MAY-Z

And you can add to this the fact that the rumours and paper articles regarding our new manager seem to be more positive than feared so it does look like someone is planting the negativity

Not at all, with speculative markets like this were some people know the answer bookies are very defensive. They set these markets with very high percentages and reCt very quickly to small amounts of bets

What I would like to know is why do so many people on here think they have the right to demand how a very wealthy individual spends her money, how much more of it she spends and what she does to the assets it has been spent on. Yes it would be fantastic if all the players stayed together and more top quality players were added but it would probably take a commitment of 200million to get new players in, up the wages of the current players etc, and if she doesnt want to do that its her decision. whether or not Adam and Luke move on shouldnt stop people from supporting Southampton FC as there will still be 11 players on the field each week trying 100% (hopefully including cup ties) to get the best possible result and really that is all that matters, as unfortunately the world of top flight football isnt set up to be fair and equitable and give teams an even chance so just take happiness it whatever success is achieved

But there was one thing that was heavily in Cortese's favour when it came to delivering on actions. For the majority of his time at the helm we were one of (if not the most) attractive clubs for players looking to be at a club at that level. Whilst we were in league one I would suggest the level of wages plus the optimism of a very strong promotion challenge would've had us as the most attractive side to join. In the championship we still had strong funding and i would've thought only Leicester or West Ham would've been in a position to match wages/promotion aspirations based on the names in the squads. First season back in the premiership we again had decent funds available and of the newly promoted sides we would've easily been above Reading and catching some of the lower ranked established premier league teams. I think last season was one where we may have struggled a bit more to attract what we wanted (the Wanyama and Osvaldo deals bit were very drawn out and both gave the impression other options were preferred) In terms of losing players, as we rose through the leagues quite quickly our players didn't get the chance to firmly establish themselves as too good for their league and hence too good for us. The only player that appeared to be sought after and want out got his way. I would suggest whoever is/was in charge this summer would face the toughest test in retaining players as quite a few are becoming established premier league players with an increased reputation whilst playing for a club seen as inferior. One thing that may really work in our favour though is the value of some of these players might be a bit awkward as the biggest clubs would probably think they would be able to get better players for the money as maybe our players would not be walk up starts for the first team, thats a lot of money to spend on the bench. The value should be too high for other mid-table teams and we should be able to stay more attractive for the players who are already here. I really hope that the players do all stick together for at least one more season as chance to build a successful squad together don't come around that often and we aren't far off challenging for a top 6 spot. Given how much talking the board seem to be doing to us I would assume they are also talking to the players in a smiliar manner as they (the board) would appear quite foolish if everyone wants out after their public comments. So I think we have one season to really make a push at being a European side so here is hoping everyone at the club feels the same

I have every game televised in Australia since 2001, would be very keen to add to my collection if people have more games that I don't have

Why is there all always this myth that passing the ball around the middle of the park (mostly slowly) is playing well. We had 3 shots at goal for the entire match and not a single shot (either on or off target) after the 35th minute. That is not good play at all.

Unfortunately this is quite a common injury in Australian rules football There are plenty of players who recover fully and continue to play great football for a long period of time. There are also a few who seem to never fully recover and get this injury repeat a few times, but there would be many more successes than failures. The thing that concerns me is they are looking at a 6 month recovery, in AFL they take a minimum 12 months before players play again

Boruc may have reached it as his starting position would've probably been 1 step further out thus leaving less space for the cross and being a chance to reach the ball instead of flapping at fresh air. Really disappointing to be 2 down on balance of play

Practically every club loses players to a bigger more well funded club. Based on your why bother at all comment you may as well not bother with football anywhere in the world as the game is built on greed at almost every level. Without an extraordinary investment in the first team squad we might be able to sneak into 6th place and it would require a committed group of extremely loyal players to try and add to that which unfortunately is unlikely.

All slowly created chances, no speed in our forward ball movement

It's basically standard for every game we haven't win this season, we attack with painfully slow speed with so many backwards passes in our own half giving teams time to set up against us, opponents attack quickly and put us under pressure

It's pretty easy to defend when every attack comes straight down the middle, especially after a succession of backwards passes to give the defence time to get into position

70% second half possession 0% attacking tactics, any chance of us working the ball wide instead of straight down the middle everytime

I keep reading about how essential it is to keep MP but I ask this Would anyone swap our squad for any of the teams below us? I wouldn't so is he doing such a great job or not? I think we are better off with him than without but maybe it's not as integral as some people make it

Can clyne work forward adn take s davis' spot in?

Yep same with Chelsea games - teams seem to adjust at half time and we are clueless to stop it

I guess it doesn't matter now but I have just remembered a journo who does some reports on radio over here in Australia said about a month or so back that there was trouble with cortese - but his impression was it was more along the lines of people not liking how involved cortese was getting in everything as opposed to cortese being upset

Yes cos cortese is the only person in the world who knows how to run a football club

Interesting that both times this has got I to the media has been on the back of a run of poor form and with a transfer window in progress Last year we finished poorly then the story appeared, now we have slipped to 9th from 3rd and the story is out again.

Of our 18 shots only 3 came from inside the box - indicating that WBA were more than happy for us to have the ball and in the end the fact that they stayed in the game was because we lack an attacking instinct - especially before Ramirez came on

Nicely worked goal

Selected by the same person?

Completely correct - he could be required from any point in the game if an early injury occurs

Why on earth does MP keep dropping Fonte? Cost us win against villa by playing Yoshida and now has put us behind by picking Jos

Superb stuff - no less than what the last 20 minutes have deserved