Rivers

So refreshing to enjoy the way an evening feels after claiming an important three points. They caused us some problems, particularly in the earlier parts of the first half, pressing high and looking to impose a physical style on us, and making it difficult to play out the way we like. Not overly helped by an understandably 'rusty' Ibrahima Diallo. The positive effect this had for us though was in forcing us to revert more towards our earlier preference for mixing up our passing. Nathan Tella was very impressive, and a key part in giving us that out ball we've been missing. Raw pace and directness in behind. The ability to turn teams around. It's why Ralph has often encouraged us to play this way, in drawing out the oposition, from simply sitting back and forcing us to break them down. And it is very clever in the way we set them up. Laying "traps" as the bossman calls them. We shift the ball to invite the pressure where we want it, so we can load up Vestergaard like a quarter back, to find the runners in the channels and break at pace. It's slow, sloow, slooow, lure them in, strike. And was great fun to watch earlier in the season during our hot spell. So much easier to do when you have something more like resembling a first team out there to carry out your instructions. What a massive difference KWP makes. Yes, because he is showing himself to be a cracking player for us, but just as much that he is the only player we have right now who can play there naturally. When the team loses that component, the whole system breaks down. For that reason alone, due to our current squad limitations, that pretty much makes him (at least temporarily) our most important player. Sooo good on the ball too, Kyle. So calm under pressure. Just behind Nathan Tella though for me as Man of the Match. Tella gives us an option that can totally change the way we play. Back to the far more exciting Saints we saw a few months back when we were mixing up the gameplans nicely. We never suddenly became a shite side overnight. We were decimated with constant batches of key players out injured, and royally fucked over by abysmal and absurd officiating decisions week after week after week. As players, that is soul destroying, and makes you feel like the deck has been stacked against you. It makes you question the point in busting a gut to put a specific gameplan in place, when you never get the just rewards for your efforts. We grew into that game, and as the second half wore on, you could start to see the confidence being restored, and belief in the way we are set up to play. We just have a very thin squad as far as depth goes, and when all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are not present, particularly the right back one, the structure all falls apart. A relatively comfortable win in the end, that probably should have been three, and certainly could have been more. And a final word for another key difference-maker today. Apart from losing the plot a bit in the last 15 minutes or so, thought the referee Paul Tierney actually had a pretty good game. It cannot be underestimated the difference it makes when you actually get given free kicks for getting the shit kicked out of you all game. Most refs sadly don't seem to bother when it's Saints.

Thanks mate, though nothing is working. It's likely either that I'm a thick cunt, or because I'm currently on a tablet. Though the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Will try on the PC tomorrow to confirm if it's the former or latter. Just for the sake of staying on topic -- if we win on Saturday & go ten points clear -- will Ralph still be shite and need sacking, or will he suddenly be OK again after all?

Ralph needs to (and will) be given time to get something resembling a first team back out there before being judged by the board on current performances. Others have already said what I'd say, but will just reiterate that never in my Saints supporting life have I witnessed such a combination of extended absences of key first team players out through injury and massive relentless clusterfucks of officials / VAR screwing us over week after week, all combining at the same time to skew results against us. Ralph cannot do anything about being robbed of points by defenders diving full length to save goal-bound shots with their arms and VAR saying that's OK as it brushed a leg hair on the way through, linesmen spotting "offsides" that even VAR has to spend ten minutes redrawing the lines to agree with, or make the skate cunt Lee Mason or Mike "Jasper Carrot" Dean into fair and respectable referees when taking charge of our games. He's effectively been working with his hands tied behind his back for a while now, with the state of the squad at his disposal. Sure, he's not beyond criticism, and has to take some responsibility for the lack of fullbacks at the club right now and related selection issues, but let's see how things shape up over the next few winable games. If we lose all of those and are still stuck on 30 points we'll be in the mire, and by that point, I'm sure at board level far more questions will be being asked. As an aside, would greatly appreciate if someone can let me know how to upload an avatar, as I cannot seem to find any options to do so. Thanks.

By far the most frustrating thing about Nathan "Thierry" Redmond, is that somewhere in there are the raw attributes of a decent player. They just only seem to all come together into an acceptable level of performance once every seven games or so, if I'm being generous. We signed him as a relatively young player, as we often do with that inticing elixir of "the potential to improve". He simply hasn't fulfilled it. In both his playing position and his responsibility as a senior pro, he is the kind of player we are looking to, to make things happen. To take a game by the scruff of the neck, to be a creative force, to drive at defences and cause panic. But the only panic he regularly causes is in Saints fans seeing his name is once again on the team sheet. One dire performance after another. What on earth does the guy have to do to get dropped? Every once in a while, he still seems capable of turning it on, albeit in brief flashes. Against Chelsea, credit where it's due, he chipped in with that fantastic through ball assist for Minamino, and on at least one occasion actually beat a man on the outside, made it to the byline, and managed to get the ball into the danger area. Which sums up his biggest issues for me. Absolute inconsistency, and a complete lack of basic footballing intelligence. All too often, whatever is the potential worst choice in any given scenario -- guaranteed he'll take that one. If he was any thicker, he would set. Just not cut out for the level we need unfortunately. But it's not his fault he keeps being selected, despite turning in a succession of abject displays. Needs taking out of the firing line immediately. Tella has earned a chance, and at the end of the day, the way Redmond is playing, he can't do any worse.

I have been one of Fraser's most vitriolic critics over the course of his mostly shambolic career with us. I watch most games with my Dad, and he can't stand Fraser either. But. It's all well and good slating someone when they are genuinely shite, and make no mistake, he surely has been for much of his time here, but it is only fair to dish out the praise too on the rare ocasions it is merited. And we both agreed (having been anticipating some horror shows upon his recent recalls) that he has very clearly been working on his game. So credit where it is due to him. My biggest criticisms of him have consistently been his abysmal "command" of his box (eg, complete lack of it) and woeful distribution. Have to say there were very noticable improvements in these areas during his recent performances. Sure, he's always going to get down for shots like a tree being felled in the forest, due to posessing the agility of an oil tanker -- but really feel he looked so much better with the ball at his feet (by the end of his 2nd recent display I no longer shat myself whenever the ball was played back to him) and noticed a number of occasions where he confidently left the nosebleed territory of his six yard box to either claim or clear a few high balls. Having said all that, I can only hope that he keeps working hard to improve, and putting in some consistent performances.