Lallana's Left Peg

Why are we selling him so cheap!?!

If Boruc isn't back for this game I'd be a little worried.

What? You think a teams performance being impacted by a number of first choice players being out is a problem? We've been in the Premier League 1.5 seasons. 4 years ago we were in League 1. The squad will evolve but bar wholesale changes every summer and money we don't have we'll always have backups that are nowhere near as good as our first teamers. We did the right thing in the summer buying Lovren. But now people are going to whinge the players he displaced aren't as good as him? Good grief. You must surely watch enough of us to know how our tactics have evolved in the year Pochettino has been at the helm?

I think Butterfield is at Exeter. Lloyd James is at Leyton Orient but I am not sure if he gets a game. They are going well in League 1.

All you need to know is that yesterday outside the box Lennon went to close down an Arsenal player who booted the ball as hard as he could. It struck Lennon on the arm from a few yards out and the Ref gave a free kick. The Spurs players and bench went mental. But the Ref said it hit his arm so it is a free kick. The commentators said it was very easy for the Ref to give that free kick outside the box. The Referee? Mark Clattenburg. So even Clattenburg can't make his mind up properly.

Over the last 4-5 games the following players have been missing at one time or another: Davis Boruc Clyne Fonte Lovren Shaw Wanyama Schneiderlin

Who has coped when they have had injuries that have taken out most of the defence and reduced the team to their backup and / or third choice keeper?

It's a mixture of personnel, quality of opposition, and a dip in confidence. I'm not too concerned.

Adam Blackmore suggested West Ham only offered Saints £2m. It'd take far more than that for us to contemplate letting him go.

Same for every club outside the Top 7 in my opinion. But our first team is definitely on the fringes of breaking into that part of the table. And that is the challenge - for the team to still find a way to perform when we have a few injured. Right now it feels like when we have more than one backup in the team at any one time our performance drops. Whilst that is logical we need to find a way to get over it as injuries and suspensions do happen. I think we just need to accept this for now as fans and see how the club reacts in the way it evolves the squad over the next few years - including with the kids coming through.

Lallana has been so good this season and shown that he can be incredibly influential when playing centrally its hard for me to find a place for Ramirez in the team if everyone was fit.

Sounds like some wage bill shifting may well happen which could tie up with Monk's statement that we're looking to get one in.

Hooiveld's head has gone. He is having an absolute nightmare.

Lambert has tweaked his hip. Not a massive problem but the bad news is that he has had hip problems at Saints before and we've often had to play him through them - I suspect we'll have to do the same the second half of this season only hopefully if Osvaldo is fit we won't have to play Lambert all the time.

I think it is clear that Sharp has no future at the club. I just hope he can move on permanently as it is best for everyone.

Apparently Palace need to make one of the Jerome or Puncheon deals permanent (or end one of them early) as they can only have a maximum of two Premier League loanees at the club and they want Zaha on loan.

He played all over the place in the Youth teams - I've seen him play right wing, central midfield, and even centre-half. He looks a very good prospect at right-back at senior level. He has a good build too for the Premier League.

Back in the building tomorrow?

In this case it is used to describe the difference between our first team and backups - specifically the difference in quality. That difference has grown considerably the past year or so.

As much as the last 8 weeks have been horrible, we have learnt a lot about the team and Manager. I suspect Saturday provides a final chance to learn something more before we knuckle down for the rest of the season with a bit more hope given the fixtures. Most of all we've learnt that as the team evolves (both through some players getting better and others being purchased) the delta between our first team and our backups grows. In a way it is good that this has happened as it shows improvement and progress. On the other Pochettino is learning that as much faith as he may have in his system, it only takes a couple of players to be missing from our team and we are weak enough that we don't get the results we otherwise could with a full squad to choose from. As a consequence some players will need to be rested this Saturday and I don't blame the club for doing this whatsoever. It is also a chance for us to see the likes of Reed and Gallagher. Whilst the chances are that they will get better (you'd like to assume that given their age) we also need to see to what degree they could perform this season and adjust our expectations accordingly. Without having the knowledge of who is injured or not I would like to see this team: Davis Chambers, Yoshida, Hooiveld, Targett Reed, Cork Rodriguez, Ramirez, JWP Gallagher

As much as the last 8 weeks have been horrible, we have learnt a lot about the team and Manager. I suspect Saturday provides a final chance to learn something more before we knuckle down for the rest of the season with a bit more hope given the fixtures. Most of all we've learnt that as the team evolves (both through some players getting better and others being purchased) the delta between our first team and our backups grows. In a way it is good that this has happened as it shows improvement and progress. On the other Pochettino is learning that as much faith as he may have in his system, it only takes a couple of players to be missing from our team and we are weak enough that we don't get the results we otherwise could with a full squad to choose from. As a consequence some players will need to be rested this Saturday and I don't blame the club for doing this whatsoever. It is also a chance for us to see the likes of Reed and Gallagher. Whilst the chances are that they will get better (you'd like to assume that given their age) we also need to see to what degree they could perform this season and adjust our expectations accordingly. Without having the knowledge of who is injured or not I would like to see this team: Davis Chambers, Yoshida, Hooiveld, Targett Reed, Cork Rodriguez, Ramirez, JWP Gallagher

Properly beaten by the better team today. One of those days where we needed some luck and something to hold onto. Once Chelsea made those subs in the second half they powered on and we couldn't cope. We obviously never stopped trying but the subs didn't work for me and I don't think they worked for the players either as we were all over the place. I would imagine we'll rest plenty for the Burnley game but very important we get a win and some confidence back.

Do players signed on a bosman to join in the summer count?

£8m seems a good offer from a desperate club but I am not entirely sure where the succession plan is here. Over the course of the season we've seen Lambert dropped for some big games as Osvaldo has come in but who do we replace him with at such short notice? Whilst his form has been up and down he is still a fairly iconic member of the squad and his presence means a lot aside from his productivity on the pitch. I'd say keep him as the risk associated with finding a replacement in 1 month of a transfer window isn't worth it.

I don't know much about him but we must be keen if our interest remains after a year. I did see him give away a penalty once though for hauling Balotelli to the ground when the ball was 50 yards in the air and no danger apparent whatsoever