Suhari

Very, very encouraging. We need a better keeper: someone who can do the basics and organise the defence.

Tino looks knackered now. Played well though.

It's coming.

Apart from the one at half time?

Cheeky insurance bet time. Free £££.

Good news (kind of) - hopefully not one of those mysterious 'end of window' injuries. I don't like the selection today, but that's irrelevant. It's Saints, at home, in front of fans. Why not another 3-1 or 6-3? COYRS!

Possibly our best player last season. Looked good in pre-season games. Unused sub in loss against Everton. Not on the bench for Manu U. Injured? Do we thnk he's on his way? Would be a saleable asset.

Concerning. Presumably he thinks this is his strongest starting line up, based on fitness and form in training. No S Armstrong? I thought RH said we had no injuries in his conference? No news of a late injury to him (which we'd normally get). Wonder if Adam Blackmore will ask him about it in his pre-match interview.

I know RH said no more signings after Lycanthrope (apart from a LB for the B team), but I wonder if we have held back some £££ for last minute improvements? Earlier in the window I recall he said something about later in the window they expect to have opportunities to make signings normally out of our league. I'm being too optimistic aren't I? We spunked our last £££ on the JWP deal.

Not a signing that breeds confidence, is it? Very strange if he is intended as our main CB; and if not, are we really trusting the current guys as starters? Surprised we haven't gone for Worrell, who seems like the leader we need. That said, I have more trust in our transfers nowadays than in the days of wee Ross. Guess we'll need to give him the benefit of the doubt, back him, and hope!

Some good points. So do you concude that our second-half collapses, which became a familiar sight last season, were more due to fitness issues/lack of squad depth, and individual mistakes, than managerial decisions/tactical errors?

I do find it interesting that we were so good in 2020, and after lockdown 1 were playing incredibly well. And then we seemed to drop off a cliff. Is this down to RH being 'found out' tactically? - If so, surely it shouldn't have taken so long for teams to see how we play? Was our good form just down to luck, or players peforming above their level/having the season of their lives? And how did we go from that to now shitting ourselves in every second half of matches? Would love to see an informed and impartial assessment on this - have any of the tactical footie blogs done analysis of how we played before, to now?

We should have a poll. Are we: a) Being astute in signing upcoming, domestic players from the championship. Or, b) Preparing for life after relegation?

He's the heart and soul of our club though, so small details like that don't matter.

Surely more to it then that? It's not just getting tired. Don't our opponents run too?

Apparently RH has said we'll only make one more signing: a replacement for JV. What happened to his suggestion of a new CM from a couple of weeks ago?

And Shane Long wasn't in the squad yesterday. ✈️

Yep. He looked knackered in the second half, and Rafa put a quicker player than Richarlison against him.

Cahill and Delaney.

Too soon for RH to go. Let him complete the window at least! And Howe? Hell no.

Would you be happy for him to go if it meant we signed Delaney, a starting CB and a new keeper?

First half there were a lot of positives. But failure of the manager to react, and our poor mentality cost us. Again. We need a real leader on the pitch, and better CB options. And RH to start being proactive. Really disappointing, and somewhat worrying.

Where's the edit button?

Now that is a piss poor goal to concede.

FFS Ralph: you are allowed to use the players currently sitting on the bench!