Lallana's Left Peg

Make no mistake, Shaw has been known by the big clubs for a few years. The media linking him to clubs now is just based on their visibility of him rather than any club going 'This Shaw kid looks good, who is he?'. I was sat next to a scout at the Youth Cup tie at Bolton last season (I think the scout was from Arsenal but he wasn't wearing any official club gear) and all he was doing was making notes on Shaw. Shaw himself cruised through the game like he was playing a computer game on easy level. He didn't particularly stand out but everything was easy for him. There was one moment when a winger shoved the ball past him and steal a few yards as well but Shaw still got back to the ball before him and with some time to spare too. In the car park after the game there were a good two dozen Range Rovers, I'm assuming scouts and agents checking up on talent and many of them there for Shaw. To be honest I think more than any affinity for the club or Manager, it's Cortese who has convinced him about where we're going and what part he can play in it.

Swindon away last season in the Carling Cup.

Pretty much how I feel as well. Quite confident we'll get enough points to survive, though in what games I don't know. Quite liable to drop points at home in a game we think we should win, just as we are to pick up points in a game we thought we wouldn't get anything from.

Pretty sure we had a thread on this at exactly this time last year. Tends to pull his shots quite a bit, he never really hits them like he backs himself either. That said, it's a minor gripe as long as he plays like he did yesterday.

Pretty much to form of what we were told he'd be like when he arrived. Does not care much for stifling the opposition as long as we do our job based on the way we play. A few changes here and there but the base style of playing is the same home or away, against top or bottom teams. There is an undercurrent of controlled aggression with this where we are the protagonists in the match and that is a nice feeling. A big few weeks coming up for the development and u18 squads - plenty of them will be training with the first team members not on international duty and some will be playing for contracts, some will be playing for promotion to the first team squad next season.

Looks like Mark Clattenburg is replaced by Lee Mason for the Man utd vs. Reading match tomorrow. Apparently he is 'injured'. I have my doubts. He's more likely been given the week off after last weeks effort.

Genuinely surprised by the number of people who don't rate Ramirez. Don't confuse the perspective that the money would have been better spent elsewhere with the quality of the player. I can tell you irregardless of the fee when he does leave us, it will be for a far better club. Of course there is more to come from him but if you can't see the quality he has you need to watch more football. If our club wants to go anywhere we need to hang on to him desperately and get in more players to help him.

Would be gutted if he left, quality wise he is miles above anything else we've got. You can see it when he plays. Hope we stay up and can get in a few players who will compliment him.

I don't know if Jay Rod is going to end up being one of those 'hustle' strikers who snatch at chances all their career or if he'll develop his game with far more composure and end up being a very good all round player. I am quite encouraged by what I've seen but I would be unhappy if there wasn't far more to come. He has the tools - its down to him now.

Take less than half the chances we created in the last two games and we're not even worrying about 90% of what is in this thread. At the end of the day we must do better in the final third. I don't know why the last two games we've been so wasteful - whether it is nervousness or apprehension about the situation we're in, but the only thing to worry about is whether this is something we think is going to remain until the end of the season. I suspect it won't, but until we sort it out it'll be a worry since if we can't score we've got no chance.

The whole incident was bizarre from start to finish, and absolutely made for Clattenburg who is the most egotistical and melodramatic referee in the English game. Firstly, Holt grabs at Shaw to get ahead of him. Then as the ball goes sailing over their heads he makes sure he is in front of him and then slams on the brakes with the ball well out of reach, feels contact and then star jumps to the ground. The Lino doesn't give a thing and just waits for the ball to go out of play. Clearly Clattenburg wasn't satisfied with this lack of drama so from a position of half a pitch away decides to give a foul which shocks the entire ground and once the focus is on him he proceeds to stride to the edge of the box like a big gay hair-transplanted **** and inspect the crater Holt left outside the box before pointing to the spot with the verve and drama that Louis Spence would be proud of. Quite rightly Saints went mad and I would do the same. You can't respect Referee's when they behave like this. The Saints reaction then drives Clattenburg to doubt himself so he goes to speak with the Lino who showed no interest in any foul when he was 10 yards away from it. So Clattenburg then decides to consult him, and by consult him I mean tell him what he is going to do and it doesn't matter what the Lino saw or thought. Foy was stood down the week after his 'performance' in the Newcastle game. Clattenburg needs the same treatment next week - he needs to remember the game isn't about him at all.

Two keys for us making the most of possession: 1. Better distribution from the back 2. Better movement up front Sometimes there is poor movement up front, and sometimes the defence really struggle to pass the ball forwards well enough. It's only Ramirez who is going to create something out of nothing - his layoff was lovely for the Jay Rod shot which led to Lambert slashing wide from the rebound.

It's obviously a bit of a fun thread but lets not forget than Ben Reeves got minutes at left back in the Premier League this season.

No defenders or the two midfielders likely to sit in front of them (Cork or Schneiderlin) in the clip. May be fair to assume the majority of their work this week has been away from the rest of the group and been pretty intense...

I always thought our transfer strategy was very clear - in fact I find it clearer than most. The challenge has always been executing it given the very particular aspects of it and our standing in the game. I've always interpreted our strategy as: 1. Buy young players who we will seek to grow and develop with the club 2. They must be hungry and fit into a wage structure 3. The transfer fee will be reflective of their potential as much as what they will contribute 'right now' 4. The agents fee must be very low The only exceptions I've seen to the above is when an experienced player is available for a very cheap fee (and still fits into the wage structure). The risk in all this is: 1. Bigger clubs are after the same sorts of players 2. Whilst one of our selling points is first team football, our other risk is that the player has to come in and perform straight away so we don't get relegated. 3. We buy players who simply do not push on as expected The first risk has seen us miss out on players (either because their club will not sell or better clubs come in for them) and the second risk is what we've seen a bit this season with up and down performances. The third risk remains to be seen whether or not we'll experience it. Right now I think we've done ok with transfers - there has been difficulty in executing the strategy for the reasons mentioned, and the signings seem ok to me. However, I would definitely be disappointed if this level of performance was all that was going to come from them.

There are only a few players on that list who were original targets. Many were backups way down the list and purchased because they were still better than what we had and we couldn't afford to stand still. But that is how it works in football - you rarely get your primary targets the vast majority of the time.

Probably be one of those games where both teams have their moments and the ones who show quality in these moments will prevail (at either end of the pitch). Norwich play quite open against fellow teams in the bottom half so that potentially bodes well for us. Hard to know which version of us will turn up game to game (or even half to half) at the moment so predictions are hard to make.

I've mentioned it earlier in the thread, but understanding who will and won't challenge for first team spots off the back of u21 and u18 games is very hard and it isn't easy to do. JWP had an efficient game and he is closest to the first team out of all that played last night yet in terms of tangible contribution that is easy for the fans to see he didn't do a great deal. I thought his positioning was great and Liverpool didn't do much down the middle at all despite the rotation of all their players. Also interesting to see that Martin Hunter played down Omar Rowe's performance, suggesting that Rowe needs to learn when to take on his man and when he needs to link up with his other players. Although I'm surprised Rowe hasn't signed a professional deal yet - he's been as good as anyone else in our u18's this season. Lastly, a good example of how hard it is to step up to the first team can be seen with Suso. Suso is 19 years old and made EIGHTEEN appearances in the Liverpool first team this season and not made an impression at all. At times last night he looked a world beater (no end product though...) yet if we had a player like him doing that for us we'd all be demanding he start in the first team. Taking on fellow youth players like that is very different to doing it at first team level, and even then you shouldn't be taking on players all the time either. We look like we are developing some good players and they all have time on their side but it is hard to say who will and won't make it from these games - there are so many different things to consider and the general quality of the game differs greatly from week to week depending on who is playing etc.

He is nowhere near fit enough for a first team game. However, his distribution from the back was brilliant - some lovely through balls to midfielders moving 'between the lines'. Can't ever see him being a quick player anyway and he'll have to rely on his reading of the game more often than not, but we can feel confident that when he has the ball not only will he make the right decision with it he'll also start some attacks for us. But that high defensive line...

Liverpool u21's are very good and totally dominated the game against us a few weeks ago. Hopefully we play better tonight. Will be good to see Forren if he does start.

Agreed - if a few players aren't 'on it' then it won't matter what systems or Plan B is. Pochettino has inherited a squad that is very much confidence based - and it has been like that for a few years. When our tails are up we're decent, but when confidence is low there are problems as we can't manage games too well to 'find a way to win'. So when we have a tactic like this which is demanding and has no margin for error we will have times when we struggle due to the disposition of the squad. We'll just have to accept that and get on with it - and hopefully the teething problems won't cause us to be relegated.

Has a ridiculous amount of potential, paved a way into the first team for himself via his composure and pace. Has more to offer going forward but for now he is concentrating on just keeping the ball and growing into the role. Quite impressed by his ability in the air as well, appears to have a great leap from a standing position. He'll make some mistakes and we should expect that, but for a 17 year old in the top flight he is brilliant and will go on to be a fantastic player. Hopefully will spend a good few more years with us before he makes his way at a big club in Europe. Nothing seems too much effort for him and he is very laid back.

I would say it is unfair to come to any conclusions six games into the Pochettino reign. He appears to have a specific way of playing and the players are showing erratic form in putting it into practice on matchday. It's a learning experience for everyone right now and I would say a more valid question is what made Cortese so sure Saints had better survival prospects under Pochettino than Adkins. On one hand I see a more attacking team but on the other I see lots of players struggling to adapt on a consistant basis which is severely impacting our performances.

Game 6 update. Two defeats in a row has seen the emergence of two concerns: 1. We are badly exposed to the ball over the top when we cannot put any pressure on the ball when the opposition have it in their own half. Too many footraces being lost and while Clyne is quick the panic on his face when he is running back to his own goal is very evident. Quite simply the defence must be protected via incredible workrate off the ball by the midfield and attack - it's the only way we'll be able to cope as a team. 2. We are still struggling to break down teams who come to St Marys and defend deep. It's been like this all season. We aren't the quickest team and need to move the ball quickly to make up for it. But for some reason not only has the movement been sub-standard we are also slowing the play down and allowing teams to get their shape. Pochettino's style was said to ask for one and two touch football in the final third but I haven't seen much of that at all - maybe because the defence is so exposed and ill-equipped to deal with the fast break right now we are scared to lose the ball. Feels like no mans land where for the tactic to be effective offensively we need to do one thing yet by doing that we also expose our biggest weakness as a team. Hope we learn quickly although we were warned that it can take players a while to get used to it. For me, the defensive problem is a personnel thing - of more concern is in the final third as we should have the players but it isn't working. That needs to be sorted very quickly.

Isn't it a case that he technically hasn't been sacked, just replaced? The fact he still receives his monthly salary will mean if he wants to find other employment I am guessing the club will let him go but it also saves them paying him millions and then walking into another job. Just a money saving exercise as I see it, regardless of the morality of it.