Forester

Gunn Valley, Stephens, Bednarek, Bertrand JWP, PEH Boufal, Redmond Obafemi, Adams Think the front two will not be popular with many, but it worked at at Chelsea and I think Ralph will go for fresh legs to get after Sours. Ings, Long and Moussa to come off the bench at some point with extra time and pens a possibility

Appreciate this may have been tongue in cheek, but nothing about yesterday makes me less confident of a top half finish. We were the better team first half in my opinion (from what I could see from an awful view at the back of the stand, note to others to next get a seat at the back there again!) and so while disappointing result in the end not an unpredictable one. However bigger picture is we are five points off fifth place, and unlike most other sides no longer need to play Liverpool, Leicester, Chelsea, Spurs or Wolves who are going to win more than they lose. So if anything I think it’s genuinely on the table to push for top seven and who knows Europa League slot if the cups get won by the right people. Our next few fixtures should yield plenty of points if we play the way we have been. That is a big if of course, but let’s go for it.

Sorry must have had a brain freeze, omitting Redmond! This but Redmond for Obafemi.

I think Ralph May switch to three at the back for this one. Would always have been an option at Liverpool, but the right back situation may make that an easier decision and play JWP at right wing back. So I think it could be: Alex Stephens, Yoshida, Bednarek JWP, Romeu, PEH, Bertrand Boufal Ings, Obafemi

Think the key question here is, assuming we would have an option to buy in the summer, who is the better bet to replace Cedric from next season? Valery or KWP? I haven’t given up hope that our recent progress may persuade Cedric to sign an extension by the way. But the last we heard he is off and so for me it’s less about this season and more about next.

Good cup tie, still fancy our chances at their place. Shout out for Gunn, both centre backs, Redmond (outstanding today again) and in my opinion Obafemi’s best performance so far. He has obviously been watching how much movement off the ball Long and Ings achieve and this is making him a far better player. I think we are entitled to 15% of the tickets so if we really wanted to we could take 9000 up there!

Or even Koeman!

I think the league table is, if anything, under stating how strong our position is. We have played five teams for the second time, and at the time of playing them all five were in the top half of the table. And we have won four of the five. So, by definition, we have the entire bottom half of the table yet to play and only four teams in the top half. Many of our opponents will have a much tougher run in than us. And so it is by no means stupid to think about finishing in that top seven and, dependent on cup winners, a European spot. We also have only one of our squad injured (possibly two after last night) which again contrasts greatly with many others. We already have more points at this stage than the season under Konkani when we finished sixth. So dare to dream....

Always interested to hear difference in view between those who just watch the highlights versus those at the game. For my part we have been on a great run, Wolves are a good side, and we have played Chelsea, Spurs, Leicester and Wolves now for a second time and won three of the four games. So lets put things in perspective. I thought we were fortunate to be 2-0 up at halftime having been unusually clinical with our finishing and helped by poor defending for our first goal. What I was struck by was the physicality of much of Wolves’ team. I think of them as being technical team mainly Latin players but in fact they are huge units too. I agree that Romeu when we were 2-1 up for Armstrong would have been a good move. Boufal and Moussa combined were not the answers yesterday. For me across 90 mins our two best players were Cedric and Redmond, both of whom have had lots of criticism on here. Conversely, off the back of a string of excellent performances, Bertrand, JWP and Ings were off the pace yesterday.

For anyone criticising the way our club is run, worth pondering that Everton today announced £110 MILLION loss. And they have no more points than us.......!!!!,

Thoroughly enjoyed that. Walking back to the car Leicester fans were very generous with praise of Saints. We really do now need to start looking up not down in the table given form and the fact that the three teams we have now played for the second time this season are Chelsea, Spurs and Leicester. Others will get fewer points than we have against those three. Realistically it will be tough to catch Leicester and the traditional top six, although not impossible in the case of Spurs and Arsenal, but I definitely think that Wolves, Sheff Utd, Palace and Everton are teams we could finish above and we have all four to play yet.

No it’s not just you. I was hoping to see Danso play centre back, which is after all the position we bought him for, but thought he did well at right back and I think sipped in that good cross that led to Smallbone goal too. Thought Vokins did well, as did JWP and Romeu. The rest not so

May be an unusual view but given form and traditional poor value achieved in January market I would not be going out splashing the cash unless an absolute steal is there. Assuming Valery is fit sometime soon we have cover at right back, now we are playing four at the back I think we have enough cover there but would wish to upgrade quality in summer latest. However we have no trusted back up for Bertrand so a promising championship young left back happy to wait his chance would be good but tha does not feel like mega bucks. I am happy with attacking options assuming we don’t sell Adams. Where I think we are short, having sent out Reed and Lemina, is cover for the holding midfield positions. We are two injuries or suspensions away from having just one holding midfielder and that could be a major problem so I would prioritise that area and left back cover. Then more radical work in the summer including the many players out on loan

May be an unusual view but given form and traditional poor value achieved in January market I would not be going out splashing the cash unless an absolute steal is there. Assuming Valery is fit sometime soon we have cover at right back, now we are playing four at the back I think we have enough cover there but would wish to upgrade quality in summer latest. However we have no trusted back up for Bertrand so a promising championship young left back happy to wait his chance would be good but tha does not feel like mega bucks. I am happy with attacking options assuming we don’t sell Adams. Where I think we are short, having sent out Reed and Lemina, is cover for the holding midfield positions. We are two injuries or suspensions away from having just one holding midfielder and that could be a major problem so I would prioritise that area and left back cover. Then more radical work in the summer including the many players out on loan

This is a bit of a stupid post. What it fails to engage in is the issue that is a home game against Palace 48 hours later

Despite recent success in 4-2-2-2 I would not be surprised to see us go to a 5-4-1 for this. There are less than 48 hours between finishing in London and kicking off on saturday and it is unrealistic to imagine you could play two high pressing games with same personnel so its either mass changes or a different ways of playing, sitting in and being hard to beat. As I other shave said Chelsea have found things easier away from home with more space this year. McCarthy Cedric Stephens Yoshida Bednarek Bertrand Romeu Hoj JWP Redmond Adams Rest Armstrong, Ings and Long and have them fresh for Palace

Thoroughly enjoyed that, as I always do on a day out at Villa Park. Our record there is very good over the last decade. Ralph got formation and approach here spot on. Long yesterday was classic Long, failing to score bless him but my god did he run that Villa back line ragged. Think we look a better side with a third proper midfielder in the team in Armstrong as part of a 4222 or 442 however you look at it. Redmond and Djenepo together I don’t think works. Lots of excellent performances today, but main difference in the teams was the work rate and desire from Saints. Good to see our passing game back on track too, mixing moving the ball quickly through the thirds as well as the early long ball behind their lines. That is everyone bar Palace played now, and while this season there is an anomaly because we play Chelsea for the second time in game 19 the table now is more representative of where we are. So while we are not out of the woods yet by a long way, it is equally true that we are only one win away from several teams above us with 20 games left. So I think Ralph can legitimately claim that is is credible to think we could finish four or five points and four or five places higher than last season which I think would be solid progress after two relegation battles.

I can only assume you are one of our youngest fans because this quote is somewhat misreading history! This decade has seen back to back promotions, European football, cup finals and semi finals and no relegation. I fear you may be in for a more rocky road if you watch us for any length of time! Back to today, we have paid the price for missed chances in a match that we were much the better team. Brush ourselves down and move on to Wet Spam

Awful first half with two teams lacking in confidence. Felt like a 4-2-4, a throw back to the Chris Nichol era but without the quality! Credit though to Ralph for his subs who I changed the game. Long gets loads of stick but he injected energy, and Boufal was the best player on the pitch. I have been saying on here that we should reserve judgment until we have played everyone once. With the anomaly of Chelsea being played a second time before we play Palace the minimum target remains 20 points after 20 games. That means eight more from six matches which is very credible.

Negative reaction on here is bizarre. Like most fans actually at the game I really enjoyed that performance which was the most assertive if the season. Usually it’s been poor defending that has cost us, but today it was not being able to finish. 21 shots away at Arsenal says it all. If we play like this on the front foot and create loads of chances we will be fine. Big performances today from Bednarek, Bertrand, JWP, Armstrong, Ings and Obafemi. Really encouraging. Have been saying on here for some time that we will really only know where we stand when we have played everyone once. We now have a run of games against bottom half teams. No need to hit panic button until we have played everyone once.

I think you have summed up the reverse risk perfectly, which is to wait until we have played those games building up to match 20 may leave a replacement too late. It’s now, or not until after Xmas for me.

There is in my opinion a huge difference in the perception of posters on here dependent on whether they only see home matches versus those who travel away. Romeu and JWP are clear examples of players who have performed well on the road, our away form has been fine (wins against Brighton and Sheffield Utd, draw at Wolves and narrow defeats to Spurs and City) since the awful opening day defeat at Burnley. We suit the 352 that we typically play away where the onus in on the home team to attack, and we then use space on the counter attack. But understandably season ticket holders who don’t travel are sick and tired with the home form. We may need a different profile of midfielder for those games, and four at the back would enable more protection against away team counter attacks as we hopefully spend more time camped in their area. Ralph must be seeing this. We have now a run of very winnable home games coming up and I think a final decision should be made on him when we have played all teams once. 20 points after 20 games should be the objective (we play Chelsea a second time before we play Palace). It is easy to say “we won’t get twelve more points by then” but given our fixtures if we can’t then sadly a change of manager is an imperative. I feel that is a fair way of treating Ralph, not being disloyal and firing him now, but equally not leaving him immune from accountability.

Well that first half was as poor an attacking and creative display as we have seen for a long time. Understandably short of confidence and nervous of what reaction they may get from the home crowd after Leicester. However as others have commented it is hard to fathom what Ralph tactically has in his mind now. The attacking patter is deteriorating and I have seen no evidence of ability to coach and drill a back line. Quite frankly, what are they working on midweek on the training ground? Clearly root cause is squad quality, Gao funding etc. However it is not unreasonable to question whether, in difficult circumstances, Ralp is getting a reasonable return on the resources at his disposal. Generous route to take is to say that until we have played everyone once the league table is misleading and once we get past Arsenal we have a nice looking run in to the half way mark where we need to be at 20 points (albeit we play Chelsea bizarrely twice before we play Palace one). Four wins needed. And so pulling the trigger now is premature. However hawkish response is to say that things are getting worse not better, these upcoming fixtures are not to be wasted and that there is evidence that the players and Ralph are moving further apart not closer together. As I have repeatedly posted, until we get back to clean sheets we have no chance as teams outside the top six rarely score three or four goals. If you look at the stats, when we finished top 8 four seasons on the belt the truth is it was primarily due to the goals conceded column. My heart says give Ralph until Xmas, my head says get a replacement in who has proven track record in effectively drilling a defence. Big Sam is an obvious choice, despite the reaction from some fans.

Won’t be many teams that push Man City to the 87th minute at their place. Have been watching Saints home and away for decades and I can’t remember more blocks and interceptions. Great to see and this was main reason they had so few shots on target. Three centre backs all excellent, and I thought JWP, Romeu and Armstrong gave good protection in front of them. If being critical I would have expected us to do a little better when we did clear our lines, and felt front two made it too easy for City to restartanother attack. We won’t come under as much pressure most weeks, and if we defend as well as that we will start to collect clean sheets which for a club like ours is only way to win games consistently. Can’t be expected to score three or four each week to win in Premier League.

First half was a very negative performance, and while I didn’t enjoy watching it any more than everyone else it would be naive to imagine that a 9-0 drubbing dies anything other than move a team back into their shell. However second half was much better, not just the last twenty mins as some have said. Positives were Alex, Danso (defensively, but not great distribution), Stephens and Redmond as sub. When you are under such pressure you need someone to hold the ball up and Long and Boufal struggled to do that.