SNSUN

Feel a bit for Charly. Committed himself to us for another year and already seemingly out of favour. That said he has been a bit hit and miss and it's hard to argue much with that line up. Hopefully he can force himself back into the reckoning because I think there is a great player there potentially. Have gone with a draw for this game which would be a decent result. On paper both teams are strong. A win would be huge for morale though. Need a big reaction from the Sunderland game which I'm hoping was an early season blip.

To his credit he's never moaned. To my knowledge anyway. He must have known his days were numbered this season when SAA was getting selected ahead of him. We have enough AM/wingers so this makes sense.

All XI are fine. If you mean Bazunu he's not going anywhere. He's first choice whether we like it or not... and who are the other options, McCarthy and Lumley. I don't rate Bazunu but he's still the best choice right now (although he does need to get his shit together). The rest are IMO what I would like to see against Leicester.

Which two?

On paper this is our strongest (fit) side and a no brainer. If Sulemana IS here and is Ok to play then yes you could include him instead of AA or Charly but AA is undropable right now and I'd really like to see Charly get up to speed. Also while this is my team too it is a tad harsh on Edozie who I think has done little wrong so far.

Still back him but he needs to prove this was a blip with a win against Leicester. The starting line up needs to be as strong as it can be: Baz, KWP, Bed, THD, Man, Charles, Downes, Charly, Fraser, AA, Adams currently IMO. He has two weeks to sort it. No excuses. Leicester also lost so they are beatable.

I dropped off around 4pm (working earlies) and just saw the other results. Yes we got spanked but other results really went our way today. We haven't lost much ground. Martin needs to sort this out before it does indeed cost us.

Well done Sunderland but DAMN, we need to sort this out.

Can we re-open the transfer window? What's that you say? January? Oh shi.... 😆

That's enough football for the week. See y'all in two weeks when we next play against... ah... Leicester live on Sky. Lovely.

I won't write him off after one performance but this was a bloody bad debut.

Sunderland could get their revenge for the 8-0 if we keep being shit.

Holgate is shit isn't he.

I can only thank God I'm at work and missed the last 10 minutes of that half. WTF. SAINTSY.

2-2 half time. You heard it here (probably incorrectly) first. 😋 Is it me or does Bazunu look too casual when the ball comes to him?

Come on Saints! One little goal and the balance changes.

You can take the players out of Southampton but you can't take Southampton out of the players. Next goal is now vital. Come on Mar...... oh.

Deflection off Downes.

Well fuck me, I tuned in late and now wish I hadn't

Would be Saintsy and comes from years of supporting a club that does that sort of thing to us fans. Maybe Saints version: 2023-4 is different... Maybe...

I have it as Downes as the DM pivot, then Stu and Will ahead in CM, then AA and Edozie wide of Mara. S 4-1-2-2-1 or the reverse Christmas tree. Rotated is a fairer word! We have a big squad, everyone will need some rotation at some point.

Decent line up - good to show Mara we're keeping faith in him, Martin must have liked what he saw last week. AA playing wider is also a good thing. Welcome back Smallbone. Definitely excited for the season now.

A positive way to look at it is we actively didn't block anyone from moving this window if our valuation was met (Ok bar Che on the last day but we did give him a lot of chances to move previously) - each player had a price and it was up to other teams to meet that price. We didn't block Sulemana from leaving, it's not like we said "you're not going anywhere" in an effort to keep him, it's simply that there obviously wasn't enough interest in him at what we valued him at. Hopefully he plays and plays well and he can go in January with good feelings.

Final position - Toughy, both Leicester and Leeds have strong squads (Leeds have a strong looking attack, Leicester have a strong looking defence) but I think we are the strongest 3 teams in the league by a fair way. 3 way fight for 2 places? I'll go with 2nd. (I think our squad is possibly the most balanced of the 3) Saints top goal scorer - Adam Armstrong. Penalty taker, probably first choice all season, has started strongly, is a Martin favourite. Che may be gone in January and Stewart won't be fully fit for a while. A nod to Charly who may get a few. Player of the season - Charly. He was happy to stay, I think he plays out of his skin this season. Breakthrough/surprise player of the season - I would say Edozie but with Sulemana staying and Fraser knocking on the door I think he has a fight for his spot. I'll go with Bazunu, who surprises us by becoming a very good Championship keeper. 🤞 Top 6 in the championship in order - Leicester, Saints, Leeds, Norwich, Hull, West Brom. 3x promoted clubs - Leicester, Saints, Leeds. Championship dark horse - Hull (have made good signings this summer)

So, who's going to start the January Transfer Window thread? 😃 Besides anyone leaving I don't think there are any positions we need right now - first time I can say that in years... if ever. It seems the club made a last ditch attempt for Philogene and had previously said they wanted to replace Tella so maybe an extra winger, but keeping Sulemana, if he can be re-integrated, solves that.