Baird of the land

Personally unsure about notion of playing 5 at the back versus them. Think back 4 may make more sense this game. So for me fonte in for targett & we all know Wanyama will come back in regardless, likely for Romeu.

We overpaid for Long & Hull somewhat underpaid imo. Price is now irrelavent, especially with the crazy TV money. He's a good player, proving to be an important asset once finally played more often in his natural position. If he could hit a streak where his conversion ratio went up he'd be an even better player because let's be honest when Vardy scored 5 goals last season nobody was considering him the worldbeater.

To me the only question with tadic is whether he was going to reach the ball he knocked through. As for the actual contact he does pull his leg back(my guess to protect it) but there's definite contact from the rashly committed butland. Mane red is just more and more absurd, the more I see it. They really need to have technology for at least these incidents. The ref confirming that what he thinks he has seen is actually correct before making red card decisions.

Fantastic result. Looking forward to a huge game against Liverpool now. Great to see Pelle getting rewards, thought last couple of games he'd looked livelier than previously. Seen the Mane sending off and that is nuts, really hope that is overturned. Brave decision by koemnan at the back paid off. Yoshida was restricted to a late cameo. Got to wonder about his long term future at the club though.

For me the problem with Yoshida is a confidence issue. He's a decent premier league 3rd choice centre back having a horrid season, now with zero confidence. Hope he can dig out a bit of his old form over the next couple of games.

Make or break time for this season. This game and Liverpool one will decide if we've got any chance of competing for european places. Can't afford to lose either game. 5-3-2 Forster Soares Yoshida Van Dijk Bertrand Targett Romeu Davis JWP Mane Long

Thought red was harsh, but bad defending from Saints to put themselves in that situation. Yoshida terrible for their goal. Guy has had an awful season by and large. Pretty inspipid display. Think we may end up keepinbg hold of Mane because he's playing so poorly. Pelle thought worked hard with awful service.

Personally i'd get Martina off and get Soares on for starters. Positionally Martina looks all over the place. Too often we seem off the pace. At times we were just passing backwards slowly constantly.

Forster Cedric Fonte VVD Bertrand Romeu Clasie Davis Tadic Long Mane Big Sam's team is going to be set up to deal with long ball's to Pelle so despite the fact he played ok against Bournemouth(a game he probably should have started), i'd start with the more mobile Long instead if he is fit.

Yeah if the opposition treat it as a derby you better get your head right and treat it as one too. Too many times they seem to want it more. Hopefully a rocket at half time will lead to a much better 2nd half display.

Maybe the benefit of seeing that a well run mid sized club can win the premier league. That's a dream i've had for Saints but not had much faith of the possibility outside of football manager. I'd prefer Arsenal to Man City but would easily prefer Leicester.

I would like to see Leicester win the league at expense of the likes of Man City/Spurs/Arsenal etc. That said after a month which has put Saints in with a shot of getting back into europe i very much want Saints to beat Leicester. If we'd been well adrift in midtable but safe from relegation i might have gritted my teeth for the greater good of someone new winning the league.

Utter shame, looks like he was getting good experience and making quite an impression for them. Hopefully he can bounce back from injury. Wonder could we loan Gallagher to them instead?

It's nice to dream. It probably won't happen but let's hope we can maintain our momentum and see where it takes us.

Extremely solid defensively excluding Yoshida's moment of clumsiness late on. We lacked enough attacking intent at times though. No doubt Pelle will come in for some stick. Personally thought he was much better 2nd half linking with Long. I was screaming for Mane to come on but just then a corking ball into the box from JWP and a nice header from long.

Yeah Davis sent in that delicious cross that Long should have scored from I still not sure i see him as a natural wingback but he's putting in a shift for us. Pelle, he's been largely anonymous with a couple of decent touches but given how much long is winning aerially what we need is another outlet for the quick counter, which is Mane.

I'd have preferred to see Mane play away from home with his pace. At least hopefully he can be an impact sub alongside Austin with 20/30 minutes to go. However with recent successes Ron's earned himself some slack in team selections as i wouldn't have guessed Bertrand/Targett would work so well.

Targett for Yoshida Romeu for Vic Davis/JWP for Pelle Austin as an impact sub.

For me Cedric is definitely improving but not at same level as clyne was yet. Clyne' snot the problem in the Liverpool defence IMO, a good player can get lost in a bad unit. Clasie's been very good. Saw glimpses in early displays and had faith he'd adapt. Romeu has won me over, poor at start with crazy challenges, last 3/4 games he's mixed strength and a bit of ball ability. Just hope he remains consistent. Virgil's done well. Good option since we failed to keep hold of the excellent Toby.

Yeah i'm glad he made a decent contribution and think he's a good squad player for a club our size to have. That said i thought he wasn't as impressive positionally in that role as Bertrand was in previous games.

Dug in and got deserved win. Really hate refs who make decisions based on the level of complaint. Clattenberg went for the yellow card and then made completely the wrong decision. Really glad it didn't come back to cost us. Real team effort, hard to pick out an individual this week.

Most important one to renew is Forster. Fortunately Liverpool gave Mignolet a fat new contract. Maybe that will stop them coming a courting. After that Tadic & Mane(though obviously Mane may reject it) Maybe offer Long a one year extension. If there's a move that suits both parties then sell him. Otherwise let his contract run down. Gardos needs to prove himself next season before we think of extending

As you say 4 points is excellent, i was hoping for a point against utd but expected Arsenal to have to much for us, i didn't reckon on Fraser though. Personally thought the ref was decent. Let a decent amount of physicality go and others would have been throwing around far more cards and much earlier.

What a difference a fraser forster makes. Any of the other keepers and we would have lost. Romeu and Wanyama very good in the middle. Mane caused them all sorts of problems if only he had a shred of confidence Confused as to why Pelle was preferred to Austin. Assume Clasie was being rested for weekend?

Not sure Stek would want to be reserve. Personally don't see Gazzaniga needing a loan, think he needs either confidence of being elevated to 2nd choice with ideally getting a run out in league cup. He seems to be improving and bringing in a keeper over his head isn't going to do him any good. Ideally pick up a third keeper on a short term deal to cover until there's someone coming up through the academy. Can't see the value in bringing in any more centre backs unless we are shipping out Gardos/Yoshida as first choice pair are settled, especially when there's the likes of Stephens/Mccarthy hopefully returning after good loan spells. Key business defensively will be tying Bertrand down to a long term deal. Cover in that position is fine. Make decision on Soares/Martina whether we need to replace Wanyama will leave, Romeu will take that spot. We'll likely need another midfielder alongside hopefully Reed getting some real involvement. As you say perhaps someone who is more akin to Davis in style. Assume Pelle may leave as may Mane if United are still interested. If Jayrod actually comes back we probably need to spend heavily on a like for like replacement for Mane. If Juanmi decides to opt out rather than stick it out that may require a further addition.