Dusic

Tough choice but if no shot is taken then thats almost certain relegation, so may as well let one have it.

Scenario: Saints are home to Newcastle in the final game of a PL season which despite club PR about a top 10 finish has winded up in a relegation battle that fans spotted in November, 4 months before the Club's hapless Manager was fired following a run of 7 defeats. Saints start brightly and take the lead but Newcastle equalise. Only a win will save Saints from relegation and in the last minute a player is put through, 30 yards from goal with just the keeper to beat. As they reach the edge of the area, would you rather it were Ormerod or Long? For me: I've never seen a player scuff more shots than Brett whilst Shano often looks he cannot strike a ball properly and has an utterly awful first touch so might well toe it to the keeper by accident. Would have to be Brett for me.

And the biggest differences: 1. We have no youth players to sell for massive cash unlike Shaw, Chambers, Lallana etc. 2. We have had a couple of poor Managers who haven't improved players.

If we are starting with Long for a decent part of the season then we will continue to struggle to score goals. He is ****e and in the worst form of his career. He should really be struggling to make the bench, let alone the first XI.

Richardson as a front sweeper for this one IMO.

Our problem is we should sign players like Moi in addition to what we have in those positions, like Brighton did with Jahanbakhsh for example. They have eased him in, reducing pressure on him as a big signing. Instead, Moi has had to immediately replace Tadic, possibly the best creative player outside the top 6 over the last 4 seasons. So far, he is a downgrade, but he has been thrown in, playing a league a huge step up from where he was before. Needs to show more though.

Not a snipe at all. Its our whole business model! If he keeps doing well and leaves for £35m then great.

Anything other than a win in this mtach and IMO its almost inconceivable that this season will be about anything other than a survival battle. Win and there is a slight possibility we could push upwards a bit. Hope we try a 4-2-3-1 with Armstrong in for Austin.

He is doing well to setup his next move. Fair play to the lad.

Yet another **** show if Vestergaard isn't considered better than the dross we had last year.

Thats very naïve. We didn't suddenly become interested in him a couple of hours before the deadline. If we had the cash we would have bought him sooner. There is no advantage in a loan with a guarantee to buy. In fact it means there are games he cannot play in which is a clear disadvantage! To me it seems obvious its to do with not paying another big fee this year. We are going to be paying it whatever happens so logic dictates we just didnt want to pay it now.

The key is that if its a derby to their players then ours have to treat it like that as well. They are high tempo so we need to match that or have no chance.

This thread is pretty damning. We are massive relegation candidates. In truth, probably the side most likely to drop after Cardiff and Hudds.

Repeat post, but: Its pretty clear we have no money, hence we begged Liverpool to let us have Ings on loan, so we can pay for him in a different accounting year. Our whole business model relies on selling for good cash. If we can't do that then we will have little cash to spend. We splashed out quite a bit this summer. I expect very minimal outlay in January.

All IMHO of course, Morph

Ross Wilson has watched Dryden a number of times and hasn't been impressed and his judgement of a centre half is exemplary. Now: Trotman or Powell?

That wasn't the question.

If you had to sign one of them to replace Wesley Hoedt, who would it be?

Surely we won't sign another CB as would have to probably let two of our current ones go which we won't be able to do. In addition, its pretty clear we have no money, hence we begged Liverpool to let us have Ings on loan, so we can pay for him in a different accounting year. Our whole business model relies on selling for good cash. If we can't do that then we will have little cash to spend. We splashed out quite a bit this summer. I expect very minimal outlay in January.

The much changed team still did well (better) for another two years. Things have got stale and worse since Gao.

Re defensive yrwining and Italy - any player who has played in Italy and England has always said they do far more tactical work there. Its a far more tactical league. Re Hughes - he won't turn it around. But do we trust them to get anyone better? Probably not. That said, an early move gives more options.

1. No chance of winning the next two. A PL win is very hard to grind out if you are rubbish, let alone two in a row. 2. It would just come back at a later point. All the pieces of the OP are valid, regardless of a couple of results.

We will probably be relegated if one of Huddersfield or Newcastle can generate a small bit of momentum. No way we are getting more than 38 points.

He won't get many mentions but IMO the player who instantly improved us the most was Dejan Lovren. A huge upgrade on what we had before. Overall: Lovren, Wanyama, Mane

Its crap if your team is crap but fantastic if your team is doing well. Bournemouth fans probably loving modern football just now, as we did 3/4 years ago.