SuperMikey

Getting 3pts against Newcastle is crucial to building up some safety within the Top 4 (and also because i'm coming down from Edinburgh to go), so I would make some changes for this one. ----------------FORSTER------------------ MACCA----FONTE----GARDOS-----TARGETT ------DAVIS---WANYAMA---MORGAN------- TADIC-----------LONG----------------ELIA Subs: K.Davis, Clyne, Bertrand, Cork, Reed, JWP, Pelle It's imperative to keep Clyne fit, and even though he had a cracking game against United I would play McCarthy over him this time. Same for Bertrand, and Targett needs game time anyway. Don't really mind if we go out at this stage in the cup - with an opportunity in the league that we have now I couldn't give two f*cks about the cup! We can go for the cup in a year or two after we sell all our players again and are back in 9th

I heard similar as well - for a player like Jay who's game is centered a lot around his pace, that's a huge blow.

So basically, if we win 11 of our remaining 18 games we're pretty much guaranteed Top 4. Newcastle Swansea QPR West Ham Liverpool West Brom Palace Chelsea Burnley Everton Hull Stoke Spurs Sunderland Leicester Villa Man City Looking at those fixtures we've got 7 very winnable games in a row until we hit Chelsea in March (with the possible exception of Liverpool & West Ham). Then after that the only real danger in the next lot of fixtures is Spurs, right up until City on the last day of the season. Obviously we'll drop points and make mistakes that will cost us games, but we don't have a pile-up of tough games now like we have done for the last 6 weeks. Put together another winning streak like at the start of the season and Champions League is ours!

I know, I am a full on fangirl. This performance is absolutely stunning though, I must have watched this video at least once a day for the last few months. Often AF don't translate well to a TV broadcast - this is the closest i've come to finding something that replicates how they sound live. Watching back their performances at Glastonbury this year and Reading a couple of years ago it doesn't even come close to what I heard being right at the front of the crowd - the energy in their performance and the atmosphere they create. I spent most of their set at Glasto last year embracing the guy stood next to me who I didn't even know, both hollering every word of every song and completely encapsulated in what was going on. When it was all over we just hugged and walked away! Also amazing to think that this was filmed 10 years ago and they're still one of the most creative and important acts in music today.

Thanks man. True, but as mentioned before Ron seems a bit more honourable than others. I think he'd get his head turned by one of the big boys (i.e. Champions League team) as any sane person would, but I can see him here for at least the duration of his contract otherwise.

Chris Morris is an absolute genius - him and Armando Iannuci are two of the finest comedic minds I think we'll see. The stuff that Andrist does is very unrefined and crass but I like that every once in a while. He doesn't do 'clever' comedy, sometimes you just need somebody to tell a d*ck joke or talk about betting on the Special Olympics for 5 minutes.

Does anyone know how long Ron is under contract for?

+2 Was incredibly annoyed with the Tapatalk update, the interface is awful and not very navigable at all. If you look at the reviews on the Play Store there are a lot of dissatisfied people so I imagine these issues will be rectified soon enough. Maybe even have a "classic" mode option to switch back to the old interface rather than the timeline?

I have a horrible feeling this will come back and bite me in the ar5e at some stage but I honestly think we'll get European football this season. If you look at the teams around us you can see some real weaknesses in their squads that aren't as evident as in ours. Clearly Chelsea and City are 1st and 2nd. Nothing's going to change that. Man Utd will probably get 3rd, Van Gaal will use their poor form as an excuse to sign more players. It's between us, Arsenal and Spurs for 4th now. Arsenal are a very good side, but if you take Sanchez out they don't really have much going forward. Welbeck, Giroud, Walcott and Chambo are good players but Sanchez has scored all their goals and provides most of their assists too. An injury to him could mean they slip away from the Top 4. Spurs similarly are a decent side all-round but they've only climbed back up the table because of Harry Kane. Again, an injury to him will mean they'll fall away as well because their other options up top just aren't good enough. You also look at the teams behind them - West Ham, Liverpool and Swansea and you don't see too much threat. West Ham and Swansea are good sides but they lack the quality to make an assault on the Top 4. Liverpool could potentially make the ground up if they can find goals from their strikers (especially with Sturridge coming back from injury), but at the moment they're not a threat to the Top 4. Either way it's going to be an interesting end to the season and I am so proud and happy with the efforts from the lads so far that however we do in the last 18 games this will be a season that lives long in my memory, and the memories of all Saints fans!

His act and the sub-genre of comedy he fits into is very polarising. Vulgar, controversial and taboo but I find it hilarious. Same with Frankie Boyle's stuff to an extent as well.

Very NSFW! Just discovered this guy recently, supported one of my favourites Doug Stanhope several times. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOopQQtalcY

If we're going to go for somebody versatile in defence, young and English I would rather see us go for Kyle Naughton. Swansea and Palace were interested in the summer but were told to pay £6m and baulked. That's a small price to pay for what he would provide for us in terms of cover at RB and LB so that we don't have to play other defenders out of position.

As I said in my post (the actual thrust of which you ignored) it may have something to do with the fact that many have been radicalised by extremists as a result of the turbulence caused by Western intervention in the Middle East. Being hit by drone strikes for the best part of a decade has led to a lot of anti-Western sentiment, which extremists have capitalised on and harnessed that anger into vengeance against those who have perpetrated this. Add that into a general feeling of persecution against Muslims worldwide since 9/11 and that can go towards brainwashing people into committing acts like this in the name of "retaliation".

That would suggest it's my main point. My main concern is obviously future events and the consequences this will have, but the main point in my post was addressing how this will reflect on the perception of Islam in the public eye. Either way, that's semantics.

Don't remember saying anything about a main concern or that i'm not concerned about future attacks. As usual you've done an excellent job at completely missing the point.

Agreed, don't understand why people are STILL giving him stick all these years later! His record in L1 was great, and for the first half of the Championship season he was one of our best players. Wish the bloke well in Chicago, should be a good player in the MLS.

Watched this story unfold on the TV at work today, absolutely horrific to see. I do worry that this is going to lead to more scaremongering and another lurch to the right both in France and globally though. People talk about Islam being responsible for these acts, and how it's a dangerous religion. There obviously is a problem with extremists within the Islamic faith, and that does need to be addressed. However, people are blaming the entire faith of Islam for the actions of these people, when in reality the people committing these acts have been radicalised by twisted words and by twisted people who have capitalised on the utter destruction and desolation caused in areas of the Middle East by Western intervention. We've failed to stop the influence of extremists in the region who have radicalised the gullible, the angry and those who have lost most of their lives to a needless war, and now we're seeing that seeping into our own back yards with acts like this. Very worrying stuff, but I dread to think of all the scaremongering stories about Islam that will come out of this. There have been atrocities committed in the name of many religions (including Christianity, as previously mentioned), but that doesn't make those atrocities representative of everybody associated.

Dzeko and Rickie Lambert in on loan for the rest of the season for squad cover if Gallagher gets injured.

Interesting spot that, I wasn't aware that he was on loan at Ajax. Seen him play for Poland and he didn't look much but didn't realise how young he was. Looks as if Ajax have a purchase option for the summer though so I think if they want him he'll probably end up signing for them. Might need another year or two at that level before making the jump to a Prem side though.

Watching Morgan mature into the classy, creative midfielder in the Championship season was glorious. I remember the boxing day game against Crystal Palace in 11/12 when he intercepted the ball on the edge of the area, turned and pinged a perfect 60 yard crossfield pass right onto Steve de Ridder's right boot. Given that it went to de Ridder nothing f*cking happened after he received the ball, but it was still a glorious moment for me and a sign of his potential.

Replay was my worst case scenario before the kick-off, we've got some really important league fixtures coming up that we need to be fresh for. Regarding the importance of cup competitions, I would love to see Saints win a cup in the next couple of years but we've got a great shot at European football which we just can't pass up - priority has to be the league this season. I understand why people place so much importance on the cup but getting into Europe is vital for the club's progression and I wouldn't want to throw away our league standing with a cup run when we'll probably end up going out to a L1 team in 2 rounds anyway!

Oh sorry, wrong fred. See how absorbing the Word Association game is Bear? Lighten up.

Anger

Keep your dirty bear paws off my Word Association thread, its success is one of my proudest achievements!

Thirded. Targett fell over and Fabregas tripped over his leg as he fell. Not a foul at all, although I think a yellow for diving was maybe a little harsh.