eelpie

Angelo Campos!! http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/video/2013/jan/11/peru-goalkeeper-double-save-video

So the pressure on Villa increases after their hammering by Bradford, and they now have to claw back a two goal deficit in the second match. But will they abandon prospects of a League Cup final? Whatever anyone says about Premiership survival being their priority, all players dream of playing at Wembley and league form usually suffers. Let's hope Villa make it to Wembley! (and lose to us on Saturday)

I think so. We have a smallish group of players who really are of good premiership quality, and when all are fit and in top form and with the rub of the green we can beat anyone. But injuries are mounting, and we can do without the extra matches and distractions that a longer cup run including replays would entail. All of our closest rivals (except Newcastle) are still involved: Macclesfield Town v Wigan/Bournemouth Millwall v Aston Villa QPR/West Brom v Sheffield Wednesday/MK Dons Bolton/Sunderland v Cheltenham/Everton I foresee some testing tustles against lower league opposition, probably a few knocks, and possibly demanding replays in the fourth round there. We have some crucial games ahead. Better to be focused on these and get all our team fit and recovered whilst others are preoccupied with the cup. The second half drubbing by Chelsea may have been humiliating but the result does us a favour. And just possibly the scoreline might galvanise NC to get those crucial players we need signed up and playing sooner rather than too late. I believe that we have now a better chance of avoiding the drop because we are out of the cup, whilst our rivals are still embroiled . May they all reach the fifth round and have a long and successful run!

but why are they so far away? (sorry TDD. it was too obvious)

Clyne is injured. Ramirez, yes, but not on the wing. He should be behind Lambert who needs the service, and put Rodriguez on the wing as he has the speed to worry Arsenals' wobbly defence.

True. Eleven players in goal would be better..

Ramirez in the hole behind Lambert yes, but JayRod wide left. He has the speed to worry and get behind defences and Ramirez needs to work with Lambert. (He is wasted on the wing). Rickie upfront on his own is also a waste of time if he is not getting service. Guly on the bench.

Why has no-one thought of that before? Two keepers in goal should do the trick.

Excellent news. But btw he was more than a squad member. He played in the World Cup against Mexico at Wembley.

Ramirez must play behind Ricky with Jayrod on the left wing if we are to get the best service for Lambert.

“We started with Emmanuel Mayuka today as well and one of the big reasons for that was so that we could get in behind them,” Adkins explained. Fair enough if it had worked well in training. However I would have thought that Mayuka would have been better on the wing with Ramirez behind Rickie. Even if Ramirez plays on the wing for his country he always seems more comfortable in the middle with us, where his his skills and playmaking are more effective, where he can do more damage to the opposition and Rickie would have more support.

When is ACON? It wouldn't be when we play Arsenal, dare I hope?

Scorer?

Survival in the PM, then keep our best players and strengthen the squad soon after the season ends. Adam back in the team to lead the team to safety. That's all that matters.

A loan till the summer with the potential to buy if he recovers his form , then yes- at the right terms..

He's suntanned. I'm worried about that.

That's the Sun Sports Editor you're talking about.

Cork

This is the best summary I've read! Wow! At times Saints were on the rampage. Well done fellers! I can't pick a man of the match, not even Adam nor Ramires. This was total team work. I was criticised on here last week for saying that Saints at QPR were too timid to the tackle and backtracked too much. But today they let nothing pass by unchallenged. Saints wanted the ball all the time, held firm against Newcastle's raids and counterattacked with devastating skill and speed. And crowd support was deafening. We thoroughly deserved the win! Roll on Norwich!

Whether we win or not will depend a lot on how proactive our midfielders and defenders are. Despite the excellent result against QPR it is a fact that we lost possession too often, and too many times two or three defenders backtracked without tackling. Players need the courage to put the tackles in at these times. Clyne excepted, who was excellent last week, we must do better and not give Newcastle sight of the goal.

lol - but ex Saints don't usually need brains to find our net, worse luck. Shocking stat I've just read btw -50% of shots on target have landed in our net!

I hard this from Di Matteo's barber. Says Di Matteo earned so much from his pay-off that he's buying up Saints lock stock and barrel.

Let's not forget that come January some of our existing squad might well be poached by richer Prem sides (though I hope not). So let's not write off our vaunted but injured or recovering players just yet. Chung could well find he has an important role as a fast naturally left footed player replacing Adam (as someone has mentioned).

De Ridder if he's still in the squad, otherwise it would have to be Mayuka who is similarly fast as Lee, but has not distinguished himself on the pitch yet when he should be fit. All depends on Lee achieving max fitness and games in the Dev/Under 21 squads first. Jos too, but he would need to be exchanged for a better defender when the opportunity comes. I would prefer a fit Chung to JayRod. Better goal scorer imho.

Delete your last four words and you could be spot on. - Because you have no idea what NA thinks. On the evidence of Lee's few exciting appearances last year that I have seen, and when he has grafted his way back to his true form, he should provide some exciting options upfront. We just have to be patient. On the other hand, if his injuries prove to have had a permanent detriment to his abilities he will eventually have to be sold. But let's not jump to negative conclusions. Luckily the club is patient and does have a good record of nursing promising players back to fitness over long stretches of time.