DuncanRG

I should point out that Man Utd can't guarantee Champions League football to anyone right now. Making the World Cup squad is possible at either club. Adam knows that Hodgson is watching him at Southampton - perform for us every week and he's on the plane. If he doesn't get regular playing time at United it won't hurt his chances too much but it won't help him. There's obviously a chance that he'll go but the lure is nothing like it would be to most players, or was to Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain etc. I'd expect another year or two from him if he keeps improving, more if he doesn't.

I'm not surprised, he'd be a great signing for them. He won't be leaving though.

I wonder whether it would have been less insulting to ignore it. We all know Alan Turing was one of thousands to be castrated under that appalling law, and that we should really be apologising to every one of them. But there's another dimension - a royal pardon forgives the concerned party for committing a crime - it does not apologise for the law which created that crime. It implies that all but Turing are still guilty of what was once a legitimate offence.

That would be a phenomenal signing. He was no star at Arsenal but he's become one at Sociedad. Great player.

Agreed - and there's no point speculating either. I wish all the best for the player(s) involved and that whatever their issues are can be resolved soon.

Is it not glaringly obvious that 1. Most keepers peak later than outfield players? 2. Gazzaniga's problems are mostly psychological? Nerves, decision making etc? I'm not saying Gazzaniga will be a good or great keeper - I have no idea either way, but to me dismissing a 21 year-old keeper is like dismissing an 18-year old striker.

I stand corrected - proper brain fart moment. We should remember the teething problems De Gea had though!

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So are the vast majority of football clubs around the world, that's kind of what exceptional means. There really are only a handful of top-flight, first team goalkeepers younger than 24 and you're incredibly lucky if you have one who's up to it. There are none in the Premier League at the moment.

It's really hard to say without knowing who's going to be back from injury and when. I quite fancy a win on Boruc's return against Chelsea and a nice little purple patch as everyone gets back into the groove. Wins against Chelsea and West Brom, draws against Sunderland and Arsenal.

There's a reason very, very few kids that age play top level first team football. The role takes experience and it takes a very special young lad (e.g. Joe Hart) to carry the burden that young.

I'll believe it if I see it.

For anyone saying Cropper can't be worse than Gazzaniga: If you drop Gazzaniga, you'll crush the last traces of confidence he had. Cropper's even younger and will also be jittery - if he makes a mistake then he'll be a bag of nerves as well. Do we really want two young keepers with confidence crises?

Nobody wants to sell their keeper in the middle of the season, I guess. Someone raised the question in another thread and nobody could think of an example

A great year, one of the best in my time supporting the club.

Ask him what skills and attributes the Southampton coaches most value and want to nurture in strikers. And whether that is consistent throughout age groups or even through to the first team.

Exactly. It comes with experience, and that's why you don't get young lads taking on the responsibility in first teams. It's blindingly obvious that Gazzaniga's problems are psychological. That's no consolation for us but, provided he's not permanently damaged by some of his experiences here, his talents will come out sooner or later even if it's for another club.

You can't expect to buy a #1 in January. We need a keeper but I'm more than happy for Boruc to be our first choice for the forseeable future.

I really don't think Clyne's up there with the best in the league either. Zabaleta and Rafael are miles ahead, Sagna's found his form again and Seamus Coleman probably pips him too. Plenty more to come from our Nathaniel though

This is just another sign of the incredible journey we've made. Today we're asking what's eating Rickie, three years ago we were asking what Rickie's eating.

Jos Hooiveld was one of our best players in our promotion season from the Championship and Danny Fox has played a big part as well. They have both helped to rebuild the reputation of our shirt. Paulo Gazzaniga has an entire career ahead of him in which all kinds of things may happen.

Do we really want him playing if he's got to keep his fingers crossed?

Not the worst, not the best from where I was in Kingsland North. But I was disappointed to hear people chanting Fonte's name when Hooiveld and Lovren were still on the pitch and desperately lacking in confidence. That doesn't do anyone any good

Are you Nabil Bentaleb?

Didn't he get a kick to the ankles at one point?