Minty

Link doesn't work, try this one: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/10/29/gta-5-player-flirts-stripper_n_4173945.html

Seriously, give it a rest you two...

A telling stat... although the defence have been fantastic, the opposition still get shots away, and that's when Boruc earns his corn. And that is a very impressive %. And here's a bit more: http://www.statsbomb.com/2013/10/goalkeeper-saves-week8-epl-201314/

Whilst Pochettino said he would rather not be in the Europa League, and that 'it is not a competition I am aiming for' that is only because of the relativity to the Champions League. If we get into the Europa League, we will play in it, I have no doubt whatsoever, and we should not pull out of it at all either IMO. Aiming high is great, but we can learn from all of our games, in all competitions, and if we get there then we'll do our best to win it.

Nice one Keith!

I'm hoping to start a family soon, so if you could forward me the rulebook about naming my child, I'd be grateful! Seriously though, this is not much different to music or fashion or any other cultural change... we're creatures of habit and don't like change, so tend to not like things which we're not familiar with or that we deem not to have become socially acceptable. But there is no right or wrong. I actually agree with most of what is posted above, I don't like most of the names mentioned, but that's not to say they'll never be popular. And whether we like it or not, changes will often come from other countries or cultures, especially as communication links mean we're more aware of what is happening elsewhere. We have some names in mind for when we start a family, but I think the key thing is recognising that whether we like the name or not, whatever we call our child, THEY are going to have to live with it... fellow children especially can be cruel and i would not want my child to be persecuted just because of their name. Even though there is no reason other than 'the other kids think it's weird', i don't think it's fair to potentially put a child in that position, especially when other parents probably wouldn't help the situation, even though they should know better. In an ideal world, we'd all be tolerant of all differences between us, names and all, but we know that simply isn't the case. So, if we have a son, I'm calling him Rupert.

Actually I think it helps keep some people a little more grounded, and reminds us just how close we were to going out of business. But each to their own.

Not many videos around but last weekend, 5 years ago, in our relegation season, we lost 3-0 to Swansea: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/7674429.stm And 5 years ago yesterday, we drew 1-1 at home to Coventry ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/7683981.stm ) with the following side: Davis, James, Wotton, Cork, Skacel, Thomson (Smith 77), Schneiderlin, Euell, Surman (Wright-Phillips 90), Lallana (Pekhart 82), McGoldrick. Kudos to anyone who can remember/work out who was in the back four, given that there are no recognised defenders in the entire starting XI!!! My guess is that it was indeed the first four listed (James, Wotton, Cork, Skacel), but can't remember it that well...

Saw Turin Brakes last at The Brook, first time ever having wanted to for years and thought they were excellent. Was the 2nd night of a new UK tour in case anyone is interested.

On a separate note, I was staying with my brother-in-law the night before the GSR, who lives in North End. I walked 3 miles from his house down to the start and back again afterwards, which was actually not a bad idea as a warm-up/warm-down. BUT... my god, what a sh!t-hole the rest of Portsmouth is. They might have done more with the waterfront areas compared to Southampton, but the rest of it is a real dump. I realise this may not be news to most of you, but it needed stating!

Well, I wasn't sure what to expect as I've heard it is bad every year, and so at the time I thought 'don't whinge about, just get on with it', but it was really tough. Then to see the elite runners (even the mens winner) talking about how strong the wind was, I realised just how bad it must've been compared to other years. Gusts were up to about 35mph at that point I think!

Would agree with all of that - I saved a bit for the final 2 miles but it was mentally very tough to keep going... I too picked it up in the final 400 metres... seeing the finish line really spurred me on, and a really great feeling crossing the line. Couldn't wipe the grin off my face for about 10 minutes after! Given the fact my training had faded a bit in the last few months, and in my final training run last weekend (8 miles) I was struggling to beat 1h30m pace, to pull out a 1h23m I was really happy. Gonna look for some smaller events to enter now... glad I've done the GSR but think I'll get back to training and aim for some 10k races in the new year.

Finished in 1:23:38 ... Really chuffed with considering the packed start and that headwind in the final 2 miles. That was nasty!

Because their youth talents aren't as good as ours...? We may bring a similar number through, or have a similar number who've played in the first team (I honestly don't know who they've brought through), but how many of theirs have made multi-million pound moves to Arsenal or Real Madrid lately, how many are in the England U-21, U-19 set-ups, and how many have been highlighted by the pundits/media and courted by other clubs?

As for the sh!ttest sponsorship effort, I can't actually think of any... but sitting in a bath of beans is getting a bit old now. Anything 'novelty' like that, that has been done before, just isn't novelty anymore IMO.

As mentioned above, the biggest issue is often the separation of event from the charity it is raising funds and (supposedly) awareness of. Everyone supports different charities for different reasons and that's fair enough. But when you ask someone to sponsor you for a specific event, more often than not people will tend to look at what you're doing rather than who you're doing it for. IMO the best fundraisers are either a challenge for the person doing it, or really funny/bizarre/entertaining in some way, like a gig or show or comedy event. Alternatively, and usually from the charities' point of view, mass events like Race for Life may not lead to large individual sponsorship amounts, but uses the fact it is supported by a huge number of women to generate funds. You can't deny that they work, but I wonder how long they will hold appeal for people. That said, any effort to raise funds and awareness deserves respect, but the better ones will get more attention, and hence more money, so I always encourage people to do something a bit different/above and beyond. Personally I try to stick to decent challenges. I cycled John O Groats to Lands End in 2006, and plan to do a marathon next year for charity. Hence i'm not raising money for the Great South Run this weekend as I have run 10 miles plenty of times, so I don't think it's worthy enough to grab peoples attention - but for others who have never run that distance, go for it!

Never heard it called royalites before though... that term would usually apply to intellectual property, licensing of trademarks, copyrights, artwork etc, etc... this is simply a % of sales. Does Micah Hall have a subject that he actually knows what he's talking about on?

Whilst I agree that I would like to see a pacey, skilful attacking player come in, I would stop short of calling them a 'wide' player. We need something is more than a wide player, someone who is comfortable playing in any of the front 3 positions behind the striker, happy to play infield as well as sometimes getting wide. Our full backs provide the widest part of our game and our attacking play is generally fairly narrow, so what we need is a clever player who can pick the locks on opponents defences with a bit of skill/pace/trickery, as well as good team interplay.

The discussion re: Davis is interesting, partly because IMO most people have overlooked a key thing... MP doesn't just pick his best, XI, he picks an XI to do a job, and Davis' job on Saturday was clearly to prey on Carrick and prevent him dictating the play. Davis did a good job, Saints played well, but if MP wants to change how we play vs Fulham and Davis is dropped, it will be for a specific reason, I have no doubt. I've not seen any of Fulham this season so honestly don't know where they're at, but at home I would expect us to play more of our own game.

Get a point at Old Trafford, sit 5th in the table, yet for some apparently the need to belittle others is more important? Pretty sad IMO...

Fourfourtwo stats zone. Highly recommended.

Haven't got time to do this every game, but think it is worthwhile to add to some of the debate about player/team performances, especially where there are differences of opinion. Shots: 12 - 18 On target: 5 - 7 Shots blocked: 2 - 2 Passes completed: 308 - 352 Pass completion %: 78.8 - 77.7% Passes attempted in attacking third: 110 - 135 Caught offside: 8 - 2 Attepted dribbles: 18 - 13 Successful dribbles: 6 - 5 Successful tackles: 18 - 25 Interceptions: 22 - 9 Clearances: 48 - 20 Aerial duels won %: 41.7% - 58.3% Fouls committed: 10 - 19 Clear further evidence of our pressure on the home defence in the number of clearances made by each team. Quite unheard of for us to have ever out-passed Utd at home too, I'm sure! I'll add player stats tomorrow if I have time.

Although if he wins it but then gives it away again, what do we gain? I covered it further up... I think Wanyama brings something we need, but we cannot and should not overlook his poorer passing.

Couple of point: 1 - IMO, fans really need to disconnect the price tag from what is produced on the pitch. On the pitch, on the day, the price tag doesn't matter, and to use it as some kind of barometer for how good someone should be is a false, one-way argument only. If you want to debate the price tag, fine, but level the questions at the people who paid it... Osvaldo had no say in that. 2 - His career record clearly shows that he has ability, so no one should be (and I don't think anyone is) writing him off. On the contrary, I feel that to be in the position we are in, with the points and results gained so far, despite him clearly not quite being at his best yet, is a positive thing. Think how much better we can be once he is firing. 3 - On Osvaldo himself, it will take him some time to adapt to the Premier League. There are numerous times at present where he is a little too casual on the ball and defender nip it away from him quicker than he is clearly expecting. This will improve. Just look at most of the players still with us, who came up from the Championship... there was a clear, steep learning curve for them all to be quicker in the head, quicker on the ball, sharper with their passing etc, etc. Pochettino knows him better than any of us and he has earned our respect and the right to call it as he sees it. I have no doubt he'll drop him if he feels the need, but as much as we love Rickie, it's not like either of them are exactly on fire. He does need to improve IMO, but it is far too early to make any finite judgements. All in all, I think we should be positive about the fact that we are not quite firing on all cylinders, but find ourselves in the upper echelons of the league. Be positive, and who knows what we could achieve. If Osvaldo can become a bigger part of that then we'd all be happy.

The gain in pace is more about his sharpness - 'the first yard is in the head' as the saying goes, and his Cruyff turn and run down the line in injury time was the perfect example of this... completely unexpected by the Man Utd defender. He is simply excellent at present - sharp, lively, quick feet, shooting improved... MOTM for me but arguably one of our players of the season so far. As for the rest, Schneiderline, Clyne, Shaw all excellent, Ward-Prowse showed his simple but effectively quality when he came on, and of course the all-important set-piece... they are becoming increasingly important for us. Lovren and Fonte continue to impress, Wanyama did too defensively, but I still have an issue with some of his distribution. It is all well and good saying that what he brings to the team in defensive solidity makes up for his passing, but if he wins possession and then concedes it again needlessly, what have we actually gained? Lets be clear, I like him and I think the net balance is positive with him in the team, but I think it's reasonable to put some friendly pressure on him to improve what is clearly the weakest part of his game, especially as much of Saints' overall game is based on sharp passing and interplay. B- for me, and capable of better... so consider this simple a desire to see us do even better, if things like this can improve. Osvaldo is obviously dividing some opinion. I can see his ability, and his brain working as he plays... he clearly has something to offer, BUT there is a lack of control and sharpness at times, which does see him waste opportunities as defenders nip in and take it from him. Like Wanyama, I am confident this will improve as he gets used to the league and the speed with which defenders are on his touch. Neither of these players need final judgements to be passed on them... they need encouragement to continue to improve and contribute... think how good we could be as they improve. We're still improving all the time, far from the finished article, and it is, IMO, a reason to be positive that we're playing so well and getting good results despite everyone not quite playing at their very best. The future is exceptionally bright. Get behind them all, and we can go far.