VectisSaint

FFS. Some people really need.to ****ing grow up and stop believing the crap that is spouted by Turkish. If it was anything it was a Poch signimg, but in the end it was just as much a Les Reed signing as any other. Some times the Board got it wrong, though to be fair Osvaldo was still a very good player, just that he was a complete nutjob. Hooefully one day some.people will open their eyes and see that Uncke Les is just as capable of cocking.up.

WE should move above Forest in 2 or 3 games time. It might take a while to crack Derby though as their average home attendance is running in the high 29ks, about 1000 less than us so far this season.

Your link doesn't seem to work correctly, try this one instead: http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?56552-Europa-League-2016-2017&p=2353260#post2353260 The official Europa Squad list should already be available, but has not yet been published anywhere as far as I can see.

At least it proves that not every player these days is a money-grabbing arsehole who wants to leave to play Champions League (even if they don't play CL at their new club).

We don't have 25 senior players (senior players are those who are 21 or over on 1 January). By my reckoning we have 23. The problem really though is not quantity but quality. None of the listed outfield players are better quality in the positions that their counterpart departed players played. Certainly the jury has to remain out on Boufal, he may prove to be the exception. Hojbjerg is quality, but he is clearly not a replacement for Wanyama. Even if all the players are at least as good as those they have replaced this is still only a strategy for standing still. Our strategy should be to improve. Biggest problem is that we have replaced Koeman and Koeman with Puel and Black.

The u21s know how to take penalties. The over 21s are the problem (Reed, Stephens and McCarthy last night are all over 21)

More interested in why Harry Lewis is not playing.

Really confused now about the eligibility rules. Originally it said u21, but now Martin Hunter on the OS, and all of the fixtures say it is u23. Maybe they changed the rules when the changes for PL2 were introduced, even though this would not be what the EFL L1 and L2 Clubs (reluctantly in some cases) signed up to. Sounds like ticket sales at many grounds are pitiful.

No the defensive shield who did not play in 4 of those games because he was suspended (and played 45 minutes in 2 more). Came on at half-time when we were 2 down to Liverpool, which we won 3-2. Also the 9 clean sheets that we kept when he started.

Well aware of that, thank you. Interesting they considered the CheckaTrade trophy to be higher priority than PL2.

and maybe a backup RB on loan...

Did I miss Boufal signing? Has his injury suddenly healed and he is fit to play? There are some seriously deluded people on here that claim not to be able to see that we are not OK this season. Yes we were poor last season early on with RK and also around Christmas, but being poor now does not mean all is well because all was well last season. RK got things working well eventually by going against what the Club wanted, changing style and tactics and upsetting the Board, eventually costing him his job. Does it look like CP will do the same? Does it heck as like. Our back 5 has not changed but we have lost the defensive shield that was Vic (I like Romeu but he is not Vic and at the moment seems to be struggling in this role). We have lost out creative spark, and no sign at the moment of that being replaced in the next few games at least. Its going to be a long hard season.

U23s being stuffed at Sunderland.

Is that what it was? Looked like the groundsman had gone to work after a heavy night on the falling down water. No wonder the linos had a terrible time with their decisions with all of those skewed lines in the grass.

The EFL Trophy is for Under 21s (as of June 30 2016) not u23s. 6 of the starters must be u21. It is PL2 that is for u23s. Hopefully Saints will see sense and play the same squad as for PL2 games which will allow some of our more senior youngsters (such as Stephens, Isgrove, etc) rather than try to make a different team specifically for this tournament. It is a farce that the EFL trophy and PL2 have different rules but that's how it is (AFAIK, I was caught out by the late PL2 rules change, so maybe the EFL Trophy has been changed as well, but all the bumf seems to suggest it has not been changed since it was announced). Trouble is the PL2 team have 2 games in 3 days as they play Sunderland tomorrow, so may be there will be some "rotation". Lewis, Valery, Stephens, Wood or Jones, McQueen, Reed, O'Connor, Johnson, Olomola, Hesketh, Gape.

Seems unlikely, we need to have keepers for all of our teams, sometimes the u23s and 1st team have games close together. We are 4 keepers down on the end of last season (Stek, Kelv, Gazza and Britt) and people are surprised that we have signed two to replace them. I said 2 or 3 weeks ago that we would have to sign another keeper before the window closes, must admit thought we would sign someone younger, but its a necessity and suggests that Gazza is still thought of as a future keeper for Saints rather than how it might have seemed. Guess we'll see Taylor in the matchday squad a few times, but will probably not make an appearance unless FF or McCarthy pick up an injury..

So its probably cheaper by train now. Eurostar to Paris, TGVto Milan. Nice journey, more relaxing than flying and doesn't take much longer door to door. Sadly I will be in Milan about a week before the game.

Who were these 3 successive managers who ignored him? Only Koeman "ignored" him by sending him out on loan twice. He played 48 times under Adkins and Poch and scored 8 goals, this was despite his injuries (most notably his dead leg which was still affecting him last season). He's gone now but people should stop peddling nonsense.

Appears in the training pics today, looks like he is close to be available again.

Pied

Gone to Accrington Stanley Guess something is happening as some morons have been playing with Wiki today. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_Zaza

He really hasn't. Apart from his wonder goal, he is/was very poor as a defender, really looked completely out of his depth. Whenever he played he looked like he didn't have much of a clue what to do and had to be "coached" by Jose or Virgil depending on who was playing alongside. Usually meant he was pushed up almost in to midfield, left us playing 3 at the back at times, even when we were "supposed" to be playing 4 at the back. Don't get me wrong, I liked him, nice guy, always seemed happy, but was not up to the standards required of the PL. He was an Erwin signing and clearly Erwin has a soft spot for him and would like him at Everton. Good luck to him.

I don't agree with the posters who say we only have 6/7m extra anyway. OK, so we have given increases to some players, but we have sold/released at least 8 players, including some top earners (Vic, Pelle, Mane, Ramirez), and only replaced them with 4, at least two of which are going to be relatively low earners (Pied and McCarthy). If our wage bill has gone up or even stayed the same as last season with those changes then there is something drastically wrong.

They have at least two options in Dublin, they have played their last two rounds at two different stadiums in the city because Oriel Park is not up to UEFA standards (Aviva and Tallaght which are both UEFA standard, Shamrock Rovers use the Tallaght for UEFA games, not just qualifiers). The chances of both Dublin stadiums being unavailable are slim. If so they could appeal to UEFA to switch the home and away games with opponents if required, and UEFA will agree. Maybe they can also use Croke.

We should be 4 or 5 up by now. Very one-sided game (I missed first 10 minutes).