Ivan Katalinic's 'tache

Is that a "dare you to sack me" side or what? We're going to get dumped on again aren't we?

Gary Lineker did once. I'd suggest we've been doing that consistently since we beat Liverpool in January...

Hopefully Ralph's booked in to attend...

An utter waste of a semi-final. We'd have been better off letting Bournemouth get there and save ourselves the embarrassment. I imagine they'd have had more of a go than we did. If that's leaving it all out there then the amount of effort it takes to be a professional footballer has diminished massively from my recollections.

I wonder if we'll get to join ESL2. Or 3.

Jeez! How bad are we. It'd be "interesting" to run a poll to see what everyone thinks is our worst half of football this season. It wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't at Old Trafford despite the score...

Wasn't there also an Egyptian centre-back we were linked with - Hany Ramzy - after he did so well at the 1990 World Cup? I seem to recall his name popping up a bit on Clubcall too. Hmmm... the number of names I'm starting to recall alongside posts which are prompting me to remember other linked players suggests I really did waste too much time/money on Clubcall!!

We seem to do better with Scandanavian players, IMO, many of whom these days are now hoovered up by German and other continental European sides. Bringing them in from their own countries before they move to those leagues surely has to be a better bet than scouring South America where we don't know if the player will transition well to a very different style of football. I accept we've had the odd Stig Johansen or Vegard Forren but they didn't really break the bank in terms of transfer fee. I'm thinking Lundekvam, the two Svenssons, Ostenstad, Vestergaard, Hojbjerg, Ostlund and Stensgaard (ok, I'm joking about the last one) but I think you get my point.

Yep, think so. Thank goodness he signed Ali Dia instead...

I remember running up bills to learn the latest on our (probably non-existent) attempts to sign Pavel Kuka or Paulo Alves, often encouraged by tempting Teletext adverts...

They did a retro version of that shirt at the end of last season minus the hummel logo. It sold out quite quickly (I bought one at the time) but stocks were never replenished. I wonder if there will either be a "hummel" retro version in due course or, as you hint, it could be next season's shirt will be based on it.

According to the Athletic, Ralph has made 75 substitutions in the 29 games this season and they have yielded 3 goals and no assists. Only Burnley, Villa and WBA are worse. When we talk about small squads, does this hint at an even stronger reliance on our first XI than the rest of the league? Clearly, this stat can't just be taken at face value because some of those substitutions may have been very late and too late to make any real impact (Diallo had a few 5 minute cameos at first and N'Lundulu gets a customary minute or two when we're desperate) but it does give the impression who we bring on makes no difference or even makes it worse and maybe our squad depth is even weaker than it appears.

Tenuous link to a new striker: Premier League sides monitoring Hatayspor striker Aaron Boupendza (90min.com)

The football under Branfoot was atrocious. But there were genuine talents in the team like Le Tiss and Shearer. There was also passion from others even if it was all long ball. I don't really see either from our current crop. Danny & Prowsey are decent but no more. Armstrong is good too but not top class. Bertrand was great but is in decline & this is KWP's first regular starting role, where he's started well. Beyond that, there's not much. Ralph is doing his best but he's too fixated on one style and seemingly can't or won't adapt during games when things aren't going well. I'm beginning to wonder if that's the cause of the heads going down when things go wrong. The players can see if something's not working but also know we will do nothing to change it up, to try to make a difference. They look knackered and stale all of a sudden and don't have the fighting spirit Branfoot's squad had to at least battle. Branfoot also doesn't have the real embarrassment of 2 9-0 defeats on his record. Ralph doesn't seem to have the tactical or motivational nous to help them out either. Very worrying. We may stay up this season but not next if this continues.

Beaten by a side who showed more urgency & wanted it more. Not acceptable. Not sure if it's Ralph, the players or both. Wouldn't be surprised if the😸same happened next week too.

I just don't get resting our only likely sources of goals - Ings and Minamino - for the most winnable game we have out of Chelsea, Leeds and Everton. Can't work out whether it's totally underestimating Leeds or overestimating the ability of their replacements. Everyone knows our game plan is to get in front and hope to hang on so to not even try and get in front is bizarre. Bednarek is not a right back and not even a competent stand-in one either. We have 4 fit centre backs why not be pragmatic and go to 3 at the back and play with wing backs at least until KWP is fit again. There's no resilience in the side to cope with bad decisions or conceding a goal and it seems to be a cumulative effect from several poor seasons save for the start of the first lockdown. Even in the Redknapp relegation season at least there was some spirit in the side but there's nothing in this lot. If were to slip into the relegation places, I see no evidence there is enough fight to try to get out of it. A thoroughly depressing effort. Again...

I think that's it. I'd love to know what Ralph could do with genuine backing. 5 permanent signings in 5 windows is not backing (I know why!) but, if we did dispense with him, that question would always linger for me. The plan to bring in players from the academy still works if we were one day able to bolster the squad with proper signings rather than just those with potential.

Bang on the money. He's a great player but captain by default. One big consequence of our plan to buy young, promising, saleable players is unless they're already natural leaders, it leads to a dirth of that kind of attribute in the squad. That's when you look to the experience in the squad & I don't see the requisite strength of character in Bertrand, Romeu or even McCarthy to get us going again. Until its addressed, we will continue to cough up defeats from winnable positions. The captain doesn't have to be the best player on the park but he does need to be the drive and inspiration. How many other teams need their manager cajoling and barking out instructions like a madman to try to be effective?

A fine riposte from Saints to the last two games. If we are prioritising the Cup over the league, then it showed. But it also showed we have a very good first XI and a couple of decent options from the bench too when all are fit. We still have Theo and Diallo (who looks extremely promising) plus the on loan Minamino to add back in and things start to look a bit more rosy. Salisu showed some real promise and it was only to be expected that there were moments of rustiness and adjustment to the pace of the English game. I never thought I'd see Fraser Forster attempting to play as a sweeper keeper but clearly some good work has been done on dragging him away from his line. Same again on Sunday chaps (and that includes retaining Fraser in goal!).

Thank goodness we don't have previous for doing this...

Or maybe Kayne Ramsay has got a chance?

Would we not also be leaving ourselves a bit short up front too then, particularly with Theo as additional cover injured?

Really? We've worked our way down to West Ham's reserve full backs?

When asked if he regrets letting Vokins go so soon, Hasenhuttl told HampshireLive: "No, this is not a problem. "We are not so bad in that position as we have Will Ferry as an alternative on the bench if we need to. “It looks like Jannik [Vestergaard] and [Mohammed] Salisu are coming back as soon as one week or two weeks. This is important as we will then have more options in the back four and Kyle-Walker Peters' is not a big injury. He added: "It is getting better defensively and we have more alternatives." It's ok, Will Ferry can cover full-back! That didn't take long to cover off another transfer window fail...

Never too late to bring him home... 😁