Ian the Red

James Ward-Prowse was immense. The 3 in midfield, JWP, MS, SD were magnificent, but both JWP and SD tired in the last 10 mins or so, hardly surprising as SD is coming back from injury and JWP is only 17. Would not change these 3 in the centre of midfield. JWP will be an England international, marvellous prospect.

We needed to make subs, but NA imo took off the wrong players. Ward-Prowse was immense, literally ran himself into the ground; had cramp in the last 5 minutes, so why was he not taken off? Davies also looked knackered, again he gave everything to the cause. These two should have been the first to go, JWP then SD, that would have made sense to me to counter the threat that Scholes created. NA got it wrong today, he must, must learn that RL will be feared by every CB in this league and I did not see him ask to come off. If RL did need to come off then surely JRod should have replaced him. I do not understand why you do not replace like with like when having a big strong CF in the team caused so much havoc in the ManUre defence for 71 minutes. For Arsenal one change to the starting XI, Yoshida in for Jose. Ramirez on the bench.

Still a fantastic transfer window for Saints. Gazzaniga, Cropper Clyne Yoshida S. Davis Ramirez Mayuka Rodriguez That has really strengthened the squad. I would agree that we prehaps need another CB and maybe a 1st choice GK but think we got most of what we needed. I cannot belive the comments that we didn't need to strengthen the forwards. Only RL has the ability imo; Sharpe, yes did well for us and scored important goals but lacked pace, his distribution was inconsistent and did not read the game. Lee has pace but havent seen enough yet. Rodrigues I think will cut it, he has some pace, he is good in the air, his passing looks good and he takes up good positions. The one thing we really lack is real pace. Any team is scared s$%^less by real pace, Mayuka looks a wonderful buy if he can step up to the PL. He will add another dimention to team and I think will create loads goals. The midfield, just what we needed, experience in Davies, creativity in Ramirez. Has to be Lallana and Moragn with these 2. The defence, well Clyne looks the full ticket, already an England U21 and looks as though he can go alot further. Yoshida, cant comment really not seen enough but the right position that needed strengthening. So it has been a fantastic transfer window. Is it enough? I think so. Yes it is going to be a tough a season but 4th from bottom will do me this year, personally I think we will be mid table. Get the next 2 games out of the way. Couple the signings with the young players that are coming through, Ward-Prowse, Reeves, etc. It is looking a whole lot better......

Southampton FC‏@officialsaints Saints are delighted to confirm the signing of Uruguayan international Gastón Ramírez. Full story to follow at http://www.saintsfc.co.uk soon. ITS OFFICIAL!!!!!!!!!

Yep agree totally! Never been so interested in the final transfer day!! Cant remember ever being so excited..... just need that win on Sunday!!!

Finally we nearly have a squad able to compete in the prem league. Good signings all of them so far and hopefully more to come later. Exciting times are ahead; on Sunday Mayuka will want to make an impact whilst other established players will need to play the game of their lives to ensure they remain in the starting XI!! Could work very well for us against ManUre on Sunday!! COYR

Simon Peach‏@SimonPeach #SaintsFC reportedly after #CFC's @YossiBenayoun15. Would be a superb addition. Experience could prove invaluable. As peach says experience woud be invaluable!! Yes please!

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11700/8036505/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed On his way!!!

“@codycropper: Officially put pen to paper at a premiership club!! #privileged #buzzing” #SaintsFC's first addition of the day I suspect.

Southampton FC News‏@SkySaints La Gazzetta dello Sport claim Uruguay international winger Gaston Ramirez's move to Southampton is in its final stages.

Southampton FC News‏@SkySaints Gaston Ramirez to Southampton is on the brink of completion this morning. He's awaiting news on his work-permit. #saintsfc

We defo need another quality GK, unfortunately KD is not good enough at this level and our No2 is not yet ready. We need a decent prem league GK, simple as!

Well spotted!! Just testing David, to see how many were alert to the deliberate mistake!!!

Would be a good signing along with Curtis Davis, just what we need a couple of decent centre backs

Saints sign Ramires for 14.5m Euros?.............

Le Tiss freekick at Upton Park, think 98/99 to bring us back to 1-1 Pahars v Everton to make it 2-0 and safety Bobby Stokes 1-0 Manure Steve Moran V Skates FA Cup, last minutue, marvellous! Le Tiss last goal at the Dell Viafara's 2nd against Derby Play off Ricky's 2nd vrs Ipswich So, so, so many goals........

Out of those that played on Sunday, these will be our weak links: Kelvin, Jos, Jose, Puncheon, Possibly Fox and Guly. If we had one quality centre back then maybe Jos or Jose would do.

Simon Peach ‏@SimonPeach Ramirez negotiations "definitely ended" & #SaintsFC looking elsewhere says his agent. I'd suggest games are being played & it's still on.

Simon Peach ‏@SimonPeach #SaintsFC have also sorted out agreement with Ramirez's former club Penarol for their 30%. Hold up is Bologna messing around with finances. Simon Peach ‏@SimonPeach If #SaintsFC get messed around by Bologna & the deal collapses, there are other targets on the radar. I think it'll go through, though.

I have to disagree with you The9. Had City taken their numerous chances we would have been dead and buried by half time. That's the only reason that NA's tactics appear to have worked, the fact City didn't take their chances. We did not retain possession, did not make any significant threats on goal ( until Ricky came on) and did not defend that well. Ok we were playing probably the best team in the league, but what is the point in not playing your best striker?? RL gives us an outlet; he holds the play up, his distribution is usually pretty good; ok not the quickest but he has so many more valuable attributes that we cannot IMO afford to leave him out, unless he has an injury of course.....

Agree in part Alpine, dont get me wrong, I am extremely optimistic and very positive; but I want SFC to stay in the premier league. We did not retain possession of the ball very well; our defending was pretty poor and the team selection IMO was wrong. Yes we caused a huge probelm to Man City going 2-1 up and I, as every other Saints fan was jumping around the room hoping and praying we would hold on......... Confidence and spirit will go a long way, but it is very fragile. With ManUre and the gooners two of the next 3 teams we could well be at the bottom if we do not buy quickly, improve defensively and play our best players from the start....................

Spot on Professor!! As I have said NA needs to learn very quickly from his mistakes and ensure we improve.

I find myself agreeing with you again Kraken. I believe that NA needs to take a long hard look at yesterday's performnace and be under no illusion that we need to improve. Like most, I am very proud of how our team performed yesterday. However, we must improve and hopefully NA will take on board the lessons that need to be learnt and the problems that need to be rectified. 1. We have no alternative to Ricky Lambert, he must play from the start 2. We need to strengthen the defence very quickly… we were far to naïve yesterday and their 2nd and 3rd goals should have been avoided. 3. We need a commanding Goalkeeper – KD has been a wonderful servant to the Club but he will cost the team many, many, many more points than he will earn for the team. Too many times yesterday he pushed the ball back into the 6 yard box, had City been a little more sharp they would have destroyed us. 4. More pace. Defenders are terrified of pace, we lack real pace in our team going forward. We need a winger with pace. Yes, we played well and will pick up points against the lesser teams in the premiership. But we want more don’t we??

We were toothless, did we have a single shot on target in the 1st half?? We really did not threaten in the final 3rd. Tactically yuo can not expect to defend for 60 minutes against a team like City. Lets face it, had they taken their chances we would have been dead and bury by half time. We had no target to hit in the 1st half, no one to hold up the ball. Guly and Jrod played well, just wrong team selection IMO. Lambert is fit, he's a professional footballer and he can't run for 90 minutes then something is seriously wrong with our coaching and training!!

Totally agree Kraken! We were toothless up front until RL came on. Dont get me wrong, Guly did well, plenty of intelligent running but he's not Ricky. We had no one able to hold up play and let the others get forward in support. JRod, needs to find his feet so needs time, again he did well but on the left??? I think NA got it wrong with RL and hope he starts every game. He has impact from the start and clearly lifted his team mates as soon as he came on. To valuable to the team to leave on the bench.