SNSUN

I think a lot depends on injuries, who we can keep fit and who doesn't get sidelined with Covid, and whether we have adequate stand ins. We lost Ings, we suffered for a few games with not scoring. But we lost Vestergaard and, worried as we were, Stephens stepped in and has been very good. A lot of those games 'could go either way' and 7 points (while it's a point-a-game relegation form) wouldn't be a bad haul. 9-12 would be more my guess but then I thought we'd lose heavily to Liverpool! Leicester - X, Leeds - X, Arsenal - L, Villa - W, United - L, Newcastle - W or possibly X if they play 11 defenders, Wolves - W. Yeah 9-12 points. Anything more would be amazing and would set us up nicely for a European push.

So to win the cup we probably have to beat one of the toughest teams left in the cup. And Arsenal. 🤪

I bet he’s better than our last Zambian. If he’s as good as our last purchase from RB Salzburg they will have a real coup. On the Beeb Gossip... Real Betis interested in Dan N’Lundulu.

If memory serves, I think Blackpool's Premier League season started with a huge win and then they got relegated, so without checking they may have been top and bottom in the same season.

I miss Barry Venison. 😀 I reckon Ward-Prowse would be a decent co-commentator when his career is up but I have a feeling he'd go into coaching/management.

Brandon Williams is playing at right back for United, so if we did sign him, he'd be cup-tied. (Their fans aren't impressed with his perfomance so far on Twitter)

No Balogun in the Arsenal squad today... 😉 Not ITK, but if it comes off I'd look like one. 😀

There is the crux. Nobody knows what is going on in his personal life or in his head. I fail to believe an experienced, top flight manager like Ralph would cry purely because we beat an off-form Liverpool, we're not that crap, so I can only assume he has something else going on in his life that culminated in the victory. Brits by tradition have a stiff upper lip (for better or worse, maybe it's why we struggle to open about our mental health...) but Ralph is Austrian so maybe it doesn't apply to him.

While I agree in principal to not playing a weakened side in the cup to make sure we progress, at the same time this time it’s Shrewsbury not, say Brentford. Mourinho yesterday said that getting to the League Cup final is a victory for taking the competition seriously, but we played a full team against Brentford and lost. Shrewsbury are no Brentford however, and it is a perfect time to include some squad players, even if we only rest two or three of the big boys. If those players can’t win a game against a lower League One side, they probably shouldn’t be playing for us. That said I do think Ralph will field a near full team so the point is irrelevant. Anyway it seems moot currently as the game looks like it will be postponed, meaning we have time to get some more players back from injury and rest others.

One Thread to rule them all, One thread to find them, One thread to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. Professional performance please. They're seemingly not pulling up any trees but their results in December have been very good and now they have Cotterill as manager who is no mug. It's always nice to get one over a former Skate though. I'd be going with: Forster, Valery, Stephens, Salisu, Vokins, JWP, Diallo, Tella, Armstong, Long, N'Lundulu if everyone is fit. That should be enough to progress and give squad players some game time, while resting KWP, Bednarek, Walcott, Ings et al. Salisu is the big one I want to see - this is the perfect introductory match... and yet he didn't make the bench tonight. Weird. N'Lundulu too I'd like to see start the match.

What a win - somebody mentioned it just now, it felt a lot like the Man City game after the first lockdown last season with the early Che goal and a brilliant backs to the wall performance. We were the better team in the first half but Liverpool came at us in the second half, but they just ran out of ideas as our defence held firm. I must admit I was one that thought we were in for a hiding today with no McCarthy, Vestergaard, Romeu and Che - the entire backbone of our first XI missing, but what a performance from the boys that stepped in. Even the subs did well. Ratings below. How emotional was Ralph at the end! Nearly made me go. Ratings as I saw it (although I missed a couple of minutes in both halves.) Forster: 6 - didn't have anything to do really, but could have been rusty and didn't really show it. Kicking was iffy but he punched the ball confidently and claimed it bravely a few times at the end to buy us some seconds. He wanted to stay with us this season - well now he has his chance to show what he can do. KWP - 9 - My MOTM (and Skys I see) Was brave, comfortable in position, rarely ever panics, is two footed and kept Sadio quiet. I've been a fan of his since the day I first saw him play but this was one of his best performances. All our defenders were brilliant though, but he was best. Bednarek - 8 - I thought Stephens was marginally better but still a calm and composed performance from him. Stephens - 9 - a great ballsy performance from the stand in. Some key blocks including one where I genuinely thought Liverpool were about to score. Bertrand - 8 - Composed and make some key challenges. JWP - 8 - Not his best game but a well worked free kick for the goal, and he still leads the team brilliant. Never shys away from the ball, always looking for the next pass. Diallo - 9 - Close to MOTM. This lad is some player - another who doens't panic. We did not miss Romeu and that is high praise indeed. Armstrong - 8 - one of his better games for ages. Found space well and passing was decent. Intelligent play. Djenepo - 7 - started brightly so was a shame to see him come off. Definitely suffers from knocks this lad. Ings - 8 - Such an intelligent player - he meant that lob and placed it perfectly. In fact it was so subtle, I didn't even celebrate straight away! Another that worked his arse off defensively. Walcott - 7 - Frustrates me so much as he is obviously talented, but so often runs into blind alleys or gets easily knocked off the ball. Still with no Che, he was probably our best bet up top as pace against their makeshift defence was a good idea. SUBs: Tella - 7 - I cheered because I thought his shot had gone in, it was certainly close. Showed he could be an asset for us going forwards. N'Lundulu - 7 - I thought maybe we'd start him tonight as a big forward against their makeshift defence could have worked, but Ralph got it right in the end. I'm excited by this guy, he seems to have good feet for a big lad. Valery - 8 - Came on and actually helped out on the right, giving us an outlet. If only his nutmeg had gone in! Even if this is one of his last appearances for us, he'll remember this game fondly. Ralph: 9 - Put out the best team he could, made decent subs, got the result he probably doubted he could get. Cried. What a man.

KWP having another decent game. Looks comfortable on the ball. Two footed too. Diallo looking decent too. Agree with others, Walcott without the ball is better than Walcott with the ball seemingly. If we can take this scoreline to half time it would be brilliant.

Agree, I'm quite happy with this signing if it goes ahead. Yes it's a freebie and people will be questioning why we aren't splashing the cash on better players (#skint) but he's the right age to still progress his career, he has pace which I like in an attacker, technically decent and all for wages and a signing on fee. It seems a smart signing to strengthen a position, much as the Walcott signing did, without investing much cash. If anyone can get the best out of him, Ralph can. I assume signing Gray means we can play Walcott up front more if needed, especially as Obafemi may be leaving on loan? My only concern is it shows the lack of trust we currently have in the younger players like Tella, Smallbone etc. Bad batch or just not ready yet?

My thoughts too, I posted the other day I thought Che looked tired, and certainly wasn't himself after being booted in the head. Personally for pace I'd slot Walcott up next to Ings and maybe even play Diallo in a more advanced role but I suspect Long will start. I don't dislike Long but his day has gone, if he ever really had a day. There weren't too many. However we gave him a new 2 year contract so it seems the Long/Ings partnership will have to do. The pessimist in me has escaped... Liverpool will win this, despite their recent form, I just have a feeling. Just make it respectable Saints. 3-1 wouldn't be a bad defeat. All players need to work their bollocks off as we only have the Shrewbury game in a fortnight after this.

As long as we hit the early 30's points mark by the end of the month, I think we are on course for a comfortable finish to the season. We need Ings back and firing and no more key injuries/COVID issues to key players. An early transfer window addition would be a morale booster but I can't see it. I'm not expecting much vs Liverpool, they will want a victory after two poor results. Leicester, Leeds and Villa are a bit Jeckyll and Hyde this season, so those could go either way, but they represent our best chance of points. Arsenal are finding their groove again since we drew with them, so again I'm not expecting much there either. 5-6 points wouldn't be a bad haul. 7 or more would be fantastic. We also have the cup game next week which, despite me wanting us to go very far in it, is still a very good chance to try some squad players. Salisu debut surely, Tella, N'Lundulu, possibly Vokins, and Diallo to get more minutes. We are struggling to score legitimate goals of late so knocking a few past Shrewsbury (no disrespect) could fill us with confidence for the rest of the January fixtures.

Time for La Gran Muralla to show he still has it then. McCarthy is a loss though. He's been very good this season.

Positions we don't really need anyone immediately: GK, RB, CB, CM. Then: LB: We have an ageing Bertrand, then a seemingly untrusted Bertrand. Considering the lack of a right back back up too, we need a versatile full back to challenge both sides. AM: We have options, but nobody that is consistent. It says something that the best AM we have had this season is Walcott, who was brought in as cover/competition. Str: Again strength in depth is the issue here. Ings has had a few knocks lately and we miss him when he's gone. Adams has improved and I'm so impressed by his work rate but he's far from a natural finisher. Then we have Long, Obafemi and N'Lundulu, or as we know them, Crap, Untrusted and Untested. Even Walcott has played up front instead of those 3. Will we bring in three players in January? No. I suspect we will limp on with the attacking department we already have. I reckon the only player we will bring in will be a full back with versatility. Brandon Williams is perfect if we can do a deal. If we want to push for top 6 though, a creative AM at least would be a great addition.

Typical Moyes West Ham set up to make things difficult for us and did so. A point was not a bad result in the end, as they were in the ascendancy towards the end of the game. Had the Ings goal been given (I'd be interested to see what would have happened had the lino NOT put his flag up) it would have been a much different game as WHam would have had to come at us more, leaving gaps. This season we've largely been better against sides when we've got the first goal. None of our attacking players shone today bar Walcott, and even he sometimes makes the wrong decision with the ball. That said it was good to see Ings getting 90 minutes, and even though his goal didn't count it was a great finish and shows glimpses of what we've been missing up front. I'd suggest Che may need a break but it's difficult when you have Long or youngsters to cover for him. Maybe Ings and Walcott up front? For me the two best Saints players on the pitch (not for the first time this season) were KWP and Romeu, although I thought Bednarek had a decent game too, and McCarthy's save near the end was crucial. Romeu probably my MOTM. 4 games with no win now, but we're still proving difficult to beat/break down and we are not being cut away from the top 4 spots just yet. Liverpool will be tough but West Brom recently showed they're not at their free flowing best, and they have no Matip too now. (All 3 senior CBs out.) As I said to the missus during the game, if you can't score, be sure to keep a clean sheet, and we did that today.

Keep chipping away Saints. Definitely need a moment of magic from someone...

It feels like the goals have dried up for us but we're not playing badly, just horrible West Ham are stopping us play. Ings 'goal' definitely needed a proper review, I suspect if the lino hadn't raised his flag we'd have seen a 2 minute VAR stoppage. 3 points and a nice finish to a good year would be great tonight so I hope we can step up and get them. But West Ham have quality on the bench. I hate playing them.

Yeah this, was our worst performance for ages but with us missing our spine, we still had two disallowed goals, a definite penalty for handball not given, and we hit the bar and missed an open goal. We could have won that despite being poor. Subs needed to be earlier. A point was fair, but we are slowly slipping away from the title fight!

After this performance, would be delighted with 0-0. A really good team would nick the 3 points with a cheeky undeserved goal though...

Happy Boxing Day Eve everybody!

Same, captained Sterling and vice captained De Bruyne so some consolation so far. Really hoping Ings’ injury isn’t serious. It’s a bit like his loan season when he was getting knocks. We’re not out of this but a second City goal and I think that will be that.

City do look well up for this. Need to keep heads up and keep fighting.