John Boy Saint

I can't wait.........certainly not for the faint hearted!

Whilst that would be a very cunning plan - you would think Ralph would like to avoid too many midweek games to work on the players conditioning for the league.

What would an ex Pro know about football..........you must know the drill on here: if they come out of the Academy they are a steaming pile of crud, and we should have squirted a heap of dosh on a some bloke most have never heard of that "Man U were interested in" = their scout left before Half Time having run a pencil through his name. I thought he did well too, didnt seem fazed by Hazard and his immense ability to make far more experienced players look stupid. Some wag on here mithered about his Cedric'esk cross high across the box but the damn thing went out for a corner to us. Rome wasn't built in a day but given the frequency of games and the disappointments of WH and City, I thought we looked tight, disciplined, and well drilled. Get Derby out of the way and we have a clear week to work on stuff and get climbing out of the mire. Gunn was good, Maya too, I thought Jan was pretty damn good too, shame he was carded after being exposed through faffing about by Vestergaard. We really do need some power up front, Shane Long is like a broken teacup that has been glued together but with one or two bits missing so the ball just leaks through him just like Tea would if poured into the cup. Charlie Austin needs it on a plate, and Ings ain't getting any change out of the game if he ain't getting any viable service of assistance. Hopefully Obafemi mends soon and Gallagher gets to take the chance when it comes.

a £1

Barkley is a master at laying on the floor for nothing

Moss buys a bargain from barkley at B&M bargains

but bloody annoying Chelsea

we are like a swarm of wasps

Cheers I’ll give it a spin at HT

Looking above my stream is runnng in 2018! anyone got a better one

Maya giving that little git Willian a hefty Charlie Horse - nice Ninja strike - oh dear Loftus Cheek.

Not quite - the boy needs taming thats all - he has the ability, just has allsorts going on between his ears that needs sorting.

More of a Wild Horse that has the potential to be an Olympic Dressage winner but only with the right management - maybe Ralph could be the one to reign him in. Puel wasnt with him long enough, Pellegrino clipped his wings, Hughes couldn'y be bothered with him.

Certainly didnt the other week when Obafemi had the ball into the box and Mo stopped running and just watched as Obafemi passed the ball for a 1-2 to the hoardings behind the goal instead of to where he expected Mo to be.

I'll give your bait a little nibble. Players like JWP, who you would still have a hard on for knocking even if he scored a hatrick, are prepared to do the mucky jobs that need doing during a game, that's why they get more time, because doing those jobs should free up time for players like Lemina to do all the razzle dazzle - and thus far Lemina certainly hasn't set the pitch alight aside from the odd bit of fancy footwork. Whether his stomach injury is the reason for him repeatedly not running after the balls to be won on Sunday who knows...... no one in the ground was wiping tears of disappointment from their eyes when he didn't come out for the second half. As Lawrie McMenemy always said a good team is made up of Violinists and Roadsweepers, Lemina fits into the former but we ain't getting the tune out of him we should be by now. A player like Boufal would probably fit in to Ralphs regime as he does have that forward drive and skill at pace and under MoPe he was suddenly prepared to roll up his sleeves and defend well. Just need to get a handle on his mentality - which I would imagine Hughes couldn't be bothered to do which is why he was shipped out on loan.

Think if anything he is more petulant with himself, he seems very articulate as a person, but just watch him when he miss places a pass - not only does he send himself to the naughty corner without any tea but also gives himself the slipper for good measure. In those moments It looks like he knows he has let his team down, but is more disappointed that he has let himself down knowing he can and must do better. Sundays tackle was poor but at the same time a second, or fractions of, earlier and that would have been a yellow if anything at all. The fact the player got straight up to get in PEH's face should have negated the Refs decision to reach for his top pocket.

Think Ralph has nailed his colours to the mast with regard to what he wants up front, if you look at his comments about being disappointed Obafemi is injured and Long not doing as he hoped, pace is top of the criteria. Don't think during his brief cameo in a Saints shirt that Carillo is overly blessed in that department.

You either didn’t see Sunday’s game or watched with your eyes closed. He was subbed at half time because he was bloody awful and half @R$ed with it. And in that regard your statement falls flat on its face. Both JWP and Romeu put in far more effective performances.

Chapel Kingsland corner is the well established family stand, Chapel Itchen corner is the newest, get yourself sat slap bang in the middle of either and you should be fine, with little chance of her hearing too many naughty words - although I would imagine most primary school play grounds could make a dock yard blush!! Having said that the league cup game v the Skates sat in the family stand - Saints were replying to the pompey chimes, I see a little finger pointing towards the pompey fans out of the corner of my eye, I turn to look at my then 9 year old daughter giving it full beans with all the right words!!!! Half of me Absolutely mortified as we were surrounded by the same families every week the other half of me - “good girl”. Its only Cardiff so little chance of that for you.

Just seen that chap Billy Sharp has rattled in another one for the Blades this afternoon.

Been watching Forest v Leeds for a neutral what an entertaining spectacle - Leeds down to 10 men at the end of the first half 1-0 down. Come out second half get it to 1-2 which ignited the game 2-2 - 3-2 - absolutely stunning strike for 4-2 just as quick as you read it here!

Jonathan Moss on the Whistle for this one - so miles behind play - assisting Chelsea on the 50/50s, unless we are running the show and his bias switches (when we played Arsenal Boxing Day few years back, Arsenal got every decision at the start then as we got in front and in control the 50/50s became ours - seen him do that in other games too). Mike Dean will be delighted to have been given Huddersfield v Burnley

As a Junior Saints member it did get you entered into the draw to be a Mascot, when my girls were little and we sat in the Kingsland Chapel family section, we saw a few kids from regular families we saw getting the gig.

It’s the razzle dazzle of the Premier League. if you notice it only happens for dark kick off TV games, so more than likely the lighting company getting a free advert in. There is a YouTube knocking about of the new White Hart Lane running through their disco with their new lights. Certainly ain’t worth getting your knickers in a twist over...........and they do give you fair warning of it happening on the big screen: so the option to skip it in the future. Im just waiting for the fuse to blow - followed by Terry Gilliam Monty Python old lady voice booming out “see! How many times have I told you to stop messing about with that light switch”.

or being positive spot what tweaks he needs to make to make him the better player we hope he could be. Alas we ain’t blessed with an oil rich state sugar daddy and relatives to wheedle endless pots of dosh into the system, allowing us to the money to bin the squad and replace with perfect players. So hopefully Ralph will have a good idea by now as to which players to hone (like Poch did) and which ones to bin. “We’ve been tracking him for 6 years” what waiting for the price to drop? ”coming to Southampton will make me financially secure for the rest of my life” Where’s the motivation, turn up to training for a few hours each day and not have to actually play a game, and still get paid handsomely without any danger of seeing a callous on your hands, or a blister on you foot for that matter. Bit like Alexis Sanchez c£450k a week for 20 hours work