corky morris

Disappointing!

Forster kicks with both feet. The defence trust him. That's why we miss him.

His kick for the second surrendered possession which caught the whole defence out. Kicking the ball straight rather than fluffing it is what more he could do!

Just back, we were very poor. Both goals came from mistakes. Davis **** out for the first & Gazza's kick gave away possession for the second. Wanyama was terrible. Davis has performed so badly recently I reckon he must be injured. Gazza has to leave in the summer. Ref's have made their mind up about Mane & all he does in keeps doing is falling over to confirm their opinion. I have read people criticise RK for taking him off because he is our only attacking option. Today I would have taken him off as he was very poor. Been to all the games recently & think by playing Mane behind Pelle we have list our midfield edge. When we had Morgan, Vic, Davis in the middle & Tadic & Long/Mane wide we were much harder to beat, but started to find scoring difficult. If it were me I would revert to that formation. Cork walks into this team at the moment. Only positive today was Reed. He gave everything. Looks like we don't care............which is very very sad after what we have achieved & could have been.

Pat Murphy is a decent journo. He backs the Midlands clubs all the time. I think he stood up for a junior journo as he thought he had been bullied. Pearson does not come out of that interview well. Pearson has not managed his behaviour well on a number of occasions this season & it has caught up with him. I understand why he has been frustrated as they have been on the end of a number of dodgy refereeing decisions (haven't we all!) & he needs all the points he can get. Great watching though!!

He has been top top quality for a long time. I remember saying to VFTT when we were in Div 1 just how good a player he was/is! Hope its not the last time he plays for Saints!!! If he leaves, has to be at least £25m!!

I have no issue criticising Davis for his finishing, but the rest of his play today was excellent. Much much better than JWP! Who by the way has mussed some sitters too this season. Thought it was a mistake to start with 4 central midfielders, but Tadic was very very poor last week so I can understand why he was dropped. We were better than last week by a long way. Mane needs to stop going over so easily. It will cost us in the long run. Disappointed not to win. Personally I think Wanyama replaces Yoshida & Long replaces JWP next week.

Fans around me today slaughtered him at every opportunity. His fault for the 2nd glial IMHO. His touch which lead to the free kick was very poor. However, Tadic was a lot worse today & he gets away with it!

Been back a while. Thought Pelle, Mane, Davis & in particular Tadic were poor today. Think Koeman got the formation wrong. They had 5 in midfield & if it were not for the outstanding Morgan we would have been beaten worse. I said in the pre match thread I thought Reed would have been perfect for this game. The worst of the lot................Clattenburg! Have we ever won when he has refereed? How did we get 4 bookings & them none at all? The inconsistency is amazing. Very disappointed..................

In Leeds today with a client who suggested Sam Byram is Clynes replacement. Can I validate that in anyway or provide a source? No. He acts for a number of Leeds players though. Also talk of an U21 going on loan to them. Either Gallagher, Isgrove or Stephens.

I fancy some of that too Dave!

Finishing 7th (63pts) with QPR, Hull & Sunderland going down. Pos Team Pld GD Pts 1 Chelsea 38 43 84 2 Arsenal 38 42 80 3 Man City 38 36 75 4 Man Utd 38 34 75 5 Liverpool 38 20 73 6 Tottenham 38 9 64 7 Southampton 38 22 63 8 Swansea 38 -3 52 9 C Palace 38 1 51 10 Stoke 38 -4 49 11 Everton 38 -1 47 12 West Ham 38 -1 46 13 Aston Villa 38 -19 42 14 Newcastle 38 -23 38 15 West Brom 38 -26 35 16 Leicester 38 -18 34 17 Burnley 38 -26 33 18 QPR 38 -24 32 19 Hull 38 -26 31 20 Sunderland 38 -36 30

Personally would play Reed above JWP. Stoke press & niggle. IMHO Reed is better at that than JWP. Davis Toby, Fonte, Yoshi, Ryan Morgan, Davis, Reed Mane, Long, Pelle Think Clyne is outstanding, but don't think his comments recently have helped the team so would continue with Toby at RB.

I have seen Deeney quite a bit. Personally not a big fan. His attitude to team mates in games has been poor. Constantly blaming & finger pointing. I don't like that at all. Certainly a punt or a long shot, but I would take a look at Murphy at Sheffield U. Think he would be a great squad player. Struggling with quality right back replacement for Clyne. Toby is so good I don't think we could get anywhere near as good a player. In terms of strikers. I don't think Austin likes playing the role Pelle plays preferring to play off another striker so not sure that fits. Would imagine more Dutch league players.

For today's game, see West Ham (home), WBA (home & away), Swansea (home), Burnley (away), Liverpool (home)...........some games you can get a sixth sense & know we ain't gonna score.........today is the same!

I had the very same tear. It is very very painful & incredibly difficult to fix. Its a very small muscle, but intrinsic in keeping all the others aligned. Problem is trying to rehabilitate it. You have to strengthen all the muscles around it, but that in itself wont fix the problem. Subsequent to that I have had an Achilles tear. The patella injury was after cartlidge surgery. Its all connected. My view is, is that the 9 to 12 months sounds about right. POO!!!

Agree with that apart from Tadic who I would replace with Elia.

Fonte Bertrand Clyne Are mine in order. But want to chuck out a most improved player & would say that's Yoshida.

Just back from the game. We couldn't hit a barn door from a yard! Tadic in the team is like playing with ten. Pelles confidence is shot. Mane was poo, but still better than Tadic. We are way to slow to counter. We have forgotten how to get behind a team. When Bertrand did Pelle missed a sitter. Typical Pullis team ball over the top to quick strikers & make the most of set plays. Dowd shocking in first half. Why don't we score goals like Coutinho & Berahino do? Time wasting like never before. Dowd kept telling them, but never booked any of them. Craig Gardner is a nasty ****. How he didn't even give a free kick for the foul on Clyne is beyond me. Every time Gardner got chance he followed through. Hate him! Really fed up with Saints at the moment. Where's the plan B?

Another vote for The Vine.

I have not heard about this one. I was at OT last week working & am at Carrington with my youngest on Sunday. I will see what I can find out. Sometimes the tongue in cheek questions get the best answers. Equally I could be told buggar all!!!! I do know however that they have watched Clyne for many years. Even prior to joining Saints.

So basically you are also suggesting the player should go to ground?!

Im genuinely interested. When can you think of an example where a player has made an attempt to stay on his feet when fouled, but does not score & the referee then gives a penalty. I cant think of any. Maybe there are lots??? Yes, I have seen the odd one mid pitch when a ball is lost, but if a player shoots & fails to score the referee rarely goes back to the original foul.

The things evening out are complete nonsense! By him not giving a blatant penalty in the 4th minute it changes the game completely. If we score the emphasis changes of both teams. Friend constantly made poor decisions. The Cann hack on Clyne was a yellow card every day. Almost as bad as the Keane challenge on Hesketh at Burnley that went unpunished. How did Ward not suffer for the foul on Long in the Cup? I can go on & on. The point being, things don't even themselves out. There is no evidence to prove it. If you look at the stats produced by the Torygraph I think it was, The big teams are favoured by referees. They get more decisions, more importantly more of the 50/50's. They were saying Rooney was right to go down against Preston even without contact because of the intent. They then say players have to go down because if they try to stay on their feet & lose the ball the referees never return back to the foul, particularly if the foul results in a penalty. So a player has a choice, go down or maybe, just maybe he might be able to reach the ball & score. The issue is even bigger in junior football. Referee's have told me that if a player stays on his feet & carries on its no free kick even if he is fouled. If he goes down, its a free kick. Basically football is encouraging players to go to ground. The managers at various age groups at an academy my lads are at tells the lads to go to ground. All of the managers do!!!! Referees, fans, managers, & the media moan about it when it goes against them, but encourage it if they can get an advantage. IMHO Friend does not give the second because he thinks Djuricic goes down to easy. He sets a precedent & lets Liverpool get away with many poor challenges before booking Wanyama. Total inconsistency!

Really looking forward to this one. I can leave at 1.30pm & get there after the kids football!!! Id go Fraser Fonte, Alderweireld, Yoshida Clyne, Bertrand Wanyama, Morgan, Reed Elia Pelle Subs - Davis, JWP. Djuricic, Mane, Tadic, Long, Targett WBA look to get in behind & use the channels, typical Pullis side. We nee to press high & be patient. Pelle is the best CF we have, to drop him would be a mistake imho. Can see a 2-1 Saints win!