Saint Albert

I also wonder if the new owner has the resources and the inclination to fund a promotion push.

Hopefully Hughes is watching the CSKA game, and has resolved that fielding an attacking formation against Arsenal at Emirates, might not be the best idea.

Better make that 4-1...

We’re not playing well enough to survive and have gifted wins to teams around us in the relegation fight (Newcastle, Palace and W. Ham spring to mind) The only thing is, there are some very bad teams playing poorly enough and facing enough difficult fixtures to keep the hope glimmering.

A fair few will be choked if they’re on the pitch at all.

Difficult choice. I honestly don’t know which one has performed worse lately. Pied for Cedric might also be worth considering.

Jeremy Wilson questions Saints player (and manager) recruitment over the last 18 months. It’s tucked behind the Telegraph’s paywall unfortunately... https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/04/01/last-18-months-underline-southamptons-need-not-just-review-recruit/

I’d bring in Romeu and Yoshi to replace Lemina and Hoedt or Stephens respectively. The team desperately needs an injection of character. I’m assuming Hughes won’t go with a 4-4-2 away to Arsenal. He could try dropping Long back into the attacking 3 midfielders and keeping Austin up front, hoping that he will work his way into a semblance of match fitness.

I can’t speak for anyone else but after watching yesterday’s game the last thing I wanted to talk about in any detail was football. The team’s performance was depressing, and worrying. Getting overrun in midfield by Wigan in the first half of the QF was not enough to kill the 4-4-2. I’m assuming that yesterday’s cluster**** will do it.

It’s probably our best chance, if the remainder of the VVD money not spent on Carrillo and whatever we get in parachute payments allows Les and Co (assuming they’ve not been fired) to field a decent side capable of fighting for promotion, rather than the team of wet blankets presently embarrassing the club in the PL. Long term I don’t have much faith in the new ownership structure keeping the team competitive. It would be interesting to see who leaves the club following relegation but I assume there’s already a thread on that.

Depressing performance. Based on this, the team are not up for the relegation scrap.

It’s ****ing infuriating.

There is no fight in this team.

Utterly pathetic.

2-0. Pathetic performance.

Big miss. Should have been 2-0.

Just like the Newcastle game. ****.

Antonio is injured. Looks like he’s coming off.

No Hernandez for West Ham. He’s not even on the bench. It’s not a particularly strong-looking line up and their bench looks weak.

I noticed that the Serbians had Tadic starting on the right today as part of a front three... https://mobile.twitter.com/FSSrbije/status/977256624359387137/photo/1

He’s playing at his level with Saints.

If it’s true then yes he does deserve the blame. Pellegrino outstayed his welcome and should have departed in December at the absolute latest. When Ralph came out publicly in support of Pellegrino back in December or whenever it was, it was very frustrating to say the least. Ralph does not have a footballing background and if he has a voice in footballing matters rather than the marketing / figurehead role that I thought he had, it’s concerning. Ralph does have an extensive background in coaching (albeit in a completely different sport played on ice with pucks, sticks and skates). Perhaps his faith in Pellegrino was out of some level of misplaced empathy at the plight of the professional sports coach.

Collins picked up a hamstring injury during a West Ham charity friendly against Dagenham & Redbridge today. He’s a doubt for the Saints game. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5529147/West-Ham-defender-James-Collins-pulls-friendly-Dagenham.html

Here’s an interview that Austin has done for the OS discussing his injury, his return from injury, the new managing team, the FA Cup and the run-in over the next 8 weeks... https://southamptonfc.com/news/2018-03-21/video-charlie-austin-on-return-from-injury The OS videos seem to be a little finicky to get working for some depending on device / browser. It worked on my iPad using Chrome. If you have issues try it on a different browser or try refreshing the screen.

So far Hughes has said some reasonable things in the media and had one decent half of football against L1 opposition. Waiting until the end of the season before making a long-term call on the next manager seems prudent to me.