Lallana's Left Peg

It's just a part of the game playing. I dare say it happens all the time - talk a figure to get a club interested enough to allow you to discuss terms, then agree terms, then try to negotiate the fee with the advantage that the player wants to come so it puts the buying club in a slightly stronger position. At the end of the day Cagliari only appear to be selling due to their financial problems (same reason we got Ramirez) so it makes sense for his to try and nip and get him but still some room for gamesmanship at the end. Less than 6 months ago Caglari accepted a 15m Euro offer from Spartak Moscow for him so if they now will take 10m Euro and maybe even less it appears we're potentially getting a player for a good price on the face of it. Never seen him play and no idea how good he is but does appear to be the right sort of signing for us - perhaps our Premier League pound goes further abroad and whilst there is the added risk of no Premier League experience the club clearly trusts its scouting network. At that price though there will be pressure for him to perform straight away though.

Suggestions from an Italian website (no idea how credible it is) that he has agreed terms with us: http://www.tuttomercatoweb.com/?action=read&id=411959 Although long gone are the days that agreeing terms always meant a transfer is imminent, at least should ours be the offer accepted by the player and club we know terms won't be a problem.

Izale Mcleod's wife responds to abuse from Pompey fans on twitter:

Our tactical diversity since the start of the season has been quite dramatic. The first month of the season was full of the 'Southampton Way' and an almost arrogant insistance by the club (be that Manager or Owner depending on who you believe) that we would play one way with one formation - and we paid the price accordingly. I even remember Adkins getting short with one interviewer when asked about tactics when he said something like 'listen, we're going to play 4-2-3-1, right'. Whilst we saw a little change in terms of personnel for games in the system it did seem set in stone. Then we started to mix it up - not just in terms of formation but also our style of play - and lets be honest, we've hit Rickie on the long ball far more often in our last 10 games than in our first 10 games. Whilst there are other things that have helped us in our upturn of form (introduction of Cork and Shaw, a general acclimatising to the league and for new signings) I also think our tactical diversity (in terms of shape and style) has also played a significant part. And when was the last time we heard the 'Southampton Way' when Adkins talked tactics? So the change has happened and we can speculate as to why and where in the chain of command someone caved in (be it Adkins, Cortese, or Reed). I thought we went too far the other way in the Stoke game when I saw the teams, almost changing far too much in respect of the opposition but I was shocked at how well we stood up to them and played. The defenders struggled to cope with us and in midfield we were strong too, and coped well enough at the back. In fact I thought we did so well I thought Adkins would be half tempted to play so direct and physical against Arsenal. So now it poses a new problem for us. It is no longer about us insisting on playing one way, we have developed a few different ways to play and shown we can apply ourselves well accordingly. The challenge is now for Adkins to select the right tactic in each game now, so he almost has a different pressure altogether. I trust Adkins to do enough to see us do well enough, but he will make mistakes as well and we shouldn't jump on him all the time for them. It will be interesting to see the sort of player we go for now - I suspect (based on nothing but a hunch) we'll learn towards physical players who have traits you can't coach and trust our club to develop them as footballers. Then we'll see a squad who can play both a physical game and passing game when required moving forward.

Hope he gets pelted and heckled. What a *****. He's got some front turning up.

Saints fan and PA journalist Simon Peach mentioned Spurs were tracking Fox in January. I can well believe it. And just because they are tracking him won't mean they are preparing a bid or anything. I imagine clubs like Spurs are tracking 100+ players at any one time anyway. Kudos to Fox and the club for his form. I've no doubt that Fox will do well when we've got the ball next season but his concentration will need to be top notch against the calibre of winger he is going to face.

No doubt whatsoever we will.

Bit late posting this but did anyone else see Sunday Supplement yesterday? They briefly spoke about Saints and Paul Hayward mentioned we'd need to be more media friendly and allow it to be easier for the media to communicate with directors etc. He said he thought it was a clear directive from Cortese and that next season we'd need to change our attitude to the media. Interestingly, the rest of the journalists laughed at him and accused him of being bitter as he is a Brighton fan Hayward then got a bit defensive. Sounds like he still has a bee in his bonnet over us. Idiot.

Massive challenge this summer. We need some pace in the team, but the player must also be Premier League quality. We've also got to nurture the squad dynamic which has served us so well the last two years. Lots of different things to consider beyond the quality of player alone. I personally see a couple of real impact signings and then some more activity in January depending on how we go.

West Ham 11/8 to be promoted, not promoted automatically. Slim to no chance tomorrow + overwhelming favourites in the playoffs = 11/8.

Lallana has been nursing his groin all season, just as Lambert has with his hip. He'll be right for Saturday.

And so it comes down to this. A game at home to get promoted. We'd dream of this at the start of the season and now we have the opportunity. The season has been sensational. We've had some downs as well, but more often than not it is down to missed opportunities and what could have been with the title. In fact our downs when put into perspective aren't downs at all. We are now presented with this challenge and we have 4 days to get ready for it. It certainly sounds like Coventry have some problems on and off the field but I do not concern myself with them. The players will know about this opportunity and I expect us to go for it. It'll be nervous at times but the crowd will stay with the team and I think we'll all be celebrating come 3pm Saturday. Then when the dust has settled, I think we'll be reflecting back at one of the best seasons the club has had given the circumstances.

It's fair to say that one formation we struggle with is 4-5-1 and teams pressing us high up the pitch. Middlesbrough did that today and it worked for them. We were not our usual composed self on the ball and we paid the price for not keeping possession. Lambert was not at the races either. I am still confident, but this is getting far too close for comfort.

I see as follows: Richardson has a great partnership with Guly, but when Guly isn't playing right midfield I think Butterfield suits our other options there (specifically De Ridder and Chaplow). Richardson gets forward a lot more and offers more of a threat in the final third, but Butterfield has been very useful in certain games firing in diagonal crosses to Lambert at the far post (a tactic we've see a lot in away games since Christmas). I genuinely think it is just a matter of who the opposition are, how direct we're going to play, and whether Guly plays right-midfield or not.

Our ability to move on from disappointing games is astonishing. We do not dwell at all. Did what we needed to do tonight and and some help elsewhere to leave us in an incredible position. We're not out of the title race, and whilst we are not at full throttle we're getting the job done. We've won 6 of the last 7 away games - to think we were worried about our away form and wondering whether it may cost us. Well Adkins certainly sorted that out. We must make the most of this opportunity now. And I believe we will.

Plenty of goals in this game for us. Posh conceded four against a Leeds side struggling to score today. If we remain positive in our play we'll win. I expect West Ham to win as well. Then we have an interesting match at Boro which is played 48hrs before West Ham visit Leicester. A real chance to place massive pressure on West Ham. Then I expect us to need something against Coventry to secure promotion, which we are capable of. However, not sure my heart can take much more!

Was absolutely gutted last night, but feel much more rational and positive now. It was a blow to lose, but the performance in general was very good and three more efforts like that and we'll be just fine. As for Reading, they defended well and took their chances. Whilst you can see we played better than them in terms of having the ball and creating, they what they had to do very well. Another day we shove 4 goals past them with no reply. Football goes like that. I trust Adkins to get the team focussed for Posh, and there are goals in that game for us.

Fantastic win today. Have said it before but love the way our away tactics have evolved since the first half of the season. Less flashy, more pragmatic, and very controlled. Make it hard for the home team to win, and impose our quality when we have our opportunities. Also really encouraged by the way the team manages to get bad results or disappointing moments out of the system. Today reminded me a bit of the away win at Leyton Orient last season, in terms of support away from home and the importance of the result. Chance to put pressure on West Ham and Reading was taken. Over to them.

For those of you who are very worried and can't manage your anxiety, the bookies still very much think we're going up. 1/10 on in fact. Schneiderlin will be a big loss but we have some players to come in at Palace who have been rested.

I think today is the big day for him. Training on Tuesday, day off yesterday, all about how he reacts and how fit he feels heading into training today.

Pretty much how I feel about it. We live in the moment and we're not used to losing. So to lose 3-0 feels like the world is ending. We're all so anxious as it is so near now. 4 weeks, 6 games. Plenty winnable in there. Bad day at the office, we bounce back well. Got to stay positive and get 3pts on Sat.

Just back from the game. A bad day at the office today which culminated in a missed opportunity. Lambert not risked with 6 games in 4 weeks coming up so there was some anxiety in the stand. Bit of a frantic start with both teams setting up to exploit the weaknesses of the other team (rather than trying to stop the other team) which makes for a good game for the neutral. Both teams had chances to take the lead and Blackpool took theirs through the spot. Didn't see whether it was a penalty or not was there was a great big f**king pillar in my way We looked very anxious today, and made some mistakes and the apprehension propagated throughout the team at times. Credit to Blackpool, they suffocated the space very well and worked their socks off. We still created plenty, but I think all their goals came from mistakes. The first from not clearing our lines, the second I think Davis should have come out for, the third not marking at a corner. Blackpool made the most of it and saw the game out well. A shame Lambert wasn't about as he would have eaten those centre halves alive Really disappointed with Sharp today, nothing to do with the penalty, but his general concentration and touch was ****e. Fair play to Reading, I didn't see that result coming and had we won we could have turned this into a 3 game season for promotion. As it goes, it's a 4 game season where we just need to match what West Ham do. If we can pip Reading to the title then all the better, but that is a magnificant run they are on the game at St Marys on the 13th (Friday 13th ) promises to be fantastic. As does the derby next week. A disappointing performance, but bigger picture still looks positive.

Is it rotation or players needing a rest / carrying injuries?

Bit late replying to this due to my three posts a day limit. In terms of this project as an idea and vision it is outstanding. I don't see any negatives to it whatsoever other than the cost of it, which is what I was worried about. If it really is £15m then I just don't think it is wise for a club with our revenues at this point in time to commit to it. Now if the owners want to plough lots of money in and turn it into shares then fine, but from a business perspective it's effectively committing 75% of yearly income to a project which is crazy. But if the owners underwrite everything then it doesn't matter. Given the news we had this morning I'm far more comfortable with it than I was yesterday.