ElTrinidad

Must be strange to see the famed Caleta-Carr in a Saints shirt after all these years of forum hype... For those familiar with him, has he come here to play back up to Sali and ABK or is he good enough to work his way into one of their spots? I guess he could also add a more attractive prospect in a back 3 which could be an option going forward in Ralph’s plans. Im still a bit sore about Gakpo but this window has been phenomenal; the squad is 100% stronger than last year (okay, maybe apart from ST) AND achieved without having to sell any of our star players, lovely stuff.

So his team beats Villa, then loses to two of the strongest teams in the world and a VERY strong arsenal side and he gets the sack?! Sounds crazy to me even with the horrendous goal difference. I can't really imagine any manager in the world could have done much better with the squad Parker had. Imagine he had a decent enough pay off, and with last season in mind I'd imagine a plethora of Champo clubs will be very interested, but still cant help but feel for the fella.

The only thing convincing me this MAY happen is the fact it’s been said that Ankersen is trying to do this deal personally. If Sports Republic are serious about having a multi club model to contend with RB and the likes then a little extra quality may be needed to push us up the table and make us a more attractive proposition for the best youngsters in the world. Who knows what will happen…

Somewhat of a nice change to see us finishing games strongly instead of starting well and capitulating at the end. Almost seems that we were happy to let Leicester tire themselves out in the first 45 and then put them to the sword after fresh legs were introduced in the 2nd half. I do hope that us only coming to life after going a goal down doesn't become a nasty habit though...

GET IN! ADAMS 1-1

F*ck me, Salisu loves giving away free kicks around the box doesnt he.

Saints not playing bad, just need to get their heads up and pick some simple passes when playing out from the back. Every time we win possesion back in our own half, within 2/3 passes the ball is back at a Leicester player's feet. If we can sort this out we'll be in with a decent chance of scoring some goals. Mara unlucky not to have a goal already, just didnt time his run correctly but could easily be 1-0. Dewsbury-Hall should be in the book for what the commentator lauded as a "Fantastic challenge" but he didnt get any of the ball. For all their possesion Leicester havent at all looked like scoring, but lets hope we dont fall asleep for 10 minutes after the break and start shipping goals. Definitely looks to be winnable, If we can get a goal things might start getting a bit restless ammongst the leicester supporters.

Maybe we could offer Bednarek to Rodgers to help sweeten the deal for Iheanacho, we all know he gets aroused at the prospect of signing one of our players… Also, If Leicester or United end up with McCarthy it would make this good transfer window a great one - not only would it give us a tidy cash injection to reinvest, but we’ll be making our rivals worse off in the process.

I've been calling for a back 4 all pre season, but in hindsight there may be some method in Ralph's madness. Everyone can see that in his 4 years here there have been sparks of brilliance, but its plain to see that we've definitely lacked a "plan b" in matches, and as a result dropped a horrendous ammount of points from winning positions; I'd go as far to say this has been one of the strongest criticisms during Ralph's tenure, mainly because it rings true. With this back 5, hes definitely at least trying to remedy this issue. Granted, it looks like we're a long way off being able to implement it successfully, be it due to squad limitations or maybe even the because players we do have still need to learn it thoroughly, but (and hear me out here lads) if we could eventually pull it off, it would be an undenialbly huge advantage for us and drive us up the table. It seems that Ralph is trying his absolutely hardest to make it work for us. Obviously so far, it hasnt, and maybe it never will, but MAYBE with this young tallented squad, given the time it could work, and if it did, we'd be in a much better place. Not in any way defending performances we've shown using this system so far, I just cant justify hounding Ralph for trying to improve our game management. I certainly dont think hes clueless, but I understand why many people percieve him to be (escpecially with some of his individual player selections)

Great last 20! As we all knew, back 4 is the way to go and this has got to be irrefutable evidence for Ralph to start with that next week. We were unlucky to take 3 points with Mara smacking an absolute zinger late on which was well saved. Ralph did probably kill the game by replacing Djenepo (who ended the game very well) with Stephens at the end, but plenty of positives to take. Lavia phenominal again, Aribo and ABK look to be real tallents and Mara looks to have something about him, almost similar to broja in his early days here last season. Keep the positivity lads, too much toxic nonsense online which can make it seem like we're relagation fodder after one game, but far from it.

Praying for a back 4 today. 3 man midfield could be the answer to some of our defensive woes rather than the extra centre back, but honestly I’d be happy with a 4222 (If we’re fit enough to press in the heat that is) If the fans get well behind the boys today and Ralph gets it it right tactically, there’s no reason we can’t win, however Leeds seem to be turning into a solid team under Marsch and if we don’t win it won’t be the end of the world as some might make it seem to be. I’ll go 3-2 saints, Aribo to score

Yet to see Mara break a sweat. Is pace a big part of his game? If so he’s certainly taking this friendly very casually so far. Also not quite getting my head round Stuart Armstrong playing as a striker. Not awful but so far pretty uninspiring, Djenepo looking good again and a some very nice moments from Aribo but we definitely need to up the intensity. Villarreal look set on playing out from the back and have already had a couple of shaky moments in doing so, hopefully we can capitalise on it 2nd half and pull it around.

I know his track record of choosing the fans’ perceived best 11 is at best questionable; but one would hope that as Fraser’s replacement, Bazanu will slot into the number 1 position. We’ll see how the rest of the pre season fixtures pan out, but hopefully Gavin gives him no reason to put McCarthy between the sticks at Tottenham. More than anything I’m just hoping if Bazza does make a cock up or two in his first few games that the fans don’t jump on his back and squash his confidence, turning him into another up and coming talent that flops at saints. In the right environment he looks like he could turn out to be a real talent.

Thought djenepo looked quite impressive going forward 1st half, although he was up against a Youth player. Still needs to refine his decision making in final 3rd but is hard to do with so little game time. Tella up top alone did nothing for me and seems far from his best position, and Aribo seemed quiet. A win is always nice, but let’s not forget that this game is nothing more than a fitness exercise for the squad. Still a big chunk of games between now and Spurs so let’s not throw our toys out of the Pram just yet, and let’s wait to see what Ralph and the new coaching team can do as they refine style of play and find a starting 11 over the next week or so.

SKY SPORTS NEWS VIDEO: JOE ARIBO’S BEST RANGERS GOALS Could be exciting lads! Last few players we’ve signed from Celtic have been some of our best (IMO) so here’s hoping we’ve unearthed another SPL gem. Hoping these new faces are able to motivate some of our current squad to push themselves and fight for their places as well as giving us some much needed new options. UP THE SAINTS!

May be completely delusional but I think Bale could potentially be a decent acquisition for us this summer… Not sure if we could get it done but he’s available on a free and the papers seem to be linking him to the likes of Cardiff and Forrest so his current wage demands may night not be too bad! Can cover set pieces if Prowsey gets injured or (god forbid) leaves, and with his pace inevitably diminishing with age, he may be a good shout at left back! Good bit of experience for the squad and is another one of those senior players than can show a clear pathway to the youngsters we’re bringing in from other teams/ those we’re convincing to stay in our academy. Again, I know nothing about the workings of saints’ financial situation/ our transfer policy but would be a shame to see him go to another team in a similar position to us!

Interesting! Liverpool do show we could still utilise the high press without relying on ralph’s trusty 4222. Tino in the Mane role sounds crazy, but as you say Bale started as a fullback with us so who am I say it wouldn’t work 👍

I know the Nice graphics might’ve got you slightly distracted there mate, but if you took the time to read the “words” I included in the post you might have some answers to some of your questions 😉 As I stated It’s not a back 5, it’s a 352, 3 centre backs making up the defensive line, Tino and Djenepo as wide midfielders, reverting to wingbacks when needed. As for “is Lyanco anywhere near starting?” I have no clue. Nobody does; except Mr Hasenhuttl of course. If you’ll refer to my post you’ll see I said his inclusion in the team is dependent on him coming good and only time will tell on that front, however from what I’ve heard, his main attribute are flair and ability to ping long balls forward, preferably for Adams to win and hold up. I also believe he is our only left sided centre back aside from Salisu hence his inclusion over Stephens and Bednarek (who I’m still a fan of despite their exclusion from this line-up) Besides, this is only a bit of fun fella, not a job interview for Ralph’s replacement, I suggest you chill out and use your imagination 😇

As most users on this forum seem to know everything about managing a premier league football team, I thought it might be quite nice to create a thread where people can experiment with their ideal saints starting line-ups/ different formations etc! As always, constructive feedback is always welcome but lets try to keep it civil boys (a big ask on this site I know 😉) I’ll get us started: Possible thoughts on a 352? Is obviously dependent on Lyanco coming good, but I would be interested to see if Walker-Peters can live up to his (almost) namesake and slot in on the right side of a back three. Salisu could be formidable in the middle as our last line of defence as his positional play and reading of the game seem to be on point. The thought of Stewie pulling strings as a number 10 behind the 2 strikers seems exciting also! Not to mention “Adams, Armstrong, Adam Armstrong” sounds great, and could confuse the hell out of a few commentators! Can’t see it happening any time soon but what are we if not dreamers eh?

Let’s not be hasty here lads… I do seem to remember during the summer of the Koeman rebuild, we bought in a certain Florin Gardos just before the start of the season, and then later went on to sign Mr Toby Alderweireld just before the window closed. Gardos was bought in as an unknown, untested European “talent” that saints took a punt on for a low fee (a very similar 6 million in fact), who ended up being nothing more than a sporadic squad player for the rest of his career with us, albeit hampered by injuries. Surely it isn’t too far fetched to believe this could be a similar situation currently unfolding in front of us, so I suggest we all try and keep our toys firmly secured in our collective prams until the window slams shut on the 31st. Then and *only* then will we know if saints have had a decent transfer window. Keep the faith COYS

Give this man a Grammy

No idea why we didn’t go in for Areola. The hammers got him on a loan with an option to buy. He was a shining jewel the the steaming pile of muck that was Fulham’s campaign last season. Aren’t Fraser/Alex also both in last years of their respective contracts? And wasn’t wasn’t talk of Forster refusing a new deal a couple of weeks ago too? Albeit rumours… Would’ve made a lot of sense to me to sell him to the Glaswegians and bring in a new younger long term option…

Not sure what you’re on about there fella, Eduard is completely untested in PL. Also all Celtic fans I know think his attitude has been abysmal since he made his wishes to leave the club clear last season. Looked completely uninterested in the game against midtjylland in which Celtic were knocked out of the Champions league, not sure why we would want to rely on that sort of player as our main source of goals when he has clear temperament issues and will probably sod off as soon as a club willing to pay his price coughs up the cash. I suggest you stop the doom and gloom attitude, trust in the club and hope for the best next season. The boys are going to need all the support they can get. let’s also not forget the absolute uproar surrounding the transfer window before Koeman’s 1st season. I don’t think any fan can say that they weren’t pleasantly surprised with how that debacle turned out