Lallana's Left Peg

Two years left and heavily rumoured to be wanted by two of the biggest clubs in the world (Man Utd and Bayern Munich). He won't sign a new deal in my opinion (why would he?) and because he plays in a position that attracts a premium price the club are unlikely to allow him to leave with just 1 year left on his deal. Jeremy Wilson suggested Saints will offer him a new deal - what do you think the chances are he will sign it? Or rather, what is his incentive to?

It's obviously not as a bad as that but say Mane (inevitable) and Wanyama (sat on a new contract for 6 months now, he isn't signing it) leave in the summer and we 'replace' them in the way we did Morgan and Clyne this summer then we're screwed. However, replace them in the way we did Toby with VvD and we'll be fine. Maybe the board will work it out.

There isn't much we can do when the rules handicap us in terms of wages we are allowed to pay and other clubs can offer far more and players want to leave. However, I think we can be more ambitious in the transfer market in replacing them. It only takes a few bad summers and you're in a relegation fight.

People remain fixated and continue to judge a players contribution because they assess the size of the investment that the club has made against what return is made on the pitch. There were a number of things that determined the £12m fee and just a part of it is Longs ability as a footballer - but regardless I still think that £12m is a lot for Saints to invest in a player and I expect him to be one of our better players for that amount. As always it's 50/50 whether these things work out. As for Long I think £12m is very steep for someone who is rarely first choice, and certainly not in his chosen position. I like his attributes and am glad he is a part of our squad but on the face of it £12m is a lot of money to invest in him - and on the face of it not really justified by any metric thus far. None of this is his fault as he has been exactly as we thought he would since he joined. For me, he now has a chance to get a run in the team in his favoured position with us playing a way he will enjoy - it's a real opportunity for him not step up but score more goals and prove to the club and fans he is worth the money we paid.

That is quite some injury list West Ham have.

Koscielny caught Long with an elbow in the second half. Long laughed it off when he got back up as it was a result of him terrorising Koscielny throughout the game so he knew he got in their heads. As an aside did anyone else notice VvD treating Giroud like a little child off the ball all game? Giroud would make runs across VvD during throw ins and try to leave a little on VvD and VvD would just absolutely bully him and throw him off course. This made Giroud try harder and every time VvD just shoved him a little bit harder to the point with 15mins left VvD was two hand shoving him

They are so different as players it's a bit harsh to suggest they try to play in a similar way whatsoever. Pelle's aerial play is about retaining possession and Long's is about unsettling and creating that bustle. One thing is for sure - if we plugged Pelle into that formation and asked him to play like Long and if we plugged Long into our 4-2-3-1 and asked him to play like Pelle we'd not be very good.

Giroud's reaction 'Right that's miles wide lets launch a counter...what da fuq'

We beat Arsenal at home last year too, and Pelle played in that. So Shane Long playing last night because Pelle was injured doesn't prove that Long was preferred to Pelle at all. If anything I think there is only one time in Koemans tenure where in the league both have been fit and Long has been preferred (Chelsea away last season). The reason they both play for Saints is because they are inconsistent - Pelle goes through massive streaks of playing well and then playing like dirt, and Shane Long's touch will come and go as well.

It's not a tactic that will work against most teams but its a tactic that will work against more teams this season than last due to a lower amount of quality in the team. The team seemed to come together with the management accepting we can't always play like we how to because of the change in players (or players who are unavailable) and what came together was a team performance that gave us a chance in the game and once we got our tails up the rest followed. Completely did not expect that but what a great performance. The team clung to an identity of what they wanted to do and executed it very well. Hopefully this acts as a kickstart of a mini-run that can secure a comfortable top half finish.

But the idea was if we couldn't hold onto our better players then we would continue to invest in good players to maintain our position. We would sell high and invest wisely using whatever metrics our recruitment team do in order to maintain our position and eventually the tide would turn and we could push on. Only, that didn't really happen his summer.

He'll have a new Manager soon.

Lots of people keen to apportion 100% of the majority of the blame on any one party. But I think the truth is that the transfers, management of the team, and players themselves have all been sub-par this season and that is why we are suffering. We'll probably finish where we are right now, which would be quite bad considering where we were last summer - but I suppose that depends on your expectations. One thing is for sure, a 12th place finish doesn't convince anyone half decent to stay and that is a rubbish feeling.

I understand where you are coming from but I think that is a little harsh - two games in such a short period is dangerous from a fitness and injury perspective. The chances for injury go up a massive amount - I saw a graph a while back on how the potential for injury in footballers goes up a massive amount if they play twice a week let alone twice in two days. That said, it's the same for West Ham as well. As for the players losing focus, it's been like that for well over a month now so I doubt this comment will do much harm. I think the first thing we can do is ensure we pick 11 men who are focussed and committed and the rest will sort itself out. Last season Koeman's relaxed approach reaped great rewards in the first half of the season and then he only got angry when we had those 5 losses in a row. There was an upturn in form and the rest of the season somewhat tailed off. I read he's got a bit angry again so lets hope for a reaction though with nothing to play for this season and at least two of our squad having eyes on their summer moves then there will need to be some good man management to keep the squad motivated for the rest of the season. If you consider that many transfer targets are eliminated not on the grounds of talent but on the grounds of their character then this slump and the rumours of discontent in the squad are concerning because in theory cliques and individuals putting themselves ahead of the team shouldn't happen in this 'black box' era. However, Koeman and the board have my full support but I expect a much better performance off the field this summer to allow us to head into next season with some optimism.

Things will get better because they can't get much worse, but whether or not that means we get points from games is another matter.

Lots of clubs are struggling with players in the #10 role. What seems to work for many is a second striker. We have Mane who can play behind Pelle and I think that works well for us. I don't mind Mane behind Pelle and Davis on the right.

With you most of the way here other than 11th - 14th being considered anything like good for a club who have spent the money we have and one who finished 8th and 7th in previous seasons.

The players at that club have too much power, that is the problem as I see it.

The mistakes he makes at right back are nothing to do with being played out of position. Underhitting back passes? Trying to 'take on' Sterling and getting his feet mixed up? It's just absolute brainfarts on his part that always seem to cost us. He is a half decent backup option for a club of our size. But he isn't a good player.

Maybe, I don't know what other qualities Saints would deem are important which would impact the price. But I think that is what the team really needs at the moment and it would make a big difference. There aren't many other teams in the league who have so little pace or power as us.

Don't know any names but we need someone who can play in midfield (in any position) who can carry the ball past someone and open things up for other players. Someone with pace or someone who is powerful. Don't care who. Doesn't need to be good at much else either.

Infuriating at times but I can see how his strengths would be of great benefit to us.

To be fair we'd have one of the best homegrown teams in Premier League history if the big clubs hadn't wanted all the players. When we received big money for them it probably didn't make sense to then pay big money for other homegrown players if the club thought that more value existed outside the UK. It's hard to then just replace with youth products and it will be a dry few years compared to what we are used to because a) we're at a higher level than ever before, and b) the intakes that are coming through now are either players released from other Academies or players who joined us at 8/9/10 when we were on our decline and not recruiting as well.

Man City have invested a ridiculous amount of money into their Academy. Their youth teams are very good. None will be given a chance at the club which is a shame but it's no issue getting a thumping from a team that has players purchased for it.

I think release clauses in Spain have to be paid up front and I think we paid Juanmi's release clause (just over £5m) but someone more informed could confirm. I am not worried about Saints' cashflow at all here, but if we had £5m and £30k in the kitty for a player then there are other parts of the team that needed that investment - either another player or a better player than the one we signed.