Goat, what did we tell you about not scaring off the new joiners to the forum?
Originally posted by @Sfcsim
I want a cup double please.
Would that mean we get to play twice each week in the Europa League? 
Anyway, back to the footie.
Saints 2:1 Arse
Arseâs goal from dodgy Yoshida back-pass.
Soz. At least there were no suitable image results for torture-mobile or rape-wagon.
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Is this like a fetish site? Ainât really my thing. Here for footie. Saints supporter 30 years. Red and white in my blood. Up the saints
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Each to their own and all that. I ainât no Trump neither
Just mucking about S_c.
Red and White and still buzzing.
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Yeah me too mate. Buzzin
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You will you will 
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Hang around S_c, youâll get used to the humour quick enough and itâs a great time for all of us.
Whatâs your thoughts on tomorrows game?
3-0 for me. Was going to go 3-1 but i feel bad saying the defence will let anything past them after Wednesday.
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I ainât feeling so good about if Iâm honest. Maybe too many years getting excited then smack back down to earth. Feel more confident about the cup final dont know why really. Would be there tomorrow but got a job on Gotta drive half way up the country. I reckon 2-0 to the arse but donât mind being kicked for sayin it
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No, that is The Saints Web. This is the masochists site.
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A young claude on the left hereâŚ
Originally posted by @Optimus-trousers
Sourced from Daily Mail article
How Puel was Wengerâs enforcer for his early managerial success
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When Claude Puel arrived at Southampton this summer, he did so as a relative unknown in England - except to one man.
For Arsene Wenger, it was a moment he must have cherished. Puel was there for the early successes of Wengerâs career, the moments that led him to a place in the dugout at Arsenal.
Puel, of course, was a member of Wengerâs Monaco side that brought him the first league title win of his managerial career. But the relationship between the two goes far further than that.
A story from earlier this season explains a lot. Wenger may be one of the veterans of the English game but he is not famed for his moments of calm after defeats. His instruction to Puel to go and win the EFL Cup after Arsenalâs quarter-final exit was abnormal.
That can be explained by the understanding that, probably more than any other manager, Puel can be considered a protege of Wengerâs.
It began with the role Puel was asked to play in Wengerâs Monaco side. He may be a relatively quiet man now but Puel was Wengerâs midfield enforcer, the man relied upon to stop the opposition.
âPuel was well known in training to be a good tackler,â Wenger joked earlier this season. âEven on the morning of a Cup final he could tackle and even if it was the manager then no problem! He was a fighter as a player and he will be a fighter as a manager.â
Itâs easy to forget that Wengerâs most successful sides have been built around players like that. At Arsenal there was Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit, the equivalent of dual-wielded hatchets.
Those sometimes brutish midfielders are more of a reflection of the managerâs personality than he might accept, and it is easy to understand Wenger developing a close affinity with players who fulfil that role in his teams.
And Puel was successful, like Petit, like Vieira. Together with Wenger he won Ligue 1 at Monaco in 1987-88, taking six more points than their closest rivals Bordeaux. Even in a team with the talents of Glenn Hoddle, Patrick Battiston and Mark Hateley, Puel was an important figure, missing just five league games all season.
That would be the peak of their achievements together at Monaco. Wengerâs side would never finish first again, while Puel would only win one more trophy during his playing career - the 1991 Coupe de France, also under Wenger. They would also reach the European Cup Winnersâ Cup final, although Puel did not play.
But Puel would almost certainly have watched on as his former masterâs managerial career took him to Japan and then England.
Itâs probably of note that Puel made his first moves in management after Wenger demonstrated what could be achieved by capturing the double with Arsenal in 1998.
Wenger won the Premier League in his first season with Arsenal, repeating the feat that he had achieved in his debut campaign with Monaco.
And Puel explained how Wenger managed to have that immediate impact in an interview in 2014: 'We had some great players and a very good team but we were open and receptive to him from the start. There were no real problems.
âArsene Wenger has always had an aura - heâs tall, he has a certain stature, heâs calm, he has a natural authority. He managed to earn the playersâ respect without raising his voice because thatâs how he does things.â
Puel did exactly the same as Wenger, bringing success to Monaco in his first full season in charge of the principality club, 1998-99, by winning Ligue 1.
He had had a perfect guide. Speaking to Sky Sports, he commented: âOf course, Arsene Wenger was very important for me. I learned from him during seven years at Monaco, itâs a long time and now itâs interesting to see all the great trainers to develop what I can do.â
Wenger is a font of managerial wisdom that Puel has gone back to at points in his managerial career. âAfter being Lyon manager [2008 to 2011] I had a sabbatical year and went to see Arsenal train and play thanks to my contact with him,â he revealed in 2014.
But the two are not exactly the same as managers and it would be unfair to characterise them as such. Wenger was always aware of the importance of a good relationship with the media to success in England, where Puel has occasionally been slightly more unknowable than even the Professor was.
And Puel himself was keen to find a style of his own as a manager: 'I think it is important always to keep my character because it is my personality. But it is interesting to stay open with all the styles, the possibilities of the team.
âThe work of every trainer is interesting. When we can play against all these interesting teams itâs interesting to adapt, to find solutions and to analyse the game. Itâs a high level.â
Whatâs probably of note is that Puel has constructed a team closer in image to the sides Wenger had at the start of his managerial career.
Southampton are pragmatic, occasionally defensive and tend to put more of a focus on avoiding defeat than they do chasing victory.
They have the hallmarks of a great Wenger side too. Oriol Romeu fulfils that breaker role that Puel used to. They can counter at pace and scythe teams apart, preaching a swift knock-out blow rather than constant possession.
It is a system that has brought Puel success throughout his time as a manager, at Monaco, at Lille and at Nice. Wenger will have been watching on with some pride.
On Saturday they will test their wits again in the FA Cup fourth round.
Southampton have already put together an effective display against Wengerâs side once this season, dashing cup dreams. Will Puel overcome his old master again, or does the apprentice still need to learn some more tricks?
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âŚbiliously fathered by Optimus trousersâŚbeta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
âŚand hereâŚ
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Nothing wrong with being honest. Iâm hoping the lift the players got from getting to Wembley carries us through. Team sheet could dampen my enthusiasm though.
In all seriousness, Arsenal have a pretty tasty FA Cup record. We will need to be right on the money again to win this one, but who knows?
My predictions âŚ
2 -1 win for us.
Hoijberjg will finally break his duck
McQueen will also break his duck.
Arsenals goal will come from a poor refereeing decision.
Wenger will blame the ref for Arsenal losing
Puel and Wenger will drink wine together post match but Wengers will taste bitter ⌠also the referees fault.
Puel will be gracious in victory, Wenger will be a bad sport
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Wenger has been banished to the stands for this and the next three matches
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Iâll not tempt fate by revealing my predictionâŚjust to say my recent track-record has been very good.
Iâll let you know after the game.
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Will be out watching the game with the broâ -in-law whoâs a gooner.
For that reason weâve got to win.
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Originally posted by @Optimus-trousers
Sourced from Daily Echo article
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Forgotten man Florin Gardos could make his first Saints appearance in nearly two years against Arsenal in the FA Cup fourth round today.
Claude Puel is set to rotate his weary team again, with a young team lined-up to face the Gunners.
Gardos, who hasnât played since February 2015 because of injuries, has been monitored by Puel ahead todayâs match, with options limited at centre-back.
With Virgil van Dijk injured and Jose Fonte now at West Ham, Maya Yoshida and Jack Stephens, who played together in the League Cup on Wednesday night at Liverpool, are the only other centre-back options available.
But Puel will be keen to rest one of them, with a trip to Swansea in the Premier League fast approaching on Tuesday night.
âFlorin comes back in to the squad tomorrow,â the boss said. âWe will see if he can start or not, but he came back with a good level in the training sessions.
âHis last game was with the under-23s, but we will see if he can play many times without injury because it has been difficult for him since the beginning of the season.
âItâs difficult after every injury to come back at a good level, but for the moment itâs interesting and I hope he can continue this good work.â
Captain Van Dijk remains out for the Arsenal game, while Jay Rodriguez and James Ward-Prowse are both sidelined because of minor ankle problems.
Ward-Prowse is expected to be back against the Swans, while Rodriguez is likely to return against West Ham a week today.
âFor us for this game we donât have Austin, Van Dijk, McCarthy, Hesketh, Pied, Ward-Prowse, Rodriguez and a lot of players,â said Puel.
âFor Arsenal itâs one or two players [injured], itâs not a lot of difference, but for us we have a lot of injuries.
âI have to have a good balance between young and experienced players to play this game.â
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