Forester

Disappointing to see the guy written off by so many. I was expecting Dyche or Rafa but am prepared to accept that club see potential in him, and he certainly has done wonders at Luton. Like Howe at Burnley, he didn’t work our at Stoke, but most managers have a disappointment on their CV. Lets get behind him

What we don’t know is whether there is a contractual clause that says “we can fire you on the cheap if you are in bottom three after x games” or at the World Cup break etc. This may have been agreed in the summer

The one thing that has been good in recent weeks is the defending, with just three conceded in four games. So why make two unforced changes in the back four? Again clear cut chances wasted. Change of manager, buy or loan two (not one) striker, recall Tella in addition to the two and farm out Mara on loan. More of the same and we are going down otherwise

Been saying since end of last season, Rafa and Dyche both immediately available…..

Spot on

Losing to Wolves, Villa, Everton and Palace spells bad news. Barring a huge surprise we will be in bottom three for World Cup break. The only positive of the season is that we have definitely improved our defensive game. But we increasingly look like we are two strikers short of staying up. I would send Mara out on loan in January, as he currently looks well short of Premier League standard, reinvest his wages and bring two if not three attacking players in. This will be very expensive, but less so than relegation

Firstly a great effort from the Saints fans who created a good atmosphere. Easy to forget how much this game means to Bournemouth fans which was evident around the stadium. Very enjoyable walk back to the car! Our defending is definitely an upgrade on last season and encouraging to see a clean sheet without Gavin having too much to do. DCC did well, and thought that in front of him AMN gets better each game. Four points a tidy return so far this week. Still feel we need to eek out five or six points before World Cup

I think there have been some good signings these last two seasons, and we are missing two of them through injury. However there are several players who in my opinion have been shown to have been good enough before who are under performing. KWP, Perraud, JWP, Stuart Armstrong and Adams are all horribly out of form and performances, not just results are dire. Ralph is paid millions to manage the team, he has now under performed for a lengthy period. It’s time for a new approach

Just back, another anaemic display and I have read that we touched the ball ONCE in their penalty area. We are going down unless there is a managerial change. End of.

As a very loyal supporter of managers (I was opposed to firing Puel) I am clear that a change is needed, and switched to that view after the Brentford game last season. The record during 2022 is truly appalling, the style of play and performance levels are going backwards not forwards and we need to pull the trigger early enough to impact on this season. We only have two players injured, which is probably a better situation than most clubs in the division. To my mind this is the perfect week to do it. If we can’t get a new manager in for Saturday, install a caretaker for City which is a free hit match anyway. Some won’t like this, but I am utterly convinced that both Dyche and Benitez, who are both available and achievable, would improve us. The players look to me like they have switched off Ralph.

Awful first half, more of the clueless stuff we saw at Villa. We were better after the subs. Adams is not a natural goal scorer, but works hard and is creative. Needs genuine striker alongside him. Absolute madness to have made two changes to the back line that has averaged conceding just one goal per game in recent times. At least we would have earned a point today had we kept that going.

I think we are approaching the lethal phase for Ralph, namely the next four games. Clearly no one expects anything at City, albeit it happened last year, but around that match we have Everton, Wet Spam and Bournemouth. I think we need to win two of those games, and if we do will be on at least 13 points from 11 games, which is “keeping your head above water” territory. If we don’t, with games against Arsenal and Liverpool to come before the World Cup I think the owners will pull the trigger. It’s a truism that owners who give you money to spend are normally more demanding than those who don’t. I cannot imagine they will accept going into the World Cup on less than a point per game and it is very obviously the natural time to get a new boss in.

Left the ground feeling frustrated and hard done by because of result but still overall positive about the season (just as I did after Man Utd game). Reasons to be cheerful: - we are now averaging one goal conceded from last four PL games. This is the killer stat for me, because occasionally you will get done 1-0, but across next 32 games we will win more than we lose if we carry on like that - core to the above is we look like a much more cohesive and solid back line. The two centre backs really look like a pairing, a la Fonte/Toby or Fonte/VVD. And I thought Perraud looked back up to speed and should last 90 against Brentford - very impressive sub impact from Stuart, AMN and Sam. - I think for Saturday we will see AMN in for Diallo and Stuart in for Moi I think the Adams fiasco we have to put down as one of those days. If he gets into those positions ten times he is going to score nine times. When I looked at our fixture list I feared we may be on no more than three points at this stage, so still not unhappy with start. Although, bizarrely, if you do the tick back to last season identical fixtures we also took seven points from them!

Yep good choice. Ralph said today DCC won’t likely be available as work permit delay

I think that, in a nutshell, is the strategy which is what makes it commercially viable

Conceding no more than one goal = winning more than you lose! Needs to be tattooed on the inside of eye lids. What a difference a solid defensive pairing makes.

To say Tadic was poor for two seasons is bonkers

I felt far better leaving the ground yesterday than I did with a point against Leeds. As others have said, a brilliant finish from a hugely expensive player was the only difference. If we play that way most weeks we will pick up points. The new signings all bring something albeit we will have to be patient with some ups and downs. The biggest plus for me, having been banging on about the need to average conceding one goal per game if we are going to get anywhere, is that we actually look capable of doing that. For me that is the critical stat, conceding two per game will send us down. The two centre backs look like they enjoy playing with each other. And as a big critic of Moussa I have to say fair play to the lad, he really has worked hard to help out the team in an unfamiliar position.

If we go two goals behind I fear things will get toxic in the stadium. Looks like game will be played with temperature around 33 degrees in the shade, possibly hottest ever match at St Mary’s. Bizarrely it hit 30 degrees on October 1st when we played Watford in championship if anyone remembers that. Hottest October day on record!

Yes. Twice finished in top ten, including 7th and Europe slot, with inferior resources

I am sorry but while this sounds fun it’s just plain wrong. Go look at our four top eight finishes and read the table. We conceded only 1 to 1.2 goals per game and won lots of 1-0s. Reality is everyone outside the big six needs a solid defense to finish in top half

I had us down for relegation prior to the transfer window given the end to last season. I am feeling a little bit more optimistic given the new additions, albeit am sure they will take time to show up at this level. However I think there are two big moments in the season that will define us: - what happens, given end to last season, if we make the expected poor start? Do the club fire Ralph and if so who do they bring in? Dyche, Howe (if sacked by then) or Rafa could in my opinion all improve us. - on the upside, I think the long break for World Cup could really suit us. We saw that in the “COVID season” where we were able to “go again” with energy. So notwithstanding the uncertainty on the first of these two points I think we will survive but it will always feel like we are in a relegation season, so somewhere between 14th and 17th. Two more signings would give me more confidence, namely another striker and a loan full back until Tino is fit

I would be sorry to see Adams go, but assuming we got a good price and lined up replacement it would be utterly criminal to sell him before we play them at home in two weeks time

Source?

Assuming this one gets over the line I am greedy and still want one more striker and another centre back, with a loan option for full back until Tino is fit. Very soon we are going to need to start selling some players quickly too!