qwertyell

9-0 vibes here. Early red, depleted side, pissing down... Can't argue about the red. Got it all wrong. Yikes.

Up top with Ings, doing the Adams role, but less like a baby elephant. Can do a job in the 10s too. Handy.

Ah, so the plan all along was to promote a left winger who had never played left back in his life until a few months ago for the B team. Makes perfect sense. To be fair, Wayne Bridge was a bang average left winger who was converted into a more than decent full back.

Vokins is going to be recalled at 22:59, isn't he? What's Jeremy Pied up to these days? Edit: Cuco Martina is without a club. Call off the search. We're getting the band back together.

If they don't go up this season, we should be all over Reading winger Michael Olise (rumoured release clause £11m) and left back Omar Richards (out of contract, but will have to pay some compensation). Probably bag the pair for around £15m. Obviously we don't even have fifteen quid at the moment, but maybe we can rustle up a few pennies from down the back of the sofa (and moving out some deadwood).

VAR bullshit aside, we still should've won 2-1, but our two best chances fell to Adams whose lack of quality cost us again. The first chance, sent through by Ings, any half decent striker slots it in with his left foot. But Adams tried to flick it awkwardly with the outside of his right and gave the keeper an easier save than he should've faced. The second chance, he mistimes and scuffs a close range volley after Martinez had palmed out a corner. If he strikes it cleanly, it's in the back of the net. Can't fault his endeavour - and we do look a better side with him in it. But I think that's more an indictment of our alternatives than an endorsement of Adams' ability.

This is going to be a shitshow. Maybe play three in midfield to give Jankewitz a little protection and gunk up the middle of the park a bit. 4321: McCarthy; Valery, Bednarek, Stephens, Bertrand; Ward-Prowse, Jankewitz, Armstrong; Redmond, Djenepo; Ings Don't know where our next points are coming from.

Possibly the best we've played in a month - but still much the same outcome: loads of possession, no goal threat, and every promising opening ruined by a poor touch/pass/decision. And then hit with the classic sucker punch, defenders marking thin air. Given that we're always worse in the second half, this is probably game over already. Robbed of a penalty, of course, but we've been on the lucky side of those calls this season too. We can't blame that for our impotence going forward or inability to defend. Not sure how we turn this round - or the run we're on. Man United up next.

25 April 1987, Southampton 2-2 Charlton Athletic. Jim Melrose put Charlton one up in the first half. Saints hit back in the second half with a Kevin Bond header and a George Lawrence (who the old lags around me kept calling Chicken, for reasons I was unaware of at the time) goal which would be a Peter Shirtliff OG these days with the dubious goals committee. And then some 17 year old kid who would never be heard of again came off the bench and headed a late equaliser for Charlton. Robert Lee. It was the only goal I saw up close in the Milton Road Stand, as all the rest of the action took place at the other end. A fair result, and a nice day out - although Peter Shilton was my hero as a kid and I was disappointed he was injured and Tim Flowers played instead. And then he left that summer, so I never did get to see him play for Saints in the flesh. But I saw him play for Derby, so I guess it all worked out. Wasn't missing much...

That was literally Semmons' answer earlier in the week in that Radio Solent interview: when asked if Valery and Vokins' "emergence" (they'd both just started against the might of Shrewsbury) had changed the club's view on the need to bring in full back cover, he said it had. Straight talker, that guy. Refreshing...

Potentially a good move for him, if it happens. I think he's a decent all round player on the ball - confident touch, nice passer, puts in some searching crosses, and seeks out clever one twos around the box. But defensively his development has been disappointing. Not physical or aggressive enough, not proactive. He's just sort of there. Gets into position but has no real presence. He needs games. B team/u23 football is just not good enough to develop players, no matter how many ways they rebadge or repackage it. I assumed in the summer our interest in Williams was because the plan was to get Vokins a season loan under his belt. We must be confident of loaning in a full back in the next few days. Rumours of Maitland-Niles are a bit odd, though, as LB is by far his worst position (dragged at h/t in his last Arsenal start after a terrible outing on the left) and he wants more chances to play in midfield. Watch this space, I guess.

You'll have fun watching them turn out in League One in 18 months then. N'Lundulu has a horrific touch. Aged 21, that's ingrained now. Tella is substantially less gifted than Josh Sims, who has been allowed to leave on a free to the lower leagues. These guys have nowhere near the required quality to succeed. Nowhere near. Our "conveyor belt" of academy talent has long since dried up. The Prowse, Reed, Targett generation were the last batch of any worth.

Wesley having to issue a public apology for his performance... https://app.football-italia.net/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.football-italia.net%2F165517%2Fhoedt-it-was-my-fault-lazio-lost#article/footballitalia-165517 We're never getting rid of him, are we?

Switzerland u21s played France u21s in November. Jankewitz might well have felt a bit miffed to have played in that game - while Diallo didn't get off the bench - only to return to Saints and watch Diallo shine in the first team while he kicked his heels in the B team. Not saying both players are at the same level (Diallo's two years older; France u21s are a stronger team), but you could understand Jankewitz thinking he wasn't a million miles behind - only to find out the manager has Smallbone, Watts and Chauke ahead of him too. Throw in some rumours that Real Betis are interested, and it's not a huge surprise that he's considering his future. I doubt when we allegedly persuaded him to turn down Man United, Spurs and Juventus to join us, the deal breaker was the promise of drifting for three years in the B team before a loan to a league one side until his contract runs out. It seems like he's got a bit about him and isn't prepared to let his development stagnate any further at a club that talks up its reputation for bringing on youth players; but in practice is something that has sadly become a bit of a myth in recent years.

Harsh to pin the result on the full backs - when inexperienced players come into the team, you need the senior guys to step up and lead the way but aside from Armstrong, pretty much everyone else went missing. So many mistakes in possession - in defence and attack - and sloppy touches. We were way off the required standard. I'm reminded of the poor run we were on when lockdown started. We looked a team that had run its race, but a couple of months break allowed us to refresh and finish the season strong. It doesn't seem like we're going to get the same break this year, which makes the second half of our season look like it's going to be a real struggle, physically. We've been all but out on our feet after 45 minutes for weeks. I'm not optimistic that we'll do more than just limp to the finish. 1 win in 7. Stopped scoring. Squad depth exposed. Absolutely skint. Ings off. Happy new year.

McCarthy... He can't score from there unless the keeper has a total cabbage moment. So many mistakes today. This could be ugly.

Terrible start defensively. Bednarek almost gave them a goal; Stephens went one better. Dozy passing throughout the team.

Yeah, they're a total basket case of a club, but they win big. In the Abramovic era, no English club has won more silverware. 12 managers, 16 trophies including the Champions League. Turmoil and infighting seems to bring out the best in them.

Arsenal are in miles better form than us. 0-2.

Saka usually plays off the right wing. It'll be Aubamayang (if available) or Martinelli up against Valery, in all likelihood. Not exactly ideal to be facing a "big six" club with only one of our first choice back four available, but what can you do? Keep your expectations low, I guess. The trouble with losing KWP, aside from the obvious, is he's been one of our most creative players going forward (which isn't saying much). For a team that lacks quality in the final third, he'll be a big loss. That being said, he's a booking away from suspension (I think the cut off point is after the Arsenal game), so if he were to return against Villa on the weekend, we can probably consider that breaking even. Hey ho. Free hit. Have some fun with it.

And we only went for him after missing out on Ibrahim Sangaré. Lucky break: younger, higher ceiling, fits the team like a glove.

Think the manager said Sims isn't part of their first team training "bubble" as yet. Don't see him playing any time soon, if ever (for us).

Good win - take that. Can't remember the last time we played well in the second half, though. We're absolutely spent after 45 minutes. If I were setting up an opposition side, I'd sit in and keep it tight in the first half - maybe hit on the break - in the knowledge that we'll dominate the second half. It's a problem, moving forward. Unless there's a covid lockdown to help us get a breather for a month or so, it's hard to see how the second half of the season won't be a real struggle for us physically. Anyway, well played today. Solid defensive performance again. Maybe we should play Forster all the time - he seems to improve everyone's defensive focus because they know they have to keep him protected. His kicking, though... yikes. Why would a right footed goalkeeper keep taking the ball onto his left foot (and then shank it repeatedly)? Hopefully no new injuries. Just exhaustion.

It's a bluff. Their "principled" stand won't hold up very long once they try to market the World Cup sans the world's top 150 players. It'll be about as popular as football at the olympics.

Because the club they've been touting him to (probably Spurs) have told them how much they'd be willing to pay to make it happen.