Bailey

Hi all. It looks as though I will have one spare ticket for the Saints Vs Donny game this weekend. It's an adult ticket in block 43, but am willing to sell for as little as £10-£15 as it's so close to the game. If anyone wants it, let me know. Cheers!

Massive win, and a fantastic set of results. 5 points clear of 2nd, 7 clear of 3rd. Two very winnable home games up next, it's well and truly in our own hands. COYR!

It's not been 'officially' announced yet, but I'm under the impression Lallana has won it.

The very fact that Nigel said Lallana is fit and 'back to his best', yet we still can't be sure whether he'll start or not just highlights how media savvy he is. He's great when it comes to keeping the opposition guessing in terms of who's fit and who isn't.

Lallana is fit to start if called upon. I'm expecting a couple of changes after a tough game on Saturday. Harding, Hammond, Guly, Lallana and Sharp all to come in IMO. Assuming Fox will miss out after limping off Vs Leeds. Chaplow and Cork looked shattered after their last outing and Puncheon was poor. Chung has been away on international duty and Sharp must be chomping at the bit. Just highlights that we've got great strength in depth in every department. For me, I'd go with this: ------------------------ Davis ------------------------- Richardson ----- Fonte ----- Hooiveld ----- Harding Guly ----- Hammond ----- Schneiderlin ----- Lallana ---------------- Lambert ----- Sharp ------------------ Subs: Martin, Cork, Puncheon, Chaplow and Chung.

FFS, trust Adkins. I know it's a cliche, but don't get too excited when we win, and similarly don't get too low when we lose. It's football, you can't win them all. Granted, our current run is not acceptable but Adkins and the players will be well aware of that. We've got players returning from injury and we've got more than enough about us to turn our current form around. Adkins has taken us from 22nd in League One to 2nd in the Championship, have some perspective! Rant over. Oh and I fully expect us to win on Saturday.

Not too disappointed to be out the cup, but our current form is starting to concern me. As for tonight, I thought Martin was poor. Watch the 'highlights', he allowed Trotter too much room for their first goal and sold himself for their second. Not a lot could be done about their third, hats off for that strike. And I disagree with those that said Bart had a good game. Granted, he made some decent saves, but these saves were often brought on through poor distribution on his part. Numerous times he rolled the ball out to Fonte/Martin and Harding when they weren't really in a position to receive the ball (oppo was too near them, got closed down and effectively played ourselves into trouble etc). This is something that Kelvin is a lot better than Bart at. Chaplow was rusty but to be expected after so long out. De Ridder was lively and caused some problems. Guly terrible, he needs to up his game if he wants a place in the starting XI. Harding disappointed me too. All in all, a bad performance but I'm confident that with players returning from injury and with our sole focus on the league, we can improve on recent results. Ps. We will win on Saturday.

Please don't go on about the whole 'no shots on target' talk. The conditions were unplayable. Had it not been live on Sky, that game would have been postponed. We got a point away to a team that are flying on current form AND unbeaten at home. Take the draw, and move on to the next one.

For some reason I've got a sneaky feeling we'll win. No idea why, as on current form it should be a comfortable home win, but it would be so like Saints to snatch victory, followed by another home defeat. We'll see.

We were awarded a penalty for the most dubious out of the three penalty appeals. Granted, the ball hit their defenders hand but there is no way he could get out of the way. Lambert's claim in the first-half was a stonewall penalty for me, as was Lallana's in the second. Add to that the fact that they were awarded a goal for a blatant foul on Kelvin and it kind of evened itself out I suppose.

It's done!

You're spot on, because the next goal is SOOO important!

Thanks mate. Sounds as though we've come under some early pressure. Hopefully we can weather the storm and grow into the game as it unfolds.

Can someone clarify how we've lined up? I'm assuming it's: ---------------------- Bialkowski ------------------ Richardson ------ Martin ------ Fox ------ Harding De Ridder --- Hammond --- Reeves --- Puncheon --------------- Lambert ----- Barnard ------------- Cheers in advance!

Think you may be getting confused with Will Hoskins of Brighton. He's being heavily linked to AFC Bournemouth today, despite only joining the Seagulls in the summer.

De Ridder wasn't fit enough to start the game. He has only just returned to full fitness, so he'll need some time before he's firing on all cylinders again.

Stefano Okaka has joined Parma on loan from Roma, so we can put that rumour to bed. Was touted both on here and Twitter in recent weeks.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, Alan Pardew has admitted deliberately throwing the media 'off the scent' in terms of Newcastle's search for a striker. Pardew originally claimed that he was NOT looking to sign a striker this window, yet days later Pa**** Demba Cisse arrived. His point is that clubs do 'lie' and issue denials even though something is true/untrue. All clubs do it! How does this relate to Saints? Well, Celtic's stance on Hooper not being for sale COULD fall into that category. Whilst they'd be loathe to lose him, an 'exceptional' bid would certainly tempt them to do business, especially when the player himself isn't against the idea of moving, earning a significant wage increase in the process. In short, don't take everything you read/hear from a club as gospel, especially during the transfer window. It's like an elaborate game of chess that doesn't conclude until the end of January! Just don't get overly worried and enjoy the rumours, we'll find out one way or another soon enough.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11681/7439090/Trotta-wandering-elsewhere

My bet would be Fox.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2084900/Tottenham-loan-Southampton-Iago-Falque.html

My review, for what it's worth: First-half was terrible. We looked all out of sorts; there was no balance to the side, we had no ideas going forward, completely toothless. We were lucky to be just the 1 goal down going in to the break as Coventry beat the offside trap a couple of times and but for two smart saves from Bart, they would have been out of sight within 30 minutes. Worth mentioning that Bart's shot-stopping today was great, but his kicking was poor and he failed to command his area on numerous occasions. Still, a win will no doubt boost his confidence after THAT Blackpool game. I was looking forward to seeing James Ward-Prowse too, but first-half he looked nervy and kept misplacing passes. In fairness, he was playing just behind Ryan Doble so whenever we played the long ball, more often than not JWP was nothing more than a passenger, just watching the game unfold around him (or should I say above him). Second-half saw a vast improvement though. Although we were still far from our best, we looked a lot sharper during the second 45 and had a bit more desire about us. The introduction of Sam Hoskins for the tenacious yet ineffective Doble seemed to spark us into life. Hoskins gave us that much needed bit of urgency, constantly hassling the defenders and he even held the ball up well on a few occasions. First impressions were good, likewise Jack Stephens although he had little defensive work to do in truth. Our senior players seemed to up their game a little in the second period too, Cork and Hammond started to win the midfield battle, whilst Lallana showed a touch of class with the assist for the equaliser. The second goal was a good header from Martin, if not slightly fortuitous, as the ball somehow wormed its way under the 'keepers body and crept in. A good win, debatable whether or not it was fully deserved, but I'll certainly take it! Ultimately we showed great character to turn the game on its head. Special mention to Martin who was solid throughout, and to MOTM Dan Harding. Playing in the unusual position of right-back, Harding acquitted himself ever so well and put in a real shift. Sure, you could sometimes tell it wasn't his first-choice position, but he did a professional job and deserves credit for that. The youngsters that played today can take great heart from the game too. Whilst it wasn't the purest of footballing displays (and that's being kind), they have played their part in an FA Cup win, what an experience for them! Will definitely benefit them and SFC in the long run. Now, on to the next one, where hopefully we'll see the return of some more familiar faces!

Why is it people are slating those that are cautious about the possible arrival of Tadanari Lee? I don't think anyone has really written him off before a ball has been kicked, people are merely highlighting that it's a risky move as ideally we need someone who can come in and have an instant impact. Granted, Lee may be that man, but surely someone in the ilk of Maynard or Sharp who are proven at this level are more likely to hit the ground running? But again, there are no guarantees with that either, that's football. Lets just wait and see how this one pans out. It could be a masterstroke a la Hooiveld, or similarly it could be a waste of everyone's time. In Nigel we trust!

And Dan Seaborne was in attendance tonight too.

Harsh. Adkins speaks a lot of sense and once again, he's right. On another night, we'd have snuck at least a draw out of that. Granted, we weren't playing to the best of our abilities by any stretch of the imagination, but we did get into some good positions at times. Unfortunately, we failed to find our killer instinct in front of goal. It wasn't to be, but this doesn't make us a bad team all of a sudden.