SNSUN

That’s got to be us pretty much safe now, playing well, getting wins. I was worried about goals but midfield seem to be stepping up. I look forward to the summer re-build under Ralph.

Is this accurate? https://www.spotrac.com/epl/southampton-f.c/payroll/ Shows the need to offload some big wage earners come the summer. Also if it's accurate, Bednarek is being underpaid - surely he's earned a new contract soon?

You only have to read the first page of this thread to see that people were excited about this signing, and while I had never heard of him, obviously some people had, and were keen for him to join us. It does take longer for some footballers to adjust to the Premier League, so perhaps we just have to be patient with him. If he can get his fitness sorted, and he proves to be the talented player some thought him to be, then he could be like a new signing for us next season. As it is, we've seen very little from him so far, and have been fortunate that Redmond and more recently JWP have stepped up to the mark creatively. As people said against Spurs, Sims did more in one half than Moi has done all season, which is a shame. Still, his attitude to improve suggests he's worth sticking by, for now, otherwise it's just wasted wages that we already have enough of.

If I could magically change one game as it happened but with the result being different, I’d have VAR at the United game which we would have then won. Or perhaps would have subbed Stephens earlier in the Burnley game recently. I suppose replaying the Cardiff game is obvious, but I'd quite like a stab at playing Burnley (first game of the season) with Hasenhuttl and the current side.

The Burnley loss today was huge for us. You look at their last 4 fixtures and, despite them being a difficult team to beat, you can't see many, if any points for them there. They could well be the third relegated team, which would be massive for Cardiff. (Who would then suffer second season syndrome and be easier to beat next season!)

Naturally as the wife and in-laws are all Norwich fans, I'm stuck in the middle of elation this season, so I hope they finish the job and win the title. (Or at least finish second.) After that, I always look at who could potentially be weakest in the Premier League next season (not that I think, under Hasenhuttl, we'll be in a relegation battle next season if we stay up this one). To that end, I want Sheffield United and Derby to go up (or Preston if they sneak in.) However I think it will be Leeds and Pulis's Boro, although WBA with their firepower could be one to watch, crazy as sacking their manager appears to be.

Question is, do we have a sell on % for them and clauses such as extra cash if they win the league/Champions League? I always wish the Dippers the worst but if them winning either financially rewards us, I may have to allay my hatred...

It's difficult to say right now, seeing as we're still very much in a relegation battle, so what we need depends on what league we're in. If we're in the Prem: Keeping Hasenhuttl is key. Largely we just need a bit of quality, because despite being in a relegation battle, we actually have a decent core of players playing well under Hasenhuttl. Let's say we bring in Maehle, Adams and Augustin, that's pretty much all we need if we can keep the players we want to keep. You could argue we'd also need a centre back but I'd say that's dependant on whether Ralph feels Stephens is up to the job or not, plus whether Alfie Jones will ever make the step up. Outs: Cedric, Hoedt, Clasie, Boufal, Austin, Long, Forster, Carillo (if we can, or loans to free up wages), also possibly one or two youngsters like Reed, McQueen and Gallagher if they don't have futures here. I doubt there'd be many takers for Moi though... So our squad would look like: GK: McCarthy, Gunn, Lewis RB: Maehle, Valery LB: Bertrand, Targett CB: Vestergaard, Bednarek, Yoshida, Stephens, Jones CM: Romeu, Hojbjerg, Lemina, JWP, Slattery AM: Armstrong, Redmond, Elyounoussi, Augustien, Sims Str: Ings, Adams, Obafemi. (plus youngsters, not sure who doesn't count towards the squad of 25, I believe Obafemi doesn't so may room for one more senior signing, either a centre back or another winger/AM) I still think 7th is the best we can hope for, the top 6 are, well, the top 6 and it will take any side some going to break into that. The squad above should be enough to fight for 7th IMO. If we go down? Woof, doesn't bear thinking about, but at least Hasenhuttl has given experience to Johnson, Ramsey, Slattery and obviously Obafemi so we still have the makings of a decent young side.

This I see my guess for them too, probably 35. Of course it might not even be them that gets relegated, Burnley despite their reasonable form have been dragged right back into it, and it was a bad weekend of results for Palace too. I found this table on the Spurs forum... https://www.thefightingcock.co.uk/forum/threads/the-race-for-top-four.30747/page-10 I'm not sure who created it but it suggests we could finish close to 44 points, in 14th. I doubt we will get 14 points from 24 but I'd certainly take that! As for the Brighton game, I guess the only change would be Ings for Austin, but with Lemina not too far off fitness and Sims and Armstrong having strong cameo aPpearances against Spuds, there's a selection dilemma there for Ralph. Maybe switch to a back 4 and add an attacking player?

What a ****ing massive win. Same scorers as Old Trafford too. Sounds like Sims changed the game - can people now see itwas the Reading regime the reason that his loan spell was unimpressive, not his talent. He's more effective than Moi. Great subs, great management. With Newcastle and Cardiff also winning, that drags everyone above us back into it, with Huddersfield and Fulham gone, Burnley will be nervous. I wasn't going to go out tonight, I might now!

A point would be huge, especially with a better GD than Cardiff as they'd need a win and a draw more than us just to go ahead of us over the rest of the season. (If that makes sense...) Spurs have looked a little jaded of late and their title hopes are over. It's a good time to be playing them. If Burnley can beat them...

The question on my mind is - when Lemina is fully fit again, who gets dropped? JWP was the obvious choice before he hit form, but now it would be hard to drop Hojbjerg, Romeu or JWP. Maybe go 4 at the back to accommodate the extra midfielder? Or would Lemina have to be happy on the bench until someone's form dips? As for JWP that was a decent free kick yesterday. For someone with such a good technique at set pieces, it's a wonder why he hasn't hit more of them. I'm glad his all round performance has improved under Ralph, IMO we need to keep Ralph safety or not.

Loss aside, and we were robbed twice, if we play with that press and spirit, we can push away from the bottom 3. I want to stay up under our own steam, not rely on simply being better than Cardiff, and if we keep playing as we have been in the last couple (since Yoshida came back in...coincidence?) we will be ok. IMO the third team relegated will have 33 to 35 points, we just have to have more than that. 3 more wins should do it, my only concern is scoring enough goals but Ings and even Lemina surely can't be a million miles away...

While United have the quality to turn this around, it’s a lovely but unnerving feeling leading United at half time at Old Trafford. Ralph needs to make the correct subs, even if it means bringing defenders on, and we need to avoid red cards at all costs. United are a very good team. A draw would be excellent. A win? Miraculous.

Who would you go for? More choices than last season that’s for sure. Redmond, JWP, Bednarek, Romeu or Hojbjerg surely? Can anyone nick it over the last few games?

I keep changing my mind about the line up also. We need pace, and for the one striker we have that can historically score goals, to be given chances. 4-2-3-1 McCarthy Valery Bednarek Vestergaard Bertrand Hojbjerg Romeu Sims Armstrong Redmond Austin Subs: Gunn, Yoshida, Stephens, Targett, JWP, Johnson, Gallagher/Long. Then ****ing go for it. Funnily enough I'm one of the people that rates JWP, but despite his goals lately, he's the one I'd cut for a more attacking player.

Just had a look at the remaining fixtures - IMO we are capable of getting 15 more points from those fixtures, but I'm going to say we will get 8 more points, two wins, two draws, which will put us on 32 points. Which is, of course, not enough for survival. Our last 5 fixtures (and I include a Wolves team in that that could be on the beach by then) are favourable, but we can't go into those fixtures with any less than 30 points on the board - otherwise we are done for. That means 2 wins against either Fulham, Watford or Brighton, or miraculously getting something against Spuds, United or Liverpool. We're not down yet, but with no Gabbiadini or Tadic to save our skins like last season, it is hard to know where the wins, nay even the goals, are going to come from. Still, I look at Brighton's last few fixtures... if ever there was a team that slipped down the table and into relegation, it could be them. Although I think, player wise, they have enough about them.

Agree with a back four as we need an extra attacking player, but not sure we'll get it. Either: McCarthy Valery Bednarek Vestergaard Bertrand Hojbjerg Romeu JWP Armstrong Redmond Austin in a 4-3-3/4-2-2-2 McCarthy Bednarek Yoshida Vestergaard Valery Hojbjerg Romeu Bertrand Armstrong Redmond Austin in a 3-4-3. I look at our available strikers and immobile as he is, I still think Austin is our best source of goals. This is simply a must win, and Fulham won't believe they're down yet, so they'll come out fighting. Win and they're as good as down with Huddersfield - then we only need to be better than one other team...if that's possible.

I thought Master Bates had been at it with the Bewb pics again...

This is a huge game lost but let's get some perspective: still winnable games to come. It's obvious that Hasenhuttl was banking on us just staying up and little more this season - well Huddersfield are down, and it's looking like Fulham will join them, so really anyone up to Palace is in a relegation battle. Our performances do need to improve though or it could well be us for the third spot. We'll lose to Arsenal IMO, but the Fulham game is now MASSIVE. Safety is the only important thing for the rest of this season - ignore mid-table, I think that's beyond us now, but safety would at least mean we can go into the summer transfer window ready to cut the dead wood out of this team and sign players more to Hasenhuttl's image.

If we are going to survive this season, and we ARE in the relegation battle if we lose this, IMO we need to trust the youngsters in attack. Sims, Gallagher and Obafemi when he's back all need to be trusted, and all can offer something different. Even Johnson has pace and can cross a ball. Without Ings, of the senior players we are left with a near immobile Austin, a rarely goal scoring Long, and a pretty crap Elyounoussi. Really, attacking wise only Armstrong and Redmond offer us any threat. I think we can survive, but we need points on the board sooner rather than later, and dropping some here against our relegation rivals is not a great start.

Two goals so far for Che, another few million on his price tag. Harlee Dean, once of this parish, has Birmingham's 3rd. I look forward to our attacking recruitment in the summer, survival permitting...

Well I was wrong in a 50:50 punt, but it does beg the question, where is the pilot, and did he bail? RIP Emiliano.

Two little wins, two little tiny wins against Cardiff and Fulham, and we can leave February on 30 points and looking up not down. But we're Saints. We don't do things the easy way. While I've predicted 3 points against both, I'm just as confident in our ability to **** it up. We can only hope there's enough Hasenhuttl effect left to counteract our "Saintsness". Cardiff have the Sala effect too, they'll be well up for this game. IMO a draw is not good enough for us. Yoshida and Hojbjerg back will be huge defensively, but the question is, do we have enough in attack to score the goals without Ings? We we will see.

I think this will be a good bonding session, especially for the youngsters who may have felt left out in the past due to not being involved with the senior team. May the airline bring them all back in one piece. (Too soon?)