Dusic

This by a mile. I get why people don't rate Elyounoussi but find it hard to hate him as he gives everything and seems like a good guy, he is just limited and unsuited to the PL.

Two key things if Onuachu plays: 1. He has to play with a partner or someone just off him. When people write 433 formations it looks great but we know it becomes 451 and an isolated striker. He doesnt have the pace for that. 2. We need to be better at putting crosses into the box to take advantage of Onuachu's height. Crazy to have barely put one good ball in since he joined.

Ive seen lots of people suggest this, and its has merits, but I can't be the only one that thinks Onuachu needs a partner? Might be different when you play in the top team in Belgium but playing this formation with the bottom team in the PL I think he would end up isolated and immobile. Seeing as the only player aside from JWP who has proven he can score goals occassionally in the PL is Che Adams, I wonder if we go back to a front two with them and then Sulemana and someone else as the 10s in a 4-2-2-2? We need to be picking the players most likely to score and for all his faults Adams is more likely to than most of the players in your suggested lineup.

Wonder if we would consider loaning him out for a year? He is on a long contract so his value won't drop much in that time, especially if he stays in the PL. If we go straight back up he comes back and if not then he can go permanently. IMO if someone like Spurs or Chelsea wanted him there is no real need for them to wait til we are relegated, they would have moved sooner. I could see him at Brighton, especially if they get into Europe. Will likely lose Caicedo and MacAllister this summer so cash no issue.

The main Selles related thing about tomorrow is that if we do lose, it shouldn't be a case of "well we shouldn't have appointed him yesterday". Every team and manager loses games. If we go down it won't be because of Selles. The difference in the team vs Chelsea shows he has made an impact. It shows he knows tactically how to set the team up and everything suggests the players are behind him. He also represents the club well. He deserves us to judge him over a run of games and also to be judged considering the context. He could do a very good job, be worthy of a longer contract and we still lose tomorrow or still go down. Out situation is still pretty dismal in terms of the table but in a sense what happens from now is a free hit because based on the season until now we deserve to be relegated. Selles has no pressure.

Lets hope so.

Good move and great opportunity for him. If we do go down he can be fairly blameless so an opportunity for him to get the job longer term even if that does happen, assuming we continue to show improvement and a plan.

With the brutal nature of youth football recruitment recently we will do well to keep him this summer.

Due to their position, the Leeds game is a must win for us if we have any chance of staying up. If they win then they are effectively 5 points ahead of us. A draw only passable if we then beat Leicester. Its 3 from 4 for relegation so this and our home game vs Bournemouth in April are going to be huge.

The DVD lad was also a hype-man for the Spanish academy player we had back then, Jacinto Ela Eyena (never played for the first team). De Pedro did have a crazy season before we tried to get him, most assists in La Liga or close to it. He did seem like someone who woukf have been a bit of a coup, but in hindsight a dodged bullet.

In the days before social media, this was a brilliant transfer saga, a privilege to have seen it unfold in many ways. Is it acknowledged as our best, particularly for a player who didn't end up signing?

Seeing as Jones was in part recruited because of supposed set piece stats, I wonder if we signed DCC because of his aerial ability, thinking it would help to resolve that problem too. I think he had some of the best headers won % of any defenders in Europe last season. Now though he does seem a strange, unsuited signing. Imagine he will be loaned out next season whatever league we are in.

So basically he got everything right apart from the choices of the team, which was proven to be right. What more so you want to see? As we have seen with Poch, Koeman, Pellegrino, Jones it doesn't take long to see if a good manager can affect performances positively or a bad one negatively, why waste time when the decision is obvious?

Hard to really judge Selles opinion of him on one game, but thats four managers who have seemingly not been so keen on him (also dropped from Croatia squad albeit game time could be the main driver). Interesting. I think he has looked decent in some games, but by no means some kind of superstar defender. Looked at by lots of PL clubs in the past but none made a concrete move. We allegedly paid £15m for him but as he only had a year left it was probably a lot less. At this point it has to be considered as a poor signing as the guy he was bought to replace has replaced him.

Things needed in a relegation battle: - Players behind the manager - Fans behind the manager - Clear tactical instruction - Good home atmosphere - A bit of inspiration (JWP) - Luck with other results Selles helps with 4/6 of these, no brainer to give him the job at least til the end of the season and IMO that is regardless of what happens versus Leeds. He has shown enough already, just like many were almost instantly unconvinced by Jones. Capitalise on the momentum and confirm him on Monday. (He also feels like someone who could be supported fans next season even in the (fairly likely) event that we go down. Absolute no brainer.

Of course its only words but very, very impressive from Selles. Spoke with clarity, authority and ambition. Lets hope he can get the team playing with similar traits.

Sounds quite likely that he will be the manager, at least for the next few games. Lots of chat about how highly rated he is, and seemingly the players like him. However, his CV doesn't suggest he is anywhere near ready for something like this and he has of course been one constant in the coaching staff throughout this shit show of a season. Lets hope he does well, and if he is to be in this role for a while, leta hope the club and its decision makers take the courtesy of telling fans that and explain their decision. Always felt it odd that there were no quotes alongside the Jones appointment.

This season has been one shambles after another. Why do we also seem to do all this stuff so publically now too? Jacob Tanswell is obviously fed info directly from the club because he was right on pretty much all of our January stuff and again broke the news of the Marsch interest. Why not keep things more in house and then not end up looking quite so shambolic? It reads like the club think we are down - to be fair thats about the only thing they have worked out correctly this season.

Short contract (obviously with a big survival bonus) also shows that Marsch obviously feels he can come in and make an impact with out squad, otherwise no real reason for him to take it. I think that should be seen as a positive. Ultimately for him, and Saints really, its a free hit.

Hopefully we can get through to the end of February without a Marsch Out thread. Sensible choice, seems like someone who will be positive and give it a good crack and its not his fault we are probably already doomed. Lets hope the fans get behind him.

Virtually all fired managers get slagged for having no "plan b". It will happen soon to Antonio Conte. Maybe being clear on your plan A is actually a strength rather than supposed flexibility which often leads to disjointed confusion?

We clearly aren't in a position where an absolutely ideal candidate suddenly comes up and is really keen to join in our position. Is Marsch perfect? No Does he have some attributes that would suit us? Yes. He knows the league, plays a style that our squad is recruited for, gives young players a chance and is a positive type of character which is what we need. Not saying he is an exciting appointment but he is the type that might be a decent long term bet for us, and someone who is well versed in the multi club model we are trying to build. I can see why we have gone for him, with a limited pool available and a poor position to be recruiting from.

Not at all convinced by Marsch, not least because we clewrly need an appointment that the majority of fans will instantly trust and support and I don't think he can offer that. Nuno is a no for me. A big 3 CB advocate, defensive approach and just find him a bit dull. Hopefully whoever it is, Ankersen or Semmens will actually attribute quotes at the very least to explain their choice. Always felt Jones was on the backfoot in this regard, they announced him but didnt explain the reasoning until it was far too late.

There is no reason why a really good manager would take this as a short term assignment. All we would get are the ones desperate for any kind of PL job, Allardyce etc. If we go short term it will surely be Selles (despite having been part of the problem) or one of the usual crowd described above. If we go longer term then whoever it is will be hired with a view to getting us back up. The issue with this is any goodwill could be eroded by results between now and the end of the season. Someone like Gerrard would certainly give the players a lift as for many of them he would be an icon - maybe he would also be interested in a season in the Championship, so whilst some would turn their noses up he could be an overall sensible option as a bridge of both scenarios. Would also be a draw for players.