washsaint

LOL - absolutely no chance! He was terrible at Leicester and not cut out for the PL. Also terrible at Fenerbahce and in no way fits RH's profile of wanting younger, faster players. File this one under 'what a load of baloney'

But are we weaker? RH has the squad playing at a far higher level. Lets not forget our results when Soares and Bertrand were starting every week (and no, I'm not blaming them alone for how crap we were). Valery and Targett are getting better week by week and if we have injuries, Jack Stephens works well at RB and Yoshi does an adequate job at LB. Soares' heart was not in it (that was clear) and RH did not rate him - and I am quite happy to trust his judgement. If Bertrand comes back with the right attitude that will be like having a new player too.

Maybe - but it is quite clear that Ralph does not rate him and is not in his plans. If he has been a prima donna in the dressing room then I applaud Ralph: he is trying to change what sounds like it had become a toxic dressing room with certain players ruling the roost to one where everyone works together. We can already see that in how the players are performing on the pitch now.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Bertrand will not just waltz back into the side and that Hassenhutl really rates Targett. He has gotten better and better the more games he is playing and while not the quickest has a mean cross on him and his defensive side has improved a lot.

Can't agree with this at all....we are well stocked at CB. Certainly until the summer. The way that all 3 have come on since Ralph means it is as not as pressing and with Yoshi to come back that will give us plenty of CBs (and Bertrand could cover here). Striker - possibly. Someone pacey but even here it might be best waiting until summer and getting the right player in and not panic like last January with Carillo

Fair play to you Nordic. If JWP can keep up this level of improvement it will be like having a new signing. Agree re. STephens - he is turning into a very good player. Not just the way he is playing but also his leadership at the back - constantly talking and organizing. Just shows what good coaching can do (as we saw with Pochettino and Koeman and (to a lesser degree) Puel. Last 2 managers were disastrous in that respect.

He was excellent today. Everton did not have any joy down the right hand side at all - they had no shots in the first half at all. He got forward well, was tenacious and none of the hot headedness that we have seen previously. Like Targett, the more game time he has the more he is improving.

Oh dear, Larry will be unhappy tonight as will Efon/Cabbage. JWP MotM for me - outstanding and briliiant, brilliant goal. Not sure Bertrand will waltz back in....the more games Targett is getting the better he is looking. Easy to see why Valery is preferred over Cedric. Cedric was awful again (albeit on the wrong side) Everton very fortunate to only let in 2 - could easily have been 4 or 5. Although we are still close to the bottom 3 I thin Saints should be looking upwards now, not downwards. Some of the much maligned (on here) players I thought were superb: Stephens, JWP, Targett, Valery PLayers looked out on their feet after about 75 minutes (unsurprisingly). Since Ralph has come in it really feels like Saints are on their way back.

Elyounoussi - absolute dogs***e - again! Armstrong - can someone please tell me what he offers? Couple of storing games but other than that mediocre. Terrible tonight. Cedric - can see why Valery is preferred. Cannot cross a ball to save his life JWP running the show, Stephens and JOhnson good. Rest OK but we look pretty lethargic tonight.

Dear lord - if you go through life worrying about what may happen in the future you will always be disappointed. Appreciate every day and enjoy the present - you never know how long you have left

Heck, what does Ralph know? We all know JWP is crap - I'm sure Larry will be along in a bit to put Ralph right

Interestingly, in his interview with Blackmore, he speaks about Valery and how good he is despite having to learn and that he will be a big player for Saints for the rest of the season. Sounds like he is views Valery as his #1 in the position. I do love how he is involving the younger players....it would have been easy for him to bring on Moi but he brought Slattery on instead. Reputations count for nothing with Ralph. I really hope he stays here for some time - he is a breath of fresh air after some of our more recent managers.

Fantastic backs to the wall performance. Targett gets a lot of hate on here from our resident experts but he was absolutely magnificent today. In terms of ratings mine would be: McCarthy 7 - excellent saves when needed but his distribution is terrible Valery 2 - hot headed, weak at the back and needs to learn quickly. Plenty of promise but not sure this is doing him any good Stephens 7 - solid, great communicator but possibly at fault for the goal ball watching and leaving the man open Bednarek 9 - how on earth did that moron Hughes sideline him completely? Immense Vestegaard 9 - best game in a Saints shirt Targett 8 - best game in a Saints shirt, blocked almost everything down his side JWP 8 - everywhere and has developed a real bite to his game. Glad he is proving the haters wrong Romeu 10 - unbelievable performance and was incredible. Again, how did that moron Hughes sideline him? Armstrong 4 - awful. Weak in the tackle, completely anonymous and poor passing. Not sure what he really offers but he was terrible today Redmond 7 - never stopped running even though he was never going to get any service when we went down to 10 Long 8 - ran himself into the ground and played a role in both goals (reckon 2nd was OG as it was going miles wide) Subs Cedric 7 - should, in hindsight, have started Slattery 6 - helped shore up midfield Gallagher - not on long enough but will no doubt start midweek Ralph 100 - this guy is amazing. He has instilled belief and defensive discipline into a team sadly lacking either when he took over. Talk about sowing a silk purse out of a sows ear! Will be really interesting to see who he brings in in the summer. With Ralph here I think we will be comfortably mid-table and maybe, just maybe, top 10.

Looks a really weak side. Shane 'stealing a living' Long as our lone striker makes me want to weep. As others have said, shows how pathetic our recruitment has been last 3 years. Everyone has known we have needed quality up front since Pelle left and what do we get..... Long, injury prone and over the hill Austin, injury prone (as is shown this season) Ings, awful Elyonoussi and the collossal waste of money that was Carillo. Still hoping we'll get something out of this game but not confident at all.

Good luck to the guy - great servant to the club. Last couple of seasons he no longer had the legs for the Prem but still gave 100%.

Lets have a bit of perspective......although our team was crap bar a handful of players, we still avoided an upset (just). Cardiff and Huddersfield both lost, Newcastle scraped a draw, etc, etc. So it could have been worse - despite it being beyond belief that we threw away a 2-0 lead.

Utter rubbish, not for the first time. JWP played well today and really put himself about. AFter redmond, he was our best player. In case you hadn't noticed this was Slattery's first game and he certainly did not do a bad job.

Bad, bad display with very few bright spots. Really highlights how our squad has been filled with dross the last 3 years: Moi - terrible, terrible buy. Ali Dia offered more Long - is not a footballer Austin - long past it Vestergaard - looks OK at times and like Bambi on ice at other times Hoedt - terrible buy Today only JWP and Redmond played well. Slattery was OK without doing too much, but rest were terrible. Cedric, Targett, Stephens, Long, Austin, Moi, Vestergaard all very, very poor. We really don;t have much quality in this squad. We need a CB and a striker this window, whatever else happens. They missed Yoshi and Bednarek today

Wow...that was a terrible miss at the end from Derby. Both Cedric and Vestergaard with terrible defending.

Shane Long: another I hope never to see in a Saints short again. Absolute disgrace

Despite 2-0 up I don;t think you could say we were playing well, JWP and Redmond apart. Slattery was OK, front 2 are a disgrace, Moi is abysmal, full backs poor and Vestergaard a mistake waiting to happen

Bloody hell - falling apart much?

Bloody hell - Vestergaard is an absolute donkey. Passes like hes wearing a blindfold. Only way Derby score is through a mistake - and we've had plenty of those

No contest - rather have MLT of today over him. Would be a bloody great upgrade on the useless lump

My god, Moi is utter, utter crap. No pressure on him and his cross goes right out of play. One that should have no long term future at Saints