Ralph Fastenbüttl

The numbers we're rumoured to be asking for seem very high - almost to the point where it'd be silly not to sell. But I find it hard to imagine any club willing to cough up in excess of £20m, and presumably Wilcox and co are very aware of this.

Bit surprised to read this in Alfie's article: I'd got the distinct impression Tella wanted out, but glad to be wrong.

Imagine having a Summer Transfers thread that is actually about transfer news/rumours and isn't just pages and pages and pages of the same half dozen bawbags endlessly passively-aggressively 'well actually-ing' everyone to death (sorry, I mean "having conversations with people") and then whining like little babies when they're called out for their utterly tedious behaviour? The dream.

Jesus fucking christ, man. Goading strangers on the internet is no way to be spending your Friday nights. We were fucking shit last season. And for much of the season before. Proper, proper shite. Underequipped for life in Prem, yes. As a result, I'm not super upset to see the squad undergo a rebuild. But yes, that means some not quite as shite players, and dare I say one or two actually quite good players, may move on in the process. Not least because our relegation means they will demand it. Is that OK? Does that summary meet with your approval? Can we continue on with our lives now? Or shall we carry on poking one another with sticks?

I'm not saying that for one moment. I'm just pointing out that he's demonstrably unproven in the Prem.

C'mon dude, don't be obtuse. I was really very clearly implying that having sold the good stuff, we're now moving onto the 'rest' 🙄

Tella? Huh, OK 😘 But yeah - JWP, Lavia, KWP and Tino are all Prem quality for sure. No doubt. Which is precisely why they were guaranteed to leave when we lost our place in the Prem. Sure, it would have been just splendid had any of them decided they fancied a stint in the Championship, but that's obviously not the case and we sure as fuck can't force them, can we?

You're all losing your minds about the club selling players who have proven they are thoroughly underequipped for life in the Prem - and life in the Prem is what awaits if we're successful in the Championship. What on earth would be the point in this whole exercise if we fight to keep hold of these players, claw our way back up to the top flight and then find ourselves in a similar position to that which got us relegated, with a team of fucking wasters who cannot score or defend? Are we really thinking RM is so talented that he can get things out of this squad that three successive managers have been unable to? We've all spent months and months and months begging for a clearout. Now we're getting it and y'all are kicking off? I just cannot fathom.

I mean, I was honestly hoping we could double up and find one who is both tall and good?

Exciting, fun to watch football? After Selles-Ball, I'll take it TBH. Today was great fun.

Agreed. If by "tweak" you mean "replace both central defenders and the keeper with proper footballers".

I'll admit... this is LOADS more fun to watch than us in the Premier League.

Fuck's sake. Honestly, I thought we'd look good this half too. And, whisper it, even Baz had looked decent. But that was a shocker. Another shocker (tho not from Baz).

Wow. Not sure what 1st prize is, but you get it.

So many people on here are underestimating the size of the turnaround job that's needed. We've been one of the worst performing clubs IN THE COUNTRY for the best part of TWO YEARS now. And like it or not, we're now trying to reverse that decline by overhauling EVERYTHING - how the team plays, how we coach, how the business is operated. That's not a quick job. Immediate promotion can be hoped for, yes, but it's just not realistic to demand it outright. And honestly, I've had no emotional reaction to JWP leaving. Mostly because I've been ready for it since the 2-0 home loss to Brentford in mid-March, but also because he really isn't what a lot of folk are making him out to be. Was he the best we currently have? Yep. Is he a club legend? After 20 years of service and watching him develop into possibly the best free kick taker in the world, without a doubt! Is he in reality anything more than a mid table Premier League player? No. A top pro, and an amazing athlete, but also quite a limited player, all in all. West Ham and £30m sounds about right. I absolutely wish him the best and hope he goes on to achieve things that would not have been possible for him at Saints. Which gives him plenty of scope, let's be honest...

Lest we forget that just mere weeks ago we were all saying we'd be happy for every last one of them to be sold, such was our despair at relegation and the nature of our non-performances under three managers. I think it's odd that so many of our players are being bigged up by those same fans literally just a few weeks later and after one win over a very weak team. I really don't buy the argument that the club is selling the crown jewels because I'm not sure we have any, although I concede that JWP was undoubtedly one of the few talents we have/had. But he was never going to stay. Once we were relegated, of course he as going. Honestly it's just a shame it didn't happen at the start of the window to minimise the disruption.

Such was Diallo's "ability" that he could be adequately replaced with a pot of yoghurt.

Listen to them both and it should be pretty obvious.

So looking and the line-up, the nine senior players he mentions must be Macca, Bree, Perraud, Lyanco, Stu, Djenepo, Aribo, Tall Paul and Che. Seems unlikely he'd be talking about Mara as a senior. If only "some" of these players have no future at the club, I wonder who he feels delivered tonight? Because I couldn't pick a name. EDIT: Listening to the interview, he actually name drops Stu and Aribo as doing "great" but still struggling with fitness. Mara, on the other hand, is credited as doing OK but it's also said he needs to learn that you don't train to play one way and then go out on the pitch and play differently. The only glowing praise is reserved for Amo, Tyler and Doyle.

The amount of change that needs to occur at the club will likely result in a fairly rough first half of the season, I should imagine. However, I reckon it'll click in the end and after the winter window I reckon we'll be strong, so it'll come down to how much work we've left ourselves. Taking a wild stab in the dark, I'll say we miss the playoffs this season but hopefully get our act together for automatic promotion next season. Leicester to finish top.

And he's off. Gutted, both for us and for him because who on earth would want to cover Villa professionally? Massively tedious club, I've always thought.

I was raised in Basingstoke (Brighton Hill) and adopted Saints as I was surrounded by so many Saints supporters. It was easy for me to tag along with my mate and his dad to matches - I went to most home games around 1993-1997 so saw plenty of Le Tiss and the like before I then sodded off to university. Never went back to live in Basingstoke so have not been able to attend regularly since, sadly. Did manager to see Rickie net a few for us though. Thank fuck I didn't go to any games last season! My mates were an even split between Liverpool and Southampton so safe to say I chose... poorly! 😆

Really? It reads to me as a statement of commitment to the club. I admit that Che always puts in a shift and, unlike so many of them, he clearly cares. And perhaps with a proper striker next to him he may yet fulfil his potential. But I can't pretend I'd be gutted if he left. The number of chances he misses is maddening, somewhat undoing his strong support play.

I don't think there's really any evidence to suggest Ralph would have kept this squad up. I've got huge respect for the guy and all he accomplished with us. And I think he did well to keep us up last season - me may well have gone down under a lot of managers. But he was spent. Results and performances were both in the gutter and, by his own admission, he'd run out of ideas. He should have gone in the summer. This would have given whoever his replacement was more time to try and instill some sort of identity before the ticking relegation bomb robs you of that luxury.