macca155

Lots of bravado on here, which I want to embrace, but that's going to melt away when the shit starts flying. It will be relentless in every stadium, football fans have long memories. On top of that, journalists will be digging for a story now. Other 'alleged' offences will start being talked about, even if it's complete bollocks, the noise will constant. There certainly won't be much joy in the forthcoming matches. It feels like the club is trying to tough this one out, but I'm not sure that's going to cut it. Bloody season is ending like the last one. Wembley seems a distant memory now.

Well yes obviously, but don't their own fans deserve some explanation. Imagine how shit it will be for those travelling to Middlesbrough tomorrow.

WTF is that statement .... ridiculous

If they chuck out Saints, it let's in Wrexham ...... whose players are on holiday right now. If they give Boro a bye they'll be a meltdown from the other two teams. They won't want that mess. Could be a whopping fine though

We've all had to go early for jobs, transport, or in my case 'wife in Labour' 😲 reasons. That's fair enough it happens occasionally, but the mass of people streaming out on 85 minutes when it's 1 0 or something, drives me mad. Those of us who stayed to the bitter end of the 0 9, should get tickets priority for life. Behind those who went to Tranmere obviously. That was category A trauma.

Love those pictures of the City fans leaving as Haaland does what Haaland does. Never leave early Bet the Arse Al fans are enjoying this.

It will be another day at the office for Saints. Team picks itself if they are available. The only decisions are Fellows/Matsuki and Stewart Larin. Whilst it would be great to see Stephens back, he has to be 100% fit, but I'm sure Tonda is on that. Being behind the goal for once does give you a very different perspective. Wood really is a massive physical presence in defence. I wouldn't underestimate how important that is. I just wish his positioning was as sharp.

Charles has been surprisingly decent at RB but they are getting a bunch of crosses in, which doesn't bode well. Classic end of season, Saints doing just enough. They'll be kicking towards us 2nd half, that should give some momentum to put this game to bed. Stewart has been poor, ball keeps pinging back. Need a change there.

The bench was just below us at Wembley, when he came off he was shattered, could barely walk. It's not about the time, it's the intensity. Nevertheless he should have replaced Charles at 2 1, he would gave helped shore up the midfield.

The run they have been on has been incredible, but that comes at a cost. They aren't machines, well Jander is 😲, and when the game is all about fine margins, mistakes creep in from tired minds and bodies. Wood is bigger, stronger, faster, and braver in the block, yet despite all that Jack's calmer more experienced approach was desperately missed yesterday. McKenna beat Tonda yesterday by throwing on as many subs as he could to maintain the intensity of their press. Massive gamble because they were struggling as well, but it worked. However I've learnt to trust Tonda now, and I suspect he had good reasons not to bring on all his allowed subs. I doubt Bragg could move off the bench, he left everything at Wembley. Feels like they've settled for 4th or 5th now. I bet we see Archer, Matsuki and Quarshie on Saturday.

Fair result tonight, they turned up and kept fresh legs on the pitch. Rode their luck a bit (as did Saints), and got a result. Should be enough for them now, and frankly I'd rather avoid them in the play offs. Saints looked very leggy, which wasn't a surprise. Ref made life difficult for Saints by allowing Ipswich to be physical. A few early cards would have stopped that nonsense. On to Preston and hope we can get 4th place.

Why are they doing this again, it was carnage last time

I wouldn't underestimate the emotional drain of Saturday's game, but they are pros and need to deal with it. They better not be complacent, this is a season defining game. However we said that about Wrexham and look how that went. No Downes for 2 more games. Normally I'd agree on Stephens, but I've been mighty impressed with Wood recently. If he coped with Harland and co, he should be confident about tonight. Good thing is that even if Quarshie plays, I'd still be reasonably confident. Having such a strong well managed squad, just makes things more stable.

Not worth worrying about the autos really, what will be will be. Saints need to win both games, and rely on two teams dropping points, and make up a goal difference of 6. If it happens amazing but the odds are very low. I certainly don't think Tonda should be risking any player pursuing that goal. Really need to think about the play offs. Saints need to need to finish above 5th to have home advantage in the 2nd match., that is so important. That's really only happening if Saints beat Ipswich on Tuesday. That will force Middlesborough to have to go for the win against Wrexham, rather than holding out for a draw. The defence should be fine, Manning will be fresh and Quarshie can cover if necessary. Up front Larin, Stewart, and Archer are being rotated well. Edozie and Robinson can provide cover for Fellows and Scienza. Its the midfield I worry about. We really need Jander and Bragg to start but they must be on empty by now, both physically and emotionally. Charles and Matsuki should be fresh but both have a tendency to leave gaps, and are not as intense when tackling. Both are way better playing further up. Just have to cross our fingers and hope they are ok. We may even see Romeu's wrecking ball act for a few minutes. Azaz is a worry, need him fit. Need to remember Ipswich aren't Man City and they have their own demons to deal with. No need to panic, if the crowd are behind them they should have enough to beat Ipswich. Big big game

Not a time to be wobbling. 2nd place remains a possibility but it is unlikely. I'm sure Ipswich will play not to lose on Tuesday. At this stage of the season that won't be difficult, and that will be that. However the play offs are very different, Saints will be favourites and that's when the squad will show it's strength. Fans will need to be right on it again. Remember it took hundreds of millions of pounds worth of talent, to beat Saints yesterday. The other play off contenders will all be looking to avoid us.

This , as I travelled back, I seemed to be in a City fans bubble. Lots of chat and without exception they were gracious, and frankly hugely relieved. Their beef was with Pep's team selection, they felt that was disrespectful and they were in danger of making the same mistake as Arteta. Class inevitably told in the end, but Saints have turned heads this year. Avarice eyes are going to be looking at Tonda and quite a few of our players. The club will struggle to hold on to them if we fail to go up. The stakes are very high.

They've got Wrexham last game, way tougher than ours

Why all the fuss about trains. Played a round of golf, straight on an empty train (stopper from Pompey) should be there before 2pm. We'll probably lose, but there's always a chance. They aren't invincible and this team continues to amaze me. Getting home will be fun with Arsenal playing at 5.30pm, but hey who cares.

Downes has been cruising for this for a while. He needs to learn some self control. That was a red every day, the yellow was very lenient. 3 games that don't matter that much, shame for him but he'll be fit for the play offs, which are the key games. Jander, Bragg, and Charles can cover defensive midfield duties and errr Romeu.

No team whoever they are wins every game. The run they have been on has been incredible, and I've enjoyed every minute. A draw feels like a defeat but City played well and rode their luck. Good old Woy did us again. Saints were caught off guard by the press, and they were chasing the game from then on. Sure they looked tired but City were gassed (see what I did there) after 70 minutes, and Saints nearly took advantage of it. Couple of observations. Whoever decided to water the pitch like that, needs to be put on litter duty for a week, ridiculous. Charles should have been subbed, he wasn't making tackles or tracking back. Both THB and Peretz had a right go at him on a couple of occasions. With Azaz anonymous today, there were too many holes in midfield. On the positive side how good was Larin. Find of the season imo. He battled constantly for the ball and made a right nuisance of himself. Archer also had a good game and set up several chances. Just need to get Saturday out of the way now. My 6th FA cup semi final. I just hope we get through it unscathed.

Problem is crowd dynamics are not straightforward. Saints were expected to beat Blackburn. 5 minutes into the game and it was obvious Blackburn's only ambition was to hold out and avoid a spanking. With zero jeopardy it's hard to raise the spirits. There was more interest on the phones watching the Pompey score. The players must be running on empty now, and no matter how professional they are, Saturday will inevitably be a distraction. A draw or defeat is very possible tonight, and I'm sure we'll all deal with it after we've got over the shock. Nevertheless the competition remains open, Saints are still in it, so I intend enjoying it while it lasts.

Good result today really. Pushes Boro further behind Saints and pulls Ipswich even closer. All we know is that Hull are pretty much out of the automatic fight. Assuming Saints beat Ipswich, and if they don't the discussion on autos ends anyway, the maximum each side can get is. Ioswich 85 Millwall 85 Saints 84 Middlesbrough 82 We still need two teams to drop points and somehow win ours. I was convinced it would all be over by now. It's incredible how Saints keep raising their game, but the dice just keep on rolling in our favour. Onto Tue/Wed games, we go again. Both Ipswich and Millwall will be desperate to avoid Saints in the play off . That's going to create extra pressure. Players of all sides will be knackered so expect the unexpected.

The stars are aligning

Everything is predicated on both Millwall and Ipswich dropping points, but if Saints are going to overtake Ipswich's GD, then not only must they win, they need to win by a few. No good going to Preston needing to win 3 or 4 nil. Need to ramp up the pressure every game. Ridiculous, under normal circumstances a win would be sufficient, but this is the situation we find ourselves in. We have to ask the impossible. All it needed was better management in Aug, Sept, and October, dreadful now we look back at it.

That is his key skill, he shoots on site, hard and fast. That was his trademark at Villa and Middlesbrough. It's what sets a Prem level striker apart from the journeymen like Armstrong. The problem is he rarely gets himself into a position to do it. Ings was similar but he did have that edge. I've always rated him and I'm pleased he's finally finding some form. Doesn't nullify some pretty inept performances though, although he probably wasn't feeling the love from previous bosses. Tonda really is a wizard with players. If we'd kept Dom Ballard, goodness knows what Tonda would have done with him.