NewYorkSaint

If Consortium 11 were here, you would know. The site's entire word count output would treble. It's amazing to see a single poster become an actual reason why people rush to the Guardian's Saints reports.

Love it. We all agree. ;-)

Hey, what a nice treat to get to see the first team in action... Not the most electrifying game ever, but plenty of nice touches. Wanyama soooo good. Tadic sharp, Mane dangerous, Soares promising, Matt Target looking strong, Yoshida hasn't put a foot wrong.

What none of us knows is just how clear the legal language of the contract is. If it's crystal clear that they missed the buy-back deadline, then our negotiating positions remains strong. Toby's presence in London could simply be that as far as he was told yesterday, the Spurs deal was on and he booked his flight in. Sky are reporting that he'd be happy to sign for either club. AM will not want to face a months long legal dispute that could cost them all the Spurs premium and more. More likely, there is some legal ambiguity, and the route to a deal for us is to offer a part-way match to the Spurs premium.... But let's see. I think it's still at least 50/50 that he ends up staying.

I'm shocked if we paid him anything to terminate. I would have thought the negotiation would go: - Us: "Look, you want out, we want out, so let's see. Your value maybe not quite what it was, so you won't get the same wages at another club. On the other hand, if we release you you will be able to claim whatever a club would have paid for you as your personal signing bonus. Maybe you'll lose £3m in wages over next two years... but you can more than make that up in a signing bonus. You're not claiming your value has plummeted by more than 75% are you? Are you??? And if that doesn't appeal, last time we checked head butting a team mate is cause for contract cancellation plus a lawsuit for damages. So we can go that route if you prefer. But why feed the lawyers? Just go." - Osvaldo's agent, who now has complete flexibility on stiffing some other club. "If you insist..."

C'mon guys, I think some of our players deserve a little more love. Here are my ratings.... Forster - 9 Davis - 7 Gaza - 5 Clyne - 8 (9-10 in first half of season) Fonte - 8 (that's player rating...great, but he got away w a few this year. As a captain I'd put him at 9 or 10) Toby - 9 Bertrand - 8 Gardos - 6 Yoshida - 7 Targett - 6 Davis - 7 Wanyama - 10 (my player of the season. utterly dominant) Reed - 7 JWP - 7 Morgan - 9 (hoping the big boys underbid) Tadic - 7 (10 on a good day, but not enough of those) Djuricic - 7 (better than most people seem to think) Pelle - 8 (can be frustrating, but incredible combination of physique and skill) Mane - 9 (and 10 based on his second half of season. incredible player.) Long - 8 (improving all season)

I mean.... that has to be the most astonishing 48 mins of football I've ever witnessed. Shane Long has been electrifying. Just electrifying. Even before his goals.

I think criticism of Mane 'diving' may be overdone. Part of the issue is that his acceleration is incredible. He's constantly surprising defenders. And the speed he's moving a relatively small tap can still take him out. Several times in the game he took a tumble but raced to get to his feet. One thing's clear. He's an incredible player w unique skills. Kind of an uber-Lallana.

Thrilling game. Bit of a heartbreaker at the end. We did enough to win. Best attacking in ages. Fantastic to see Pelle's confidence back. Mane MoM for me, though. Tadic for Davis next time out..?

heartbreaking.... but we can still win this. we are so much the better side this second half. Tadic on for Davis, pls!

Saints definitely playing the more exciting football. The JWP Schneiderlin corner move wd have been sensational goal. Mane has been spectacular. Wonderful seeing Pelle score again... he was ruthless there. And on US TV they're saying clear hand-ball for the Tottenham goal. We can do this!

Spectacular play by Saints. on another day wd be 1-0 the other way. their goal really lucky. Toby, big-Vic, Morgan superb. Pelle's been good too, imo. Chances are we'll come back second half. But yes, Mane and/or Tadic needed.

No Mane: I would guess it's part a man-management thing. I bet there's been something behind scenes this week. Maybe he held up yesterday's flight up north!

we have enough great attackers to try a system w/o Pelle for a few games. i love the guy... but he mgiht just need a break. having said that his ball in the opening 15 seconds could and should have won the game for us another day...

Electrifying half. Will feel like gross injustice if we don't win this... US commentators and analysts say both early claims probably penalties, esp the second. stone cold. not to mention their keeper should be off. Djuricic exciting. Wanyama, Clyne fantastic. I'd keep on JWP but bring on Morgan for Davis and Mane for Ellia.

Surprising team. In Koemans we trust. Strong bench!!!

Some amazing touches by Wanyama ...and by REED. Exciting prospect. He just gets better every game. Otherwise an underwhelming first half, though our defense looks mighty strong.

I get the concern about all that extra money sloshing around, but there's one obvious way in which fans benefit. By being the richest league in the world, it can afford to recruit the world's best players. Would we have been able to recruit Pelle, Mane, etc if our league wasn't so rich? So a big reason the premier league offers pretty much the world's best football consistently is because of this. There's an upward spiral effect, because the presence of all those stars attracts more fans globally, etc. I don't like the fat-cat middlemen in football any more than anyone, but I do think it's awesome how big a phenomenon the premier league has become globally. And there's no question that the quality of play is far better than it was a couple of decades ago. Rising attendances at football grounds attest to that. So... it's not all bad, friends.

I back the bear, bringer of smiles.

Funny. If you'd asked this after 6 games this season, consensus would prob have been something like: Tadic, Pelle, Morgan, Clyne, Vic. If we could only refresh the Tadic/Pelle magic a little............. My favorite player currently is Big Vic. All that muscle and all that grace. Seems impossible. But I'd put Mane up there too. On his day. And yes... Morgan, Nathaniel, Toby.... ...and a plug for Bertrand. He's been involved in so many of our best attacks.

Soooo frustrating. Most of the game we're far the better team. Wish we'd had Mane from the start. Maybe instead of Tadic, who continues to frustrate. Ultimately, I put this down to the cruel gods of football lottery. We were a little lucky to win there... and really unlucky to lose here.

And another assist from JWP. Superb!

Great line-up. No injuries pls! Can't believe there's no stream. Are triple sure of that?

I'm impressed by Reed and his philosophy... but just a tad concerned at his apparent need for recognition. When you see that, you always worry about the potential ego clashes that may be going on behind the scenes. "“I’m basically responsible for everything to do with football at the club" is reminiscent of the slightly odd episode when Reed sought to upstage Poch at one of his final press interviews. There may just be a slight rewriting of history going on (Cortese who?). I hope that with the recent coverage of him here, and in the NBC documentary that he can now relax a bit. The last thing we want is for the Koemans to feel slighted and to leave. Having said that, it's definitely exciting to support the club that's leading English football's 'Moneyball' revolution.