max_saints

"You’re very different now since you played for England. You never used to be like this."

1. Yes 2. - 3. Osvaldo 4. 1 gk, 1 striker/winger, 1 central defender

just watching this, wonder when we'll get our chance....

I predict the board will hold out for crazy money, pool and united will walk away, adz and shaw stay with us happily ever after. one common opinion I've noticed reading comments in transfer stories wrt adz and shaw is that it's crazy money (can't argue that) and they're not good enough for their respective squads. so the above scenario maintaining status quo will be a win win. why don't we close these threads and go back to the HCDAJFU thread asking 'when will ***** sign' repeatedly.

Rickie Lambert says the news that he and two of his Southampton teammates are heading to this summer’s World Cup makes this one of the most memorable moments in the club’s recent history. There’ve been a lot of proud moments over the last five years, but I think today has topped it all off" Rickie Lambert Along with Adam Lallana and Luke Shaw, the frontman has been included in Roy Hodgson’s 23-man squad travelling to Brazil next month. And Lambert, who joined Southampton in 2009 when the club was in the third division, believes this is an occasion to be treasured. “It’s a proud day for Southampton,” the striker exclusively told saintsfc.co.uk. “There’ve been a lot of proud moments over the last five years, but I think today has topped it all off. “To finally get the call is more than I could’ve ever dreamed of because I could never have expected this two years ago, let alone ten years ago. This is more than a dream. “There’s elation, pride, joy – everything. It’s hard to describe how good this feels,” continued Lambert. “I am a bit emotional, really. I don’t think it’s going to sink in for a while. “Through the last few months, the best thing to do was to try not to think about it, but it comes to a stage where the nerves overtake you and it’s hard to get a grip of them. “I’ve been suffering with my sleep and getting up in the middle of the night because I’m just lying there thinking about the possibility of going to the World Cup. “Over the last week, I’ve been sleeping less and less and last night it was virtually impossible because my head was everywhere. “I wasn’t in a good place because I was dreading the phone call, so when I finally got told today it was a dream come true.” Lambert only made his England debut nine months ago, having been called into the squad for the first time just before the 2013/14 campaign got underway. And he says he still looks back at that friendly against Scotland as a crucial moment in his journey to Brazil, having scored with his first touch of the ball after coming on as a substitute. “A lot of what’s happened has been down to the Scotland game,” reflected Lambert. “It changed everything. “I had come across moments like that in my life but to nowhere near that extent. You understand the importance of certain moments a lot more when you are older and more experienced. “A year ago I was a little bit disheartened because I honestly thought I wasn’t going to get a chance with England. “I thought I’d done really well but he (Hodgson) seemed to go with other players instead of me so, when I got the call for the Scotland game, I knew I had to take my chance. “I obviously enjoyed going away with England and seeing some of my heroes, but I knew the only thing that was important was the minutes I had on that pitch. “I had to try to score a goal and to do something for him to remember me by, and it went more than perfectly. That gave me the foot in the door and allowed me to progress.” Today’s squad is the sixth in which Lambert has been included, but the 32-year-old admits he feared for his place when he went on a four-game goal drought ahead of England’s friendly against Denmark in March. “I go off my form, and my form leading up to the Denmark game wasn’t great,” he conceded. “I was a little bit nervous that I wasn’t going to get in that squad, but I think the impact I’d had in the games I’d played in had a big impact on why [Hodgson] gave me another chance. “I didn’t get many minutes, but just being there made me feel more of a part of things.” The Saints trio will meet up with their compatriots this weekend for a training camp in Portugal, before the squad relocates to Florida ahead of their switch the Brazil. And Lambert says he’s eager to get involved with what he feels is one of the most exciting World Cup campaigns in years. “I can’t wait to join up with the team,” he enthused. “We’re off to Portugal on Sunday, so firstly I’m going to spend some time relaxing with the family and getting over the season that I’ve had. “I’ve been watching all the television programmes and I got the World Cup sticker books for my son, and sometimes I think to myself: ‘my god, I might be going to this!’ – it’s mad when you sit back and think about it. “It’s the biggest thing that can happen to any lad who is into football. It’s the biggest occasion on the planet, and I’m going to be there. It’s mad. “There are going to be loads of little stages where the excitement is building and building, but it’ll really hit home when we go into that first game against Italy – that’s the moment I’m waiting for. “That’s when the World Cup experience begins, and that’s what I’ll never forget. I’m excited just thinking about it now. “I think the expectation level is right for the first time in a number of World Cups,” he added. “Over the last year, I think the quality of English players has gone up and the performances of people like Raheem Sterling, Adz, Luke Shaw, [steven] Gerrard, Danny Sturridge, Leighton Baines put them among the top performers in the world. “Everyone has a bit of optimism now, but the expectation levels have stayed the same – which is good. There is a feel-good factor with all of these new, exciting players coming onto the scene.” Of course, Lambert reserved special praise for the two clubmates who will be joining him on the plane to Brazil – but also for one who will not. “This is for Jay,” he said of fellow forward Rodriguez, who must wait to follow up on his maiden England cap after suffering a knee injury against Manchester City last month. “I don’t think he was shoe-in when he first played for England, but his performances from then onwards made him the in-form player in the Premier League along with [Luis] Suarez and Danny Sturridge. “He was absolutely on fire. When somebody of his ability is scoring goals and terrorising defences week-in week-out, it was obvious what was going to happen for him. Each week, he was getting better and better. “There was only one way it was going to go for him, so it’s a shame that he won’t be coming – it’s a shame for him and a shame for England because a player like that would have only benefitted the squad. “He’s going to be back next year. He’s still very young and he’s mentally strong, and I’ve got absolutely no worries about him for next season. He will come back and score goals. “I was more than confident that Adz was going to get in because he fully, fully deserved to,” continued Lambert as he turned his focus to Lallana and Shaw. “I think he’s fighting for a starting place with how well he’s done. “At first I wasn’t too sure about Luke Shaw because Ashley Cole was obviously the best left-back over the last ten years, as Luke has said himself. “When we heard the news last night that he’d been dropped, our first thought was that Luke had to be in. “Hearing the confirmation today was absolutely superb, so full credit to the boy. He’s had an excellent season. “What he has done is frightening, and his mental strength is second to none for a young lad. He’s not going to be overwhelmed by anything that comes his way. “Luke’s development is full credit to Southampton Football Club and everyone involved in the journey he has had.” Read more at http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/12052014-rickie-lambert-on-world-cup-call-up-1548507.aspx#YsOEOhGoWOiCGjgM.99 f*ck all the transfer rumours, everyone should read this instead. i'm in love with the man

Lallana: I may stay with Southampton http://www.espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1816830/adam-lallana-stay-southampton?cc=5739 mostly quotes from the matchday programme

brilliant season from all involved. record breaking season. academy players flooding through. good style of football. good luck to all the players involved in Brazil!

good news generally but still need to sign a first team striker in the summer. i don't think sam is at the same level as the likes of shaw/prowsey and will need at least another season or so before being able to make an impact in the first team. for someone his height, he needs to work on his aerial ability to make it an advantage. congrats to Sam nevertheless, feel free to prove me wrong!

dont let wenger see this

seemed a man torn between continuing to captain a club he has played at and developed so much in the last few years or moving on to the next level to fulfil his career ambitions. don't think he has decided for sure yet but it would be utterly selfish of us fans to blame him for moving.

would rather we get full cash payment than letting them get rid of an unwanted player and still get Adam. why would they need him for anyway? aren't they overly stacked with talent in his position?

would take that if the board then uses the money to get in a quality replacement. isn't adz an Everton fan though? still think he would leave for a top club, regardless. he's done all he can here and has matured into a fine player ready to test himself at a higher level. shaw on the other hand is still young and has much to learn before he can fulfill his potential as a world class player. no better place to do it than here where there isn't as much pressure to perform week in week out in a title chase. he'll be with us for another season or two more.

its just so nice to see our club mentioned in a list containing all the traditional top clubs. our players won't win, unfortunately.

in my opinion, it's largely to do with the mental weakness of a young team. you can see everytime we go behind or let in an equalizer the body language of the team very noticeably becomes negative. that and we don't have a leader to lead by example and get the team going again. for all his improvement this season, lallana still has the tendency to fade away in latter stages of games especially so when we're losing.

definitely. i am hoping we get our revenge against villa, they were awful at st marys yet managed to rob us of all 3 points

chance for him to step up today with jrod out and once again he has shown he's made of glass. has completed 60 mins or more of football only twice all season. cue the 'but we can all see he's class' comments source: http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/gaston-ramirez/leistungsdaten/spieler_123742.html#GB1

story of our season. dominate the opponent all game only to let them shoot from outside the box and concede. whole team looked disinterested second half. marshall in the summer transfer window, anyone?

may I know if anyone knows for certain the match will be moved? will have to change my flight, if so, at a considerable cost and would like to do so asap while the air fare continues to rise.

having had nothing to do all game, our defenders decided to make the game abit more interesting towards the end... negatives aside, great performance from our forwards, those that started and those that came on. very pleased for young sam getting his first PL goal.

lol

fonte looking uncomfortable all of the first half

very very poor with our finishing, cant be missing the chances we had in the first half. personal feeling is the game ended when ramirez came on, we just lost our way second half. in fact all three substitutions were very very poor when they came on.

good that he's making all these forward runs but anyone feels it often leaves a huge gap at the back when he fails to track back or jrod doesn't cover for him., something opposing teams have been taking advantage of in recent matches. keep pinging in those crosses and I won't mind though!

SG starting makes sense, with lambert not at 100%. Plus, the scenario we are in (not much left to play for in the league and little chance of getting relegated) is perfect to try and blood in a few more of our talented young players.

this. I'm not supporting him or saying his actions were right in any way. but some people have very little self control and this may have been a heat of the moment thing. like many have said he has been missing games and his time here has been stop start without being able to get a run of games therefore he was particularly sensitive to any rough challenges that may injure him when he's so close to getting a start again. it really is up to him if he can see the wrong in what he did, apologize to fonte and the rest of the team.