Chez

Didn't Ralph sign most of them? The entire back five for starters have been given contracts by Ralph. Djenpo, Armstrong, Adams...

He gets the ball stuck under his feet a lot these days. Its like he hasn't touched a ball at all for six months at all. I don't understand how that can be.

I can see Cabellero getting a contract and then the other keeper `has' to be young to at least give us a chance of selling one keeper on for profit.

I've never had an issue with Ely. He is what he is. Neat and tidy, no pace, plays well when the side plays well, offers nothing when we don't. Maybe you are right about Diallo. He is still young, but bloody hell he really hasn't improved at all since he was here (is he not hungry?). Still lightweight and doesn't know how to play the position. Not sure Djenepo has ever been all that. His control of the football has been suspect since day one. He shows flashes of talent and every now and then he might try to beat a man, but is he going to become a Mane mark II for us next season? Boy do we need someone that is going to causes defences a problem next season.

Yep. If you are beaten near post you should be thrown to the wolves. Apparently. I should clarify that it's not why I don't rate him as highly as others.

if you keeping signing players that don't cut it...Lemina, Hoet, Carrillo...Vestegaard, Elyounossi, Gunn....Djenpo, Diallo, Walcott...then you are always trying to shift deadwood. That's one of the biggest problems with the Prem and the monstrous wages you have to pay. Make a mistake with a signing and you live with it...until the contract ends four years later.

Massively overrated. He gets beaten at the near post a lot. I think thats a trait that some fans on here don't appreciate.

If both FF and McCarthy were departing, then maybe one of the two incoming could be a 30 year old, but can't see us doing so now. It just wouldn't follow the business model the management want to follow.

How can you announce that a guy has signed a three year contract a year after he signed it? News ain't news if it isn't news.

Burnley fans seem to have mixed feelings about him. He hit the ground running with some brilliant goals early doors, but he has faded. They think the African cup of nations affected his form. They are playing him up front rather than on the left side.

This is the thread for potential players coming in, ones that want to play for us, not ones that are departing to earn more money at Spurs. 😉 You've got strong opinions about the keeper position DT. Who do you fancy as a replacement?

wow. this thread has reached new heights.

Plenty of time to do it after the season ends too. Weeks and weeks of having no news - perfect for announcing end of contracts. You never know, the PR department might even get round to announcing a few new contracts too. Announcing Stephens and McCarthy contracts from previous years might be a good place to start.

what about United? They need midfielders (Matic, Pogba, Lingard and Mata are all departing, and Pereira (one year left on his contract) and van de Beek obviously pushed out on loan) and they are not going to suddenly stop spending money now. Maybe Frenkie de Jong signs from Barca, maybe he doesn't.

Makes sense, although it would possibly have to say "Forster has decided not to accept an offer of a new contract and instead will depart in the summer. Saints thank you for your service."

he's started 13 of the last 18 games. Like all the strikers, he hasn't made much of an impact on proceedings recently. We don't create any chances for them though

Some fans don't have a fucking clue. He fed off absolute scraps. He put himself about, won a few free kicks, made a few dribbles. Not sure what else he could have done. I saw someone posting that he `didn't press enough' - as if a one man press does anything. I saw another Saints fan on twitter saying he "hasn't been arsed since November". November FFS. The whole side has been poor, yet a nipper on loan is the one fans focus on. Adams is another that has failed to have much impact in the second half of the season. I presume that's because he doesn't want to be here too? Ings was a huge hole to fill and Broja has done a decent job. When he goes back there will be another hole. Armstrong is going to have to step up or we will be in big trouble.

Lewis would have to be one of however many that depart.

Obviously we played five at the back and only one up front to limit the space for their dangerous attackers. We were thus on the back foot from the off and only got onto the front foot, when Liverpool dropped all men back themselves. Even if their side was weak, they still has some talent up top and when given a tiny bit of space they caused us problems. If there had been more they might have run riot. We gave Chelsea too much space and they destroyed us. I guess the fear was the same might happen. I think though, when they named that side, there was an hour to play with and,= the manager should have ripped up all previous plans and had us pressing them and going for it. There was nothing to fear there. They were still good, but they weren't out of our league. That said, if Brentford can carve us open, then why not them? Despressing.

what a very good post. Liverpool certainly did press us well (especially for a thrown together side) and we had no answer. Isn't always the case? If I was an opposing manager I'd press the fuck out of us - we can't cope at all - although many other tactics seem to work against us. Wonder what our tactic is against the press? Cross our fingers? Spot on about the floating player. One thing I would say is Diallo provides almost no cover to CBs. He is wrong side of the ball far too much and usually five to te yards too far advanced and not filling that space where the floating player resides. I'd love to analyse a game with Ralph and see what he sees. I see players looking at ipads before coming on, but the attention to detail is non existent.

this annoys me so much its not true. For starters CBs should never be taking throws. They should either be in the box challenging for the header, or in a defensive position in case the ball is lost. And the ball is lost a lot in this situations because you are basically chucking it up in the air and hoping for the best. I can understand the logic of a looping throw. It's hard to clear well, so there is a good chance of picking up the second ball. However, it doesn't actually seem to work. The number fo times this year I have seen us be hit on the break from ur own throw in is incredible. It is a management failure to not spot this and change the tactic. It also makes me sad that we have gone from being a side with someone like Morgan in it, that will collect the ball short form every single throw in, keep possession and then start an attack where we actually have control of the ball. Hopeful throws down the line or in the box should never be happening. I wouldn't want to see it in Sunday league never mind this level. Its embarrassingly poor.

Ralph himself did so, but sadly it didn't last. I am not convinced we have too many top class players, but you are right, we should be getting a better tune out of them than we have done recently. It's gone badly wrong. We have survived, from a business point if view that will have bene the aim, but it feels a long way short fi something to celebrate. All we can ask is for a decent window and the side come out fighting/attacking next season. One note. I wonder if the absolute battering we took against Chelsea led directly to this shape/tactics/display/performance tonight? After that display perhaps its little surprise there is no confidence to take on a big boy.

I think Berge was £22m. Still bigger than our record signing though, I guess. didnt stop them going down mind.

Diallo was £12.7m according to The Athletic, £11m according to the BBC. He looks a million miles from the player `dominating' midfields in France. He's not improved at all since he came, in fact he's gone backwards IMO. He doesn't understand the position or the role being asked of him. He doesn't mark, he doesn't sit in the right position, he doesn't show enough. He doesn't dominate. When he arrived he looked like he had something about him. Great body position and the ability to get out of tight areas. He just needed t impose himself more. That potential seems a million miles away right now. Really depressing that he hasn't progressed. CM is a critical position. We seriously need to look at an upgrade there.

Whatever peoples thoughts on them, Forster and Broja have been first choice for a large chunk of the season and neither will likely be here next season. We are thus weaker before we start. We need to get two signings right to avoid going backwards. Reserve keepers apart, only Long is out of contract - so this massive overhaul is only going to be possible if we offload our unwanted players - but who is going to take them off our hands? No one, especially at the start of the window. Maybe a few go out on loan, with us paying a percentage of their wages. There will be movement. I suspect Salisu will go and that will give us some cash to play with, but that will be three first choice players to replace just to stand still. Maybe tonight is not the night for me to be mulling this over. Depressing stuff on the pitch never mind off it. Roll on the summer.