Brave Sir Robin

I think Wanyama should be told if he wants to move to a bigger club then bloody well get out there and show you're good enough. That's what Morgan did.

Celtic have said all along that he's not for sale to be fair

When we think we'll win, he thinks we'll lose, when we think we'll lose, he thinks we'll win. At least he's consistent!

What's ridiculous about that? I'd far rather be at the bottom of the prem, but 5 points off 4th place Man U, than 6th in league 2, 6 points behind Leyton Orient! Surely nobody actually buys into the hype you hear from new signings? "This is a big club, lots of history, going places". The reality is Southampton are a small club with 2 trophies in living memory, but a grand tradition of punching above their weight, and staying in the premier league is doing just that. The other aspect of being a Saints fan that makes it so much fun is being in a position to lord it over our rivals. Sorry, but that's the DNA of the club. If you find it ridiculous, go and support Chelsea!

I think we've been spoilt by the last few years. Particularly last year. All the way through the 90's we always started the season poorly, but never really believed it'd end with relegation, then were jubilant when our defiance against the press who always referred to "struggling Southampton" was rewarded with narrowly beating the drop in the last few weeks. All I ask is that we stay in the premier league. Personally, I don't think it's going to be easy with this squad, but anything above 18th place and I'll be happy. Talk of Champions League in x years now just looks bonkers. We had our moment in the sun, we loved every moment, now it's back to reality. ...and Pompey are still far worse off by the way.

Fully expecting them to thrash us at least 3-0 right now to be honest!

I'm not sure if you're trying to convince us or yourself! Good effort, but we're in crisis. Only positive is that it's early days yet.

My guess would be that Ronald's witnessed in training that this current bunch of players just dont have the ability to play our "usual" game right now. I reckon he had no confidence in our ability to create chances and score, so opted to set the team up to at least try not to concede and hope for a flukey goal. Did the same at Watford. Does not bode well for the season ahead at all.

Completely agree. Got right behind the team and made plenty of noise. Fully deserve to be offered a refund by the club imo.

I really think we should stop kidding ourselves that this guy is going to be interested in coming to Saints, when he knows other premier league teams are interested. Lets be honest. The only team looking to have worse problems than us right now is Sunderland.

It's the performance that's the most worrying thing. I've stayed positive so far this season, but we are clearly in trouble. If we dont hold on to Mane and Wanyama, and fail to sign at least another CB, I think a relegation battle is quite likely. Even if that doesn't happen, RK has really got his work cut out to turn this lot back into a competitive premier league team.

Risky, unless we've dramatically improved at not giving the ball away cheaply in the last few days. I reckon our best chance is if we get a free kick in a spot that suits JWP. Otherwise we're looking at a goalless draw.

They sign for us with the expectation that they'll catch the eye of a big club. It's like asking how can you keep the passengers on a train when it reaches it's destination!

Stones has handed in a transfer request. We're refusing to sell Wanyama and Mane, just as we refused to sell Morgan last year.

Nothing to moan about really. We're getting better with every game. We'll win the next two.

Some proper crazy talk on here today! OK we haven't had the best of starts (an old Saints tradition for those with short memories), but we're still way better than Watford. A nailed on comfortable win. I'm going for 3-1.

Makes me smile tbh. Spurs are still ****e at defending, so they've decided the key to our success last season wasn't Toby after all, but Wanyama! They and Vic are just making tits of themselves. We wont sell him this season.

We had no problem playing 2 games a week in league 1 and the championship. I'm not sure I buy the argument that Europe tires out English teams, I think it's more likely that they struggle with playing wildly differing styles of football in alternate games. We tried 2 styles in one game last night, so it at least looks like RK is determined to instill adaptivity into our squad. Back on topic though. I think they'll either try to park the bus and fail at it, as it's just not them, or they'll play to their strengths and go all out attack, in which case Wanyama and Mane in particular will tear them apart. I'm going for a 3-1 victory for Saints.

+1 Excellent post

I think it's just work in progress, and without talking at length to the coaching staff and spending time watching the players training at Staplewood, anyone assessing our squads potential strengths and weaknesses at this early stage is clutching at straws.

You seen their record at home? They'll time waste there too cos they're experienced enough in Europe to know that's how to frustrate us and control the tempo, particularly against English teams. They'll go all out for a clean sheet and I think they'll get it.

Bit suprised at the reaction on here from some. Thought we played ok, very unlucky to have Caulker's goal disallowed, they were very organised, good at pressing and tracking back. Draw was a fair result. I don't think we've got a hope of beating them next week, so that's probably Europe over for another few years for us, but we are showing signs of improvement and surely have at least one more signing on the way, so we'll be ok in the league (10th would be my guess).

Now if I were a typical sports journalist and that was a quote from a "source close to the club", I'd now run a story about how Koeman is rumoured to be leaving Saints and taking Pelle with him. That's how it works. Seriously guys, if it looks like bullcarp, it more than likely is

Apart from the only reason that really matters to any professional footballer - more money. Roll on September is all I can say.

He said "The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain. How now brown cow? How positively delightful. Would you care for some more tea vicar? And might I recommend one of Mrs. Reeds exceptional cheese scones?"