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Sourced from Southampton FC - Official Site article

Davis can’t wait to step back out at Windsor

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Northern Ireland face minnows San Marino at home on Saturday evening, before taking on Germany away from home on Tuesday night in their next qualifier.

Michael O’Neill’s side will be overwhelming favourites on Saturday, but Davis says the focus must just be on ensuring they pick up maximum points.

“Ultimately our focus is on tomorrow at the moment. It’s going to be great to be back at Windsor Park,” Davis told reporters ahead of the game.

“The stadium is looking great and it’ll be a good atmosphere as always, so the boys are looking forward to getting back out there.

“These games can be difficult if you make them difficult, so it’s important we get the three points and put in a good performance. That’s all we’re focused on.

“If we’re going to do anything in the group we have to make Windsor a fortress again and tomorrow night gives us a platform.

“We got a decent away point in Prague and that has given us something to build on.”

With Northern Ireland likely to dominate on Saturday night, Davis says their training has been focused on possession and attacking play.

“We’re going to have more possession than we will against Germany,” he explained. “So it’s all been based around attacking play to make sure we get the three points tomorrow night."

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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 08/10/2016 00:19:42

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| SIX O’CLOCK MUSE: 7/10/16STMARYSMUSINGS |

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Sourced from A tweet by SouthamptonFC tweet

@SouthamptonFC - Southampton FC

Find out which #SaintsFC players are set for international action today: https://cards.twitter.com/cards/rh0us/2bbfq

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Sourced from Mirror.co.uk article

Matt Le Tissier wins £30,000 after admitting his wife fancied Saints team-mate

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A football legend has won £30,000 for charity after admitting his wife fancied one of his former team-mates.

Former Southampton and England midfielder Matt Le Tissier and his wife appeared on ITV quiz show Mr and Mrs, where he admitted wife Angela’s childhood crush was Saints pal Micky Adams .

Having reached the final round of the show, the £30,000 question Sky Sports analyst Matt had to answer was ‘which celebrity was Angela’s childhood crush?’.

Former Southampton star Matt Le Tissier goes into business with former teammate … as a football agent

Through gritted teeth, Matt correctly answered Southampton team mate Micky Adams - landing the jackpot prize for their chosen charity Naomi House & Jacksplace, based in Hampshire.

The pair played together for the Saints between 1989 and 1994, when Adams left to join Fulham, having played 144 times for the club.

Speaking about how he met current wife Angela, Matt explained how he had left a note for her to find at her seat in their old stadium, The Dell, after meeting in a nightclub in 1996.

Matt, 47, said: “There was a very strong instant connection.

“I knew her name and that she was a Southampton Football Club season ticket holder.

“So I went to the office, wrote a note and left it on her seat for her to find when she came to the next home game.

“The note definitely worked, because she’s been my wife now for eight years.”

The football star is no stranger to game shows, having netted a hat-trick of wins on Channel 4’s Countdown last year.

He played 441 games for Southampton between 1986 and 2002, scoring 161 goals for the club. The attacking midfielder was also capped eight times by England.

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Sourced from A tweet by SouthamptonFC tweet

@SouthamptonFC - Southampton FC

We caught up with four journalists to find out what they have made of #SaintsFC’s season so far: http://sfcne.ws/PressBoxPartOne

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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 08/10/2016 09:22:07

| | Merson suggests Redmond a better bargain signing than IbrahimovicHEREISTHECITY |
| | Liverpool team news: Mane and Lallana pained Le Tissier the mostFOOTBALLINSIDER |

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Sourced from Daily Star article

PAUL MERSON COLUMN: Southgate has let us down, Spurs showing example, Mourinho panicking

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We all know what Wayne Rooney can do. He’s played a hundred times. He could have been left out against Malta. So could a lot of the older players. I know Gareth says he needs them, but this is Malta. No disrespect but if we can’t beat them we shouldn’t be in the competition. I just thought it was a golden opportunity to have a look at some new faces, especially the younger kids. When Peter Taylor got the England job he played the youngsters away to Italy and made David Beckham captain. I was playing probably my best football at the time but he changed it and fair play to him. Gareth should have done the same. How must the under-21 boys feel? Okay Marcus Rashford is back in the squad, and I hope he starts.

But Redmond has done well at Southampton this season and every time he’s gone away with the under-21s he’s performed. He’s turned up for every game but all of a sudden the senior squad comes and he’s not in it. These lads might get disheartened. The under-21s should be a stepping stone to the seniors. These players deserve a chance. Why isn’t Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the squad? It’s Malta. You can experiment. I reckon a lot of the under 21s thought they had a chance of getting in considering it was Gareth, their old boss. But it doesn’t say much about how highly he thinks of them if he won’t pick them, does it? It’s not just the kids though. Deeney has been performing week in week out for Watford. He causes havoc wherever he plays. He deserves a chance. So does Wilson at Bournemouth.

Why pick Glen Johnson? He’s 32. I know he pulled out injured. But why pick him at all? If he’s only going as back-up why not take one of the kids? At least Michael Keane is in now. He’s 23 and he’s been through the age groups with England. Give him a go. We need to build for the future. This is the perfect time to do it. Yes we play Slovenia away on Tuesday too, which will be a lot tougher than Malta at home. But these kids have got to get a chance some time. We can’t keep relying on the same players who keep failing. Anybody could have picked the squad Gareth has. He’s gone for the safe option. It’s a missed opportunity. But he’s obviously not that confident in his under-21s if he’s not putting them in against Malta. These kind of games are a hiding to nothing.

But the last thing Rooney needs is for England to win 1-0 and for him to play badly. Even with Rashford, we could win this game 5-0 and he could score a hat-trick but people will still say: ‘It’s only Malta.’ I remember Luther Blissett scoring a hat-trick for England, but because it was against Luxembourg and we won 9-0 nobody took it seriously. That’s the problem in these games. Everyone expects you to win them easily so when you do nobody is that impressed. I think Gareth will win it. And if he wins all four games he’s in charge for I think he’ll get the job full time too. There aren’t too many managers around at the moment. They aren’t queuing up to do it. He also has more tournament experience than anyone else from his time as under-21 coach and from playing for England.

Fair play if he gets it. He’ll have deserved it. TOTTENHAM gave everyone the blueprint of how to beat Manchester City last weekend. I fancied Spurs to get something and they thoroughly deserved it. They were outstanding. The title race is wide open again because I think other teams will look at that and try to copy what Spurs did. You can’t let City roll it out and play from the back.

You have got to press them high. They will keep on playing, take chances and lose it, and they will get punished. This isn’t Spain where you can get away with it. The tempo is higher. Teams will look at City now and they won’t fear them quite as much. Two weeks ago everybody was saying City were going to run away with the title. It’s not the case now. The only worry for Spurs is whether they can do what they’re doing now next May. Mauricio Pochettino’s teams always fade at the end of the season. Okay it didn’t happen until right at the end of last season. But it’s so physically demanding trying to play a pressing game all season.

He knows they haven’t been good enough. Look what happened in the Europa League. The team he put out was just about the strongest he could. That told me he knows he might need the Europa League as a safety net. He’s never had to take it seriously before. But with a Champions League place for the winner and United not going well in the league they might need to take it seriously now. United have problems. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba just seem to look for each other all the time and ignore everyone else. And Henrikh Mkhitaryan has hardly played. If he does, Rooney is not getting another kick.

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Sourced from Southampton FC - Official Site article

van Dijk and Clasie feature in Netherlands win

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van Dijk played the duration of the encounter, while Clasie replaced Kevin Strootman as a 79th minute substitute.

Quincy Promes scored twice without response in the first-half to give Danny Blind’s side a comfortable lead at half-time.

Alexei Rios then pulled one back for the visitors on 47 minutes, but hopes of a comeback diminished when Davy Klaassen pounced on the rebound from Vincent Janssen’s shot off the post.

Janssen soon increased the lead further though when his left-footed strike from outside the box found the top right corner.

Netherlands host France in their next qualifier on Monday 10th October (7.45pm BST).

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Sourced from A tweet by SouthamptonFC tweet

@SouthamptonFC - Southampton FC

How did #SaintsFC stay at the top of their game during a run of three straight away matches? @aleksgross explains: https://cards.twitter.com/cards/rh0us/2bd08

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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 08/10/2016 11:32:18

| | UPDATE - Robbie Brady released from Ireland squad due to concussion but better news for Shane LongIRISHINDEP |

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@SouthamptonFC - Southampton FC

“It was a big team effort.”

@aleksgross on ensuring #SaintsFC were prepared for a busy week of away fixtures: https://grabyo.com/g/v/JKL1VWjWzWa

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Sourced from Southampton FC - Official Site article

Fonte helps Portugal cruise to victory

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Portugal raced into a two-goal lead after just four minutes courtesy of Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo saw his first-time shot from inside the box beat Gomes Moreira, before heading home Ricardo Quaresma’s inch-perfect cross from the right two minutes later.

And before the interval, Joao Cancelo was teed up by Bernardo Silva to make it 3-0 to the hosts.

The second-half started in a similarly dominant fashion and on 47 minutes, Cristiano Ronaldo got his hat-trick when he showed great composure with a low first-time finish from Andre Gomes’ pass.

After Jordi Rubio had been dismissed for two bookable offences for the visitors, Fonte, who played the full 90 minutes, teed up Ronaldo for his fourth goal of the night when he headed the ball back across goal for a simple finish.

Soon, Andorra were down to nine men after Marc Rebes received a straight red card, and the rout was complete four minutes from time when Andre Silva finished from close range.

Next up for Portugal is a trip to the Faroe Islands on Monday 10th October (7.45pm BST).

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Sourced from Daily Echo article

Saints hope for Boufal impact

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Saints are hoping club record signing Sofiane Boufal will make a significant first team impact in the coming weeks - before he has to leave the club for up to a month.

The £16m signing has been unable to play for Saints since joining in August as he recovered from the knee injury that has seen him sidelined since the end of April.

Boufal has returned to first team training with Saints during this international break, as was scheduled following his move from Lille.

Claude Puel is now aiming to have the creative talent ready to go by the time Saints start another packed run of fixtures by welcoming Burnley to St Mary’s a week on Sunday.

Though Puel will be cautious to try and ease Boufal in gently, there is little doubt he will get time to impress.

Saints are heading into seven games in the space of just 22 days, which includes two Europa League games against Inter Milan and a League Cup tie at Sunderland, as well as Premier fixtures against Burnley, Manchester City, Chelsea and Hull.

Puel’s squad is sure to be stretched to the limit again to try and cope with the demand of so many matches before another international break in November.

However, Saints may not get quite as much from Boufal as they would ideally like with the 22-year-old almost certain to be included in Morocco’s squad for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations if he is fit.

After that run of games at Saints, Boufal is likely to be whisked away for international duty as Morocco face Ivory Coast and Togo, before returning for another hectic period in December and then heading to the Africa Cup of Nations, which begins in January.

The tournament, which is taking place in Gabon, kicks-off on January 14 with the final on February 5. There is also likely to be a pre-tournament training camp.

Though Saints were clearly aware that Boufal would be leaving them in January when they signed him, it is still likely to be a slight frustration as he should be in peak fitness and form again by then, and will be gone for a significant period of time.

For now though Puel’s focus will be integrating him into the Saints squad, and eventually the line-up.

Puel is assessing where he wants to play Boufal, with a couple of options open to him.

He could play Boufal in the number ten role at the top of the diamond midfield, which would give a bit of breathing space to Dusan Tadic, who has featured heavily in the vast majority of games this season while others around him have got some rest.

Or Boufal could be used as a striker in the same way that Puel has done with Nathan Redmond.

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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 08/10/2016 12:32:36

| | Sky Sports pundit says Ryan Bertrand is better than Danny RoseHEREISTHECITY |

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Read SouthamptonRead Southampton

New content from (- Read SouthamptonRead Southampton)

| Dusan Tadic continuing to push for improvement | In a recent interview with the club’s official website, Southampton attacker Dusan Tadic has revealed how he is … 08-10-2016 |
| Danny Butterfield returns to Saints as U18 assistant manager | It was yesterday confirmed that former Southampton right-back Danny Butterfield has re-joined the club in order to … 08-10-2016 |

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| Five former Saints players we’d love to re-sign2 days ago |
| The top five Southampton transfer flops2 days ago |
| Sofiane Boufal happy to begin full training2 days ago |
| Five youth stars that could flourish this season2 days ago |
| Cedric Soares out of Portugal squad due to injury2 days ago |
| Southampton fans’ favoured starting line-up2 days ago |
| Four Southampton stars that should be offered new deals3 days ago |
| Jordy Clasie being courted by Juventus3 days ago |

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Sourced from Southampton FC - Official Site article

Butterfield on Saints playing days

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Butterfield helped the club to back-to-back promotions during his three-year spell between 2010 and 2013.

It was a fantastic time for the football club and having re-joined in a different capacity, Butterfield has been impressed by the way Saints have kicked on since.

He said “When I signed the end goal of getting to Premier League was set out and the day we accomplished that was a big day for the club.

“It’s gone from strength to strength and the ticking of the box of getting into the Premier League was something that will stay with me forever.”

The ethos established at the club means there are a number of familiar faces at Staplewood for Butterfield to get reacquainted with.

Former teammates Kelvin Davis and Radhi Jaidi from the League One promotion as well as captain José Fonte are included in that.

And that is something he feels the young players under his tutelage can aspire to.

He added: “We had a lot of success in a short period of time and that was the goal to begin with. To accomplish that as a squad of players was impressive but thoroughly enjoyable.

“It was a great dressing room to be a part of and there’s still individuals in that dressing room who I played with so I’m sure there is continuity.

“The club is pushing in the right direction and always looking forward.

“With it being an international break when I started, there is still a few people coming back who I’ve not seen yet like José.

“There are players who I played with who have progressed since I’ve not been at the club and it’s something the players I’m going to be working with can aspire to be.”

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Sourced from Daily Echo article

Forster awaits England fate

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Fraser Forster will await Gareth Southgate’s first England team selection knowing he has done all he can to challenge Joe Hart for the number one slot.

Southgate today takes charge for the first time since Sam Allardyce left the manager’s job as England face Malta at Wembley.

Forster is hoping to get the nod having kept five successive clean sheets for Saints this season – three in the Premier League and two in the Europa League – and has only conceded six goals in nine games.

Joe Hart has conceded four goals in seven games for Manchester City, current club Torino, where he is on loan, and England this term.

Despite being dropped by his club, Allardyce still kept faith with Hart for his only game against Slovakia last month.

Malta’s England-born goalkeeper, Andrew Hogg, says he sympathises with Hart following his sudden exit from Manchester City.

Hogg, 31, was born and lived in Surrey until he was five when his half-English father relocated the family to the Mediterranean island.

Outside of international breaks he plies his trade with local side Hibernians and is preparing for a once-in-a-lifetime ‘homecoming’ at Wembley, when he can expect to be much busier than his opposite number.

But Hogg has watched with interest as Hart was jettisoned by Pep Guardiola over a perceived flaw in his distribution, eventually heading to Torino on loan.

“I’ve followed Joe’s situation quite a lot and, yes, I feel sorry for him,” said Hogg.

"Goalkeeping is changing, for sure, I’ve seen the same thing playing in Greece and even in Malta. Even though the quality is not the same they are all looking for goalkeepers who can pass.

"I understand the reasoning of the Manchester City coach, it makes sense, but at the end of the day it happens and you have to deal with whatever football or life throws at you.

“Football is a game of confidence and you will go in and out of form, but the best fight back and stay at the top. Joe got himself to Torino and Serie A is a great league.”

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@SouthamptonFC - Southampton FC

Missing #SaintsFC?

Take a look back at an excellent month for Claude Puel’s side with our September Review! https://cards.twitter.com/cards/rh0us/2bdao

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@England - England

The teams are in!

Here’s how the #ThreeLions will line up against Malta in this evening @FIFAWorldCup qualifier:

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Sourced from Southampton FC - Official Site article

Four Saints set for Saturday internationals

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Four Saints stars could be in action for their respective nations during Saturday’s qualifiers.

First up, Ryan Bertrand and Fraser Forster are both in interim manager Gareth Southgate’s squad as they welcome Malta to Wembley at 5pm BST.

Later on at 7.45pm BST, Steven Davis is involved for Northern Ireland, who take on San Marino at Windsor Park in their latest World Cup qualifier

Pierre-Emile Højbjerg could also be in action when Denmark travel to take on Poland in Warsaw at 7.45pm BST.

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