Lallana's Left Peg

Holloway seems to be suggesting he will give many of his first team a rest this evening. Could be a good opportunity for Saints to find some final third rhythm?

When we played a slower pace under Adkins it was Ramirez who showed he was a cut above. But the moment the game is played at a tempo he doesn't like he struggles badly. The game on Saturday would have been a great platform for him to make a contribution - the opposition with a lot of men behind the ball and our struggles to break them down is made for him (or rather, is probably the single circumstance where he is of value to us).

Our friend Ricardo Fuller plays for them up front as does another ex-Saint Scott McDonald!

It's a fact - we are 5pts down from the same fixtures last season. You can make your own mind up whether or not any conclusions can be drawn from it. Personally I think we'll be at least 15pts worse off than last season and seeing as we are already 5pts down on corresponding fixtures that is just 10pts worse off from 36 remaining games.

Not to me, but if Morgan wants to half-arse performances then he has to go.

I agree its by no means a perfect guide as to where you are as a club - other teams change each season of course and league position is relative and the required points total to finish in a certain place will change each year as well but as a general guide it can be used to track progress as a club. Of course, we could beat Man City away this season and beat West Ham at home and there would be no net loss on pts etc. But generally speaking, we're 5pts down on where we were last season in the same fixtures.

Pelle and Lambert are playing two completely different roles. Whenever Lambert stayed up top for us and dealt with balls pumped forward he also struggled a lot. Pelle is not a downgrade in that respect. But Lambert had more in his locker to get involved in moving us up the field and making it stick when he got it to feet. I have not seen much of Pelle but I will say this - I am not quite sure what he is particularly good at yet. That may be because we are not playing to his strengths (which is an issue in itself) however my concern is what can he do for us? What is he going to do to impose himself on the game?

5pts down already on the same set of fixtures last year. There was always going to be growing pains with such a massive amount of change - hopefully this performance is a reality check for many as to where this team is and where we have settled to be as a club.

Regardless of the personnel changes I will miss the aggression and style of football we played under Pochettino. It got the best out of the players.

Regardless of how serious we are taking the cups it sounds like we need to play a first team so they can build up some familiarity. Though imagine losing with a first team

I passed on what I was told from someone and did say I had no idea whether or not the person who told me would be the informed type.

Unchanged from last week - Long on the bench etc.

Have been told Long starts but not told who he starts ahead of or even if the guy who told me would be the informed type. Apparently right now Koeman is aware of our defensive issues and would rather focus on us scoring plenty rather than be defensive and kill a goalscoring threat.

I worry that our defence looks incredibly vulnerable to the counter and even more so as we try to find the right blend and balance in the final third - as our moves break down due to a lack of understanding that counter will continue to be available for the opposition. May be a while before we get it right and not much we can do about it - it's just an unfortunate circumstance of so much change.

From memory didn't we go after Butland?

Boruc has only been here a few seasons but the odds have always been a little stacked against him. He was only signed after Davis proved what we all suspected - that his keeping is not up to PL standard. At the end of his first season we tried to replace him despite him signing a contract extension. This summer the club finally got the young English keeper they wanted (I'd imagine that was one of the things discussed with Dave Watson when he was in negotiations).

It was highly unlikely a club of our stature could keep two good keepers.

He signed for the club when Suarez was still there. I highly doubt he signed thinking he'd be first choice. He's joining his boyhood club at the age of 32, gets a great contract, moves home, and gets to contribute a bit on the pitch. People acting like the reason he signed for them was to be first choice.

An online fanzine? Not sure that would work but I'd give it a read I suppose!

Am I crazy or does this make no sense: So Norwich asked for a certain fee but then said they don't want to sell!?!

To be fair that usually means there is lots going on when it comes to how we recruit.

Early morning drinking

The first run was into the channel and Pelle was a little behind Lovren but he checked out and ran away from goal creating some good separation from Lovren who was fully committed to the channel run. I suspect Pelle would have been clear in goal if JWP had seen it.

The first run was into the channel and Pelle was a little behind Lovren but he checked out and ran away from goal creating some good separation from Lovren who was fully committed to the channel run. I suspect Pelle would have been clear in goal if JWP had seen it.

How can they do that?