UpweySaint

Well he's gone, cheerio you smug git

Always been a Mane fan but I remember reading this article ( http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/oct/09/southampton-sadio-mane-senegal-golden-generation?CMP=twt_gu ) and thinking 'steady on, big talk' but the more we see from him the more I genuinely believe he is destined for the very top! "Today we talk about Messi and Neymar but honestly I don’t think these players are as good as Sadio Mané."

Setting up future deals for Byram and Mowatt would be great in much the same way Newcastle were able to do for Darlow and Lascellas.

Always expected Utd to do us but bugger me we look a bit lost. Sort of hoping we get our share of luck over the next few games and the likes of Bertrand and Clasie can make the difference. In other news, the Utd fans are a bunch of smug c**ts.

****ing awful officiating, they played Mata offside, nobody spotted it.

Keep our foot on the gas and get a second. Come on saints!

We could do with this one, sort of game that could kick start our season, COYS!

Point and clean sheet away from home against a side that are very solid, VVD also looked decent, Tadic showing - in flashes - that he is a player with quality. We need more movement off the ball really, at times it's all very static. Bertrand still to return to give us two offensively good full backs, Clasie to come in and (hopefully) be a creative type in the middle which we appear to lack, may need to be patient to see more from Rodriguez, Juanmi may force his way into Roko's thinking. Certainly not all doom and gloom from my perspective but f**k me that was dull - I was relived when the tesco delivery driver turned up, was the most interesting thing to happen over the 90!

We do ... he's injured.

It is a learning curve for him. We all know Bertrand is established first choice and, when fit, will play without question. I think people forget his age sometimes and that we have been blessed with some players who were early bloomers!

He can ask but he can't refuse I would imagine ...

Could be the agent after A) a move, or B) or hefty new pay packet. All this move talk came about just after, or around the same time (IIRC), the club made noises about a new contract for Victor. Look how many players have 'flirted' with other clubs lately only to be rewarded with bumper new deals (Ramos for example). Not saying he does not want out - he may well do - but we are simply speculating.

If it's true by all means slate the man, the club, whatever. But, unless somebody knows otherwise, we have not seen anything definitive from the player or the club suggesting he may be on the way out or has refused to play etc. Would it really be that surprising if all this is being linked by Spurs and/or an agent fancying a cut?

Can agree to some extent. Gutted as I am our squad is not where it needs to be currently. It could be argued we need new recruits but, more than anything, I think we need to find a system and a best XI and give it time to click, with the reduced training time and extra demands brought about by europe (now matter how much most of us would have loved to done well in the competition) it may have taken even longer for a unit to gel cohesively. I was watching last night missing the fluidity of Lambert, Lallana, Rodriguez etc and the bombing on of Clyne and Shaw/Bertrand.

Roko's post match is baffling! - Most watching would say we were not good enough for a win let alone a draw, both tonight and last week - Harping on about decisions (OK valid point but we did not create enough full stop) - Picking up on the Rodriguez mistake, why? Them scoring did not impact the tie in any way! - If Mane was too much of a risk to play, arguably one of our most creative, then why take him? There must be somebody else worth taking if only to give us another option. Big fan of Roko and I can concede we were short of players and will need time to settle as units both defensively and offensively but the set up tactically was just wrong. They knew how we would play and dealt with us all night long yet we failed to switch until late on. The team,and the fans, need a big reaction at the weekend!

Will it be available in English?

Agree though he could hand in a transfer request ... of course we can decline but, if he was that eager to leave, he may be willing to forfeit a few quid (not that many players have the stones to do that!).

I hate to say it but I think we got lucky with Toby, we all knew getting an established player of his quality was one hell of a deal even in the short term. We would have to get very lucky again to be able to bring that sort of established quality to the club while keeping a stable club. Signing players with the potential to be top class is, probably, the right strategy for us as a club.

I actually think he he had a decent game. Not perfect but we all know it is a bit early in his development. He provided decent width on the overlap and got in some crosses with good whip into good areas. He's not Shaw, he will develop slower, but that doesn't mean he wont cut it.

Will say though that Everton managed to sign up McCarthy to a long term deal while we lost Clyne on the cheap due to his contract running down. I do accept your point though. It does also say a lot about our recruitment that our players are being chased by the 'big' clubs and, the hope is, that should more leave our recruitment will be able to have more hits then misses.

That may suggest Townsend, always been talk of our interest.

I don't see it as a reflection of the appetite of the fans to get to these sort of matches. With two days till the game the tickets are still beyond restricted - even if they make it to a point where people can qualify for tickets it is far too late to make sufficient arrangements. Just look at how many we took to Vitesse in the home and away ends!

Seems a bit iffy to me, surely if they can't sell out their allocation they should be given back to home fans not passed on to a team with tenuous links at best!

Fair but it's the manner of today's defeat I think that is the issue. Not having a crisis this early in a season but our balance was wrong against Newcastle and has been exposed again today. Everton did a number on us far too easily.

Hope so. Love Roko but, poor as players have been, he got it very wrong today.