John Boy Saint

Cobblers!! I bet when £100k+ per week is being flashed under your nose Blackpool looks bloody fantastic!

Apparently the pitchside Refs screen was broken, so the refs sat in the transit in the car park made the ultimate decision.

Liverpool have looked lacklustre against a tidy Bayern

That’s the damning nub of the matter, the reliability of having a first touch of a trampoline again and again, against a nipper who maybe raw but has shown nose for where the goal actually is, lost possession alone Obafemi has to be a serious option over Long to reduce that stat. Or do stick with experience and just continue to rotate Long and Austin for the rest of the season. At least with Obafemi Redmond has someone who can at least keep up with him and offer an option on the break.

So which Southampton Team failed to elected into another league at the end of last season, losing out somewhere along the line to Lewes!!

Amazing how holier than thou Keown has become, he was more than capable of an agricultural tackle or two, and talking about every Chelsea tackle like they are running round the pitch with scythes.

I see Magic Mushrooms are making a comeback! What a weird change of direction in a thread!

I have to say that is one to moisten the eyes on hearing the sad news of. Boyhood hero for many, probably made having to stand between the jumpers up the park for a kick about with your mates a bit more acceptable. I can remember the front page of the paper following the car accident that saw the end of his international career due to the loss of his eye: a shock to the nation. Alas that football team in the sky has just acquired a brilliant Goalie. RIP Sir.

Exactly as a mate who makes substantial amounts betting on Footballcalled ot, having made quite a few quid on Leipzig when Ralph was in charge there. He won’t have even looked at having a punt on this game, if he did it would have been loaded towards Cardiff.

I use to sit with the Landlord of the Junction Pub, we along with just about everyone in the ground groaned as we seemed to make a total right pigs ear of a free kick until Baird ran onto it and unleashed an absolutely unstoppable missile. The other memory of Chris Baird was v Portsmouth in the latter stages of the game, post match WGS said that he had instructed Chris to keep it sensible and tight at the back to see the game out, next thing he knows Chris Baird is sprinting past me with the ball then cross it for the goal to see the game out.

I think the fist clench was more at the Ref who actually for once doing what he should be doing and showed the silly sod the second yellow for dissent towards the ref. In real time Zaha was off the pitch and both were stumbling. As Shearer said with some glee on MOTD "watch Ward Prowse reeling him in", to be honest the way Zaha was throwing himself to the floor and winning fouls for non existent contact, I couldn't give a tinkers cuss about what happened to him. I am more pleased our players have a bit more bite, and not being meek sheep which we have been for many seasons. Re- wind back to the EFL final and the chalked off Gabbi goal, we just accepted the decision, no one in the team demanded the Ref actually go to the Lino to ask who was offside, if that had been the other team they would have been like a pack of rabid animals demanding the Ref to actually go and have a conversation.

Same in the Chapel, JWP was doing his nut, for the umpteenth time it was looking very likely to be punted left into congestion folks got up and were all pointing at JWP with half of Hampshire to run into. Ralph may comment about the fans needing to patient and understand that the players were looking for THE pass, Think when he analyses the video he might spot what the fans were getting worked up about. Dont think the 10 days off did us any good, which was a surprise, on the flip side Palace were well drilled and stuck to their task which also made us look flat. As for the cobblers about Zaha getting battered, on more than one occasion he hit the deck in the opposite direction to travel, he was getting the favour of the ref, and we seemed to stand off him a little as a result afterwards. As for him being sent off, both him and JWP were off balance and off the pitch, think he was more upset at the ref for not blowing in his favour then JWP didn’t bite on his chirp. But I don’t 5h8nk I have ever seen a player given a yellow then seconds later given a second, how many times have you seen Rooney booked then still be effing and blinding towards the ref as he walked away with a face like a smacked backside and get away with it. At the end of the day boys and girls, we have got to the end of January so far unbeaten in the league in 2019, that for Saints is pretty damn remarkable.

This I think is the key, Palace have their tails up and are stringing a few results together and look capable (with the odd wobble in the mix too). Ralph has had the lads for 10 days training, I am guessing they will be like coiled springs for this game. As you say the results of Ralphs training time with them has been impressive. Take the Arsenal game he had the players a week and a few days, sitting in the stadium after 10 minutes into that game against a side unbeaten in 23, my thoughts were, blimey can they keep this up for 90 minutes, by full time my thoughts were how has he managed to change the players and still have the same names on the back of the shirts. That's not getting carried away just noting that things have changed and those on the pitch look hungry for it again. Both Palace and Burnley are teams very capable of poking a stick in the Saints spokes..........but I am eager once more to get in the ground and the game to kick off, the uncertainty of result adds to the fun. And the possibility, and expectancy, of defeat is less than it was before Ralph walked into the building.

You’re right.........flatulence of the grey matter!!

BT Sport trying to whip up a storm in a tea cup. City had a second goal chalked off because the referee, having awarded city a free kick, did what refs have done for years and years; showed KdB the whistle and said wait for the whistle. As the ref trotted away over to position himself on the far side of the penalty box (away from his assistant on the line), KdB just took the free kick and city scored with ease against a static Toon defence obviously waiting for the whistle, it was instantly disallowed. Ref went back to KdB and booked him for basically disobeying the refs instructions. Hargreaves and Jenus thought it was stupid of the ref, having a pop at Graham Poll the guest ref who said the ref was right, those two clowns started carping it was a stupid rule that needs changing.......pillocks! Guardiola showed them up as chumps in his post match interview, asked what he thought about KdB getting booked for taking the free kick early. He just said “what was that, I didn’t notice” voice off screen filled him in on events, and he pretty much said “whatever!”. Sorry lads Liverpool aren’t going to win the league, because KdB chose to ignore the instruction to “wait for my whistle” from the ref on a chilly night on Tyneside.

25 seconds and all Newcastles planning goes down the toilet

OMG its snowing just outside the metropolis of North Hampshire...... will the game go ahead??????!!!!!!?????!!!!:scared:

As was pointed out by Glen in the League 1 minus 10 blog, Valery does have a “I don’t give **** who you are” (probably spent too much time with Jack Stephens] watching the Chelsea and Leicester games, Hazard got minuscule change out of him all night, and respected the fact. Chilwell for Leicester was getting pretty hacked off with him, probably relived when immaturity saw Valery using up all the hot water in the showers first. Unlike others I think Gallagher has got it, he just needs a spin in the team. Hopefully if we keep going as we have of late under Ralph the time will come for him to get a proper go. Obsfemi, like I said elsewhere I think might he be getting a bit of intense conditioning, hence the Hamstring seemingly taking an age to mend.....Think he has got what it takes, with the right polishing he could be a devastating player in the new set up.

Mrs JBS was watching their game v Spurs, mid way through the second as I came to have a look at what was going on Zaha had just failed to make a pass. She pipes up “I can’t see what all the fuss with him is about” “he has telegraphed just about everything he has done this afternoon”.

How's your stand up career going?!!!

Think that was no home game for a month or so due to the West Ham Home and away being switched due to Athletics at the taxi payer arena. Best get the garden tools sharpened and golf clubs polished to make good use of the likely spare time.

Didn’t the money come from a loan against his own wealth to buy the 80%, sourced in Macau and channelled via Hong Kong to avoid the block the Chinese government put on rich Chinese businessmen to stop so much money vanishing overseas and not invested in China. The country that was allowing these guys to play on a long leash, as having a third party make money to re-invest in the state was far cheaper and effective than the state doing it themselves. Money and status does not buy you a get out of jail card in China like it can elsewhere (actually its quite good PR to nick one or two now and again), the state never has its finger far away from the leash retract button all the time. Sourcing a loan in Macau seems colourful in itself, from a part government owned bank he might be getting a little.tug on his leash. “Mr Gao” “about this outstanding loan” “we would like to see a meaningful amount repaid”. The Chinese hate to lose face, owning a foreign business the face loss here is greater than losing it at home as that’s reflected on the state. He is of an age to consider retirement, so cashing in a few chips is neither here nor there. Of course he could be pulling a Man City on FFP, by purchasing Platinum season ticket for himself, and pre match on Wednesday night, he unveils the return of Gareth Bale!!

Funny Old Game. That’ll put some welcome penny’s in their coffers. Watched the Bury v Lincoln game tonight - they were saying that when Lincoln got to the quarter finals a few years back the money they made from going that far paid for an impressive new training ground.

Was that Optica the bug eyed funny looking thing built at Sarum?

I have a funny feeling with Obafemis protracted recovery, that following Ralphs comments about him needing to be more professional about himself, that he is going through a conditioning process behind closed doors. Anyone who has watched him knows he has impressive pace, Ralph also seems very keen having him in the team because of it. So as well as well as making sure the hamstring is cured they are conditioning him to make sure it doesn't go again, and knock a few cheeky kilos off at the same time..........probably as a result of Ralphs back creaking when picking him up at Huddersfield. Just a thought, not a statement of fact. Think Charlie Austin covered the £4m outlay with that winning goal up at Old Trafford