Saint Albert

I think he has a source inside the club. I’m pretty sure that his articles are the ones that VVD complained about when he issued his transfer request last summer. Didn’t someone say back then that Palmer’s a former club employee?

The Independent thinks City will end up getting VVD: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/transfers/virgil-van-dijk-transfer-news-manchester-city-liverpool-left-out-of-squad-60m-latest-updates-a8128666.html

In his Twitter account, Palmer claims that two teams are in the mix for VVD, presumably Liverpool and Man City.

Another one from Kevin Palmer. He claims that Liverpool had the biggest offer on the table for VVD in the time period leading up to Christmas Day... https://amp.independent.ie/sport/soccer/premier-league/comment-what-happens-next-in-the-scramble-to-sign-virgil-van-dijk-36437385.html?__twitter_impression=true

Bournemouth game ends as a draw.

FT: Man U 2 Burnley 2. Burnley escape with a draw after a late barrage by Man U.

Lindgard equalizes for Man U.

Lingard scores for Man U with a clever little reverse flick.

The only good news is the January transfer window is but a few days away.

Or, most supporters are willing to support the team and give players and managers a chance to show their stuff before sounding the clanging chimes of doom. Apologies to Midge Ure and Bob Geldoff.

Burnley’s second goal was a beauty of a free kick by Defour.

True. It would also be helpful if someone could persuade our statuesque goalkeeper to make an attempt at collecting crosses in the 6 yard box.

The injury hasn’t helped but Pellegrino seems to have a talent for making good players worse.

There’s not much else to say other than the performances are getting worse. All of the backwards and sideways passes in our own half against a high pressing team invite pressure. Forward passing and long balls over the high line are a way to deal with the pressing and surely one of the reasons to have Long’s pace and Redmond’s supposed pace is to exploit the high line. This was a thrashing. I’m at the point where I am doubting the competence of the board in persisting with Pellegrino, who after an underwhelming start is proving to be a woefully inadequate manager. He needs to go before Man U, and the board better already have his replacement signed up.

When asked about VVD, Pellegrino said in his pre-match interview something like “we’ll see in January.”

No he didn’t, at least not consistently. There were the odd gems. I liked how the team performed in the League Cup final, even if the result was obviously disappointing. Puel got some excellent performances out of some members of the squad like Romeu. Players like Redmond did better under Puel than Pellegrino. Redmond has declined significantly under Pellegrino. Pellegrino is proving to be a very poor appointment.

Puel and Pellegrino were both left field managerial candidates. I don’t recall many on here expecting or hoping that we’d end up with them, before solid rumours that they were top of Les Reed’s list stated circulating. Puel was at least able to justify his rotation policy because of the Europa League campaign and the excellent League Cup run. I still have a hard time making sense of Pellegrino’s team selections. I suspect that players like Boufal and Hoj have similar difficulties. Firing Puel to replace him with Pellegrino was a poor decision, but perhaps Les and the board felt that the players had forced their hand, last summer. Ultimately the decline in results this season and Pellegrino’s worse than underwhelming leadership boils down to a bunch of spoilt, overpaid, underperforming players.

That would actually be worth watching.

If Les or other Saints have been talking to City and lying to Pellegrino about it, this may say something about the manager’s status with the board. Pellegrino did a good job of pleading ignorance re Lemina’s signing in the summer, so he could be blowing smoke. Ultimately there’s no way for us to know for sure.

Austin is banned for the next three games, which he was going to miss anyway... http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/southampton-forward-charlie-austin-banned-11748718

Good point. This will be a real test of the club’s mettle.

If he thinks that his “dream move” is close, VVD will not want to jeopardize it by getting stuck in on behalf of little old Southampton against Spurs or Man U. Starting him would probably be a mistake.

Interesting. Was Les stitching Pellegrino up when he told him that there were no negotiations with City?

Credit where it’s due this was a funny post. Reminds me of my wife’s chain smoking grandma, who made it to 85. It wasn’t even the smoking that killed her.

Pellegrino has been worse.