Holmes_and_Watson

Souness has "no sympathy" for Zouma and has gone out of his way to say "He wouldn't have in the team this year" if he was manager. Until "he showed real remorse" Also as a player, he "would not want to be in the same team as him". Souness not having any of the PR statements from the club, despite what his spineless co hosts are saying. Well done, Sir.

The Villa 'keeper went out of his way to position Buendia in a way that increased the chance of a deflection. Zouma feeling "unwell" and has dropped out the squad. No excuse for having the utter scumbag in the squad in the first place.

If there was some sort of VAR conspiracy (puts on tin foil hat handily available from Salmons covid posts), I'd have thought the current top clubs would have conspired against the Sportswashers. Not that they would have preempted it, by already having bought it off. I mean, what's the point of being in the Football Illuminati, if some Journalist-Killer-Come-Lately can just buy their way in?

Does just mentioning the name, act as some sort of ward against a poster appearing? 🙂

BBC studio pundits are a good reason not to be a BBC viewer Professor. But spare a thought that it's hard for some of them having to share that IQ point around. A production assistant races on while the match footage is on, to move the point around. If I catch match of the day (very rarely), I make sure to watch it well after it's started so I can fast forward through their rubbish. I keep waiting for Jenas' parents to come in and tell him he's grounded for being up so late. I do admit to sometimes being a bit surprised by Ralphs honesty in his answers. But that's as much a reflection on the vacuous questions that are normally asked.

Matt Jansen is taking a heck of a long time getting here to play. Flashbacks of all those tense last minutes waiting for Grandstand's vidiprinter, or making sure I was near a shop window, if I was out, so I could catch the scores.

Pretty much all of the above. Having no key injuries - Armstrong, Romeu, JWP and Broja. Smallish squad size means that players get minutes combined with that stronger bench pushing players for some positions. improvement in players abilities, as Ralph's evolving playbook contines to bed in - Stephens, Valery. Genuine attacking outlet in Broja, which Adams an then support. Better game management, but that can be based on how we *can* manage games if we are in the lead and not hanging on/ chasing to get back in. Does seem to have had a new owner bounce. Perhaps they've promised franchises in lovely holiday locations. Perhaps a little of seeing that top Academy talent can and will go into the team as Tino did, keeps a few on their toes.

I didn't hear all of Scholes witterings. But I really don't think the concept of a manager having to spend a couple of months getting a team to play to defined systems has really sunk in. In a club with giant egos on the pitch, and most likely behind the scenes, it may take even longer. There should be changes apparent shorter term, but it will still look disjointed until more of it fits together. There's always the choice of not going down that path, or having a manager who implements layered solutions. Or a big shouty manager who gets short term gain through force of personality. And there's always the chance that the new systems simply don't work or won't work with those egos, which may well be the case with United. As Kraken points out, there's not the signs of the changes yet, and they look quite disjointed. He's been there a little while now too. But that may be signs of how much has to change all across the club. Or perhaps they picked the wrong Ralph* But they've shocen a longer term fix, and they have to see that through (appointing a permanent manager would be a good step). They also have to face up to the financial clout and progression Man CIty, Liverpool and Chelsea have already made, and keep a bit of persepctive. *The Wrong Ralph: Disney's madcap soccer caper coming to screens this summer.

The split does seem to have come about through some strong differences in tactical progression/ approach. Considering 1) that this happened before 2) the subsequent progression our Ralph has made since and 3) the endless hand wringing about lack of success going on at united, I can't see why our Ralph would want to go through it again. Other than loads of pennies. But if he's contemplating retirement over getting loads of further pennies at the end of his contract, and from interviews, that doesn;t seem the strongest of motivaitons for him presently. So, no. 🙂

Setback

The difference between Armstrong shooting at range and Ronlado having to zimmer frame his way into the box for his efforts. 🙂

Chambers giving away a rather clumsy freekick right on the edge of the box for the Sportswashers to capitalise on. Perhaps they needed a shouty, if not entirely effective, presence in midfield today. I can only hope the Wolves fans are telling Conte to shush every time he moans.

Forster is a keeper I've always rated. He was excellent for Celtic, and early and recent form with us has shown plenty of his better qualities. Totally fair to say he did have spells of inconsistency, and what seemed to be a clear slump in confidence in between. He also had a bad injury. So, I'm certainly not saying that he shouldn't have had competition for the shirt, or always have been first choice. But when he's remotely on form, he's easily the more commanding presence behind the defence. I think he got the contract (and happy to be corrected) when Wanyama, Pelle and Mane left and extended it the following year. Davis would have retired about then, and I thought Forster was a clear upgrade at the time, and worth it at the time. It also showed we could also hold onto players (if only to sell them at a profit later). During the periods when he wasn't first choice, I got the feeling that the club were only too eager to shift him off the wage bill. That's understandable, but can't be a good place to be for any player, and with a goalkeeper, there's also the feeling that their errors are more exposed. If the scouting dept have identified an upgrade on Forster, then that will be good for the club and Forster can try and secure as good a deal as he can elsewhere. But I'm not so sure it will be easy to repalce him. So, if the club decided they couldn't and reached an agreement to extend his contract, I'd be quite happy. As Spyinthesky said, I'd much rather focus on securing/ replacing Broja.

I note their ultras call themsevles Demoni, giving a nice symmatry to the Saints. 🙂

This is why, for me, it would be disapointing to see Ralph depart in a couple of years (caveat of half decent results ongoing). For me, it's more gradually being able to shift the players considered to be deadwood in the squad, and smartly and slowly bringing in replacements. As opposed to the sorts of player overhaul seen more frequently in clubs with more resources to burn, where managers can build new teams more quickly. As this continues (caveat of not signing a bunch of clangers) it would become even more of Ralph's squad, and we'd see even more progression.

Retriever

Flower

Is this the expanded tournament, so that FIFA can give us even more quality fixtures? And not at all a desperate chance for their organisation to leech money from other continental governing bodies.

So sorry to hear this news. Our thoughts are with you, the rest of his family and his friends at this difficult time. Thank you so much for letting us know, as I'm sure he's been in the thoughts of many of us since he shared his news. Minsk's posts have been a highlight to posters and lurkers alike here. We'll miss his voice, but know that it will still be heard in every Saints cheer.

Grealish Cherry

Paul Scholes moaning on aobut their manager clearly looking like he's a sporting director who hasn;t had the managerial experience. COmpletely missing the point that if you have a manager with an effective style of modern play, it can take a while for it to work. Something the weight of previous man utd players/ staff never seem to appreciate. In coming managers can;t all be like Conte, who...oh, wait we beat Rant Boy's lot earlier in the week. Tee hee.

Another cracking performance. Not just the work rate, or the pressing, or the willingness to work as a team, or the talent. A combination of a lot of work, and we had chances to win that one. Very impressive, and it's this cohesiveness that other "bigger" clubs must look at and wonder why they can't do that.

Forster! Great save.

Another good chance created, but not finished. COYS.

Bit of a blast by Stuey