Toon Saint

Still disappointed about the Sunderland game. It's clear that Poch got his selections all wrong - probably underestimated a much changed Sunderland XI - but those that were selected, seemed to lack any sort of desire on the day. Players and management should share that blame. That said, I don't know why so many feel we can judge Poch's 'attitude' towards cup competitions based on his first full season in charge. Moyes got to one cup final in 11 years with Everton, but can't recall him ever being accused of not taking cup competitions seriously. Probably a fair bit of this is a perceived 'aloofness' owing to Poch's nationality, rather than anything tangible. It doesn't help that Poch doesn't do interviews after cup games, but remember hearing a fair few fans moaning at Stadium of Light that Poch should 'f*ck off back to Spain and manage Real Madrid'. People seem to forget this is only our second season back in the Prem, and yes we don't have the worries of relegation this year and cups therefore assume a higher priority, but Adkins fielded much-changed teams in the cups last year and barely received any stick. (Sunderland's cup runs this year suggest that the battle for survival and decent cup runs can be balanced to some degree) The criticism levied at Poch is often that he doesn't seem to 'understand' fans passion for the cups (whereas a British manager naturally would), but I think we should give Poch a bit more time before we make those sort of snap judgements. It seems incredible to me that a manager as supposedly ambitious as Poch, would not want to add silverware to his C.V.

Spot on, this.

Wtf? Do you know something about Gaston we don't? Philanderer extraordinaire?

Worth noting that Poch was at the U18 match yesterday. Not exactly the actions of a man braced for an exit in the summer. He needs to be offered a contract before he demonstrates his commitment to the club. He can't stand accused of not wanting to be at the club if he has not had the chance to do so. If he were stalling on an offer then I'd be worried, but he is not, and has already said he is relaxed about the situation and planning for next year. Most of this doomsday hysterics on this thread is just based on tabloid fluff - most notably articles derived from newspapers with known connections to our dearly departed Don. A lot of the paper talk re: KL takeover when Cortese left has proven to be nonsense, so let's just sit tight and see what the summer brings. I'm sure KL realises the importance of keeping hold of Poch, and that sorting his contract out will be a priority come end of the season.

The Guardian writers must be pretty stupid as well: http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/dec/09/premier-league-10-talking-points-weekend-action Saints Cork up Touré There were many excellent performances from Southampton players on Saturday – Adam Lallana and Luke Shaw were again wonderful, Dejan Lovren was immense at the back and Dani Osvaldo scored a sumptuous goal – but Jack Cork deserves particular mention. It is by no means obvious that Southampton needed to buy Victor Wanyama in the summer but they did and that has led to Cork being kept on the sidelines until Saturday, when he was cast into his first league start of the season against Yaya Touré, no less. He took a few minutes to get back up to speed with Premier League proceedings but soon he began to run the Southampton show in the middle. Touré did begin to look a little jaded as the game wore on – and City should definitely spare him Tuesday's trip to Bayern Munich, where the likelihood of them getting the 3-0 win they need to top the group is miniscule, especially compared to the need to have a fresh Touré against Arsenal next weekend – but that should not detract from the performance of Cork, who helped prove that there is depth to this Southampton squad. Paul Doyle

I was bored before I even began.

My ex-girlfriend's step-dad had a grandson in the Birmingham academy, so used to go watch their youngsters train a few times. Probably at least four years ago now, but Foday Nabay was about a foot taller than the other kids his age - think it was the u11's - and had some serious ability to go with the physique. Used to play up front when I watched him but now converted to a midfielder, I believe. He has also been transferred to Fulham's academy but hotly tipped for the future and has been playing for England U-16's. http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11681/8836944/ *Realise this probably wasn't meant to be a serious thread

Watched this game while swirling down a K-hole. Good times.

I Me Mine - The Beatles All through the game...Nathaniel Clyne, Nathaniel Clyne, Nathaniel Clyne, All through added time... Nathaniel Clyne, Nathaniel Clyne, Nathaniel Clyne Now they're frightened of playing him... Everyone's scared of him... Playing that football so fine All through the game...Nathaniel Clyne Nathaniel Clyne, Nathaniel Clyne, Nathaniel Clyne... Hideous words but the tune might work.

Was sitting behind a Scottish fella in the Kingsland on Saturday who was regaling the person behind me of how he met Puncheon at Warwick service station after Stoke game. Apparently Puncheon was sad to leave us and only did so because of system that Poch intended to employ with full backs providing the width. Top guy who is always looking out for Saints results and apparently there is a chance he could return in January, which suggests there is a call back option on the loan. Might be of mild interest to some of you lot...

If you can't win, don't lose. Great character shown to come back from that freak goal - don't think it was Boruc's mistake btw - and as usual, we dominated possession in awful conditions. Wanyama and JWP are improving game by game. Good to see Big Vic tidying up his passing and JWP's delivery is becomingly an increasingly important asset for us. The kid has some future. Would have liked to seen us create a bit more in the second half and given Gaston's lack of appearances, as well as the scrappy nature of the second half, was slightly suprised to see him come on - though perhaps S. Davis' recent injury informed that decision. Still, we are seven unbeaten now and providing we keep Huddleston quiet next week we should be looking to secure a comfortable win.

Exceptional today, back to his performance levels of last year. I really can't think of a better DM in the PL than him - he made Fellaini look so poor by comparison.

Thought our formation would suit him better today but he disappointed, and was somewhat carried through the game by our excellent midfield. Should have released Davis earlier when he was in good position, and had a couple of speculative efforts that weren't ever likely to bother De Gea. His first touch, which is usually superb, was poor throughout. Hopefully just rusty from international duty and he will bang in a couple vs. Fulham. Think that we do need a proper no. 10 in to play with him though and feed him those balls behind the defence - whether that should be Ramirez/Davis or a new signing entirely, is another question.

Slightly misleading from the Mirror as Cortese was talking about the role of manager in general not specifically Pochettino. The article implies that Nicola is 'playing down' the role of Poch, when essentially he was discussing how the structure of the club was configured when he first arrived.

Sorry but Nicola definitely said one year in L1 and two years in the Championship - the 'we did it the other way around' comment would make no sense otherwise.

Pleasantly surprised by Lallana's consistency this season. Behind Boruc, Lovren and Fonte, he has been one of our standout performers. Needs to be more clinical in front of goal but good signs yesterday with him putting his foot through the ball, rather than his sidefooted scuff that had become something of a trademark. Nice also to see him get the full 90 minutes. If he can maintain this level for an extended period and prove that their are no issues with match fitness then he absolutely will be in with a shout of an England call. Can't do much worse than Messrs Young and Cleverley can we?

Not convinced by this. I think in the end Sunderland only needed 5 points from 7 games to stay up - despite their terrible form, O'Neill stood a decent chance of getting at least one win and two draws from remaining fixtures.

So was Jimmy Saville, but look at all the abuse he still gets! Sorry.

Match fitness clearly an issue given Jesus's comments after Bristol City game. No idea whether he was injured for today, but seems to be a long way from first XI at the moment.

Some of the interplay b/w the front four was great in the first 25 mins. Osvaldo should have taken that early chance first time, though the ball did bobble up at a difficult height for him. That said, his cross-field ball from the left flank out to Lambert on the right, who should have really played in Lallana for a second, was fantastic. Unfortunate he was subbed off with a knock as he was looking lively. Keep saying it but would really like to see him play in tandem with Ramirez, but with Gaston's fitness issues, it doesn't look like happening anytime soon.

This.

Get in Jay! Shocking goal from Swansea perspective, but nicely clipped in.

Silly yellow card for Fonte there protesting Lovren booking. Both CB's on yellow, great.

http://www.hahabar.com/20131006/v-football-659506-525152aadfcd55.92105196.html

Lovely game this. Should be 1-1 really, but some great play b/w Lallana, Osvaldo, and Lambert. Lallana, in particular, has been excellent.