CamSaint

Way back clubs used to play both on Christmas Day and Boxing Day and they were often the reverse fixtures so that both clubs had equal travel requirements. As an example, on Christmas Day in 1913 Arsenal travelled up to Bradford, winning 3-2 and then beat them again 2-0 at Highbury on Boxing Day. Generally morning kick-offs in those days where it was deemed socially acceptable for men to go to the football and pub on Christmas morning/lunchtime before returning home to consume the Christmas dinner their wives had been cooking for them. Christmas Day 1957 was the last with a full league programme. In 1958 there were only three First Division matches played on December 25, and in 1959 just one. The last English League match played on Christmas Day was Blackpool versus Blackburn in 1965. This info comes from https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/football-christmas-day-match-history-victorian-tradition which highlights just how different football was back in the day!

Interesting comments from RM on McCarthy in this morning's press conference: 'On Aaron Ramsdale and Alex McCarthy: "I think it will be massive, I some of the guys will be surprised that he is coming but I think it is big. I think it will give everyone a lift. There is one guy who won't be happy about it which is Alex [McCarthy] and Alex has been amazing for us, if he hadn't have come into the team and did what he did we wouldn't have been promoted. "Without Alex we are not in the Premier League. I will be forever grateful to Alex. he has been great this season, people will talk about the mistake at Newcastle but he was brilliant on Saturday. It will be a big call if we get Aaron on time for tomorrow's game, so I feel for Alex. While I am really happy Aaron is coming in and excited about the group we have, I really feel for Alex. It is a really tough part of football. Someone is always going to be upset and unhappy. I have no doubt Alex will be a brilliant teammate. "If Aaron comes in the building, he knows we have someone we really trust breathing down his neck."' Although that reinforces many people's view on whether we would have got promoted had Bazunu not been injured, it is pretty much the first time RM has ever publicly implied any criticism of Bazunu.

I have been led to believe that Bromley are the only team in the top 4 divisions to lie in a constituency that has a Conservative MP!

As it says in your link: "With the exception of Welsh clubs competing in the competitions listed under Rule V.6.2, loans from a club in membership of another National Association do not count towards the above quotas.", so loans from overseas are allowed in addition to 2 from PL clubs.

We've seen with both AA and Che that being prolific in the Championship doesn't necessarily translate into success in the Premier League. AA in particular struggled at the highest level but was great again when we dropped back to the Championship. Most on here are not very positive about his prospects for this season now we're back in the top flight. Maybe Szmodics could cut it in the PL, but we would be once again taking a big risk on a player unproven at this level when everyone seems (quite rightly) to be demanding a striker who can guarantee PL goals. At least by signing BBD we've got someone who already has (albeit a very short) PL track record.

A few years ago Johnstone's stock was pretty high - I think he made a number of England squads? Like you, I'm surprised at how little he's played for Palace, as he seemed to be quite sought after when he first went there. So I can only assume that he's struggled for form in recent times, and although he might be available for a reasonable fee, I wonder whether he would be a bigger risk than Ramsdale? Of course I have no idea whether there is any possibility of Saints being able to cobble together a realistic deal for Ramsdale so we may well have to set our sights lower, and then Johnstone could well be worth considering. Like most on here, I don't have a lot of faith in Saints GK recruitment!

I fully understand the love-in with regards to Ramsdale, as he's clearly significantly better than anyone we currently have, but we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that he's been relegated from the PL twice already - once with Sheffield United and once with Bournemouth!

From the PL website: '- Premier League clubs may not register more than two players on loan at any one time.' 'With the exception of Welsh clubs competing in the competitions listed under Rule V.6.2, loans from a club in membership of another National Association do not count towards the above quotas.' So in this case, as the BBD loan would come from a different country it wouldn't be counted.

Fresh from a medical at Forest?😱

We've had 'Liverhampton' - maybe there should be 'South Ham United' as well. Don't forget Antonio is there as well, and possibly KWP soon, if the rumours are to be believed...

I see that Ollie Wright has gone on a season-long loan to Yeovil. So at the moment it seems that with Baz injured we only have two senior keepers in AM & Lumley. Would we really be prepared to take a risk like that? If we need 3 senior keepers, my guess is that while we'd all like to see a new 'No.1' we will just bring in another back-up on a one or two year contract. The contract extension for Lumley was, I think, for only one season, so this time next year we could get rid of him and would also know how Baz has recovered from his injury, so I think that might be the time the keepers get a major overhaul. We'll also know if we're still in the PL, of course!

Assistant Academy Director Tash Patel, and Under-21s Head Coach Adam Asghar both left the club earlier this month https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/news/article/academy-duo-to-depart-the-club. Perhaps he is being lined up for a role there, especially as he has been helping out with theEngland U-21s?

KWP is a great example of that.

If either they don't fancy giving AM an extension, or he doesn't want to accept it, my guess is that they'll bring someone in on loan for a year while Bazunu recovers. Who that someone is will depend on which division we're in, I guess.

Presumably we can't overtly field a weakened team (unless we have suddenly acquired some 'injuries' in training yesterday) as Leeds & Ipswich would no doubt complain to the league about it. I have no idea if the League can penalise us in any way if we did so?

Its not inconceivable that Norwich could overtake WBA and claim 5th place...........

Out of interest, where do we think AA would go if we don't get promoted? Would an EPL side come in for him on the back of 20+ goals for us this year despite his previous poor record in the PL? Surely we wouldn't sell him to a Championship rival? Or would we........?

And yet we've scored the same number of goals (74) as Leicester having played one less match than them (the two of us are the league's joint second top scorers). We've also scored 2 more goals than Leeds having played 2 games less. Only Ipswich (81) have scored more than us and they have played 2 more matches. Even in our last Championship promotion season after 37 games we had only scored 68 goals (6 goals less than currently) despite having Ricky Lambert Goal Machine supplemented by Billy Sharp. There is no question that we have often been profligate in front of goal this season and in some games it has cost us (like yesterday), but the number of chances created combined with the number of goals we have actually scored indicates a certain level of attacking prowess. It is also interesting that at this stage in our last Championship season we had lost the same number of games as this season and drawn one more than this season so had 72 points compared to the current 74. Just as well there weren't other teams performing to the same level as Ipswich, Leeds & Leicester are this season!

He played the first 45 minutes for the U-21s on Friday.

Unfortunately for Dibling and the other youngsters, I can't see any of them even making the bench if everyone stays fit and we have no suspensions. Perhaps they might for the Liverpool game if RM decides he doesn't want to really go for it

I believe that Bree is playing for the U-21s on Friday.

If/when everybody is fit and available you have Bree, Sulemana & Aribo to add to the squad. I guess Dibling and Meghoma drop out but it still leaves us with 1 extra so someone will have to drop out!

I think this has been very astute business by the club. The two new additions do not have to uproot their families or spend time away from them and both know some of our players already, so that should make integration into the squad a lot easier on the personal level. Of course both will have to adapt to our style of play (and Rothwell has already shown that might take a bit of time), but we have kept all of our first choice players and have Sulemana & Edozie back in training, so we may not need them to make an instant impact. It will be interesting to see how long it takes before Brooks becomes a first team starter.

RM suggested in one of the press conferences earlier this month that both Bree & Edozie could be fit again by the end of January. If they are, I guess it is possible one or both of them could at least be in the squad for Watford even if neither starts. Need to check out the training pictures during the week!

From the highlights reel it seems that one of Rothwell's strengths is making driving runs. It certainly seems that we are also looking to add a right-sided attacker. Maybe the plan is to try to compensate for losing KWP's attacking prowess if he is sold?