UP FOR THE CUP AGAIN.....

At least it keeps the tie open and you never know with saints, a draw would be enough and I can see us sneaking a goal up there, maybe Forster will have a blinder so our reserve team, Liverpool buy him in the summer, if they sign Fonte will really be a joke

The Norwich replay next. Time to rotate again I suppose

Will be like the magic roundabout I suspect, Martina, Stephens, McQueen, Reed, JWP, Lewis, Sims I suspect all to start. I would play Fonte, we are still paying him so play him, he needs the games and if no sensible bid before the end of the month we will want to play him so need to keep him match fit. Not sure who he plays up front I would start Long, he needs games.

Loads of changes as expected, but apparently a terrible match although scraped through

think the goal just about summed up the game, at least Lewis will have kept a clean sheet but don't think Norwich had a shot on target. Arsenal at home should at least be a decent game but don't see us beating them a second time

Can Saints finish Liverpool off?

A big ask....... especially if VVD is out, or not at his best

I think at least we are in with a chance, their defeat to Swansea will not have helped their confidence and think we can get a draw and looking to Redmond to get an important goal.

A win, yes !!!

Outstanding result Pete and Mike, a gutsy performance, top marks to Stephens and Yoshida. If we ever start taking our chances we really could hammer someone. The Long handball was a bit close for comfort, most other refs would have given it being in front of the kop. Hope Virgil is fit for the final as he deserves to lead the side out

Great result and well deserved......although it could so easily have gone the other way, with the Long 'penalty incident'..... and Forster's gaffe that he managed to stop crossing the line.

Now for the FA Cup.....can Saints get through? I wonder what sort of team Arsenal will put out.

Can see this possibly going to another replay.

Neither side will want a replay so can see both sides looking to win it, think you will see a number of players rested plus a few injuries picked up Ward Prowse and J Rod think will not play, Hojberg and Long replacing, suspect Reed may also start in midfield, McQueen in for Bertrand and Classie to play in Romeau's position. Arsenal will also rest a couple but think they will be more serious, they are unlikely to win the league so FA Cup has to be their best bet so expect Chamberlain, Walcott, Giroud, and Sanchez all to feature.

I think a recovery game for us and a 2 0 win for Arsenal, and I wont be complaining

Well pretty hacked of at the game as while I accept there would have to be changes so many and different partnerships left us open to be hammered which is what happened. Stephens is learning so to play him along side Gardos who has not played a serious game for 2 years was asking for trouble, then add Martina to the mix and put Lewis in goal again was only going to be one outcome, then why Isgrove was picked upfront beyond me, afraid the lad will never make premiership, would get into a championship side to be honest. So the whole combination was a mess but maybe Puel knew that and wanted to put pressure on Les Reed to get a couple of players in. Centre Half is desperate now with Virgil's injury, Stephens is third choice and Gardos 4th but I cannot see Gardos being half decent for months. he was awful and his first game for main team for 2 years and it showed.

what made it worse for me was 6 first team choices on the bench, in which case start with your strongest side and see what happens. We did have some chances, Hojberg had a great chance after Long chased down a loose ball their goalie chased, got the ball back and crossed yet again Hojberg just blasted over instead of taking his time and placing his shot. Sims had a decent shot and several times we got to byline but no one in the centre. the goals conceded were poor defending, inability to tackle and no positioning and could have been more. Classic example was an early corner to Arsenal on our left , went to take short and for some reason Martina came racing across with Sims leaving his side, the right side completely expose , ball went across and they had a great chance but for once was missed. Even with lesser skilled players if you play to a system , know your positions you can make it difficult but this was far to easy.

Gardos was pretty awful, missed headers, rarely tackled and really didn't help Stephens, Martina was his usual okay going forward hopeless at defending and just wandered off. Isgrove was lightweight, easily knocked off the ball and will surely have played his last game in a saints shirt. Lewis in goal needs to be loaned out to learn his game and get "knocked" a bit, not as back up to our first choice and why did we sign Taylor if not to play him in this type of game? Its a worry that McCarthy is still injured, yet club have not indicated anything serious but that must be 3-4 months out. Plus why couldn't Forster play, 2 games a week isn't that hard for a goalie is it?

Lewis 5 made a couple of decent saves but unsure on whether to come out or not, not helped by his back 4
Martina 5 okay going forward but consistently poor positioning, we need a new RB as cover for Cedric
Stephens 5 clearly not as comfortable and at fault for second goal
Gardos 4 okay 2 years out so couldn't expect much but he is months away fro the being at the level for the first team.
McQueen 5 not a great game for Sam though did get forward a couple of times and had a decent shot
Classie 4 a poor game for Classie, played out of position to start changed after 2 down to late but why he did not start in front of back 4 dont know
Reed 4 really poor, was in front of back 4 to start with which was odd, didn't get in many tackles, poor passes, looks like gone backwards
Hojberg 6 his usual mixture of good and bad, his shooting is woeful and needs to practice passing the ball into the net, less about power
Sims 6 tried hard and was normally involved in our good play, which wasn't much
Long 7 he did try all night with what little service, actually hacked off when Puel subbed him, can only think resting him if JRod injury not good
Isgrove 4 no threat, lightweight and really has no future at saints. Shame as sure a nice kid but never going to be a premiership player.

Subs

didn't see enough of them as we left at 4 down, seemed a bit pointless bring on when we did, if he had changed shape and gone 442, or 451 to make us more difficult would have been worth while but still persisted in 433 with us totally over run in midfield and Long showed his disgust at going off, straight down the tunnel.

So will the real saints stand up please, and will Puel actually stop being the diplomat and start being honest with the fans and tell Reed the squad, and some of the youngsters are not good enough and we need to strengthen now not in the summer. Yes its never a good time to buy at the end of the transfer window but Reed has caused that by not strengthening in the summer and allowing Fonte to go with no replacement.

Thanks Matty, must have been terrible to be at that one. I watched from my armchair......but dozed off when 3 down,

I agree it wasn't fair on Stephens to pair him with Gardos, he still needs someone who can guide him.

A lot of the youngsters did not play as well as they can.... in particular, I was disappointed with McQueen and Reed. McQueen can do much much better. The only youngster who displayed any promise was Sims.

Felt sorry for McQueen as the midfield was poor giving no protection which meant he was under pressure and he had Gardos along side him. Simms did at least have his usual drive and energy.

The big day nearly here, any chance of Saints springing a surprise???

Do you think the new defender will be given a chance or will Puel stand by Maya and Stephens?

There are strong rumours on Facebook that the club are keeping under wraps that Van Djik is back in training and could play!!!!

Well I would be surprised if Caceses starts but think he will be on the bench. It would be a big risk to bring back Virgil though if he was 80 % fit it would be a major boost to the team as think they all recognise he is a star. I hope Yoshida has a blinder as it would ne ncie for him to have one of his good days and get the recognition. Gabbadini has the chance to be a hero but what about a set piece winner by Ward Prowse mirroring the Bobby Stokes story. That would do me.

Going on the train but when I asked staff at Southampton station yesterday what they expected it to be like on Sunday they said "Carnage"!

I hope you have a really great and memorable day Matty.

By 'memorable' I mean that I am of course hoping for a Saints victory.

Great game......just a shame about the result.

OK, it's true Gabbiadini's early strike shouldn't have been disallowed and it could be said we didn't really lose. But, had Saints scored that early opening goal I have a feeling it could have woken up United and we could easily have gone on to lose by a hatful of goals.

Well we will never know Mike but think that would have given saints the confidence to go on. It was a really good performance, Yoshida, Bertrand, Cedric, Tadic, Redmond Gabbadini and Ward Prowse all had good games. Great atmosphere from the saints fans and Utd were made to look ordinary, just Zatlan who was the difference and you just wonder if Caceses had played would he have made a difference.

Don't know why Puel subbed Gabbadini, didn't matter he was tired he was the one saints player look likely to scor.

Only negative for me was what I thought was again an average performance by Forster, stood far to much to his near posts instead of a central position for a free kick that far out, he gave the striker something to aim for. Then to slow to react and again on the back of his feet not his toes. Second goal others should have closed down but on the third, while Stephens lost his position it was in the 6 yard box and a quality goalie would claim the ball or come to punch. I would definitely sell in the summer and look to buy Begovic from Chelsea who I think is a better all round goalie. I would also get a new goalkeeping coach as most of Forster's failings can all be corrected with a decent coach. I have heard the young goalie from Nice is pretty hopeless, parries everything even if a comfortable catch

Only 2 games in March both away so while disappointing no home games should mean Virgil will be back for most of our remaining games, no doubt if he had played we would have won, with him at the back Oriel in midfield and Gabbadini up front we will win a few games

Forster 5 just has to do better at this level
Bertrand 7 Played well but wish he hadn't gone upfield for the disallowed goal
Yoshida 7 thought he had a good game
Stephens 6 did okay but he does get lost at times not keeping close tab on his player
Cedric 7 another good game
Romeau 7 unfortunate to give away the foul, wouldn't have done that if Virgil was there
Davies 7 though had a tidy game not spectacular
Ward Prowse 7 grew into the game and rose to the big occasion
Redmond 7 will never be a top goal scorer but can provide the assists and create space for others
Tadic 7 again showed what he can do when his mind is set
Gabbadini9 is really showing what a class act he is, hopefully not a one season wonder but does look skilful

Thanks Matty much appreciated.

What time did you make it home, or did you stay over ?

Thanks again Matty.....agree with your comments about Forster, he doesn't seem bovvered at the moment.

Like you, I thought it was a big mistake to sub Gabbiadini. Even if he's tired he seems to inspire the team..... plus there was at the time a possibility that it could go to penalties, and I'm sure he'd have been an asset for them.

Sorry Mike been a busy week, we got back around 11, going was a nightmare as our train broke down and all kicked off at Eastleigh and station was mobbed, we ended up getting a lift to Farnham and a train from there. Didn't help with all the rugby fans as well. Was in London yesterday and again all the trains were messed up, they do to much engineering work at the weekends and slightest thing goes wrong and chaos.

Still never mind they are closing half of Waterloo station for most of August, just in time for the world athletics championships!!

Cup time again, with Wolves at St Mary's. Can Saints put another decent run together?

Will be plenty of changes but still should be able to field a strong side.

McCarthy, Targett, Bednarek, Stephens, Pied, Classie, JWP, Hojberg, Boufal, Long Austin, would be pretty decent going forward. McQueen, Flannagan, Gallagher all on the bench.