SADLY, we are now out of the League Cup - but, to be fair, I wasn’t too surprised, having lost 1-0 at home to Newcastle United.

I knew more than most just how difficult it is to even get a draw at St James’ Park and the passion that would be around the game from the supporters who would love to go to Wembley. They’ve now got what they wanted. 

Nathan Jones and his staff now have to get the players’ minds back on the league. We are still sadly bottom of the table and need to win two or three league games coming up to win the battle against I reckon, five or six teams, who are all in danger of being in the bottom three.

I wondered if Nathan would be involved in the transfers on deadline day. We did have two new players in and three went out on loan, but the team that surprised me the most was Chelsea, who signed eight new players in January. 

They have new owners and they need to get winning more than most because at present they are in 10th position. With the size of the club, they are expected to be up in the top six at least. 

The figure that surprised me was ‘£107m.’ I thought that must be the total of everybody they bought and it still amazed me. But it amazed me, even more, when I found that was just spent on one player, Enzo Fernandez. 

So he will be getting well observed when he starts going around the country, I don’t think anybody - even those who are used to bigger transfers - would have expected one player to go for that price. 

He will be part of a fairly new team. I suppose the dressing room atmosphere will be strange as squads at nearly every Premier League club are now much bigger than they used to be. New players have arrived, does that mean that some have to move out? These are all the things that staff have to get topside of and have the right atmosphere when training is taking place.

It’s very similar to Southampton, who have brought five new players in. There will be a lot of players joining in training and wondering how long it will be before they can get a game. This is the sort of thing staff have to keep an eye on - you don’t want players to switch off. You want them working twice as hard to prove they deserve to be in before any newcomer.

In the old days before there weren’t really any foreign players in our leagues so you more or less knew every player at every club. But now, with so many coming in from abroad, it’s interesting even when you see your own club. So I will be looking forward to watching Paul Onuachu who is apparently six-foot seven-inches in height. He must be brilliant in the air so let’s see how many goals we get from headers!

The FA Cup has always been extra special for me, having been at a club that actually won it on one occasion. In my case, I’m lucky to have been manager when the club won the cup and I remember the effect it had on the whole community.

I’m sure everyone would have been gathered around watching the draw and ironically we are due to play the winners of Luton Town and Grimsby. It’s a bit different as Nathan joined Saints from Luton and my last club before joining Saints many years ago was Grimsby. 

I have many happy memories of living up there, my wife had never seen so much fish in her life but boxes of fish were being left on the doorstep. That was because we were winning games! We won the league and were promoted in our first season there. 

But I’m sure Nathan will have different memories, similar memories on and off the field from his time with Luton, I’m sure he will want Luton to beat Grimsby. He’ll want to prove some things to Luton by showing what sort of team he’s made at Saints. Whereas I would have been happy to meet up with some of the directors and staff of Grimsby.

The main thing of course, now, is the four league games before then. Let’s move up that table. The cup has always been special but if there was a choice of one or the other, obviously staying in the Premier League is the most important thing. If we are out of the danger area by then and get a win in the cup, it will really cheer everybody up.

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