Lallana's Left Peg

Even when hot and cold he poses miles more threat than anyone else we've got right now. Pelle and Jay Rod are injured. Long does what he does. Tadic struggling for form. We have no other attacking players unless you count Juanmi and Ramirez.

Everyone who shouldn't have been punished but because we failed to spend money properly in the summer that's the way it is. All we've done is highlight to Mane how important he is to us in a way that everyone loses.

There was potential for this after our summer business and now the league has settled down a bit it's proving true. Everyone will say this is what it is like in this part of the table but if you actually focus on what Saints are doing as a club there is a complete lack of belief and a lack of quality to turn it around. As momentum goes we're only heading one way.

It was coming. Questions will be asked about the team again.

He's a stupid player to be fair. No-one on the bench even acknowledged him as he trudged off the pitch.

You must have seen the state of our midfield without him!?!

Great chance for Tadic. He never really believed.

Another 5mins and it's got to be Mane for Tadic or JWP.

Not a bad game to watch, just a lack of quality on display from both sides. Either team can win this if they up their level 10%. Next goal wins probably.

That punch from Stek

Goals in this for us if we get a bit of confidence going. Our general shape is good.

Plays like he is electrocuted every time he touches the ball.

There was only Long ahead of the man who won the ball back and he was quickly marked by two players. There was no obvious pass available.

Good work from Tadic and Bertrand allows JWP to make a trademark scuffed shot straight at the keeper.

Looks like Long could get some success with the balls over the top but when we get the ball in the final third there isn't much cohesion. Fonte mistake lets Howson in and only an awkward bouncing ball stops him putting Norwich one up.

Lots of possession early doors but not really making any inroads and then just pumping it long to Long. Look half decent on the counter though.

It won't stop others speculating - the timing isn't great from him.

It's the right thing to do but it makes it harder to get anything from this game. Why is he always late - someone told me he's often late to training too.

We should be able to offer more wages than most under the new rules though. Everyone with a wage bill over £52m can spend £80k a week more (£4m a season) plus any anything from commercial income (we have new shirt manufacturer deals and shirt sponsorship deals that should be worth a lot more if our club are competent in that area). Plus we also wave goodbye to Caulker, Stek and Ramirez - with the first two already having replacements at the club and the latter not needing to be replaced (I reckon they earn £125k a week between them). Very rough estimates but I reckon we'll have near £300k a week we can offer in wages to new players (or existing) within the FFP rules and still be financially stable. Because we haven't done it this season and thus far we're a concerning 5 places worse off. You keep selling your best players and take punts on replacements and you will get worse - it's guaranteed.

That is the crossroads. With the amount of money we will have this summer that is a strategy that is far too risky and won't allow for a top half finish.

The owner isn't taking any money out of the club though, if anything she has further invested into the club. What is fair enough is that she is saying that the club should be financially self-sufficient from now on. I don't think anyone on here can argue against that given the overwhelming generosity her family has shown for the club but at this point for me it is about investing in a good quality of player within our budget which we can easily do this summer (and could have done last summer if we didn't pad it out with average players). If we don't invest properly this summer then I would question our strategy.

Not possible with our current quality of player. We're like 75% of the rest of the league in that we piece together good periods over the course of 95mins. The difference last year is that we had a defence that could withstand punishment and not concede. No Alderweireld, Clyne and Foster has taken that away (as well as less protection in midfield of course). Think VvD is a good replacement but the farce at right back is costing us and whilst Stek is a good loan I think it is clear he isn't as good as Forster. And of course a leaky defence is highlighting a lack of cutting edge up front which has cost us last season too.

One of the things the club does before it makes any signing is check the appetite of the player to play for the club and to move to England (if they are coming from abroad). There are also background checks undertaken on their character and personality which are in part done to mitigate any risk of them integrating into the group and acclimatising to England. 'Failing to settle' is usually shorthand for 'I'm not happy with my playing time' these days as money means players tend to settle easier than they use to. The only other consideration is whether or nor a player is physically capable of playing in England. But you can tell that from scouting and video - and the risk of assuming they can get better over a period of time (Clasie, Juanmi etc.) is that they contribute very little for the period where they have to get up to speed.

Wrong time of year to do it really, but we do need help because of a weak summer in the transfer market. As for Caulker that news is laughable. Recall McCarthy or Stephens and get rid of Caulker. Gardos is back in training there is no need to keep Caulker around. He's awful and eating up money. EDIT: My only guess is either that we can't cancel the loan, or the financial penalty for doing so makes keeping him around more viable.

This summer it must change. Stek and Caulker off the wage bill (we're already paying their replacements - Forster and Gardos). Ramirez off as well. That's at least £125k a week free'd up I reckon. Plus all the new money in from the new shirt sponsor and shirt manufacturer deals (and any other commercial deal - lets say that's an extra 80k a week) can be spent on wages over and above the extra 80k rules allow (which is easily covered by the new TV deal). By those back of fag packet calculations that is about an additional £300k a week we will have to spend on wages (minus any wage increases built into existing deals for players already at the club). That is before anyone else leaves. Other clubs will have the same scope to increase their wages as well but we should have a little more than most in our 'section' of the league and if the club are serious about pushing on then we can spend that money and it won't jeopardise our financial stability either.