Lallana's Left Peg

Why do you think the club would leak news like this if it wasn't true? If you are to brief the media it is usually for the clubs benefit. I don't see what benefit the club would have by leaking this and it not being true.

It's as their job titles state really - Ron is Manager, Erwin is Assistant Manager, and Sammy Lee is a Coach. All take part in putting on sessions.

Suspect he'll sit on his existing deal because he'll be unsure whether he could do any better with us than he did last season.

My point is that I believe Jack Cork would still be here had we offered him a new deal last summer, and to that end I also think he would have been a better option than Davis and JWP sat next to Vic as well. That he was willing to sign a new deal (or at least stated he was) when he was already behind Morgan and Vic for that 13/14 season speaks volumes. We've missed out on keeping a player who makes 25+ appearances for us a season and, in my opinion, offers far more in the middle of the park in that deeper role than a few players who have played there for us since he left.

No, have you? Going on what has been said in public and reported by reliable journalists: 1. Cork said at the end of the 2013/14 season that he would like to sign a new contract and had spoke with the powers that be about it. 2. Ronald Koeman joins as Manager and there is no sign of a new deal for Cork 3. Koeman says in press conferences in the first half of the season, which is also validated by journalists, that no new contract has been offered to Cork and the club are waiting to see whether or not Koeman likes him enough to be offered one 4. A contract is offered in January (reported by the Echo to be a very good one) which is rejected 5. We sell Cork for peanuts (because of his contractual situation) and the media today report that England are taking a look at him with a view to a call-up.

Absolutely. People refuse to accept we messed up failing to offer him a contract earlier than January of this year. He would still be here and making a valuable contribution, likely as a starter, if we hadn't delayed offering him a deal.

The following: Dejan Lovren Adam Lallana Luke Shaw All play regularly for a team that finished above us in the league. Jason Puncheon could be argued, though he plays for Palace. His performances have certainly kicked on but he *****il now, anyway) is playing for a worse team.

My thoughts are that he is a better fourth choice than Gardos but regardless I am just happy he is fourth choice.

No doubt that Wilshere is made of balsa wood and injury prone however what is it with Arsenal's medical department - when is the last time they managed to successfully diagnose an injury and predict a return to action that wasn't at least 12 weeks wrong

Half the problem with determining a quality chance is that it is in part determined by the quality of player taking it. For example, there will be chances where you would expect a Sergio Aguero to do better than a Shane Long. So is it a quality chance or not!?! It will be hard to reach a conclusion from all of this and the naked eye often doesn't lie - ultimately Saints do not convert enough of their chances and it costs us dearly.

So the question is: If we had more players who could finish would we still create as many shooting chances? i.e. is a typical Southampton player in the final third one who is good in most areas but not in finishing?

It's worth it, because the other thing to consider in all this is whether we create a lot of chances because of the good players we have (yet they are not good finishers) and other teams create less because they have players who aren't as good but are better finishers. And of course the best teams have the players who create and finish.

Ah I see - so basically we have 5 shots on target per game but we only score every 3.5 shots on target. Which means at this rate we're good for a goal a game on average - lets hope we don't win any games by anything other than 1-0 It's annoying that there are a multitude of other teams who create less chances (or have less shots on target) and yet are more efficient.

Hang on, West Ham score with just about every shot they have on goal

I think Man Utd will manage their way to a win. We'll have our chances but I am not convinced we'll take them - if we were in better form in front of goal I'd fancy us more. Does anyone know what our chance conversion rate is like compared to the rest of the league?

Jaidi has been doing his coaching badges at the club for a while, and working with the U21 team when doing them. He also coaches them during the week and is very active on gameday. I've seen him on the bench at loads of U21 games actively coaching the team - going as far back as several seasons. Martin Hunter originally became Technical Director at the start of last season but continued to manage the U21's. I can only speculate but I wouldn't presume that Jaidi is now full-time Manager of the U21's - Martin Hunter would have been diverting some of his attention to the U18's after Anthony Limbrick left. Craig Fleming picked up that role with the U18's (not sure if permanent) and I notice Matt Hale (Academy Director) was playing a part in managing the team this weekend in the win over Fulham.

I don't believe the Southampton Way on the pitch is classified by lots of passing. I think it's a commitment to attacking but when you consider our 'long ball' stats in the Premier League I don't think you can ever say the 'Southampton Way' is just passing the ball short and keeping possession. I believe the Southampton Way is attempting to win every game.

Will Wood came out of nowhere at the back end of last season and in the games I saw towards the end of the season (and in particular the cup final - both legs) he looked one of our best players. With McCarthy closer to a loan move as he relinquishes the captaincy I would suggest Wood will soon be asked to be the leader of the centre of defence for the U21's.

If they thought it was dodgy they wouldn't release it. And I suspect the club took the opportunity to do it to say thanks for his efforts in a way they couldn't when he was sacked. No harm in it from my perspective. It was very retrospective.

Team: Isted Mugabi, McCarthy, Wood, Debayo Gape ©, Reed Hesketh, McQueen, Isgrove Barnes Harry Reed already throwing himself about fouling people

Nothing else particularly revealing in the rest of the interview, but he says that it means a lot whenever he sees Saints fans and they say thank-you, and quite clearly (with respect to Sheffield United in the way he said it) he took every opportunity he could to say he'd like to be back here one day.

"there were a few things going on behind the scenes" Adkins says prior to the Reading home game in the Championship.

Fairly straightforward stuff thus far. A nice reminder of the League 1 promotion season in Part 1.

I definitely think he needs to score more but 8-12 goals is a tally that only elite AM get with just one or two exceptions each year in the Premier League.