Ralph Fastenbüttl

My wife agrees that she's fucking hot.

Almost! Bijlow Sugawara, THB, Bednarek, KWP Downes, Lesley Fernandes Arma, Archer, BBD Or alternatively: Bijlow Sugawara, THB, Bednarek, KWP Downes, Lesley BBD, JWP!, Fernandes Archer

Ideal spot for JWP, that.

Don't fret folks - remember, as the great Nathan Jones once pointed out, playing against 10 men puts you at a massive disadvantage.

Silver lining - club's desire for a new keeper rapidly growing?

iirc Carrillo was brought it at the behest of Pellegrino, who chose his former striker over the long-scouted Raul Jimenez and pro coke trafficker Quincy Promes. I think it was reported that one person from the recruitment team even wrote a letter of resignation to protest the signing, saying that their data showed Carrillo to be dog shite. It says something that even Mark Hughes, who was a dreadful manager for us, only gave Carrillo one start and one sub appearance before recognising him for the dross that he was and freezing him out.

Came here to say exactly this. Prior to that, I think Downes was a fairly exciting signing. I think the sting of Ramirez and Osvaldo has taken the sheen off 'big name' foreign striker signings.

Sir, I believe you meant to say that "this is just so CERTAINLY PINK!"?

I just got the kit email promo and must admit that I really quite like pink kit, though my wife was like "owww, those lot on the forum you go on about aren't gonna be happy" and foolishly I stuck up for you all, saying that as deranged as a few of you are, it would likely take more than the colour pink to set you off. But I have of course overestimated you. Cannot believe you're such a bunch of speshial ickle snowflakes. We'll only wear it a couple of times. It'll get a few folk talking. It'll probably sell to some "first time SFC consumer partners" which will make the brand department cream. As a piece of design I honestly think it's pretty sound, particularly when it comes to the shirt in isolation. (But yeah, I personally would have used the shorts to break up the colour a little)

I don't especially like contributing to the overly-negative sentiment that riddles these boards, but surely everyone understands by now that neither AM nor GB are rounded enough to be No.1s in the Prem? I'm perfectly happy with AM being our No.2, but it's hard not to remain unconvinced by Bazunu, no? I do tire of our ongoing inability to get a 1st choice keeper of sufficient quality into the club. I'm generally a pro-Russel Martin guy, but I do get the impression he's a bit of a pack animal - fiercely loyal to the tribe and attributing perhaps a little too much importance into the idea of "keeping the gang wot got us back up togevver". It's the sort of thinking that means we're in danger of going into next season with AA and Che as our top strikers. Loyalty is an admirable trait, but our Prem return necessitates fresh blood at both ends of the pitch. As has been the case for a while.

MLT is definitely the most naturally talented player I've ever seen in a Saints shirt and arguably I've ever seen in the flesh. He was my hero for over two decades. All of which explains why his outing as a fucking helmet is really, really sad. It's easy to write him off as a idiotic numpty but the truth is that the sort of messaging he's peddling is more than just daft nonsense - it's actively damaging and dangerous. That doesn't become untrue because he performs magic with the football and visited a lot of hospitals. But at the same time, the fact that he's Solent's village idiot doesn't change the fact that he was a generational football talent. Safe to say I much prefer the pre-critical-thinking version of Le God, as this current incarnation is a fucking tool.

"Wesley Hoedt, he scores for fun"

I watched much of the second half. Lots of folk whinging about our play but I thought we looked pretty good tbh. We certainly were quite clearly a class above Stoke when it came to skill on the ball. KWP looks like a world beater in this league.

Notice how much quieter the match threads are when Saints are winning. Wonder if that says anything about this forum? Anyway, good stuff Saints. Let's have a little run of good form to settle the ship now, please x

You're in dreamland, mate. Well, not about Leeds ripping us a new one. But even if things stay as bad as they are now, Martin's going nowhere for a while.

I mean, if one thing's true it's surely that we've got the funds sitting there to pay for a decent manager?!?!

I suspect this is correct. I've no idea how long this current run would need to continue before the club started thinking about a change, but I would guess the answer is longer than anyone would like.

I watched it and I disagree. But, y'know - opinions, arseholes etc. Regardless of how well we did or didn't play, we're really looking like a team that's forgotten how to win games, unfortunately.

The worrying thing about today for me was that we're now losing while playing largely quite well.

Lovely passage of play and finish. Good, positive stuff thus far.

I can very much understand frustration at our current defensive failings. I'm frustrated. What I don't understand are the people demanding the manager's head in early September. When we've won more than we've lost. Do we want better? Yep. Should this squad be capable of delivering better? Undoubtedly. But there is a long ol' season with plenty of twists and turns ahead. Let's just fucking give RM and the team the slightest chance to bed in FFS, yeah?

Seriously you lot, come on now.

I'd not actually watched the goals because, well, why the fuck would I. Plus, I think you lot are very unfair on Baz sometimes. But... Fuck me, that is some woeful shit. Regardless of the defensive errors (which were admittedly dreadful), that's gotta be one of the worst keeping displays I've seen for Saints. Making excuses for this shit is starting to get pretty tiresome. It doesn't feel like an exaggeration to say that the lad might cost us promotion.

A shocking debut, yes, but you just cannot write a player off after a single performance. It's insane. Let's fucking hope he's got it all out of his system now.

Our best hope after today is that any and all complacency is slapped out of the squad, the manager and the club. It's a long ol' season in this league and the strength of our team guarantees nothing if we perform like that. Hopefully the shock will do them some good.