Lallana's Left Peg

All eyes on the Bristol City game then. If he really is genuinely 'back' he has to be in the matchday 18 for that (as long as he is fit, I suppose). Plus he only has a year left on his contract and Saints rarely let deals enter their last year unless they have no intention of keeping the player so all in all I think it is just another body for the squad.

Forecast comes off very well in that article. Giving him a 5 year contract though

Just back from the game, I've calmed down a little since the final whistle but these are my thoughts from the game: 1. Whilst as a fan I don't insist on knowing exactly what our formation is, I usually have a fair idea but I had no clue today. It shouldn't matter whether or not as I fan I do however it didn't look like the players knew either. At the break we switched it up to 4-3-1-2 and then just as Lallana was getting going he was taken off. 2. Defensively we were solid. Lovren is such a good player. 3. I wish the players would be more incisive and pass the ball properly. They looked so tentative today and it only led to more mistakes. There was a massive lapses of concentration at times which led to the opposition breaking on us - that is unacceptable. 4. Wanyama had an absolute nightmare today. I have no idea why he wasn't hauled off. Stupid fouls, loose passing, and poor decision making. Lets hope it was just one of those days for him. 5. Clyne and Shaw have to come back in as they are the only players in the team with pace and any appetite to beat a man as a result. Our full-backs for Christs sake. 6. I can't work out Osvaldo, but it feels like he and Lambert cannot play in the same team. But Lambert must play if all we are going to do is lump it long which is becoming a concerning tactic. 7. Poor Morgan is getting lost in the shuffle - I don't think he is too comfortable with anything other than being in a two ahead of the defence and he definitely misses his partner Cork. We didn't even need to play well today to win but as it turns out we couldn't even manage a half competent performance in midfield and attack. We're a young team and I am prepared for us to have games like this but performance levels were not at a good enough standard today. I am glad the players have a while to dwell on it because if they aren't going to pass the ball properly and move with purpose they may as well not bother at all.

The U18's were always in for a tough season. The vast majority of them from last season are now a part of the U21's. The squad is made up mostly of first year scholars and I think they even had some 14 / 15 year olds play for them recently too. This is all very deliberate as the idea is to promote players through as soon as possible so they can get used to what is required from them even if they may struggle - I believe Pochettino did it to great effect at Espanyol and it is starting to become an accepted method in the UK. However, it is not conducive to winning football. The U21's is a different story. They are fully loaded this season. They are expected to challenge far more as they had the best youngsters promoted to them and there is more expectation on them. They have made a poor start however you cannot necessarily say that Hunter is to blame - there may be lots of factors. Plus it is important for the kids to learn lots about the game - and losing is a part of it however you would never want to deliberately lose a game of course. However, as has been said the purpose of the Academy is to provide players for the first team and on that basis everyone associated has done a brilliant job. But eventually the club will want to start to win things at that level - and I think Matt Crocker mentioned pre-season that he has introduced a psychology module to the players education curriculum as he believed that aside from talent level both the U18's and U21's last season fell just short of qualifying for the playoffs in their elite groups and better mentality may well have seen them win more games.

Nice one - keep up the good work on ESPN and The Metro.

I'm not one to nitpick but seeing as he is a nipper who is starting to receive some attention he'd probably be grateful to see his name spelt correctly - it is Harrison Reed not Harrison Read.

Read the first two lines, thought it had potential, then I read the last two lines and was so disgusted I had to look away from the screen and contemplate what I had just read.

http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/fc-utrecht-signing-de-ridder-slams-southampton-culture-3977455 Didn't he get a hair transplant last summer!?!

I found it interesting to hear Cortese say in the summer that Saints had an obligation to provide players for the national team should they wish to select them. It was the first time I had seen anything in public be mentioned about it. You could argue that a successful Academy would naturally provide that anyway (and the view that 50% of the first team be made up of Academy products has been around since the takeover).

Jesus Perez said something very interesting last night. He said players don't play in positions, they play from positions. On that basis it would appear anyone who starts out wide in the three behind the striker must be able to come infield and be comfortable - be that with or without the ball. That would appear to completely eliminate the view that we'll ever play traditional wingers in the first team at a senior level and may provide some insight as to why Puncheon was let go and found himself out of favour towards the end of last season.

That is a great draw for us, a home tie and a chance to use the same squad that beat Barnsley.

Yes but it is not a "good" chance is it? It perhaps represents our best chance of success this season, but it is hardly one which we should be directing our focus in. If we got to the semi-final I can see personnel changing a bit however until then I think the club will be focussing on finishing as high up in the league as is possible.

Bookies odds of 28/1 doesn't feel like a good chance of winning it. That said, I too would like weaker opposition so we get a chance to test the squad and give an opportunity to kids.

Just back from the game. A few things to note: 1. Mayuka is not a lone striker. Doesn't seem to anticipate things too well, doesn't get involved enough, just doesn't carry himself like someone who can play that role. He was shifted out to the right at HT with Rodriguez playing up top and we were miles better. The midfielders and defence had a target they trusted and someone who had better movement. Mayuka also seemed more interested when he could receive the ball in more space. 2. It wasn't clicking in the final third in the first half. Very neat at the back and in midfield, but not enough happening in the final third. Ramirez was very disappointing. On one hand he wasn't being given the ball in spaces he demanded it, but on the other his general demeanour and play when he had the ball was not good enough. Hustled off the ball too easily, dwelling on it too much, and some really bad decision making. I sincerely hope he finds something in Osvaldo has his compatibility with the rest of the group isn't there at the moment, regardless of the talent. His goal was classy though, to be fair. And he was clearly relieved to score. 3. The defence were good but O'Grady won far more than his fair share of flicks. Fox was very good as well. 4. Davis and Cork were neat, but Davis was more efficient moving forward with the ball - our man of the match for me. 5. Isgrove was a little disappointing, I think he was keen to impress but he looked a little nervous and at times you could see some players reminding him of positions to be on based on stuff they have worked on in training. More to come from him. 6. All the goals were well taken, and it was brilliant to see Rowe, Reed, and Sinclair come on. The game had opened up by then (Barnsley kept throwing strikers on) so there was more space to work but Rowe was very lively and could (perhaps even should) have scored twice. Reed was great - slipped into the midfield like he had played there for 10 years and also made runs forward and passed the ball forward very well - it is easy to be a crab playing in front of the back four but he was keen to move us up the pitch while retaining the ball. Sinclair did not have much time on the pitch but his movement was efficient. It was a very efficient performance in which we were always in control. Barnsley didn't have much to offer and it was nice to get five goals. It didn't click in the final third until they were chasing the game in the second half but I would concede that may well be due to a combination that have not played together before. Above all hopefully the game will be known for another three promising debuts for players who will go on to significantly contribute to the first team in the years to come.

The squad is big and deep enough for the first 11 to be senior professionals and the kids to be on the bench. I would guess something like this: Davis Clyne Yoshida Hooiveld Fox Cork Davis Isgrove Ramirez Guly Mayuka Maybe Osvaldo for Mayuka but I am 50/50 whether he will actually travel or not.

A gesture designed to raise the profile of the club on one of the platforms it is using to engage with its own fans It literally affects none of us however I will agree with the sentiments around better phone reception around the stadium and information around the things that really do impact us like away allocations etc.

Looks like Sinclair will be joining WBA on loan before this weekend. Personally I am pleased with that - ever since he was linked at the back end of last season I had my concerns. Lets see what the club have lined up - there were suggestions there may be an attacking midfielder coming in before Puncheon went on loan. Now I think it is a certainty.

Whilst I agree we need to progress, in my opinion Puncheon had a better body of work last season than Lallana, JWP, Davis, Guly, and Ramirez. Whilst I can understand why Lallana, JWP, and Ramirez may still be at the club why have we let Jason Puncheon go ahead of the likes of Guly and Davis? In my opinion we have allowed weaker players to remain at the club while Puncheon has left. There is no transfer fee, just the benefit of having his wages paid, I presume. On that basis I can only assume there are non-footballing reasons that have contributed to this move as otherwise it makes little sense on the face of it.

I can exclusively reveal that after David Gold provided great insight into our finances on Sky Sports News the club are now in a state of panic and are looking to offer all first team squad members out on loan in order to receive a more positive update the next time that little ***** talks about something he knows nothing about #ITK2K13

It was said we were going to give up on Chamberlain, I think that is who you are getting confused with. Rowe has not been talked about much publicly by the club.

Said he has been house hunting for 3 months!

Pochettino at the stadium but won't be at the press conference due to 'other commitments'...

We started 4-2-3-1. The first six you can assume but it was Lambert up top on his own, with Rodriguez on the left, Lallana behind Lambert, and JWP on the right. Lallana floated all over and JWP and Rodriguez both came inside when appropriate to allow the full-backs to bomb on. I didn't notice any changes in particular during the game with that same personnel on the field but Rodriquez and JWP were both very diligent in defending as well. When Ramirez came on he did so in a straight swap for Lallana, and the shape didn't change. Same for Davis when he came on for Rodriguez. Even Cork replace JWP like for like however it didn't really mean much given the stage of the game he came on. The formation was what we were all used to. However, something that is worthy of comment for me is our shape in defending (both in terms of sitting back at times and also pressing at times) which worked brilliantly and completely stifled West Brom in my opinion. It wasn't a blind press - we pressed at times when we couldn't get caught out with the long ball and it worked well. Then the rest of the time West Brom were challenged to break us down if they could but they just weren't good enough. That was very encouraging for me.

Great effort from everyone today against a very good team who I was told train every week (and also had about 6 subs). A 2-1 loss for Saints which (as losses go) was great reward for the sheer amount of effort and over the 90mins. My legs are in bits from the pressing, I have no idea how Schneiderlin does it as a professional every week against Premier League opposition. Good to see everyone as well.

I posted this in the pre-match thread: 1. I wasn't surprised to see Lallana start behind Lambert but JWP as the choice on the right ahead of Puncheon and Guly (who Poch confirmed were not injured) was a massive surprise. 2. There were lots of surprised faces in the crowd when Fonte was selected as Lovren's partner. Fonte defended well to be fair to him. He looks good as the 'secondary' centre-half. I still think his distribution going forward is awful but he was neat and tidy otherwise. 3. It still didn't click in the final third for me, and most of our best openings were results of nice build up play rather than came from pressing and quick passes. 4. We definitely only pressed based on circumstance. It wasn't a blind press at all. My last concern about defending as a team was very wrong. The most impressive part of todays performance was our shape and discipline - a result of the personnel on the field and big confidence from the players in what they were asked to do. We were very very solid. If a team was to break us down it would have to be through some very good play, certainly more than West Brom looked like they would have to offer and if they were still playing now I doubt they would have summoned any more than the single shot on target they managed in 95mins. It was very impressive. Very proud to see four Academy products on the pitch, even moreso that three of them were 18 years old. Chambers acquitted himself brilliantly - another old head on very young shoulders. He also competed well in the air as well. JWP was dilligent and tidy, whilst Shaw played with a confidence and belief that he could make something happen. It was all very very encouraging. Wanyama was good, but I don't think he was brilliant. He will turn out to be brilliant though, I am sure of it. Schneiderlin was the best player on the park. Lovern was great - a few last ditch challenges but his presence drives a great confidence to those around him. Jay Rod wasn't at the races but sometimes that happens - there was no lack of effort. Overall I would have been happy to settle for a point and I thought the subs from Pochettino reflected that. However Shaw decided to take matters into his own hands and Lambert made no mistake. It was great to see how much the win meant to the players and how integrated Lovren and Wanyama were. Our squad is starting to look very strong. Cork, Davis, and Ramirez on the bench today, whilst Guly, Puncheon, and Yoshida didn't even make the 18. Plus from the sounds of it there may even be more to come. A great start and lets hope we can capitalise on the momentum.