St Louis

In hindsight it certainly seems it was the wrong decision to let Jose leave when he did, as weve missed his leadership and he has proven he had a few years left in him. I happened to have lunch with some of the directors shortly before he left, and I was told the following... his attitude when he returned as a Euro winner had changed, as he was aware of interest from other clubs (Man Utd being muted at the time) and he was after a larger contract (which I think was fair enough on his part, given his stock had grown, last big contract, etc.) But we had what the club felt was a very decent offer from West Ham on the table, and the biggest factor in allowing him to move was that apparently on the sports science side of things, all of his charts were on the descent and the club felt that taking £8m+ for a 33 year old was the right thing to do with all factors considered. I'd have probably made the same call as the club at the time, but hindsight says otherwise.

How do you know that already? Hojberg has played 50+ games in the Bundesliga and nearly 100 in the Premier League (many as captain). Smallbone has played 158 mins in the Prem!?

I read it the same, I think he meant here is to another 100 premier league appearances. It may well be at Saints, but probably not if a 'bigger' club/offer comes in. Thats how it works sadly.

I thought it was brilliant that Franny Benali tweeted during the game "I wish I was playing Right Back tonight"

He has said he has England ambitions, so whilst I want him to stay safe and without the injury risk, I do worry that after a season like this, if he didn't get a call-up then he might feel he needs a move to a more 'attractive' club at some point to achieve those ambitions. I'm torn!

Not if we need 10 goals to get back in the game!

.... and very dependent on what division we are in! I agree with you though, and personally I think we will be OK, just.

Any other streams? Cant get the 2 links on here to work

Harry was on TalkSport this morning, talking glowingly about Jim.

Sorry, what's embarrassing about that? Am I missing something?

So many comments above about Davis not being up to the job, before that Eric Black was terrible and the reason we were struggling, and now (because he's left) Danny Rohl is the messiah. People are stating this like fact, when in fact its just guessing. How do any of you know that Davis isnt a far better coach than Rohl? is it because he was a keeper? Or is it because we've lost a few games recently since Rohl left!? (I would hazard a guess we'd have lost those games anyway as the squad is sh*te). Speculation and debate are great, thats why we are here on this forum. But why do people insist on coming out with cr*p about the coaching setup not being fit for purpose, without being anywhere near the squad or coaching sessions to be able to afford that opinion. They may be right, but come on let's face it, none of us really know.

How do you know this? Player feedback? Or just pure guesswork?

Yes, agreed. Having those two, plus Bertrand and Cedric as our fullbacks gives us more experience/composure at the back IMHO.

I would also swap Gunn for McCarthy too, looks far more assured to me (definitely for Tues night!) Gunn didnt swap the Man City bench to sit on our bench, so we had to start playing him sooner rather than later. But I feel that was quite harsh on McCarthy who was playing well and getting international recognition.

Mings said himself in his England Press Conference that Saints released him for not being big enough.... "There is not a lot I haven't thought of in terms of what could and couldn't happen. I don't hold any grudges over Southampton. I don't hold any grudges over the decisions they made because if I'm completely honest they were probably justified at the time. *I wasn't quite big enough, I wasn't quite physically developed enough to maybe cope with the demands of the game*. It will be a fitting story if I made my debut at St Mary's and came full circle." Mings added: "I don't think it would feel any more or less special doing it at St Mary's than it would anywhere else." Comes across as a decent lad and well spoken: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49586525

We pulled out of signing Jamie Vardy at the last minute as we werent sure he could make the step up from Fleetwood, and instead opted for Tadanari Lee, as he was an international and could help us tap into the asian markets. Wonder what happened to both of them!?

I would imagine our scouts look at a little more than just the ‘goals scored’ column... The kid needs a chance, clearly has decent attributes. I’m confident he will do OK, a goal will do his confidence the world of good.

Thanks Chaps! So thats 3 to check out then... The Evening Star The Battle of Trafalgar The Prince Albert

This gets my vote too!

Really looking forward to this one! Anybody have plans for where to drink? Always nice to mingle with a few Saints beforehand. I found this online, so we will probably do this before and after.... "Outside Brighton Mainline Station there are a number of excellent pubs'. Phil Kramer recommends the Evening Star, on Surrey Street. It is away fan friendly and only two a minute walk away from the station. It is in the CAMRA good beer guide and serves real Sussex ale and cider" - https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186273-d2264054-Reviews-The_Evening_Star-Brighton_East_Sussex_England.html "After the game the bars at the ground remain open. The North Stand stays open to 8pm on a Saturday. So if you want to avoid the queues at the railway station then stay at the ground for a beer and watch the late kick off game on the television screens. They also display the departing train times on screen too, so you know when to leave"

Good stuff, hope so

Eh, Do you have a cabbage for a brain as well as face!? I work in sales and have no problem at all having the club call to try and sell, they obviously need to. My point was that I was surprised that tactic is needed to put bums on seats for such a big game, and I’ve never known it before. I think others managed to understand the point...

OK, lets be pedantic then. No, he didnt literally beg me, but I think you understood the point. Yes he was just trying to do a job, and Yes he was persistent in trying to sell me the benefits of buying a ticket. My point was that I find this unusual, and a tactic I have never known or heard of at Saints (emails, social media, etc in the past, but not calling fans to try the hard sell), and I presume that's a sign of how we are struggling to sell tickets to this match.

So, for the first time ever in my 30 odd years following Saints, I have just had a phone call from the ticket office asking me if I'd like to buy a Man Utd ticket. I have Membership+ this season (or whatever its called - still hasnt turned up yet anyway!) but I cant make the Man Utd home game as I am away that weekend. I needed to repeat this a few times for the operator to take No as my final answer! Are we really that desperate and struggling to sell tickets that we now need to call fans and literally beg them to come? If we really have sold so few tickets for when the mighty Man Utd come to town, then that tells me the club seriously needs to review the pricing structure. Tickets for the big games used be like gold dust. Have we finally reached tipping point? What next, calling me to ask if I want to buy a Home Shirt? Oh wait... maybe that call will have to wait a while longer. Am I alone or has anyone else had this call?

Agreed! I honestly would replace Gunn, Valery, Vestergaard, Romeu and Ings next week with... McCarthy, Yoshi, Cedric, Hojberg and Boufal. And I’m not just being knee jerk after today, I honestly think the latter 5 are upgrades on what we started with today.