DuncanRG

Do we know where Yoshida was? Fonte deserved his place but I was expecting to see Maya on the bench. Unfit, Hooiveld preferred tactically?

Agreed, man of the match. If he toughens up with age then we might have the real deal on our hands.

I didn't understand the bile for the ref - I was the wrong end for some of the decisions (O'Shea/Osvaldo headlock?) but he mostly looked okay to me. Most blatant error I could see he made was when Fonte dived in our box and got a free kick for it

Credit to Sunderland - they were very good. Altidore was a handful, the new centre half was rock solid and Giaccherini looks a good talent. When the away team scores that early they're always gonna become tough to break down, and they were disciplined enough to hold fast. We managed to make enough chances to win the game, so it's disappointing not to get it but they earned a draw. Brilliant change at half time - brave to take off Schneiderlin for a striker but it gave us that bit of life we needed, and that was mostly down to Ward-Prowse. I thought he was man of the match by a country mile today; always working, composed under pressure, great deliveries into the box when our play was losing momentum and when he was asked to drop back next to Wanyama he stayed solid without losing his attacking threat. Lovren, Wanyama and Lallana were also very good, and Osvaldo seemed lively. Off day for Rodriguez and Lambert, who should have buried one or two of those chances between them.

Lovely interview about loyalty, youth and the new signings. http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2013/08/24/4205473/lallana-forget-bale-walcott-im-happy-being-the-next-le?ICID=HP_BN_8

Had a late change of heart. I'm changing camp to (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.

Why does everyone act like Hodgson needs an 'excuse' to drop someone? He's the manager.

It's been going on for well over a decade now. It's not as much about young players proving themselves as actually being able to realise their potential. You have to be playing competitive first team football to reach your best.

Sturridge and Welbeck both look to be in very good form as well. He's in with a shout but if he doesn't make it I wouldn't see it as an injustice unless a clearly injured/out-of-form Carroll gets picked instead.

Sarcasm detectors being put through their paces in this thread. I pity anyone who actually sees this as a bad thing. Always do my best to engage people yelling bigoted crap at games.

What about Robin Van Persie unsettling Rooney at Man United?

On a related note, do you think we'll ever break from the football league template and have a bespoke website designed?

It's a secondary one for fans to submit pictures when they're off to games and the like. Used it last year as well.

Immediate reaction is far from positive - just me that kind of likes the idea? When everyone talks about clubs not listening to fans...

His name is Memphis? If he signs I'm sure we can roll him into a rock n roll chant for Osvaldo...

No direct quote saying as much, but the BBC say Pochettino hinted in the print conference that James Ward-Prowse would be the main beneficiary of Puncheon's departure. Might see him playing on the right more frequently this season.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23798142

Maybe they tried but couldn't get anywhere because they kept asking for 'Malumbo'!

On Lambert and Osvaldo being too similar to play together: "I don't think they're that similar in their traits. I think they could find it very easy to play together, but we'll be gauging that as the season unfolds - the Premiership is a very tough competition and there are two cup competitions as well. Then you also have to think that all great players know how to get along on the pitch and know how to play well together, regardless of the characteristics they have." "Rickie has shown time and time again that he is a very intelligent footballer, that he welcomes the competition and that he welcomes the fact that Osvaldo is here because it's gonna make him raise his game. You're completely right, he welcomes his arrival."

Little bit of the rose-tinted glasses here. Clyne is solid but Rafael is exceptionally good. He and Zabaleta are way ahead of the pack.

I really can't imagine we'd have let him go unless someone else was ready to come in.

Sorry, I read it as 2 or 3 rather than two thirds. Duh!

Huh? He started almost every game under Adkins and a handful under Poch as well

Manchester City and Swansea City. The latter in particular have even more to boast about than we do with regards to ownership. Besides that, probably not many in England.

Either, both or neither - there are a variety of reliable sources who can pass on this information, as we've seen from folks like Monk on here. Agents, coaches, clubs, players themselves. Sometimes buying clubs leak these things intentionally to try and unsettle a player or turn his head. Sometimes selling clubs leak information (even false information) to try and advertise a player's availability or push the price up, though that obviously isn't the case here. At no point does it suggest that we have any intent to sell him. It categorically says that we don't need to sell. All this article does, in fairly simple terms, is reports United's interest in Shaw, quotes a figure and then goes on to talk about the Baines/Fellaini story which is far more fleshed out at the moment as an official bid has been made and there are quotes from those involved. What's the problem? It may seem a pointless bit of news to us as Southampton fans but Man Utd fans will want to know what their manager is up to! Might I remind you also that it is not the job of reporters to express their own opinions on their subject.