SuperMikey

Neither did Lambert when he was with us - WBA have got very solid centre backs and we never get anything in the air against them. Obviously we didn't do our homework..

I would rather we cashed in on players that aren't really committed to being here as opposed to paying over the odds to keep an unhappy player. Trippier is a good shout - if Burnley go down they won't really have any need to cash in on him but it would be a good career move for him. Flog Clyne for £20-25m in the summer if he does reject our contract offer and get Trippier in for £10-12m, with spare change to improve other areas of the squad (i.e. striker).

These are some of the problems that Italy is facing at the moment - their population is very ageing and they're in danger of having a severely depleted workforce because of their strong stance on immigration. See the difference in structure from our population in 2014:

Just watched this - made me feel homesick for Southampton weirdly enough! It's a shame how the programme turned out, because it started with some great examples of people living in that area without tension, and it seemed like much more of a close community than i've seen in my time living in Southampton. Then obviously the controversy kicked off over the filming, and that made good copy for the production company to come across as victims. In reality though it was an incendiary programme to make, and I can understand people's reservations about it being made because Benefits Street was very exploitative and caused a lot of people to sneer on the area it was filmed in. Not condoning the attacks and behaviour towards the crew, because the people that did it were clearly c*nts (especially the people who confronted the crew when they were filming the Jamaican guy outside his house) but it's an understandable reaction because people weren't sure how their community was going to be portrayed, and rightly so. The company would have far too much creative control to spin an unrepresentative narrative about the area and people were concerned about that. Looking forward to "Incest Street" set in Fratton though, that should be good.

-------------FORSTER-------------- -----TOBY----FONTE----YOSHI----- CLYNE-----------------------B'RAND --------MORGAN---WANYAMA------- --------------DAVIS---------------- ---------LONG------PELLE---------- Subs: K.Davis, Targett, Gardos, JWP, Tadic, Elia, Mane I would be tempted to start Mane over long, but WBA have 2 very dominant CBs who will have the upper hand over Pelle if we start with Mane, who plays off Pelle a little more than Long does when he's up front with him. Long should be able to stretch their defence and create space for Pelle to get time on the ball which he hasn't had recently. Mane will be a very good option to come off the bench if we need to change our shape a little and go 4-3-3 with either Toby/Maya coming off. Reckon we'll see Davis start and either Tadic/JWP come on for him if we're not leading after an hour to provide a bit more creativity behind the strikers. Either way, it's a must-win to get our confidence back, and hopefully Pelle can get a goal to give him a confidence boost which is desperately needed!

If Morgan does leave, I can't think of anywhere better for him to go than Barcelona. We couldn't stand in the way of an opportunity like that, and he is good enough for them.

At least it will provoke discussion at the top level in the FA of introducing a winter break, which I think we need in English football. The whole Qatar WC situation is f*cked though. After the FIFA Presidential elections in May, could the venue/date be re-arranged?

It was a bit "Good Wife's Guide" wasn't it..

Jesus christ, do you take notes when reading this forum or something?! Must've said that 5 years ago. Point still stands though, going to watch Saints in my time at Uni was nice time off from study.

I've been to football on my own plenty of times - Newcastle away a few weeks ago for example. Not sure why that's odd. It's not really a social event unless you go with others, you're there to watch the game.

I think the key word in my Boruc argument is WAS - he's definitely not the player he used to be but you can't deny that was one of his main attributes in his time with us. I still think Forster is a good keeper, don't get me wrong. He's put in some great performances for us this season, but he needs to improve.

Forster had 2 saves to make today, and he conceded from both of them. Can't argue against the first one as that was unstoppable, but he was very weak-wristed for the second. Did well to even get a hand to it but having made solid contact with the ball, you can't let that go past you. As much as I hate this argument, Boruc was good at getting a strong hand to the ball and saved us a lot of points because of it. Fraser is a good keeper and let us not forget that this is his first season in the Prem, but there are aspects of his game he really needs to work on.

Thought Fonte and especially Yoshida had excellent games today - we didn't defend badly aside for a few errors for their second goal. Just toothless up front atm, so defending well doesn't count for much if you can't go up the other end and score.

Not good enough. Ref was shocking but we failed to create anything and I think that's probably us done for Top 4 now.

Top 4 teams all have strikers that can score a goal out of nothing to salvage points - we don't have that, and that's why I don't think Top 4 is realistic now unless someone shoves a rocket up Pelle's ar5e.

Wrong option for Pelle, he's going to try desperately to get a goal though.

Morgan coming on

That's a dangerously high challenge from Lovren on JWP and also a handball outside the area from Mignolet AND a handball from Lovren from a corner. How many more decisions are going to go against us today?! FFS.

Service to the forwards has generally been sh!t today as well.

He's putting the ball into the right areas, but if nobody's getting in the right position to attack the ball when it comes in there's not much point!

Steve Claridge has this to say on Lallana: "I think Adam Lallana will get a good reception today. Only the crazy fans will give him stick. When you think about how well he did at this football club, I don't think you can give him anything other than the credit he deserves. He was at Southampton since he was 14. It was a natural progression for him to move on." Claridge there, completely missing the point as to why he's going to get abused today. It wasn't the fact that he left, it was how he left and the comments he made. Clueless bastard.

Both line-ups today strike me as similar to when you rotate your squad for a cup game on Football Manager and start the next game without remembering to put your strongest players back in. Should be an interesting game though, good attacking players in both teams.

From watching that, Rickie seems genuinely pleased that we're doing so well which is less than I can say for Lallana. I can kind of forgive Lovren for not really being interested as he was only with us for about 10 months in total, but I don't get the feeling that Lallana actually believes the platitudes he's coming out with. Either way, hope Rickie gets a great welcome and the other two get told exactly where to go. Not that they'll care anyway.

Not specifically on topic with regards to guns, but a very interesting insight into some of the real problems in US society with regards to wealth and the "American dream".

Plus they already have a precedent set in the NFL, NBA and NHL when it comes to salaries. The idea of a cap works in principle but it means they won't attract the quality players their league needs in order for it to grow - just old pros looking for a final payday like Henry, Lampard & Gerrard.