Topcat

It is clear that the game plan from thew opposition is is to look at our left side and channel most moves down it in the full knowledge that one (of many) weakest links is our jogging captain. Did Bertrand not get the message when he was dropped from the England squad?

Looking at the MOTD highlights this morning and the image of Bertrand jogging around as they launch attacks and both of the goals down his side, stands out. He seems to have forgotten that he is the left back and plays in defense.

A very plausible forecast for early December.

Benji "5 wins in last 38 league matches" Which is why a bigger clear out of starters and subs was needed in the summer to change the mentality in the squad. Too many players used to losing.

You are hopeful. I have not counted Manu in but we can always live in hope! Watford do look an optimistic win (for us).

On the basis that a lot of players did not play well enough to keep us out of a relegation fight, we should have expected a lot of departures from people who had been given chances at starting and failed. Also each year players age and a normal turnover would expect players to retire or go down into lower leagues. I can think of 3 that were "starters" during the season for a reasonable amount of games, that are not here this season. Tadic = 34 games and he was wanted elsewhere Boufal = 11 games and clearly unhappy with us and vice versa. Carillo = 5 games and no goals, a failure and waste of money. and that is it. We are left with a squad full of players that are aging and who got used to losing and lack a winning mentality. That is why it needed a larger clear out. .

It needed more of a clear out than that which happened.

Based on the first 7 games and weighting for the single game against a "top 6" side, we are to date, 1 point behind the number to reach 36 points. That is relegation form. The table is disguising how bad our position is. The upcoming next games into December are much tougher than what we have had so far. Chelsea Bournemouth Newcastle United Manchester City Watford Fulham Manchester United Tottenham Hotspur Only 4 winnable and we require 9+ points to get back on track.

Palace win very useful and takes the pressure off for at least 3 weeks.

Relegation with an owner unable to put money in would be the same as last time under Lowe, unless there was an ownership change to one who could invest millions. After 3 games, two at home and none against a "top 6" side we find we are 4th from bottom and just 1 point above the bottom. That is relegation form. If we had an "average" squad we should have expected at least 4 points from those games.

Yes and the one point we got was from playing at home to a Burnley team that is struggling against non "top 6" sides.

Very true. The money creates that opportunity for everyone to spend and we have not spent wisely over the past 3+ years.

Looking at us 4th from bottom. 2 of the 3 teams below us have played "top 6" sides in 2 of their 3 games. So no surprise for their position. The other team below us is Burnley who are also losing to teams below the usual top 6 sides. Apart from us that is and against us they achieved a draw at our home ground. Our form is probably the worst in the Premiership compared to Burnley who are playing extra games each week. Also Newcastle equal on one point with us, have played 2 of their 3 games against "top 6" sides.

1 point from 2 home games and 1 away game when none of the 3 was a top 6 side is relegation form. Games against top 6 sides occur every 3.2 games so usually we will have played a top 6 side already. To succeed in the Prem does require overall improvements each year using the money provided. Saints have added a better striker in Ings but several other strikers are older and slower. Midfield has lost its most creative player but added some younger legs. Defence has added 1 potentially dominating CB but nothing else. It does look like compared to the bottom half rivals that most clubs have improved more than we have. Hence only getting a draw. All of these decisions are controlled by Les Reed and Gao's budget.

How bad was he? Almost had the worst Saints win record of any permanant Manager in a League with 16.67%. But then there is Wigley with 7%.

Yes. At first we were afraid, we were petrified When we saw Ryan Bertrand in our side

Mark Hughes, is now a Saints legend.

Can I have some of what Neil Chen has been smoking?

Today, Hughes should only play players from the last game that played well. Which should create openings for at least 5 new starters.

Nothing would surprise me under Wreck it Ralph.

With 12 games to go we just needed 3 wins to stay up. With 10 games to go we just needed 3 wins to stay up. With 8 games to go we just needed 3 wins to stay up. With 6 games to go we just needed 3 wins to stay up. We now only have 4 games to go and still need 3 wins to stay up......... Hope will end when with 2 games to go we just need 3 wins to stay up.

We need a real Captain on the field driving the players on. Ideally more than one. Reality is that we have none.

I hope that Reed's contract enables the Club to fire him without compensation if we are relegated.

Gallows humour. But our defence has really been that bad. It is very puzzling why the Club decided that the defence did not need strengthening in January.

Possibly the best hope.