Charlie Wayman

Watching Saints these days has become very unappealing, there is a boring familiarity about the way we play and the inevitability of the outcomes. It is so predictable that any hope of a change of fortunes has evaporated. So it proved again last night.

I hear that he has a stiff neck from ball watching

Heaven forbid that Stephens starts.

Come on chaps, credit where it is due. Stephen Gerrard did a fantastic job at Rangers and is doing a similarly good job at Villa Park. The man has something about him, he knows football inside out and he knows how to motivate a dressing room. We need to move away from the old agenda that all English mangers are crap and accept that one day we will produce some really good managers. It will be the intelligent younger guys who have played in the modern game that lead the charge and we should be excited about it.

It doesn't work like that. Effective protection from current vaccines seems to last about 3 months so people like me who were boosted at the beginning of October will suffer waning effectiveness of the booster by the beginning of Jan 2022. I am expecting that there will then be an announcement of a second booster, hence the rush to complete first boosters before they free up resources to start administering "second" boosters. Vaccine passports will need to be updated at each stage and individuals will likely need to be at the latest level of vaccination protection fro the passport to be valid.

Ralph seemed very distracted and downbeat at his press conference, do you think Palace is his last throw of the dice?

Palace are a vastly improved side under Viera playing some of the most exciting football in the Division. They have front men that can put fear into any defence irrespectively of how defences are set up. It is a joke now to suggest that Saints and Palace are anywhere near on a par. Saints have little chance on Wednesday on current form and with their regular strikers on sick leave what hope there was of getting anything from the game has more or less vanished. With another 3-0 defeat on the cards the main interest may be the fall-out after the game. Surely there will be one bridge too far for Ralph soon, this may be it.

Only 4? Shame we didn't sign him up. Leicester scored 9 against our current flop of a manager!

They were one of my choices at the start of season prediction thread but most on here ridiculed the suggestion.

Dreadful. An appallingly bad performance. Nowhere to go from here except downwards. Yes indeedy Hodgey. On the nail!

No vision and no money

Where will they park the Away coaches and how long before new residents start moaning about match-day crowds, anti-social behaviour and excessive noise from the PA and when Saints score the odd goal (although the latter is a fairly academic question for now).

The absence of Romeu has decided this match IMO. 3-0 to the Arsenal is about the best we an hope for.

Not funny at all. One suspects that the people doing the check-ins were as lax as their British counterparts and just waved people through so in effect nobody knows how many were actually vaccinated.

The fact that so many experts on here can see the limitations of this club, are they surprised at the apparent lack of interest in buying it?

Don't see why. Any port in a storm is safer than being all at sea.

We simply aren't good enough or smart enough which is down to the players and the coaching staff. It will end in relegation one day.

Pathetic. How old are you?

The other 28,000 fans at SMS yesterday who don't agree with you are obviously wrong.

On and on it goes.

Idiot. Prowse screwed him and then put everyone onside.

Ralph never makes wholesale changes so likely same team as Wednesday but Lyanco for Bednarek. No start for Broja. Not sure about Tella though because of that overstretch incident on Weds; if not fit enough to start expect Djenepo (for pace).

Can't you read? It couldn't be more clear. Easier to snipe from the wings than come up with some thoughts of your own.

Ralph's tenure here is probably inextricably tied to the Takeover situation; when the latter is resolved it is likely a resolution of the former will soon follow. New owners are likely to be far more ambitious than Gao and probably will view the last three years under this manager as little more than treading water. We must hope that a new manager coming in will be less in awe and thrall of the big clubs and to be part of the best league in the world. Before Ralph we never heard this kind of negativity around the camp. Why is it necessary for him and by association the Club to be so humble. Most fans have always believed that 'we were in it to win it' not just to make up the numbers and those magical four seasons under Poch & Koeman justified that optimism.

It's been obvious to most for a couple of weeks or more and Blackmore asked Ralph point blank why he didn't give the lad a rest during the PC. Typically though Ralph can't see past his blinkers, the same blinkers that have kept Tella on the sidelines all season, McCarthy in goal for every match and Walcott in a starting XI. Those same blinkers will see Livramento at LB on Saturday even though he had a mare last night.