SNSUN

I'm glad Ralph has acknowledged we need a 10. A first choice one too hopefully. I also think we need a CM long term (DM) but I'd take a 10 this window. I think GK will wait until the summer.

I seem to remember it was this point last year (iirc) that we were on 29 points and Ralph said something along the lines of "it's a good job we have that many" as we had injury problems. We then went on a run of one win in 12 so he was right. Hopefully we don't suffer that dip in form this season. We seem to have better resources and squad depth this season so fingers crossed.

Good news. World is his Oyster. While usually glass half full I often wonder what our team would look like if we did get relegated and I think we'd have a top Championship team with the likes of him in it. Not that I think we will go down this season, though I don't think it will be comfortable...

I agree with the supply issue - Broja, Armstrong, Adams and Tella should be enough for goals - we lack good AMs, especially without a fit SArmstrong. I think Redmond still has something to offer but the rest are meh. New AM please.

Sounds like a sneaky middle finger to the new Newcastle owners. Lovely. It definitely sounds like the new people have a plan to make us competitive (more so than we already are anyway).

Typical - I've been off work for 3 weeks with a head injury and Saints wait for the exact moment I go back to work (literally heard about it on Talksport in the car) to announce a takeover! I haven't read the ins and outs on here yet as to what it means, but there was only so long we could last in the Prem without investment in the playing side (rather than selling to buy). I think we have a good set up here so I hope that not much changes, but the ability to be competitive in the transfer market would be nice. Start off with a decent AM and I'd be happy! (I appreciate we're not going to be the next Newcastle) but every little would help.

Perfect time to play Newcastle with no Wilson and St Maximin... so naturally of course it will be postponed. Granted it also means when we eventually play them that Salisu will be back but this would have been a good time to play them as they’ll splash the cash in Jan.

Ref really has been awful. Card Happy. This game is over as a contest. Valery at centre back in a two? Either we bring on an untested Simeu or Romeu that can play there. Brave to stick with Valery from here.

Just tuned in after a family lunch to find us one nil up! Sure enough seconds later and we've conceded. Let me guess, we've played well? Looks like West Ham are well on top now.

Harry Lewis has previous against Arsenal in a 5-0 loss. A certain Theo Walcott with a hattrick that day! https://www.11v11.com/matches/southampton-v-arsenal-28-january-2017-352101/ But that was a weakened side that day and I'd guess that even with injuries our current side is better than that. Don't get me wrong, I still predict an Arsenal win and I reckon Caballero will play but I don't think it will be a thrashing as long as we can keep 11 players on the pitch. Play dirty but not too dirty. 3-1 Arsenal.

Come on Saints - 18 points after 15 played isn't too bad. Can't keep scraping draws... and Brighton are the bloody draw specialists of the league. Need some immense defending. (and a breakway Saints second goal would be nice!)

A second would really calm the nerves but we know what we're like in the second half. How is Lyanco getting on?

All fart no shit? Looking at the table, this is our chance to win and keep pace with mid-table over Christmas. Too many crap teams at the bottom are picking up points.

Can we nick this? Draw isn't terrible. Lose now and I'll be pissed off. Especially with a winnable game against Brighton coming up we could really rise up the table or at least have a bit of breathing space to the bottom 3. Squeaky bum time.

Jesus they've had massive chances to win this....

Poor fan but better to have a cardiac arrest in a football ground with paramedics present than home alone. As for the game, weird half really. We look threatening in attack and have nicely mixed up our set pieces but still look nervous at the back. I expect Leicester to come at us so if we can last until about 65 minutes without conceding we should have ridden out the storm. Tella looks OK, Redmond good, need more from the strikers IMO.

Liverpool named their strongest XI against us... and it showed. That shows respect for us from Klopp, he could have seen us as an easy fixture and rested a few players. I liked the formation and personnel before the game, they were just too much for us. Onwards we go.

Liking the formation change, 5 at the back defending, 3 in possession. I know it hasn't worked before early on in Ralph's tenure but we have better personnel for it now. Also dropping our ineffective number 10s gets a tick from me. 3 eager strikers and Adams and Armstrong can play deeper to Broja. Good luck to Lyanco too. Liverpool will still maul us but at least Ralph had tried IMO. 3 nil Dippers.

I do this with a large group at work and... am crap at it. I rout for big teams to win early on but they have let me down the last couple of times I did it early on. So don't take my word for it when I say I think Arsenal, Palace and Brighton have good chances to win this weekend. 😀

I wondered why he hadn't been snapped up yet although I can only read half of that article. He could definitely do a job at Championship level when he's fit and he's still young enough to make a comeback if he can recover.

I must admit I'm not a big Dean Smith fan. Besides being a nice guy I fail to see the clamour for him. Just usual press bigging up the Villa-supporting manager of Prince William's favourite team when his transfer dealings have been iffy, overpaying for a lot of players, and failing to strengthen areas of their team that needed strengthening. He was definitely riding the Grealish wave and selling him (though that was out of his hands due to the release clause) has definitely caught up with him. He did well to get to a cup final but even Puel managed that, and obviously the promotion but with much better players than the rest of the division. I rate Chris Wilder higher than I rate Dean Smith (and Norwich are a week late for him!). Villa made the right call sacking Smith though, and I actually think Gerrard's appointment was risky but smart. Villa will probably be OK this season. I do think Dean Smith is a good fit for Norwich, nice guy at a nice-guy-image club, but Norwich lack much quality in their side for this division and they will go down. And as they are my wife's team, that pleases me slightly! 😈😈 Play Gilmour and they have a chance, but otherwise? Nah. New manager bounce or not, we should still be beating Norwich on Saturday. Our defence has been tight this season and we've shown attacking flair in recent weeks. I actually think this could be our first 2 goal margin-or-better league win of the season. 2-0 Saints in one of the rare times in recent memory that we've won 3 league games in a row.

So unlifelike. And my fans have never once questioned the lack of bog roll in the toilets. Sort it out MLG! 😀

It was inevitable after getting beaten by Saints. Norwich were so scared of us that they pre-empted it! Seriously I know that Villa fans quite like Smith, especially as he is a fan, but that team, even without Grealish, is underachieving. If I were Lampard, I'd be looking at Villa not Norwich.

The fact that we're nitpicking our long throws shows how much improvement we've made on the rest of the pitch! FWIW I rarely notice throw in takers, but what I do think Salisu needs to work on is his back passes. They were often poor and we're lucky McCarthy had the foresight to read them and come out. One of those could cost us one day if he's not careful. There was a marginal gains story I saw recently when Wimbledon employed a substitute coach to make sure the subs were warming up properly before they were needed, as they could potentially be the match winner if called upon. He says these marginal gains can help win football matches, and commented that the 3 players that missed the penalties in the Euro final had barely warmed up when they entered the field of play, which could have affected them mentally. Also Liverpool employed a throw in coach to make the most of them. I'm not saying that Saints should do either of these per se, but you'd think we'd practise anything that could potentially make a difference on match day. Maybe JWP's corners could be looked at as, short corners aside, the ones he plants into the box are quite 'samey', unlike the recent unpredictability of Redmond's, one of which we scored from.

Farke Off. Headline writes itself. Normally fear the new manager bounce but not so sure with Norwich. No doubt the new boss will play Billy Gilmour and he'll have a stormer, but I still fancy us to beat them.