Charlie Wayman

Never seemed to be under any sort of real threat today even when shutting up shop in the last ten minutes. Great battling defensive displays from Davis & Reed but the lack of a creative spark meant we could not threaten their back four consistently enough to take the pressure off our back four. In the circumstances a dour and rugged performance, certainly not pretty but a valuable win that we just about merited. Elia MotM for two finely taken goals, cool hand luke indeed.

Would you want to be playing Championship football next year? Exactly! For him the best options here are ManUre or Us with Dutch managers and playing philosophy but where would he fit in? If Toby leaves then "maybe" but if Toby signs a new deal and with Yoshi and Gardos up to speed, where's the space?

Odds on we'll ship at least one goal up there because of the absence of Victor, Morgan & Toby. It's nonsense to think nothing will change, these are world class players and with the best will in the world, Cork, Davis & Gardos are not at their level. If our attack clicks and we score, 1-1 will be a good result but if we lose the midfield and the forwards become isolated 0-1 is likely and even 0-2. We are in a perfect storm of injuries right now and so we can't afford for Jose, Ryan and Nat to over-play and get an injury, the last thing we need is another key defender out for weeks.

Rough night or manic depressive?

Yep, most likely a lunch guest of the club. New player or Jay's contract? Anybody see Jay there this morning?

Not quite how I see it. There are only two good teams in the PL right now, about four who are so-so including us and the rest a load of crap who are interchangeable with the top half of the Championship. Eight could go down and eight could come up and you wouldn't even spot the difference. This must be one of the poorest season's yet for the PL in overall quality.

Lots of mention earlier about Morgan's absence from training but Steve Davis also missing. Suggest they were both 100% knackered after Sunday and needed a proper rest before the Newcastle game. Let's face it these two lads covered more miles than the rest of the team put together up at OT... well not literally obviously but you get the point.

Keep smoking' 'em!

2nd

Usually understood to mean British Gas if you have a City / Finance background....

Problem is that Saints and the PL are such big news at the moment that all football people will know that Osvaldo & Ramirez couldn't cut the mustard here whereas lesser lights have really shown that they can be top class players. Hence no interest in our on-loan fading stars. Let's be honest we have such a reputation for turning raw rocks into diamonds that if it was possible to do anything with these characters Saints would have found a way. That may or may not be reality but I'll bet that's how football folk the world over see it.

Ricky needs to be careful, Rodgers will be toast in the close-season and the annual clear-out of his signings will see Rickie struggling to find any club in the top two tiers willing to sign him - just too darned old. Sadly he'll end up at Tranmere or Oldham if he insists on staying up North.

This is not news, Ronald Koeman gave this answer in response to a question at the pre-Manure press conference, it's taken the BBC two days to catch up!

Of course Cork will sign if we offer him more than one year and more than a 1% pay rise. He's had too many clubs already, now he's found a settled home he won't be moving on voluntarily. None of the bigger boys want him, we ARE the big option for Jack. Would you fancy a stint at the Riverside?

Clyne will be here next year simply because he is first choice starter and now first choice for England. He has grown immeasurably since we signed him as a relatively raw kid which is down to this club. That sense of belonging and security should not be underestimated. The Koeman factor should not be underestimated either; the regular "Clyney" quotes from His Ron-ship suggests a very cosy relationship behind the scenes (father/son?). Nah, no way the boy will leave yet awhiles. Also he is a Londoner so when or if he does move on it is most likely to be for Chelsea or Arsenal - if he gets a choice - but they do not seem to be in for him at the moment.

Day of reckoning, lose this and that's pretty much it for the season. Hard place to get any sort of result and its bloody cold up there right now to boot; we don't seem to do cold weather. On TV as well, oh dear! Usually watch these TV games in our local hostelry and have never seen us win. Best to stay away. 2-0 sadly.

The nub of this question is how do you value any player or rather who does. In the end the value is what a buyer is prepared to pay. We've all been on e-Bay sellng stuff and look how difficult that is to gauge right. Maybe the way to go is to have an auction, notify all the big clubs here and abroad that he will be up for grabs and just let it rip... opening bid at £0.99. Any more bids from the room, I have 47million Euros on Line 1..... ? Bloke called Koeman from Spain?

Wouldn't be the first time and certainly won't be the last. Lets face it, Koeman & Lee are pretty canny buggers and play their high cards very close to their chests. Dave Watson will know where the bodies are buried as well.

RK signed a three year contract and he seems to be enjoying his time here. He's operated in La Liga before so is well known over there as a manger when he had mixed success, as well as for his time as a player at Barcelona I would need to be convinced that they would take a risk on him yet, after all they have the pick of the crop from any country so there are quite a few ahead of Ronald. If we do get the s***** end of the stick yet again at least can screw Barca for a few million quid compensation.... We are used to our players being cherry picked so it's gutting that we might now suffer the same way over our managers. Bug.ger me we'd be the best team in the world if all those other avaricious sods would just leave us alone!

I imagine that Palace regard this tie with even less enthusiasm than Saints, they don't need the distraction of the Cup anymore than we. Maybe Ipswich will put us out of our misery, if not lets put out the kids for this one. For sure Palace will.

He played already in a Champions League Side! Nearly won it too.

It IS a serious issue but of course nobody will pay for a new bridge. All will stay as it is until somebody gets injured or killed in a crush. Then the HSE will step in and insist on change. These actions always become reactive rather than proactive. It is evident from what you observe and report that there is a real hazard and a real and present danger. It is negligence to ignore such warnings and concerns.

So Ronald Koeman is not an OK source? What's difficult to understand in Ron's press conference comment " Nobody will be leaving in the window"?

By far the most creative mid-fielder we have ever had. I loved the kid from the first time he walked out in a Saints shirt. Every single touch has been a lasting memory. Can't see any reason why he would want to leave us right now except that a change of scene can be as good as a tonic in any situation. Fair enough if he decides 250 games is it. He should be on our Legends banner

Poor performance against a mediocre team of little skill who parked the bus. Football doesn't get much duller than this. Thank goodness they don't do extra time as my will to live was right on the edge. MotM you're kidding yeah?