SaintTex

Silver lining? The players above will not be getting injured this weekend while playing Crystal Palace.

This. Every game in which points are dropped are going to be magnified. Arsenal, Man U, West Ham, Liverpool, Tottenham all won this week. The 3 points against Newcastle Saturday was huge. I can understand losing a match to the likes of those team (bolded above) in the coming weeks, but from this point until the end of the season, we need to secure 3 points against every team currently at 9th place and below. Those are games we certainly will be favoured in. That is 11 wins (33 points) and then it doesn't matter how we do in the remaining games. Let's look at those 11 games I am talking about: 09 Swansea (H) 10 Stoke (A) 12 CP (H) 13 Everton (A) 14 Villa (H) 15 W. Brom (A) 16 Sunderland (A) 17 Burnley (H) 18 Hull (H) 19 QPR (A) 20 Leicester (A) Those matches can and should, with the way we are playing and the squad we have, all be 3 points. 42 + 33 (11 wins) = 75 (certainly Top 4) Hell, call the Everton (A) and Stoke (A) games losses.. that is still 42 + 27 (9 wins) = 69 (probably top 4) But all this is BS. The motto for the team should be "win the next game"

His celebration on the 2nd goal was Ronaldoesque for sure. I loved the hug with RK after the first goal. Seemed genuine and heartfelt. I am sucker for that kind of sentimentality. He seems so grateful for the opportunity. It sounds like he wants to seize it. That post match interview nearly put tears in my eyes.

i think this is the crux of the matter. Boruc certainly didn't want to sit on the bench all season. I figure most clubs our size struggle with this. Very few clubs can afford and attract true quality backup goalkeepers, a la Man U with De Gea and Valdez or Chelsea with Courtois and Cech.

a reminder of what we have been missing this season. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zmw2ybsYEEM it's incredible that we are in 3rd place.

I find it difficult to understand how Koeman or anyone else can say with certainty that he is out 4 to 5 weeks. The medical staff got him accessed and diagnosed, developed a treatment plan and then determined a treatment length all in roughly an hour?

If we have CL ambitions, 3 points is all that is acceptable against a very average team with an interim manager. We cannot be dropping points to the likes of Newcastle and hope to be Top 4 at the end of the year. If we draw or lose, is it all over? No, but these are matches you need to take all 3 points in order to keep the wolves (ManU, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool) at bay.

I assume 10 points from a possible 12 is acceptable.

I am going with 4th place. It might be my American perspective, but to me 4th place seems like a more impressive feat than winning the FA Cup! Trophy or not. Secondly, a 4th place finish also shows quality world class players that what we have accomplished is not a fluke and we are a team worthy to join. No one thought Hull was an upper echelon team because they played at Wimbley last year.

Liverpool has their midweek Europa League games against Besiktas before and after playing us. Will be curious to see what the path they focus on to get to Europe next year --- EPL top 4 or Europa League Champions?

two more observations: That looks like the entire starting 11 and the 7 on the bench, if you switch out Gazzaniga for Forster. They must have put Forster down below with the luggage. Has Fonte adopted the Pelle doo? Fonte's part has become very defined.

Toby is at least not reclined and laid up. Hell, he even got up out of his seat for the pic. Good sign. or am I reading too much into a picture?

These charts always fascinate me. if we just go 6-6-6 the rest of the way, we have roughly a 50% chance to finish Top 6. if we go 9-3-6 the rest of the way, we have a 56.8% chance to finish Top 4.

you know.. for all the love Lloris gets, Tottenham have allowed 29 goals this season. It's amazing to think we have only allowed 1/2 that.

right? 01) 20 games played. Of our 6 losses only 1 opponent beat us by more than a 1 goal margin and that was against City. 02) 20 games played. No one has scored 4 on us. And only one team has scored 3. Again City. 03) 20 games played. Only 3 games where a team scored more than 1 goal against us - City (3), Man U (2) and Liverpool (2). 03) 20 games played. 15 goals allowed. Man U is going to put up 30% of our season goals allowed total in one game? is it possible they put up 4? Sure, but extremely unlikely.

nothing more exciting than the debut of a shiny, new player for your team. I am filled with hope, dreams, and wild fantasies.

I hope it was a veiled "words to that effect". I understand the realities, but I don't like hearing it verbally expressed by the club. It just reinforces the idea that we are not worthy of world class players.

I am continually torn on JWP's place on this team. I like him, no question about that. He is the best we got, by far, for set pieces. 2nd best isn't even close. So, you want him out there. but on the other hand, with our current roster, he doesn't quite have the quality to be a no-brainer first team starter; no matter who we play or what formation we use. Maybe with time or roster attrition, but right now it is a puzzler.

I don't care who deserved what or whether a pass should have been made; you don't act out like that on the pitch to a fellow teammate. Leave it for the locker room or for the manager to address. I know I wouldn't want a teammate in my face if I made a wrong choice on the pitch. I especially don't want him in my face publically on the pitch during the match. there is a reason why Osvaldo can't manage to stick with a club more than a year or two. It's a team game, and Osvlado can't seem to get that through his tiny head.

This is pretty much my path as well. When EPL discussions crop up amongst friends and collegues, I always get a puzzled look when I mention I support and follow Southampton. Everyone's heard of Chelsea, City. United, Arsenal, Liverpool, so inevitably the next question that comes out of their mouths is: "why?" It's difficult to explain without coming off a little precious and/or snobby, but I muddle through it. I tend to not follow the heard and never been a bandwagoner. If I had an hour, I would show them the 1hr video, as that pretty much explains it all. And while I imagine it could convert someone looking for a club to support, I can also see the argument that it has a certain smugness about it. ie: we are doing it the "right way" kind of thing.

http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/dani-osvaldo-tried-to-fight-inter-team-mate-mauri-icardi-at-end-of-juventus-draw/ Let's not.

Look, we played every team in the league (like everyone else) and we are 4th. I don't understand the slagging us for our 4 straight losses in late Nov/early Dec (or maybe I do, it's just being lazy). If our 6 losses had been spread out, I don't think there would be the criticism.

The other silver lining is that after the Newcastle match, they'll have a 15 day rest. Knowing they got that rest coming, they should be able to put forth maximum effort into Newcastle. look at it this way, it's Jan 5th... we only play three games from now until Feb 1st.

It didn't really work out last time we spent the whole week away.

Not smart to pile on the smallest guy on the pitch.