Sheaf Saint

Penalty!

Fixed it for you. Some managers don't have the slightest interest in youth teams and will always favour the senior pros no matter what. Koeman was a prime example. My wife's nephew is in the Everton academy and he told me he wouldn't even say hello to the kids if he walked past them, that's how disinterested he was. Remember 'Arry setting the kids up to fail against Mansfield in the cup that time to make a point, because he was being pressured from above to play them?

Oh right, fair enough. But then in that case, we've had Valery available all season, haven't we?

I think that's a little harsh on Pied in all honesty. In the few appearances he made for us he looked a solid if unspectacular player, and a more than adequate understudy.

He might get a chance if Redmond's injury keeps him out for a while.

Not sure about Lemina, was surprised he wasn't in the squad yesterday so if it's something he picked up in training it's unlikely to be anything majorly serious.

He didn't get booked yesterday, and I very much doubt the PL website is more than a week out of date, so I think he's OK.

Well I hope Hughes was watching that yesterday. We all know our squad has its limitations, but what we saw yesterday was the result of a team working hard and with a clear game plan. That Hughes wasn't able to get the same squad playing anything like that and repeatedly failing to win any games should leave him with a sense of shame and embarrassment. If he has any integrity, he will never apply for another manager's job again because he's nothing but a fraud, stealing a living. It's not as if he needs the money after all the compo he had received

Yes, we did improve with the appointment of Hughes (otherwise we would have gone down). But to try and compare that to the transformation into what looked like a completely different team, such as we saw today, is quite erroneous. The two situations are in no way comparable.

I think we can safely say that Mark Hughes is NOT God!

You missed the best Saints performance since Koeman left, basically. We played with intensity, commitment and confidence. Looked to play the ball forward quickly instead of the sideways passing we have become accustomed to in recent times. Didn't retreat into our own half after taking the lead and never let heads drop after conceding. It was a very entertaining game, and the crowd seemed really up for it. The atmosphere sounded a world away from what it has been like. We weren't lucky - quite the opposite. Arsenal's second goal came from a fluke deflection leaving McCarthy with no chance. But we still persevered and won anyway.

Reading between the lines, he's quite blatantly having a dig at the previous manager(s).

He was immense today. I've been openly critical of him in the past, but Ralph already seems to have unlocked some of his potential. He was involved in pretty much all of our good attacking play before he went off, and the Arsenal defenders were quite clearly terrified of him.

I'd forgotten what it feels like to be happy after a Saints game. What a shot in the arm that is! And to be entertained as well. Just fantastic.

Thinking about that fluke deflection for their second goal - when was the last time something like that happened in our favour? Seems like forever.

Jesus f*cking christ Romeu. What the f*ck were you thinking?

Ralph getting carried away and running on to the pitch. When was the last time we saw that kind of enthusiasm in one of our managers?

That's an absolute peach of a cross. Sounds like there's a really good atmosphere in the ground at last.

A couple of early scares, but since then we've been playing really well. IIIIIINGSSSSS YES!

And now a staffer on the US Apprentice has come out publicly claiming he is a speed-freak, which would appear to more than explain his deranged 3am tweets. https://twitter.com/Evan_Rosenfeld/status/1073265155088105472

I don't think he is. I think he just feels it's only reasonable for Donny to take his share of the responsibility for it, instead of publicly attacking his family like he has done.

The EU will give us nothing because Theresa can't even tell them what she actually wants. They have already said as much. Her little tour of Europe over the last couple of days is just a charade. We know it, the EU know it, and she knows it. She isn't fooling anybody, and she is just embarrassing herself and the country, which is already a total laughing stock in the eyes of EU and other other world leaders.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-trump-knew-wrong-make/story?id=59815550 Fake news, obviously.

Yeah they have issued a correction now. Earlier they were saying an agreement had been made.

Don't shoot the messenger. I fully accept this may not be the most reliable of sources... https://evolvepolitics.com/breaking-dup-reportedly-agree-to-support-labour-motion-of-no-confidence-against-tories/