Lallana's Left Peg

Good point in the circumstances. Could have gone very wrong but the players stuck at it. Won't analyse individual performances but I will say our passing has been poor for the second game in a row.

I don't think it has ever worked with Tadic in the middle. Combine that with the loss of Schneiderlin and not replacing Toby yet, whilst also bedding in a right-back who is looking all over the place and it's not a good look!

Not against anyone with pace or power, he isn't. Sissoko running at him will be

Looking forward to seeing what we can do in the final third in this one but defensively (in midfield and in defence) it's a big worry. Score draw for me,

Chris Sutton also said VvD was worth £25m during commentary on Wednesday.

Spurs seem worse than last year. I'll give them a free pass after their insane pre-season friendly tournament 3 days ago though.

So how come Cardiff got relegated a few years ago despite spending £60m+ How come QPR have gone down twice after spending more than most teams in the bottom half of the table? How come teams in the Championship with the biggest budgets routinely finish well below where they should and below teams with much smaller budgets? Spending money does not mean you are more successful. It gives you a better chance in general, as the presumption is that it means you have better players - but we know it doesn't work like that. Having the better players means you are more successful.

Yes, but you didn't say the best players cost the most and the best clubs can only afford the best players. You said that the more teams spend the more successful they are. And we know that isn't true.

No, because they have the better players.

No. The better players you have, the more successful you are. Not the more you spend.

You don't need the black box to see he's a very good player. And you don't need the black box to know that his wages coupled with his age would be a commitment that Saints don't really like to make. And it appears a lot of clubs around the world who are better than Crystal Palace think the same.

I'll leave it up to the forum statisticians to research further but in 2012/13 Nottingham Forest had Dan Harding, Simon Gilett, David McGoldrick, Billy Sharp, and Dexter Blackstock all on their books. No idea if they were all on the field together at the same time, probably not given the last three are strikers. Then in 2013/14 take out Sharp and put in Fox!

He got regular starts last season, and whilst he wasn't spectacular he played his part in general play even if their wasn't a great deal of productivity. It's not like we played with ten men every time he started. Right now he is lacking a little confidence, and is struggling to assert himself on games - elements of this are physical, and elements of this will be general form. He will likely get games by virtue of the volume we'll have this season, but all things considered if he is not a starter when everyone is fit then I wonder how he will progress as I think he could. In the past we could play kids and carry their development (and indifferent performances) in the first team as the expectations did not exist. They do now, perhaps more than ever in my lifetime supporting us when we've been in the top flight. The club talk openly of their ambition and that's great. But now is the acid test - will we stand by the Academy prospects during indifferent periods of form (which we always used to do) or will we swap them out quickly? I don't think we know the answer to that at the moment but I wouldn't be surprised to see JWP start on Sunday.

The question for me is not whether JWP will 'make it' because I think he will, albeit over a longer period of time than we're used to. The question for me is not whether JWP is struggling right now because he is, and spells like this are perfectly normal for young players especially when they are not as physically strong as others. The question for me is whether or not JWP's progress is dependent on first team football, and if it is whether or not Saints are now in a position where they can afford him to continue his development as a first team starter whilst he struggles and the team continue to perform to the level they have to (i.e. Top 8 in the Premier League and competing in three cups). That is a hard question to answer.

Only a one year extension, and the word on the street up here is that it is designed to prevent speculation over his future this season as Managers heading into the final year of their deal is never a good thing (as Saints know too well). Doesn't really change much .

I don't have a clue what is going on

Why would he start Caulker ahead of Yoshida? Surely Ronald won't rate him as better. At least, I hope not.

We only had one proper striker all of last season so getting to the end of August with three centre-halves feels like a luxury. No point making a panic signing now when we can wait a few weeks to try and get a better target.

Lets save the excitement for the group stage. I want the easiest passage possible there, not just to secure those six games, but also in terms of not knackering the players too much at the start of the season.

He is miles ahead of Caulker. Caulker looks scarred from his last two seasons - he looked decent at Swansea to be fair, but some of the things he did tonight weren't great. He has shown he is capable a few years ago, so he'll need to get up to speed in training as I don't like the idea of him doing it in games that matter. There will be mistakes to come, the key will be that they are the last time he makes them.

I think that one went over your head!

Bilic masked it as not being about Arsenal, but more about the season in general. Whilst I appreciate that West Ham are in a bit of a period of transition, I am not sure how much better they think they can be in the Premier League if they dropped the Europa League unless Bilic thinks they are so bad they could get relegated. West Ham fans deserve better too - with it being the last season at the current ground some big European games could have been a great way to say goodbye to their current home.

You are correct!

First and most importantly, it's a job done. Dire game, but that suited us. Positives Pelle looks in good nick Martina looks decent considering Keeper is good Negatives Can't get the wider midfield players into the game when we play Mane up top with Pelle. May be a personnel issue as Davis, JWP, and Tadic aren't suited to it. Caulker looks like he has a way to go to be up to scratch for what we need Enough space for an oil tanker through the centre of the park at times JWP is struggling to get involved

Our passing tonight, on a good surface against a team that plays very open, has been awful.