Jeremy Corbyn

Yeah, good point, it feels very similar to Hungerford in nature. I expect the number of young men who feel isolated and hopeless is probably higher now but gun laws are stricter balancing it out somewhat. There's been a significant rise in Incel driven attacks over the last decade globally (the US and Japan being the obvious examples), some of which could easily be defined as terrorism (far more organised than this).

I agree with you on this. Manchester was terrorism and there was a political aim to cause fear and anguish within "the enemy". The trouble with an incident like Plymouth is it's not really terrorism but has some of the ingredients of terrorism (extreme ideology/brainwashing) whilst lacking others (organisation/politically relevant targets). In some ways this sort of attack is less predictable which makes it scary in it's own way. With the rise of Incel culture and the deepening damage being dished out by social media and forum culture, this sort of random event will likely become more common. Thank god we have strict gun laws.

You're right. But the whole situation, assuming we essentially pull the rug, just smacks of a lack of morality. My only hope is that during the ongoing discussions that America makes it clear that if the Taliban act badly that they'll fuck 'em up.

Yeah, cheers. I guess we've seen that when an army realises they can't compete they just withdraw pretty quickly, can't imagine you'd want to end up suffering defeat deep in Taliban territory.

No, but do you think the US have just come to accept the Taliban were always going to take back over or they were expecting the Afghan government/military to be able to defend more than they have?

What a sad, sad situation. Does anyone understand whether 1. America underestimated the Taliban and thought they'd be ok to withdraw or 2. They knew this was going to happen and didn't care/thought it would happen eventually anyway.

Does anyone know why Ralph doesnt make subs? It backfires constantly so I assume it's some sort of mental block.

Other than those past their prime, any player joining Southampton will hope that they perform well enough to then play for a bigger club. Frankly, it's the players for whom we aren't a stepping stone who are the problem.

The rumour is that Spurs are asking for JWP and are willing to include Dier and or Winks in the deal.

My Spurs supporting mate things we're interested in Eric Dier.

With our new found friendship with Chelsea, we should ask about Trevoh Chalobah. He might be a first teamer for them this year but if we can guarantee him first team football it could be a goer. Edit: Ignore me, just seen MLG's post.

Really annoying neither of ours can kick the ball very well as the top clubs would be jumping on them as a cheap backup.

LB would be nice, but as Tino, KWP and Djenepo can also play there it's not urgent. A CB is urgent, a CDM a must before the end of August.

Problem is we need a defender who has some technical and passing ability, but also quick and a good defender - for <£15M. Which means we have to take a punt.

I think the challenge with Hussenhuttle-ball, is that it's so intense, intricate and attacking that it relies on high levels of confidence across the team to pull it off. When it works, we're brilliant, as we were during 2020, when it doesn't and heads drop it's catastrophic. I've no problem with continuing to play like that, but there has to be a plan B to reverse fortunes when things aren't going well.

I assume if we bomb down the left for example, then Romeu drops and Salisu moves to cover the left, almost in a back 4?

For sure. Not sure how realistic it is though. Could definitely see a cheap loaning of Phil Jones incoming.

Yeah, good point. Salisu is clearly ideal for it though, if we could get a right sided version of him we'd be alright. Still think an upgrade on Romeu would be a big plus.

Haha! Oh dear.

The amount of gammon rage you unleash when you point out that wearing poppies is virtue signalling is quite something.

For balance you'd expect Romeu to drop and make a solid 3 at the back when attacking.

Guy doesn't even have a wiki, pass.

Yep and on the recovery!

It's the combination of his pace, directness and confidence of youth which is so exciting to watch. If he can gain experience without losing any of those, he's going to be an excellent premier league player.

One of the few positives about the second half of last season was seeing how effective Armstrong was in CM. Having a player willing to get the ball in the middle and carry it 20 yards in to opposition territory is hugely effective, however, doesn't really fit with the current 4-2-2-2 (JWP and SA is a soft underbelly). Also, with our average CBs and attacking full backs, a 3-4-3/3-5-2 seems sensible, something like: Forster Stephens Vestegaard Salisu KWP/Tino Perraud Romeu JWP S. Armstrong Adams A. Armstrong AOC would play the S.Armstrong role well. Obviously not going to happen and we'll continue with the 4-2-2-2 forever.