SNSUN

Come on Saints, need to get back into this, Villa currently want it more. What a save! Ffs

Deep breaths Saints. Ride out the Villa storm and keep it simple. Great play Adams!

He’s been one of our best players this season. I agree that he’s been below par in previous seasons and I’ve been critical of him, but he’s definitely found a gear this season. Good to see Stu back, hope he’s fully fit and raring to go. We need a game from Elyounoussi too. Great looking bench if needed.

Yep, IMO as funny as Emery rejecting them is, and as funny as Howe's appointment would be considering the fans want a "name" manager, I actually think Howe might be a decent appointment in the meantime. It isn't like they can't afford to sack him later in the season if they need a new manager bounce, and he might play a brand of football that gets the best from the mediocre Newcastle players. Already the goal for them is probably securing safety, even this early in the season, and a "big spend" manager may not be the best way to go for the rest of the season.

Rumours are that Emery is to reject Newcastle, thinking they lack a clear direction. You can practically hear Geordie heads explode as they contemplate life under Howe. Not exactly the big name they wanted. I’m surprised they don’t go for Koeman, after all he has a 50% success rate with teams he’s managed in England!

Still baffling why they don't play Gilmour. He's looked decent when I've seen him. I think they miss Cantwell too but I heard him and Farke have had a bit of a falling out. Farke's 3-5-2 system effectively means leaving out their most talented players for workhorses and it doesn't appear to be working. Norwich back their manager but he's definitely taking them down again as it is. Having said all that, watch them beat us in November... 🙄😑

Villa could have a whinge if they lose this, seeing as they'll have had a day less to prepare, so it would definitely be sweet to keep the unbeaten run going. Learn how to convert chances and we will smash a team this season at some point, so let's hope Armstrong can find his shooting boots in this one.

Sure I used to think like this, but he's our top goalscorer alongside Elyounoussi with 4 goals in all competitions, despite playing fewer games than Adams and Armstrong. I like Adams and Armstrong but there's no point playing them in a slow slide to potential relegation if we have someone better at putting the ball in the net. Besides, we all know how Chelsea treat the majority of their youngsters, so keeping Broja sweet and playing him may benefit us in the long term if Chelsea ever decide they have no place for him there. I know they rate him highly, hence no sell on clause, but then I really rated Tammy Abraham and they decided he had no future there over Werner. OK, we may not be able to afford him permanently but that means he'll have been a success here. Armstrong I feel will some good eventually, and Adams works hard and has a decent pass on him but will never be a prolific goalscorer, so it's good to have a very good third option up top this year. With Tella and even Long on the books, we have good competition in attack this season. With our new improved defence there's no reason why we shouldn't make strides up the table this season.

A win would be insane. 😀 Seriously Watford are missing Dennis but King and Sarr are dangerous, King more so as his confidence will be high. Still, I don't think we've been in bad form and I tip us to get our first away win of the season today, even without Broja. 1-3 Saints, JWP on the sheet and Armstrong will get one.

I'm a JWP fan but he does have his limitations. Personally I think he's at the peak of what we could achieve for him price-wise, and I'd sell him for anything north of £50 million. Whether or not the club would want to sell Mr Southampton is another thing but his sale would really give us scope to strengthen the first team at a time when we're basically skint. I'm glad he didn't go to Villa, and I'm glad we signed a new contract, and part of me wants us to keep him, but I wouldn't fully begrudge him going to a cash-rich, ambitious Newcastle side as one of the 'marquee' signings they want to make. Besides, as people have said, with Diallo and Romeu in the middle of late, and with Redmond taking the corners (one of which Livramento scored from), we wouldn't necessarily be that worse off without him. £35 million? This is similar money that someone on here banded about in the summer when Villa were interested. Please! He's one of our most important players, an England International, heading into his peak as a footballer, reliable, consistent, with a good Engine, rarely ever injured, with a new long term contract, and versatile enough to play in a few positions. We would be grossly shooting ourselves in the foot for £35 million. Also I don't remember seeing Southgate say he's not good enough for England, he picked him recently and he played well. If I were Newcastle, sure I'd be trying to get him for that - but it isn't going to happen. His worth to us is north of £50 million towards £60 million whether Newcastle value him at that or not... that is the price they would probably have to pay, especially as everyone knows they have dosh to splash.

Yep this was my first thought. They'll want a big name manager to impress the fans and he's about as big a name as they can attract right now I'd say.

There was some speculation at the time that Sadio Mane would go on to be the best player in the world when Liverpool signed him, and while he's been brilliant he's been consistently overshadowed by Salah - who is perhaps now the best player in the world.

My trusty iPad has given up the ghost tonight so far as I'm stuck at work and it's normally reliable! I'll keep trying to get Sky Go to work. No goals yet so I'm not missing anything... ...oh it's working. Hurrah! Let the goals commence...

Cock, I was close to the right line up! Even before the game Walcott has me going FFS! Glad to see Smallbone on the bench and hope he can play some part. Pretty strong but we await to see how Lyanco gets on.

A guess at the line up though it is so tough to predict in a game like this, even though Ralph often likes to go strong. Forster Valery Lyanco Salisu KWP Armstrong Diallo Walcott (nah, me either but we're paying him so we should play him in this and keep him away from the league) Tella Armstong Adams Armstrong if fit but Romeu if not - we are definitely light in CM unless Smallbone is seen as a long term option there.

This would be the most satisfying win in ages... if we can get it. A draw would be tolerable, but lose now and result wise this would be worse than the Wolves game. Staying positive for the last 15.

Howe! Fucking hell some of you need to get a grip. There are better options than Howe if we were to get rid. Redmond has been one of better players last few games. Not saying much but still...

Simply needs a win or two in the next few games no excuses. Wolves was a winnable game and we lost poorly. We've had tough fixtures and had we won early doors, some of the draws we've had are decent. We just need to start scoring goals from open play. I think our strike force has potential, I just feel we're lacking in the attacking midfield department without SArmstrong. Go balls out... Livramento further up and Broja starting alongside AArmstrong.

Broja has scored for Albania... again. What a goal too

Oof if that was in a penalty shoot out... but it wasn't so YAY!

I like Che but he'd be the man I'd be dropping right now, to try and get a win against Leeds, so perhaps a tweaked hammy isn't the worst thing. He did play well though for Scotland, worked hard. Glad I caught the second half of that game. JWP up next. I know it's Andorra and we'll probably struggle to a 2-0 win or something but I hope he comes out of the game with some credit. He has a point to prove after not making the Euros. Also, he needs some form to take back to us, even if he's out for a few games.

Seems like the VAR monitor had a meltdown before it was even used.

To me VAR is using infallible video evidence (it's right there on camera) by fallible human beings. Until you remove the human element, somehow, there will always be mistakes, even by those watching replays. What can be done the change it? Improve the technology somehow? Sure. Improve the standard of refereeing? Sure. VAR is still in it's infancy so we probably have a few more seasons of annoyance to go yet before it's anywhere close to perfection. Other ideas? Foreign refs in our league to stopped bias? Lines drawn on the pitch by grounds staff as a guideline? Refs are annoying though - your title is missing a "T" as the fourth letter. 🙂

Absolutely hate myself for saying this, as he's so ruddy frustrating, but right now I'd pick Redmond. Then Djenepo. @nta786's idea above sounds good for me. This has been an issue for me for seasons though - we have quantity over quality in attacking midfield.

If we could score goals from open play, we'd have a chance of a decent points haul. Need a LOT of players to step up over the next few games or we really will be in the shit.