VectisSaint

Strange that it is said Danny is wanting CL football, but is being linked to Spuds. Just remind me of their current position and who would be the team they might overtake, Liverpool looking most likely I suppose.

There is no reason at all why the club cannot be open about the current injury situation, which has nothing to do (apparently) with the 'personal' situation. But they won't because it is not how the club work. Can you imagine if this had happened to a player at Man U or Liverpool? No way would it have remained private.

You didn't quote the winky thing from my post. 😉

Maybe its because he can't eat together with the other players. Ralph said that was a problem because of Covid. The other things cryo-chamber, sauna, even swimming pool could be covered elsewhere or at his home, but eating with the other players is not simple to replicate. 😏

Fine for me, sadly have to listen to Hoddle whining on, and someone playing 1970s tennis computer game in the background, but good stream.

Glad someone has noted that its nothing to do with salary, this was stated explicitly yesterday (By Ralph?) yet so many on here seem to keep banging on about the money, suspect that his wage demands are nowhere near what is being bandied around on here. I agree it seems likely that it is a release clause issue. People also seem to be a bit blinkered about him going to a Top 6 club, maybe his thoughts are further afield, perhaps Ronald is trying to tempt him to Barca to replace Messi or perhaps he fancies a go in Italy or Spain. There's still a long way to go to the Summer, lots can happen between now and then, I'm not going to worry too much until this season is over, I still think his affinity for Southampton FC is a bigger factor than some credit.

It may even be more expensive, but at least the Club will have a bigger margin, which is good for the finances of the club. Like JBS said UA golf gear is top class, only started wearing it because of Saints sponsorship.

No reason not to play Bertrand, he is suspended for the next PL game so no need to rest him.

We lost against the team now 2nd in the League. We played really well, first half especially. Biggest problem by far is that we are not creating chances, with Ings out there is no one getting in and around the box either getting in to goal scoring spaces or drawing fouls to give JWP a shot on goal. Some of our play last night was absolutely stunning swift decisive one-touch play, but sadly lacking the killer punch. Thought Smallbone was excellent, really looked the part playing in a slightly different role, some of his work was really very good, but of course his injury curtailed his match, and looks as though he may be out for some time if it is ligament damage as it appears. Bertrand really let us down, not so much in this match but getting a complete unneccessary yellow eaves us in big trouble for the Arsenal (PL) match, so unprofessional, and seems he was a little fortunate not to get a red (though it would have been very harsh). Decisive goal came from a big mistake by referee, and we didn't get time to reset with Theo giving the ball away, Maddison showed how good he can be with how he fashioned and took the goal, though McCarthy and Stephens could possibly have done better, sometimes you just have to accept that you concede because of the skill of the opposition rather than because of a mistake. Second goal, meh, so what, we should have been throwing the kitchen sink at them not putting our defenders under pressure. Bit concerned about Adams, hopefully he wasn't replaced due to injury, but it didn't look too good, and as a tactical change it didn't make sense. Will be interesting to see what sort of team Ralph puts out for Shrewsbury, when even the youngsters are getting decimated by injury. We desparately need one or two additions, especially a full back, but can't see it happening.

There are some cocks on here who blame Stephens even when he's not on the pitch. He did get turned a bit easily, but in his defence he should not have been put in that position, Diallo was so clearly fouled. Thought actually Madison did ever so well to score that.

One of the problems of Covid is people generating fake news, such as this. The PL rules say a negative test has to be given before a player can return. See quote below: In line with Premier League COVID-19 rules, a player who has tested positive for the virus can return to action once they have served their period of quarantining and then return a negative coronavirus test result. You can definitely still be contagious after 10 days of quarantine, that's why 14 day's has been the norm in other contexts. Danny will have had to provide a neg test before he is allowed to rejoin the bubble.

Well, its what Ralph basically said. It is the process that the PL have put in place.

He has to provide a negative test before returning to the training ground today. He has completed the required isolation period but the negative test is the critical step, he might still be infectious even after the mandatory isolation period.

Given Ings is expected back in training tomorrow (according to Ralph) and assuming that he hasn't actually suffered too much in terms of symptoms, I would at least put him on the bench for Leicester, after all we don't have another PL game for 10 days.

Tella missing as well. Reckon that might mean Long. Our bench will be interesting, do we have to name 9 players?

You missed all the stuff about fluid on the knee then. If only Ings is out with Covid following the Liverpool game and the goal celebrations then we can probably count ourselves quite fortunate. Blackmore doesn't rule him out completely. I did wonder when all the fuss was going on about the Shrews FA Cup tie whether there was something going on at Saints that was making a resolution less simple than it might otherwise have been. People were flinging stones at Shrewsbury ignoring our glass houses.

Whatever happened to him (I assume he was a him)? Predictions of 17th would be good for a laugh this season.

The Football League have jumped all over Grimsby, not the Football Association. Different organisations for different competitions. Grimsby is irrelevant to the Shrewsbury situation.

Incoming from Waterloo. We could nickname him Bomber.

Nile Ranger is hardly an example, he's not one of our own for a start, he was only in our Academy for about 12 months, several weeks of which he spent in a young offenders institution for nefarious activities in which he took part before he joined. He was previously at Crystal Palace. Played over 50 times for Newcastle. Other players "rejected" by Saints in our Academy include Dennis Wise, Kevin Phillips, Tyrone Mings and indeed our own Danny Ings, all of whom seemed to have or are having decent careers following their rejection. Should we also class Harrison Reed or Matt Target as rejects? Both playing regularly in the Premier League, and both earned us decent transfer money. But David's point is a good one, a large proportion of (at least our older) Academy players go on to have a decent career in professional football, albeit not at the same level as they might have hoped. I think the Academy system really doesn't work the way it is intended, most of these guys would have played regular football at a lower level "in the good old days", the Academy system holds back all but the very best kids because it is so difficult to break into senior football, especially at the PL or Championship level. Personally I would scrap Academies, they do not work as intended for the vast majority of youngsters, but I don't know what the real answer is.

You realise that applies to Bertrand as well. There are still 2 games before the number of yellows before a ban increases to 10 (it doesn't reset), Leicester and Leeds.

Would be shocked if Romeu doesn't come straight back in, unless his injury is not completely cleared. One of our best players this season, and best in the PL according to some metrics. Ralph likes to keep partnerships together (Romeu/JWP) as much as possible, and while he also doesn't like changing a winning team, he does when someone has dropped out through injury. Diallo looks good (I don't quite go with some of the rave reviews of the Liverpool game, second half especially I really wish we had OR in there), and actually think he suits the JWP position more than the Romeu one (but can't see JWP being dropped).

This would be the rules announced on 1 December, which were presented to the Government by the governing bodies in November.

We should rest KWP and Bertrand to make sure they don't pick up a suspension 😉

Will McCarthy be available, and fit to play?