St Marco

This was his comments he was fined for 'Southampton, and especially the fans, have been brilliant to me ever since I broke into the first team, now I feel I'm ready to play in the Premier League". That doesn't quite suggest he was going on strike or whatever does it? The thing is at that time we were in league one. I think most people can understand wanting to play at the top level. To not say you want to play in the main league would be strange to me. It is a shame it was not with us but I don't recall him acting all selfish about it. We didn't let him go easily, we made it clear it was our terms and if they wanted him this is what they had to pay. £15m for a third division player was a pretty good deal I felt at the time. Of course to get him back would probably cost us double that now.

I don't remember him doing that. I remember his dad doing things like that?

And the old company which helped raise him and gave him the chance would welcome that person back with open arms? In a way you are right, football is a business and people within those businesses want to be at the top. That is ambition and there is nothing wrong with that. However it is the way you go about it. If someone said to me in my company they want to leave to a bigger firm and wont do anymore work for me while they are still being paid by me I don't think I would be too happy about that. Especially if it was one of my senior members who I had invested a lot of time and money pushing them into a position to play a major role at the company. But if someone came to me and said they wanted to progress, they appreciate everything we did for them. They will work hard until notice is served and acted with respect then I would let them go with my blessing and hope they succeed in their new company. They would always be welcome there. In my life not once have I ever seen someone do it Adams way. He messed up, he was probably blinded by the money and the bad advice he was given. If he went about leaving in the right way as others have i.e Bale, Walcott, OX, Lambo etc then nobody would have blamed him or had a problem with him. If you go about forcing your way out of something and expect there to be no reaction from those you walked over to do it then you have to be pretty naïve in my opinion.

"Loved my time there, fans were always amazing to me. Great to see them doing so well. I had to move as I wanted to play CL football. Saints will always be in my heart" and all the other clichéd lines people bring out when they leave a club and come back to play against them. The difference is Adam acted like a spoilt brat and threw his toys out the pram when he couldn't get his own way. I am more then happy to read what he has to say, doesn't mean I will believe any of it.

Of course its an important game.... We can go 7 points clear of a team going for 4th place or we can go to 1 point ahead of them. But what is more important is we need to get back to winning ways and sort ourselves out. If we keep playing the way we have in our last 3 games we will slide down the table very quickly. It is about momentum and while a loss does not mean we are out of the race for 4th it will make it a lot harder. If we win we have the buffer to mess up two games and still be ahead of them. Add to that the ex players who all left to play CL it will make winning even more sweeter.

Totally agree. I gave him and the board some stick in the summer for the exodus but they have handled it well and we have come through a negative period quite quickly. He seems like a nice guy who genuinely likes the club and those involved in it. I just hope whatever happens now he and the board have learned from last summer and won't repeat it again. They stood up to a couple of players wanting out and they may have to do that again. Being nice is one thing but to succeed sometimes you need that ruthlessness and the balls to say no.

Just had a look. Ossie the headbutter has 3 goals from 13 game and Longnaldo has 2 goals from 21 games.

Think Osvaldo has still got more league goals than Long?

I am not moaning, far from it. I am highlighting one of the areas I believe we can improve upon. JWP has a great cross on him when he has the ball in play. I don't think he has as good a cross from set pieces. Or at shooting. That is my opinion. Does that mean I think JWP is not capable of improving on that? Of course not, he has the potential to do that very well. But if we had a specialist in the team or if Lambert was still here I don't think people would complain that JWP was not taking the free kicks. As I said personally I would let someone else take the free kicks that are just outside the box.

I am all for opinion and respect yours. But to try and imply he is some set piece specialist as you are surely he would have actually scored from some of them to be classified as that? Or had some assists from them? The stats don't quite back up your claim. As I said above which people seem to have taken the wrong way for our club to progress into a top 4 side and stay there we will need more goals from midfield and score more from set pieces. Not sure how saying that is "stupid" exactly? Since Lambert left we have not got someone who can score goals from free kicks, is that not true? Most clubs have a player who can score free kicks. Gerrard, Ericksen, Rooney, Toure etc. As I pointed out we are 4th bottom in terms of set pieces. So you are saying that isn't JWP fault as he is awesome and get's it right every time. So who's fault is it?

A lot of the time they do yes. 7% of his chances created came from corners and 8% from free kicks. 50% from passes from the middle. Those stats don't mean he is not good etc they just show that from set pieces we have not created many chances at goal.

Was at the game and thought the game passed him by again. But the same can be said of others. As I said before he lacks a lot of qualities needed to play that position. He has no pace, no trickery to get away from tackles, no strength to keep players away from the ball. His main ability is passing which he can be very good at. But to play that role you need a lot more than that. He has a lot of heart and desire and I don't mean to be critical of him as he has contributed to where we are right now. But if we are aiming to progress then we will need a midfield dynamo who can do more than pass. Need someone who can contribute 10 goals a season, create 10-15 goals a season. Someone who can run at players with confidence and find that killer ball to unlock defences. That sadly is JWP position and he can't do that. My main gripe though with him is his set pieces. Mainly corners and free kicks out on the side. So many times it goes straight to the first person which is so annoying. To throw in a stat we have only scored 4 goals from set pieces all season. That would put us 16th in a table of goals scored from set pieces. Even ramping up that percentage by 25% would make a big difference. I would personally start letting others take the set pieces.

Or it will be one of our loan guys becoming permanent i.e Toby/Bertrand

Couldn't disagree more to be honest. I think every free kick and corner he took today was wasted. I think I counted 4 times at least where he hit the ball into the box and went straight to their keeper. JWP will be a very good player in time and the more he plays the more he gets experience. But even now I am not sure what position he will be. He lacks pace so won't be a winger. His shooting is terrible so won't be a striker. He doesn't have great strength to hussle people off the ball so won't be a defensive midfielder or defender. Which leaves a creative midfielder. To play that role in the PL you have to be pretty damn amazing. Look at other guys who play there for other teams. You got Fabragas, Oscar, Cazorla, Di Maria, Da Silva, Ericksen, Toure and so on. These are top class players. The one attribute these types of players have over JWP is the ability to add in with the goals. For JWP to keep his place in the squad he needs to start scoring goals too. And based on his shooting so far I wonder if he can do that.

Was at the game and thought I would calm down before posting. I think today we were unlucky not to win and in no way deserved to lose. However that type of game has happened a few times this season already. Burnley, Ipswich (home) Villa, Spurs and West Brom off the top of my head. It is something we have a problem with. And that is turning possession into chances and ultimately goals. If we take away the Sunderland result our goals for is not very good. In fact it would be around mid-table in regards to goals scored. The problem we have is we control the ball very well around the half way mark and just inside the opponents half. But when it comes to that final third we have no pace to get behind the defence, no creativity with the ball. Too many times we get to a point where we try a lob or a cross for Pelle and it goes either too far in front of him or straight to their keeper. Its like we get to that final part and don't know what to do. It is easy to keep the ball, its what you do with it that hurts your opponent that matters. We don't do that enough. Swansea showed us today as have others that you don't need the ball all the time to win games. But when you do have it be direct and try and put the other team on the back foot. When you create an opening take a shot. We don't do that. We try and pass it into the net which just isn't going to happen. We really are crying out for that midfield player who will run at players and take a shot from outside the box. We are set up way too defensively in my opinion as I said earlier in the season. Our other problem is set pieces. The quality of delivery has been woeful at times. If JWP is having a bad game as he was today then let someone else have a go. I don't see the point in persisting with the same taker if it isn't working. I think every corner/free kick was wasted today. I even saw Pelle shout at Prowse after he crossed straight to their keeper from a free kick. It must be frustrating for those guys who get forward only have to run back straight away. Another issue I feel is Forster. As I mentioned before he seems to suffer a lack of focus at times. Maybe that is from not being involved for long periods of the game. But he should of done better with their goal in my opinion. So its not the end of the world far from it. But it highlights the flaws our team has. We need to bring in a fast up front player, not put them out on the wing. We have to come up with ways of getting the ball forward faster rather then hoping to pass the ball through their entire team. I also think we lack a plan B. If one way is not working seems silly to keep trying it.

“Osvaldo was at the training ground today. I saw him" - Mancini Quality football player. The goal against Citeh shows that. Still has more PL goals then Long who cost just as much in far fewer games. That said however he is a total nutcase and nowhere near a team player (as Long is). Sometimes genius is one step away from madness and we would be stupid to bring him back right now. Even if it means taking a huge financial hit I think it is better to write it off than have the potential ****storm that could happen if he returned. It could potentially destroy our confidence. Give him to QPR on the condition he can't play against us and if they stay up they give us £5m. No loan deal just get rid of him once and for all.

The second guy makes a lot of sense. But sadly the middle guy is how the majority of them think. All they have to feel positive about is the memories of days gone by. Days which were over 60 years ago. The here and now is more important and as someone once said you are only as good as your league position. The only stat they need to care about imo is since 1992 we have played 604 top flight games. They have played 266. We are pretty much guaranteed to put another 50 to that list whilst they will be very fortunate to add to theirs within the next decade.

I think you have to be very naïve to believe that. While it is true you cannot blame a whole group of people based on the actions of a few, you can however look at the details in those actions and find out why they happen and ask if the people around the religion are doing enough to prevent these types of attacks? Personally I don't think so. If so called Christians went around beheading people do you think the church would support that or condemn it? It seems to me there is an ever increasing amount of these types of attacks and you could argue they are being committed by people who have been taken into these countries by way of Asylum etc. This is why I believe in stricter immigration rules. It isn't about being racist it is about knowing who you have actually invited to come live here. What dangers they could bring. Its common sense not racism. The sad fact is when these things happen it demonises a whole group of people which is wrong. But those people could do more to prevent these things. It isn't an isolated nut job going about it i.e Brevik, it is a lot of people who honestly believe they are doing something that will gain them favour with their religion. These brain washed people need to realise they are not doing gods work, they are murderers pure and simple. And whether you like the fact or not it seems to be coming from people hiding behind the Islam banner.

Like I say it will be interesting to see who is picked. Especially as both managers yesterday talked up the importance of the cup and wanting to go on a run in it.

Spend a lot of time in the states and my missus is American. If I have learnt one thing from my time there around them it is that the majority don't want guns to be available in its current state, at least the ones I talk to. The problem is if something is on sale than people are going to buy it. There is no need to have military grade weapons available to the public i.e AR rifles. Things will never change though when you have many who believe in Republican ideals of the right to bare arms etc. They will reject anything that looks like infringing on the second amendment. Even if to most people it is common sense that things change and make obtaining them stricter. Slowly though I think more of them are waking up and new laws on how guns are sold might come in eventually.

Looking forward to this game and expect both teams to put out their strongest line ups. There are a few Saints connections with Ipswich players which should be interesting. Mings is someone we let go from our academy so will want to prove himself. Bart in goal and then there is Mcgoldrick. I would of called him Mcgoaldrought but he seems to be doing alright at Ipswich these days. Basically a goal every other game for them. I am mostly looking forward to watching their nipper Teddy Bishop. Seems to be a lot of interest in him from the big clubs so shall be interesting to see how he does.

Woah calm down there friend. Firstly I was at yesterdays game and go to most away games. Don't do the whole "go watch him play" thing because that is stupid. Like I said I was not slating him just pointing out a statistic. If you read it you will see it says 'Taking players on'. I guess that means having the ball at your feet and running at someone with it? Could be wrong but to me that is what I consider taking someone on. So he might well be most of those things you mention, but he isn't someone who has the ability to go past players with the ball and keep it under control. He doesn't have the quickness of feet that others have ala Mane. Long has done alright for us, did great vs Everton. But whoever was in that position would be expected to do as well or better. Question is when players return i.e Jay will what Long has to offer suffice or will he fall further down the starting pecking order?

Can't be arsed to get into an argument but thought I would throw out a statistic that is pretty interesting. Long has had 19 dribbles at other players and has succeeded just twice, that is an 89% failure rating in regards to running at people. http://www.squawka.com/players/shane-long/stats#avg.-duels-won#southampton-(current)#english-barclays-premier-league#8#season-2014/2015#126#all-matches#1-18#type In contrast Mane has won 53% of his. I am not slating the guy just pointing out he isn't known for taking on players as some have mentioned above.

Turf Moor is a tough place to go? How does he figure that one out? They have only one win there in almost 5 months.... Everywhere is a tough place to go, there are no easy games in the PL. That is just a generic response from the idiot.

Thought we played alright at times. We were better then them and didn't deserve to lose. But something about the team just isn't right. Maybe we have too many people behind the ball and having only Pelle up front is not helping. Yoshida and Wanyama had very good games I felt. Long on the other hand was just awful. He had countless chances and fluffed them badly. That is the difference between a quality player and an average one. If they fell to anyone else I think they would of scored. In the window we really need a good crosser/dribbler to go out on the right wing who can take players on and cause problems for the defences if we cant get Jay back playing. Long is more of a run back and harass the ball type player. Which isn't what we need. We need someone who can get the ball, keep it and then create something with it. Mane can dribble with the ball, he took on the defence when he could. But his end product is very poor. If he can work on it he will come good.