woodsaint1

Not quite the finished article, so we'll sell him? We can all agree that Adams isnt the best finisher, but at least hes getting himself into them positions. As we all know it took him long enough to get his first goal (some horrible luck too) but since then hes got 8 goals and 4 assists in his last 25 games. Thats not a bad PL return for a second striker. His hold up play and passing can be excellent at times. The link up him and Ings had for a few months was great to watch, so we know whats capable. Also need to remember that hes only 24. I dont see us getting much better for a second striker, we just need to find an adequate replacement for Ings should he go.

Bednarek was pish at RB on saturday. That being said I still prefer him ahead of Stephens

The longer it drags on, the more likely that Ings and Bertrand will both be gone in the summer. Hopefully we can also shift the majority of Lemina, Elyonnoussi, Hoedt (can always hope), Long, Valery, Gunn and Forster for reduced fees. In terms of incomings, which will dependent solely on money made above (Gao wont be investing anymore if hes looking to sell), I think we would need the following - GK - McCarthy is ok but as we've seen his distribution is poor and hes made a few glaring errors this season. He should be a backup as opposed to a number 1. We were linked with Dragowski at Fiorentina before. Would be the sort of GK to improve us. 2x LBs - Rico Henry at Brentford is a fantastic player and should be our aim. I've seen price comparisons with previous Brentford sales - Benrahma, Watkins etc but they were goalscorers who will always attract bigger fees. Brentford could have their hand forced if they miss out on promotion. Would obviously need another as backup as Vokins does not look like the answer. RB - Backup to KWP is a must this window, no fannying around. Still surprised Ralph hasnt ventured into the German or Austrian leagues for signings yet - could hopefully pick up an option there for a low fee or somebody out of contract. Although a different league, West Ham picked up Coufal for 5m so it shows there is bargains out there. AM/No 10 - Would like to see us look at Pereira from WBA once they're relegated. Could be the Tadic style player we've been crying out for. Walcott could be another addition on a free. Cant see us pursuing Minamino if Liverpool are looking upwards of 20m. Tempt them to loan him again, but who knows FW - Will be the most important and likely the difference between us being midtable or relegation candidates should Ings leave. Not sure who we should be looking at but we'll likely need to reinvest the majority of any Ings fee to find a decent replacement. Yes I know we're skint, with an owner wanting to sell, but we can always dream. Who knows, we mIght a new owner by the summer. COYS.

8 points clear and a game in hand on Fulham who have pretty much played all the teams around them twice. They still have City, Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, Villa, Arsenal and Wolves in their last 13 games. Yeah we'll be fine once we reach 38 points

Romeu has never done that at any of the clubs hes played for. Hes not going to change now. Thats why Diallo offers us a great option, hes like a Romeu/JWP hybrid

Two players who have really flattered to deceive, Redmond and Djenepo, were very good today. Cool from Minamino, the more minutes he gets under his belt he will be a great asset. All hail Salisu. He looks impressive. We can throw all the Forren comparisons in the bin now. Vestergaard very good aswell. One negative is that Bednarek is clearly not a RB, positionally he struggled and got done a few times. Honestly think he could with a rest. Seems to have played every game for us for the past 2 years. Sooner Diallo or KWP is back the better

If we cant get another measly 9 points (cant see Fulham getting to 38) then we deserve to go down because that would be less than 3 wins from our last 21 games 😂😂😂. Thats not going to happen no matter how hopeless we can be at times. Hopefully we can be nearly there by the time the FA Cup quarter final comes around

Yes I would seriously bet against it. The same saints squad who have coped with a relegation scrap twice in the last few seasons. Also the same Pompey team who have pissed away promotion the last few seasons - what a bunch of gutless bottlers.

Would personally go with JWP myself. Hes done very well there before (mugging off Zaha being the best memory). Does Ramsay not normally play CB for the B team anyways? Would give Jankewitz another go in the middle of the park until Diallo returns. It cant get any worse than his last game (can it?) and the kid is ready to make amends

100% agree that we've lacked leaders since Fonte and VVD left. Though i do remember the many calls for us to sign Cahill at the time yet Palace have largely struggled the past few seasons. Dont agree that we have a team full of 'losers' or that that really matters. We have a few 'winners' on top of Bertrand - theres Walcott (plenty of FA Cups with Arsenal), Forster (won everything in Scotland with Celtic in both spells), Armstrong (Celtic again) and KWP (won a under 20 world cup). Tbh outside the top 6/7 teams in the league, most teams in the league are full of players who have won bugger all of note (not including Championship titles) and be classified as losers. The likes of Leeds, Burnley, West Ham to name a few. In fact up until Liverpool won the CL and PL, their team was full of players who had won very little (Mane, Salah, Hendo, VVD, TAA, Robertson, Gomez Firmino etc). Their coach had lost a lot of finals too. The team has shown a strong mentality to win a relegation decider against Swansea, then again survive from where Hughes left us, then again after the first 9-0 to have an excellent 2020. Mentally we'll recover again, but yes this could be assisted with bigger personalities (not like Austin) and leaders - not necessarily 'winners'. Ultimately i think it rests with poor recruitment in years past which we're still recovering from. If we have better players then winning and strong mentality takes care of itself. Still think we're two transfer windows away from being a better team across the board - thats with the appropriate investment which has been lacking. We can always hope. One mental area which does need addressed is the capitulation for the two 9-0s. League 2 clubs wouldnt have lost those games by that margin. A combination of a coach who needs to learn/manage how to shut up shop and players just going AWOL is unacceptable - regardless of poor decisions and red cards.

The same people who were righly praising our performances pre-xmas and likely claiming this to the best Saints team they've seen since 15/16....are now saying this is the worst Saints team ever and claiming that we're watching the demise of this club. Only on SWF. Honestly, enjoy your day doing something other than venting fury at your keyboard. Its only a game of football

The same bad team that was top of the league after 12/13 games and into the quarters of the FA Cup? We're in a bad spell, but we're not a bad team

I know we've lost the last 5 in the league, but just seen on motd that we're 19th in the form table for the last 10 games (6 points from 30). We need a win tomorrow to stop the rot

If Wolves were to win then they go above us. For a team having a supposedly poor season, it just shows how close the league is (except for the bottom 3). We're only 4 points ahead of Newcastle who have been absolutely dreadful. We need a win to halt the league slide otherwise we'll be sitting 15/16th in no time. Would be some fall for a team playing really well and sitting top less than 3 months ago. Need to be positive though. 2-1 Saints

Salisu, Djenepo and Redmond out. Vestergaard, Minamino and Adams in.

Take it !!

5 million is taking the piss. I know most clubs are skint right now, but Celtic are exceptionally skint and are lowballing us with that amount. Yes he didnt perform for us in the PL, but we paid 16 million for him, hes done well at Celtic (in league and europe) and will still have two years left on his contract come the summer. Would have some suitors in europe too

This observation is nearly as bad as those suggesting Jankewitz got sent off on purpose. There has been nothing wrong with Ings' body language. Apart from the obvious frustration due to our recent performances, hes still putting the effort in from what I have seen. Bertrand has always just strolled about looking like he doesnt have a care in the world, nothing new there.

Is that the Scottish version? In all seriousness though, Redmond has had his moments for us in previous seasons, but has been very poor for the past year. He should be a squad player for us, nothing more. Problem is we've got injuries to Armstrong and Walcott. Djenepo was probably viewed as the long term replacement but has been pretty dire so hasnt staked his claim. Hopefully with Stu back soon and Minimino's arrival we'll see less of Redmond. He is incredlibly frustrating, because we know what he can do but its not very often that he actually produces it

Would be madness to change formation and go to three at the back based on recent results. The 4222 worked great for us in 2020. It isnt the problem, its players making silly mistakes is the problem. We need to persist with it, but obviously change some personnel. Would like to finally see Salisu. Wouldnt want to risk rushing KWP back, we are paper thin at RB and need him for the remaining league games. McCarthy, Bednarek, Stephens and Redmond can all do one after today's shambles. Takumi cup tied. What has happened to Obafemi? Ings and Adams have been poor recently, but we've nobody to replace them beyond big Dan. Forster Ramsey Salisu Vestergaard Bert Djenepo JWP Romeu Tella Ings Adams

Seen mention of us being in a relegation fight? The drama queens are out in force when we lose as usual. We need about 7 points to guarantee safety which we will get easily. That being said, a season which held a lot of promise, is being pissed away and now looking like the usual 12-16th place finish

Peter Walton on PL Tonight defending Mike Dean's decision. Claimed there was definitely contact (while they repeatedly showed the replay which showed no contact 😂) and he was right to send Bednarek off. Then said the appeals panel apply different criteria and thats why it was rescinded. It was honestly embarassing to watch. Clearly immune to criticising one of his own

Fully understand our need for a steady stream of youth players filtering into the first team (lack of investment forcing our hand), but theres also a worrying stubborness about us promoting youth at all costs and becoming chained to the 'Southampton Way'. I could understand if we were regularly bringing through youth players ready for first team football, signing the best youth talent and competing near the top of the PL2/under 18 PL. But we havent been successful at this for years and alot of other clubs academies have surpassed us, yet you dont see these clubs pushing youth players to the same extent as us. Yes clubs like City, Chelsea etc dont need to with their riches, but it appears we're expecting an awful lot of our academy when a large majority are nowhere near good enough or ready for the PL. It is incredibly difficult to make the step up from PL development to the real thing and its certainly not helped by the relaxed nature of development leagues (would love to see figures of academy graduates across PL clubs making 10+ appearances a season in the past 5 years). PL U23 performances in the Checkatrade Trophy (or whatever its called now) has been poor across the board. Its all well and good learning Ralphs style of play, but theres a huge difference applying it in PL2 and the actual PL. The game is changing. We're seeing some clubs reducing their academy structures and preferring to focus their efforts on smarter recruitment and creating partnerships with other clubs. Our recent poor seasons were determined by poor recruitment, not the lack of youth ingegration. Its disappointing that I cant get excited by any of our young players right now, but I'm wary of previous high expectations placed upon the likes of Slattery, Vokins, Hesketh, Obafemi etc and seeing where they are now. The club need to be realistic that in the current system we can hope for 1 or 2 players breaking into the first team every couple of years, but thats the height of it. Hopefully if we get a new owner in the future, they place less expectation on our academy and recognise that any youth players who do make the grade are a bonus used to supplement sound recruitment.

We need about 7 points to be safe (not a mission the bottom are reaching 36 points) so you would just be wasting your money

Negative goal difference coming in with a bang