mrfahaji

Ah fair enough. Although given West Ham's record against the top sides this season maybe it should help their odds!

Didn't realise they had control of this - if so, surely this would be a perfect way to poke Scudamore in the eye for the times they undermine the FA. Even though it would be amusing to see what you've suggested, at the very least have top 3 and 1 for FA Cup. Suddenly the FA Cup would be THE competition to win! I'm guessing the reason the FA don't do that is because the Premier League ultimately hold all the cards and would find a way to split off from the football league completely or something along those lines...

Given we're on the same points, and West Ham have demonstrated they can turn anyone over on their day, I'm surprised at the disparity between us. Sure, maybe Saints are in better form, but 20/1 vs 50/1??

Maybe they should get rid of internationals instead. It means everyone across the globe is saved from thinking "well that's 90 minutes of my life I won't get back" every couple of months.

I certainly hope not. Sometimes his versatility (i.e he can be cr@p in lots of positions) is used as a reason to take him, thus not having to pick back ups for every position, but as Smalling and Stones can play RB if needed surely there can't be any more excuses for him to be in the squad.

Don't forget Townsend - his continued absence at Tottenham may have scuppered his hopes, but Roy likes players who do well for him, regardless of club form, and now that Townsend is playing regularly he might sneak back in.

Yeah that's definitely it, understanding why doesn't make it any more bearable though!

We could have, yes.

Ahhhh that would make sense if it was Prutton... at one point he said "Southampton player banned for a long time? Sounds familiar" or something along those lines - I thought it must be an ex-Pompey player pouring scorn on us, but clearly it was self-deprecating!

I'm not sure how Chelsea, who are 7pts below us, can be seen as more of a threat than West Ham, who are only behind us by a single goal... Also if Liverpool keep Sturridge fit (a big if, admittedly), they seem to be a different side (and with Coutinho back).

If that had happened to us we'd definitely be saying it was a free kick. Even though it wasn't an obvious foul on the keeper, Fabianski did have both hands on the ball and the strong connection with Fonte caused the ball to drop out. I don't know the exact wording of the rule but I'd imagine that would constitute a free kick, as much as I wanted it to stand!

I've seen Pelle ambling about but he has also had some good touches. Started poorly but hasn't been atrocious. I'm all for keeping possession but when we have a chance to push on, it's bloody frustrating when it goes back and back and eventually back to Forster who lumps it forward and we lose it anyway...

Haven't seen that one, will have to check it out

Always felt Glenn Johnson was the epitome of that.

Hmmm I was expecting a lot better to be honest, with (apparently) two of the more intelligent members of the squad, but didn't find the answers or their chat particularly funny or interesting! Harrison Reed laughing at Targett for not knowing what starstruck meant is probably the highlight of these so far.

I'm with angelman on this... At Selhurst there was a group sat near me who turned up about 5-10 mins after kick off, then went (presumably) to the bar on 40 mins, returned to their seats at 50, then left on 80 mins! It felt like they were only there for half the match... And the fact it was an away game as well meant you really have to have gone out your way to buy tickets and attend.

It says "Coaches initially thought Forster might be too small play as a goalkeeper" on his wikipedia page. Ha. Amusing when you look at him now, but also highlights the short sightedness and narrow mindedness of coaches to apply such a crude logic.

It sounds like someone is desperate for a Venn Diagram...

I think the play acting just shows such a lack of respect to their fellow professionals. I can't stand diving but can see why players might be so desperate to win that they do it, but clutching your face or rolling around screaming when you've barely been touched is pretty embarrassing and disgusting. I'm not claiming that Saints are in general more honest or decent, but perhaps Payet & Bertrand should be used to show players "this game could have been 11 v 11, or it could have been 10 v 10. Surely we'd all rather the former?" I'd prefer to see a player get up in anger at a bad challenge to bring it to the attention of referees rather than pretending to be hurt. How players can shake hands at the end after actively trying to get the other sent off is beyond me. If a player was faking and I was red carded, I'd want to go over and kick them in the head and say "now I deserve it and you have something to cry about".

While I agree to an extent - it's annoying that people go so over the top after a few poor results - the season isn't done yet, so your post is not a great deal better. I doubt very much that we'll be relegated now, but it's still entirely feasible we could drop to around 12th - 14th, which would be a disappointment given that we've hauled ourselves back into Europa contention. If that were to happen, I expect all those you've been quoting above would probably have a field day!

I find these Football Manager articles a bit weird to be honest, as much as the game is a realistic simulation, there's still so many real life conditions it can't possibly factor in, not to mention that the rating of a player's attributes is purely subjective! During the transfer window, I didn't have a huge problem with the BBC getting some insight from the Football Manager expert (who is a Saints fan, I think someone posted a blog of his on here recently, which left much to be desired...), but when he starts saying things like "in my game, he has an average rating of 6.73", you have to wonder what the point/relevance is...

Wasn't that the one he saved with his shoulder? I too was staggered that it didn't go in, but I do wonder how many of his great saves are simply due to his size. I think it's a bit soon to be labelling him the best keeper ever. The fact is that he is huge, he does organise the defence well, and he does have good distribution, and these are all go to making a good keeper, but last season there were quite a few goals we conceded from distance where I thought he could have done better, and at times was slow coming off his line (maybe confidence knocked from the Villa calamity). As can often happen, I've probably only really appreciated him since he has been missing, but while I am glad to have him back, I'm still going reserve the knighthood for a little while yet. Niemi and Flowers were both pretty good in my time, although was pretty young when Flowers left.

Of course, but so many people are quick to voice their extreme views after every game, and are driven by an "I told you so" attitude, with this thread being used as the stick to beat the other viewpoint with.

I think it's better to wait until after the West Ham game before ruling this out completely, a win would put us in touching distance of them. Unless you're assuming Liverpool will finish above us, because they literally always do...!

I'm not sure - our dip started in November against Stoke - up to then we had had dreadful spells in games, but equally also had good spells and managed to get wins or draws (e.g. Bournemouth). From then until Watford we were wasteful in front of goal and were playing like we had a broken spirit (even if at times we still played well), and Ronald's demeanour reflected his team. If it was Europa disappointed surely this would have kicked in earlier? Last season I wasn't convinced on Forster (albeit he did come up with one or two 'Arsenal' type displays), but his return certainly seems to have galvanised the team defensively, whether because they have more confidence in him or because he has been organising them well.