Lighthouse

You could have swapped McC with another West Brom striker for the first half chance, and he’d still have saved it. I mean literally, I don’t think it would have been physically possible to dive out of the way of it in time, before it clouted you in the nads. If you’re going to criticise Baz for the goals conceded at Ipswich and praise McC for this, I don’t know what to say. The second half effort was hardly top bins either, it was six inches from his right leg.

Okay, now I am sure you’re winding me up.

You can’t remember James Ward Prowse? However you want to dress it up, all those players have been given opportunities to play first team football at Southampton. Whether they were good enough to establish themselves as regulars is mainly down to their talent and application. Yes, you can say SAA was ‘ditched’ in August but you can’t say he wasn’t given an opportunity. If he’d looked ready he’d still be starting games now. You couldn’t have said that if he’d been at one of the big PL clubs. A question for you; who was the last player to play regular PL football who was ‘blocked’ at Saints? The best example I can think of is Reed, who’s done alright at Fulham but never really as good as the likes of Morgan or Romeu for us.

To put this thread in context, imagine Saints are defending deep in our own half about five years ago. We win the ball back and hoof it hard up the pitch. Shane Long is loitering around the halfway line, he sprints 50 yards to chase it down, leaves two defenders eating dust, collects the ball and then spoons it over the crossbar and into the car park. Saying Bazunu wouldn’t have made yesterday’s saves is like saying Charlie Austin would have scored the shot that Long missed.

You said it was a no brainer to go to Chelsea and that young players wouldn’t be given opportunities at Saints. That’s clearly not true, plenty of players have had an opportunity here who’d never have had one at a big PL team. Whether they came through our academy or someone else’s is irrelevant, we clearly offer a better opportunity for first team football.

I wouldn’t want him back but the way he left has no bearing on that opinion.

Yes.

Apart from Lavia, Livramento, Edozie, Charles, Bazunu, THB and Larios, all in the last three years?

Nobodies path is being blocked by anything. Players will get a chance in the first team when they look like they might be able to start adding something, at least sporadically off the bench. However you rate Mara, and I think he’s crap, he’s clearly much better than anything we’ve got in our youth team. Didn’t he score five goals in a reserve game last season? SAA was probably the brightest prospect we had at the start of the season and the QPR game showed he’s just not ready yet. Likewise Dibling, he had a decent ten minute sub appearance but that’s no different to most of Mara’s performances. Far too often people say, “XYZ couldn’t be any worse than ABC,” based on nothing other than baseless guesswork.

That's very obviously not true though. We played Baz because he is our best keeper. We played Mara by default, because our only other two options up front are either injured or coming back from a long injury. Our next best option is the equally useless Sully, playing out of position.

Trying to flog one day tickets for £10 for tomorrow. Dream on Hants, this is a nailed on bore-draw even without it invariably being rained off by 3pm.

You never see or hear anyone using the word ‘vincible’. As far as I know it’s a perfectly cromulent word but it never gets used.

TBH this is probably as good a Tinder pic as you can find.

Completely different game if he plays. You can’t just sit and pretend ‘what if’, as if he’d be facing the exact same shots.

I very much doubt he’d have been the difference between Burnley staying up and going down, he offered nothing at all for us. I’m sure he’s improved but I couldn’t see him being the player that made the difference.