SaintTex

I keep wondering who is this mythical striker we missed getting? No one ever mentions names. It's always this vague platitude that the club/board "lacked ambition". Who was out there for the taking? Ready to make the move at a price that made even close to sense? I am ok with dropping Pelle a game or two, and try something different. But what quality striker moves occurred in the EPL this January by any club?

1 goal in 5 matches. not good.

I feel like we taken more shots at the goal, however, they all have flown 20 feet above the crossbar though. It like watching a U12 game.

I feel very fortunate that when I organise sex parties I don't have a grumpy manager looking over my shoulder.

looks like we have the easiest path compared to our competition. Obviously, 6 points in the next 2 matches is required to stay in the race. The weekend we play Chelsea our competition either plays each other or plays Top 10 teams. (so we even if we lose to Chelsea, there is a chance our competition won't make huge gains. Swansea vs Liverpool United vs Tottenham Arsenal vs West Ham

------------------Forster ---------------- Clyne--Fonte--Alderweireld--Bertrand -----Wanyama ------Schneiderlin------ ----------------Djuricic------------------ Mane ---------- Pelle -------------Tadic 01) against West Brom you go with 4 defensive backs... but Clyne and Bertand can still be aggressive defensive wingers effective offensively on the wings. I think you burn an offensive player you need up front, if you play 3 DF (alderweireld, fonte, yoshida) and also have Bertrand and Clyne on the pitch. 02) the no-brainer Wanyama and Schneiderlin pairing as DMs 02) you put Djuricic as CAM, let him facilitate/distribute to Mane, Pelle, and Tadic. 03) you put Tadic on the left, where he played his best football with us. (Tadic and Bertrand play off each other on the left, Clyne and Mane play off each other on the right) 04) at the front 3 forward positions Mane, Pelle and Tadic can be switched with Long and Elia or any combination as the game situation warrants. Maybe the front 3 at some point is: Elia--Mane--Tadic or Elia--Long--Mane or Elia--Pelle--Tadic 05) Reed or Davis can relieve Schneiderlin or Wanyama as required. 06) I hesitate to suggest JWP could be flipped easily with Djuricic, but JWP has shown a nice touch on through ball passes and his set piece ability is the best we got. He just needs to be more aggressive and assert himself. anyway, just a few thoughts.

I could see Toby, Nathan and Morgan.. If JayRod doesn't see the pitch this season, what do you think he is realistically worth to other teams? Without seeing him play for over a year, he is a huge risk, too many unknowns. I think he stays. He is going to have to show that he still has value and the only way he can do that is play. I know there were rumours last summer, but Fonte seems like a lifer to me. I think by most accounts he has exceed his career expectations. He is the captain of a damn good EPL team right now. I don't see him going. He seems pretty content.

not to be negative, but I thought that was what he was doing during the 10 days leading up to the Liverpool game.

Do you think this looks realistic? West Brom (A) - W Crystal Palace (H) - W Chelsea (A) - L Burnley (H) - W Everton (A) - D Hull (H) - W Stoke (A) - D Tottenham (H) - D Sunderland (A)- D Leicester (A) - W Aston Villa (H) - W Man City (A) - L 6-4-2? Finishing with that record gives us a 51% chance of finishing 4th, according to this website. http://www.sportsclubstats.com/England/Southampton.html or how about this? plausible? West Brom (A) - W Crystal Palace (H) - W Chelsea (A) - L Burnley (H) - W Everton (A) - D Hull (H) - W Stoke (A) - D Tottenham (H) - D Sunderland (A)- W Leicester (A) - W Aston Villa (H) - W Man City (A) - L 7-3-2? that gives us a 78% chance of being in 4th place or how about this? West Brom (A) - W Crystal Palace (H) - W Chelsea (A) - L Burnley (H) - W Everton (A) - D Hull (H) - W Stoke (A) - D Tottenham (H) - L Sunderland (A)- W Leicester (A) - W Aston Villa (H) - W Man City (A) - L 7-2-3? gives us a 64% chance of being in 4th. I am trying to remain optimistic. We are not in great form right now, but we get everyone back from injury and suspension, all of those results seem plausible, considering our season so far.

Yes, Djuricic could have stayed up, but Can's hand was on his left shoulder pulling him back while in the Penalty Box. Kane went down with less yesterday and was rewarded. I think Can took a calculated risk there and thought the referee wouldn't call a penalty in the first minute of the game. I hate that this is what it comes down to, but Djuricic was right to go down. Was more blatant. Allen never even touched the ball and denied Djuricic what might have been a pretty easy scoring opportunity. Could have easily been a red. Mignolet's call was tougher. I don't buy the "hit his chest first argument". He was clearly trying to stop the ball with his hands. However, the linesman wasn't able to get back quickly enough to get a good enough angle to determine Mignolet's position in the box. Replays show he was out barely, but that is with the benefit of the replay. Lovren's handball gets called sometimes, sometimes not. As much as I hate Lovren, it wasn't intentional in my estimation. Even then sometimes it gets called. This time it didn't.

All true. If you want to remain optimistic, and I do, this is where we need to focus. 12 matches left.. only 3 of those are Top 9 clubs (Chelsea, Tottenham and Man City) So, for the sake of argument, win the games you are supposed to win! ---- win 9 | lose 3 : 27 points + 46 points = 73 points at the end of season. with a healthy defense/midfield it is achievable. forces Tottenham to get 30 points out of as possible 36 points (they play 4 teams in the top 9, have Europa and a League Cup title match to play) forces Liverpool to get 29 points out of a possible 36 points (they play 5 teams in the top 9, have Europa and FA Cup matches to play) forces Manu to get 25 points out of a possible 36 points (they play 5 teams in the top 9, have FA Cup matches to play) It's a tall task, but that it what it is going to have to take. We have the easiest path compared to our competitors for the 4th spot. One game at a time - beat the team in front of you and the rest takes care of itself. -- yeah yeah, you all can have some of what I am smoking.

http://www.espnfc.us/barclays-premier-league/story/2312709/liverpools-rodgers-accuses-southampton-of-disrespecting-lallanalambert my hate for Liverpool and Rodgers grows and grows and grows. So condescending.

Sherwood pulled a Pochettino on Pochettino. Boom!

a bit snarky, but who could argue with the points made? http://www.espnfc.com/blog/espn-fc-united-blog/68/post/2305220/liverpools-trio-of-disappointing-former-southampton-stars-make-their-return-to-st-marys-stadium

threads like this are more likely when we have 11 days between matches.

Yep, while Yoshida has done all that he has been asked defensively on the left, we really miss the offensive threat and creativity that Bertrand can provides in the LB role. Don't take this as an insult to Yoshida. He has exceed my expectations this season and been an outstanding team player.

This. Often, the tiniest of deflections finds a not so good shot on goal in the back of the net. Take the shot; something good might happen.

yeah, we need to re-group, get healthy, and figure out who best needs to fit where. 10 days of light training will do us wonders. What is amazing is the defence is stout no matter what makeshift line-up we have back there. Also, a few thoughts on what we are missing. I know this sounds odd, but with Alderwiereld, Bertrand, Wanyama, and Schneiderlin not being on the pitch at the same time, we are limited to what we can do wide offensively. We really need our RB and LB up the field, we have been missing that, due to injury and suspension. at the same time, we really need to figure out what we need to do up front. There is talent there, but right now the players up front are just not working with each other - Pelle, Mane, Elia, Long, Tadic, JWP, Davis, Djuricic. We need to find a combination that works and soon.

they still have two more matches to foul up their confidence. We'll be resting.

I find it interesting that the two players who have played in all or nearly all minutes in league play for us are the ones that get the most criticism. You know there are reasons we currently stand in 3rd place. Those two have been on the pitch for all of it. Pelle is 17th in league in minutes played. Raheem Stirling, who famously needed a break from being overworked, is 43rd.

I got curious... so I looked it up Southampton scored 55 goals last season (2013-14) under Poch. Of those goals last season (2013-14), how many were by players that have played at least one match this season (2014-15)? 8 goals. a whopping 84% of our goals scored last year are by players now on other teams or are injured and have not played this year. That's incredible.

looking at the remaining matches..once we get past Liverpool, we have 12 matches left. top half teams to play: 4 bottom half teams to play: 8 be awesome to get at least 4 points from West Ham and Liverpool and still be sitting most likely in the Top 4 with that 12 match schedule left.

they were both playing so deep that our left back, who isn't a left back, was the one to deliver the pass that led to the winning shot. maybe it's partly by design, I don't know. It's hard to argue with our defensive success this season, a deep sitting midfield is definitely a component of that success. It must frustrate the hell out of Pelle though. At this point, his opportunities are going to mostly come on balls off the goalkeeper or the post and/or crosses deep from either side. (all around the 6 yard box). Anything in the middle beyond that, he is going to have to create all on his own. Plus, we all know a reliable second striker would be useful. Pelle has played A LOT of minutes. He has got to be knackered. I looked it up. Pelle is 10th amongst all players in minutes played in the League. In fact, of the Top 25 players with the most minutes, 23 are DBs or GKs. the other two non DBs or GKs in the Top 25? ... Pelle at 10th and Hazard at 12th. I don't think it should be much of a surprise that his goal scoring has dipped as his minutes have piled up. would a lineup like this be affective the Wednesday to give Pelle a rest? Or maybe for the second half? Bring Tadic on for Pelle. --------------Forster-------------- Clyne --Fonte-- Gardos-- Yoshida ----Schneiderlin-- Wanyama----- Tadic--------Davis------------ Elia --------------Mane----------------- Or is the 10 day rest after West Ham before Liverpool better served?

It doesn't matter tall he is.. the had the ball in his hands and the QPR player jumped into Forster's body and jarred it out. That is a foul every time. Forster would have dropped it had there been no contact? I don't think so.

we need a 88' goal, a la Tottenham.