SaintJackoInHurworth

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.

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.

Are you comparing Liverpool's performance against us at Anfield or at St Mary's? Their performance against us at St Mary's was certainly sublime and today's performance was not a patch on that. If I remember correctly, however, it came at a time when we were not playing well and we allowed them to play well. Suarez was also at his best at the time, as was Sturridge. As for their performance against us at Anfield last season, we pretty much completely outplayed them that day. If you are referring to that match then your memory of it seems to have been blurred as Suarez did not play in that game!

Are you comparing Liverpool's performance against us at Anfield or at St Mary's? Their performance against us at St Mary's was certainly sublime and today's performance was not a patch on that. If I remember correctly, however, it came at a time when we were not playing well and we allowed them to play well. Suarez was also at his best at the time, as was Sturridge. As for their performance against us at Anfield last season, we pretty much completely outplayed them that day. If you are referring to that match then your memory of it seems to have been blurred as Suarez did not play in that game!

It's amazing how different people's opinions are on here. FWIW, my opinions are: Forster: Looked a bit nervous, especially with handling. Kicking was fairly good and helped to switch defence into attack on a couple of occasions. Didn't really make any significant saves of note. Clyne: Great performance in attack and also provided a great outlet for exchanges of passes in midfield. A little weaker in defence and was slow to respond to Sturridge's movement and lost him for their second goal. For the first goal however, it was Clyne who was left trying to tidy up following Yoshida's failure to deal with Sterling. Yoshida: Better performance than some he has made for Saints, but was caught out of position for their first goal and contributed to indecision in defence. Fonte: Generally a good performance. Bertrand: Better going forward than in defence and combined well with Tadic on a few occasions. Doesn't provide the speed and quality of cross that we had with Shaw, but does seem to be a good passer of the ball. Possible prone to getting caught out of position. Wanyama: Great tackling and short passes. A rock in front of the defence. Schneiderlin: On several occasions he was simply too good for anyone else on the pitch, with his ability to turn out of trouble and lay the ball off faultlessly to others. Koeman clearly likes short passes, so his ability to pick out and complete a longer pass was under-utilised. JWP: Despite the criticisms of some on here, I think this was one of his best performances for Saints. His attempts at goal were audacious and brilliant and he deserved a goal for at least one of them. While he looked a little lightweight at times in the first half, in the second he discovered a confidence to do more with the ball and was a real threat to Liverpool. There were signs that he is beginning to step up the quality of his game, though he needs to work on his accuracy of shooting and passing when half -chances come to him suddenly and when under pressure. Tadic: An inspiration for much of the game, though did fade a little before he was subbed. Davis: Worked hard and contributed positively to the team performance. He is never going to set the world alight with amazing flair play, but he is solid and consistent. Pelle: Better than some have suggested on here. While he didn't always get into enough good positions to score, he worked hard and produced some good knock-downs and was a threat throughout. He is not dissimilar to Lambert and I am sure he will gradually adapt to the English game and once he starts scoring could get a lot of goals for us. Long: Made a nuisance of himself, but it was hard for him to fit into the team having only just joined on Friday. He will I'm sure provide a biggerthreat as he settles into the Southampton way of playing. Isgrove: I thought he did really well in the few minutes he was on the pitch and would like to see him getting more opportunities. For me it was a more accomplished performance than that shown by either Reed or Gallagher when they first got their first team bows. He provided an alternative option and threat that gave Liverpool something else to think about. His crossing needs to become more consistent though - some were good, others less good.

It's amazing how different people's opinions are on here. FWIW, my opinions are: Forster: Looked a bit nervous, especially with handling. Kicking was fairly good and helped to switch defence into attack on a couple of occasions. Didn't really make any significant saves of note. Clyne: Great performance in attack and also provided a great outlet for exchanges of passes in midfield. A little weaker in defence and was slow to respond to Sturridge's movement and lost him for their second goal. For the first goal however, it was Clyne who was left trying to tidy up following Yoshida's failure to deal with Sterling. Yoshida: Better performance than some he has made for Saints, but was caught out of position for their first goal and contributed to indecision in defence. Fonte: Generally a good performance. Bertrand: Better going forward than in defence and combined well with Tadic on a few occasions. Doesn't provide the speed and quality of cross that we had with Shaw, but does seem to be a good passer of the ball. Possible prone to getting caught out of position. Wanyama: Great tackling and short passes. A rock in front of the defence. Schneiderlin: On several occasions he was simply too good for anyone else on the pitch, with his ability to turn out of trouble and lay the ball off faultlessly to others. Koeman clearly likes short passes, so his ability to pick out and complete a longer pass was under-utilised. JWP: Despite the criticisms of some on here, I think this was one of his best performances for Saints. His attempts at goal were audacious and brilliant and he deserved a goal for at least one of them. While he looked a little lightweight at times in the first half, in the second he discovered a confidence to do more with the ball and was a real threat to Liverpool. There were signs that he is beginning to step up the quality of his game, though he needs to work on his accuracy of shooting and passing when half -chances come to him suddenly and when under pressure. Tadic: An inspiration for much of the game, though did fade a little before he was subbed. Davis: Worked hard and contributed positively to the team performance. He is never going to set the world alight with amazing flair play, but he is solid and consistent. Pelle: Better than some have suggested on here. While he didn't always get into enough good positions to score, he worked hard and produced some good knock-downs and was a threat throughout. He is not dissimilar to Lambert and I am sure he will gradually adapt to the English game and once he starts scoring could get a lot of goals for us. Long: Made a nuisance of himself, but it was hard for him to fit into the team having only just joined on Friday. He will I'm sure provide a biggerthreat as he settles into the Southampton way of playing. Isgrove: I thought he did really well in the few minutes he was on the pitch and would like to see him getting more opportunities. For me it was a more accomplished performance than that shown by either Reed or Gallagher when they first got their first team bows. He provided an alternative option and threat that gave Liverpool something else to think about. His crossing needs to become more consistent though - some were good, others less good.

Doubt Nicola will read this, but would echo the sentiments of many in wanting to thank him for all he did for our club and in wishing him a great birthday. Whatever mistakes he made (e.g. getting rid of the stripes and, reportedly, not having great relationships with club staff) he can credited with far more successes and for those I am truly thankful and grateful. Happy Birthday!! (Apologies that I post this somewhat belatedly!)

I'm not sure that you could say that Poch was crap - he did after all achieve far more with the squad than Adkins. However, I do feel that Poch had a significant part to play in what has since happened. If I remember correctly, at the end of last season, Poch was critical of Europa League football and suggested that we don't want to qualify for that as it could/would cost us our 'destiny' of qualification for the Champions League. At about the same time we put in some particularly inept performances - including against Sunderland in both cups (thus eliminating any hope that we could go on to win either tournament thus risking Europa League qualification). Similarly, when Champions League qualification was beyond us but Europa League qualification by virtue of league position still a possibility, our performances were sub-standard. Indeed many have criticised Lovren and Lallana for their poor quality performances at the end of the season. So... here is my contention: 1. The players (or many of them) were convinced by Poch that they were good enough to qualify for Champions League football. 2. Poch also convinced them that qualifying for the Europa League would hinder progress towards CL qualification in 2015. 3. Poch and the players decided they would do everything they could to avoid qualifying for the Europa League. 4. When Poch left they found themselves not only without CL football, but also without even Europa League football, thus precipitating what we see now. For those that like conspiracy theories, you may also like to extend this idea to consider the possibility that Poch decided he would leave as soon as Cortese was ousted and that he put in place a plan to both undermine and unsettle as many of the squad as possible by leaving them believing they are world beaters who should be playing CL football.