Holmes_and_Watson

I noted they had the much maligned Phil Jones in the team. Credit to the fans for their support of Ronaldo.

Radio the other night saying that the Championship had a number of very capable strikers. But both Mitrovic and Solanke have really struggled at a higher level. Pukki struggled again this season too. They mentioned Watkins too. He's 8 from 28 this season.

Him staying would come as a surprise. Going by previous posts, we may well actively offer him a contract. But one at a lower level than he's on. Possibly by some way. As before, he will weigh up his options and go elsewhere if it offers a better deal for him. So, we may well look to offer something, but it may have the same outcome. How you feel about his wages, form, likely replacement quality and ongoing use will determine how much of a blow that is. 🙂 I'd not be upset by seeing him at #1 next season.

Radio saying Man City have agreed terms with Haaland, although they've yet to meet Dortmund's valuation. All the stories I've read suggest a massive amount is getting paid to the agent, as part of the deal. So, there's one alternative to Broja for next season possibly unavailable. 🙂

That would be ideal. We might have to rely on the OS letting us know the score well after the game has finished, if previous games are anything to go by.

Radiophonic

Thanks for posting that. Great to watch.

Fisticuffs

That brought out a laugh in my train carriage on the way home. 😆

I'd read that they could still have further deductions awaiting them. And the stadium is owned by the outgoing owner, and not the club. L1&2 did remove their wage cap proposals. so that might prevent yet another issue as they go down a level.

I wonder if it's because we went through a spell where we had a few of them, so we relate to it more? 🙂

That's Derby down.

If it did unsettle him, then I'm not too upset about him being booed on the day. He's done nothing I'm aware of to deserve it, and a warm cheer when he got subbed would have been nice. Mind you, that could have been taken the wrong way too. 😊

Saints welcome Bart Simpson to the club. While some fans voiced their concerns regarding having a fictional, cartoon character, between the sticks, the club were keen to promote their innovative transfer policy. "We're proud to bring in Bart to further strengthen Fred Flintstone in defence. Our thinking outside both the box, and our reality, will continue to bring value to the club." The club refused to be drawn on rumours of advanced negotiations with Melchester Rovers.

Push

Have to trust the scouting/ recruitment on this one. Forster has shown how important a good keeper is to us. They may think he's not what they want going forward. But Forster's form has set the bar for the quality we need replaced (as a minimum, for a number who feel that there are significant improvements that can be made here, even for our budget). A couple of comments suggested they have a type of player in mind. So, we can only trust them, when Forster goes. I hope we're not at this point next season, bemoaning letting Forster go.

Another excellent win. Nearly there. I thought it was going to be much closer. Even though we're not there yet, lots of credit to the team and staff for getting to this position.

Just imagine all the things he does well, and add some goals to it. >sigh< He got or nearly got double figures one year I think. But it was a while back. Still I hope someone else can pick up on being a pain to play against, when he goes. I'd really useful to have.

I couldn't resist taking a look after all the recent xG chat. Saints 1.04 vs Arsenal 1.35 https://understat.com/match/16700 Grabs coat and runs...runs like the wind...fails to take the ball on the run though... 0xG...

Organ

Xcellent. 🙂

We changed to be more defensively solid, not leaving those huge spaces down the flanks (lots of us crying out for that) We played Perraud at left back, giving the side a natural balance (lots of us crying out for that) We kept it compact not allowing them to shift our midfield out opf position and expose the defence (lots of us crying out for that) He rested Livramento (late sub) and Salisu, who looked to be particualrly out of sorts of late. So credit to Raph for addressing the recent issues. We didn;t offer much going forward, as we tried to protect that 1-0 lead. But we did that really well. Not well enough that Forster didn't have to make a fw good saves. His size and physicality make those look a bit easier for him than some other keepers. The club may think Forster is too old style, and prefer a more modern keeper. But it's a risk, as he'll have to be as good at Fraser in this sort of match too. Really pleased with the work rate and Redmond and Long did well when they came on too. Long in particular.

Yeah. Long did his usual very professional, tireless nuisance role agian today. Well done.

Yay!

Long picks up a good booking. Just frustrating them.