Mauricio Pochettino's key comments: "The mood here is very calm. The players are very relaxed after a positive result at Old Trafford." "We have a footballing philosophy of defending high up the pitch and taking lots of risks to keep the ball far from our goal." "We will always continue to attempt to play this way." On Gary Neville's comments: “I’m very proud of the players’ performances. They are the protagonists in this team.” "Fulham are a side with very talented players. Their position in the league is not reflective of how they are playing." "We know they will make things tough for us, so we’ll have to work hard to get a positive result from this game." "Statistics are just statistics. They're there now, and at the end of the season they are as well, but they really mean nothing." "One of the main reasons I signed for Southampton was because I realised how well they value their academy system." "I am glad both our ways of doing things have come together so well." "Steven Davis had a slight problem in training. We still need to evaluate how he is doing. We will make a decision tomorrow." "Dejan Lovren is a great defender. He is playing very well, and so is Jose. However, Maya and Jos are also good defenders." "We are glad to have four good central defenders, we will need them all." "I can't really speak about the scenario with Ian Holloway and Crystal Palace. I can only really express my sympathy." "No one likes to see a colleague get sacked. I send him my best wishes and hope that we meet again and can say hello again."
"Dejan Lovren is a great defender. He is playing very well, and so is Jose. However, Maya and Jos are also good defenders." Nice to see this support of Jos and Maya especially with all the rumours about Davide Astori - surely a striker/winger would improve the team more?
Talking of centre-halves, look who was in the dressing room today... please log in to view this image
Jose sporting the slightly apprehensive smile normally seen when someone drunkenly throws their arm around you at 1am, before demanding that a passer-by take a damned picture already.
Good grief Mark Lawrenson can't only get the score right - he can't get the manager's name right! "After surprising a few teams in the last couple of months, I think Manuel Pochettino's side might get a bit of a shock themselves." Lawro's prediction: 1-1
I expect us to win this. Got a good feeling about it being 2-0. If we want to finish top 6, or at worst top 8, we need to win games like this.
I do find scorer odds amusing. Not sure how Lovren and Fonte don't have better scoring odds than Shaw and Chambers, but hey ho.
Seems to largely be that they've divided the squad into forwards/midfielders/defenders and left it at that. Of course, to compensate they knock the odds back so thoroughly that there's no money to be made there.
So it's live on sky Saturday evening, kick off just after 5pm. I am afraid to say I can only see one winner in this one and its all in favour of the away team. As much as I hate to say it the team in white are going to win this game. Two teams in pretty good form and playing attractive football but the team from the capital should win this one. Anyway enough about the barca, Madrid match saints will win this comfortably if not convincingly. coys
Claus: You're my best ****ing mate, you are.. Jose: Er, okay, thanks... Claus: Lend us 20 quid. Mate...
GALLERY: Saints in Ful flow - http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/gallery-training-in-ful-flow-for-saints-1133120.aspx
