Lighthouse

No, nobody has every thought that about Saints. People just thought they were games we had a decent chance of winning, same as this one.

Add to that we probably wont see AOC until after Christmas. I don't think Saints will finish above Arsenal but I think we will be a lot closer to them than last year. I don't think Arsenal will make it into the top 4 this season and I think Liverpool will probably edge them too.

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I reckon if we bring back Dowie, Le Tiss, Killer, Delap, Crouch and Ormerod it might redress the balance a bit.

Interesting how the ladies seem to like Morgan but he never really gets a mention as a man crush. Maybe he just isn't as butch as the likes of Rickie, Dejan and Ossie.

Can't say I'm all that bothered about the press conference. If he scores 20 goals this season he can say, "I love Pompey and I want to bum John Westwood," for all I care.

He looks like he is as mad as a March hare. Would love it if he shared a hotel room with Boruc on an away trip. I can just imagine Poch knocking on their door at 4am and finding them both wearing togas, having a watermelon fight with dead pheasants all over the floor.

No room for Gasmi, even on the bench. Just goes to show how much strength in depth we've got.

TBF, Cortese has been having a lot of trouble with the Black Knight recently.

Poch looks like someone is nicking his bike.

Without checking, I think we were about 4 points off the top half last season. I'd be pretty bummed if we spent £40m to scrape an extra 4 points. Top 6 should definitely be the aim although I think 7th-9th is probably more likely where we will end up. We're already 3 points better off on last season's results.

If Cortese came out and told the press he was going to put a llama on the moon within 5 years, I would probably believe him.

Is the correct answer.

I think we're pretty much sorted personally. In midfield we've already got to chose between Morgan, Wanyama and Cork. Up front it's pick 4 from Lambert, Ossie, JRod, Gaston, Lallana, Punch, JWP, Davis and Guly (wouldn't be surprised if the latter left). Maybe I'd take a LB if Fox left but I doubt we will find someone better willing to sit on the bench and watch Shaw. I'm happy with our CBs too, although I would take another if Jos or Jose left.

Depends on the cups I think. The Europa League places go to 5th place League cup winner FA cup winner If the LC winner is already in Europe by some other means, the EL place goes to 6th in the league. If the FA Cup winner is already in Europe, the runner up gets the EL place (like we did in 2003). If both FA Cup finalists are in Europe already, the EL place goes to 7th in the League.

I really don't know about Arsenal. One of these days they really are going to get caught with their pants down if they don't start bringing in some decent players. When Southampton sign 3 players they really should have gone for, you know they have some problems. I'm sure some smart arse will be along shortly to tell us there is no way we will ever finish above Arsenal but look at Leeds United about a decade ago. 5th, 4th, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 15th. Newcastle a couple of years later 4th, 3rd, 5th, 14th. I'm not saying they are going to drop that massively and suddenly but they have already gone from Championship contenders to just clinging on to 4th place. Also I wouldn't have as down as 'better' than West Ham at the moment either. They are a decent side and we will need a decent season to finish above them.

Talk about people in glass houses... I think their wage bill must have gone up far more than ours this summer. Carroll and Downing obviously and Razvan Rat would have been on decent money at Shakhtar. As someone else alluded to, we have cut a large chunk off our wage bill this summer. With promotion bonuses and pay rises I doubt the likes of De Ridder, Chaplow, Butters and Richardson were on less than £10-£20k a week. With the players who've left we probably knocked about £100k a week off our wage bill. That probably covers Lovren and Wanyama's contracts in itself. If we can offload Sharp, Barnard, Martin, Forte and Lee that will probably cover Ossie's wages too. Obvious we have handed out improved contracts to a handful of players but I doubt they will include massive pay increases. Only a moderate increase based on what we know we can afford.

I'd have thought he will start on the bench too. The last players we signed during the season (aside from Forren) were Yoshi and Gaston. Both made their debuts as a sub and I suspect Ossie will be the same.

I thought he did a reasonable enough job for us. Liptak, Gasmi and Ryan Smith the year before. They were properly gash.

What's the strongest team of Saints academy players who are still currently playing in wonder? Poke Chambers - Mills - Cranie - Shaw Surman - JWP AOC - Lallana - Bale Walcott A bit dodgy at CB and especially in goal but that's not a bad team. The central two probably not comfortable playing that deep but we seem to have produced an abundance of offensive talent. We've still got room for Bridge on the bench.

Pretty much what I'd expect them to be saying, their management has been screwing them up for years now.

I wouldn't bother talking to him if I were you. He posted, 'there is no way we're going to win this' before literally every game last season. One of the lazier trolls on this board. At least alpine puts his heart and soul into trolling.

Fair point, I'd probably have Yoshi in too actually.

It's not actually her though, it's a Romanian model called Alina Vacariu, which means there are a lot more picture of her in her undies. Like this one

I don't think you could ask for a better fixture at the moment. Sunderland have clearly had a big upheaval of the summer and I am yet to be convinced PDC is a PL manager. I'm not taking anything for granted, we're perfectly capable of shafting ourselves with a hopeless performance without warning. However the team I saw today looked seriously good against a well organised WBA side. I would probably play the same team with Clyne coming in only if fit, no disrespect to Chambers who looked decent today. LTTANO