OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint

Got to say, even by our standards, this implosion has been pretty impressive.

And where are Forest in the league? I can see not risking injury, but then don't put him in the squad. It's all a bit academic. Main thing is to show some sort of spirit and promise for the future.

Don't like Aribo and Big Les in the same team. Downes is on the bench. If he's fit enough to be there, why can't he start?

Was that the pass that came down with snow on it? Against that Swansea team, he was still doing too many Redmond style stepovers and slowing the attack down. He does one lucky lob, gets past a defender once to get his assist off to Tyler Dib and people think he had a good game. Tall Paul with Archer playing off him up front would have had 5 goals in the first 25 minutes against that team. Given someone wrote Juric was so excited after Sule scored that he went charging down to the Family Stand waving his knob around in delight, one can only think he kept TP out the team because he didn't want to be outdone if Paul scored a hat-trick!

Thought Juric was brave playing Sulemana. It could have halved his sale value! Not buying in to 'there's a player in there' nonsense. Still think he's Shit, with a capital S! He should be running at players and running on to knocked on headers etc all day long - and against a weak Swansea team, he only did it once or twice.

When your season is all but over at Christmas and you're only playing friendlies in the league, a cup run at least gives us a bit of interest so I'm pleased that Juric put out what he considered to be our best team. I don't agree with Armstrong & Archer coming on as subs at the same time. He did that with the Brentford game. They're too similar though I think Archer is marginally better.

All part of the cunning plan. Keep it to 0-0 until we find out who we've got in the second round half way through our game and then bring on the strikers if we're playing a weak team....ah, I see a problem, we are the weak team!

This typifies SR's approach to management and recruitment. Last minute and arse about face. In isolation, it was a great signing, but if I recall, there was increasing concern as deadline day was approaching that we were incredibly light on the goalkeeping front, so this was a kneejerk reaction to get him in and sod the cost. But up front we went for lightweights and midfield (other the Fernandes which sounded like a punt) wasn't much better. Ramsdale was supposedly low on confidence last season. Not sure picking the ball out of the net five time a game helps improve it!

Baz really is that bad. Genuinely believe it was his injury and subsequently bringing in Mac that got us promoted. So now, we've got something else to blame Baz for.

"For us [the FA Cup] is really important. We need the joy of playing good games. For us in this moment everything is important. I don’t want to rest [players]. I have 17, 18 players, maybe more, who are competitive. I just want to win the game and then after the game I’ll think about Manchester [United] and Tottenham." Quoted this from the Southampton website. Got the impression he's going to put out a full strength team tomorrow.

There are rules for transfer pricing and this is sailing very close to the wind. SR are trying to be smart and redistribute income around its clubs and use the clubs as a commercial venture. It could be football, it could be rugby. They don't care. It's just a shame they picked on our club.

Really like his attitude, really like how he can see a pass, he's not the tallest but makes his presence felt when he comes up for corners...but he's another that really needs to work on his fitness. At this level, he's a yard off the pace (and that's being generous).

Yes, keep saying there are good players in lower leagues which we should be looking for now with a view to bringing them on in the summer. Agree with Woodsaint, this is a window to sell. If Juric reckons there's 17/18 players he is interested in, there's a lot of players we need to find a new home.

Yes he's not particularly good; yes he's certainly not fit enough but I still want to see him and Archer in the same team from the beginning. I'll qualify that and say it's not a dream front pairing, but given our options (eg. AA, Sulemana, BBD), surely it's worth a go.

Perhaps he knew he was off to Sheff Utd...or perhaps that made the club's decision for him!

Must admit, I don't watch the U21s, but is there anyone who could be given a go in this game? Two schools of thought. Either Juric puts out what he thinks to be his strongest team and starts to get them playing as a unit. He's effectively got 18 friendlies + a cup run to sort out a team capable of competing; or b) work on the basis that a lot of the current first team will be gone in the summer, so play a few youngsters with promise. Sam AA for one.

I agree Whitey. I was trying to make the point that any team with a solid back four can't compete if the midfield in front is non-existent. A less than solid three, with two wing backs on walkabouts just makes it even worse.

After the game, there was a discussion on the concourse between people saying we can't score goals and other saying there was no midfield. Yes, we've been missing a striker for years, but that game showed that even with a solid back four, if you have no-one in midfield who can do a job, you will get walloped. I appreciate Fernandes was suspended and Downes is injured but having two carthorses in Les and Joe Aribo there was asking for trouble. It still pisses me off that one of our worst players has one of our best songs!

He was all over the place on Saturday. Someone needs to go through the basics with him and show him where he should be defensively. We don't mind him going forward as a wing back, but make sure you get back quickly. He was ambling like the rest of the team.

Exactly. Doesn't even have to be a striker. A top midfielder like Maddison would work

Got to say, I'm also struggling to think of a worse one. Was listening to MLT in the Northam fanzone before the game and he said Brentford had their injuries; this was a real chance to rack up 3 points. That could have been a double digit loss. That midfield was woeful. They seemed to be transparent.

I've always maintained a team can achieve more than the sum of its parts, but every team also seems to need a talisman. Brentford are very average but have Mbeumo, Palace have Eze, West Ham have Bowen, Cunha at Wolves. We haven't got anyone. MLT kept us up for years on end and more recently we've had Ings and JWP. Now no-one even looks likely to pick up the mantle. Leicester also have no-one and both teams are really struggling.

To start only THB came over on his own. Vaguely recall after him it was Bednerek. And the Tall Paul dream is over. To get cult status, the skill bar is very low (eg. Shane Long), but after that performance, I can't see him reaching it.

And to prove your point, today they sign a Valenciennes player for Euros/£ 5m...and then will probably loan him back at some grossly inflated fee. All sounds sailing very close to the wind.

Yes he is a talent, but he is also a very raw talent. Yes he can run with the ball but his overall game (awareness, passing, fitness etc) still needs a lot of work. From a Saints management perspective, they should be reminding him the grass isn't always greener on the other side. There's a danger he'll join a Liverpool and spend half his time on the bench before dropping in to obscurity. Chelsea is another example of a club hoovering up all the talent but then only using one or two players. He needs to stay where he is, really develop his game (he's still making a mint at Southampton) and then look to move in a couple of years at the earliest. If it means playing in the Championship, so be it. The physicality of that league will also do him good. Well, that's what we should be telling him...