DuncanRG

We're not going to be relegated, but for argument's sake I'll take the question. Most teams go down with squads on more than £20,000 and only lose their star players. That would be a bit different in our case as we have a lot of great players (too many to go down!) but we wouldn't lose the entire squad. West Ham kept plenty of decent players when they went down - and plenty of them are actually still there now.

It's so sad to see people dismissing this game as irrelevant after the excitement in the cups over the last two seasons. Are we really less likely to get to the latter stages than Reading or Aston Villa, who both made it to Wembley last season? Cup runs are great and liven up a midtable league campaign, which is what we're on course for at the moment. Let's hope the team don't take the same attitude as some of you lot.

Yeah, he's bloody enormous.

For what it's worth, I saw James Ward-Prowse and Fraser Forster walking out of Smiths in Winchester today.

They had travelled to Norwich the night before.

I'm not sure I follow. Delay what?

Cheer, obviously.

I don't even expect fans on message boards to say that. That's how daft it is.

They don't, but their job is to take a far longer view than that.

Indeed - but it's the losses that are a crucial part of that. There's less talk at the moment of holding onto players like Wanyama and Manè and I wasn't really considering that as I don't expect us to sell anyone in this window. Did you read Steven Davis in The Times today?

It would have to be stupid, stupid, stupid money, in the same way you might be convinced to sell Davis for £25m. It'll be hard enough to replace Manè in summer when you've got a preseason and all the rest of it. The damage selling midseason would do to the team psychologically and in losing the player himself is not worth any amount of money we could realistically get. The same applies to a lesser extent with Wanyama. You're right that it needs sorting lest problems spread, but we're not at that point yet. It's man management time.

Pelle will get into double figures so long as he recovers from injury, no problem, but 10 goals wouldn't be a very good return. Only a handful of clubs have in form strikers at any one time. Plenty of our rivals will have 'wanted a Pelle' at times as we now want an Ighalo or Vardy. If a suitable signing presents itself I hope we get them. Otherwise, I think we've got a good first choice, a good backup and hard luck with Jay Rodriguez who could well be better than either.

Koeman knows far more than we ever will how disruptive he is. Given his reaction today, I think it's quite obvious that if he had a track record of disruption he'd not be anywhere near the team. I'd also argue that in his two full seasons here, taken together, he was our best and most consistent player. He's been off it this year and needs shifting if he and the club don't work things out but selling him now would be cutting off your nose to spite your face* *Unless, of course, his attitude gets worse and does start disrupting others. You'd have to be incredibly thick to sell Mane.

Agreed, something not quite right there. I do also wonder whether the defence feel less confident with Stekelenburg behind them rather than Forster or Boruc, who I remember was particularly commanding. Perhaps other players feel the same without the Schneiderlin/Wanyama combo?

Not sure people as sensible as that lot would hold a meeting in a pub. If they were there (and I'd expect someone to take a picture), I'd imagine they were just socialising.

How anyone can contest this is beyond me. Calls to spend money are often dreamed up lazily because people can't imagine the same players performing differently. It's less rare to accuse people who have spent money of not doing so. Spending it wisely is the issue and that can't always be judged immediately. See Vardy, or Arnautovic at Stoke, for players who looked no great shakes for a long time, improved and look like inspired signings. I personally believe Jordy Clasie, for one, has been good and shown signs he will be even better. In fairness to Koeman he's making noise around the January window, which we don't normally do much in.

A shame he's got so much else to talk about as he's one player I'd love to see discuss Saints at length. Top man.

Where's Astori when you need him?

Ouch. Well, I'm sure that was an alarm bell but not necessarily a reason not to sign a player. I'm sure Man Utd agree.

Could only listen to bits of the game on Solent but it sounded like another case of failing to take chances, losing grip after a dominant period and the added problem of the red card. Is that about right?

Why does it have to be one or the other? Besides, the so-called black box is a tool used by people at the club, not some kind of autonomous being that churns out names. If one or other of the Koemans suggested Martina to begin with, he will have been through the same researching and scouting process as everyone else the club monitors. It's hardly shrouded in mystery. The only examples I can see where people might struggle to join the dots is with the two expensive flops from Italy. And the club's first choice new right back became unavailable, as Reed (I think it was Reed) said in an interview.

In fairness, you can only do so much to predict how someone will react when big clubs start circling. Even great professionals like Schneiderlin (and Luka Modric, to use another club's example) have lost their cool. I wouldn't criticise Wanyama's temperament at all. This Manè business doesn't look good at all though. Not good enough if the thought of a transfer has got to him. Am I right in saying he was a bit rude to Salzburg when he got his move here?

Yup. We're in relegation form and it needs sorting pronto, but we're not in a battle yet. Two more rounds of results not going our way and we're there, though.

I highly, highly doubt it.

We're at the same crossroads we have been perpetually facing for the past five years - can we build on our success or not? Could we get to the Championship, get out of the Championship, stay in the Premier League, break into the top half, break into Europe? The answer has always been yes. That bears repeating, not because it's likely to happen again but because it shows that, especially when done over a sustained period, the people at the top of the club know what they're doing. Fans have said the same things about them for years and have largely been wrong. The big strategic decisions come this summer, when the new TV money is about to drop. I'm sure the top brass are preparing and giving the team's short-term form the credence it commands. I'm equally sure Koeman's comments about ambition are part of the long negotiation over a possible contract extension - and should be taken as that. He'll have expressed many other thoughts in private, positive and negative. Honest as he seems in the press he doesn't say things for no reason. As for the importance of the January transfer window - nothing compares to good physical and mental coaching, which will be needed to turn around this form whether we sign no players or five.