Lallana's Left Peg

Was optimistic before the game and the players delivered. Great to have such a large squad with a lot of quality. Guly and Richardson injured? Harding and Chaplow come in - despite NEITHER being a part of the squad against West Ham. Hooiveld got a knock? On comes Martin. Sharp not working tactically? On comes Lee. Still got Puncheon, Hammond, and Connolly on the bench as well. We have the strength in depth and are now back in our groove for the most important part of the season. There will still be ups and downs and it will be tight, but the club are going to give it the best shot possible and I can't wait.

It's quite clear to me that Butterfield has many intangible qualities off the field that the club value highly and want to keep him around because of it. I personally thought we'd see Butterfield leave in the summer and Stephens become the backup to Richardson but no harm in keeping Butterfield around and I can't recall him ever letting us down on the pitch. Explicitly trust the club on this one.

Adkins on 5 Live: - disappointed with a point from a game we've dominated - created more than enough chances to win - denied a clear penalty for handball (when asked if he thought West Ham had two penalty shouts turned down) - didn't think the West Ham penalty was a foul - would have taken 4pts from two games against West Ham at the start of the season - unbeaten in four, four good performances as well

Fantastic point, great second half performance, plenty of momentum and belief. A good evening.

When was the last time we had a player who divided opinion as much as Guly? From my perspective I think he is a good player who is inconsistent. But his inconsistency doesn't make him a bad player by any means. It is clear he is talented, and perhaps that is why people expect more from him all the time. His inconsistency isn't through lack of effort, it is just how he is as a player. Most clubs have players like Guly. He'll have bad games, and he'll have great games, and we won't have a clue what sort of mood he is in until the game itself. For me I like him on the right as he has forged an unlikely but very effective partnership with Richardson. Positionally he is quite adaptable but in terms of how he can receive the ball he's quite particular. It's a limitation and when he doesn't get it in that way he struggles. But it isn't a lack of effort, it is just how he is as a player. I like having unpredictable players. Sometimes it frustrates but you can't be one dimensional as a team. The element of unpredictability can be important, and Guly has helped us far more in his 18+ months with us than he has hindered. For a signing of around £1m, he has scored important goals and significantly contributed.

Anyone British and under the age of 23 in preparation for the Olympics in the summer.

Good win, sounded like a decent performance which builds confidence and no injuries either. Time to gather some momentum. Glad to see Guly on the right where I think he is more effective and has an unlikely but very good partnership with Richardson. Squad is strong, so I expect some changes for Tuesday and also Cardiff losing helps a lot too. Lots of twists and turns to come but we are starting off this frantic 3 months on the right foot.

He sounded proper down and ****ed in his interview tonight. He focuses on positivity but I don't think some players are too far away from being dropped completely for a few games and challenged to prove themselves in training to be worthy of a place in the squad on a matchday.

A disappointing way to a lose a game but I'm not overly fussed about that. The performance matter far more. Tonight was about players forcing themselves into the thoughts of Adkins for Saturday. It sounded like very few grasped that opportunity and that is what concerns me. The squad is now big enough to absorb injuries and loss of form, but only if the players on standby appear up for it and determined. Tonight that was not the case. The team for Saturday pretty much picks itself now, and Adkins should be having far more of a problem when picking his team with our squad size. I still have every faith in Adkins and the squad but right now they need to pull together and show a bit more determination and application because we have a great opportunity to go up this season and it will slip away unless they all up it a little. If a team presses you high up the pitch then show the quality individually with your skill and movement to make them think twice. If a team sits deep then show the quality you have to probe and break them down. We have the players I've no doubt about that, but they need to start performing as individuals and the system Adkins sends them out in.

For a large squad to work we need to give the fringe players every opportunity to impress in order to keep them motivated and prepared to step-in. Therefore I'd go with this: Bart Butterfield - Martin - Fonte - Harding De Ridder - Hammond - Ward-Prowse - Chaplow Guly - Lee With Barnard and Reeves to get gametime (at least half an hour each).

Where have people been getting carried away? Vast majority of the reaction is people looking forward to him bringing the attributes you've mentioned above yourself. However, I do agree that his return alone doesn't make everything ok again, but it is a big help when no-one else in the squad can replicate what he does.

Don't think anyone would say he is anything more than neat and tidy on the ball to be fair. It is his energy in closing down opponents, and making runs into space that we miss. He creates so much space for others by doing this it makes everyone better.

A challenging day on and off the pitch today. Got down to Birmingham early to get ahead of the weather and glad I did. Then as the hours passed in the pub the snow slowly started to settle to the point when we made our way to the ground it was clear it would be an 'interesting' game. First 10 mins I think Birmingham adapted well to the conditions and their long ball game mixed with trying to get Burke involved on the right was threatening. Then we got a hold of the game by going to a diamond and played by far the better football, but it was not threatening as both teams battled the conditions. Much the same second half really - I think Birmingham had the better chances in the game but we had better control of the ball and Hughton knew it too, taking off a striker with 25mins to go and replacing him with a midfielder. Puncheon, Schneiderlin, and Martin were outstanding. I'd have taken a point beforehand, even moreso when the scores from Cardiff and Middlesbrough came through. We are definitely playing well. Left Birmingham at 8 and got back to Manchester at 11. 3hrs on the M6 .

BBC seem to think it is a Tuesday: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/fixtures/default.stm A Tuesday would be best for us as well as it gives us longer to prepare for the league game the following weekend.

Just watched the 6min interview on SaintsPlayer and it seems pretty clear to me that they thought they had a few deals sorted that fell through at the last second. Then Adkins was asked about Danny Collins and he didn't want to give an answer so that one seems sure to be happening as far as I am concerned. We've got 20+ games to play in 3 months which is an incredible amount. Looks like we're trying to give ourselves the best chance to overcome injury, suspension, and loss of form with strength in depth. Squads - including those of teams at the top with us - are going to be considerably tested over the rest of the season and I'm not too worried about the Millwall replay as hopefully it becomes a platform for players to get match fitness etc. and we'll have the squad that makes the game a very useful exercise.

Same here - that would leave the squad looking very strong and allow us to play those who are in form and not have a few worries impact us so much. The wage bill would take a hammering though!

Jaidi is definitely travelling with the squad. Steve de Ridder just tweeted this:

Isn't the meal tonight something to do with the Kenya trip for Saints Foundation rather than one of the 'invite season ticket holders' efforts? Am sure I read about it somewhere.

Adkins is far from invincible from criticism. I dare say he makes some mistakes every game. But the elements of his management / team selection that can be criticised are by far dwarfed by the positive impact he has had. I think it is fair to say he has to work with a very demanding Chairman and some large expectations. But he has got the club together and the team playing some fantastic football. That shouldn't stop people questioning what he does though - he is not perfect. Just because he does a great job doesn't mean some of his decisions can't be questioned and those that do shouldn't be told to shut-up just because Adkins is doing a great job. However, I do feel like he has done such a good job that he has more than earned our trust with his judgement. And very few Managers get that treatment from fans.

In the summer: 21 May 2010 7 MF Andrew Crofts Brighton & Hove Albion £300,000[4][5] 4 June 2010 15 MF David Fox Colchester United Undisclosed[6] 22 June 2010 11 MF Andrew Surman Wolverhampton Undisclosed[7] 1 July 2010 22 DF Elliott Ward Coventry City Free[8] 26 DF Steven Smith Rangers Free[9] 5 July 2010 1 GK John Ruddy Everton Undisclosed[10] 15 July 2010 10 FW Simeon Jackson Gillingham Undisclosed[11 In the January they made 3 signings: 1 January 2011 20 DF Leon Barnett West Bromwich Albion Undisclosed[12] 1 January 2011 21 FW Aaron Wilbraham Milton Keynes Dons Undisclosed[13] 13 January 2011 32 DF Marc Tierney Colchester United Undisclosed[14]

Dodd & williams out!

He should know better though. Lambert is not just vital for our link-up play, he is also our 'out' ball from defence to keep the other team honest and not suffocate play too much in the middle of the park. If they know Lambert can win balls in the air, they won't be so keen to push high up the pitch. When we aren't passing it well or the defence is pressured and can't pick a pass, it is route one to Lambert. Doesn't always work, but it means we can get runners off him (Lallana, Chaplow, Guly, etc.) and mix it up properly. We can't replace that with our current personnel. Can see a strong team playing against Millwall, with Lambert included. Need to get back into a rhythm ahead of the Cardiff game.

If we collapse like that I'll be disappointed and unhappy. But everything is relative. You don't have to be brilliant for 9 months a season to get out of this league. You just have to be better than 22 others teams for automatic promotion - and you can be that with indifferent form. Yes it is concerning, but it isn't something that impacts how well the season is going - I'll judge that come May. As Adkins just pointed out in his interview, tonight wasn't very good but it doesn't mean the end of the world. At the start of the season tell me that at the end of January we'd be second after a 6 week wobble I'd have snapped your hand off. But because we're in the moment if feels bigger than it really is. If you don't trust Adkins to address it then feel free to be negative - and you shouldn't be shouted down if you do. But I trust Adkins, the players, and the club to get it sorted and we see how we go for the next 3 months.

A few things: 1. Half a team missing, including our most influential players. Any team in the league would struggle in that scenario. We need to make sure we nurse players back to full fitness and not push them too soon. 2. That said, the players out there should have performed better. Although Leicester never gave us a chance to get going the energy levels were not good enough, players were dwelling and panicking on the ball, and looked a bit scared to me. The crowd compounded matters - the booing was pathetic and the players needed backing. The crowd passed their apprehension onto the players and it did not help. 3. With some players given a chance tonight and not making an impression, there may be a reaction in the transfer market. I always knew we'd have a sticky spell and it would be hard to bounce out of it. We've got to be positive during this period. 4. We're still second (unbelievably) and the Cardiff game is massive. I hope lots of players are back for that - and maybe a couple of new faces.

People appreciate your information and I understand you can't say any names because you don't want to compromise anything, but at the same time mentioning whether the player is based in this country or not or even what part of the field he plays wouldn't do any damage whatsoever and would at least allow us to speculate and talk about it. Just mentioning that a player might come in and then not giving us anything else is always going to create a situation like this, surely you can see? I'd much rather you continue to share information but if you can only go so far as to say that a player might be coming in and not qualify it much more then people are obviously going to start asking questions. Anyway, thanks for the information thus far.