InvictaSaint

Link: http://www.africatopsports.com/2017/08/06/mario-lemina-gabonais-attendu-a-stoke-city-lundi/

Last post on the Oatcake thread about Lemina quoting an RMC source saying that the player is expected for a medical at Stoke on Monday! Will try and post the link in a mo.....

Reading the 'Bleacher report' on MP in the programme yesterday the author talked about how his teams try to reduce space between the lines when defending so that opposition is channeled into cul-de-sacs and the threat dies out which I certainly saw evidence of yesterday. The same report mentions that his teams press high but not all the time, which again as others have said was a feature yesterday. Clearly, implementing his ideas and techniques fully will take MP time but yesterday's performance gave me a very positive feeling about what is to come. Worth reading the extended interview with MP too if you have the programme; he is certainly a very humble man who wants to challenge himself as much as others. I also liked the references to 'imagination' particularly when MP mentioned what Benitez did for Liverpool in the Champions League final to turn a 3-0 half time deficit into an eventual win. Again, I think we have somebody who is going to be tactically adept, meticulous in his preparation and who won't be afraid to change things if he needs to. Bodes well.

Am likely to be over there at that time, and would happily meet up with any local Saints who might be able to point me in the right direction in terms of places to see/visit. Happy to take orders for shirts /souvenirs etc. which I can bring over with me.

Last 5 minutes or so have been a lot better for Saints. Some good quick passing and looking to get the ball into dangerous areas.

On the bench according to the team sheet at the top of this thread......

My feeling is that it is a little less tailored or snug this year. I got XL last year but L this year is fine. Hope that helps.

Lol [emoji23][emoji23]

Thanks one and all for the advice. I think it was - as Stoozer suggested - because I wasn't logged in. I can see clearly now, as the song goes! Cheers.

Can anybody post these images in a format that means I can see them? Or let me know how to make these ones visible? Whether on Tapatalk on my 'phone or on the forum on my laptop I only get these square icons with what appears to be a tree in them. Any help / advice gratefully received!

Gabbi not even on bench.....injured?

Yes because apparently it "feels" like a pen according to the studio 'experts'......

The whole 40 points thing is a virtual (if not complete) myth. Only a couple of times in premier league history has 40 points been required to stay up. West Ham famously went down on 42 but that was very much the exception. Statistically over the last 25 years or so, 37 points gives about a 58% likelihood of staying up (part of a very good Telegraph article from 2015 which is worth a read). We are 3 points off that. 39 points gives a 81% likelihood of staying up. We are 5 points off that total. As another poster mentioned our getting relegated would require a whole host of clubs below us to all go on a fabulous run in the last 8 games which simply isn't going to happen. Anyway... let's focus on tonight and, I hope, 3 points for Saints.

Made me laugh...

[emoji28][emoji28]

Good stuff!

How was crowd reaction at the end?

1-3 FFS

Redmond on for J-Rod.

Not sure to be honest - a number have mentioned the ex-Juve player whose name escapes me - but it does at least give a little reassurance that they haven't yet stopped looking, especially given the VVD news.

It's interesting that Puel also says quite clearly in the presser that they may also look at CB solutions outside the squad - "I hope also we can find other solution(s) of course outside the squad to give more opportunities, more solutions" - which I can only take to mean free agents....

Scorer?

Bored. Beyond. Belief.

What a surprise...

Ker-ching! [emoji4]