I'm so glad you took that in the light hearted spirit I hoped you would Fran. I thought it was close to the line, but couldn't resist that gag. Thanks for being a sport
Not a bad idea at all. Almost as goods playing Lambert/Jayrod/Lallana/Gaston in a competitive game against Barnsley. Happy either way to be honest. Would like to see Rowe get a run out some time tonight though.
Let's be honest as long as we win we wont care who played. If we lose this forum will go into meltdown.
Hope we have enough continuity to beat them. I really hope we have a good crack at the cups this year.
I'm struggling to understand the current position with Morgan and shaw. Both looked to be a bit off the pace Saturday and the substitutions definitely helped. In his post match interview, fonte said the substitutions were purely tactical but sky sports preview of the Barnsley game suggests Morgan is struggling with fitness and shaw still has a knee problem (which could explain why he was not so active up and down the wing). Anyone got any idea? It could also explain why all our first half play went through Wanyama not Morgan. In the second half, everything went through JWP. I thought at the time it was strange as it puts a lot of work on one pair of shoulders. Can't see any reason why two defensive midfielders cannot share the role of linking the ball forward. When both fit of course.
Does seem that both Shaw and Schneiderlin are injured. We all saw Luke get injured, but perhaps Morgan was carrying an injury? He is not a player you sub at half time without a good reason.
Barnsley are reportedly down to the bare bones for this match...better make sure we thrash them then.
For Osvaldo, this is the archetypal foreign import media judgement test of whether or not he is a good buy - ie. whether he can perform on a Tuesday night at Barnsley.
According to twitter, tickets will be available on the door, not seen what our allocation is but obviously not filled it. My 1st game of the season tonight. Like a little kid before Christmas!!
I asked mrs FLT if we could go for my birthday. She didn't say anything, so I'm expecting a surprise later.... Do you think I've wasted my time hiding my saints shirt in the car?
Can't remember which interview I saw/heard it on, but prior to Saturday's match, Morgan had hardly trained all week, according to Poch. It was his ingrained fitness that took him through his 45 minutes. He was carrying an injury, but obviously nothing too serious. What concerns me slightly is that a slightly unfit Morgan gets the nod over Cork. Jack Cork is a bloody good, fully fit player to have on the bench, or perhaps starting, with Morgan on the bench saving his fitness. One more thing. I didn't wonder why Calum Chambers started his second match. He was fully worthy of keeping his place after his WBA début. However, it appears Clyne put in another of his excellent LB appearances, when coming on for Shaw, so that worked out neatly, so to speak.
I'm really hoping Clyne starts against Norwich, Chambers is extremely solid defensively but isn't anywhere near the offensive threat that Clyne provides.
Yet, Chambers has alot of attacking instinct as his position was right midfield. probably been told to hang back and concentrate on defence like Luke last year
