Sir Ralph

Absolute garbage. To be fair Downs has worked hard and made some decent plays. BBD has no discernible attribute

BBD can’t press - get rid

What I find worrying about the SR approach is that they have sold players and have now sold Dibling and will probably sell Fernandes. They now have one week to get the replacement players in, particularly attacking players, but clubs know we will be getting desperate and have money with little time. Extra money we negotiated over the past couple of weeks through the dibling and any Fernandes deal could well be spent getting mugged off by the clubs we want to buy off. If the deals for new players start to go south we will be getting even more desperate. It’s not a good place to be. I thought the saying was that good clubs get their business done early.

Hi yes I agree the latter. see article from bbc which confirms the crossing numbers in last year https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8e1xkwd74wo.amp If it’s 1 in 10 net migration as boat people to me that’s concerning, particularly as like you say the figure is probably higher. This is becoming part of the make up of the country.

I was referring to people coming from small boats (which is the issue being discussed) of which there are 50k rather than getting hung up on the definition within any legal technicality. Most people refer to people on small boats as illegal.

The 50k illegal asylum seekers are those arriving on small boats. There isn’t dispute about those figures. The Tories mismanaged and many issues emanate from them but politically Labour will need to do something radical otherwise they will be tarred with the same brush. You can’t judge the current government on its performance for a couple of years. It’s one thing politicians saying they will deal with it but statistics have contradicted this and many people (for good reason) don’t trust politicians generally. The Conservatives now attacking the current government is hypocritical and I believe most rationale people can see that. This is a complex issue and I hope the current government to improve the system but the legal framework makes it difficult. Without more radical change it will continue to be a political issue which is why Reform has a lot of traction with the electorate. My opinion of the reasons it’s become more prominent is the ongoing cumulative impact over the years, people getting annoyed about the ongoing expenditure in a climate where we are asking people to be taxed more (but government spending is being exhausted elsewhere), and the re-election of Trump. The latter has meant that the dialogue around these matters is no longer seen as taboo and people feel more freely to voice their views.

I calculated a net decrease from births and deaths of 16k. There was a net migration increase of 430k (I dont think your figures included leavers from the UK), which leaves a net growth from births and deaths and net migration of circa 415k, which is how I arrived at circa 1 in 10. Do you agree with this? I do agree that this also isnt helpful (but obviously a discourse that needs to be had and addressed robustly) because we need net legal migration to increase. The lack of net legal migration is, I imagine, linked to the Brexit issues.

Does anyone know the total proportion of population growth from illegal asylum seekers in 2024 - I calculated 11% - 1 in 10?

Suspect downing tools probably isn’t an option there if you want to leave with both legs intact.

See his Wiki profile with regards to the Belgium clubs and what I said above about the French clubs. He hasnt won anything but his spells were seen as generally successful as I understand it. You should listen to some of the interviews / podcasts about it to make your own mind up, which is how I arrived at my own conclusions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Still

From Wiki Dia studied business at Northumbria University in Newcastle, graduating in 2001.[16] He received a Master of Business Administration from San Francisco State University in 2003.[1] After finishing his education, Dia worked in the business sector in Qatar. He subsequently underwent ground breaking anti-aging therapy and was last seen masquerading as a 21 year old American playing football in Germany, before recently returning to Southampton under the assumed name of Damion Downs.

Not professing that I followed his career particularly closely and I dont watch French football. However, like most I read about him before he jointed and afterwards. In terms of Lens they went through a fire sale so the conclusion from most was that he did reasonably well, as I understand it. They didnt want him to leave in the end https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/jan/13/will-still-lens-abdukodir-khusanov-manchester-city-english-manager With Reims I understand that he was generally successful but form fell off towards the end. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/nov/11/will-still-reims-next-challenge-psg-europe

Same goal record and Downs has had more minutes. Therefore Ali Dia has a better goals to minutes ratio so arguably he's the better of the two so far....and he didnt cost £7m. In fact, Ali Dia was a bargain in comparison. He might actually get in ahead of some of our other strikers, even now aged 50 or so. Wonder what he's up to? Maybe he will be our deadline day transfer deal.

Agree - Armstrong is not a 9. We have played Ipswich and Stoke (who look like a pretty decent team to be fair), in 2 of our 3 first games. We have Pompey, Hull, what looks like a bad Sheff U side and Watford in four of the next five games. If we dont pull a decent number of points after that then I would start to be more concerned. Ipswich lost to Preston today - they have 2 points from 3 games and we are the two favourites. Everyone needs to give it a beat.

I'm not saying we have been brilliant either. However, the recruitment has been pony so far and that has nothing to do with him. Start judging him after at least 10 games.

People losing the plot after one defeat. The guy has been successful at 4 clubs but you cant expect us to be brilliant straight off. We clearly need 2-3 good attacking players as, other than Robinson, the rest of the forwards look terrible. He needs the window to be finished and then at least give him a few weeks with any new players.

Do you remember the start of that season - losing 3 - 1 to Gillingham and 5 - 0 to Sunderland?

This thread could backfire. I think time has dulled the memory.

DOWNS IS UTTER CRAP

He is not in charge of recruitment and doesnt have any wingers. He is having to play 3 at the back even though he probably doesnt want to. You need to wait for the transfer window to close and at least give him a few weeks. We also got relegated with record points and he is trying to implement a system which is completely contrary to boring Russball

For a big lad he looks very soft

Get Stewart on Downes doesnt make up for his F up

Give the guy a second - flipping heck

Great reffing

Fair play Still has got into them at half time