SNSUN

Attacking midfield? Not sure I agree with that. I think we have quantity but not enough quality in those areas. Armstrong is obvious decent, but Redmond is inconsistent, Djenepo made of glass, Tella largely untested/unproven and Walcott, Minamino and Elyounoussi on loan with uncertain futures. I’m not sure Minamino is necessarily the answer to that (although he must have shown quality for Liverpool to sign him) but I would be looking for a better AM to be brought in, if we can find one. However I’m aware we will be on a strict budget, and money would be more importantly spent on full back areas and in attack, so I guess we will be stuck with what we have or more loans, which concerns me. I can potentially see Walcott and Elyounoussi here next season for a start, which could mean a looooong season.

Not to be cliché with my posts but... I'd take a draw. 🤦‍♂️

I’d take this point with bells on...

I love Danny and if he wants to stay and sign a contract this summer then great, but with his injury record, if a reasonable offer (over £35 million) came in for him this summer I’d be thinking about it. Arse. Great finish Bale. Now we need to show some balls.

We look so much better with Adams in the side over Redmond. Criminal he didn't start at Wembley really. Granted he should have score do early on but he gives defenders a headache. Decent performance so far. Get the second and it would be difficult to see Spurs getting back into it. Concede and we may see our heads go down. Need to see more from Tella for me (overall, there were some encouraging signs that half). Bar Armstrong I still don’t fully rate the AMs in the squad. Great header from Ings. Overall keep it up Saints. Are we still in the dark about Bertrand?

Equaliser, extra time, penalties, win penalties, beat Chelsea, win the FA Cup. Easy. Why can’t we have nice things... I really hope the higher powers of our club aren’t all sitting around post season patting each other on the back at reaching the Semi Final of the FA Cup. “...and we just survived lads. A job well done this season.” Serious investment needed.

Time for the nuns... Hmm, wrong pic... Never thought I’d say this but... get Walcott on!

Come on Saints, the more we bore them to sleep the more we can take advantage! Seriously I’m just happy to go in level at halftime. They were the better side. Please let us go through! I don’t care how, just let it happen!

Everton installed the first dugouts in England, we installed the first permanent floodlights in England. We’ve be rivals in trying to set records ever since.

Yep about 10 goals from Ings in the first season, but it was still enough for Spurs to come in and buy him for £65 million... If only it were real life... This is my first new FM since FM13 surprisingly (except on iPad I did have the basic version a few years ago), as I went a few years without a working computer and then discovered old incarnations of the game when I finally did get one. The holy grail was finding my Grandad's old laptop in my mum's house (he died circa 2008, the laptop had been purchased around 2006) which she 'inherited' and then never used, then realising my old CM2003 disc worked on it. That was my favourite game of all, Beattie, Pahars and 30 goal a season Ormerod would easily win you the Prem without signing anyone!

Finally got around to loading CM 2021 up on my laptop last week (I've been in an epic game of FM2008 for ages). I am starting off with the Touch version before I delve into the main game and all the micromanagement that goes with it. So far? I'm in 2023, Gao has given me shed loads of money to spend, I signed Nketiah who has scored 50 goals in one season, signed St-Maximin for a club record £35 million fee, won 2 Carabao cups on the trot and the Euro 2 cup, Che Adams has 16 assists and 20 goals as we marched to 6th in the league, and I have also signed 2 wonderkids. Oh and Burnley just bid £13 million for N'Lundulu and I haven't even played him. I hope the main game is more realistic! 😁

FA Cup Final day - Manchester City vs Southampton. The build up, the coverage, the excitement. Drink it in. ABIDE WITH ME with tears rolling down your cheek. The knowledge we are safe for another season and can give the game everything we have got. The lack of caring that City get 80% of the analysis to our 20%. The lack of caring that we are about to come up against De Bruyne and co. The day is all about the build up sod the result. We can dream, can't we? We've not so long ago beaten City with a similar team. It is 11 vs 11 and it is DOABLE! Just DREAM! And what if? WHAT IF we actually do it and beat City? Can you imagine that feeling? Those of you old enough know the feeling. I was there for the JPT. This would feel infinitely better than that. History. THAT IS WHAT IS AT STAKE! (Unless Chelsea get through but the principal is the same...) Only Leicester City stand in our way. We can do it people. Just believe! One game, it's just one game. Put your thoughts about our crappy team to one side and focus on the positivity. Taste the final... And hell if you don't believe, you can always stick a huge insurance bet on! 😁

We'd have no players or manager after the first minute as they'd all be in the bath... 😝 Seriously that was wank. The swear filter was not replaced for nights like this. WANK. That has to go down as one of the worst performances of the season. Sell Ings, sell JWP, sell anyone worth any money at all and rebuild the squad. Now let's go and win the cup. 🤪

Seriously crap. We look a midfielder light and our defence looks shit scared. Attack is the best form of defence, as WBA have proved. Their defence isn't great but they've hardly needed it. Leicester must be rubbing their hands together at this performance. You'd like to think it can only get better... Roll on full time!

Tricky game to call. If West Brom still think they have a chance to escape relegation (11 points gap and a shitty goal difference says otherwise) and buoyed on by their Chelsea win, then they will come out fighting (especially an Allardyce team although he's bitten off more than he can chew this time). However they may realise they're down now and feel deflated, not to mention we just had a decent victory against Burnley and have a cup semi to come. Even if they hit 2 points out of 3 though (16 points puts them on 37, only 5 more than Newcastle have now) I don't think it will be enough. It is probably one of those games that will end in a draw - not enough for WBA and it keeps us edging closer to that 40 point mark. Win though, and we hit 12th, so there is incentive for us too, especially going into a cup semi. Sod it, I'm going 2-1 Saints. Let's get a Diallo goal.

Was it Watford that were relegated because of it? Think it was them and not Bournemouth. OK the Hornets are going up anyway, but I'm surprised they didn't make more of a stink about it at the time. OK, probably not as bad as West Ham surviving over Sheffield United when the Hammers signed Tevez and Mascherano as the Hammers broke the rules and Villa didn't, but still. Had Villa gone down last season they certainly would have lost Grealish and would have been a shadow of the team they are currently. With the backing they have they'll be a Premier League force for years to come IMO. I don't like VAR but I do think it has a place. However there is a human element to it and humans are fallible. Some of the "armpit offsides" have been ludicrous this season, and some of the lines drawn (as above) have been crazy. If it is that close, or takes ages to make a decision, surely the benefit should go to the attacking side. Che Adams goal that was ruled out by a finger when playing United was crazy. Oh and well played Leeds - shows that our path to FA Cup glory is not completely impossible! <<<SNSUN daydreams about winning the cup...>>>

In the Championship? Plenty. Farke at Norwich is doing great things on a limited budget for instance, although as my second team (as my wife and all my in-laws are from Norwich and support them) I follow them a bit more closely. Hopefully his hands aren't as tied in the summer and they are able to bring in a few players of quality to do better than they did last time. Ismael and Paunovic have got their teams playing above expectations too, and Cooper at Swansea has done a great job bearing in mind the high turnover of players since they got relegated. I appreciate Parker is still cutting his teeth in the job, but with the players they signed this season and the team they had last season, I still think they should be doing better. Oh, and I'm a Ralph fan too. 😀

I like Fulham and a couple of mates support them but I don’t rate Parker at all. He underachieved with them last season. Yes he just about got them promoted but he should have smashed that league with the players they had. They’ve made some decent signings this season and with that squad are still underachieving. Still, some good players to potentially pilfer if required...Robinson for one. Sadly they look doomed this season. When was the last time the bottom 3 was decided long before the end of the season? (Assuming the bottom 3 now are the bottom 3 come May of course...)

I listened to the last 15 minutes of the Saints 5 - 4 Norwich game live using Clubcall when Monkou scored the winner I went apeshit and danced around the living room. I got a bollocking for running up the bill but it was worth it. I remember ringing it and they would waffle on for ages before they even said anything of note. I seemed to remember using it to find out about friendly scores as there was no other way then and Ceefax didn’t always display them.

I became a virgin after we had Virgin on our shirts but then my daughter arrived and screwed that up. 😏

I think he'll get better, and therefore should be kept. He should, however, never be considered as our "number one" striker. If Ings leaves, we really need to be sourcing a goal machine from somewhere. Whenever we've had a goal scoring striker, most often there has been a player alongside that hasn't contributed so many goals - Ormerod for example. I can't think of many occassions where we went out to sign a proven goalscorer to play alongside a goalscorer except Kevin Phillips. (From my era 90's onwards in the Prem I mean. I guess Barnard/Sharp alongside Rickie counts if we look at our lower league years). If we do have inspiration for top 8 then maybe we should try to add a better 'second' striker, but I can't see us having the money for that. With Ings' future up in the air, Long not wanted, Obafemi not trusted by the manager, N'Lundulu not exactly setting the world alight, and Walcott's iffy finishing, we should be doing everything we can to keep Adams happy this summer. EDIT: In addition however, if someone offers stupid money for him (Like north of £30 million) then I'd be thinking about it!

I’m not a big fan of Walcott*, I think he’s clumsy amongst other things, but in a transfer window where I think we will be strapped for transfer cash, it does make sense. He’s showed he still has some pace for his age and can be a threat, not to mention he wants to be here. If the wages are right, he’s a decent squad signing. My worry is that this is a precursor to doing things on the cheap. Still, Long or Walcott? Answers itself. *watch him bang in the cup winning goal now...

Burnley still up for this. Dare I say we need a 4th? Salisu on for Armstrong. Nervy last 10...

Absolute joke of a decision. KWP was clearly pulled out the way for that. All that preparation ruined. Burnley are the best team at defending their lead. This will be uncomfortable viewing for the rest of the game as we should now be the possession-heavy team. Need the equaliser and fast.

I’m going to stay positive before I die of blood clots, we will win today. 3-1 Saints, looking like our old selves.