NewYorkSaint

Originally Posted by Batman "Jesus. So poor in front of goal." Thank god we subbed him for Pelle, then.

First 15 minutes thrilling play by Saints. Rest of the half got bogged down. Unlucky goal against. Equalizer deserved. Bertrand and Tadic terrific. Long, Pelle promising. Pelle's header from Bertrand's cross saved on the line was fantastic. Cork on for JWP or Davis second half?

I read a lot of comments like this, and genuinely am puzzled as to the logic behind them. Is there something in the air at Upton Park that makes it more like that the home side scores a higher % of their shots? Or that makes us more likely to spurn chance after chance? Isn't another possibility that luck plays a big role in football? Personally, based on the evidence cited above (which is indeed what happened), I'd say we were the better team last year. The better team often loses. But it wins more often than it loses. Past history on a particular ground really means very little. It's just statistical noise. The current state of both teams is far more relevant. WH seem a little better this year than last but now have injury problems. We're a little Jeckyll and Hyde, but the Jeckyll Saints show signs of being pretty wonderful. I think 1-1, or 2-1 Saints are more likely scores!

There are lots of ways the league COULD try to implement a fairer system. Baseball in the US has a 'luxury tax' system whereby teams the exceed a certain payroll total have to pay a percentage of the excess into a fund that is aimed at developing the sport. The system I'd propose is that over 10 years you'd gradually introduce a tax on player payrolls over £100m, rising eventually to 30% of any excess. The money would be divided equally and re-distributed to all clubs in the league. Apart from that, no salary restrictions. This wouldn't completely level the playing field, but it would certainly be a step in that direction and would make the whole league more exciting. An even better system, in terms of generating extra excitement, would handicap teams a point for, say, every £10m they spend over £100m (based on prior season's numbers). That would mean teams like Man City and Chelsea would be starting with 10 points to catch up. This system would give clubs that spend their money wisely a fighting chance of breaking through to the Champions League, and would penalize excessive spending for the sake of spending. Yeah, I know. Won't happen. Though you could argue from Sky's perspective, it would boost viewership.

Why not just decide to be happy for the guy? We bred him. We loved him. We got good money for him. Any Academy graduate who goes on to play for England is great for Southampton's reputation. Besides, it's a lot more fun being happy than angry! Personally, I hope he gets selected and makes us proud.

He is incredibly likable. Combination of humble, but lots of heart. Dare I say Lambert-esque? I predict he'll end up a huge favorite at Saints.

0-4. Isgrove, Long, & Pelle x 2. Interesting that Morgan not there. Hope to see Taider play for 20 mins.

Re Pelle. He had a terrible first half, but I thought was much, much better second half. Started winning a lot more in the air. The addition of Long may have been part of the reason. Their defense had more to think about. He can certainly look clumsy when he misfires, but I believe he will come into his own after a few more games. Among the +ves, I don't think big Vic has had enough recognition. It's not just his physical presence. His speed and skills are something to behold. A couple of turns away from trouble were just fantastic. The game was certainly disappointing, but there were several last year that felt similar. If JWP's spectacular free kick had been 6 inches further right, we'd all be telling a different story this morning.

Pride!

Pride!

On US TV, Morgan being blamed for the goal. Soft tackle on Henderson. But he showed more bite later in the half. Victor, Bertrand, Tadic, Davis all superb. I thought JWP strong too apart from a couple of misunderstandings. Overall, there are a ton of positives against a strong Liverpool. Can't wait for the second half. We'll see Taider and Long before too long.

On US TV, Morgan being blamed for the goal. Soft tackle on Henderson. But he showed more bite later in the half. Victor, Bertrand, Tadic, Davis all superb. I thought JWP strong too apart from a couple of misunderstandings. Overall, there are a ton of positives against a strong Liverpool. Can't wait for the second half. We'll see Taider and Long before too long.

Delighted that the tide has turned so beautifully. Morgan will stay. Sanity prevails. The club's credibility notches one to the good. I stick with my suggestion/prediction that he shdn't start but should be on the bench. I would hope to see him inject fresh energy second half.

Nice goal.

Worth bearing in mind a statistics point. The number of goals a striker scores in a given season should be adjusted to reflect the overall quality of the club he's playing for. For the last 3 years Long has been playing for WBA and Hull. They seem to score about 40 goals a season. The top clubs score about 100. Number of goals scored by a striker is hugely a function of chances created by the rest of the team. Long's average 8 goals a year for Hull/WBA arguably are therefore equivalent to about 20 goals if he had been playing for Man City or Liverpool. Bottom line. We won't really know how good he is until we see the partnership with Pelle, and the service from Tadic, Ramirez and gang.

As Olallana points out... these quotes are months old. If he'd said this after having the move turned down, it would be troubling. But he didn't. Move on!

I'm genuinely surprised how many here would let Morgan leave. The point that's missing from the discussion is that the club's and Krueger's reputations are on the line on this one. Krueger couldn't have been more black and white. If someone can still wrangle a departure after the categorical statements he made, it will come back to bite in the future, time and again. Letting him go to Spurs seems especially mad. I strongly believe it's worth holding the line here, even if it means we get no money, and Morgan doesn't play. The truth is, IF we hold the line I'm pretty sure he will be playing soon enough. Comments like "there's no point in him being here if his head isn't in it" seem to assume that people don't change. Once Morgan is looking at 5 months till next transfer window, I have no doubt he'll buckle down and start training properly. And there's plenty of ways the club can help nurture that. Maybe offer him a bonus for matching last season's amazing stats on interceptions, etc. Or just give him time with Jose, who seems genuinely to like him and want him to stay. We should not give up on Morgan. In fact, I really don't think it's a sane option to let him go at this point. January, maybe... if an amazing offer comes in, and it's clear we're strong enough without him. That would not under cut Krueger at that point. I personally hope he stays, comes on as sub at Liverpool. That sends all the right messages: You can't start because you haven't played enough with the team. But still, we're going to give you a chance to be a hero.

My impression is van Gaal not that overwhelmed by Luke Shaw, a decision made before his time... hence his interest in Rojo (and his weird public comments about Luke being unfit, etc). Would be ironic for Luke if he ends up on the bench.

Most likely scores: Liverpool win 2-0 or 2-1. But at odds of 6:1, a Saints win has to be a great bet. They're missing the incredible silky skills of Adam Lallana, right? Rogers will look pretty foolish if he loses to the side he believed he'd claimed the crown jewels from. But on the opening day of the season, with RoKo and his plans still under wraps, it could easily happen. It'll be interesting to see if Rickie starts. I'm guessing more likely he comes on as 70th minute sub. The only things that would really hurt would be 1) worse than 3-0. 2) Lovren scores. 3) Lovren injures one of our players.

Unfortunately, I think these are all spam links put up by malware companies... If anyone finds a working stream, please let me know! (In US, even Radio Solent is blocked!)

I'm a huge fan of Lloyd Isgrove. Delighted to see him in first team again. Looks like he'll get a fair bit of playing time this season.

I'd argue it's in the club's interest to keep him for now, even if he never plays a match. Absolute statements have been made. For Kruger and the club's credibility they have to show that no means no. If they do, my guess is that MS won't play first few games, but will eventually come round. It's not in his professional interest to sulk all year either. I thought Jose was impressive in what he said about Morgan. Don't give up yet. If they do capitulate, it really does put a big black mark on Kruger's credibility, even if it seems to make short term sense.

Welcome, Redslo, and thanks for a fine piece. Even if it's not the full explanation, it's at least part of it. One further problem with the whole crazy wage cap rules is that even with flexibility to raise wages for one player, a club will find it hard to do so because of the knock on effects on others. So, with Morgan, we would now appear to have the flexibility now to at least part-way match the wages offered by Spurs. Yet it will be hard to do so without annoying other players. "So if I threaten to leave do I also get a pay rise?" The system is incredibly broken.

May just be my natural optimism, but Paul Lambert doesn't sound that convincing in his claims he'll be able to keep Vlaar. That single signing would be huge for us. http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/495518/Paul-Lambert-plans-talks-with-United-Spurs-and-Saints-target-Ron-Vlaar I see SkyBet have us at evens to sign him... and clear favourite over Spurs. Evens.... Toss a coin, call heads, it IS heads. Welcome, Ron! (See? No need for stress!)

I live in the US, where interest in the Premier League is rocketing, and many know about Southampton's reputation for nurturing great players. But the point is not what our brand is today. The whole argument of the article is that our best shot at raising our global profile is to build on this strength. I think it's a brilliant, if counter-intuitive idea. If the club moved in this direction, the real question is not: would it immediately boost our brand, because it wouldn't... that would take years... the real question is would promising young footballers be excited to join a Saints-branded academy in their country. And the answer is: I think they would. From that start-point, roll the clock forward 10 years and imagine what we might have....