verlaine1979

Rubbish from you-know-who after nice work from JWP to win possession in a good position.

So you'd be perfectly content going into next season with him as a nailed on starter? Did you see that pass in the second half - any other player would've been crucified for that, but only one person on the forum even noticed it was him... I'm sure the majority of fans are probably still under the impression that it was JWP, or that Clasie jogged onto the pitch accidentally for a second - anyone but saintly 'Davo'. Having observed the phenomenon for a while now, responses to Davis fall into the following categories: - He plays, but puts in an average, anonymous performance = default response 'Davis had a great game' - He plays, and makes one good pass or run, but is otherwise average = default response 'Davis is one of the most underrated players in the league, and deserves a place on the banner' - He plays, and makes a series of mistakes, loses possession, or is otherwise disappointing = default response 'Tadic/Boufal/any foreign player was worse' Judging by your avatar I can see why you're an unreliable judge, but it's genuinely mystifying how regularly he's forgiven by everyone else for performances that would result in witch hunts of any other player.

Surely he can't stay captain next season. The idea that he is in any way undroppable has been refuted so many times this year.

Regardless of our strategy when we don't have the ball, when we do have it, we look useless. Is our only plan to get it forward expecting one of the fullbacks to chip it hopefully into the Liverpool half?

Why are people arguing about league position, when the only real complaint anyone has made is that we're playing extremely drab football? Finish between 16th-8th playing exciting football with a few promising young/skillful players, and almost everyone is happy; finish between 16th-8th playing dull football averaging only around a goal a game, and people will be disappointed. Nobody wants to be relegated, nobody expects to usurp the top six - everyone just wants to be entertained. That's it.

As reported, her 10% stake isn't intended to be permanent, and she'll sell on a set schedule (if she really retains it at all). As for why she might sell to a bunch of cowboys - it seems she's trying to release the value of an asset valued at around half her net worth. The rhetoric around doing what's best for the club probably only stretches so far when the alternative is leaving fully half her money in an illiquid asset that's probably increased in capital value as much as it's ever going to. If rumours are true that the club has been up for sale for some time, maybe this is the only offer in town close to her valuation?

Since they've apparently been trying to raise financing for the deal in China, there seems to be a real possibility that they have *no* money, and that the whole takeover is going to be funded purely on debt. Looking at the state of modern football ownership, I'd argue that a reasonable rule of thumb is that if you have to scrabble around for money to buy into the premier league, you can't afford it.

Funnily enough though, between them Davis and Cedric were responsible for at least half of the slow-down in our attacking play against Hull, as (aside from one admittedly good run from Davis in the first half) they both generally preferred to stop after advancing ten yards and pop the ball back to the CBs, who eventually popped it back for Forster to kick into touch. We've done this so often this season - reasonable field position advancing into midfield given up for another pointless GK punt (or increasingly, a mistake at the back that puts us under immediate pressure).

I hope Redmond spends a while berating himself when he fails to play a simple ball down the line to Bertrand.

We've got four players wanting to play on the edge of the Hull box and two central midfielders playing within the width of our half of the centre circle - completely disjointed with no platform to build on (with the exception of one good run from Davis).

No argument there - even taking into account the Liebherr family's loans to the club & converted equity, it'll still be a very healthy return. Though it probably also explains why eventually Cortese started taking out loans against the TV money to bridge player acquisition costs rather than turning to the owner to tide him over.

Interesting that the Echo are now quoting her net worth as £300-400m, of which Saints would represent well over half at the valuations being talked about. Not at all surprised she wants to sell.

Clasie in for Davis - he really didn't deserve to be dropped after West Brom, and Davis hasn't done anything to suggest he deserves an unquestioned place on the team sheet. Would start the same front three as against Chelsea, as Boufal certainly seems happier playing his way into games rather than coming on as a sub (assuming he's fit).

We played some pretty football at times, but even when we looked good, it still had a whiff of propaganda about it. Everyone apart from Romeu seems to need half a dozen looks before they decide where they're going to pass.

Especially as, surprise surprise, there was actually a forward pass on for him, and he still elected to try and pass it backwards.

I looks increasingly like Saints now represent a far larger percentage of her net worth than most people realised (I'm pretty sure she's nowhere near being a billionaire, assuming the story about Markus handing back his family shares is true). In which case, she's probably been advised to sell an asset that has appreciated as much as its likely to, and diversify into safer/more income-generating investments.

How many clubs in major leagues these days are funded by commercial debt, rather than owner equity and loans? Man United obviously carry a lot of market debt, but are there any others where owners borrowed heavily to make the purchase?

Scrabbling around to raise funds just to complete the purchase doesn't exactly sound like a recipe for stable ownership. Especially as 'raise funds' is probably just another way of saying 'take on debt'.

Only Davis would be described as 'very good' in a half of football where we were pretty much battered across the pitch from start to finish. I might have given you 'decent' or 'did well', but 'very good' is absurd, especially when he got caught in possession more than once (incidentally, why is it that dawdling and having the ball nicked off you is never regarded as as big a sin as misplacing a pass?).

So few people see Davis having a bad game, it's a miracle his team mates can pick him out on the pitch as his shirt must contain some kind of cloaking device. That said, he wasn't any worse that Hoj or JWP against City, he just wasn't any better either.

Long's chance conversion just isn't good enough to warrant playing like that on a regular basis. Surrendering possession and then relying on a player who has averaged only a goal every five games throughout his entire premier league career would be a recipe for relegation.

Well, football these days is a game for billionaire owners. If, as seems likely, she's only got a few hundred million squirrelled away at most, then it would explain why she's not pumping in multiple tens of millions every transfer window.

How do you correctly use a striker who can't finish? Do you mean that he's a good athlete?

Clasie was excellent - fancy that, a shot on target from one of our diminutive central midfielders... In addition to that, he moved into space, passed crisply and looked a step up from the lethargic Davis of the past season or two. Hoj did okay, but much less assured in possession and in the tackle. Long was pretty much abject apart his participation in the goal, which felt more like a lucky bounce than anything deliberate on his part. Had Gabbiadini been up front in that game we'd have gone in at half time three up, having played some of our best football of the season. Tadic and Redmond both continued their good decent form, and in retrospect the substitutions of JWP and NR probably contributed to the pressure we were under. With that many lumbering forward on for WB, Redmond and JWP would probably have made more of the space and played us out of pressure more than Sims and McQueen seemed capable of doing. That said, at least it gave FF a chance to be the saviour for once this season.

I tend to agree, and he's probably right as he's just missed an absolute sitter with his head. Shame, this is some of the best football we've played all year.