the saint in winchester

As part of the deal where we bring in Rico Henry? That would be ideal. Somehow I think Brentford are coming up this year.

I didn't really appreciate Ralph's polarising comments on our developing players at the Fans Forum, to the effect that some had taken their chance, while others had blown it. Jankewitz was too keen to get involved, made a bad tackle and now RH won't give him a go. What about Caleb Watts, N'Lundulu and a host of others? Tella seems to have impressed. I'm not saying all will make the grade, but Ralph has been quick to dismiss them. Part of his role is to develop what he has. He is stuck in this groove of "I don't have enough, I need more players." I'm hoping he will use the final four games to take a look at these lads before consigning them to the 'useless' pile, but I don't think he will. Prove me wrong, Ralph.

And Barcelona reportedly want £1billion for Messi ... but as no-one is paying that, they won't get it. Got to be worth an offer, surely. I like the model of decent Championship players over foreign nationals we struggle to get a work permit for. Go for it. Offer the £15m.

For me, that's one position that doesn't need constant rotation for the sake of it. I'd like to see him give opportunities to outfield squad players, though. Have we decided now the bottom 3 are cut adrift, and it's safe to rotate to give experience?

You could refer it to AC-12. "The only thing I care about, the only thing, is nicking bent coppers." Mary, Mother of God, the Baby Jesus and the flying donkey, we have material for Season 7 after all!

I agree with you, Justin. Lost any last respect for Neville yesterday. Saying "this has been coming for 16 years, the Glazers deserve everything they get" ... you're right, he should be given a stadium ban. As indeed should they all. And as it's difficult to identify who was there and who was not there but agrees with the protestors, I would order Man Utd to play all of next season with no fans too. I'm fed up with the man in the street complaining about private ownership. Put together your fan consortium and when you have enough to buy out the Glazers, then make them an offer. Until then, shut it. And be lawful and act with decency. They weren't complaining when they were winning things with the Glazer money. Now they're not winning, the whingeing starts. Stand behind your owners and manager. They have provided you with great times, and will again.

It's not easy coming in for one game in ten. And yes, he's not a DM or a winger, so needs to play up top in a 4-2-2-2. But agree with above - a 4-2-3-1 formation with him central is best for him, if only we played that. Overall, I'm undecided. If Ralph is going to continue to use him so rarely, then no point in taking him. But if he can offer him a regular place, and the price is under £10M, then I would take him, yes. Depending on who else is being looked at.

We need a 'number 9' either from an overseas league or English Championship. Budget of £15M. Need nominations to meet those criteria. Looking for the next Pelle or Lambert.

I think we all agree. When he turns it on, he's an excellent player. But he rarely does - for us - and if he doesn't want to play to potential for us, we may as well sell. We needed him this season, and will need him next season. But if he isn't motivated, he won't make the team.

If we play like we did first half vs Tottenham we can get a goal or two. But we have to sustain it for the whole game, as Leicester are a strong second half side. I want to see us get something, but I do have Ihanacheo as FPL captain and I can see him scoring again against us. I'd also like to see Minamino in there, and ideally Janko, but that isn't going to happen with Ralph.

Any chance we could talk Jose Fonte into an emotional return? Still playing at top level for Lille. Could be title winners this season. Offer him a decent wage, Club captain, agree to coaching role in 2 years, whatever it takes.

Thanks for S-Clarke for the template. My take on it. GK: McCarthy - Keep - decent backup. Agreed. Forster - Keep - no one is going to buy him, so we might as well use him given what he's being paid. Agreed. Lewis - Leave. Not good enough, needs to leave for his sake. Agreed. Replace with (insert name) who has the potential to challenge first choice 2. RB: KWP - Keep, no questions there. Agreed. Valery - Sell/release/free - whatever it is, no where near to the level required. Agreed. We have Ramsay, haven't seen enough of him to make a judgement. LB: Bertrand - Release. Thank him for his service, he's been a great long-standing player for us. It's clear his legs have gone though and this is one position we 110% need to add to and improve on. Agreed. Rico Henry ideally. Otherwise a left footed version of KWP - young, determined and expected to improve. Vokins - Loan. I don't think he'll ever be good enough for us, but another loan won't do him any harm. He's not yet good enough to be backup for the PL though. Agreed. Maybe an old head to cover the young'un when needed. CB: Bednarek - Keep. Solid, average PL defender. No more, no less. Agreed. Vestergaard - Keep. Solid, decent ball playing PL defender. Think the offer will come in and we'll sell. Gary Cahill or Mamadhou Sakho on a free? Salisu - Keep. Certainly has ability, needs to grow into the team. The future of our club, apparently. Looks good, regular place next season. Stephens - Keep - Squad player, decent to keep around. Agreed. RM: Moussa - Sell. Not great, he's been here 2 seasons now and hasn't ever done anything. Agreed. Not suited to physicality of EPL. Armstrong - Keep. One of our best players, just needs to work on his fitness. He can't seem to last more than 40mins. Agreed. LM: Redmond - SELL to Norwich. Tella - Keep - more game time I hope, I think he's one of the better 'winger' options we have to be honest. Agreed. Minamino - BUY if under £10M. The guy looks quality, terrific work ethic. Criminally underused and could be a bargain buy. CM: JWP - Keep, nothing more to say there. Agreed, but he doesn't have to play every game. Diallo - Keep, again pretty decent young player. Agreed, but he needs to prove himself next season. Romeu - Keep, no arguments. Agreed. Jankewitz - Keep - I'd keep him, but I think we'll see him sold to be honest. Agreed, an all respects. Give him another chance, Ralph. Smallbone - Loan. I like him, but after a bad injury I think he needs football so a loan will make sense. Unsure. ST: Adams - Keep, good player. Handful for CB's. Needs to work on his finishing though, it lets the rest of his game down massively. Needs to improve his game. Ings - SELL, no question. We have to sell to highest bidder. Would love to get Tammy Abraham, but may have to be a cheaper overseas player. Theo - Keep. It's a tough one, if you look at his performances overall I think he's been no more than average. But when you think of what you're getting for free (plus wages)...it kind of feels like a no brainer in terms of adding some experienced depth to the squad. Agreed. N'Lundulu -Sell, loan, anything. Not good enough for an EPL side. Obafemi - Sell, Loan, anything. Think he will always be injured more often than not.

Sadly so. Either side of the keeper, it's a goal. In other news, looks like Ralph has finally told them any passback is a £50 fine!

Me too. But I don't trust Ralph. I'm hoping we have enough points to survive because we won't be getting any tonight.

Hard to say at this stage, based on names. Could it be 3-5-2? Macca Bednarek Vesta Salisu KWP JWP Walcott Armstrong Tella Ings Adams Nah, too radical for Ralph. Salisu at LB in a the usual 4-2-2-2, I would expect.

Breaking news : Tottenham (reportedly, allegedly) just sacked Mourinho. They don't hang around when something isn't working, although they can afford to take decisive action. We can't.

That pretty much sums up my view. Only Armstrong seemed to be trying yesterday. Play the peripheral players, as we won't be picking up any points for a while.

Yeah, Ralph is his own Director of Football Operations; what he says goes for on the field activities. I can only hope that once we get the 40 point mark then he will give Janko and others a game. He says he needs to apply himself in training, but if I knew I wasn't going to be selected anyway, it would be hard to motivate myself to go the extra mile. There has been games he should have played, the WBA game, the Bournemouth game when we were cruising, but Ralph stubbornly refuses to let him on the pitch. I can't see any other end to this than a bargain basement fee of £5M tops (could be £2M or even £0.) That isn't good financial management.

Tend to agree after seeing us this season. The 4-2-2-2 every game, and the same 14 every time, playing the same way. When we went to the formation last season it was novel and we caught teams out. Not any more. Other teams know our moves every time. BFS knew our moves and made plans to nullify them. We need to use the squad more and try different things. This season has been same old same old. The problem is we have fully invested in Ralph's philosophy and ways, and I don't see him changing.

Forster; KWP Vestergaard Salisu Bertrand; Jankewitz JWP; Armstrong Minamino; Ings Adams. But remind Ralph you can make substitutions before 80 mins. If it ain't working, change it. Don't just pace up and down with a face like thunder. And proper coaching this week!

He rejected us .... because we made it clear we wanted him to play RB. If we want him as CM, his response may be different. However, there's also suggestions we are interested in Harry Winks and Yangel Herrera (Man City owned, loaned to Grenada as he can't get a work permit yet; so doubt we could either).

How about we get back to talking about Danny Ings? Today's reports: * Tottenham cool interest in Ings, want Kane to stay * Man City prefer Haaland or Mbappe, but Ings links continue. I think Danny is not going to get a top top move, may have to stick with us next season and then he'll try again. But we really need to find a buyer to get something back on our outlay.

If Chelsea are desperate to move him on, they can pay £200k and we'll pay the £70k. Sorted. Why hasn't it worked for him? He was brilliant in Germany and looks woeful for Chelsea. Can Ralph get him firing again?

A fascinating read, although not sure Gobern and Seabourne were prime movers, lol. So Cortese is running a hotel!

Maybe an indication the staff had to kick his ass to get him out the chair. He was so passed out he didn't realise what had happened.