Dusic

Boufal is in training, which is good news.

Our home form is the worst in the league this season, and without being a good bit above average in terms of away form we would be relegated by now pretty much. We have seen that at times we are actually a good team and are capable of matching and beating teams with better players. Some of our football in December and January has been great, but mostly away from home. This has been the case for a while now. So, to what extent are we, as fans, to blame for this? I am a ST holder but couldn't go yesterday so watched on TV, and was struck by how woeful the atmosphere was. Jenas mentioned on commentary that he has seen us a lot at home and thinks the fans get on the players backs too easily, and that was certainly the case yesterday, at least from the TV experience. So, are we a problem, at least in some part?

Wasn't there an old thread where each country was matched with a SWF member? I wonder who the Belgian football expert was?

Liptak was a CB so thats a lot of wasted worry time. If forced to pick I go Liptak and I would play him in the ticket office as a front sweeper.

You have to wonder why no team in Europe has bought Maehle when Genk are one of the ultimate selling clubs and he is supposedly cheap by PL standards. Must be something that puts scouts off and that you don't see in the 5min YT clips that are probably the only time most on here (myself included) have seen him play.

Pretty obvious that KWP will start, no?

Doesn't look like JWP is training with the team at the moment.

Personally think a 2 year contract at his age and overall record is a bit much, especially as he is one of our higher earners. Can only think that he had 2 year offers from elsewhere and therefore we had to match it. One year extension would have been the best option, at least for the club.

So would Carillo.

Why not have one TSP thread rather than a new one for each episode?

Yes and both teams looked very poor.

Carillo will clearly just be loaned out again, no doubt with Saints paying a hefty chunk of his wages. He is a free agent the summer after, so no incentive for him to take a pay cut now, and any club knows that we will be more than happy to loan him out again. Hopefully Lemina, Hoedt, Elyounoussi and Forster can be sold if we are reasonable about fees, which you would hope we will be.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2020/02/07/southampton-expect-ralph-hasenhuttl-sign-new-contract-major/ Nothing overly new in reality.

This is why a.) He is perfect for our system and b.) Other teams will want him. Possession won in the defensive third: 94 (6th) Possession won in the midfield third: 137 (1st) Possession won in the attacking third: 22 (=2nd) [emoji2093] Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has been everywhere for @SouthamptonFC this season! #SaintsFC

In this specific contract situation I wonder if when we get to 36 points it will become: "Lets wait until the end of the season, we don't need any distractions. He is committed, we are comfortable with it."

The big issue for us in the last 15mins was Romeu, as he often does, just doesn't have the legs and they dtarted bypassing him with ease, hence why he just started fouling until he got the yellow. Aside from this we were excellent and deserved to win, no question.

He can. But Im not sure he is overly suited to that. All his best attributes are attacking ones.

Of course he would be a miss. He is the captain. He has specific attributes that suit the system and if the the talk is to be believed then he is wanted by teams much better than us, which in itself is telling. He will leave if he doesn't sign a new contract and if that happens then it would definitely a blow, and would also be for a fee lower than his value had he still got 3 years to run - which gives us less room to work with in replacing him.

The fact his step dad is the U23 coach is probably somewhat of a factor.

*Step-Dad obviously.

Chelsea signed him aged 14 from Bristol City's Academy where the Lead Development Coach at the time was David Horseman. From a quick look at Bristol City forum it appears they may have a closer link than just that...one poster hints that Horseman is/was Maddox's step-son. https://www.otib.co.uk/index.php?/topic/155198-chelsea-to-sign-14-year-old-bristol-city-teenager-jacob-maddox/#comment-1806738 He will certainly know all about him (as will Matt Crocker). Low risk, potentially a reward at some stage as he is obviously talented.

Agree about complacency but if we match WH results in the next two games and then lose to them I think they are still 4 points behind us. Hopefully the next 5 will yield the 7 or 8 points to get us safe.

I am assuming that the backup for Bednarek and Stephens is Vestergaard and then Danso. Which it is. You can question the quality of the backup, but this season Yoshida was as poor as the other two so it makes little difference, especially as Ralph saw Vestergaard ahead of Yoshida anyway.

Don't get the reaction on here to Yoshida leaving. We only need 4 CBs, not 5. Yoshida has played 5mins in the PL since October, during the busiest time of the season. He was absolutely woeful vs Leicester, one of the worst individual performances I have ever seen in a Saints shirt. His contract is up at the end of the season and clearly isn't going to be extended. We will not need to rotate before the end of the season and he is 4th choice CB. All it means is now Danso is 4th choice CB for the 14 league games we have left.

If we are sticking with the 4-2-2-2 then I would say we need a squad consisting of: 3 x GK 2 x RB 2 x LB 4 x CB 4 x CM 4 x AM 4 x CF Its clear from that where the key areas to focus are: LB - need one RB - need a permanent signing in the summer. CB as we have six but only two are really good enough. Not impossible that none of Yoshida, Vestergaard, Hoedt or Danso will be at the club next season so hopefully four out and two in here. CM - only have three and there are question marks on whether at least two will still be here next season, whilst I would not at all be suprised if we received bids for JWP as well as Hojbjerg, who will like be sold. Therefore signings wise I would say we need a left back, right back, two centre backs and potentially up to 3 central midfielders depending on sales. A lot to do.