CheshireSaint

I was 9 when KK signed. Days of seemingly endless sunshine. Not a care in the world with a great team, a great kit and Keegan as a Saint. Life as an 9 year old couldn't get any better. The passing of a footballing great and the passing of a golden age. RIP Kevin Keegan. Genuinely gutted.

If the Argentina coach could have picked our subs, he wouldn't have been far different to Tuchel last night. We gifted them that game. He has to go. He put a full back on, into midfield when he had a good midfielder on the bench (Mainoo). He did the same against Norway putting James on in midfield with Mainoo ignored. His squad selection was stupid in the first place. Henderson as a mascot instead of Gibbs White and others. Madueke who I think is terrible at international level, is another. Saka not fit. Their first goal - ball played across the area, exactly where a midfielder would have been had he not been replaced with a defender, sitting on the 6 yard line. To give up possession like that and invite the opposition to the edge of our box was footballing suicide and is not to be expected from any coach with a semblance of football knowledge. To then double down in his aftermatch comments that he has no regrets just shows he is as ignorant as he is stupid. Auf Wiedersehen you bell.

Football is all about momentum. Southgate failed to see what the whole country could see in the Euro final, when Italy began to gain momentum. He sat on his hands and eventually went defensive. Last night was the same. We saw the same against Mexico. Granted, we were down to 10 men at that point so perhaps fair enough. Against Norway, we did the same. Holding on against fooking Norway. Last night was the most cowardly attempt at football management I have ever seen. Tuchel went on to say that we had to defend the amount of crosses coming in. What a d1ck. If he can identify the number of crosses coming in is an issue, then prevent them coming in! It's that simple. Get 5 across the middle and battle there, not on the edge of our 6 yard box. It was a disgrace.

Pointless signing I reckon. As Saints proved, it's no good planning solely on getting out of the League 1, unless you plan on coming straight back down again. Signings ideally have to be good enough as is, with potential or a ceiling to better themselves in the Prem. If successful, Trippier and Jimenez will be another year older than now. Player tend to drop off a cliff rather than marginally deteriorate once past their best. We shall see.

Cherry picking then?

If this is a seperate competition, how can they include examples of other 'spying' during the league campaign to back up their case? If these ought to be included, then surely the playoffs can't be considered separately. It's cherry picking and needs to be called out. If these EFL rule contraventions go back to regular league games, then Wrexham have every right to contest Saints playoff place should be removed and their inclusion. They should have therefore, played Millwall whilst Hull would have played Boro in the semi's. The EFL cannot highlight discrepancies during the league campaign without opening themselves to further claims. I hope Wrexham do challenge the Hull v Boro game and as such, the PL starts in earnest with only 19 teams included and this cock up is firmly placed at the EFL's door and their fag packet handling of the situation and their seeming submission to Gibbo.

This isn't just the potential of 200 million down the swanny. We will lose sponsorship revenue, players that want to play in the PL will now be available at prices far less than we would have been able to command had we been in the PL final withstanding). Season ticket prices / sales will take a hit, along with other things not yet thought of. This could be reaching an effective fine of £300 million+. Ridiculous punishment. We clearly didn't receive an advantage in the first leg v Boro and in the league matches against Oxford and Ipswich, we got 2 points. If a player dives in the box and the subsequent penalty results in a 1-0 win, that's 3 points right there. No fine whatsoever. We did wrong and we should be punished accordingly but potentially £300 million + could kill a club like Southampton. If it were to happen again (don't tell me people don't commit crimes due to severity of sentence), to a club that doesn't make the playoffs, they will need to be punished at least to the severity of this example. If that's Oxford for instance (or probably 80 other clubs in the league), then that is a death sentence. To a club and all local jobs as a result of that club going under. It's a pathetic punishment. Fine Saints 5 million say, with an additional 10 million IF they go up. That's still setting an example, but a workable one at least.

This. It's like that gaudy gold furniture you can get from B&M et al. Change gold for blue (yes blue) and pair with blue shorts as per back in the day. Or black with black shorts.

As a Northern Monkey, can we not just fuck the Northern Monkeys off? Fooking North EAST Monkeys. Bored now.

Would any points deduction only be applicable to the EFL though? If we were to win the final and get promotion, could that carry over? I have my doubts. Nor could a deduction be suspended until such time as we return to the EFL which may not happen for 20 odd years (im optimistic). Would a points deduction be applicable if we lost the final (fair enough) or be time limited to say 5 years should we return to the EFL within that time period. Either way, i'd take that if that were sentence.

Bang on this. Saints can defend by co-operating fully, holding their cards close to their chest whilst maintaining the action was not sanctioned by the club. What will also be in our favour, is any decision makers will know that with promotion into the most lucrative league in the world at stake, Saints will throw everything into an appeal. The obvious thing to do is to punish Saints with something that tells us we have transgressed, but not to the point of denying us access to the Premier League. We would unlikely challenge a fine and Boro couldn't say we got away with it. It's the obvious play. Anything further would also set a precedent where clubs could openly seek out anything deemed nefarious by rival clubs in a bid to remove them from the competition. Slippy slope.

For 4 million, I can't see how we lose. Buy on clause set at 4 million based on not really being effective pre Saints. He is a hotter property right now (1 goal per 2 games) so let's see how he gets on next year and sell him for 6 million if he doesn't excel. Dead easy this Manager lark.

I think my point more relates to the physicality required to play in the American, Turkish, Belgian, Spanish and Dutch leagues wouldn't necessarily be the same as that required in the Championship. I'd think you may be able to get away with 80 / 90% fitness whereas not so in the Championship. If he hasn't been pushed to be in optimal condition, there may be a correlation with fitness and ability.

Whilst you raise a valid point, has he ever been this fit in his career? I've no idea but it could be that he is at the pinnacle of his career fitness, having played previously for Orlando City, Besiktas, Club Brugge, Real Valladolid, RCD Mallorca and Feyenoord. None of which i'd imagine call for fitness levels akin to those required for the Championship. I recall Jordy Clasie playing full 90 mins in Belgium or Holland after blowing out his hoop for Saints (albeit in the Premier) by the 60 minute mark. Perhaps the comparisons between a fitter than ever Larin against a pre Saints Larin, are not completely like for like. Perhaps this is a Larin never seen before....... Worth a punt should we go up anyway. As a consequence of his playing career thus far perhaps, I doubt wages are too much of a sticking point.

If anyone knows of 2 x spares, i'd be very grateful (and surprised)! Can pick up at the ground. TIA.