SNSUN

Just in from work, how're we d.... ...oh. Could be worse.

"ill" or "not up for this game so feigning illness..." 😄

Pep - "Don't pick Edozie and we'll take it easy when we're 5 up. Deal?" 😀

Wow - genuinely thought we'd go 3 CBs. Aside from that it's probably our strongest first XI. No Edozie?

I know we've been leaking goals but I actually think our back 4 or 5 is now stronger than last season - they just need to get a bit of confidence. Without Lavia in front of them though we lack a shield and that doesn't help issues. I genuinely think he'll go with DCC, ABK and Salisu today which on paper looks pretty good. Keeping the score down could be the difference between staying up and going down at the end of the season as we've seen before. At some point soon we're going to need to see a performance from Bazunu - he's still young but he's going to be facing plenty of shots today so it would be great to see him keep up us in the game. Not sure of the team but something like: Baz, DCC, ABK, Salisu, KWP, JWP, Diallo, Perraud, Aribo, Moi, Adams is what I think Ralph might plump for. What we need in attack are people that can hold on to the ball for more than a couple of seconds. Personally I'd also like to see a bit of pace up there and people that go ball chasing for the entire 90 minutes - the stuff Long used to do but our options there are Mara, Edozie and AArmstrong, non of which I think will start today. Sure it could get embarrassing today but I still don't think it'll be the twatting people think it could be - a 4-0 or 4-1 perhaps. Their defence is still their weaker area and the best form of defence is attack so maybe we can get at them early. Betting? Maybe, I think there will be at least 4 goals in the game so City win with 4 goals or more scored in the game may be my bet.

This picture hangs in the Nostrano Lounge in Staines. I've had it in my phone gallery for ages but seeing as he's probably not here for much longer I thought I'd post it now. Lookalikey...?

Jeez. He earns more for a two second fart than I got per hour at my first job...

9th most valuable right back in the world? Really hope he comes back from injury as good as he can be.

Drop them both and give a youngster a try. I still hope we see Diamond Edwards at some point this season as when I've seen clips of him in the B Team he's looked electric - but of course we still have Edozie and Djenepo that could/should step in. Moi is completely ineffective - and AM should be able to assist and score on a semi-regular basis and he usually does neither. I'm not sure what's happened to Armstrong but he's not been right for over a year. We definitely need another AM in January almost as much as we need a striker. The fact that Walcott has been on a lot of our benches this season says it all.

Wow, can't believe some of the City fans think we will win this over on BlueMoon Forum! ...just joshing, they haven't even started talking about us yet...

I posted this on the Everton thread. Obviously I think some of these players won't get a look in (Chauke, Watts etc don't seem to be doing much on loan at a lower level), then some who haven't proven themselves yet but could probably do a job at Championship level (Simeu got rave reviews at Carlisle and now apparently the fans like him at Tranmere, Smallbone, Tella, maybe N'Lundulu) and one or two with no/hardly any senior experience but could also DAJFU like Payne, Ballard, Edwards and Pearce. "The state of our potential Championship team doesn't bear thinking about, but we'd probably have a squad (without any signings of course) of: McCarthy/Lis, Payne, Stephens/Simeu/Lyanco/, Perraud/Larios/Small, Diallo/Smallbone/Chauke/Watts, Tella/Djenepo/Edwards/, Armstrong/N'Lundulu/Ballard/Pearce. Obviously there'd be signings and possibly one or two of the ones we've suggested leaving will still be here but it still looks weak. We need change to stay up and the manager is the one that has to go." Effectively we wouldn't need to strengthen GK or LB most likely but everywhere else would need it. Of course we could keep a few as others have said - Adams, SArmstrong, maybe Tino, Mara, Edozie? Quite simply it is best to just try and avoid it!

"Oh well we lost to Everton and...CITY NEXT?"

It's time for a game of... "If Saints beat City I'll..." I'll go first. If Saints beat City I'll get a tattoo of Ralph in whatever pose he does immediately after the final whistle. 😄

The kid is only 22 too. What's he going to be like when he hits his peak? 😨

Haaland has now scored more goals for City than we've scored in the league since we beat Norwich in February. 😳

My hope is that, because it's City, the higher powers are keeping him in with a view to sacking him either way afterwards. If we lose, a new manager hasn't come in and started with a thumping, and it gives them more excuse for getting rid of Ralph. If we draw or win, Ralph goes out on a high and we get a bit of confidence for a new manager to come in and start with a home tie against West Ham. Sort of win/win if you look at it in a weird way. If the board keep faith with Ralph for much longer, I really think we're going down this season. We can't keep losing games that we should be picking up points at - this is the strongest Premier League in years and keeping a manager who doesn't even know what his best formation is let alone his best first XI is is very worrying.

...and Tino, and possibly Bazunu too. I wouldn't be surprised if the likes of Edozie and Mara had takers too. The state of our potential Championship team doesn't bear thinking about, but we'd probably have a squad (without any signings of course) of: McCarthy/Lis, Payne, Stephens/Simeu/Lyanco/, Perraud/Larios/Small, Diallo/Smallbone/Chauke/Watts, Tella/Djenepo/Edwards/, Armstrong/N'Lundulu/Ballard/Pearce. Obviously there'd be signings and possibly one or two of the ones we've suggested leaving will still be here but it still looks weak. We need change to stay up and the manager is the one that has to go.

Not a surprise, let some decent players go in the summer in order to try and change their shape from the Espirito Santo days and it doesn't seem to have worked. Ralph next please.

I hate to say it but 3 at the back for me for this one - not defensive per se but something has to change. Even the 4 at the back isn't working now. I'd like to try... Bazunu (yes keeping faith for now) DCC/ABK/Salisu KWP/JWP/Diallo/Perraud Aribo Edozie Adams Whatever we put out we're probably going to get bummed. City are in rampant form.

Most managers would be better right now surely. The problem is those with Premier League experience are either rubbish, boring or wouldn't be seen dead adding us to their CV. As long as Ralph goes, Selles can take charge for now. A quick look at free agent managers... Dejan Stankovic? Did well with Red Star Belgrade, Serbian like our owner, wouldn't cost anything, was a tasty player back in the day...

Where's that vote thread, I would like to amend mine to OUT NOW. Who for? Well his assistant can step in for now. Surely there is a manager out there though that can come in, see our best formation and starting XI and just play it, without all this chopping and changing. Ralph has played GOD knows how many formations recently, he just hasn't got a clue what our best formation is let alone our strongest XI. City next and we should all be shitting our collective pants.

Well that was...

Back to 3 at the back I reckon, DCC, ABK and Salisu. KWP and Perraud wide, JWP, Diallo and AMN bossing City's midfield, Adams and Aribo leading the attack. Yeah we're probably screwed.