Lallana's Left Peg

Reports suggest she wants to sell the club.

As long as this lad is back doing his thing we'll be ok: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5G6vE_NAoE

I don't think he wants to leave so on that basis it is just disappointing that he feels that to get whatever he wants he has to play this out in the public. Given Pochettino's future seems to go with Cortese's, I've pretty much written off this weekends game as there is no way the coaching staff and players won't be negatively impacted.

Given the clubs recent PR strategy in terms of buddying up with journalists and 'leaking' stories to them, I would suggest an amateurish approach fits right in with recent events.

There could be, but then, why make it so public at this stage of the season? Why not recruit his replacement privately and deal with it in a private manner? One day Cortese will move on but in the space of a few weeks we've gone from a Ben Smith article praising Cortese for everything at Southampton to a news piece saying he could be on his way. For me, this is another bout of public posturing by Cortese - we just need to find out what his objective is. Does he want a better salary? Does he want more money for transfers? Is he trying to scare the owners a bit because he has heard they may replace him? I would be thoroughly disappointed in him if he was leaking genuine information about his future to the press. He should know what impact this has on the club and to do it with half a season remaining is very stupid and he isn't a stupid man. For that reason I think there is an ulterior motive - and that this has happened with a few weeks of the transfer window remaining may not be a coincidence.

Ben Smith is one of those journalists the club works with on things. That they are using him with this story makes me think they don't mind this story being 'out there'. I'll wait and see what happens but even if there is some credibility to the story that Ben Smith is involved in the story suggests to me that there may be ulterior motives.

He is on a massive amount at Wolfsburg and I would imagine Santos can pull together a very lucrative deal as well with the use of sponsorship. If he is willing to join a club for the amount of money that Saints would offer I would imagine he would have the option of joining a more attractive club than Saints. Got a feeling we'd be interested given he wouldn't command a transfer fee in the summer but he is a step too far for us at this stage.

People forget that Lee was preferred over Sharp for a run of games before he got injured. I'm not saying he was much good for Saints over the term of his stay however he still made a contribution to a team that got promoted and enabled the club to secure the Premier League money as well. You can focus on how much he earned as much as you want but compared to club income now it's been justified. Makes sense to let him go early if his spot in the pecking order has been taken by Gallagher.

I don't think we can as I don't think we'll be able to keep key players together for long enough to create a charge. Our other issue will be FFP which maintains the status quo and is another barrier to entry. However, if a circumstance exists where several clubs have an off season we could always pounce - that said, it seemed this season is ideal and we're just going to fall short from the strength of our squad rather than the strength of our team.

Still plenty to look forward to given the age of most of our players. We'd like to think they haven't reached their potential yet, so to sit in this position with the best to come is a privilege even if the last few months have been rough.

Here you go: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x19jkjp_all-goals-southampton-1-0-west-bromwich-11-01-2014-highlights_sport?search_algo=1 I still think the ball was meant around the corner for Rickie, especially when you see the way Ramirez rolled out after playing it but whatever, it doesn't matter.

Having now seen the goal I think Ramirez's pass was supposed to be around the corner for Lambert but it doesn't matter

Created a nice little gap with teams below us now.

Seem to remember he was a boo-boy for a period of his time here.

I don't think we're copying that system to the degree some think we are. But we definitely have a squad where our replacements in some positions are nowhere near as good as the first choice player. That is always going to happen when you make as much progress as we have in the last 5 years. But whatever we've done tactically thus far has clearly served us well as the only clubs above us in the league are those who spend far more on wages, have bigger squads, and better teams. I am sure we will look to bridge that gap through developing the players we have and where some aren't up to it, seeing them replaced over time.

You think that is what we aim for?

What do you think our system is?

I think he has great movement but a bit like Hooper it's not anywhere else but around the box. The challenge with Rhodes is that the sort of teams that might take a punt on him need far more from their striker as they may have less than the ball than their opponents. If you look at Hooper and Norwich, they only get the best out of him when he has a partner (Elmander) and Elmander doesn't score but he has to take the burden of running the channels etc. as Hooper doesn't do it. But then if Norwich shove two up front they lose the extra man in midfield which causes them problems too. I think he has Premier League quality but I can't see a team taking a chance on him unless he is available for below £5m - like Hooper, and even then his potential destinations are minimal.

Surprised to see the goals conceded rank so high after the last 6 weeks. However, time to push on now and cement that top half finish and make sure if a team above us are going to slip up that we can take advantage.

Whilst I have some sympathy for players coming in from the cold and having to contribute straight away, some of the performances from our backups haven't been very good. With Hooiveld and Yoshida I am sure they could do a job in this league but not for a team who plays the way we do. Maybe if they played for a team that sat deep and had another bank of four in front of them defending they'd do ok (as do a number of other CB's in this league who don't look very good) but given the level we aspire to play at and the way we are set-up they don't appear to be up to the job. I am sure over time they will be replaced but it isn't very easy selling players you don't want and replacing them with better players straight away.

Ridiculous timing for something like this to come out

Yoshida did well last season. But he doesn't seem like the sort of player that can come in from the cold and perform straight away. I think he needs to have a run of games to play to his level. It's not that he makes mistakes but his general concentration isn't at a level where it should be when he is in and out of the team and that is an issue. Whilst that is entirely understandable he does play in a very important part of the pitch for us and as long as he remains a backup it'll be hard for him and us.

It has just occurred to me - maybe the deal also incorporates an element of wiping away the sell-on fee for Clyne?

Ba wouldn't pass a medical and given the wages he commands I am not sure we'd take that risk.