Disco Stu

I hope it's a bit more than £40m given the direction the markets continue to go. That could be considered very cheap in another couple of years but if that's the only way we can get the deal done so be it.

£12m rising to £15m seems a lot to spend if we've included a buy-back. I suppose the deal wouldn't have been possible without it but that's a big outlay for a 20 year old. We're certainly taking all the risk. Man City have a great little arrangement.

Any idea if there's a buy-back clause?

He could do with being coached out of the habit of always parrying but looks a good shot-stopper nonetheless (at least from his highlights 😁)

That's a very nice ground. Architecturally much nicer than St. Mary's.

I still don't get the Southgate love in. You don't play 5 at the back with 2 CDM's against Hungary with the squad we've got. We clearly have an abundance of midfield quality but instead we're starting with two right backs. I don't understand the logic.

Agree with this. He also has the best timed jump in world football. Unreal how many headers he wins against taller opponents.

I'm far from convinced with Svanberg to be honest. We don't need another player that doesn't suit the system. We already have Diallo to fill that role. I'm always sceptical of signings from Serie A as well. To say they've been hit and miss for us is putting it mildly. From memory: Ramirez - Decent on his day with a hopeful first season but ultimately ill-suited to the league. He never kicked on and ended up loaned out to Hull City. Osvaldo - Never settled. Despite some memorable goals, his attitude stank which came to a head with a training ground bust up. Hoedt - Expensive flop and another with a poor attitude. Gabbiadini - Probably our best signing from Serie A. Sadly coincided with Mark Hughes' reign. Hit the ground running but lost all form after injury and returned to Italy with 10 goals after the equivalent of 2 seasons. Lyanco - The most erratic defender I've seen in a Saints shirt. His attitude seems pretty good and I think it rubs off on his teammates. Doesn't remove the fact he's not improved the first 11. Decent for the price though. Most of these players came at huge expense. We also made a loss on all of them after they left (Lyanco pending) which contradicts our transfer philosophy. You can even look at the likes of Pogba and Lukaku as further examples. There are clearly fundamental differences in the way the two leagues play football. Tammy Abraham has lit up at Roma but couldn't make an impact for Chelsea. I know my reasoning is a little tenuous but Svanberg has hardly lit up Serie A. He's been average. I'd like to think this is a genius bit of scouting but I can't help wondering if this is just the cheap option.

I thought that was Diallo?

Love it. This shirt design lends itself to a centralised badge.

Gareth Bale is coming home.

You'll find out next season that you're wrong about that.

Missed the boat with Worrall. He's the natural leader we needed.

Our squad depth is no worse than the teams I listed and we've had a relatively injury free season. Ralph himself said he was happy with the squad depth in August: And again in February: We had a full squad to choose from in most of those games and I'm sure the teams I listed have had their own issues regarding injury's. Leeds missing Patrick Bamford and Kalvin Phillips when we played, Burnley missing Ben Mee with a leg fracture when we played ect... I'm sure there are other examples I can't recall. We were still dire in those games. All the teams are in the same boat regarding fixture congestion and they're spending less on wages than us.

No it shouldn't but we proved we could. That's what is so infuriating. We gain points against teams with quadruple our wages but fail to those that spend less than us. Nothing is gained. We can't rely on taking points from the top 6 for survival. Norwich (3 points), Watford (1 point), Burnley (3 points), Leeds (3 points), Brentford (3 points), Brighton (2 points) are where we would have been expected to secure our survival this season judging by that wage table but that hasn't happened. That's 15 points from a possible 36. It's realistic to expect more.

The wages gives you an idea of expected finish but when you really dissect our results this season, it doesn't explain our defeats to all of the teams below us on that wage table does it? Except the two draws to Brighton although the 90+8 equaliser at home sure made it feel like a defeat.

We need experienced players good enough to start for the team so they can actually have a positive influence on the pitch.

Fixed it for you 👍

Posted in the match thread but I'll paste it here too as it reflects how I feel after 3 years of judgement... We were a top half team before our inevitable post February capitulation. You don't get into that position if the players aren't capable. Sure we lack quality but to be in that position and plummet like we did is unacceptable. Too many excuses. We show relegation form the second half of every season despite proving we can compete with these teams earlier in the season. We've lost to all three relegated teams. We can't hold a lead and that has a lot to do with Ralph's game management. Over the last three seasons during the months of February, March, April and May, Southampton have won just 6 of their 38 fixtures, losing 24. This team should be able to do better than that but it seems to be a consistent problem Ralph can't solve. If it's a burnout issue, he's had three years to adapt our game. That's on the manager. If it's a motivation issue, that's on the manager. Tactical naivety? The manager. If he's here next season all the same problems will persist. Baffling team selections, poor in-game management, subs so late they can't have an impact... I think we've been very patient with him as a fanbase. We've suffered humiliating defeats, gut wrenching surrenders from winning positions, regular defeats to those below us, long losing runs... my patience has finally run out.

We were a top half team before our inevitable post February capitulation. You don't get into that position if the players aren't capable. Sure we lack quality but to be in that position and plummet like we did is unacceptable. Too many excuses. We show relegation form the second half of every season despite proving we can compete with these teams earlier in the season. We've lost to all three relegated teams. We can't hold a lead and that has a lot to do with Ralph's game management. Over the last three seasons during the months of February, March, April and May, Southampton have won just six of their 38 fixtures, losing 24. This team should be able to do better than that but it seems to be a consistent problem Ralph can't solve. If it's a burnout issue, he's had three years to adapt our game. That's on the manager. If it's a motivation issue, that's on the manager. Tactical naivety? The manager. If he's here next season all the same problems will persist. Baffling team selections, poor in-game management, subs so late they can't have an impact... I think we've been very patient with him as a fanbase. We've suffered humiliating defeats, gut wrenching surrenders from winning positions, regular defeats to those below us, long losing runs... my patience has finally ran out.

I pray you're right but I've resigned myself to him being in te dugout next season. He's had these poor runs before and despite TWO humiliating 9-0 defeats he's still here. Our only hope is Dragan Solak makes an executive decision but I just don't see it.

I can't watch this. wtf is this officiating?

Leicester seem to be a very dishonest team. Diving. Not giving the ball back when we had the possession...