Lallana's Left Peg

It reminded me of League 1 when we had better players than the opposition yet somehow got dragged down to their level and would lose the game. That happened loads too.

Passing will help all of those things. It means you have to tackle and close down less, and it means you create more chances and score more goals. It is the most important thing in football and appears to be the thing we've forgotten to do in the space of two months.

Regardless of who we had out, it was a poor team selection - and, remarkably, an even worse performance. I said we would have to get better or we were out and it turns out we managed to get even worse and we were duly dumped out of a competition that was my only interest in this season. Now the prospect of a worse season than last beckons with a worse team. Not the clubs fault, but the very least we should have expected was Europa League group stages. Unacceptable.

7 competitive games into the season and our passing still resembles a Cub Scout team. I guess we should be thankful that four of those games were in Europe, as had they all been league games then we'd be starring a relegation battle in the face based on this. 7 games is more than form, it's a real problem.

Yes - our friend David Bick.

When it goes quiet that is when things usually happen with Saints

Yes fair enough. How about this then: It makes him uninformed so I wouldn't take what he says on transfers as verbatim.

I'm not saying Wanyama is staying or going, but what Koeman says cannot be taken as truth. He said Toby was still going to join while the man himself was having a medical at Spurs.

We are incredibly easy to play against at the moment though when the opposition get men behind the ball and we play it all in front of them. We need to create space by having an over the top threat - even if we don't go long all the time, it'll prevent the game being condensed into small spaces where players can't find enough room to operate (especially as our passing at the moment is rank awful). I know what you are saying about in theory we should just play our game and it will come, but I don't think that is the best way to get a win tonight in these circumstances - not when away in Europe and we have to score. Our team is about confidence and momentum and when we don't have any the same players don't perform very well. It's night and day. That maybe why we went back to basics against Watford, and we should do the same tonight.

Pelle up top with Jay Rod, Long, and Mane behind him. Or even just Jay Rod and Long - plenty of movement and physicality to play direct. Needs must at this stage.

Martinez is right - it is about values. The right price and Stones will be sold!

The money will follow all of the big teams and then we will play in an inferior league. A really bad idea and very bad news for Saints.

There are LOTS of players out there with a better all round game than Wanyama who would cost less. There are very few players who are as good at the few things he excels at. As with most things, it's about how you want a team to play and the balance you achieve in doing so. Given the ridiculous turnover of players we have in our defence I would gladly take a £5m+ hit on Wanyama's value to keep him for this season given we really do need a DM with presence and mobility.

I think that is unfair - for a club of our size we get incredible fees for our players.

It is - Koeman and Jay Rod up.

It's all posturing by clubs and agents alike. Neymar is after a new contract at Barcelona so the easiest way for him to publicly grease the wheels is to be conveniently linked with a move elsewhere. The same happened with Ramos. And in terms of clubs briefing the media, Levy has gone into overdrive the past few weeks. Papers reporting Spurs targets unhappy at their parent clubs all over the place.

It's all relative. When Rio Ferdinand transferred to Man Utd in 2002 he had over 180 appearances in the Premier League under his belt, 17 appearances in Europe, and 20 appearances for England (and had established himself as first choice in his position as well). If John Stones gets transferred his CV reads 47 appearances in the Premier League, 3 in Europe, and 4 for England (where he is not first choice). So relative to the fee I think it is a huge jump.

Then I look forward to seeing him showing it. But it's never really been our way to sign players instead of giving Academy kids a chance if that kid is worthy of a chance. Les Reed said Harry Reed was the best player we've produced for a long time (which I doubt personally) however regardless Romeu is tasked with the same role that Reed would fulfil if he played so as I said, I think Romeu is a decent player but I have yet to see whether or not he is better than Reed. Far too early to make judgements of course, so time will tell. The low fee and just a three year deal for Romeu doesn't seem worthy of player with his CV so perhaps the club have some doubts too. Who knows.

I like him, I just need to see in time why he is worthy of being purchased ahead of giving Harry Reed a chance.

Pelle will be vital to us if we presume they will sit back and look to manage the game for 90mins. It's how we play around him that matters. He has a presence and we need that as far forward as possible so he can occupy one, if not two, central defenders.

FFP was not brought in to stop investment in football. It was brought in to stop clubs spending money they don't have and stop clubs being screwed if their wealthy owners leave them. Unfortunately the existing FFP rules also do a brilliant job of maintaining the status quo in football which needs to be looked at. Personally I don't have an issue with 'sugar daddy' owners as long as their investment is safeguarded and they can't just walk away from the club and leave it in a bad state. The current rules make the assumption that as long as the owner doesn't have a criminal record he won't do that, which is pathetic.

Yes - he's English which means Chelsea are paying far more than he is worth. Assuming they get their recruitment right, they can become a better team with £40m to spend.

A good draw for us - not too far to travel, lower league opposition, and one that likes to play football too. Should be a good game as they will fancy their chances and we will see our fringe players.

Let me rephrase it then - I think it is a significant factor that is only overcome through money.

Location is definitely a factor when signing a player. There are countless examples of it mattering.