Lallana's Left Peg

Ex-Real Madrid apparently: http://www.dohastadiumplusqatar.com/niall-eyes-donning-england-colours/

Lallana only really starts out wide though - it isn't a position he stays in throughout the game. He is constantly drifting inside to get involved and he is very intelligent at finding space for himself and linking up with others. He isn't influencing games as much but that can be attributed to the big step up and the fact he just won't see the ball as much in dangerous areas either. He'll be disappointed with his season but I've no doubt he needs to start games for us and he has the talent. Lets not forget it was only last December that when he got injured many fans were gutted as he was central to the way we played and many wrote us off at that point. Post-injury he hasn't been as good but in the first half of the season he showed as much as anyone else in our team for me. However, I will say that there were times in the run-in this season that Puncheon clearly deserved to start ahead of him (assuming there was nothing else behind the scenes preventing this from happening).

Pace is present in all the worlds best players in the final third. It isn't always a necessity, but if we got a striker with pace who can also play up front on his own it would be a huge plus.

For what it is worth the Italian press linked Altidore to Lazio over the weekend as well.

It'll be interesting to see what sort of player he ends up being. I said it at the start of the year but I still don't know if he'll turn out to be a Shane Long type of player who runs all day and hassles defenders, or if he'll be someone that likes the ball to feet and joins in with play. At the moment he seems to do a bit of everything and with varying degrees of success. He doesn't influence games and tends to play as well as the team however I can see a lot of potential in him I am just not sure how it will all end up. A very interesting player who clearly needs to play to have any chance of getting better. I do like how direct he is with the ball at times and his ability to carry it - it moves the team up the field and lots of defenders don't like that. He has deceptive pace as well. Would prefer him to be more composed with his chances but he isn't the only one guilty of snatching at shots. Plenty to be encouraged by but I haven't a clue how good he'll end up being nor what sort of player he'll end up being either!

As the season wore on we seemed to revert more and more back to how we played under Adkins. The games against Everton, Man Utd, Wigan, and Man City just after he took change saw a big change and his style implemented straight away. Pushing high up the pitch, hunting for the ball in packs, and being quite aggressive in our play. Then we got our pants pulled down at Newcastle as they played five in midfield and always made Cabaye the free man and he was pinging balls over the full-backs for fun which caused all sorts of problems. Ever since then I don't think Pochettino has had complete faith in our defence to be good enough to cope with being that exposed nor our attack to move the ball quick enough to do what he wants so he has set us up a little more conservatively. In terms of the future, I would expect to see us go back to being a bit more aggressive and for that to work we'll need a better standard of central defender and also players in the final third who can move the ball quickly (one and two touch stuff) - be that quicker players or just players of a better standard.

To be fair that looks in a better state than Bloomfield Road this season.

He is in America. Belgium face the USA tonight.

3G pitches are great, but a word of warning for everyone - had a pre-season friendly on one a few years back and I thought I could get away with wering moulded studs. It was a dry day and the next day I woke up with plantar fasciitis which took me two months to shift (and I think that was quick from what I read) so definitely going to wear fives boots for the game.

I've been quite impressed with Holloway's approach to the playoff games and surprised that he played as defensively to stifle the opposition compared to the swashbuckling attacking with reckless abandon associated with his time at Blackpool. That said given the amount of airtime he'll now get as a Premier League Manager he will be highly irritating as he most definitely likes the sound of his own voice.

Fairly logical however don't forget about the considerable number of other clubs in Europe who can either offer as much (if not more) money than us for players and / or are better than us. So that trims down the viability of the targets at financially challenged clubs.

I suppose in some respects, Forte really was unplayable. Regarding Astori, I've not seen much of him but his disciplinary record is a bit iffy. Don't know if that is the Italian game in general or not but I am not sure he could be so blatant with some of the stuff he does in the Premier League. I saw him in one game against Milan and the ball was looping in the air within the Cagliari box and instead of jostling for position with Balotelli he just decided to push him out of the way and he gave away a penalty A bit like what Fonte does every game when for no reason he just decides to barge the opponents five yards or foul him for seemingly no reason.

Anyone who saw Forren play for the Under 21's will see why he has been kept well away from the first team. Fit or not, he needs to work significantly on his conditioning and strength. He is so slow it looks like he is running in wellies. However he has very good anticipation and is great on the ball. The club must feel they can work on his physical state to a point where he can compete in the Premier League and the team will benefit from his other skills with the ball etc.

I'm not so keen on him. When the rumour came out around March there was a thread on him and I said as much then. On one hand he'll tick a lot of boxes for us in terms of age and type of player we're after. But on the other he was at a good club in Swansea and then decided to join Man City (obviously no issues with that in principle) but he did so a few weeks after they sold a winger because they didn't play him. He killed his career and pleased his bank Manager. He may now have a point to prove but is he that good that he would be one of our top earners? I don't think so personally. I'm firmly on the fence with this one and given his wages I'd rather we go after different players.

Can't see any way back for him and Sharp. If anything the club wants to push on next season so if the powers that be determined they were surplus to requirements this season then they are even further away from being involved next season. Just hope we get a half decent fee for them and no further obligation to subsidise their wages.

An interesting thread. For me when you support your team you want to develop an affinity to something more than just their existence - its nice to have other aspects of it that you can be proud of. The challenge here is that due to the amount of money in the game now clubs are run more like businesses and the relationship that supporters have with them changes. We're unique in that clubs have a captive audience, but the level of engagement can vary. The money and turnover of players / Managers also makes it hard at times to develop a connection with what is going on. It is all very well saying slow and steady progress however I think that becomes harder every year in football. Slow progress means you lose your better players most years as the big boys come knocking, and without the financial means to retain them a slow progress places a massive stress on recruitment and it is very very hard to always get transfers right. Many aspects of the club have changed since we got relegated from the Premier League, however I am quite excited by the new ownership. It is undoubtedly underpinned by financial means however the club has invested in many areas and not just the first team. Much of it is invested in the framework that the club wants to operate once we're as good as we can viably be. For me as a supporter there is nothing I like more than seeing youth products make progress and contribute to the first team. I think that has defined our club as much as anything else the past three or four decades. It's been a common thread throughout promotions, relegations, 'boring' seasons, and ownerships. It also appears to be at the heart of the club in the new era. No doubt we want to progress quickly but the opportunities are there if you are good enough. I'm proud that our Captain is a youth product. I'm proud that we've had the balls to ask a couple of 17 year olds to significantly contribute to our first season back in the Premier League. I'm proud that our Academy is made up of talents from the South (not imported kids from other countries) that reflect our catchment area and we were one of only two teams to have both the Under 18's and Under 21's qualify for the Elite Group stage of their respective competitions. As long as we retain that element of our identity, I am not too worried about the rest. If we ever treated the Academy like it wasn't the future then I'd become a bit less engaged. To be blunt it takes a lot of money to make progress in the Premier League, and if you have it then it makes sense to use it to advance quickly. I think we just have to accept that. But a long as our progress continues to have contribution from players that we developed in our Academy I'll be delighted.

Appreciate that they are just rumours and I don't want to dispel them but isn't St Marys already a UEFA 4 Star stadium which means it can host European matches etc? And on that basis we wouldn't need £1m+ of stadium revisions to attain a status we've already achieved? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_stadium_categories http://www.worldstadiumdatabase.com/list-of-uefa-4-star-stadiums.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mary's_Stadium

Agree completely with this. Considering where we were at the start of November, we've done very well considering it has been the same group of players who have done it all as well. There will be every reason to be optimistic for a half decent finish next season, and the players will now have to deal with increased expectation, new standards - and genuine competition in every position. Looking forward to it though.

Thought we did well in all parts of the pitch but lacked the cutting edge / decisiveness in the final third to take advantage of patient build up play. The players look a little anxious at times when being a little more direct and purposeful when running at players may have been better. But overall I was encouraged by the performance. Thought we defended well too, but the distribution from Fonte and Hooiveld is absolutely terrible. I won't moan too much though - I think they did well considering the start to the season and the step up they had to make. They'll likely be replaced in the summer though. Lallana was decent too - showed for the ball well, kept it and moved it around nicely, but no real end product (he wasn't the only one).

I feel like these threads may end up being a daily occurrence for the next month and given we never disclose fees I imagine we'll always be guessing however I would assume around £30m on three players to immediately improve the team, whilst the first team squad will see plenty leave and their places taken by youngsters. And lets not forget the increase on the wage bill that 3 x £10m players will bring - an estimate of 50k+ a week means an extra £7m+ a year in wages.

Exactly. And I guarantee that the vast majority of Saints fans on here feel the same way other than those are are habitually negative.

Ekelund was class. One of my best away day memories as a kid is a game at Coventry where he and Le Tiss played behind Dowie. Le Tiss scored another outrageous effort and Ekelund was all over the pitch. Great game.

Nothing other than financial gain riding on this game now, so would be good if the players and staff do a lap of honour and the fans applaud them for their efforts. It's been a rollercoaster season with the one thing we all wanted back in August achieved. Would be good to show the players and staff our appreciation for the final time this season.

Not sure what to make of all the different stories but I am going to guess that Cortese has the football bug and wants to deliver beyond the original remit and would like financial support to do so. Also it is a bit weird to have a 5-year plan and only give someone in charge of it all a 4-year contract.