trousers

Just got back in from a long day out, well away from football! Meh... Had a hunch that we'd lose a game the moment expectations were raised. Hey ho. Why is football so annoying? How can a side go from being one of the best teams in the land over the last 10 games to back to being poor again (if the assessment of our performance today from the Saintsweb Intelligentsia is anything to be relied upon). Still... most, if not all, other results seem to have been kind to us, so no major damage done. I guess it remains to be seen if this is just a blip or a longer term return to our form during the first quarter of the season. Football, eh?

Just as well given time travel is still proving to be an illusive concept...

It's almost like you have to pay off a deficit before you can start to reduce a debt...

Anatidae

Golden

The same chap that used to run the West Ham ticket office?

Yes And given the number of threads that go around in futile circles, I'm doing quite well out of it as it happens

Bernie

...

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/18166562.southampton-manager-ralph-hasenhuttl-transfer-window/

At least half what you'd have to pay for the same calibre of 'player with potential' these days?

Gotta be reverse psychology, surely? Wasn't that Dr Barry's forté...?

I tried... but the 'search our stock' button doesn't appear to work? #tinpot

People that have a pop at people that have a pop at people that call their vaccuum cleaner a 'hoover' even if it isn't

People that have a pop at people that call their vaccuum cleaner a 'hoover' even if it isn't

Hoover on/off buttons that take about 7 presses to work

Idiots that pull up in their cars in the dark on the opposite side of the road without switching off their headlights thus blinding oncoming traffic. Cretins.

5 year olds drinking in cars rather than waiting for the next stop

Talcum Powder

An outbreak of pragmatism on the Saintsweb Forum? Most disconcerting

If our form in the 2nd quarter of the season (i.e. top 3) is more of an indicator to our performances in the 3rd and 4th quarters than our form in the 1st quarter, then there's every chance we could sneak 7th and a Europa League slot. Given the relative lottery of cup games, I would venture that 'concentrating on the league' gives us a better chance of reaching Europe than via the 'winning a cup' route. (but, of course, would be delighted if we achieved both! )

If its GF then, yep, the effects can actually drag on for years (I had it as a teenager)

^I'm inclined to go with this.^ I'm no body language expert but he appeared genuine when he said there's a danger of blocking the development paths of Vokins and Valery if we get someone in and that he's now more inclined to think that they can provide decent back up sooner than he thought they'd be able to. He certainly didn't seem hacked off in any way.

Ralph in today's pre-match press conference (paraphrased): "We are still looking at the possibility of getting in a full-back. However, Valery is due back quicker than we thought (end of Jan) and Jake Vokins showed in the cup game that he is closer to first team standard than we perhaps thought. So, we have to be careful not to block their path into the first team and will only sign a player if we need to, not for the sake of it. We have the funds to sign someone if we need to."

Not sure where you get a "14th" finishing position from? If we pick up 4 points out of 6 in pairs of games such as Wolves and Palace, surely that puts us in top half territory? What if getting 4 points from those two games contributed to us qualifying for the Europa League (which isn't beyond the realms of possibility if our form doesn't dip too much between now and the end of the season). Would that soften the blow of not winning the FA Cup....?