Gloucester Saint

He might need preserving mainly for Tests, playing some white ball but not as much as he has been. Missed quite a bit of the summer with hamstring issues. Tongue would prioritise for red ball now and attack leader in Tests given his injury record.

Agreed, although as with Lowe, a boycott at home games but keeping attendances up at away games for profile can accelerate the process. Solak has pockets miles deeper than Lowe’s but he won’t want to underwrite huge losses season after season to indulge Rasmus’s fantasies.

Fernandes taking inspiration from Ramsdale’s record.

Gavin the Skate. Or Agent Gavin. He’s already that in my book anyway. Would be a fitting finale to his time at Saints to let a couple of chocolate wrist specials in at the Fish Shed. The Fratton End loving him, the Saints away end chanting ‘you skate bastard’.

Surely a German Nathan Jones eg ‘I could’ve become a PE teacher and settled down with a lovely Rhine Valley girl…’

St Austell already have Tribute Extra Special out on sale, sounds like there’s a Creamflow/Nitro version coming with Kentish hops…

It’s probably more about FFP headroom at this stage. Downs after wages compromise settlement probably helps. Archer we might get 50% of the fee paid but like Downs his wages will be beyond most non-parachute clubs. Aribo I think we are landed with until the summer as he’s not fit enough for selection so won’t be usable to anyone else. It’s like he didn’t have a pre-season. Astonishing state of affairs. Edozie has disappeared, could get a small loan fee for him if vaguely fit for someone else to use. Less likely than Joe to pile on the pounds. Bazunu is a write off - it’s whether the club does it now or in the summer.

Yes, about those players.. McCarthy - contract up summer 2026 anyway and fine as #2 to end of this season anyway. Bazunu needs paying up and off. Too costly for a #3 and he’s not a #2 or a natural goalkeeper whatsoever. Yes, that costs money but he can’t keep goal and he’s very expensive as a toilet cleaner. George Long loan - an incredibly stupid decision at the time and was widely called out. Dragan can take some more losses on those. Downs - does have German interest but will need a settlement to go on the wages, so it’s whether the accountants prefer that or a lower fee to offset. Archer - might get a buyer at this level to play off a target man, but I agree he’s been terrible. Making an argument to dislodge Guido Carrillo from the worst ever Saints XI albeit Carrillo still has the top flight version sewn up. Fraser - contract up in the summer and nobody will pay him what we are even on loan. Another Russell Martin special. Aribo - his lack of fitness is appalling and he and his agent should be ashamed. If he wasn’t fit and available to play then the club should have docked his pay when Quelle surprise Saudi top flight clubs didn’t want him. Theirs is also Samuel Edozie and your guess is as good as mine on that. Agree on keeper, winger and striker - but the first and last will be on loan (that’s ok if they are an improvement - hard not to be but SR are capable of finding even worse - see George Long) and middle contingent on Edozie finally going and Aribo leaving the Christmas and New Years buffet alone.

Good luck to everyone watching it, I won’t be, the austere style on display at Oxford in the first half was unwatchable.

Didn’t suit him last season either. Collided with Wood at Villa for the only goal for example. Him and Nathan Wood or Quarshie are probably the ideal partnership, THB is not the quickest. Edwards a decent 4th option. Why the Stephens extension was ever needed is beyond rational comprehension when you look at the above.

Normally agree with your posts Vectis but even though McCarthy has been poor this season and too old, at least he actually looks and performs like a goalkeeper should and not an outfield player in there because the regular keeper was sent off/injured as used to happen before the 2000s, which is what Bazunu is. Manning - has had some good attacking moments but the defensive lapses have cost more points beyond. Pity Jelert is a sick note.

Spot on as ever Glen and especially the comments on formation, Jack Stephens and Gavin Bazunu. It has to be Ankerson insisting on Bazunu playing and probably Stephens because neither are there on ability, form or merit. Bazunu is nearing the end of his deal and at least could be paid up and out of the club. It’s the obvious option - he’s not good enough for #2 and too costly for a #3 keeper. Stephens….who knows given that ludicrous extension. And it didn’t need the benefit of hindsight either - it was moronic at the time.

At least Mr RAF moustache got something right, although I’d prefer it if he did his job and actually reflected this in his output, instead of stressing about receiving a text message from Denmark.

Agree with your post @Forester but as @badgerx16 says, the reason Tonda keeps repeating the same mistakes in formation, personnel and goalkeeper is because he’s got a gun to his head from Ankerson almost certainly. It’s also why there’s such horrific turnover in Sporting Directors - Spors is clearly casting his net in the Bundesliga. The DoFs are supposed to be reporting directly to Dragan after Kraft was dismissed but I bet Solak delegates it to Rasmus and that’s exactly how Ankerson manipulated it at SR Board level I strongly suspect.

There’s more doubling down than the WDC at the Ally Pally. I’ve never seen in business people so desperate not to admit mistakes - formation, team selection, Stewart and Bazunu stand out - let alone put them right. Has to be Ankerson driving it and no coincidence as soon as Still sacked and Eckert interim that Gavin dislodged McCarthy.

Yep, there are plenty of helpful idiots that will go along with it - eg Alfie House - and sections of the fanbase, although those sections are shrinking by the week.

He certainly shouldn’t be on penalties - another example of poor leadership and direction on and off the pitch.

Agree with many aspects of the OP, but the failure is down to large, unbalanced squads built for player trading and gambling, not for successful teams. Add in rigid corporate tactics and SR yet to appoint an experienced manager not grateful for appointment and tugging their forelock and easy to see the issues. Doug Ellis interfered at Villa in the 1980s, taking them from European Champions to D2 within 5 years (including a 5-0 battering at the Dell in the snow - Saints didn’t play especially well even). He finally appointed a successful and no-nonsense manager in Graham Taylor. Taylor straight away banned Ellis from team meetings and the dressing room area in very blunt terms (Martin Keown’s book) and things turned around after an indifferent start. That’s the only way SR can turn this around - experienced manager, his tactics and line-ups, he selects the players he wants and Spors secures them. Ankerson banned from the club and Solak attends matches and that’s it.

Agree on the heart and fight, but Blackburn were worse than Oxford and we capitulated up there as well. The fact remains that they were in the bottom three having just sacked their manager, and the style of football chosen by Ankerson and complied with by Tonda was totally inappropriate and played into Oxford’s hands. Dreadful to watch to boot.

Context Nick - that Leeds side was a great team for a decade - it’s like the England cricket team getting hammered by Warne, McGrath, Ponting and the rest. Everton was worse as they were past the Holy Trinity title winning legends by then but still a huge difference to being outplayed and outthought by Oxford United on 5% of our budget in a 3-sided stadium. I turned over at HT because it was obvious we would get done on the counter and the football was more turgid than anything Branfoot served up, all at the request of Rasmus Ankerson.

All recruited by SR. Think back to when Koeman was bringing in the likes of Pelle, Tadic and Mane. Not saying Saints hadn’t ever looked at or scouted them but clearly players the manager specifically wanted. We’ve had very poor managers under SR but they’ve also had bad hands dealt to them with the level of interference and crap players randomly dumped on them via the Ankerson family transfer tavern.

Delighted for the England fans who travelled, friend of mine was sending video clips of the run chase. The Aussie supporters were sporting at the end saying ‘good win England’. The pitch curator, as they call them there, is getting some hammer though for their sporting centrepiece ending in just two days.

SR/Rasmus won’t allow it.

I broadly agree with this post. Tonda is just another face on Rasmus’s operation and approach, if he goes it’s more of the same. The only way the patient can improve or even have signs of hope is a takeover and SR’s departure. Being outplayed by Oxford United in a 3-sided stadium on 5% of Saints’s budget is in no way an overreaction from any of us, it’s frustration from many at such poor underperformance when the decks were supposed to be cleared with Kraft et al leaving. Tonda should play his own system and team, but it’s clear there’s interference from SR board level. Spors has also alluded to it in previous interviews and is clearly angling for a move.

Funny that. Remember, if not it’s not broken, break it, then break it some more….