Chickendippers

Remind me who Keith was - didn't he run a previous incarnation of this forum?

Fair enough. I don't think Liverpool knew what they had bought at the time. He was definitely not the finished article when he left us especially in terms of consistency but we can all agree that when he was 'on it' he was phenomenal.

The only truly world class player that was playing at that level when we sold him and then continued to play at that level was VVD and possibly Toby (Premier League if only to keep it to colour TV ). I'd put Theo, Shearer, Bridge and even Shaw ahead of Bale (good though he was for us at the time) as top prospects capable of kicking on at the time we sold them. Beattie was superb for us for a couple of seasons but I think he had already peaked when we sold him, so I would put him in the Lambert category when he left. Mane was good for a few games but I don't think anyone here thought he was a world beater (other than Koeman to be fair - especially after Sheff Utd away). I think Ings is in the very very good category right now and would make most of the big 6 better (except perhaps Liverpool and Spurs). We are lucky to have him and his agent knows it.

Yes! No!

Swap him for Werner?

Normally when we play a big team and win their star player(s) can't be arsed and just stroll around or our kepper has a worldy. I thought Liverpool played better than City and caused us more problems than they did although there was less work for Forster than McCarthy largely because we defended better as a team. Of course a Liverpool supporter would rather be 3-0 up after 20 minutes against us like in previous years but I wouldn't have described their performance as 'shit'. It was just a bloody good team performance from us - and it needed to be.

Strong Team for me: Forster KWP, Bednarek, Stephens, Vokins (shame no Salisu instead of Bednarek) JWP, Diallo Valery, Armstrong (Walcott looked spent yesterday) Ings, Adam

Diallo MOM for me - very composed. KWP was also excellent against their best player but since no-one else has mentioned him I think Bertrand did a super job on Salah who can win a match on his own sometimes. Three subs were excellent, gave us energy when we needed it - so pleased for Valery in particular. Secial praise for Jurgen Klopp who decided to keep Hendo in defence all match. He came on as a sub a couple of years ago, upped the tempo, ran the game for them and scored. Happy to see him picking his arse at the back all game.

I'd like to see him against Shrewsbury. if he has put his personal problems behind him then he can still provide good cover for KWP as he is a good athelete. The suggestion seems to be that he needs to work harder or be more disciplined - both can be coached if the will is there from the player's side. Going out on loan would not be a good solution though if it looks like he is mentally fragile.

You are right that run outs and no balls are not 'umpire's call' and are treated as matters of fact largely because the line is already there. LBW's are more subjective as they use Hawk-eye ball tracking to make a best guess of whether the ball would go on and hit the stumps. This is where the margin of error comes in and if the ball is clipping the stumps the player is only out if he has been given out by the on-field umpire. The point I am trying to make is that the technology cannot give a perfect answer as to whether someone is offside, there is always some doubt as to when exactly the ball was played and if the resulting lines were drawn in the right place (or not). When the technology is going to that level of detail it just seems pointless as it no longer becomes a matter of fact - there is still some subjectivity involved. I would like a bit more clarity on what constitutes a 'clear and obvious' mistake though - for example our pen at BHA wasn't' a clear and obvious mistake (I shouted pen from the sofa - btw) but if THAT was a clear and obvious mistake why didn't VAR give KWP's similar one at Fulham (or at least spend 5 minutes looking at it) or the blatant handball. It frustrates the hell out of me to the point where it forces me to type boring replies on chat forums.

And that is where they have got the implementation of VAR wrong. All fans want the Gabbiadini type decision overturned (and to be fair the last couple of offside goals we have scored were correctly ruled out). What they should have done is make it like the umpire's call in cricket which gives half a stump of doubt. Get the linos to do their job and flag for offside when they see it and use a margin of 5cm say for 'lino's call'. If he flags and the attacker's toe, armpit or nostril hair is behind the line or in the disputed zone then he is onside - don't deliberate for minutes on end in case he is 5.0001cm. One or two slomos should do it otherwise it goes down down to Lino's call and given or not given. 100% correct. No consistency for applying the rules. If that was a pen at Brighton it should have been a pen at Fulham. We had a duff ref on the pitch and in the VAR studio which is not good combo.

Had to remind myself to keep breathing when JWP put the ball down for the free kick - deserved a goal but a great save to push it on to the post. Reminded me of the Wolves game, there was no space for our passing game and there were too many long balls just handing possession back. Although Long did OK (just stay onside for once, you can't get away with it these days) I'd have preferred to have seen Walcott up front and Djenepo on from the start. Tella for Armstrong on 60 mins (why didn't this happen Ralph?). KWP was excellent and should have had a pen when he got clattered or at least a free kick. And we should have a pen for the handball. The xG stat doesn't seem to work for us, 0.17 yet we hit the bar, missed an open goal, had the ball in the net twice (ruled out for offside). See the villa game for another example, scrappy first hour, xG of .35 yet we're 4-0 up. Need to beat WHU on Weds.

Well there is that

I think it will be Stephens in for Vestegaard as he is comfortable on the ball - I don't know enough about Salisu but suspect he is more of a Bednarek replacement?

I used the Prime App for the first time too. It was terrible, like watching a dodgy stream with so much buffering and freezing. It had better improve for the next game! Totally agreee with the Theo & KWP love and hearing the crowd appreciating the Vesty diagonals (plus the instant control) to either of them was great.

It's easy to forget but just before the sending off that game was Arsenals for the taking. I think Ralph was right to make the changes he did although Theo still looked full of running. The passing was too slow for the last 20 minutes - we got round the back a few times but I'd have liked Redmond in particular to have linked up with KWP more when he was on the right. When Bertrand did make forward runs the ball rarely came to him and just got slowly played inside or backwards. I'd like to have seen Daillo on for Romeu to speed the passing. But only minor gripes relly. Theo's goal was fantastic and Che's link up play is starting to remind me of SRL. 8 points from 15 is about right since the Int Break and could have been more - great times to be Saints supporter.

Yes, good point. He is a very good player but sometimes holds on to the ball too long. In recent games we have been very good in pressing him and getting hr turnover. It might be more difficult this year - although we have been focussing on full backs for the press, so maybe the triggers will still be there.

As others have said, it is so difficult to pick a MoM with the way the team is playing. JWP for me - I love the way that when he turns in space now he drives forward and it helps that we have (take your pick of) KWP, Armstrong, Walcott, Ings, Adams, Redmond, Djenepo all busting a gut to get into space ahead of him. Even Romeu is carrying the ball forwards now given the opportunity. The point about having no crowd is interesting as I know I would have been moaning about all the side-to-side and pre-meditated backwards passes but not last night. You can see there is a plan - get the ball to Vestergaard in space, draw in the opposition 'press' and then slide the ball into JWP/Rom or an attacker who drops deep in space who then turns and runs at the opposition defence. the same happens when we press and nick the ball. The ultimate slow, slow, punch them in the face. I would have struggled to stay patient before but I loved last night. Look forward to many more comfortable 2-0 home wins where the opposition team 'doesn't turn up'

Sinisa Mihalovic (if you know your 90's Italian football) used to regard a direct freekick as a chance to score equivalent to a penalty kick. Just ocasionally I'd like to see him bend one into the other corner just to keep the keeper on their toes.

I could have quoted about a dozen of the posters on the forum today as they made all the points I wanted to. If we wanted to clinical it could have been a cricket score (key word 'wanted') - they were happy playing around and not even giving Everton a sniff of a 2-1 come back. Ok Richarlison was out but they replaced him with another £50m player - Siggurdson. Thin bench - my arse. Armstrong looked ill/unfit at times Redmond not MoM but put a shift in - final ball wasn’t great but at least he tried to link up play and pass forwards. Vesty was superb JWP & Romeu ran the show Red card was a little harsh - nasty challenge though - didn’t affect the general play let alone the result. I thought it might have been mistaken identity as Bernard was hacking our players down just before. First mention of the 9-0 was on 20 minutes. No-one mentioned we were down to 10 men after about 15 minutes with a very dodgy red card for Bertrand MOTD didn’t show the offside goal. 3-0 would not have flattered us Ings was MoM for me with his link up play. Look forward to the analysis piece similar to the Harry Kane providing assists one…

That's the most important thing for me - not having a Saints focus will mean all we will get is the usual "done well since the 9-0", "credit to th Board for not sacking Ralph" (they couldn't afford to - plus he was the best we could get - thankfully it worked out), "Danny ings to [insert top 6 club here]", "sell all your best players - re Hojberg" (really? - we will manage fine without him, "the JWP terrific delivery" trope that gets trotted out just before the ball hits the first man at the near post. "Ooh that mario Lemina looks like a good player"

Winners: Man City Relegated: Fulham, Brighton, Villa Top 4: Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea Us: 7th Surprise good team: Leeds Surprise shit team: Arsenal Signing of the season as it stands: Werner Shit signing of the season as it stands: Joe Hart / Willian First sacking of the season: Steve Bruce The Managerial “get fed up with mediocrity” resignation: Dean Smith

All of the pundits were banging on about the Villa/Sheff Utd ball over the line goal that wasn’t given being a decider in the relegation battle. No-one remembered Djenepo handling (missed by VAR) in the build up to Ings bundling home against Watford (at St Mary's) allowing us to equalise and then go on and win the game. I particularly enjoyed it because I hadn't forgiven Doucoure for punching the ball into the back of the net robbing us of a win when we really needed it in 2018 at VR.

I've not seen a lot of Fulham (only to watch Reed play). They seem to be a possession based, slow build up, crabbing left to right and backwards team. Very dull, very Puel-ish. I think he would be good back up for Romeu now PEH has gone but he will have to get his head up and be more dynamic (as OR has been since lockdown) to be a success for us.

He is guilty more than most of the no1 sin of passing backwards when there is a straight forward forward pass on. There were a couple of times when we had won the ball high up, a chance of an overload and the ball went backwards only to be hoofed out of play by McCarthy when City pressed. I don't understand why we work so hard to get the ball back only to go back to "Puel Ball", safety first, boring football. (sometimes you have to go back to go forward - but you can tell when players can't be arsed)