coalman

The good news is we managed to keep Son and Kane quiet. 🙃

Ralph is going full Pep. Get rid of the centre forwards and have lots of midfielders instead.

Wake up, Saints

Got to seriously think about subbing off Valery and Armstrong here.

Sessegnon scored then got a yellow for lunging in on KWP

How is that only yellow?

If we look at where we are versus last season. We've lost Forster, Long and Broja. Forster gave us more solidity in goal than McCarthy but both had terrible distribution. Bazunu is going to give the ball away less even before we get into him being more willing to claim crosses and talk to his backline. We shouldn't underestimate the confidence that comes from a keeper that's not going to invite pressure. KWP is still here and will have more licence to come forward in a 5-3-2 or 3-5-2. Livramento will be back. Djenepo gets in good positions but has also looked defensively solid (never thought I'd say this). Perraud is solid and has a season in the premier League behind him. We've added Bella-Kotchap who looks like a beast. Bednarek may be a bit checked out. Lyanco is always committed if erratic. Salisu can be dominant. Stephens can be solid or erratic. Overall I'd say we're stronger in defence. In centre mid we've added Lavia who looks tidy and will only get stronger. JWP is JWP. Romeu may be off the pace a bit. Our new system may suit Diallo more. I'd say stronger in the middle where we've sometimes been overrun. Creatively we've added Aribo who looks key already. Stu is fit. Walcott not what he was. Redmond great on his day but frustrating. Tella not sure yet. Moi largely anonymous. I'd say we're starting stronger than last season. Up front we look lightweight but peversely it may force us to give Armstrong and Adams the run they need to find form. Mara is one for the future but very exciting. We're weaker up top. Overall I think we have a stronger squad than last season. One which hopefully gets stronger as they gel and get used to the pace of the league. Goals are the concern and adding an extra striker makes this a good window. But I think we'll be harder to break down and have less moments of madness in it. Also excited by the backroom changes. Never understood why our first team coaches were all ex keepers. New training methods will also come into play as we progress through the season. Whether that's in time to save Ralph or to set up the next guy is an open question.

Our best transfers tend to happen without fanfare and quickly. The more a player is talked about the less likely it seems we are to land them.

The area Spurs usually rinse us is when we play high press but don't mark Kane and he has time to release Son through on goal. With 3-5-2 and more pace at centre back I see us less susceptible to this. That's not to say they won't cut us open or that we'll have any cutting edge but at least is might be different from our usual pattern against them. Cut out the Kane-Son through ball supply and there's a 0-0 bore draw awaiting us. Throw in a midfield that can be pressed into a mistake and fullbacks that can be got at and it may not be hopeless.

Successful management is about lots of things including: - Showing empathy and compassion to the people you're leading - Setting clear boundaries and expectations - Being perceived as fair - Being consistent Without compassion and empathy you can't have difficult conversations without resorting to being an a$$hole. The downside is that when someone doesn't believe their situation is fair then none of the rest really matters. But, making people happy isn't your job. If people are making progress and they feel they are treated fairly then they'll perform for you. If you bend over backwards to appease people then they won't. Once people lose themselves to their own hype and become entitled then you have similar problems. With premiership footballers then a large part of your job is also going to be keeping people grounded because no 20 year old is going to turn into a functioning and responsible adult if they're earning millions (or even 100s of thousands) a year without the right support. Particularly with social and agent pressure. I think Ferguson was good at empathy - he gave a shit about his players. Mourinho clearly is not and only cares about his players for what they bring him.. Which is one of the reasons Mourinho has a shelf life wherever he goes and Ferguson had such a long career at Man Utd.. What both have/had is a burning will to win and intolerance of low standards. But without that connection will to win only gets you so far. And without that will to win and intolerance of low standards then empathy only gets you so far too.

I'm actually hopeful for this one and will remain so until the first 2 goals go in. I think Spurs will struggle to break down our new formation.

Djenepo has looked like the player I hoped he would be. And defensively solid too. Why do you think awful?

If the fee is £20m and we haven't got an additional striker in then yes, please. I wouldn't wait around on Chelsea though if the right player is available. They don't know what they want right now and, whatever your opinion of Russian interests, it seemed like Marina had her sh!t together as director there. Whereas the new American owner is still exploring his shiny new toy.

I wouldn't be unhappy with this signing. Looks like a pacy winger who likes to take on his man and get crosses in. Hope Fabrizio is right rather than Benjy

Chelsea have left themselves in a bit of a weird position with Broja. By pricing him out of a move they face the risk of him sticking around and being an example for all their youth team that they shouldn't sign long term contracts, reduce their asking price or finding someone to loan him out to. It's not like they're going to make him a starter. So we might be in with a shout about a loan but I get the sense from Ralph's comments about Mara that he's not keen on developing their players for them any more after last season. In both Chelsea and City's cases with Broja/Delap it seems odd that they're not looking to sell their player for a decent chunk with a buyback attached. We'd be taking most of the financial risk of a developing player, they'd get a wad of cash and have the freedom to nab them back for a cut price fee if their player really shone. In neither case is it likely that they'd get serious game time.

Fair play. Thanks for the considered response. The way I'd look at is part of the team is 'his' but he's spent a large part of his time in charge here hindered by the decisions of his predecessors and the need to address that within limited constraints. He inherited Lemina, Hoedt, Forster, McCarthy, Redmond, Hojberg, Clasie, Soares, Carillo, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Elyounoussi, Ings, Bertrand, JWP for example. Ings, JWP, Bednarek and Redmond, Bertrand have succeeded to various degrees. Though the latter three of those has also attracted their share of opprobrium. Prior to this window Ralph has bought in some players who haven't worked and some how have - like Danso, Djenepo, Adams, Armstrong, Diallo, KWP, Salisu, Perraud, Livramento, Lyanco, Caballero, Walcott, Broja. Of those many were signed at the end of the window when our first choices weren't available or willing to join us. Among them are some great finds like KWP, Salisu, Livramento. Some arguably good players like Adams, Perraud. And some players who have struggled like Armstrong and Djenepo. But I'd say that in many respects his hand was forced by circumstances. I'm pretty sure players like Caballero or Walcott were brought in because it was the only way he could fill a gap. I remember last summer how upset we were not to be able to target a new 'keeper. This window we've bought in some really exciting players. Bazunu looks like the 'keeper we've been dreaming about since forever. Bella-Kotchap looks like a beast. Lavia already looks decent but will only get better. Aribo looks like he can make the step from Scottish football and Mara has tons of potential. Compare this to other windows and already it's another world. If rumours are correct there are more on the way. So comparatively speaking this looks like far more of "his" team than what he's had before. Yes we're still constrained because we have to gamble more on potential and that may or may not work. But, I'd argue that rather than working with what he's got or can scrounge - Ralph is in a position where he has more of the team he wants than at any point in his Saints career. It's fair to argue whether this is "his" team. Though I'd say it's more "his" team than at any point before. We're also in a position where we can attract more of those players with potential which we weren't necessarily before. I'd say that getting from the first list to a position where we are both in the Premier League and also to attract exciting players is a pretty incredible transformation. That's not to say Ralph's the man to take the next step for us. Even if he's not he's set up his successor in a way he wasn't himself. * for the sake of the forum pedants, neither list is exhaustive

Let me highlight where I disagree with you: - At no point did I say Ralph was the only one who could have kept us up. When discussing something with someone it is generally held to be polite to argue with what they said rather than what you imagined they said. - There have been times over the last few years where we've played some lovely football. I couldn't say the same for our football under Pellegrino or Hughes. We've also been incredibly inconsistent which is indeed frustrating. - The club has not invested to the level it is doing currently for several years (if ever). My point is that this is the first window where the club has really backed Ralph. It's my view that this gives him the opportunity to really show what he's capable of. If that is more of the exciting football I've seen and less of the less exciting football then I'm excited to see it. Of course, it's just my opinion. I could be wrong. I'm sorry that reading a differing opinion on an internet forum bothers you so much. As I said, I'm excited to see what we do this season. As I am every season with Southampton. This season I am more so than I've been in a while.

There's a decent chance Ralph will have the team he wants for the first time this season if we can do the rest of the business we're rumoured to be looking at. I've seen him perform minor miracles with a squad he most probably didn't want over the last few years so I'm excited to see what he can do.

This all reminds me when we were on the verge of signing Harry Kane from Tottenham for £10million when Poch moved to Spurs. The trouble with Saints transfers is the more they are talked about in the press the less likely they are to happen. So this one feels dead in the water to me (sadly).

He hit a couple of peachy through balls as well. That's something that's been missing from our game for a while.

I think if we're going to set up in that formation we need a striker (or strikers) who are able to spin into space so the defence can't push up on us too much. Much (as I hate to admit it) like Broja did at his best last season. Without that space to play in our midfield gets suffocated and winds up playing a lot of sideways and backwards stuff. It's a shame we're waiting so late in the transfer window to bring someone in up front. But I think having different options up there will unlock a lot of the potential in this team. I don't think Ralph has had his strongest side all on the pitch together yet either.

Conclusions from today: - Adam Armstrong shouldn't be playing without Che Adams alongside him. He needs service and isn't going to create something from nothing or link up play. - We seemed to be set up not to concede rather than threaten. It never felt like we were going to let one in. Not sure we needed 3 centre backs on the field. None of the centre backs looked dodgy but by keeping so many players behind the ball we lacked threat and invited pressure. We really needed the extra man in midfield as an outlet. - Bazunu did everything he had to well. Some good catches. Great distribution and mixture of short, long and chipped passes. Always available and so so calm. - Bella-Kotchap looks tidy (and quick). - Djenepo got in some great positions. Just hope he stays fit and builds on it. - Aribo shows some good touches. Willing to hold the ball and take on his man. - Lavia didn't look out of place and got stronger as the game went on. The more he plays the better I feel he's going to get. Really quick to spot a forward pass though took a few risks when he held onto it. - KWP is our best outlet for stretching play. - StuArmstrong was quiet but also had a few good moments. Will be great to start the season with him available.

Bazunu is so calm with the ball.

Ooooh. Close from JWP

I still have hopes it's a confidence thing but fear you're right. With him playing there's no threat in behind so the defenders can get tight on him and completely nullify him and compress the space for our whole midfield. Contrast that with Che at his best where he holds the ball and releases people running beyond him.