Weston Saint

Concussion is the symptom of a minor brain injury. It may mask a more serious brain injury hence the period of rest. I appreciate he has had a brain scan and been given the all clear but as he has a headache today and Koeman has already said the health of the players are more important than points it is very unlikely he will be available for West Ham but will be ok for Liverpool. I am not medically trained but have dealt with many brain injury compensations and read numerous reports from the brain injury experts.

He has a groin injury and out for a few weeks. Was with his Dad last night and he should be back for the Saints game.

I think you should look again and then decide who is rewriting history! He only scored 5 league goals in his first season (35 appearances) 0 goals second injury hit season (18 )

Ok I will keep my mouth shut in future. Geez!!!

A friend of mine who is a referee says it was a penalty. Fonte's arm was not in that position when the ball was kicked so his interpretation was that it was hand to ball not the other way. We were lucky to get away with it but swings and roundabouts.

Seems he is forgetting we had as many shots, 10, as United and only 1, ours, was on target. How is that defensive!

Chelsea and Man City.....were coming for you

Forster – Has made some mistakes but his kicking is excellent. Good first half 7/10 Clyne – Has improved further this season and is now the best English right back (wing back) and deservedly now an England international 8/10 Fonte – Another who has improved with the added responsibility of team Captain. Another who has been rewarded with an International cap 8/10 Alderweireld – Undoubted class player with great poise, cool head and great reader of the game. 9/10 Yoshida – Prone to the odd mistake when on the ball but good defender and can bring the ball out and can pass well. 7/10 Gardos – Disappointed with him. Well able to defend high balls but lacks the confidence/ability to bring the ball out or find the right pass. Now number 4 choice but not a disaster if he is called into action. 5/10 Bertrand – Has developed into a very good left back (wing back). One of a myriad of successes this season. We have certainly not missed Shaw! 8/10 Schneiderlin – Undoubted talent and first on the team sheet. His form and work rate has not diminished and good to see him now recognised internationally by his Country. 7/10 Wanyama – Has stepped up to the mark and has immense strength and presence in front of the defence. 8/10 Cork – Injuries have kept him out for a while so I am rating him on his performances in the side. Tidy creative and now scoring goals. 7/10 Tadic – Great start to his Saints career but tailed off in recent games although he looked back to some form again Arsenal. That drop in form means 7/10 Davis – Busy midfielder always available for a pass and can create. Lacking goals which again means 7/10 James Ward Prowse – Similar to Davis at present and needs to be more creative. Good dead ball deliveries. Still young and an undoubted talent 7/10 Long – I like him as he produces something different. Like a wasp round the opposition defence and an integral part of the squad 6/10 Mane – Started well, fell away but now playing in his best position, quick and scoring goals. 7/10 Pelle – First couple of games he lacked everything but having acclimatised himself to premier football he has proved to be excellent and another rewarded with international honours. 8/10 I have not rated players who have yet to make a regular impact but I am impressed with Reed and can see him being our next star player. Targett has not disappointed but a little inexperienced at present. So for me player of the half season is Alderweireld

Gordon Simpson ‏@gordonsimpson 6 mins6 minutes ago Asked about Steven Gerrard, Koeman smiles and says if he wants to continue playing in England after this season he can come to #saintsfc

West Stand AKA Eric on BBC News now.

3 centre backs as against Everton. Maine plays behind Pelle because we are away and he offers more pace.

No there was not. I have spoken to Mike Richards, Director at the time of purchase, on this and he insists there was no link to Arsenal in any way or form.

Ah thought straight red was 3 but it was a professional foul you are right.

Excellent win, excellent tactics and Harrison Reed just shaded it for me as MOM closely followed by Long. One down side.....Fonte misses Crystal Palace after collecting his 5th booking. Down to 2 centre backs now.

The more I listen to Koeman the more I think we have one of the best Managers we have ever had. He tells it how it is. Straight forward, no excuses whilst still exuding optimism yet not forgetting reality. Big disappointment today. We had been getting great results until recent. Not fighting above our weight as the teams we have been beating are ones we should beat. Today though was a bad one result wise. Not the end of the world and plenty of the season left. Still think we will finish it the top 8.

City came here full of respect for Saints and played like champions. Every time in midfield when we had the ball they had a couple of players to take it away. We seemed to stand off them. Plenty of our players had off games particularly Tadic who did not have a clue how to cross a ball! I personally thought Wanyama had a good game. The three goals - Clyne should have tackled, it was clear he would be beaten for speed and he was. Davis sleep for the second and had the ball taken from his feet. As he went off soon after I am assuming he was suffering from his injury or just knackered. The third was the worse. Tadic crossing behind everyone and the break and goal was the sad result. Very disappointed because it shows we are not quite there yet. But overall a great season so far.

This explains a lot. I am aware you have very good sources and a good track record.

Levy has seen what Pochettino can deliver in the Premier with Saints. That is why he bought him in. He is foreigner with proven Premier experience. Spurs are not performing because they have the wrong players who just do not fit the high tempo game he wants. Levy has now gone for Mitchell to find those players. I said all along that Pothettino would struggle at Spurs if the players did not immediately buy into his way. When he came to Saints he had a ready made team who were bonded and played together for long time. That bond and experience is not at Spurs at the moment. Credit to our previous Managers for our position and he was an upgrade then even if he lacked a plan B. He will need time at Spurs and Mitchell may give him that time. Levy has to stop sacking sometime, surely!

When you lose a head of a department who is highly respected and effective it is always going to be a blow but he has been head hunted by Spurs who see themselves as a bigger club faltering at present because they have got the infrastructure wrong for so long now. We do not know what Mitchell was earning at Saints but it is well know that "backroom" staff are not well paid. I am sure Spurs will have offered him a large increase over his wages at Saints who maybe were unable to match for fear of triggering a wage war among the other departments. Perhaps Saints or he (or both) felt he had achieved his objectives and with all that is now in place including technology it was time for a new challenge (Mitchell) or a man/woman with different qualities (Saints). Maybe Mitchell felt he could no longer work within the constraints of the job or the people above him. It seems in going to Spurs he will not have to report to the Director of Football as he does now. The fact is we just do not know his reasons for going or Saints "reluctance" to convince him to stay. Suffice to say, he appears to have done a fine job at Saints and I for one wish him well in his new job.

Agree, better development path.

Cannot disagree with that.

Lallana having a decent game although his crossing is not great. Clyne having a good game and could well be a long term fixture Sterling is just not ready to play at this level in my opinion Not bad from England at present but they need a goal to cement there dominance.

Goal line technology at its finest. 1-1

I do not get all this blaming Lowe. The previous guys spent too much without a return and even though Crouch came to the rescue for a while it was too late. They gambled with our future and lost! Lowe came back in to see if he could rescue but there was no money to pay for a decent Manager like Pearson. That is why we went down the cheap route. Even then it was too late. If we had not been in the financial mess I am confident Pearson would have been engaged for a longer spell. However that is in the past. The present is beyond our wildest dreams from those dark days.

Has a nice chat with him and separately Gordon Watson on Saturday. Whilst he was at Accrington he paid one of the Inland Revenue bills because the club were having difficulties. Just before he left he decided he had taken them as far as he could without investment/introduction of new players but the owner said there was no money available. He decided to resign as it was taking up all of his time with no results. After he went the new manager bought in 5 players which Beats says spoke volumes. He wants to get back into coaching/managing and as he says, he is being allowed to visit clubs and watch the training, taking notes but not getting involved. I thought he left us when he was past his best and although he had plenty of time for me on Saturday his manner in the past has been a bit arrogant. I was with someone who sponsored him for 5 years and as a result sat with him on end of season dinners. He met him one on holiday in a lift. He said hello to James who just said hello and the rest of the journey in the lift was very quiet and uncomfortable for my friend. Suffice to say he did not sponsor him again.