Nordic Saint

They said in the TV commentary early in the Arsenal game that we were 3rd in that 2020 table but then we dropped those 2 points. But, 3rd-5th is still separated by just 1 point and the year's not over yet. There was one year in the 80s when we were 1st in the annual league table. If only we could have put it together over a season rather than the second half of one and the first half of the next one, what might have been. We still had a better record when we finished runners-up in 1983/84 than Pompey did when they won the league in 1949/50.

If Old Les had still been here, he would have done. But, I have a lot more confidence in the people running the club nowadays to keep both the manager and players happy. The Gaos have come in for a lot of stick but they seem to have made some great appointments. Has the club ever been better run than it is now?

Although some of our fans like to think of us as little Southampton who should be happy if they manage to avoid relegation, the truth is over the last 12 months and the last 38 games, we are one of the top 3 teams in the country so 3rd is where you'd expect us to be - it's no fluke - whereas Arsenal are 15th and had lost their previous 5 games. We were the bookies favourites to win this game. The first half performance wasn't any great surprise; not winning the game against a poor Arsenal side down to 10 men was. One of the TV commentators mentioned early in the game that there weren't many of the Arsenal players who Southampton would want to swap any of theirs for.

We could have brought N'Lundulu on for the last ten minutes if we'd wanted an alternative to passing the ball around. I was disappointed that we didn't. It seemed the perfect time to bring him on to batter the Arsenal defence, who faced no real physical challenge from our forwards at the end and were just going through the defensive routine that they must have practised in training hundreds of times. Remember exactly 2 years ago when we beat Arsenal 3-2 with 3 headed goals, the last one coming from Austin near the end of the game when he came on as a sub.

I hope so. But, that statement seems far less far-fetched this season than in any other I can recall.

Lighten up and dream FFS. Of course, we would all be happy with qualifying for Europe again but to be serious contenders for the title, even if it's just for a few weeks, is extra special and in my half a century of supporting Saints the chance hasn't come along too often. When the chance presents itself, don't be afraid to dream and I'm sure Ralph and the players share that philosophy. Our 2 days at the top so far this season brought more joy to Saints fans than any number of top 8 finishes, and we have had a lot of them. Whatever happens, I will always be happy to remember that, well into December in the 20/21 season, we were serious contenders. Of course, if we go on to win the league it will be even better.

I want to say it now, because I haven't had the opportunity for 40 years, and it might all fade away tomorrow anyway but, right now, we are in with a serious chance of WINNING the Premier League. The next 2 games against Arsenal and Man City are critical. Win them and we are still on our way to the title; lose them and the dream is over. But, whatever happens, being top of the league for 2 days already this season and being in the mix for the title has been absolutely brilliant.

Arsenal are a very dirty team. I just hope we don't come out of the game with any injuries like we did from the Villa game.

His passing is perfect. One of the characteristics of this Saints team is how good their passing is and Diallo fits right in.

I haven't seen you post on here lately and I hope that you are OK. Anyway, I am happy to concede that you were right about Vestergaard and I was wrong. He was outstanding today: exactly what you expected him to be. We have some differences of opinion on this message board but we are all Saints fans together and today was a perfect example of what we all want to see.

IF Saints can beat Sheffield United tomorrow, Everton have done us a big favour by beating Chelsea. But, we can't take anything for granted. It's reached the stage now, where we want the mid table teams to beat the top teams and the other top teams to draw against each other.

Really? You underestimate our support. I think there are a lot more than 4,000 fans, including me, who would love to be there. This year we have a better chance than most of reaching Wembley. The problem is that one of the big clubs always seems to reach the final and whoever plays them is basically cannon fodder. Little Pompey were so lucky to get Cardiff in the final. The chances of two small clubs being in the final again, like that, are pretty remote. But, Swansea fans probably never believed that they would be so lucky as to get Bradford in a major Wembley final so anything is possible. We live in hope that we won't get drawn against Manchester United or Liverpool as usual. Shrewsbury is a good start anyway.

West Ham have spent a lot in the transfer market, which they can afford to do because they were gifted a big stadium by the nation but their key player, for me, this season has been Souček. He really has been superb. I think we'll finish above them though as we have a better manager and better team. They don't have a striker in the same class as Danny Ings.

Leeds are always very entertaining to watch and I look forward to their games but, like most newly promoted teams, after making a promising start, they are getting dragged down into a relegation battle. They are probably the only one of the 3 promoted teams that will stay up but not by much.

The foul took place when Walker-Peters was in the air but he was over the line so VAR was right. We deserved those 3 points as we went there to win and played better than Brighton. I don't feel in the least bit sorry for Brighton. They didn't deserve anything.

I have been one of Vestergaard's harshest critics but his passing tonight was superb. I like the way that, unlike some of our other defensive players, he always looks to pass the ball forwards and set up an attack. He will still struggle against the fastest forwards from the top teams, like Son and Vardy, but against most teams, he has become a solid defender. The best central defenders also score headed goals from corners and he certainly does that.

Monday nights don't get much better than this. That was a good win against a Brighton team which had just drawn 1-1 with Liverpool and beaten Villa 2-1. Great to see Danny Ings back and scoring. We could be in a Champions League spot at Christmas.

A star in the making. He has been absolutely brilliant in the FA Youth Cup win v Coventry today. So, I'll start what should become a very long player thread. Chauke secures pro deal | Southampton FC

Botman will be a real star. Like Gabriel and van Dijk before him, he is learning his trade alongside Fonte.

No, because Crystal Place wouldn't have been able to sign him either. Of course, he went on to win 43 caps for Portugal but at the time Palace and Saints signed him, he didn't have one so under the new rules, he wouldn't have qualified for a work permit.

Interestingly his Wiki career entry opens with: "Born in Accra, Salisu spent a year with his local youth club Kumasi Barcelona Babies before joining West African Football Academy in 2013. He left the latter for personal reasons in 2015, and then remained over a year without a club."

It is going to be difficult for smaller clubs who signed young European players who were not established internationals, as they will no longer qualify for work permits. We wouldn't have been able to sign players like Schneiderlin or Fonte, for example.

A takeover of Southampton Football Club by American businessman Joseph DaGrosa has reportedly been delayed after the team’s strong Premier League form. According to a report from the Daily Mail (Saturday 28th November 2020, pg 123), current owner Jisheng Gao is using the impressive showings of Ralph Hasenhuttl and his players to raise the asking price for a potential buyout. Southampton: Saints takeover reportedly delayed by current owner Gao (saintsmarching.com)

Let's face it, we thought we'd miss Ings very badly, and so 4 points from our last 2 games is a better return than many of us expected. We probably would have won tonight if he'd been playing but the good thing is we've still managed to keep the unbeaten run going. Walcott has been a useful addition to the team but obviously his finishing isn't in the Ings class. It will be great to see Ings return in December. I really don't see the point of bringing Long on any more. It would have been good to see N'Lundulu come on instead. He'd have given Wolves a few problems and might even have scored.

After being left out by Puel, Fonte finally got his chance to play in the San Siro and captained his Lille team to a 3-0 victory over AC Milan: the first time Milan have conceded 3 goals at home in a European game since 2011. https://www.goal.com/en/match/milan-v-lille/38h8ifyxy4uvyyb1b24u5ez2s