SNSUN

So I've waited until now to write my thoughts on the game, partly because I had a busy weekend and partly because my daughter has been ill. Anyway, result aside, I thoroughly enjoyed my first trip to SMS on Saturday in nearly 2 years and really hope to go again soon if shift work allows. I thought the band were decent and the pre-match buzz around the stadium meant that many thought we could win that. Then the game started. We weren't terrible, we were just dull and without ideas. We did have chances just not really clear cut ones. Wolves, like us, seemed to be low on confidence, but that moment of class from Jimenez and iffy defending from us was all that separated us from another draw. I'll stop short at ratings but I thought McCarthy, Salisu, Livramento, Romeu (for the most part, he started poorly) and Redmond did OK, and Armstrong was the better of the two strikers. The rest weren't up to much at all really. I think having 2 attackers at the moment is all wrong and we need an extra midfielder - I'd be tempted to start Romeu as a deep DM and have JWP and Diallo as box to box. We wanted to play wide but we don't have decent wide players. KWP and Livramento on the right would make so much more of a difference IMO. Still overall I enjoyed the game and, though it looks worrying right now, especially with Chelsea ahead, I still think we'll have enough to avoid the drop. Goals are an issue but with Stu Armstrong to come back hopefully we can play someone shite and get a confidence boosting win.

Cheers JRM. Will try again for fuel in the morning otherwise train it is.

Hey all, for those in the know, are the buses from Southampton Central still running to SMS? I don't mind the walk but won't have a lot of time. Been years since I used public transport but my car has no petrol as all the idiots are panic buying so looks like train is my best option.

Currently available on a free transfer...

Papa Waigo in the last minute. Then Bialkowski saved 3 pens. I was in the Kingsland taking the piss out the wife (who thought they'd won) and it was frigging freezing.

My first game in ages wahoooooo! Taking the Norwich supporting wife so she can watch a Premier League team for a change. 😈😈😈🤪 Really think we can win here. Two goal shy sides suggest a dull 0-0 but get the team right and we CAN win! Hoping for the 4222 with 2 strikers. McCarthy, Tino, Bednarek, Salisu, Perraud/KWP, JWP, Romeu, Elyounoussi, Redmond, Adams, Armstrong.

Banana skin avoided... just.

Bloody iPad died just before that goal so can't see the goals on Sky Sports News. Pah. BBC website and SaintsWeb it is then. (Wife has hijacked the TV for Bloody Bake Off.)

Forster, KWP, Bedders, Lyanco, Small, JWP, Diallo, Moi, Djenepo, Tella, Broja for me. Rest Tino. Perraud for Small if he’s not ready. 0-2. Think we’re slightly lucky Berge and Gibbs-White miss this one.

Quick game before Sheffield Utd then? Maybe he’ll be subbed off early.

Let's start with a win against Wolves and see how we get on. Both us and Wolves are struggling for goals in the league, so you could say another 0-0 isn't impossible, but if Ralph structures us right then I think we can win that. Stephens will be a loss if he's out but with Bednarek, Salisu and Lyanco we have strength in depth there this season. Then there's Chelsea who we will probably lose to, but having said that we did get very good points from both Manchester clubs so it's not beyond the realms of possibility to do the same - I just think Chelsea will be a different animal this season with Lukaku up top and will probably win the league, unless Liverpool stay clear of injuries, City can stop the blanks due to a lack of attacker and United's new players click quickly. Then follows 5 eminently winnable fixtures if we play well and stay hard to beat. I'm not predicting those directly but a ratio of 2 points from 3 isn't impossible. So 11-13 points from those 7 should put us in decent shape for the Christmas period. I'll say 11 with slight pessimism. Looking at the bottom of the league, you can already see the teams that might struggle. Poor Norwich are looking like fish in a barrel and everyone has a loaded gun. Normally tight Burnley have already conceded 9 and are struggling for goals, this could be their season. Newcastle and Leeds are conceding goals for fun right now too, though you think Leeds could improve. I also think Palace and Watford could slip though I liked the look of Palace last week and Edouard looked like a decent acquisition. Then there's Wolves who are struggling for goals. If we can keep our heads above water, we should be looking more towards mid-table than over our shoulders come the second half of the season.

We need this... Pleasssse

Wtf team selection. You can only imagine Ralph sees this as a free hit and is saving key players for Wolves next week which is very winnable.

I'm personally making more of an effort to get down to St Mary's this season than I have for a few years. I'll be at the Wolves game firstly. Trouble is as a shift worker it greatly restricts how much I can get down there. I miss the Royal Oak though. Used to be a good atmosphere for pre match pints.

Respect the point... But we could steal this and it would be massive.

Broja, Tella and Adams on the bench. Come on Ralph, be brave for a change. Heck even Lyanco or Valery may be better in attack than what we've seen from Redmond, Djenepo and Moi so far!

I think the shape is all wrong. Redmond, Djenepo and Moi are never going to give the opposition the shits. We need two up top and Redmond should not be one of them. That was a great cross by Perraud there. Let's hope we can bring Broja on and he can have a similar impact to this game as Edouard did for Palace. 0-0 at half time though... could have been worse.

Morale boosting surprise 3-1 win with King Moi continuing his goalscoring exploits, AArmstrong getting on the scoresheet and a Jack Stephens header from a corner. I'm not putting any money on it though! TBF another draw would be a decent result here, but at some point we're going to have to beat somebody tough or we know what kind of season to expect.

If Livramento continues his rise, he could become England's regular right back in a few years and poor TAA will continue to find his path to the right back slot blocked. An abundance of riches in that position.

We did reasonable business to bulk out the squad, and whether we do well depends on how well Lyanco, AArmstrong and Perraud fully settle in. By my estimation we have 21 'winnable' points between now and the end of November (excluding the unlikely, but possible (as the point against United showed) chance we get something against a top team) and how we fare this season will be determinant on how many of those points we get. 21 points by the end of November and we are looking at mid-table or better. 15-21 should see us lower mid-table, 10-15 and it's a relegation battle ahead for us. Fewer than 10 from those fixtures and we are probably going down unless something major changes. We also have a smattering of 'winnable' games over the Christmas/New Year period. It's so tricky to predict this season as we haven't had a summer with so much movement since the Koeman days. Tighten up the defence and we have a good chance of mid-table again. We need to stay up this season, for no other reason than next summer we can actually sign a decent keeper and really make strides to improve the first team. The problem is that this is probably the toughest set of teams in the Premier League we've faced in years, and the top 4 have really improved, so taking points off them will be so much more difficult. (Yes I know we have one already against United but with Ronaldo there now, no Varane and Sancho starting and the likes of Rashford injured, we met them at a good time.) We need to beat the teams we think will be in and around us, home AND away, and hope we can get a few points from the likes of West Ham, Leicester etc when they have off days.

Or wrong, as bigger clubs don't want him... I do think he's a decent fit for us. Seems to care about the job, willing to work with his hands tied behind his back and seems to have the support of the players. God knows if he'd be any good with some money to spend but it may be a while before we find out.

GK: McCarthy, Forster, Lewis RB: KWP, Livramento, Valery LB: Perraud, Small, McQueen CB: Salisu, Bednarek, Stephens, Lyanco, CM: JWP, Romeu, Diallo, Smallbone AM: Armstrong, Elyounoussi, Redmond, Tella, Djenepo, Walcott, Str: Adams, Armstrong, Broja, Long That's the squad (excluding young players like Watts, Chauke, Olufunwa, etc). 27 players with a couple probably due out on loan to knock it down to 25. Personally I think it has been a decent window for a team that has it's financial hands tied behind it's back. Yes we are unsure on Armstrong being an able replacement for Ings and yes we don't know much about Lyanco but we definitely have more strength in depth, especially at full back which cost us heavily last year. The biggest worry is the unknown quantities of player we've signed but we will see in due course. I think we will still see Valery and maybe Long go out on loan if we can find someone to take them, and obviously McQueen will probably be gone in the new year, but overall it should be enough, at the very least, to stay up.

I'm OK with the £2 million fee. The principal bit of the deal will be getting a good sell on fee clause. If he's a hit at Swansea (and I believe he has the traits to be) then if we have a, say, 25% sell on clause he goes for, say, the Armstrong amount of £15 million, Then we'd be getting close to £3 million extra quid which would help in future transfer windows. I guess Long isn't going anywhere, so that effectively makes him the 4th choice striker this season behind Adams, Armstrong and Broja. (If you consider Tella, Walcott and Redmond as wingers/10s.)

With dosh incoming from Swansea I hope we don't fully give up this evening. London is close enough to us to score a last minute loan. That said I think our squad is in better shape than last season so we just have to hope that we can pick up a few good results soon to boost morale.

They're already standing as they're busy celebrating goals against us. 😈