qwertyell

He is what he is. We've got one outstanding striker - Ings - and then a bunch of other guys who do a job in the position (Adams, Walcott, lately Redmond, Tella) and have their moments but by and large are a massive drop off in quality from Ings. If Adams was our number one striker, then we'd be in deep shit. But as a squad player who chips in - back up to the main man - he's all right.

Balogun would cost compensation in the millions, probably.

Salisu for Bednarek, who has been consistently rubbish since the turn of the year. Lost pretty much every challenge yesterday and, having been at fault for Burnley's second goal, almost cost us the points at the end when, again, losing Wood and then pulling him back by the shirt which should've been a penalty. Time to bench him. Minamino for Walcott, who got a nice assist but is possibly the worst decision maker in top flight history. His all round performance was poor, like it pretty much always is. Otherwise, same again.

Get the fuck Ings! Right. Reset. Refocus. Wake up. Got away with it massively if we can go in level.

Jesus, we're so shit. That was route one, basic defending. Bednarek has been stealing a living in 2021. Lose to West Brom as well and we'll be in serious trouble. ARMSTRONG! Finally, FFS. Now wake up.

It is just Saints who struggle against this type of football even when the opposition have nine men, though.

I don't know why either. Burnley are exactly the kind of team Ralph-ball struggles against. They won't play out from the back - they'll hoof it long - so that takes away about 95% of our attacking ideas. They'll sit deep and compact and watch as we slowly do fuck all with the ball on the halfway line. It'll be 1-0, 0-0, or 0-1.

Don't think he'd played 90 minutes for us since returning to fitness when France U21s named their squad. Just one tentative 60 minute outing.

# doggingwatch

Hlozek and Sima are the big young attacking talents in the Czech league - and already both way out of our price range.

Missed a year with a serious knee injury in what should have been his "kicking on" season after breaking through under Puel. Sadly, that derailed his development massively and his moment passed. Not sure we could've done much differently - you can't legislate for injuries. It just shows how tough it is for a talented kid to make it: the window of opportunity can be very small and if you're unlucky enough to be injured when it's open, that's you done.

To be fair, the last game Vokins started he did well (apparently) and they won and kept a clean sheet. I'd guess he hasn't been a match squad since due to injury.

Loftus-Cheek would be a bad fit, if Hasenhuttl's still in charge. Lovely player on the ball but no engine; can't press. Laconic joggers won't last five seconds here.

Not sure I've ever seen Jack Stephens do anything deliberately.

Too much. His wage demands are beyond our reach as well. Unless we can wrangle a season loan, Abraham's a non starter.

If Aguero leaves they'll still need two strikers because Jesus isn't reliable enough through the middle. Ings on the cheap (also adding to their sparse HG numbers) and Haaland would be a great summer's business.

Probably too expensive now. Don't know where our recruitment team were looking when Sheffield United paid just £3.5m in the summer. Versatile attacking full back, could cover both sides and wing back. Not a world beater, but a very decent squad option with bags of potential. I doubt we'll be shopping in the Premier League or recently relegated. Frees, loans and trying to sniff out a bargain or two from around Europe and the Championship, I'd imagine.

We've beaten all three semi finalists in the last 18 months. So, something to cling to.

He does it for about two games per season, but then immediately loses the confidence to run at players when a couple of incidents don't pan out and retreats into his shell again. I guess we should be thankful for small mercies and just enjoy this fleeting moment of quality.

Absolutely woeful. Finished the game jogging around passing the ball backwards. Manager hasn't got a clue how to play when the opposition let us have the ball. Press and win the ball high or lose. Fucking useless.

Bednarek AGAIN having no idea where his runner is. Lost count of how many times. Another Saints second half special - we haven't come out. Adams misses a sitter...

Who's the side facing relegation? Apart from a ten minute period after Brighton scored we've been shite - they're by far the more threatening. Defensively we've been terrible. Bednarek is all over the place today. He's got no idea who's running in behind him. Forster couldn't move his feet for the goal but he's kept us in the game so far. Tella looks lost out there. Sheffield United's reserve defence this ain't. Hasn't won a single challenge. Minamino's had some nice touches, but there's not a lot of positives for us this far. Big second half. I'd take a point.

Classically Saintsy half. Played pretty decently. Didn't do anything with our good spells, then the opposition score and lead without getting out of first gear. City have only had four attacks. Two of them handed on a plate by Adams and McCarthy (should've been a penalty). Four attacks, three goals. Hopefully City will stay in strolling mode and the score won't get too out of hand.

Surprised he didn't try and finish everything at the near post then.

Needed that. Professional job in the second half, albeit with some terrible decision making in the final third to extend the lead. Great strike from Adams. Thought the defence was really solid today - has Forster only conceded once this season? Maybe we should stick with the big lump while he keeps putting up the numbers. 10 point gap with 11 to play sound a lot better than the 4 it could've been if this week had gone worse. Diallo much improved in the second half - think he's a quality player in the making. Phew.