Crouchie's Lawyer

https://twitter.com/TacticallyMatt/status/1683798833757659137?s=20 Says JWP wont be involved against Bournemouth tonight. Doesn't say whether it is an injury or anything else...

Done! Good luck

For me, the main striker position (assuming we are playing with one central forward/striker with two supporting wide forwards which seems to be the way a lot of teams play) should be priority this close season, as it has the past 2 windows. Yes, Che and Arma have proven pedigree at this level but they haven't played at this level for a few years and my concern is that our system just does not suit them as proven in the seasons they have been here and not been prolific. Someone who has played in the system Martin wants to adopt and proven to be fairly prolific in doing so should be our aim. If Che isn't going to sign a new contract then I would rather get circa £15m in from him now than pin any hopes on him doing the business this year and losing him for free next year. Mara is still young and an unproven entity. I wouldn't get rid of him but do not want to rely upon him as the first choice this season. Arma I see as being more effective as a wide forward. He is a quick player but he just didn't show enough last season to make me think our system suits him too well and again wouldn't feel confident if he was our first choice striker this season. I wouldn't lose any sleep if we decided to sell him but can't see too many wanting him, especially for the amount we would want for him and the wages he is on. That leaves Tall Paul and Ballard. Ballard I see in the same light as Mara, young with potential but we shouldn't be relying upon him to be the main main. Tall Paul, for all the excitement I had about his previous goal record, just doesn't look like a fit for us. It definitely highlights the gulf in class between Belgium football and English football. I wouldn't be upset if he wanted to leave and we recouped £10m or so from him. However, he didn't feature as much as I would have thought he would have done (mainly because he didn't show a lot when given the chance) given he was meant to be our saviour striker we had been screaming out for, for the best part of 18 months when he signed in January so whether he deserves another crack at it in the Championship will be determined by his desire to stay and whether he has impressed upon Martin enough in the close season plus whether he will actually fit into our system. We don't play with wingers as such, certainly not people who cross the ball in for a tall stricker to use their bonce which I feel would really be his strength given his height. I think for the wide forwards we have those already sorted so long as none of the following leave: Tella, Sulemana, Edozie and Amo-Ameyaw I think will all do well at this level. I have been particularly impressed with the glimpses I have seen of Amo-Ameyaw in the couple of friendlies we have played so far. He seems like quite a threat and wants to (and has done) take players on. He is quick and skill full and given a run in the team could do quite well. His turn to leave Cody Gakpo for dust in the last game of the season against Liverpool was filthy. From what we saw of Edozie early season, he looked to want to take players on too and shows good potential. I know he didn't deliver the finished article last season but I personally was not expecting that from him as a kid coming into the Premier League in his first season. I think a year down the the Championship will do him good. For me, as it stands, any combination of Tella, Sulemana, Edozie and Amo-Ameyaw for those two wide forward slots is an exciting prospect as there is so much pace there which will do teams damage. We just need that cut throat fox in the box striker who can link up with these players well and stick the ball away when given the chance.

I'd rather we play my Gran than Aribo. Aside from the pre-season friendlies he played in and perhaps the first 1-2 games of the season he has done nothing to convince me of his ability as a professional footballer. Lazy player who can't pass, tackle or shoot on target.

The fact remains, neither Jones or Selles should habe been taken on. Jones may have got a few more points than Selles, or not. It doesn't matter. That prick Rasmus gambled our Prem league status by not going for a solid choice. The fans could see the appointment of Jones was a mistake as soon as it was announced. On the whole, most were willing to give him a chance as he had the winter break to work with 99% of the squad and it was thought that he would be able to imprint his style of play on the team in what was tantamount to a pre-season but he let the team go on a holiday for a number of weeks (apparently) and it was abundantly clear his style of play was hoof ball when we returned from the winter break. Those who weren't excited but willing to give him a chance, myself included, quickly worked out this was going to be a shit show. Appointing the player's friend, the nice guy who everyone ay the club loves was also a wrong move. They needed a nasty bastard to come in and scream at the bunch of lazy chunts we have in our squad, throw some tea cups at them and make them scared of being relegated to the youth team if they don't put a shift in every game but Rasmus went with everyone's friend so the players knew it was "continue as normal" and the mediocrity we had endured from the players for the past year was allowed to continue. SR need to fuck off Rasmus for the mistakes his arrogance has cost us this season.

1, 3 and 7 for me. I can't differentiate the shiteness of all three of them. Stealing a living. Recruitment and our overlords take a fair share of the blame for this season though

Dying is a bit harsh but they should fuck off out of the club for sure. Out of everyone at the club, staff and players (excluding youth players and the women's players), I only hope we hold on to Lavia, Sulemana, Alcaraz, Livramento and KWP. I could not give two shits if the rest all left and especially hope Semmens and that prick Rasmus fuck off taking Moi, Aribo, AMN and A Armstrong with them the minute this season finishes.

Wouldn't have conceded a pen if Selles listened to me and took him off when I suggested. Just saying

AMN jogged back for that last attempt Forest had where ABK went off injured. He was too high up and couldn't be arsed to sprint back. Get that prick off too

Just when you thought being a Saints fan could not get any worse...

As much as I don't agree with what he did when he left to go on loan to villa and prior to today's game I don't personally understand why he has walked into the team and is seemingly first choice CB now, I do have to take my hat off to the bloke in the aftermath of Cesar Azpilicueta's horrific injury today. Jan ran through a number of players to get to CA to see if he was ok and appeared to take control of the situation in trying to help him. Fair play to him doing that. Being that bit more experienced (international who has played a lot of games for us in the prem, slightly older than a lot of our team) he obviously thought he could help out a fellow human and football went out the window. People like that in every day life are often highly praised and said to be courageous and that's what he was today. Like him or not, we are all quick to slag off players when they have done something stupid, like his OG last week, but we don't seem to praise much when they do something good, so I just wanted to say I thought highly of him today (as well as the fact that from what I have seen on MoTD, played very well) for doing that. Well done Jan.

I thought Sulemana, Onuachu, Lavia, Alcaraz, Ward-Prowse (except the 2 free kicks he should have leathered), Bree, Salisu and Perraud all played well today. Bednarek I simply cannot forgive for being a d!ck when he went on loan to Villa and what he was doing with that OG today was just criminal. Bazunu just can't save a shot which is a bit problematic for a goalkeeper. Not sure there was much he could have done about their second goal today though but his overall shots faced versus goals conceded stats since he has come in speak for themselves... they're not all worldies. AMN is stealing a living as a Premier League footballer too. Aribo is just fu(king useless. No urgency about him and can't bloody pass the ball. Che is turd too. If anyone needs some time in the B team, it is him. Carleta-Car should be in the team ahead of AMN but the tw@ in charge (hopefully no more) seems to have it in for him. We played well for a large part of the game today but Jones killed it bringing off Tall Paul and Perraud bringing on Che Mister Sitter Adams and Lyanco. Then to bring on Aribo too was just crazy. Hopefully Rasmus can finally admit his mistake appointing the egotistical Jones and get rid of him now and we can look to hopefully get the new manager bounce we never had but losing 2-1 at home to 10 men after going 1-0 up after last weeks result and all the other bloody results prior to that is just unforgivable.

I know we have not seen the two new signings in action for us so this is a little preemptive but what would your starting line up for our next game be (obviously excluding those currently injured and assuming new signings ready to hit the ground running). Mine would be: Bazunu KWP ABK Salisu Perruad Lavia Alcaraz JWP Edozie Onuachu Sulemana Tough call between Diallo and Alcaraz for me in the above. Alcaraz looked pretty handy in the first leg against NUFC but didn’t look great this evening. I think Diallo does break the play up well even though he does have his faults at time. Having a bench which includes DCC, Lyanco, Bree, Orsic, A Armstrong, Adams and Diallo isn’t bad.

Is that an inuendo?

Great so today has been a bit of a rollercoaster: Dembele - Looked like a nice cheap, fairly risk free addition but seems like he has knocked us back in favour of waiting until the summer to look at his options (by which point, we most likely won't be one of them) Onuachu - looked promising. Good goal scoring record, big and physical, just what we need if we could agree a fee with Genk but now the bin dippers (I'm really starting to detest them and how they seem to go for EVERY player we are apparently first linked with) are in for him. Bigger club, more known manager, more money for wages etc. I think I know who he would choose. You watch them get that new manager bounce with Dyche too. Vitinha - Looks like another decent player. Not sure how the whole meeting the release clause thing would work as I can't see us forking out 30m Euros in one lump sum but even if we did manage to find the cash down the back of the sofa or structure it in a way his team would accept, between us and Brighton, a team in contention for a place in Europe and definitely won't get relegated this season as well as being in the last 16 of the FA Cup (I know we are too), wouldn't surprise me if they could/would offer more in wages, I'm pretty sure he'd likely opt for them. That leave Andre bloody Ayew. I'd love to know how many of these were genuinely interested in coming to Saints or whether their Agents have just been using us knowing that once a formal offer comes in from us, it is likely to drive all the other cockroaches out from under their rocks! SR just needs to go balls deep with their contract offers on any of the top 3 and include a respectable relegation release clause which may appeal to these people but even then, if it were me, I'd be inclined to go with a Brighton offer of a few grand less a week to know I will still be paying prem football next year and possibly in Europe too and in the case of Onuachu, go with Everton who on paper, look to be a better bet at staying up than we do. Being a Saints fan is tough!

Yeah that press conference was a bit of a wrong one wasn't it? New manager coming in effectively saying "look, chances are I won't be able to get us out of this sheet show we are currently in unless there is a miracle". How can he get away with saying that? You want the manager to come in and say "whilst we are in a bad place right now we will fight tooth and nail to get out of this relegation zone. It is only a few points before we are in safety again and I am confident with the lads I have here that we can do this". Instil confidence in the team, that is what a Manager is meant to do, not take away what little there may have been left and accept out fate so early on. Get the one club pony prick out of this club and appoint Dyche. He will put the fear into this team and make them more solid. SR you need to do something fast

I'd be happy if the players can just stay on their feet in the second half rather than appearing to be shot down by a sniper every time a Forest player comes remotely near them and in the process, giving the ball away. Is it also not too much to ask for a professional football player earning on average per week what most earn a year to pass the ball to a player on his own team? My 7 year old daughter seems to have a better pass completion rate than most in this team.

Yup, sadly this comment seems to be quite frequent at the moment. How many 'worst halves of football I have seen' are we likely to get this season. Just when you think you have seen the worst, they go and do it again!

Ordered my tickets on the 6th but still not received them in the post. Anyone got their tickets yet who ordered on or after the 6th?

Anyone else not able to see the games on there today? The Liverpool game earlier on wasn't and there is no listings for the games today?

SSN saying there was rumours of us looking at Welbeck but that looking unlikely now

I genuinely believe that given the number of games he has played, I could probably score more than Shane Long has in the last few years!

I assume it is possible to buy tickets on the door for this game on Saturday? I am not a member or season ticket holder but would like to take my little boy to watch a game and thought this would be perfect. Don't want to turn up to find out we cant get tickets though... Thanks in advance!

We need someone who can make an immediate impact, not a 'Southampton Way' Manager who will have Les' hand so far up his @ss like Pell did. A contract to the end of the season with decent pay and a mahoosive safety bonus if we stay up. We can then review it in the summer. I know Silva didn't end up fairing too well at Watford but he hit the ground running with both them and Hull. He is an impact manager. I don't care if he ends up dwindling out down the line, if he gets us firing on all cylinders for the first 8 games, that will see us safe and that's all that matters. He only turned sh!te after Everton expressed their interest in him. You can pin point Watford's turn in form this season to pretty much that moment. Failing that, Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane combo who would command respect and get the squad trying again