SNSUN

Yep... within reason; BBD for example I reckon could make the step up but the price would have to be right (which it probably wouldn't be). Also for the reason that either they make the step up and save our season or we have a Championship ready striker post relegation alongside AA and Che (if nobody picks him up). (Plus Brereton Diaz is almost a double barrelled name which fits in with our style!) Hopefully we get better but we only have Che who isn't prolific and is better as a partner, AA who seems to play better playing wide, and Mara who we've only seen glimpses of so far so any good new striker would be a welcome addition. If we continue playing 4231, with JWP in the more advanced role, I also think we need a new DM to play alongside Lavia.

What we lack is 3 teams noticeably weaker than us this season but.... Everton are looking like a broken club, Bournemouth are dropping like a stone and Leicester can't buy a win without Maddison and their fans can't believe Brendan is still there. I'd certainly put Bournemouth in my bottom 3 already. Which leaves 2 spaces. Everton are in real trouble which could mean them finally going down so they're a likely candidate for second spot... which leaves one space. I still think it could be us but recent upturn in form, fight and confidence, new signings and cup runs to come could work in our favour. West Ham have too much quality to go down (but when have we heard that before...) as do Leicester probably and Wolves. Leeds could be in real trouble under Marsch. I also wouldn't put it past Palace (who have horrible fixtures to come) and Forest dropping into it. Villa? Probably OK but it'd be nice to get a win over them to make them nervous. I also think managerial changes could affect things. All to play for. If you offered me the usual safety Prediction of 38 points now, I'd take it.

That's not a French Press, it's a... 😏

Draw. Which wouldn't be a bad result, I said before the Everton game 4 points from the two wouldn't be a bad haul. But 6 from 2? Damn if we haven't resurrected ourselves like Lazarus, Jesus, Zombies and a Phoenix all in one if we get a win. Just as long as we don't lose this and we then can go into both cup competitions full of confidence. Put it this way just over a week ago we were the team everyone wanted to play. Not any more. Still tons of work to be done but confidence and hard work are important in football and it finally looks like our players are fighting for survival, rather than meekly cruising towards relegation.

Great win for so many reasons, 6 pointer, win at Goodison, good for morale, a comeback win, third win in a row (we haven't done that much since the Koeman days), shows JWP better further forward, stops us being cut adrift etc etc etc I didn't see the game but I've always liked 4231 formation since the Poch days so if that's what Jones has settled on then I'm happy. Well done Jones and the lads. We couldn't have predicted this after that dreadful Forest performance. Keep it up with a point or better against Villa and then we can get to the Cup games full of confidence.

One declined to continue perusing said article whence it claimed our football establishment had been victorious on penalty punts versus our illustrious Lincolnshire-based opposition.

4 points from the next two is a minimum and a must, Everton are beatable and Villa are no great shakes. 6 points and we’ll be in dream land but 4 would be acceptable and keep us in the race for survival. 3 would be borderline ok at a pinch, 2 or fewer and we’re still in big trouble. I’d say we should take baby steps in the league and normally 2 draws would be ok, but we need better than a point per game ratio now and we need to take our chances with the more beatable teams. Hopefully the cup wins will give us the much needed confidence that we can actually play well if we work hard. Cut the mistakes out and we have a chance. I still think we’re going down but maybe, just maybe, there’s a glimmer of light that we’ve turned a corner and can fight our way to safety. We may be bottom with a poor points accumulation but the teams above us aren’t exactly far away and they’re not pulling up trees themselves. Everton will be tough but if Jones gets it right, with our new signings we can get a result and play Villa at home with a great chance of a win. Im going for 1-1 at Everton, with fingers and toes crossed we can beat Villa after. Then we get to the cup games with, hopefully, another new recruit or two to come and renewed faith in Prem safety.

DCC for me, everything hit his head and he was calm. Lyanco probably deserves it overall but my vote goes to DCC as I thought he was immense. Could have gone for anyone though really. MOTM is the whole team!

How can we go from being so so shit against Forest to this in a short space of time. Chalk and cheese. Just brilliant. To a man. Couldn't see this coming a mile off. Well done Saints and Jones.

Best I've seen him. There have been a few "best of" performances tonight. DCC, Mara, Orsic... 😁

Gonna need new knickers if this continues...

I've hardly noticed DCC which is testament to how little City have threatened our goal. Please blow the whistle ref...

His movement was good too.

What the shit is happening! Loving it! One more and we could even get to extra time! 😁

Well bugger me. Great finish.

Orsic and Alcarez, an older attacking player and a younger attacking player. This tactic should have been done in the summer when we signed Lavia and Mara. Anyway welcome Carlos. I hope you are an instant hit because we don't have many games and we need survival. I wonder if he'll stick around for the Championship if we go down...

Our line up vs their line up. 🙈 Hoping for a cup miracle.

City will want the cup to add to their collection but won't want to be full strength. We may have renewed our acquaintance with the opposition net but I still can't see past them winning even if they play the likes of Palmer, Lewis and half the EDS. Still, a freak result away from a two legged semi final and we have the competition's top Scorer up to now...

Win is a win, however we got it. Shame it wasn't in the League but at least we march on in the cups. Orsic be like "y'all don't me. You got this" as he flies off back to Zagreb.

I'm at Whipsnade Zoo for the wife's birthday. (I've brought her here, I'm not married to a chimp). It's cold, wet, windy, muddy, and most of the animals are hiding. I still think this is preferable to watching the match. Respect to the fans that went.

Cos if he's crap, I Scream.

Yeah bad predictions but I stand by bits of what I say. We did strengthen CB with DCC and ABK we just haven't seen much of DCC with all the chopping and changing of formations and the favouring of what should be our 4th choice CB (at best) Lyanco. Early games with Lavia showed he is a talent, we just pushed him too fast too soon. My concern was attack which has proven fact although based on previous clubs and stats we should have seen more of Aribo by now. On paper most of the players we signed seemed to be good acquisitions. But football isn't played on paper. We needed experience we didn't get. We needed a striker to play alongside Adams. Most importantly we should have let Ralph go at the end of last season and given a new manager plenty of time to mold the team to image. We wouldn't have Jones now had we done that.

Play the youngsters. Finnigan, Morgan, Payne, Dibling, Ballard, Pearce etc... gives them experience that we'll probably need for next year and... heck... can't be much worse than the senior team. Shame Edwards is long term injured too. Ok maybe not against Palace but I'd certainly be giving them some game time soon... As for Palace they're beatable.... but we'd need to score a goal/s for that to happen...

I normally back new managers. I normally believe form can turn. I normally believe players can improve. But this last year that's changed. Surely every Saints fan can see something is rotten in this club. The decision making has been shambolic. To keep Ralph past the summer when a fresh start was needed then pwas shambolic. The decision to sign "talented" youngsters in the summer without signing experience to play along side them has been shambolic. To go into the season with an extreme lack of attacking options has been shambolic. To appoint a manager with no Premier League experience when we are already in the shit has been shambolic. We're a rudderless ship full of holes and we are going down. 20 games left should be enough to string together some points but can anyone really see us improving? What's the answer? New manager? New players? Plan for the Championship? It's so depressing but I guess we still have to hope we can fight for survival while it's still there. Is it too early to sack Jones? No I don't think it is. Bring in a Premier League stalwart who at least knows the league and has previously done OK. Who? Dyche? Smith? Allardyce? Someone that can come straight in and sort this crock of shit out and at least get us fighting.