top or just behind the striker(s)?

I thought he was OK and hopeful he will get better. However, I disagree that the one save he did have to make was a "great stop". I agree with the MOTD taters and analysts that he could have done better with it. While it veered a little he nearly dropped it and if he had done so he would have looked a complete buffoon. Nevertheless, Boruc made far worse handling errors for us in his early games in a Saints shirt, so I am happy to just that down as 'one of those things'. As for Boruc, despite early misgivings when he first played for us two years ago, I have grown to appreciate him as a keeper and will be disappointed if he leaves. If he does leave it will be a concern as to who will cover for him. Nevertheless, hopefully Forster will not have as many absences from the team as Boruc has done. In the longer term I hope that Cropper will benefit from the training he receives from our new goalkeeping coach and that in a year or so he can replace Kelvin (and/or Boruc) as understudy to Forster.