VectisSaint

Agree about Dave Watson, though to be fair he is not the goalkeeper coach any more, hasn't been for a while. Think 2 of the 3 keepers will go this summer (3 of 4 if you include Harry Lewis), we are being linked with other keepers, the Albanian chap and the Accrington keeper at least).

We won't be getting an extra winger or striker, but we may replace ones that we shift. We will probably bring in a new keeper, 2 or 3 of our current ones will be shipped out to make way. Ralph wants 2 experienced players in each position, so the extras are likely to be at FB (possibly 3) and CM. People need to keep in mind the difference between additional players and simply exchanging what we have in other positions.

But if they went up they would be the strongest by definition. 🙄

Are you sure you mean Brian Miller? I thought he only ever played for BURNLEY (apologies if I'm wrong) . I think maybe you are thinking of Brian O'Neil. Jimmy Case was a pussy compared to O'Neil, but I always thought John McGrath was the real, original hardman. Terry Curran was also a bit of a nutcase, in the nicest possible sense. Most of them wouldn't last 2 minutes in today's PL.

Strange, Ralph said it was, full backs (3) and CM (defensive) were his (paraphrased) words. Jankewitz will be off and Smallbone is a hell of a risk at the moment (he was looking excellent, but you never know with these ACLs). Ralph is looking for 2 players per position, so that is Romeu, Diallo, JWP and one more, counting Armstrong is a mistake, he does very well there but AM is his best position and we are weakened by having him play CM, if we could clone him then it would be different.

Interesting to note that P****y made it to the final without playing a single match. Awarded walkovers in both the QF and SF. Also it should be noted that this was the 2019-20 Final delayed from last season (not that it makes any difference). They also play a level above Saints in the Womens pyramid, so the result is hardly a suprise, hopefully Saints get promoted this summer, but it is up to the authorities to promote teams that have not been able to complete their seasons again. Can't find anything about a 2020/21 Competition/Final, I suspect it has been cancelled.

Nothing irrational about it.

GD is currently 3 better, if Newcastle win both and we draw both GD will be at best 1 different. If they win one match by 2 goals and score more than 4 goals than us they would go above us.

Yes he was outstanding yesterday, he did make one mistake whi h of course lead to the goal, but he covered mistakes by others and prevented several other chances. Effing Okuku was going to name him man of the match but his one error made him go with Adams instead. Take your hate blinkers off, and try judging his performance on the play not the player. Since he has been back in the team we have looked so much better, though I wouldn't suggest that is entirely down to him of course.

They can play together at CB, they did yesterday, and last week. We are playing 3 at the back, and they work together very well. It looks like Ralph is heading back to his preferred/original formation of 3 at the back (hence Bertrand's desire not to stay), and Stephens, Vestegaard and Salisu seem to have already built up a good understanding in this formation, with Vest playing slightly deeper than the other two. Bednarek can presumably fit in as well, in place of Stephens if required, though on the evidence of the last few games Stephens is superior, and brings more to the team in terms of his organisation and vocal qualities. If we revert to 4 at the back then Salisu will get opportunities if Vest stays, and they have played together in a 4 already which didn't seem to be a problem (surprisingly, because I thought they would struggle). I think Redmond will be shipped out this summer (I hope) in order to fund a replacement. There are plenty out there that still rate Redmond, and he would probably be in demand from one of the promoted sides so I don't think it would be too difficult to shift.

He also was instrumental in the move 2 or 3 passes back, kept running and reaped the rewards. The shot took a deflection but it made no difference, did more in 1 minute than Minamino and Redmond combined.

as Loftus-Cheek passes back to the keeper 😉

"The Frenchman has spent the second half of this season out on loan, playing for Birmingham in the Championship." Not since early March he hasn't. The last time he was in a squad was 13 March, and he was an unused sub. Seems to have had a falling out with Lee Bowyer, no idea if he is still there or whether he actually returned to Saints (just seen comment above that he is France). Twitter comments seem to have been his downfall.

Thought he said we were far down the line of getting Bertrand's replacement. To me that sounded positive, possibly a done deal. I don't know why you have got a sinking feeling after that. I said before that the relationship between Ralph and Bertie was never that great from the start, think Bertie's comments reinforced this view, he was a reluctant sign-up to Ralph's way and has generally done a good job , but Ralph clearly is not that worried that he is not staying, knowing as he presumably does that we can (and have) done better). If we go back to 3 at the back as we seem to be doing to some extent already then Ryan is not neccessarily the best way forward, as he seems to imply in his comments. You may also have noticed that Ryan mentioned Liebherrs (plural) specifically, but not a mention for Gao, his comments were very well directed and showed exactly where his enthusiasm and loyalties lay.

He really didn't. No idea what game you were watching. Its not being a boo boy as you put it, its observing his play (or lack of). He is far too lightweight and gives the ball almost whenever he gets it. I take heart from the fact that he will never be a Saints player, there is no chance (in my opinion) of us signing him. I can't see him ever becoming a regular at Liverpool either.

You're entitled to your opinion, even if it is sh*t 😂. It was like we were playing with 10 men, like we played with 9 men against Leicester. He did improve a bit in the last few minutes but really he is hopeless in this league, thankfully not our player, so I don't feel bad slagging him off.

We played 3 at the back for large portions of the Liverpool game, tonight wasn't new.

He didn't. Watch the highlights, he did nothing that you accuse him of. He didn't lose his man, he was facing him when Salah dinked to one side to beat him (that Salah guy, one of the best attackers in the game). Salah actually only had a couple of opportunities all game, eventually being withdrawn by Klopp. Trying to make Stephens your scapegoat for the goal is just plain stupid, if you want the real culprit it was Forster, but we all know he never comes for crosses, good keepers do (and I don't mean Mccarthy). Stephens did actually have one absolute nightmare with Salah earlier in the game, but we got away with it. If you had berated him for that you would have had some credibility. I don't often agree with Duckhunter but in this case he is absolutely spot on.

Did Ralph mention any injury problems from the weekend? I wouldn't be surprised if KWP is out, the knock to his knee near the end was clearly painful, and he was not very mobile afterwards. Could be that Ralph will play Salisu at LB, he is better going forward in that position than Stephens, who was actually very good there defensively (especially when we were operating 3 at the back which we were doing frequently). Yes he did have one bad lapse with Salah, which could have cost us, but quite honestly who doesn't have problems with Mo. What Stephens does give is a lot of vocals and organisation, think he would be better replacing Bednarek at the moment, keeping Vest on the left side where he is best. Doesn't affect tomorrow, but the first goal Saturday should have been dealt with by a competent keeper, sadly we don't have one at the moment, hopefully this will be addressed in the Summer.

Ignoring the fact that Ralph said full backs and a CM (backup for Romeu). Assuming no-one leaves (except Bertrand) we will sign 2 or 3 FBs and a DM extra - this will bring us up to having 2 per position. I think we will also bring in a new AM, Striker and possibly keeper, but they will be replacements for players departing, I can see us moving out two of Redmond, Djenepo, Adams, Obafemi, N'Lundulu. Either Forster or McCarthy will go, new young keeper in as #2 (Toby Savin?). Walcott is allegedly a done deal. We have no money but that doesn't stop some wheeling & dealing to freshen up the squad.

What was the Stanley keeper like? Toby Savin. We were heavily linked with him last Summer, possible we agreed to hold on for a year.

Theo hasn't been the same since he came back from injury. Rather like Ings. I'm reasonably confident that a good pre-season will see them firing again.

I don't think (don't know) they ever had a falling out, and yes RB did praise Ralph for having a plan, unlike his predecessor. But when Ralph came in he made PEH Captain, and RB was certainly on the fringes for a while, at the same time that Ralph marginalised other players like Cedric, Boufal, probably Hoedt and one or two others who weren't on board with the plan/Ralph's way of doing things. It was all about the same time that RB was dropped by England, which may have been injury related. It took a little while before RB was reintegrated into the squad. At least that's how I remember it, but the old memory is not what it was, and I can't be arsed to trawl back through the archives. Don't really have an axe to grind with Bertrand merely trying to justify why things are not turning out as he and some of his fans on here would wish.

Apart from Mane are there any other ex Saints playing? Maybe Ox on the bench. Think the ex Saints thing is a bit past its sell by date now 😕

Finally, someone has remembered, was beginning to think I'd imagined it. He didn't sign up to the Hassenhuttl vision initially, and there was some doubt for a while that he would even be involved. Can't recall the details but eventually he seemed to get on board, but I guess there has always been a bit of a doubt in Ralph's mind about his commitment to the cause (Ralph's way). Clear also with recent news that McQueen was seen as his backup and probably successor, but that all went pear shaped with Sam's unfortunate rehabilitation/recovery. Really not surprised that RB has not signed a new contract, Saints have clearly offered him one based on what they think he is worth which doesn't match up to his own view. His performance level in the last year or so has clearly deteriorated and Saints don't see him as a the answer for next season, they threatened his position this season with their pursuit of Brandon (?) Williams who was never going to come as a backup. He has been a good servant for Saints but he has passed his sell-by date and needs to be replaced. Sorry to see him go in some ways, but we need to find a replacement who will give us more than he does, and that shouldn't be too difficult. I can see us signing 2 LBs this summer, to replace the two that we are probably losing (can't see us renewing Sam's contract sadly).