NewYorkSaint

Cork on for Vic at HT... Bring on Gallagher at 65 mins. Give JRod a Red Bull. Just not clicking.

The slight puzzle is that Davies keeps his place ahead of Cork. I love Davies, but think Cork overall has been better. MP must see them as two really different positions/skill-sets. Cork breaks up opposition play and distributes, vs Davies a little more creative moving forward. I can see that... but still wish he would try Cork/Vic as partnership with Spider replacing Davies. Truth is, we have plenty of great midfield options, esp when you add JWP to the mix.

...oh, and I can't choose between Chambers and Clyne. Both really exciting to watch.

This, except I'd start Gallagher, and bring in Lambert on 60 mins.... let him back in gently. And give the kid another chance to shock 'em. Love the idea of playing Cork Wanyama Schneiderlin. Cork and Wanyama right in front of the back four, giving Spider opportunity to break forward. He can be lethal in the box.

It's probably the best negotiation that could happen in the time available. But I still doubt we'll get our money back unless he has a glorious season. I would guess there will be a big game of chicken in the summer. Juventus: He's been OK for us, but not great. We can't pay 15m of your pounds for him. Saints: But that's what you agreed. Juventus: As an option. We can't exercise that option. Too expensive. Saints: Great. We'll have him back then. Juventus: Of course, at half the price we might be interested. Saints players: Do it! Do it! We beg you! Saints: How about £14m? Juventus: Ne! £8m maximo. etc

When you back a team that plays football pretty much as entertainingly as it can be played, you have to be happy. That was really terrific tonight. Yeah, we deserved to win. But frankly the points arent' the biggest deal these days. What matters more is that we're building a side capable of truly being one of the best in the world.

Great great game. Well played Saints. Pride!

No one's mentioned how great a half Adam Lallana had. Some turns and flicks he pulled off were breathtaking. I hope he doesn't get subbed at 60 again. Hard to know who you'd take off for Wanyama. Davies also played superbly. One backheel/flick in the penalty area was divine. Luuuuuuke kickin' it too. Dream scenario... Gallagher makes up for his miss with a great goal, and then is replaced by Wanyama as we shut 'em down. More likely... we tire second half and they nick a goal or two. But right now, here's hoping....

What a fantastic half by Saints. So much commitment, athleticism, speed, brilliance. Only one team in it. Just superb. Heartbreaker for Gallagher's miss, but he's looking exciting. Schneiderlin and Cork absolutely dominant. They won unlikely possession on so many occasions. Yoshi, a couple of dodgy moments but otherwise strong. Ah, what an exciting team to watch. We're lucky, friends. Lucky, lucky.

I'd be happy with any home again... ...and quite fancy a draw against Arsenal, Chelsea, City or Liverpool. On our day we can beat any of them. Chances of getting to Wembley are fairly low. If we win a tie like that , we've truly earned the right to be there. And if we don't, at least we went out with a bang. Worst scenario is going out to someone like Brighton. Just my mindset.

The kit is a clearly an emotional issue that matters a lot more than you'd think it should matter. Here's how I see it. The stripes have the entire club's history on their side. On the other hand, they do look a little old-fashioned. And the fact we'd be pretty much matching Sunderland's kit doesn't help. The current kit (and last year's) have some appealing aspects (personally I think the striped socks work well!) but could reference the club's history a little better. So why not do the following? Brief a designer to offer 3 different styles which use stripes in some form, but with a tip of the hat to, you know, modern tastes. After all, if this is to be a big club, it really wants to appeal to global TV audiences, etc. Then invite the fans to discuss and vote. If he wanted to be really radical, he'd invite designs from the fans and include a couple of those in the vote. When you have this thing called the Internet that allows thousands of people to participate in an important conversation, that's not a bad plan to a) get to a great design and b) make everyone feel included in the decision. There's a time for dictatorship, and a time for participation.

I have a hunch we might need to rethink how we manage energy over 90 minutes. There have been a lot of games this season where we come out of the gates steaming with energy... close down relentlessly... intimidate and absolutely dominate for the first half of the game. But second half it's impossible to maintain that level of intensity, and teams gradually come back at us. I think we might be just slightly overdoing the initial all-out effort. Need to keep something in the tank. Anyone agree?

Boruc possibly shd have done better for 2nd goal. ... but kudos to him for his courage in staying on. Without that, we'd have been down to 10 men after the injuries. (He also made up with some fine saves later.)

What a crazy afternoon. All that is beautiful and infuriating about football. We were unbelievably good first half. Looked to be in a completely different league to Sunderland. And then, and then... a slow-motion disaster unfolds. I would have happily given them the game in return for no injuries to Lovren and Ramirez. That was a horrifying spell of play. Hope against hope they're OK... But Lovren looks to have a terrible injury there.

The difference in class is amazing. Now that we nearly have our full first team back, we truly look like a top-6 team.

Where the hell did THAT come from?

Ohhhhhhh Lovren. Love love love.

That was simply magnificent. One of Jay-Rod's absolute best. And apart from first 10 secs, Sunderland haven't touched the ball. Amazing start.

MP on NBC. "Before being players, they're humans. Of course the events have an impact on them. ....It's clear we need to leave those things aside, and be professional to get a positive result from this game."

Adam Lallana on NBC just now: "The mood in the camp is as good as ever. We've had a great couple of days of training."

You could make a theory that one of the subplots of last few weeks was: NC losing faith in RL. Starting to negotiate with West Ham on his sale. RL reacting badly. MP no real choice in the matter. KL gets to hear of it, asks hard questions. NC leaves and negotiations terminate. Now MP plays RL without a striker sub on the bench, as a show of faith. Not sure I believe it's quite like that... but will interesting to see how Rickie plays today.

Like this team. A lot. On 60 mins, if we're not winning, a little Gaston for new creativity. Otherwise, on 80 mins a little JWP for fresh legs. 0-2 pls Saints!!

That was a very cagey press conference he gave, and included contradictions. "I heard the news just as you did." "I pre-alerted the players to what was going to happen." "My contract is for 17 months." '"I'm committed to the end of season and that's it." His statement that he'd had no detailed conversation with NC is not credible. Nor that he'd only spoke with KL for 5 mins. Obviously trying to juggle a lot. My take: - he's made an informal commitment to stay for rest of season - that NC almost certainly is going to be out there preparing a bid - both MP and NC hope that the outcome will be a sale of the club to NC's new consortium - ...but obviously it will depend on them outbidding whoever else comes in. 50/50 at best, although the *do* have one huge advantage: any other buyer will likely face a much more turbulent situation with MP and players leaving. But in the short term, it's good news.

Dear MP... in case you're still looking for words... try these. (In English!!) "I have enormous respect for Nicola and am terribly sad to see him leave. But he has encouraged me to continue to the work that I have begun here, and the owners have also given me a significant vote of confidence. Over the past year I have built deep relationships with an incredible group of players. I cannot leave them at this time. My only focus for now and the rest of the season is to see Southampton do as well as possible. I will be fighting hard to win every game and for this group of players to continue to work together as one of the greatest teams in the Premiership. Thank you. No questions. I need to get back to training. We have an important match on Saturday."

I predict: MP stays for rest of season. 2 players are sold (prob Shaw, Lambert) but rest stay. Dispute turns out to be primarily over NC's desire to manage with absolute power. No consultation on player purchases and sales, etc. The club is sold in the summer. NC leads consortium as one of the bidders, but loses. We hammer Sunderland.