SNSUN

Nathan Jones? And there I was Googling Andre Villas-Boas... 😛

Well my guess of Stankovic from page 1 is off, he joined Sampdoria last month and has only won once since. 😬 If youth is what the powers that be want to invest in, then we should be bringing in a manager that believes in playing youth. Someone that's not scared to play Edozie or Mara or Ballard which I always got the impression Ralph was.

No grudge against Ralph, I didn't mind him as a bloke and at the time of his appointment it seemed like a coup and he steadied the ship that had been crashing into rocks under Pellegrino and Hughes. He did OK with is pressing game, with his hands tied in the transfer department and with bouncing back after the 2 9-0s. But his decision making has always been iffy and lately it seems he doesn't even know what formation to play, let alone what his strongest team is. Then we see that line up yesterday and the guy has complete lost it. He should have gone in the summer really. We needed fresh eyes, possibly even sooner than now, and now we are going to get them. I just hope Sports Republic have that Gakpo money in the transfer kitty for January as we are really, REALLY going to need it if we are going to survive. Right now I have that awful sinking feeling...

Thanks - he broke his nose, wrist, knee and every rib but for 74 he's pretty hardy and luckily broken bones is the only damage so he's lucky. His loss of independence is what's annoying him the most!

Football has almost completely bypassed me over the last week and a bit after my dad was hit by a car but... what the absolute shit was that line up? It's like he WANTS to get sacked. I can only hope the damage done this season isn't permanent and we can turn it around after the WC. Ideally we need new players through the door on January 1ST, not January 31ST.

It's a farce. I'm not against hot climate World Cups but there are dozens of nations who have done more for football (or had more interest in football like most African nations for example) that should have deserved it before the big money of Qatar got it's hands on it. I don't like a winter WC but if they are going to have one I do think it should have been done in, say, January when people are pretty depressed post-Christmas and there's fuck all happening otherwise. I missed not sitting in a pub garden in the sunshine getting my WC fix this summer. Shame on all those that agreed to it in 2010. All that said... I've got 2 weeks leave from the 20th so can actually watch a large chunk of group games, which I rarely get a chance to, so I'm quite excited on a personal level.

SNSUN also for January... Seriously though, he's nearly 28 although with decent stats. Are we going against our young signings policy? Maybe we've seen we need some experience...

Yep, typical Saints, in a season where we look like one of the favourites to go down we actually have the best set of CBs we've had in seasons. It's for this reason that I think we have a chance of survival, but only if we go out in January and sign the attacking players we need. I randomly look at other teams histories on Wikipedia and was drawn back to the time West Ham signed Kitson and Hartson and they propelled them to safety (not to mention the obvious time they signed Tevez and Mascherano). We need to do the same in January. IMO with everyone fit we have to go with the 3 CBs (certainly against more attacking teams) - A back 8 of Bazunu, ABK, DCC, Salisu, KWP (or Tino if fit with KWP LWB), JWP, Lavia, Perraud almost writes itself. Then stick some quality new attacking signings up front with one or two of the current lot and you really think we should be staying up with that.

Newcastle definitely have their shit together. We don't. Cue one of those games we win. 😁 Or they're going in raw... who knows. Bottom 3 by the WC?

Yep, it's our strongest position when all are fit, so surely a back three of ABK, DCC and Salisu is the way forward - I'd hate to be a Premier League Striker against that lot. Add in Lyanco at times and a full complement of full backs and I still think a strong defence is what could keep us up.

I see what you're doing there, warding off the potential suitors...

Be lolz if we brought in a guy you thought signing 30+yo players was the way forward. Be like the summer we signed Palmer, Hirst, Richardson, Beresford and Jones. Seriously, we raided City, we got a some gems for the future, now we move on and find some others. A new man with fresh ideas may know of some gems our scouting team didn't already know about...

Would make sense. Spuds would only loan him but we'd only need a six month deal anyway. Was good for Forest last season but not had a look in this.

Palace are very Jekyll and Hyde. Could turn up and smash us with their attack or struggle and they aren’t in good form right now. I’d take a point personally. Keep the unbeaten run going and the green shoots of recovery showing.

Junior Adamu we were linked with in the summer scores for Salzburg against Chelsea. Make it so.

What a way for Carrillo to stop himself being branded Saint's worst ever big money signing. One goal and he'd be mentioned in the same breath as Stern John. Could I have Henri Camara instead? 😁

Fair play to Ralph for getting the lads fighting and going 3 unbeaten. After the run of 1-0 losses I wasn't sure we were good enough to survive but we can see shoots of positivity in the team. I still think we lack quality from midfield through to attack but if we can keep it tight at the back and fight we have a shot at survival. I still think Ralph's future depends on the points haul from the next 3 as the WC is a prime time to bring in a new manager and let them have a "pre-season" but for now, well done to Ralph for getting on with it.

😎 He's played better on the left this season than he did last season but I agree that despite being fairly quick and working hard, he doesn't have much to give in the Premier League. If we had signed a better striker in the summer then we'd hardly have seen AA this season. I don't mind him, Ralph obviously likes his work ethic but he cannot lead the line - and that is why he's replaceable. I would be extremely surprised if we didn't bring in a striker in January - then we'll see what becomes of him.

Yep been saying it for a while now, certainly in games we're expected to be defending a lot in. It'll be even better when we get KWP and Tino back, but we have 4 decent options at CB now and it's our strongest position. This is of course in contrast to the 3 at the back experiment we tried at the beginning of the season with Valery and Bednarek. My two closest friends are Arsenal fans. One hasn't messaged me since the game and the other called us "a bunch of cheating bastards" and says we bribed the ref. Always good to get up 'em.

Point a game going into the WC is all I ask for but anything better would be great. If we can get to 19 points I'd say we're halfway to safety with the January window still to come. I must say I wasn't expecting it but 5 points from 3 has given me a lift. The team is showing fight. Long may it continue.

So much praise for the 3 CBs and fully deserved. CB (with ABK too) is our strongest position IMO and if we are to stay in the Prem I think building a good defence as a platform is the way to do it. In ABK and DCC our recruitment was good there. Get KWP and Lavia back and we can start to think about improving the attacking 3rd although that was a cracking goal today.

Great draw and well done to Ralph as we were short on players. 12 points separate 4th and bottom. Insane League this year with no weak team being cut adrift yet.

Getting any result out of this match would be just brilliant. A massive bonus. Still long way to go.

Depends what League we’re in. He’s shown he can be an asset in the Championship and we’d need him if we went down, if we stay in the Prem I genuinely hope we’d sign better.

Wow kudos to Forest. Especially against Liverpool. Shows a well organised defence can do wonders. Shame as Forest are our rivals but this is definitely a tough league this season.