mrfahaji

Kirchhoff has been excellent, but this link (apologies for posting a Daily Mail link but it was the first site I found) is a prime example of football fans writing someone off early! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3402569/Jan-Kirchhoff-makes-horror-debut-Sunderland-against-Tottenham-Hotspur-Twittersphere-reacts-accordingly.html

Just managed to find a clip - it's actually Ward-Prowse I'm referring to. I know Clasie and Bertrand could have done better but JWP does this utterly bizarre thing more akin to a star jump than anything else. I recall him doing something similar earlier in the season (to no avail again), presumably to put the player off or to get a block in rather than simply closing down the ball and making a tackle. Just watching again, even though Bertrand jumps in, in fairness to him, he is making a last ditch attempt to get the block in. You could even argue that JWP ends up getting in Bertrand's way (though not sure).

Who was it who "jumped" in a bizarre fashion towards Townsend instead of trying to make the tackle? I thought it was JWP but comments on match thread suggested Clasie.

You mean to say he isn't quite the "0/10 what is the point of this player £1m down the drain" signing that some were claiming?!

I don't have an issue with Pelle, in fact on the match thread I defended him just before he scored, but unless I'm grossly misremembering the situation, I don't think this is 'made up drivel' from Batman... I think yesterday suggests Pelle plays a lot better with other forwards buzzing around him. He held the ball up well and got some good flick ons, particularly in the first half, but without someone there to capitalise on these it would have just been "Pelle giving the ball away again". This showed in the second half when we went 4-5-1 (Mane pushed up a bit but didn't have the same intensity and directness as Long), so Pelle ended up being isolated and most of what he tried to do came to nothing.

I think it was right to leave Tadic on earlier but I'd probably take him off now.

It's like when Bale scored against us that time. Similar quality of player too...

What on earth is JWP (or is it Clasie?) doing? It's not the first time I've seen him do something bizarre instead of just making a tackle

Not sure if I'm watching the same game as others, I think Pelle has done ok so far

To be fair, to hit that first time on your weaker foot is by no means an easy chance.

The only thing I'd say is that I don't think our side is that great this year. We lost our two (and arguably three) best players and have only adequately replaced one of them (I like Romeu but wouldn't claim him to be on Schneiderlin's level). Throw in Wanyama and Mane (probably our next best players) being wildly inconsistent and Forster being injured for ages, and I'm actually amazed that seventh, equalling last year, is very much achievable (I was going to say 6th, but that's a bit optimistic). Of course it's disappointing that we haven't been better placed to capitalise on a strange PL season, but finishing 8th would still be a decent effort for this squad. Given we have been looking up at 5th/6th for a little while, 9th or 10th would be a bit of a shame, I admit.

No. I believe that if the CL winner finishes outside the top four, then 4th place is gazumped (i.e. if City win CL and finish 5th), but the Europa League winner has a spot reserved for them in the CL, regardless of country, and therefore Liverpool would not take it from another side by winning the Europa. Pretty sure about the Liverpool bit, not 100% on the City bit!

Agree that although he seems to have a good skillset to play behind the striker, Tadic is more at home and tends to do his best work on the wings and therefore struggles to fit the 5-2-1-2. People criticise some players for having no end product despite working hard, whereas Tadic is the opposite. While I agree that to play regularly in the PL you have to have a sense of discipline and not tracking your man is inexcusable, players who are able to create goalscoring opportunities are also invaluable. How many times do people say we need to upgrade Davis because he doesn't score or set up enough goals?! Interesting that in the Newcastle thread, not only are people writing off Sissoko, but some (or maybe just one) are also suggesting that Wijnaldum is a 'passenger'. Funny how grabbing a few goals makes other teams (and fans) have them down as world beaters but those who watch them every week aren't so convinced. I think a similar thing was true with Ayew at Swansea - I was surprised to see so many supporters questionning why he was in the team, even though a casual observer would mark him as one of their best players. Could even be true of Tadic.

That's why I said "hopefully"!

Think I'm right in saying that Leicester are the first team that we have failed to beat in either fixture so far this season. Hopefully it proves to be the only case all campaign...!

Didn't see the game today, so can't comment on how bad (or not) Davis was. However, unless Benitez has radically changed their style of play, Newcastle might be a game which would suit him. They often leave huge gaps between defence & attack, so someone who carries the ball to start counter attacks may prove very effective. I know Davis has his weaknesses, but he is probably the player I see most involved when we counter well against teams. Not sure Mane will be picking up the ball deep enough, can't see it from Clasie and JWP doesn't have the pace to cover the ground quickly. Romeu is the only other option - haven't seen any evidence either way on him though.

If only Le Tissier had gone to the 98 World Cup...

From what I have just 'researched' (googled), it is actually a white rose, and a former crest (as well as City crest) also features two red roses. "The red and white roses are linked with the Royal houses of Lancaster and York. Henry, Duke of Lancaster, his son in law John of Gaunt and John's younger brother, Edmond, Duke of York, were all involved in expeditions which set out from Southampton. It is thus likely that the Princes granted the roses to the city." I have always been a fan of the badge to be honest, always felt it was quite fresh looking, if a little on the childish side. I think I've always preferred badges with a bit more intracacy and colour though, even growing up in the 90s, I always much preferred the emblem of say, Coventry, to Sheffield Wednesday.

People are so civil on here... It's not about being brainwashed, it's about drawing my own conclusion that the EU are unlikely to agree terms with Britain which are just as good as they are currently if we leave, partly because of the precedent it sets.

That's fair enough to be honest, I shouldn't have waded in with non-Saints related stuff (though I'm not the only one). But I have noticed you only seem to pick up people who say anything remotely pro-EU.

I'm guessing as this is the only bit you picked up on, the rest of what I said was valid though. That's satisfying at least.

I concede I was perhaps wrong to phrase it as "we're only 5th because", but nevertheless, we ARE part of the EU and we DO have the fifth largest economy. So why risk playing with those foundations?

Ha, had a feeling you would pick up on that. One of the messages, which obvious carries weight with people because it is emotional and passionate, is that Britain can punch above its weight if it's not part of the EU. The fact is, we already are, and being part of the EU has allowed us to develop the fifth largest economy. Now, you may be right that we could have been 5th without the EU, but that's the best case scenario isn't it? We're doing pretty well currently, so why change and expose our country to massive amounts of risk, and huge upheval, when the best possible alternative scenario is that we do as well, or fractionally better than we already do?

We're only the fifth largest economy because of our position and relationship with/in the EU... But more to the point, given how strong our economy is in the current environment, why do people want to change? Sadly, it is driven by the immigration debate, and headlines which make people emotional and angry (myself included), but in the cold light of day it should actually be a secondary consideration rather than the driving force behind a campaign. Anyway, I apologise for moving the topic away from football...

Obviously they exist, but the point is that the terms will be worse than what we currently have. And as the EU is our country's largest (by far) import and export market, it seems strange to worsen that position. I mean, I can understand why people want to leave for economic reasons, after all we only have the fifth largest economy in the world behind USA, China, Japan and Germany... Wish we could be more like Norway and Canada.