Lallana's Left Peg

Jack signed a new 4 year deal not too long ago. Just a 'short-term' experience for him?

Typically we only do this with players who aren't getting offered a new deal in the summer. Gives them a chance to earn a deal elsewhere or catch the attention of another club. When is Isgrove's deal up? I know he signed a new contract in the summer but was it only for 1 year?

I've watched all interviews and my reading of the situation is that he is being fair with us. A recurring theme is the need to grow as a club in terms of commercial revenue and be sustainable. My personal opinion is that commercial growth will be vital for us to be able to maintain our existing squad and spend. Without it we can't. As a consequence he can't say nobody is leaving as unless we fill the holes in the finances then players will have to leave. Even if we do players may leave, but we need to be in a situation where the contracts we give out and the transfer fees we pay no longer come from the Bank of Liebherr. They need to come from the clubs own coffers, which is fair enough. I suspect we will grow commercially, but there may be one or two players who leave along the way. However, regardless of what happens, it looks like (right now, anyway) that there is a sincere desire to be more open as a club and engaging with the fanbase - and unfortunately a part of that will be telling us things we may not want to hear from time to time but it'll be for the better in the long term I suspect.

Certainly has the characteristics of a player we need but the only thing that is a concern is his general build-up and team play. If we can still create lots of chances without needing the striker to come deep and get involved then he'd be good. But if one of the reasons we create chances is the striker getting involved in the build-up then he may not be as good for us.

There is a dearth of good young strikers in Europe right now (at least at the elite level) so that is going to create issues as the bigger clubs snap up talent we may otherwise make a run at and then I am not too sure what that would leave us with. I suspect no matter who we sign there will be risks associated which we'd rather not have given the money we're likely to spend. A bit like Osvaldo again.

Just popping down the shops to buy the Sports Direct News.

You can now view highlights here: http://www.mcfc.co.uk/citytv/Match-highlights/2014/March/EDS-v-Southampton-highlights-and-reaction I had no idea that Pochettino was there!

You couldn't guarantee they would or could. The transfer market is a lottery. Much better to retain your own. It would be incredibly hard to replace either of them regardless of funds, and even then you need to get the transfer over the line.

As has been said, if Pochettino does sign a new deal then I think some reasonable assumptions could be made about other concerns this summer regarding players in and out. If the approach to Cups is just one of two concerns I'd say the club is in pretty damn good shape.

His is fiercely loyal at a personnel level. They'd all be getting new deals too. Be interesting to see if his new deal entails any further responsibility, particularly in the transfer market. I do wonder sometimes what sort of players he'd like at a personal level for his system.

Would be absolutely brilliant news if true.

Well that was thoroughly enjoyable. Even first half finished 1-1 and in the second we never got going but defended well when it mattered. Broke away in the last minute of injury time and Isgrove should have scored - not to matter, Jack Stephens nodded in from the resulting corner and Saints not only halted Man City's 12 game winning streak (they hadn't lost since October!) but we also beat them on their own patch. Stephens and Turnbull were both very good in fact I would say Turnbull was outstanding and faultless all evening. Man City looked good but they didn't create enough. Half their team are big physical lads - at this level it makes a difference I am not sure it will at first team level and that is the trap a lot of Academy teams fall into. I wouldn't mind betting they've spent a fair bit on that team too - lots of foreign players. I would say at least half their team were foreign. Lopes was good for them but with no pathway to the first team at Man City he must be gutted. In the last 10mins he started placing the ball for goal kicks for our keeper in a 'hurry up because we are going to score a winner' way - turns out a winner was scored but not in our goal Was about 10-15 Saints in attendance all mainly sat behind the away dugout. All of us had smug faces after the winner went in.

Usually no first team players, though they have a few who are ready for some first team experience. Lopes is a great player. They also have Andrew Cole's son playing for them. EDIT: They do have several prospects they've purchased from foreign clubs too.

Yep I'll be there. Looking forward to it. Man City U21's unbeaten in 13 or something like that!

He has a bit of a dilemma in the summer. He has said in the past few weeks that he is open to signing a new contract as long as he plays. Well pretty much since December he has been first choice through injury and even when Wanyama came back he held his place. Now his season is over how will he evaluate his status? With any luck he wants to stay and we'll work out a deal. He gets plenty of games and even if he wasn't first choice it is inevitable in that part of the pitch that over the course of the Premier League season and with Pochettino's training methods and tactics that injuries will occur.

He is calm in possession which is good BUT when you combine it with poor technical passing and poor awareness in possession it can make for some infuriating moments. Time for the coaching staff to work their magic as when we don't have the ball he is a man mountain in terms of his presence (when fit!).

Lets hope Lovren is ok too. Apparently he was in quite a bit of pain at the end.

Nice to see us grind out a result. A better team may well have punished us but at the same time as the quality of our squad improves we'll start to pick up more results like this. Very happy to get back to winning ways and hopefully it'll be a shot in the arm for the squad heading into the last part of the season.

Clyne in for Chambers, otherwise same team that started vs. Liverpool.

Can't honestly say there is anyone at those clubs who interests me much on the basis we'll only be signing better than what we have. Only outfield exception may be Michu but bigger clubs would be in for him and Swansea aren't going down anyway. Ruddy as a keeper may be a good shout though.

Our U21's take on Man City U21's this Monday. The game is being played at the Ethiad Stadium - KO is 7pm. Tickets are £3 and there is free car parking at the ground. Two good teams at that level so should be a good game.

Whomever it is will need a great record at working with young players (both development and integration into the first team) and have enough of a presence to inspire the current crop whose form is very dependent on momentum. Preference is for Pochettino to stay and maybe have a bit more of a say in transfers to see what his system can really do if we were behind it.

I suspect our transfer budget (and wages we can afford to give new players) will be offset a bit by new contracts which are owed to players. Rodriguez is contractually obliged a new deal as he has now made 45 appearances. Cork (if he wants to stay) is due a new deal. Many of our younger players on long term contracts should (unless the contract conditions aren't the norm) have wage accelerators in them associated with appearances and age. I am not sure how long is left on the deals of players like Gallagher, Reed, Targett etc. but anything less than 2 years means it is time to tie them down if the club believe they have a first team future. I think it is a given that Osvaldo will leave and we will sign a new striker. The rest is hard to predict both in terms of departures and arrivals regardless of obvious needs.

I'd love for the new Board to be set as soon as possible so that then the Manager can decide what he wants to do and we can move forward. The longer we leave it the more I worry about players looking for moves away as well.

They get tucked into all sorts. Kolarov, Garcia, and Dzeko especially.