Graffito

It's Merson. I think he may have been further adrift. Apparently the comment was about Plymouth. On the Bournemouth question, I think I'd feel a bit different if they started beating us regularly.

So JRod is finished is he? Puel said he expected we'd have more space in this game, and he was right. I expect Saints still to struggle to break down sides that defend deep. We have done so for the past 4 seasons. Nothing will change. All teams struggle with it, even those with much more quality on the ball than Saints. Puel said they would be prioritising forward play and finishing in preparation for this match and it looks like they did and it worked. Puel made another decisive substitution and it worked.

It does impress, when you see the fixtures presented like that, what a significant difference points won and lost due in part to match fatigue could make to final placings. Looks very good for Chelsea with the most rest and matches nicely spaced out and with their big squad and no euro matches. For the clubs with smaller squads and less rest, Christmas could be crucial to whether or not they stay up. We always knew this but it does bring home what a lottery fixture scheduling is. We can only trust that scheduling is entirely random but for the effect of televised matches. Only plus for Saints at the bottom of the table there is the later start to the Christmas campaign. You can see right there the 3 days off they've been given.

JRod scored the best sitter ever, against Palace a few seasons ago. Keep the faith.

Maybe no so bizarre. Last weekend I read that with Sanchez, having been converted to a striker and with Wellbeck coming back to fitness, Wenger was concerned about keeping all of his strikers happy. The article I read in the Times actually highlighted Giroud, who Wenger was saying he wanted to extend his contract but that he needed to decide whether he could deal with the competition. Perez is another that may not get a look in. And Wenger and Puel are mates. After all, Wenger let Claude win the quarter final.

Absolutely. I hope the players that were around last year remember what a poor performance it was and put it right on Sunday.

Not too concerned about that. It's another nothing article. It says "if" City's defensive problems continue over Christmas then City will "consider" making an "offer". So three conditions to Van Dyke going. 1. Their defensive problems may not continue. 2. They will "consider" making an offer (they may not make one). 3. If they make an offer, Saints may well reject it, probably would imo.

A good away point at Stoke and we'll still be last on MoTD.

12 clean sheets in 25 matches so far this season.

Papering over the cracks though? I don't think so. Too often this board's a pandemonium of parrots knee jerking off into cyberspace.

There is nothing unique about Saints recruitment. I'm reading "The Nowhere Men - The Unkown Story of Football's True Talent Spotters". Here's a quote: " He (James Smith, The Dugouts' Head of Recruitment) sees Borussia Dortmund as a more realistic role model: ‘They nearly went bust about five or six years ago because they overstretched. They’ve rebuilt with a team full of young players, all with good resale values. They recruited really cleverly, from Poland, Japan, South America, and won the Bundesliga. The next step involved the Champions League, which gave them the money to invest in slightly more expensive players. It’s like a virtuous circle as long as you can keep it going. It’s a great example of how to run a football club. They also produce top, top players from their academy. That leads to self-sufficiency. You have to accept that every year you might have to sell one, and that will fund a process of evolution. So you sell a player for fifteen and you buy three for five million each. The hope is one of those will be sold for fifteen in a year or two, and so it goes on. Everton can operate a bit like that in the Premier League because it is acknowledged and accepted that we haven’t got much money." Sounds familiar. So not unique but not a myth either. It's about recruitment being embedded in an organization which has a clear strategy and the ability to implement it over time. See this where Saints come out on top (Everton second). http://www.cityam.com/240359/forget-leicester-city-southampton-and-everton-are-a-better-bet-for-future-premier-league-success-according-to-new-management-index "Integration of core football values. Club managed as a complete system. Learning is everything. Strategic coherence. Clear and effective decision making". Get past the management speak and you may recognize a club that is operating along the right lines and giving itself the best chance of succeeding over time. Incidentally, there is another article linked to the above which places Saints at the top of those clubs producing the worlds highest paid players.

Hey lads. Anyone think that result just papered over the cracks?

The captain is a key link between the coaching team and the players and Fonte is a good leader and of course he hasn't played any EL football. Irrespective the rights and wrongs of Fonte's contract position the situation can only be detrimental to the squad. The onus is on the management team to resolve it.

Except that JWP put in two decent deliveries, the second of which should have been buried by Yoshida to take us through. Except that we didn't need another CB on in order to push VVD up front. In fact he should have gone up front 10 minutes earlier. Except that Sims and Redmond were equally ineffective.

What does the "E" stand for in UEFA?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35146716 Myth buster. That's my 3 posts done.

I haven't been able to read the Mail article in its entirety as it keeps crashing on my old iPad but they appear to be drawing conclusions from the failure of PL participants to qualify again for the EL in the following season. It may be there but what I didn't see is how the gems qualified for the EL in the first place. If it weren't through league position then maybe unlikely they'd achieve it through league position in the following season. See the attached myth buster (can't find the Times article due to firewall). I grant, there may be a distinction to be made between EL and CL and between squad sizes. But the Mail article looks like correlation not cause. Secondly, if Puel said that the problem is intensity and concentration, how can this be so when he makes so many changes? Surely those brought in are fresh. That's one of the reasons for rotation.

We've lost just one game immediately after the five EL ties played so far (Hull City) and three games immediately prior to EL ties. Of the games we lost prior to EL, Arsenal away was a good performance and a contested penalty winner and Chelsea was, well Chelsea. The stinkers have been Hull (after EL) and Crystal Palace (before EL). Whilst you cannot draw any firm conclusions from these stats I would suggest they do not provide any compelling evidence that European ties per se are a problem. This is borne out by stats over a longer period for several clubs as reported in the Times a few months ago. With Saints involved in all competitions, the finger is bound to be pointed at squad rotation. Rotation is necessary but may have its downsides in lack of continuity and momentum. It also has its positives. Won't list them but they are quite obvious, the best e.g being the opportunities afforded academy players. I think we can't identify as the culprit in isolation euro fixtures or rotation. There's probably a range of factors. I'd throw in two. Preparation time for matches is limited. E.g Thursday to Sunday before the loss at Hull and Wednesday to Saturday before the loss at Palace. Throw in traveling time and you don't have much time to prepare the team for the specific opponent. CP likes to play the same style irrespective of personnel but he is new to the PL and doesn't know the opposition. On the other hand our opponent is preparing to nullify us. Secondly, given the number and type of matches we are playing, are the players motivated for the likes of Hull and Palace (no disrespect but they are not the best)? Contrast with the up tempo performances against Everton (Koeman and post Prague rocket from the fans) and Arsenal (semi final at stake).

This competition is the best opportunity we have to win a trophy, especially if Arsenal play mostly reserves, so I'm hoping CP gives it some priority in team selection.

My only contribution to booing was Winkgate. Losing 4-1 at FP was the worst performance ever I witnessed by a Saints team. I didn't join in on Thursday but I understand why it happened and note the team had good support until the final whistle. Long's reaction was unacceptable. A goal from him today after coming off the bench would be appreciated.

Unless my memory is playing tricks, I have this image from last season's defeat by the dugouts of Lukaku giving Suarez a torrid time out on the flank. A complete mismatch. I wonder if Koeman will avoid VVD and Fonte and get Lukaku cutting in from the flanks or dragging one of them out of position for Barkely to fill the space. Lukaku and Barkely scored last season. Nonetheless, I'm expecting a reaction from Saints to the tepid performance in Prague and the fans reaction to it. If not, then the team lacks character and I think that's not the case, certainly not with Fonte and Romeu back in. Their leadership was sorely missed in Prague.

It's a bus booth and they sold us tickets so no need to use the machine.

I'm not so sure the game plan was to sit back and play for a draw. I think Saints just didn't have the same quality in midfield that Liverpool has. As a consequence, Saints never created a platform from which to create chances. I also thought Liverpool were really good when they didn't have the ball, closing down quickly and turning us over.

Liverpool beat palace 2-4. Pardew put that down, in part, to palace sitting back and allowing Liverpool to attack. The point is Liverpool are strong in attack and much weaker in defence. Putting as much pressure as possible on their defence seems like a sensible game plan, especially if a Lallana and Coutinho are out.

So Shearer and Murphy think Hull thoroughly deserved the result. Well I thought they were one of the worst sides I've seen in a long time. We brought the result on ourselves. They were entitled to the win by virtue of their two goals to our one but they didn't deserve it.