SNSUN

Bright prospect wants out, the shitty season goes on. He'd get plenty of game time in the Championship next year too. I was optimistic for next season in the Championship because of the youngsters that could make the step up. Now I'm not so sure. Good riddance to him if that's the case as he doesn't sound fully committed. I'm still hoping Diamond comes back from his injury and makes the grade with us.

Bednarek > Lyanco. Defensively. All IMO and I know I'll be in the minority saying it but I get nervous watching Lyanco. He is better on the ball than Jan though and hasn't pissed off the fanbase yet. However neither should be near a Premier League starting line up...

We have jewels that will go in the summer if we go down, we know that, but they are likely less than previous seasons and thus we should be able to keep a lot of the team together for a promotion push. JWP, Lavia, Salisu, KWP will go, maybe ABK and Adams, but beyond that I think we'll keep the squad together. Tino post injury will need to rebuild his career so I think we'd keep him personally. Not sure about any of our January signings but with the likes of Smallbone and Tella to add to the squad we wouldn't be in bad straits. Obviously we'd be in a far better place if we survived... as long as we learn our lesson and stop trying to make a profit on youth going forwards. Last thing we want is to survive and go down next season. We did that in the Championship when Stern John was our saviour.

Without checking (the game largely bypassed me for a number of reasons), but I'm guessing the overall response to this game is that the 'powers that be' should all now see the blatant flaws in the team that the rest of us can see... namely we need a striker, someone better than Diallo and a Keeper who isn't 'learning his trade'... A draw today would have been huge. Shame. Still we march on.

Flowers, Kenna, Le Saux, Ian Pearce, Slater, Shearer, Ripley, Wilcox... We've had a close link to Blackburn's title winning team over the years. Tim Sherwood as manager next...

Technically gifted with a great engine and good passer of the ball that we all know can score goals... it was a bit of a no brainer that he'd be better further forward, our issue has been a lack of alternative midfield options otherwise. He can be a similar influence (or better) as Steven Davis was in the middle of last decade. But as for our other CM options we have Lavia of course but then have to partner him with Diallo or AMN so he's had to play deeper. We need another CM/DM. Imagine Romeu alongside Lavia with JWP ahead. Sounds great. Shame we'll never see it.

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...