Wes Tender

And last year we got beaten by Norwich, who got relegated, could only draw at home against Sunderland who nearly got relegated and could only draw with West Ham at home, who we beat away 3-1. This year we got beaten by Liverpool away which we won last year, but this year they had bought half of our best players

Have a look in a dictionary at the word corresponding. I think that you will find that it does cover my meaning. I made a straight comparison between the first five matches of this season and the corresponding first five from last season, so both of you are wrong to nit-pick using your own selective parameters for comparison. If you don't think that they are a reasonable basis for comparison, then tough. Koeman has had a better start to the season than Pochettino over the first five matches. For the benefit of Lalllana's Left Peg, the table is determined by the number of points achieved and goal difference. It really is quite simple to understand. Koeman has also had a better start with Saints than Pochettino has with Spurs over the first five games come to that.

I've taken your advice and checked again. And I find that last year we won two, drew two and lost one = 8 points. This season we have won three, drawn one, lost one = 10 points. Just so that you know what I am counting as the results, last year we beat West Brom 1-0, drew with Sunderland 1-1, lost to Norwich 0-1, drew with West Ham 0-0 and won against Liverpool 0-1 Last season we had scored 3 and conceded 1, a goal difference of +1 This season we have scored 9 and conceded 3, a goal difference of +6 Naturally I am not including the Cup matches, not that that makes any difference.

Yes. Last season, 2 wins, 2 draws and one lost. This season 3 wins, 1 draw and one lost. We are two points ahead of last season.

I agree broadly with this and resent the implication from Eric that anybody who expresses the opinion that Pochettino didn't possess a Plan B must be a fat fool who has never played above pub level. The MOTD pundits are all former players at the very highest level of football and they still manage to get stuff about us wrong on a regular basis. Regarding the 6 months that Pochettino needs to train his teams up to the requisite mental and physical condition to implement his (Bielsa's) style of play, it is obviously much superior to Koeman's style, as Koeman inherited half a team depleted of its best players, replaced by others who had never played together before and yet they have adapted quickly enough to it to gain better results than those achieved by Pochettino over the corresponding 5 matches last season when he was here.

Two reasons at least for liking Leicester, Nigel Pearson and Hammond, both of whom I have positive feelings towards from their time here. But on the face of it, when it comes to Dutch managers we appear to have appointed a better one than Manchester United did.

3 points stolen from Swansea, who might have got something from the game had not Bony been so stupid. He let his team mates down badly with his impetuous tackling when he was already on a yellow. Swansea had been one of the few teams to keep us quiet in the first half and they were unlucky not to have gone in ahead, having hit the bar with us not really threatening their goal. But such is the way the dice tumbles and despite fighting bravely when they lost their best striker, the balance of the game turned in our favour. Often it is difficult for a team to beat one with 10 men, but thankfully Wanyama provided yet another surprise name on the scoresheet to add to Cork and Schneiderlin from midfield. Davis' turn next? After an impressive beating of Newcastle didn't impress the producers and pundits of MOTD, this match isn't going to set their pulses racing and I expect that we'll be down the pecking order once more. But what they won't be able to ignore, is our place in the table, and likely to stay there even after the matches tomorrow, unless City or Spurs have big score margin wins.

Not only was the article very fair and positive, but also the comments on it were generally very complimentary about us too.

Well, we've already had our referendum on changing from the FPTP system and rejected it relatively recently, so a bit premature for you to be suggesting that we change it. Regarding your assertion that it is the right wing of politics that wants "English votes for English issues", how do you reach that conclusion? The Scots have their own devolved Parliament and the Welsh have their own Executive through their Assembly. So please explain why it is so unreasonable for the English to have their own Parliament to have jurisdiction solely on English matters devoid of interference from MPs representing Scottish and Welsh voters. On whose behalf are you talking when you say that "no one" wants an English Executive? I'm pretty sure that Labour don't want it, because without their Scottish and Welsh MPs, they would hardly ever achieve a majority in an English Parliament. The Lib Dems probably wouldn't want it either, but they're largely irrelevant, or at least they will be after the next General Election. But I see no reason why the Conservatives would not favour it, or indeed UKIP come to that. So it seems that nobody wants it, apart from two of the four main parties. I class UKIP as a main party, because they are probably now ahead of the Lib Dems. But as the Scots have had the benefit of a Referendum, the ultimate tool of democracy, why shouldn't we English be allowed a Referendum on having our own devolved English Parliament? Rather than listening to the likes of you telling us what we do or don't want. I can see this becoming a burning issue for the General Election, pushed initially by UKIP and forcing the Conservatives to join them in what will be a very populist policy.

Nope. Everybody's singing from the same sheet, for once. Any discordant notes have been muted. Harmony reigns.

They would only improve the team by adding extra depth to the midfield and the defence, not something that we're paricularly short of since we replaced them. But on the evidence so far, I personally prefer Tadic to Lallana. Too early after just one match, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if Alderweireld proves to be the player that makes us forget about missing Lovren too.

There has been a significant change in the circumstances during these past few months that at the very least makes stadium expansion a proposition worth investigating. Put aside for a moment the argument that the stadium would have to sell out over several matches for it to be considered and how the increased capacity would then be filled and just look at the financial implications. Lowe's previous studies into the matter had revealed that the cost of adding 5000 extra seats would be between £15/£17.5 million. That would have been a substantial outlay at that time and there was little chance of it being taken seriously. However, events of the past few months have completely changed that aspect of it, at least. We have sold several players for a total of around £100 million and having bought replacements arguably as good or better, we have managed to achieve that leaving a surplus of £30+ million. That is the price of 10,000 extra seats on the stadium, or a sobering thought this, the price of the stadium originally. I'm not entering into the argument of whether we could fill that extra capacity and how to go about it, just merely pointing out that the price of expansion is now the sale value potentially of one decent academy player like Shaw that we have developed into a commodity that a top club desires at current market rates. At the moment, the club possibly has other uses for this Summer's profit on player dealings, but if they have future plans for stadium expansion, then this is how the financial aspects might easily be covered.

I'm afraid that I'm responsible for that. My older son moved well out of the area, so I stopped buying a ST for him.

Which is the reaction posted which leads you to label them as nutters? As far as I can see, yours is the post that is most lacking in composure and all the others are just opinions discussing the matter raised. Jesus Christ - it's what happens on a forum.

Even if Arsenal wanted to buy him, it really comes down to whether we want to sell him. If we don't our MO is already established. We wait until several other newspapers whip up a frenzy of other clubs supposedly wanting to buy him, then value him at a figure that Arsenal are unwilling to pay unless they get desperate to have him at all costs. When we sell him for a vastly over-inflated fee, we replace him with a better player at half the price. Onwards and upwards.

Cork is a model professional who always gives 100%, doesn't moan and winge, just buckles down and gets on with it. He and Davis are the stokers in the engine room and are the unsung heroes of our team. Sometimes it is only when a team loses players like them, that their true worth to the team is realised. They often don't get the glory that they deserve, because as a result of their efforts, others score goals, or don't concede them and the team benefits because they are team players, not individuals. Sometimes it is equally as hard to replace players like Cork and Davis as it is others in more prominent positions in the team. Who stands out in the PL as players who give as much effort every match as the likes of them? Not many. As well as being decent, reliable players, they bring much more to the team in terms of the example that they set with their never say die attitude and they are a real plus in the dressing room to their team mates too, a big part of the spirit of Southampton.

These greedy bastard glory-hunter players are starting to realise a few home truths. They can console themselves with earning two or three times the money, but they have to accept that with the higher wages comes much higher expectations of their abilities. They are also realising that they looked good playing here because they were surrounded by very able players who shielded them, complemented them, they played for each other and were a unit. In the same way that they were nurtured from a young age here, or imported from teams where their abilities were not fully recognised, our academy or our scouting network are capable of replacing them. Despite losing the likes of Lovren, Chambers and Shaw, our defence is arguably still as good as it was, and it is indeed debateable that our defence and midfield is better than Liverpool's, despite the turmoil over the summer. More mediocre performances from Lovren and Lallana and they will increasingly be spending more and more time warming the bench. Unless they improve substantially, the next step is either being loaned out, or being sold to a lesser team, their careers and reputations damaged. With luck, not only will they eventually realise that they might have been happier staying here, but they will be a great example to anybody else here who may think of leaving whenever a glory club comes knocking.

Nice of you to turn it around, so that when I mention that you have for some reason taken a thread about the returning family atmosphere and decided to take a sideways swipe at the Chairman, it's somehow me who is bitter. Au contraire, I have consistently through the summer taken a wait and see viewpoint and that position has been vindicated. If it comforts you to believe that the board somehow changed the way that they addressed the situation (which they largely had no control over), or are acting in a more conciliatory way towards the fans now as a result, then fill your boots. As for the media, you'd have to be pretty naive to have believed everything that they printed, when their policy is always to sensationalise everything in order to sell copy. The board said that the club was not for sale, that there was no fire sale, but some on here preferred to take everything they read in the gutter press as gospel. The board said from the time they arrived that they wanted to be more open and communicative with the fans, so that rather preempts your suggestion that they are only doing it now because of the events of the summer. Or didn't you believe them then either?

Vindicated. There is an accent on the end "e", so...

It isn't pronounced Pell la. There isn't an "a" on the end. As far as I know, it's pronounced Pell le, the le as in left.

Here is a positive thread celebrating the apparent changes to the way that the club is treating us the fans and the ex-players and others associated with the good contributions they played in the club's history and you take the opportunity to have a go at the chairman. You have made up your mind based on very little evidence, that Krueger misled the fans. Those who had faith in the board and those who said that they would wait and see how things would turn out on Sept 1st, (as urged to do so by Krueger), might well have had their doubts, but at least they were prepared to take statements from the board at face value, rather than either levelling childish insults at them, or predicting dire consequences. The board made a statment to the effect that the money raised from the sale of those players would be re-invested in their replacements, so quite why you have an issue about whether they or Koeman should be credited with it, I don't know. No doubt he had his input and influenced players to come here, but then that is how it should be. Krueger has had the humility to have admitted making mistakes and has already said that he and the board have learned from it. It is to be hoped that certain elements on this forum will also have learned a valuable lesson, that jumping to conclusions on the basis of scant evidence is unwise. Statements of opinion are what a forum is all about and opinions have increased validity if based on some factual evidence or precedence that lends them credence. A lot of those "opinions" posted during the summer were ridiculous and many were just plain vile abuse aimed at our owner and the board. Certainly people like that aren't the ones to help foster an image as a family club. Or would you seek to excuse them as being the true fans who really cared?

Cortese had his faults, but they could be overlooked to an extent because of the results that he achieved. He was a single-minded control freak and as you say, that is maybe what we needed at the time. But let us not forget that one major reason that Markus Liebherr was attracted to buy us, (apart from us being a damned good investment opportunity) was because we are a family club with decent values and a respectable reputation. Now that Cortese has left, it is reasonable to accept that although he was so effective in regaining us our place among the Premier League hierarchy, his abrasive nature upset many people, including some who had been good servants of the club's past history. Whereas his principled stance on everybody having to pay admission for their seats was arguably reasonable when it concerned wealthy players and past managers who had previously had freebies, other things he did alienated many who deserved respect and recognition for what they had given the club. There is no reason why the people running our club, or indeed any sort of business, cannot be ambitious and single-minded in their pursuit of their goals, but at the same time respectful and considerate to their staff, players, the club's fans and those who have given something noteworthy to the club's success in the past. A good philosophy is to treat others as you would expect them to treat you. For all that some have castigated our Chairman and other board members, they come across as decent people and are making the right noises towards mending bridges with the likes of Lawrie, MLT, Benali and others. There are no signs that we are a club prepared to accept mediocrity. The appointment of Ronald Koeman and his brother was a signal of our intent, a bit left-field, when we could have appointed a known name from those with PL experience. I take quite a positive view of the events of this summer and the implications for it happening again. We have proved that no player is indispensible. Every player can be replaced with somebody as good, often for less money, provided that you have a good scouting organisation to unearth diamonds. The situation we endured, might actually be beneficial in preventing its re-occurence to such an extent in future. The next batch will see that some of those who departed, will only play bit parts in their new teams, bench-warming or playing in the occasional cup match. They might even be loaned out to a team below us. It increasingly looks as if Schneiderlin is recognising that he is better off with us and that he is beginning to see that the club is showing as much, if not more ambition than he realised, the same sort of ambition that Cortese showed, in fact. Now that the dust has settled and we appear to actually be stronger than we were before all of the summer turmoil, people are beginning to trust the board and their intentions and to appreciate that being recognised as a family club and playing the Southampton way, are aims that should be applauded as an example to others.

I agree that we ought to be capable of a higher position than last season, even with one or two injuries, as we have more depth in our squad. Interesting to make comparisons with where we were at exactly this stage last season, where our stats are much better in terms of goals scored, passes, tackles, etc. Regarding MOTD and their hopeless punditry, the only way that they will highlight our play, is if we beat one of the glory teams and only then to point out what an off day they were having. All that analysis of the shaded areas of the pitch unprotected by defenders, or the circles demonstrating the lack of players attacking the player with the ball, are only there for the top teams. The pundits don't notice it when little ole' Saints do it.

MOTD 2 and all the pundits could say was how poor Newcastle were. Not one single word of praise for how good we were. And then they compounded their ineptitude by going on about how Newcastle couldn't replace half the team and expect them to perform well and that Ashley might be a good businessman, but shouldn't always expect to make a profit on selling players that they have developed. Of course, Newcastle can't do that, but we've showed the footballing world how to do just that and they still can't bring themselves to praise us. They're so thick, particularly Lawrence, that they don't realise the irony of it.