Mowgli

Control the controllables - still use it myself

I thought I read somewhere that Ron had already said he would not make more than three changes because the cup is so important. So Long and Wanyama I see coming in for Cork and Mane, Tadic or Pelle. Personally I think Tadic is OK. He got a dead leg but should be fine for Wednesday. Similarly I think Pelle is not 100% and resting his foot might not be a bad idea but gven how improtant their link up play is, I suspect it is Mane that will step down to the bench. It will be interesting because I think the second half changes on Saturday worked better for Stoke than for us. If that trend continues into a game where they have home advantage we will be lucky to get anything out of this tie. That said, I think Koeman will learn fro Saturday and has the tactical superiority. Never rated Hughes as a manager (or a Saints player) but he does seem to be getting better as he matures in age!

Is that you Poch?

I don't know why anyone should get upset at Lawrenson. He's a nobody and the BBC are starting to reallise that. Don't be surprised to see him dropped as a pundit for good.

Agreed (though I don't mind admitting that at the time I thought it was an insane decision). Just don't get why having had such a great five years coming up that peole can be so mean spirited as to dis people that helped us along the way.

The only thought that went through my mind that this is sticking two finger up at our challenge of Pelle's 2nd goal (in his hat trick)

FFS you might as well give Cork's goal as og. I am sure the keeper touched it last.

The thread was started by the same poster who thought Pelle would struggle... ...just saying like....

So let me get this right. You're complaining that instead of securing 3,000 tickets they've gone for 2,000 with the option of a further 1,000 if the sales go well. For a game that is live on TV.... and mid week.....

Probably but they did not look very special against palace (2nd goal excepted!!)

It's extremely difficult to man mark a player like Tadic out of the game. He's just too mobile. Always looking for space, switching flanks and thriving on one touches you can easily find players chasing shadows and being pulled out of position which will only work in our favour creating space eleswhere on the pitch. You would lose a lot of that if he moved into the middle. I think J Rod will challenge Pelle and Long for position on the pitch. It's a squad game now though so potentially room for all three on the pitch over 90 minutes IMO

Same starting 11 please. Tough game with a lot of antics to watch out for (Shawcross and Moses will have alerted referees to their behaviour already). Crouch will want to have a good game too. I'd be happy with a scrappy win to be honest. With Man Utd and Chelsea facing one another on sunday there is a real opportunity to close in on the leaders.

I love coming back on this thread from time to time just to do a bit of Dinosaur spotting

Early days I know but you get the feeling that the coaches are really earning their money this season. U21s and U18s both had indifferent starts to the season but have developed into sides that are difficult to beat and starting to score goals. Good to see Seager back and Gazza looked pretty good in those clips too so maybe benefitting from the new coach.

Spot on. When a contract is signed there are two obvious obligations. For the club to pay them (or buy them out by agreement) until the end of the contract irrespective of whether they make the first team For the players to give his best, even though he may not feature for the first team, until the end of the contract Realistically I accept that players may want to further their career for regular football or Champions League. In those circumstances it is desirable to shift before the contract runs out to secure a decent transfer fee. But transfers are subject to agreement of both the player and SFC It has to be the right club for the player and it has to be the right time and fee for SFC. That said Lallana left us for a good fee. Good luck to him. I neither support him nor boo him.

I'll tell you what. He will make a better manager than a TV pundit. I fell asleep several times listening to his analysis of Man U -v- Everton!

Good analysis. I am sure we will look to retain Cork, and probably will. Clyne, Rodriguez and Schneiderlin will sign new contracts if we qualify for Europe. If we don't they will be off and its hard to blame them. Yoshida will want to stay and I think he has really stepped up this season (when asked) so no problems with him being given a new contract. Still want Gaston to come good but accept limited game time will see him look elsewhere.

Not sure we will sign anyone in January. Did I not read something in the telegraph article about saints already knowing who they want to sign in the summer of 2015? No mention of January which is generally a mixture of panic buys and overpriced demands.

Let's put it this way. Who do you trust more? The bloke in front of you at SMS or the team of professionals that have identified his potential and having been targeting him for some time?

His contribution has been good and bring a very different sort if pressure when he comes on. 2 years time is when to judge the price tage not after 7 cameos

Agree with first bit but we hit our purple patch just as he was considering subs around 60 minutes which would explain the delay. We looked better with Long. Overall game could have gone either way. Not unhappy with performance. Just one of those days when we did not take the chances offered.

I think Liverpool fans assessment of ex saints (reading their forums) is spot on. Lambert they really want to succeed but without game time he struggles with fitness. They can see that and feel for him as I suspect most of us do. Lallana showing that he is a skilful player but returning from injury so they are trying not to expose him too much. My fear is that he is a bit selfish. He got away with that at southampton but Liverpool fans (and players) will be less forgiving. Lovren they loved in his first couple of games but starting to question whether he is good enough now. Surprisingly they are even starting to question whether he was that good with us. Lovren himself seems to losing a bit of confidence as he is failing to cement the centre back partnership in the way he did at southampton

Thats a bit like saying there's no point in living because we all die eventually. Enjoy the ride.

The team just needs to gel. Pelle needs to learn how to find a bit of space rather than allow defenders to stay so close. The others need to get used to his layoffs. He will score a few but more importantly so will Taider and Tadic - and gaston looks reborn. Surprised to see Mayuka yesterday. Even allowing for Gallagher's illness, I would prefer to see McQueen or even Sharp. We do need a zippy little player up front to poach a few. It seemed the ball was bouncy quite kindly for us in the box yesterday but no one like that to finish it off.

You really see that as a mistake? I don't. Freaky conditions maybe.