please log in to view this image Wednesday 21st April 6pm Premier League Tottenham Hotspur Stadium It's been a very busy week. It's Tuesday. Mourinho's out. Mason is in. The Premier League is out. The Super League is in. If chaos is a ladder, then we're probably amongst the snakes. The Cup Final is coming up on Sunday and this almost feels like an afterthought, though one we need to win. Can Ryan Mason make a majestic return to the first team or will the Saints punish our sinners? Last season was quite a rollercoaster for Ralph Hassnhuttl's men. They started extremely poorly and hit a real low with the 9-0 home drubbing by Leicester in October. Things turned around shortly after that though and they finished strongly, ending up in 11th place. A reasonable summer lead followed and expectations for the campaign were decent. It's been something of a mirror of the previous one for them unfortunately, even including another 9-0 loss. This time started with two losses, but they only lost another two from the next 16 in the league. They spent a little time in the top four and reached the FA Cup semi-final, but things have gone downhill. Two wins and eleven losses in the last fourteen games have dashed their hopes and raised questions. They also went out to Leicester on the weekend, which virtually ended their season. It's up to the manager to get them up again for the run-in and the pressure may be on if he doesn't. The respective game last season happened about 18 months ago, which seems a bit ludicrous. It was another controversial one, shockingly, coinciding with Pochettino's last league win at the club. We started much the better side and deservedly took the lead when Ndombele fired home after a nice move. Things looked to be going well when Aurier was dismissed and it all went pear shaped. Lloris ballsed it up to allow Ings to equalise, but a fantastic goal from Kane won it before the break: The away tie this time was very much a game of two halves. Ings was on the scoresheet again, as Southampton took an early lead and could have added to it. They failed to do so and it all seemed to turn on a break from us before half-time, resulting in a Son equaliser. Kane got the assist and they repeated the trick another 3 times after the break. The provider grabbed one himself to make it 5-1, before a ludicrous late penalty was awarded to the hosts: Kane and Davies appear to be the only absences for us for this one. Romeu, Smallbone and Obafemi miss out for the visitors. Neither side has any suspensions. Lineups for each side's last league game: Spurs: Lloris; Aurier, Alderweireld, Rodon, Dier, Reguilon; Sissoko, Hojbjerg, Ndombele; Kane, Son. Subs: Hart, Sanchez, Tanganga, Winks, Lo Celso, Bale, Lamela, Alli, Moura. League form: WLWDLD. Southampton: Forster; Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Bertrand; Armstrong, Diallo, Ward-Prowse, Walcott; Redmond, Ings. Subs: McCarthy, Salisu, Stephens, Jankewitz, Djenepo, Tella, Minamino, Ferry, Adams. League form: LWLWWL. Ref: David Coote. VAR: Jonathan Moss. TV: Sky Sports. How would you like to line up for this one and what would you change from the Everton game? Would you stick with much of the same lineup, make a few changes or go for a wholesale switch? Which system and tactics would you use and what are you expecting Southampton to go with?
Mason said that he didn't train today and he'll be taking it day by day, but they're hopeful. Make of that what you will...
Will be interesting to see how Mason sets us up, with this literally being his debut game in management it's impossible to know what he'll go for, says he wants to be aggressive and attack so hopefully he picks a line up that says that. Have a feeling he may pick Dele, I'd like to think he'll pick Bale. Knowing my luck Winks and Sissoko will both start and Dier will be captain.
Pundits droning on about how we've been denied a Pep v Jose showdown at Wembley and that Pep is probably delighted not to have to face his nemesis. Notwithstanding the fact that we were crap under Jose, does anyone else think that going into the game with Mason in charge relieves us of all pressure and expectation to win? It's no secret that we've never done well under pressure so maybe Mason's inexperience will actually be a blessing, allowing the team to play with a freedom not just tactically but mentally too.
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He wasn't wearing a boot when he left the ground on Friday, if that counts as a prognosis instead of an observation from somebody standing outside the ground Dane Scarlett not playing for the U18s today indicates that we'll probably have Vini start tomorrow with Scarlett on the bench, unless there's an injury I forgot about
Very hard to predict tomorrows team, personally I just hope that we play like Spurs and that the weight of Mourinho has been lifted. Got a feeling that Bale will play tomorrow and on Sunday Best guess - Lloris, Aurier, Alderweireld, Rodon, Regullion, Winks, Hojbjerg, Ndombele, Son, Vinicius, Bale
I want to win desperately...for Ryan Mason and for the fans and those players who have held their ends up over the last few months....the others? They had better pull a ****ing performance out of themselves or Ryan should pick his youth players for the cup final, no matter the result against the double splitters.
I'd try an attacking 343 Lloris Tanganga, Aldeweireld, Rodon Aurier, Ndombele, Lo Celso, Reguilon Bale, Dele, Son