Brussels Saint

"Hey Punch...........is it like this that Roasting you keep talking about.........I'm getting it.....right?...............what!........you need to be at the other end too.........seriously?.................Bloody Hell!"

Considering recent form, I suspect we will all grow to love Pochettino as he drives us forward to the brink of Europe on the back of 7 wins in 10 games. At which point Cortese will fire him via a Jordan Sibley tweet and replace him with the Deep Blue supercomputer. Despite the history of Pardew & Adkins, the fanbase will be shocked, angered and surprised with all and sundry disgusted at the behaviour of NC. Deep Blue however then engineers a 5-1 defeat of Man U at old trafford finalsing 4th place at the expense of Mourinho's Chelsea. DB is hailed in the press as the 7 trillion byte one. Asked for his reaction Cortese simply states "If we do not beat Barcelona next season, I will unplug him"

What drives me mental is that many fans of other clubs compare him to Grant Holt and view them as similar types of player. Personally I think he's actually quite close to Teddy Sheringham in style and becoming more so. Interesting to see how under MP JayRod is often now the furthest forward.

Something else that just occured to me, was that both MS and Cork were fairly quiet today. Not being critical, just think it was a result of Reading deciding midfield was an unnessecary distraction.

Good performance against a very poor side. No doubt there is something about this team which is fairly special. Turning that x factor they have developed under Pochettino into results which is pleasing. Still not that comfortable in central defence from set plays, but in the open play both CB's are comfortable. Great movement and interplay between JayRod, Lambert & Gaston. Gaston does frustrate a bit, but he is still effective and dangerous which will improve further under MP. For me its the vision he has to play passes which you dont even realise are there. He needs to only improve the decision making as currently too many times its the wrong choice. I would still rather have a player who can see those goal creating moments and takes risks than one who does not. Whatever MP has done for JayRod is remarkable......what a player this guy is going to be. Lambert, understated class again. Finally........ Boruc........Legend A good day.

It's not that complex. Nige was and is a great manager. Did an excellent job for Saints and always seemed both decent and honest. Pochettino appears a step up in quality. (tbc) Cortese knows what he's doing.

Cheers MLG........how did I miss that..........I'm on here everyday FFS!

2 things I was not aware of: 1, Cortese saying the new 5 Year Plan is Champions League qualification 2, Punch signing a new long term contract Did those 2 things happen or is it journalist speculation?

Spot on for me (except I would add signing Boruc) in the following order of priority: Boruc 1 x Top Class CB (major signing 8-12m) RB (1-2m squad player) Attacking/Wide player (I'm not convinced its a 100% priority, but if Punch is on the way, it would need to be someone better than him so 5-6m or 10m for a real improvement) DM (3m - JWP only real DM cover and I'm not 100% sure he is ready for that job yet. Don't see Davis as a DM) Can we afford the 27m needed for that lot especially when its unlikely we will get much from sales? Possibly with the new Sky deal and if those coming in have asset value like JayRod or Gaston.

I think this is quite accurate when it comes Portsmouth. I think you have to really be from Southampton to truely hate them. I grew up in Cornwall and have never even lived anyway near Southampton, just travelled for the games and as such "hate" them because I have to rather than it being driven from a real local rivalry. Having said that I do hold them in utter contempt not due to being a Saints fan, but just the disgusting way they have run their club, cheated their way to success and not even had the good grace to realise the damage it does to the game........I really hope they fecking die. Not too many other clubs I dislike and although I quite like the club, Liverpool fans drive me mental..........utterly deluded.

I wonder if we get too precious about the prospect of transfers being not always 100% a managers decision. I used to be of the old school British view that the manager should have complete control of this as he lives and dies by the results. Recently though I wonder if the continental view of the "club" deciding on transfers, as being a better way forward. This does not mean a manager (or as now seems more appropriate Head Coach) does not have his say, but is just one voice in the transfer committee. When it comes to making such huge investments it would seem crazy in any other business for 1 man only to make those choices. I think British football is changing a lot in the way its clubs are being run and the likes of a Fergie or Wenger having such control over an entire club is a dying breed. I say embrace the committee as I suspect we will still get duds to complain about and gems to celebrate....pretty much as we had always......the difference now is we can have more fun trying to identify who is behind which signing. NC has his supporters and there are those claiming the influence of either NA or MP, but who out there will be Les Reed's flag waver.....come on I heard it on good authority that he alone pushed for Jack Cork when everyone else was against .... (That last bit was slightly made up)

Honestly, I don't think its about this season, it was about planning for the next. MP has more preparation with the team with half a season and full pre-season rather than the upheaval of manager change in the summer. I'm sure NC does not care if we come 15th or 17th this season, its about preparation for the next stage. The more I think about it, I don't think NA was ever in the frame seriously for the long term in the prem, his job was simply to get us up. The risk taken of course is relegation due to a mid season change and this is where NC gets judged. We go down and it was a monumentally bad decision, stay up and it was the right one. We will only know in a few weeks!

Adkins was great and really fitted with Southampton, I think most of us are quite proud and thankful to him for what he achieved. MP however does appear to be a step up and next season we will really be able to judge and I for one cannot wait. The timing of the change is perhaps the only question. If we are relegated NC made a huge error, but if not, once again he is proved right. Giving MP half a season and a full pre-season sets up next year, much better than upheaval during the summer. Ruthless yes, balls yes......fine to make those decisions, but you have to be right. My guess is the right decision was made, which is sad for the man who most of us were pretty fond of, but we will see in the next few weeks. As an aside, thinking back to some of his interviews, I'm pretty sure Adkins understood the game he was in and knew he was not in the long term plans of Cortese for the future of the team.

Exactly! Excellent work .......... and you gave yourself -1 for watching the one show. Personally I find it mesmerising, however I do live in Belgium.

I like them toasted and simply buttered with a high raisen content.

You just made me smile GS, so thought it worth a response. As you ask a reasonable question however, I'll also try to explain my thoughts better. I think Guly gives the side certain presence when he is in it. He's combative and skilled enough to add value. Correct, he has not had stand out moments, but I believe the game is more complex than that. I also think both NA and MP see something in him and not just in training, or why carry on playing him if during games he is not performing as expected. My point is that even if I disagreed, I understand I know less about players and the game than NA and MP do and I don't think all of us get that. Fine to vent and give opinion, but to keep pressing the same view makes it look like there is a lack of self awareness concerning our own football knowledge.

Alex Jones is filthy to be fair.........I know very little about pandas however........have i strayed slightly off topic......is this allowed in the muppet show?

This really is some excellent trolling (you are at the peak of your game!).....and just because you made me smile, I'll give you a bite for fun. As I alluded to earlier, are you Glasgow Saint a better judge of Guly's ability/worth as a footballer than NA & MP, both of whom have involved him in PL games this season, despite having other alternatives? I'm certainly not and happy to admit it.

268 of you! Such a shame this was not one of those public polls. This was in the days when Morgan was considered lightweight, unable to tackle, a hollywood passing showboater and definitely not a defensive midfielder! (Not accurate IMO even in those days) I know he has come on a bit since then, but still 268 of us chose Wotton! Interestingly around the same time another poll was conducted asking to define the most important element of a teams success and also 47% responded "get it forward/run around a lot........."

I have honestly not seen Guly enough to really make a fair appraisal, but the times I have he's put in between a 6 and a 7 out of 10 performance, so not bad. What I don't get is though that clearly Adkins liked him a lot and played him often. Likewise MP rates him enough to involve him off the bench when other options are available. Surely those of you knocking him, must admit that both NA and MP know much more about football than you do and as such surely he cannot be as bad as you are making out? The logic and reality of both managers handling of Guly points to them understanding he is a good player.

Ok so 4000+ for the PL. Have to admit I'm quite surprised its that high. Not a bad effort all told.

Just out of interest, what was it last year? Would be interesting to see the difference the PL makes simply on numbers through the gate despite the hike in prices.

I actually think we will lose at Reading, but wins against WBA and West Ham alongside draws v Chelsea, Swansea and Stoke will see us home.

The best value good red wine available is Argentine Malbec from the Uco Valley. Aside from that, you do genuinely have to pay, so look out for Shiraz from the New World for 12-15 quid a bottle, more if you can afford it. Buy young big beefy French reds from Pessac or the like for a similar price and dont drink them for a few years......hard I know, but I promise its worth it. Now after all that wine toss, I also recently drank a Portugese red from a box and it was cheap but brilliant, so what the feck do I really know! Finally those of you nominating good white from NZ.........spot on..........best in the world and often spectacular, but not cheap.......apologies, more wine toss at the end there.

Pap, I think you are probably right in terms of how it should/could be done to create the perfect system. Problem is, there is a fundamental issue.........us.......human beings...........we are jealous, greedy, self centred, competitive and focused on our local environment. Capitalism is what gets the best out of us with all those flaws. Ultimately as a people we are better at pragmatism than idealism.