Baird of the land

Personally i think Reeves was a good little player. Was got rid in rush to sign new players on arriving in Prem. Has shown for several years at MK Dons a very good standard. Wouldn't be surprised to see him end up in prem somwewhere. Prior to relegation there was Cranie, who looked promising in brief cameo in prem. Who knows what would have happened to him with right development. There was also Matt Mills who made some pretty disastrous moves including to City and then across Championship. Definitely think he could have been Prem player with right guidance. Your list is absent the likes of Gallagher who burst on the scene on Prem and did well but has since been troubled by injury coupled with the closure of the route to the first team. Personally the idea of finding a Le Tiss/bale/walcott every season if fanciful but you need to be giving youngsters some opportunities over the course of the season. We'll never know if Stephens/Seager/Reed if they are not given a opportunities in our team. Even if you don't find a superstar you may find a solid premier league squad player.

I'd like to see Reed given some opportunities in the Davis role.

The older the player is and higher profile they are the less likely we are to be able to compete with the likes of Spurs, Liverpool etc. that seems different to me than picking the choice players from elsewhere at a younger age when they are still much rawer prospect. our advantage has been our willingness to give academy prospects opportunities if that goes why not sign for the likes of chelsea with better status and better loan contacts.

I'd be very surprised if wanyama signed a new deal, unless it has some sort of release clause. Personally I'd be happier in news that Bertrand/Forster extending their deals. Not sure I particularly agree with notion of signing 18/21 year olds from elsewhere rather than giving our own academy players at least some opportunities in the first team. Target is a clear example how game time in the prem can be of benefit. The likes of Stephens/reed/seater/McCarthy need to be given that before being discarded on the scrap heap whilst the club scrambles around to pick up scraps of u18/u21 not hoovered up by bigger sides.

Lovely strike by JWP, finally showing the dead ball finishing that seemed so apparent yet illusive. Important to get that early goal before they rearranged tactially. Got a little lucky at 1-0, on another day JWP could have conceded a penalty(might have been marginally outside) and then thought Targett's penalty was slightly soft. Very cute play by Targett to throw his body across though. After that we dominated and resuly never looked in doubt. It's very nice to see us be able to close a game out like that again though. Thought Davis was particularly good in midfield, lovely play to set up the third for Tadic.

I've never been his biggest fan honestly. There's also the worry regarding his knee. Very low fee and a british player who has scored goals in the prem isn't to be sniffed at. I'll be hoping to be proved wrong in regards my opinion and fears regarding him.

I just can't justify bringing Pelle back into the team against WBA. One thing Tony Pulis teams do well is defend against crosses, so i'd stick with Long getting at them with his pace and persistence. Like a few others the only change i might make is Tadic for Targett, if we are moving to a 4 at the back.

Well when we play well we play very well. Helped by a watford side who seems to not want to play in the rain. Thought the 3 midfield was excellent today. There was a real balance in strength(Romeu), Passing(Clasie), Movement(Davis)Really hope that Wanyama who has been below par most of the season doesn't just waltz into the team. Romeu still has that odd moment of devil in him. That tackle from behind i thought was far too risky, mistime it at all and a ref could send him off but fair play to him he timed it perfectly and it was Deeney who went crazy and got himself booked. Long worked his socks off and took his goal nicely. If he could just improve his convertion ratio a little but still a good little player who may not be worth what we paid for him but neither is Lallana/Lovren worth what we sold them for. Mane needs a goal, some excellent stuff outside of that but contrived not to increase our lead. Nice to see Targett do ok and set up the 1st goal, especially after some of the negatives i've seen regarding him on these forums especially in relation to his crossing. I've had a lot of negatives recently about Koeman but today the tactics worked and today he used his subs correctly to close out the game and get us the 2nd. Still it's one game and we showed against arsenal we can play when we want. Other teams will make us regret all teh missed chances and sometimes we need to be able to show we can grind out results when playing less well.

Was hoping Adam would ask him tougher questions, especially in relation to what he said about the academy. Gave him a free ride and even then i thought the responses were very weak.

Awful signing, not just in terms of being a poor player but just the whole notion of using the loan market for that type of fix me up player. Thankfully Liverpool are helping us cut our losses because they are so desperate because of injuries they need some cover & someone to play in Exeter replay. Still disappointed he's deprived others of 1st team chances. Funny how now Koeman's been forced to use the academy as backup for that 4th choice defender slot till end of season.

Forster/Stek(dependent on how fit Forster is) Cedric(fresh legs as long as fit) Fonte Van Dijk Bertrand(assuming he is over his illness) Reed Romeu Clasie(though i doubt Reed will be picked) JWP if not as i think Davis is in need of a rest. Mane Pelle Tadic (Though if Pelle isn't 100% i'd save him for game against WBA) I'd like to see seager get half an hour if behind or level but that's not likely to happen)

Given Seagar was 17/18 during potch reign(now 19 going on 20) & he gave an 18 year old striker in Gallagher plenty of games i can't see how potch bears any responsibility. Must have been utterly deflating to be seagar on Saturday sitting on the bench the day after Koeman wrote him and most of rest of academy players off, throwing them under the bus in Redknapp style to try and stop his own image being tarnished. Unless Koeman is going out the door I hope he's pressing Reed for a loan move somewhere where a manager might actually give him an opportunity when several of the main strikers are injured and others are out of form.

Of course the pathway has been shut. Reed plays well and then is ignored for a year. If it hadn't been for Bertrand's injury and sickness Targett likely wouldn't have played in well over a year. Seager scores regularly for u21's and then comes off after scoring again to read interview from manager claiming him and the rest of the academy are utterly worthless in Koeman's eyes. I'd rather the club was run by those behind with the long term in mind than an utterly selfish short term by Koeman. Hope Kat trusts Les and Ralph.

Interesting read. Been wondering about the discrepancies between what we were told(formation/youth etc) was the plan and what was occurring. I do wonder if Cortese was still in charge would Koeman have been sacked instantly for deliberately trying to damage the club by savagely attacking the club's academy to try and preserve his own reputation. Also wonder how much damage those comments have done in terms of future recruitment. Personally the things i dislike (attitude to youth/tactics etc) have been building and overwhelming the bank of goodwill based on last seasons performance. I'd started hoping we'd stumble along till the summer but if he's given the funds to squander on over priced players in January that would likely negatively affect the funds available in the summer and likely leave us encumbered with dross? Even if i didn't feel that way does Koeman really act like a man that wants to be at Saints for the long run? In hindsight it is a shame Holland didn't take him when they failed to qualify for the euros.

Koeman tactically got it wrong again, started with completely the wrong formation and we went 1 nil down. Thankfully he actually changed things in the 2nd half and we got the equaliser. Once again our soft centre cost us by letting them score. Be interesting to see what team Koeman puts out against Watford after virtually playing the entire first xi today. Very disappointing to go out of the cup again to Palace at home. Now we've got either nothing to play for or if things continue to get worse a relegation battle. Be interesting to see how the board react. Koeman's terrible recent record coupled with his vile public attack on the academy can't have pleased them.

There's Reed who he's ignored till a five minute cameo vs Norwich this season even after he impressed when forced to give him a chance against everton the previous season. There's Stephens who impressed over 2 loan spells at Swindon, who rather than play he instead forked out on Caulker on Loan. There's Seager who has repeatedly done well at u21 level and yet had one tiny cameo. In the article he talks about only Targett being ready for the 1st team with Reed behind him. Really for me that's more indicative of a Redknapp/allardyce attitude where a young player is only when they have experience. The old catch twenty two where the young player needs top flight experience in order for the manager to risk him but without being given the experience by said manager they will never get that experience. So yeah i'd be happy if he went at the end of the season. On a completely unrelated note, really happy to see Lee Holmes score against Liverpool. Really nice to see him back playing, is a really good little player, who's been blighted by injuries.

I've got to the point where i'd happily see Koeman go. Really can't stand his complete negativity in regards the development of young players.

I'll believe that when i see it.

Nice to see them get back to winning ways and great to news at fraser's return. Where did Stephens play tonight?

Personally i'm hoping for a few changes(opportunities for a couple of the academy players) , especially as we've a league game against watford the following wednesday. Targett & Reed should come in imo. Juanmi if he's staying should be given a start. Hopefully some of the likes of Stephens/Mcqueen/Seager/Hesketh make the bench.

Agree completely, should be giving the likes of Stephens opportunities rather than loaning in dross like Caulker.

Blame for this result lies firmly with Koeman. Zero ambition to try and win the game at 0-0, not taking off the extremely poor Wanyama who'd also been booked. Team worked hard and played some decent stuff with little cutting edge prior to that but deprived of Mane our creativity was very limited. Criminal that Mane was left sitting on the bench till after they had scored. Tactical ineptiditude. Good news is that Wanyama is suspended. He's been mediocre for the last couple of months and i'd be happy to see Romeu or Reed given a chance. Ideal world Spurs give us a mammoth offer and we bite their hand off. Not sure i want to see Koeman given money to spend in January.

Once again i don't understand Koeman. Just seems intent on letting the game drift away from us.

Long always seems to be a striker who's conversion ratio is poor. In that instance his first touch is good so why take the 2nd before trying to beat the keeper. I still think he's a decent 2nd striker for a club our size but is frustrating seeing him playing so well in large parts and then the final finish letting him down. JWP continues to frustrate me. Lovely corner delivery twice but outside dead ball situations i keep waiting for more to come but too often its very average. Hoping Mane comes on, would love to see him taking on their makeshift right back.

Great result against and in form team. Great that we finally broke the hoodoo of beating a top half team this season. One swallow doesn't make a summer. We need to build on it against an out of sorts West Ham team and get back into the top half. The martina situation still baffles me. Great goal and from the sounds of it solid performance, but what's baffling is that it has taken this long for him to be offered the chance when we've been playing players out of position there. Fantastic to see stek back. Long showed that he is a good premiership striker. He may lack that extra quality when it comes to his finishing & we may have payed over the odds for him but for an alternative option he is as good as the likes of saints are likely to be able to attract.