Saints crushed Barnsley in fine style to move into the 3rd round of the carling Cup in a game that saw many changes from Saturday.

Its fair to say that Mauricio Pochettino didn't read my pre match preview about keeping the spine of the side intact and keeping back a few big guns on the substitutes bench, there were a massive 9 changes from Saturday's starting line up, with the only two survivors being Jay Rodriguez and Jose Fonte.

Perhaps its testimony though of how the squad has a stronger look about it this year that of the other starting 9, a total of 7 of them would have been described as first choice a year ago, only Mayuka and Lloyd Isgrove not in that category, although in fairness to Nathan Clyne he could point to injury as to why he hasn't started yet this year.

However as much as the line up looked a reserve side with so many changes, its a sobering thought that this starting XI would still have cost Saints a little north of £30 million pounds, Ok 2/3 of that was the fee for Ramirez and Rodriguez, but the likes of Mayuka & Yoshida didnt come cheap either.

The bench though had little experience and was made up entirely of youngsters, so much so that Jamie Ward Prowse would be considered the veteran, Mauricio Pochettino took a big gamble, especially on a night where several other Premier sides struggled against worse opposition having put out better sides than Saints.

But the gamble clearly paid off, Steve Davis put the visitors ahead on 26 minutes, Jay Rodriguez doubled that just after the break and although Dawson for Barnsley reduced the deficit shortly after, Mayuka with his first goal for the club restored the two goal cushion to enable Saints to throw on Sinclair, Reed & Rowe in the final 20 minutes which seemed to work as Saints finished strongly with Davis hitting his second from the penalty spot and Ramirez completing the 5-1 rout.

All eyes on the draw this evening for the next round, as I say till im blue in the face, this is a competition we can win, several other clubs are taking it seriously this year, Liverpool put out a virtual first team for instance against Notts County, it has European qualification at the end of it and if Saints want to attract players of a higher standard, then even the Europa cup is essential as the best players want to compete in Europe

All in all though a good nights work, however that's one job done and its the next round that is now important..

Photo: Action Images

derbydog added 09:15 - Aug 28 Now that we are kids krazy, the last hope that they would get a game once in a while has gone for players such as Lee Barnard, Billy Sharp, Tadanari Lee and Dean Hammond. They will all be in this morning asking for moves to be arranged by Monday night I would think. Billy Sharp particularly unlucky, and deserves our profound thanks for that blinding four month period at the end of the Championship season. Dean Hammond was a good servant too...

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SaintNick added 10:15 - Aug 28 Good points I think that Sharp in particular could do a job and as long as we haven't got a full squad he could be worth a place in it still
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ExiledSupporter added 10:27 - Aug 28 Agreed there's room for Sharpe and we should include him in the squad, it will be more beneficial to us than letting him go off elsewhere
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brady100 added 10:30 - Aug 28 Good performance, good depth, good attitude and good to see such a young bench. The debate about Sharp is boring now, either way he's not getting back in the squad whether there is space in the squad or not. This has been made clear by MP so we can all move on.
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slynch added 11:13 - Aug 28 If Sharpe, Hammond, Lee etc are given places in the squad there will be no room for youngsters to develop into and get the necessary experience at, for them, the next level. Without youngsters coming up Saints are just an ordinary team with no future other than mid table mediocrity. NC has developed a business model that aims to deliver European football and can compete with bigger clubs still stuck with outmoded practices on and off the pitch.

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SaintDownUnder added 12:37 - Aug 28 Slynch you are spot on. The saints academy has long been admired, what we've lacked is a board and management team that had the vision, ability and desire to blend that talent and feed the first team. I think we have the team off the pitch that are totally aligned on this goal and have the contacts and credentials to execute. The fruits of this labour might not come to fruition this your or even next but if we can keep the off field team together then we'll become a regular in European competitions not just once in a decade through winning the league cup. Sharp is a decent player and no doubt a decent fella, but he's free to ply his trade with other clubs but is choosing not to as he's getting paid handsomely by saints. Can you honestly look at the quality of player we are now either bringing in or developing and tell me sharps good enough? Lets park sentimentality and sit back and enjoy 'the project' unfold.

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tiptop added 12:38 - Aug 28 MoPo said a couple of weeks ago that he's told Sharp, Hammond and Lee that they were not in his plans for the club. No change except they are still on the books
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moran89thmin added 12:46 - Aug 28 Pochettino was hired, so it is said, for his ability to bring youngsters on and make great teams out of them - well, faithful servants like Sharp and Hammond etc aren't going to feature much any more when talented kids like isgrove, Rowe and Reed are waiting for their chance. Reed in particular looks like he will be a very significant part of our future plans. He wasn't on for long last night but didn't put a foot wrong, and Rowe was a whisker away from a debut goal. As Nick often says, adaptability is what it's all about nowadays and I found last night's game very encouraging on that front. There were indeed a lot of changes, but last night's squad had strength in depth and made light work of toothless opposition. Another encouraging thing was the greed the players had for the goal. One might have thought after going 3-1 up after 65 mins the players might back off a bit - not a bit of it! We just kept on coming forward in waves with a queue of players waiting to pull the trigger in the penalty box. When the opposition is down - put the boot in! Score 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 20 more more more. This hunger for goals is a good sign for the future. Goodness me how I would love us to draw Portsmouth in the FA Cup this year!

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schatfield added 13:04 - Aug 28 this was a great game, and i see no problem that 9 changes were made, doesnt mean we are not taking this competition seriously, just that we have a large squad now and you have to use squad rotation (even larger when the kids are included). The likes of Davis, Cork, Davies, Mayuka, wont get a helleva lot of 1st time team so its good to see them play. Btw, love Mayukas goal celebration!

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owenthesaints added 13:26 - Aug 28 "Its fair to say that Mauricio Pochettino didn't read my pre match preview", well actually Nick he probably did and against his better judgement chose to ignore your advice. This is why he is a professional football manager and we (and I include myself), just live the dream and write about. The number of times I have picked a world-beating England team and won the World Cup is beyond believe and I have done it down the pub with a few too many pints inside me – easy job this football management. Still, keep up the good work as it also gives me something to do in between restoring world peace and solving the UK economy problem.

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legod7 added 14:16 - Aug 28 It is a testament to his way of thinking with all the kids on the bench last night. And when an eighteen year old takes the corners and free kicks for a Premiership side. That is how the academy system is working at this club.
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Scummer added 16:04 - Aug 28 Blimey: http://www.portsmouth.vitalfootball.co.uk/sitepage.asp?a=536929
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abingdonsaint added 17:15 - Aug 28 Slynch again is one of the few contributors here who share my interpretation of the club's strategy, even though to me it seems pretty straightforward! For all that I appreciate the contributions of the likes`of Billy Sharp and Dean Hammond in getting us to where we are now, and I wish them well in the future, there is no chance that they will play any further part with us. As I have said before, our way is not the same as the Fulham's and West Ham's, and we are not interested in players that 'can do a job'. They need to be significantly better than the youngsters, which is why we have only spent on quality rather than quantity, and if cover is needed up front or in midfield, it will be Ryan Seager or Harrison Reed NOT Billy or Deano! This is the way we have decided we will compete with the top clubs, and whether it works or not, that is very clear, and for me at least, very exciting! As regards last night, I thought that the line up was pretty strong actually, and I am sure we would have scouted Barnsley and decided that it would be well capable of winning that particular game. Not sure it means we are not taking the competition seriously, just that we are killing two birds with one stone by progressing while furthering our stated aim of developing our academy players. The so called 'better' sides picked by other clubs are perhaps not that much better than our second string then, and in these days of squad rotation cannot really be called reserves any more. No doubt we will know more when we see who our next opponents are, but I suspect we will adjust our selection to suit the quality we are up against.

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schatfield added 17:15 - Aug 28 good link that scummer, cheers
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davepid added 18:05 - Aug 28 Thought Isgrove, Rowe and Reed were great - certainly pacy and aware of what was going on around. On the other hand, they are a bit short - especially Isgrove who stood at the far post a couple of times whilst the ball sailed over his head. Have they finished growing? Good to see 5 Saints goals . Reminded me of the 6 we put past Oldham away in 2009. COYRs
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leighsaint added 18:28 - Aug 28 Although we have spent a lot of money on foreign players it was good to see we used 10 British players over the 90 minuets. How many other premier league clubs do this or can do this Leighsaint
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