LaptopSaint

Mods, could you make sure you save this as a Golden Thread, please? I’d like to reread at the end of the season. Give him a chance FFS. If he fails, he fails. We go again.

Fair point. I was at both games, and there seemed to be less effort at Brentford away than at Brighton this week. Brighton was more lack of confidence than lack of effort. We looked scared to press, confused, and the soft first goal knocked whatever stuffing we had right out of us. Standing at the other end of the ground I presumed there must have been a massive deflection that my fading eyesight couldn’t see. But, nope. Nathan needs a dozen games to make his mark. Trouble is, if he fails we’re as good as down.

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FWIW (and I've never seen him play live) but my Cov City supporting mate reckons Gyokeres is the real deal and would make an impact in the Prem. Is he an option?

I'd take Amrabat from Fiorentina and play him alongside Lavia. He's been superb.

Boufal leaving a Spanish defender for dead and showing why we replaced him out wide with Theo Walcott and Adam Armstrong 🙄

Chris Wood and Ismaila Sarr Both know the league, both are achievable buys, both are better than what we have.

God that’s dull. Dellhurst is alright, but why couldn’t we have an interesting draw for once?

Is the Premier League back yet?

I think I'd offer him back to Blackburn on loan in January as part of a plan to buy (or loan) Brereton Diaz. Although paper talk is now that ManUre are sniffing around BBD so we probably have no chance.

He's not been in the greatest form for sure, but at least he's played regular football. And he's as close to a guaranteed penalty-taker as you can get. Philips? Gallagher? Nah... Rice and Bellingham start, but after that the cupboard is pretty empty. I'm really disappointed for him.

Good luck Nathan, and welcome aboard. Aggressive and on the front foot sounds good to me. Now time to deliver. COYR

Maybe he got an email with the subject line ‘The Saints want you’ and he’s now got the wrong end of the stick.

I'd play Adams and Mara up front in a 4-2-2-2. Give the kid a go from the off, and see what he's got. We can't really lower our goal threat much, so what do we have to lose. Either that, or gamble on Ballard. If Ralph's main aim is to escape with a 0-0 draw, it'll be AA, Moi and JWP behind Adams, with AMN and Romeo in front of defence. Unless ABK or KWP are fit the back five is unchanged, so in front of that I'd go Romeo-AMN, JWP-Stu, Adams-Mara Don't @ me. COYR

As it says on the tin. Can't make the Sunday kick-off so I've got two tickets in Block 41 of the Northam (standing territory) for sale for the Newcastle game. One adult, one U18. Face value £63 for the pair. Can pick up outside the ground on the day.

Making a substitution after one minute would certainly have been quite a statement of intent. Taking him off at half time, when nothing improved, was the right thing to do. But our main problem is lack of a goalscorer. End of. Having said that I sadly expect us to lose against Newcastle and Liverpool, and have a new manager for the next game v Brighton on Boxing Day.

If either of your buyers falls through for any reason, please let me know - cheers.

Also interested in a single ticket if anyone can’t go. Happy to collect at the ground or wherever. Hoping Lavia makes the bench. COYR

It hasn't changed my perspective at all. It's obvious we haven't been good enough over the course of 2022, and I think a new manager (if it's the right manager) would bring new ideas and give us a boost. But I'll support the players when they're on the pitch and give credit where credit is due. We've given nine new players first team debuts over the last 11 games, six of them aged 20 or under, and no one else in this league has done anything remotely similar with players that young. It will take a little time to settle, and the World Cup break will be brilliant for Saints. We could have an exciting future, and that fact shouldn't be camouflaged either.

Objectively, it's absurd how much we miss an 18 year old that most of us had never heard of before we signed him. But without Lavia's ability to play through the lines (yes, football hipsters, I speak your language) we had no way to relieve the pressure that a piss poor Bournemouth were putting on us. But let's face it, we just needed a win, and we got one. Even when it felt like we were under pressure and defending too deep, Bompey never looked like scoring. We were solid at the back, with ABK and Tino - two of the best young defenders in Europe - both coming back. It wasn't pretty, but there were some things to love. Che, and his all round performance. I only wish he'd taken out the TV camera, as well as their defender, when he ran straight at it. Perraud, and his impression of a Yorkshire terrier. Impressing me more and more now he's fit. Lyanco, for taking one full in the face, and then using a bit of Brazilian magic to get out of a tricky spot. Adam Armstrong, for his ability to spin away from his man and run (but not, sadly, for his ability to figure out what to do next). AMN and DCC for fitting in well, looking up for it, and adding to our league-leading collection of double-barrelled names. Baz - for getting a well deserved first clean sheet in the league. He's the youngest first choice goalie in the Prem by how much? Still going to be a long season, and a bit of a struggle. COYR.

Because it’s football, and we’re emotionally involved, there’s always huge overthinking going on when these things happen. Chelsea are going to be offering to double maybe treble his salary. If a bigger firm offered you a bigger job for three times the money, what would you do?

What’s the big deal? Bloke we’d never heard of six months ago buggers off after raiding the only club he had inside knowledge of and getting us a £10m player we can probably sell for £60m in a year or two. Might even be enough profit to buy a decent striker.

Do do do do do Dexter Blackstock

This is the painful truth. I reckon we'd have beaten Everton and drawn with Wolves at the least. Really bad misses in both that a clinical striker dispatches.