James

If you can't get excited or giddy about playing away to one of Europe's biggest clubs then why bother following a team like Saints at all? The whole point about striving for improvement in the league and winning cups etc. is because the reward is a game like the one on Thursday. Realistically we won't win the league or regularly qualify for top level European competition so games like this are likely to be as good as it gets. A cup win would be bigger but again those come along once in a blue moon. I take the point that the promotion games were vital in getting us to where we are now but Thursday is clearly one of our most high profile games ever and an important moment in our history.

Yep - imagine there will be a fair few Saints on that one. Back Sunday afternoon to make a proper weekend of it!

Wouldn't have taken Long off. Redmond proving to be undroppable in league games.

Exactly it. Should never have been put in this position. You can't persevere with stupid experiments like this in the Premier League.

Shame that being easy on the eye doesn't win games, goals do and this team doesn't have any in it.

Redmond experiment has to stop. He's a championship winger playing up front for a top half Premier League team. What on earth must Austin be thinking on the bench?!

Redmond is cr*p. Austin please. Absolute disgrace to miss that. Absolute disgrace.

The fact that Puel sees Redmond as a guaranteed starter up front seriously hampers us IMO.

Very odd selection given how well we played on Thursday. Our two best performers from that game on the bench.

We definitely did in the second half when Long came on.

Typical big club bias. Fans were baying for blood at our supposed time wasting so you could see him itching to give the penalty. Completely robbed.

This forum really is becoming a bit of a joke. If people don't agree with an opinion they just start dishing the insults. Completely unnecessary.

This is my biggest fear. Would destroy our season if it happened. Hopefully we have all been reading too much into it.

True. I do think it's a pretty big coup for a club like Bournemouth though.

Agree completely with the first couple of lines, sums up my feelings on the summer perfectly. Well put.

Agreed. When you look at some of the fees being thrown around it really doesn't mean very much.

They've made a pretty ambitious signing relative to their station. You could say we've done the same with Boufal.

We are one injury away from Yoshida getting an extended run in the side. Injuries to any one of Fonte, VVD and, to a lesser extent, Hojberg would really test us. Agree that it's a risk that we haven't signed one more just got to hope we've got enough in the tank until January if things get desperate. Easy to see the squad being stretched quite thinly between now and Christmas.

Could see this actually. Liverpool play a pretty fluid 433 and don't have an out and out striker. Would suit us better than the rigid diamond we've been using so far.

The Palace league cup game does look prime for an easing in. If fit enough id expect him to make the bench against Swansea and then hopefully start against Palace following a ten minute cameo v Swansea.

That would be a massive boost but given the club have already warned us we won't see him for a few weeks I'd be surprised. Hoping that he makes the Europa league fixtures.

Minor according to Adam Blackmore and Solent. Stand down lads.

Blackmore has just tweeted that it's "minor". Good good.

There's only one game and so if he's out of that one then make sense for him to come back for treatment. Hopefully we get an update and that it's nothing serious. We are probably getting beat with or without him at Arsenal so hope he's back for Swansea.

Agreed, but just wonder if some almost aren't counting the signing of Boufal in their appraisal of the window given that he may not feature much. Sounds odd I appreciate.