SNSUN

Olivier Bernard. Oh you said favourite...

I'll take possession, it's Poseidon I'm worried about as we sink down the Championship. 😎

Pointless though testimonials are in the current rich man's game, I assume JWP will get one?

Everton have been in the top flight for 75ish years, have an expensive new stadium on the horizon and are skint (and awaiting FFP charges). I don't rate their squad much either bar DCL and maybe one or two others and they'd most likely be vultured in the summer. There's a high chance that if Everton went down they'd be in real trouble. I don't think I'd fear Everton next season as much as Leeds and Leicester, who IMO have better 'weapons' in their squad (depending on who they hold on to) than Everton. But sadly it won't happen anyway this season anyway. Leeds and Leicester have left it too late.

Yep a point not the worst result for Leicester due to their superior goal difference over Everton but they still have to hope Everton don't win at Goodison against a Bournemouth side with nothing to play for whilst beating West Ham themselves. Leeds I think are down. I can't see anything other than Everton staying up now though which is a pisser.

Really want a Leicester win tonight but it's not happening. Their line up is pants. A draw isn't good enough for them and Smith has them set up for a point at best. No Maddison or Barnes. Handing Everton survival on a plate. Still... come on Leicester! Make the last day interesting!

I was initially Evolution over Revolution with our squad but now I'm thinking it should be vice versa or this losing mentality is going to follow us into next season. Russell Martin has a fucker of job on his hands.

Next time you want to spunk away £3.50 on something, I suggest you have a flutter on something more likely to happen like, hmm, Christ's next resurrection or me getting a blowy from Megan Fox. 😁

Well he wouldn't be my choice but I'll get behind him in blind hope. The only thing I will say about it is that we needed the new manager in quick and we will have done that. That means transfer targets can be sought quickly and the style can be implemented longer. I still think had we appointed Jones last summer he may have been slightly more successful as he'd have brought players in suiting his system and had longer to coach his style. (Probably would have still gone down though and it seems Martin's system is more attractive than Jones'.) I liked the idea of Viera though so I'm disappointed there but sadly we fans don't get a say in the running of the club. I doubt the Martin appointment is going to unite the fanbase though which is what we need right now.

We're relegated, the usual moment teams start showing form. We'll probably win this handsomely and you'll be delighted. Hell if we win our last two games by a big margin, we could even catch 19th place Leicester. 😁

Liverpool releasing the Ox in the summer. Bring him home! We need an Ox after the bullocks we've seen from our existing players this season. 😁

Six month loan in the summer. Should sort out our striking problems.

That's not me wanking it's me trying to rip my cock off in anger at this news. 😁 I'm really not sure how he managed to get so many goals at Blackburn (particularly as he was playing wide a lot of the time) but I saw nothing at Premier League level to suggest he's prolific enough for us even at a lower level. Poor man's Shane Long and nobody should be a poor man's Shane Long. Still, maybe, just maybe, he can find his Blackburn spark. Maybe. I think Mara will stick around so that's 2 striker spots taken. I'm not sure about Onuachu and Adams I suspect will be off but I do hope that Ballard will be in the next manager's thinking. I know not every young prolific striker makes it (Ryan Seager comes to mind) but what is the point of the academy if we don't at least try to integrate our young players, particularly now we'll be playing at a lower level...

I’m English. Football shirt, shorts and cheap trainers are the attire of the working class tourist. 😁 Actually there was a large percentage of people wearing their own club’s colours.

A personal pride moment was when I was in Barcelona June 2015 doing a tour of the Nou Camp, in my Saints shirt, seeing a huge photo of Koeman on the wall and getting my photo taken next to it. We'd just finished 7th and I thought things would never be that good. Then the next season we finished 6th!

Exactly. We're a Championship club elect fresh from relegation with a clusterfuck of a team, a load of players that want to leave or be sold, in some of the worst form of our history at a ground we can barely win at. Actually fair play to any manager that actually wants to take us on right now. Balls of steel.

I'd be very happy with Viera. I know top players don't always make good managers but he'd be respected. His stint at Palace ended with a fair chunk of draws and losses but up until the WC they were doing OK. His transfers (I thought) were decent and he has ties to City and Arsenal which could help with transfers/loans. I also think a large chunk of the fanbase would be pretty happy with his appointment which is something I want to see, a mostly unified fanbase similar to when we first appointed Ralph. (I note that we were all unified when we appointed Nathan Jones but for different reasons. 😁) Yes Viera hasn't achieved much in his managerial career so far but then, come on, he wouldn't be linked with us if he had.

Former Saints young player Alfie Jones just got Player of the Season for Hull. 25 y/o now, 6'3'' centre back and can play in DM. Worth bringing back to the club to add to the CB department? A quick scan on Hull's forum and they seem to think he's constantly improving.

I heard this on TalkSport this morning and couldn't believe my ears. I don't care how promising these managers are, we need experience and we need someone that can unite the fanbase. Or most of it anyway. We need someone with authority that the players we have left after sales respect. Farting about with inexperience is what got us relegated in the first place. I know they're only on a "shortlist" and we don't know how long that is, but it worries me. Whoever we appoint will get my support but we need to go up next season or be close enough that we've built a core of players good enough to go up the season after or we could stagnate in the Championship or worse.

Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance. 5 stages of grief. Do they apply here? Anger sure, I'm not sure how we bargain. Depression will come. I just hope we can make some good decisions this summer and then acceptance will come. I'm so numb by this relegation unlike in 2005. The players (mostly) are a bunch of bottlers, the management have been utterly shite to a man and we've been subjected to crap for most of the season. It's hard to list who to blame because the list would be too long. I do believe Ralph should have gone in the summer. Jones though was a shocking decision to replace him and Selles? It just seemed like we were chucking in the towel when we had something still to play for. We need a good clear out in the summer but most importantly, number one, we need a good managerial appointment. Someone the players we have left respect. With the likes of Ankersen in charge I remain apprehensive.

This. 1-1 currently and Leeds had a penalty saved but I'd take Leeds survival if it meant Everton come down with us. I don't hate Everton per se, I just think it would be an interesting summer if they came down what with their 75 year stint in the top flight coming to an end and their financial difficulties. Won't happen though. They'll survive because they're spawny.

The ABK injury is an interesting one. He's been one of the brighter points in a turgid season despite his injury issues and though he had a poor game against Forest until his injury, he does have a bright future and he was one of the players we'd expect would leave this summer. But with the injury for at least a couple of months and repeat other injuries, it does make me wonder whether anyone would take a punt on him for the money we'd want for him. We'll likely have Stephens and Bednarek staying this summer, personally I think DCC and Lyanco might even stay, so if ABK does stay I'd say that's a full complement of CBs we wouldn't need to bring another in. Just a thought.

KWP, Lavia, JWP, ABK, Salisu - all likely to be gone next season, Moi out of contract, Diallo wants out. I'd say that we should only play the players from now on that will still be here next season mixed with youth BUT we'd be left with no fit full backs and no central midfield! Like: Baz, Bree, Lyanco, Bednarek, DCC, Djenepo, SArmstrong, Aribo, Charly, Sulemana, Onuachu, Ballard. 😉 We should certainly be looking to incorporate youth though. Certainly Ballard should be involved from now until the season ends. Sod it I'd rather we played Jake Vokins than see AMN put in another performance like yesterday again.

2005 hurt more because we'd been on a period of ascendancy since Hoddle of sorts (including the FA Cup Final in '03), but also we'd survived so many relegation scares with great escapes that when it did finally happen it really hurt. As the only Saints fan my colleagues and friends know I was also subjected to a lot of ridicule and teasing. This year barely one person has mentioned us or the impending relegation. We've been a sinking ship for years since Pellegrino and onwards getting spanked 9-0 twice that I think people are more taking pity on me being a Saints fan than being ridiculed like last time. It's hard to say exactly what I'll miss about the Premier League this time. It's not like we've even brought in top players since the Koeman days. Money, I guess, but I assume we will still have that with player sales. I've seen this coming all season - back in the summer I thought it was a mistake to keep Ralph when we could have made a fresh start. We signed youth without experience, we signed Aribo as our ONLY attacking experience (which I was excited about at the time), and there were clearly 3 teams that got promoted that strengthened well in the summer so there weren't 3 clear teams that could finish below us. That and whole season of shite decisions means I'm largely numb to it all now. Maybe it IS an age thing.# I look forward to the Championship - I do think the squad, shite as it is in the Premier League, may have enough about it once it has been trimmed and added to at least be competitive. We should be fighting towards the top rather than the bottom BUT we do need to bring in a manager that can organise the shit out of us.

We are down IMO but while I'd like to be put out of my misery sooner rather than later (and while I'd rather Forest survive over Leeds/Leicester), I'm actually hoping we win tonight for a few reasons. 1) Because while I'm at work I have Sky Go so I'm watching it. 2) Because I'd quite like us to at least get to 30 points this season. 3) Because I'm a Saints fan! Reasonable starting line up today, I think we will win. For all the good it will do us in the long run...