Charlie Wayman

It is doubtful that Shaw or Clyne will figure unless the wheels come off before half time, why risk them if they are not fully fit. Also Yoshida must be a doubt as they're both playing in Japan today so don't bank on them being back in time to train and prepare for the weekend match. A draw will be good enough so expect us to go with Cork - Fonte - Hooiveld - Fox and keep the other four lads fit for the home game which we must win. Chambers is too much of a gamble at this level to start yet.

Cortese is Italian, the italians are big into family get togethers, it is currently the holiday season and 45 deg C over there, so where would you rather be this chilly August morning, Staplewood or Brindisi. No more to it than that in my view. He won't be coming back with any new signings just a tweaked up tan ready for his TV appearances at the weekend.

It makes no difference to me at all, always watch England live matches.

Why don't you take her to Peppa Pig World instead of a stupid football match, it may suit you to waste an afternoon of your life but it is of no value at all to a 2.5 years old who needs her brain to be stimulated if she is ever to compete in the world she will grow up in. If you can't afford PPW then take her to the Art Gallery or the Museum or even the children's playground on the Common. Use your imagination, it's all she has to learn from at this stage.

Too much is being made of this, the captain role is mainly titular and to help ref's control the game, control of the match is effected from the touchline by the coaching staff. Unlikely to make a difference but my personal opinion is that he isn't leadership material in any case so maybe the captaincy should be elsewhere

Which is of course the Club's policy.

It's not G10 its GdP, look at the lines.

Thank goodness for that, I can get on and do other things on a Saturday afternoon.....

Absolutely fantastic. Well done Ricky you deserve it, now go and do your special thing for England. Bloody amazing, bloody fantastic! Three Saints players in the forward line, can't be bad, just want Clyne and Shaw now and we'll field half the team

Quite, real question might be will HE be here after Jan 14th?

It's always a good idea to lower one's expectations. You talk as though the world is our oyster when clearly it is not. As pecking orders go even in the EPL we must rank about 15th choice in players' minds as places they might want to go to; bear in mind the Bundeslega is looking more and more like a very attractive place to be whilst La Liga and Serie A are a bloody site better from a weather and cultural point of view. The reputation of the EPL abroad must be of a rather physical no nonsense, straight up and down sort of set-up where busting a gut and elbows in the face are de rigeur and consummate ball skills are still seen as a luxury that few sides can accommodate. Regrettably the tippie-tappie revolution started by Arsenal and so far best parodied by Swansea and now Saints is still the exception and any foreign player watching Stoke v Hull or Sunderland v West Ham knows exactly what they will be in for on a cold, wet November Tuesday evening whilst the rets of the world are watching Barcelona v Bayern Munich. I mean come on you're 22, good looking, hormone charged and looking for the good life.... uhm... Shirley High Street!

Why "Woy" if not "Wicky"?

You are right but we are not them either which makes it worse. The EPL seems to be losing it's allure and one is bound to wondre if foreign players are put off by our weather, our press or just the now EPL habit of hire / fire players and managers alike where contracts mean ziltch and loyalty counts for nothing. On the other hand Cortese & Pochettino have done themselves and us no favours by suggesting that they know what they are doing and big names can be expected and it's only a matter of time and patience.... I'll bet in closed offices at SMS some choice language is to be heard and if nothing else happens on the transfer front this year somebody will be held culpable and to account especially ITSHTP after 4 or 5 games and we are in the bottom three.

..and this +1

This +1

They'll be more worried than we are right now. They looked 3 yards off the pace and couldn't get near us or the ball especially as the match wore on. N body gives 100% in friendlies but spurning chances can be habit forming so it would have been better if we'd taken our finishing a bit more seriously. Much to admire, some things to sort out but remember WBA are a very decent side and we won't out-run them this easily. We don't have much time left to improve our finishing and it is a real worry on today's showing.

Super start for Nigel's Reading and fully deserved. Great if he comes straight back up, love to see him back at St Mary's next season.

Obviously you didn't read the OS otherwise you's know that Jos asked for No 26 as it was the first shirt he wore here. It's qiute obvious that he's a sentimental kinda guy and these things clearly mean a lot to him. He's bound to be in the starting line-up, no fera of less he's agree player and nowhere near as much of a whoopsie as Jose. Maya ain't fit yet and will start on the bench.

Thank goodness we will no longer have to listen to those one celled loons shouting Steeeeeeeeeeeeevvvvvvvv. Life gets better by the day.

Every cause to be concerned, panic may be stretching it a bit. You cannot stand still in this league, if Cortese is relying on the kids to get him off the hook its a big ask indeed. Once upon a time there was hopeful man called Poortvliet who placed his trust in kids....

Classic guys, nobody has a clue about the numbers involved so let's spend the rest of the day on useless speculation about a minor issue that has no impact on the Club's finances whatsoever.

The yardstick surely is Lambert who looked equally one dimensional in the lower leagues until Alan Pardew gave him his chance. The rest of his story is history as they say, Lambert having the guile and ability to adapt his game to the ever mounting challenges of higher leagues so effectively that he ended his first ever season in the PL as top English goalscorer. As far as one can tell, Sharp has been much the same player in each league he has played with no great evidence of adapting or finding the extra skill sets needed to be competitive at higher levels. Barnard is much the same as Sharp, great at what he does but no prospect of becoming anything other than reliable.

We have to ride the punches, that's what you do if you climb into the ring. Stop whinging Pochettino, you could have sent them all off to Butlins for a fortnight rather than fart about in Spain on hot cinders.

Only by you apparently. Usually I only read posts these days but outrageous rubbish like this needs response. Many on here seem see you as some sort of oracle on matters Saints but more entries like this will cost you dear in reputation.

but, as RL observed on Wednesday it's the getting match fit that's important not the score. Let's not get too far forward as it seems now Pochettino has no idea who is starting XI should be... Fox, Guly... see what I mean.