revolution saint

Cheers for finding this - looks a much more likely kind of target than Ntcham. He seems to tick most of the boxes Ralph would want and is a good long passer so that fits in with the ethos of getting the ball forward quickly. Can also play CB which is handy. For all those conspiracy nuts out there - AZ Alkmaar have Billy Beane (moneyball fella) as an advisor - that's the same Billy Beane who is involved in a consortium looking to buy a premier league club. Probably nothing in it but you never know. Coincidence or is IT happening? Anyway, on the face of it exactly the kind of player we should be looking at but having said that the guy has been linked with a ton of clubs so probably just an over active agent or bored journo.

I would be really surprised if we went for Ntcham - just doesn't look like the kind of player Ralph would be interested in. If anything he looks more like another Lemina type - talented and ambitious but without the workrate to match those aspirations. I guess a new challenge could reignite him though. Other thing is he's a much more forward thinking type of midfielder so he'd probably fit in better in one of the "ten" roles but again would need to get used to running a fair bit more and closing down - could work if Armstrong drops back into midfield but why change something that's working? I reckon whoever we bring in will be more along the lines of Mangala - pretty unknown but willing to work hard and somebody that Ralph feels he can develop.

Aluko and Smith have both been pretty bland and don’t really have much to say apart from the blindingly obvious which is very much like the Jamies, Redknapp and Carragher. Don’t mind Morrison, Dublin or Richards either but if anyone needed to go it was Jeff Stelling. Bloke used to be good but has obviously started to believe his own hype. All his moaning about VAR was tiresome, predictable, boring and in most cases plain wrong.

To make an obvious point stats only tell you what they've done and not what they will do. Inevitably Ralph would give him different instructions, he would have different options, different players around him etc etc. They're not a bad indicator when it comes to tackling etc but not too wise to base a judgement on stats alone. Not that I know eff all about McKennie anyway.

Yeah, funnily enough I was doing some work on this last week. Work for a pretty large employer and sickness has dropped to 50% of what it was pre-lockdown and the pretty much the only sickness being recorded is long term stuff. As for Hancock - what planet is he on? You could spend a lifetime listing the contradictions and inaccuracies of his position, although to be fair, his position will probably shift soon so there wouldn't be much point.

I subscribed to "The Athletic" last week on the £2.50 a month deal. Been impressed so far and Carl's articles were very decent - informative and added something other than just regurgitation of the usual crap on the web. If I'm honest then Dan's two so far have been a bit bland - didn't reveal anything I didn't already know and neither did he venture an opinion which made me think. Hopefully gets better soon though.

You clever fella. Must have an ology

Way I see it Mckennie isn't going to set the world alight with silky skills and a great range of passing but then he'll be competing with Romeu and won't need to be the most skilful player anyway. Looks like he has stamina, can tackle, good in the air and used to a high intensity pressing game. Will probably pose more of a goal threat than Hojbjerg ever did so that's in his favour but ultimately we're looking for a workhorse that can close down the opposition, win the ball and give it to the four players in front of him as quickly as possible. Whether he's the best bet at 20M to do that is anyone's guess but he can probably do a decent job.

Not sure he's technically a comedian (although he does try to be funny) but John Oliver annoys the hell out of me. For those who don't know he's the one who does "Last Week Tonight" on Sky. I should be inclined to agree with him on most things given I'm a bit of a leftie but he shows such intolerance for anyone on the other side of the argument that it's hard not to despise him. Thing is a lot of what comes out of the programme is really interesting but John Oliver himself is a very unfunny and hypocritical host. Trevor Noah does a very similar show but does it infinitely better. Bill Maher is starting to grate as well and I used to really like him - think it might be that their opposition to Trump has made them far more polemical than funny. For that matter chuck in Frankie Boyle - was funny but now isn't most of the time.

To be honest I think the link is probably the workings of an over-active agent and/or a club desperate for cash. Since the summer he's been linked with Sheffield United, Brighton, Wolfsburg, Napoli and Roma (there's probably more too). As others have said, it's hardly a priority area right now either. Anyway, for those interested, here's a piece I found on Darwin Nunez that gives a bit more of an insight into his game: https://footballbh.net/2020/04/07/darwin-nunez-201920-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics/ Looks like he has a lot of the things Ralph likes in his forward players so possibly there's something in it......but probably not.

There ain't much YouTube stuff on him but the bits I've seen are OK. Not a player with any outstanding attributes in that he's not a huge big target man and neither is he a quick little player with bags of tricks. So from that point of view he doesn't offer us anything blindingly different to what we already have but he does look to be a decent finisher.

I know, I watched the game which is why I said he hadn’t started a game yet. If you want to play pedant at least have a read of before replying. Ta

Been reading up on Ntcham - don't think he's started any game for Celtic this season (not that there's been many games). Celtic have quite a few midfielders and are looking to trim the squad so it probably wouldn't be a hard deal to make if that's what we're looking for. Ntcham appears to be a much more forward thinking player than Hojbjerg so wouldn't be a like for like replacement. To be honest bits I've seen haven't been that convincing - tends to jog a fair bit rather than break a sweat but maybe I've seen the wrong clips and games.

As 99% of football fans, we would just like to say it would be great if you could take your middle class pretentiousness elsewhere.

Well I did notice that Hinteregger played some games as defensive midfielder in his youth team and early RB Salzburg career but that seems a long time ago and I'm not sure he's mobile enough for 4-2-2-2 formation. Several reasons why it won't happen - wrong age and too expensive being the obvious ones but at face value certainly looks a good player. Anyone who can chip in with goals from set pieces is going to love JWP corners.

No, to be fair I think he absolutely could fill that void Eriksen has left and I urge all Saints fans to tell Spurs supporters this. In fact I think he's probably better than Eriksen. The meltdown when they realise he's not will be priceless.

Nothing gets past you does it Charlie? You must be like some kind of MI5 genius or something! OK, I'll admit it - I've never ever seen him play but tell me one thing - how on earth did you figure it out?

He needs to sort his hair out. I presume the photo was taken pre-lockdown so there's really very little excuse for that kind of behaviour. Outside of that I've been raving about the kid for years - pace to burn, wand of a left foot, hammer of a right foot, great touch for a big man, great in the air for a little bloke (leaps like a salmon!), does the simple things well and the complicated things simply, great composure for one so young and hungrier than Ghandi. The kid has a bright future (hair aside).

Don't forget that Armstrong can also play in the middle (and when he was at Celtic that was his preferred position). Personally think he's found his best position in our system and would be a shame to move him but could certainly do a job if either JWP or Romeu are injured/suspended. Also got Smallbone and this Jankewicz fella so although it would be good to get a replacement of some sort it's not an absolute necessity (and it's important to keep some sort of pathway to the first team).

I'm pretty relaxed about the PEH replacement. Club have known for ages that he would be off so they've had plenty of time and probably have more than one target they're working on. Weston McKenzie did sound pretty good but won't be long before there's another link to someone unknown that sounds even better. Normally AB is pretty spot on with these things so I don't think WM is gonna happen though.

Harry Wilson is dog turd. No way does he fit the profile Ralph is looking for. The lad will be last name on the team sheet for a division one side in a few years time.

Genuine question - is Mangala that kind of player? Precious little info on him that I can find except that he has dainty little ballerina feet and can dance through tight spaces. Not a bad attribute to have but doesn't normally come with the "powerhouse" package.

So basically it's just the same group of players but more closely aligned with the first team and a bit more oversight from Ralph. File this under why weren't we (and everyone else) doing it anyway. It's the same with all this moneyball nonsense - just good scouting nothing particularly revolutionary but a fancy new name for something that's been going on for years (admittedly a bit more data around now but the principles would have been the same).

Agree Watkins does look a good player but difficult to judge how well he'll do in the premier league. I guess the question is whether he'll be better in his first season than Che Adams after a season of adapting to the pace and power of the division and starting to show some of the form people were expecting from him. No one really knows the answer to that so it's a gamble (as all transfers are). Course that's assuming Adams would go if Watkins were to come in. It's not really a priority for us and I don't see Ralph giving up on Adams yet either. Defence looks as though it's getting sorted and as long as we replace Hojberg then I think we're in a better position than the start of last year. I'm still hopeful that Djenepo will play a much bigger part this season and will remain fit. Generally speaking I think the system we play is quite difficult for players to get their heads around and be fit enough to operate so there may be a longer acclimatisation period for new players than would otherwise be the case.

RB Leipzig were linked with Matty Cash back in 2017 when Ralph was still managing them. That was before he was converted to a full back but could be something in this.