Sheaf Saint

Your continued defence of Baz is admirable, but you're in the minority with it. I have never seen Baz make the kind of save that Alex made late on from James yesterday. Ever. It's pretty much nailed on that would have been a goal if Baz was playing, and the same few people on here would be making the same excuses for him - like he saw it late, or the finish was too good. Quite simply, we couldn't play the tactical game we played yesterday without a competent keeper. Not having confidence in the keeper would have put the whole defence on edge, and there's just no way in hell we would have kept a clean sheet. Edit: BTW - using your mod powers to change the thread title because you disagree with it is poor form.

I've posted this before, but I wonder if he's just better suited to the possession based game under Russ than he was to the low possession, high pressing style we played under RH. He often looked like a liability during that era because he frequently couldn't recover his position from being so high up the pitch, but I've not seen that kind of panicky, desperate backtracking from him this season.

Or he might already have other targets he wants to bring in, and Downes will be even further down the pecking order. So it might work in our favour.

Well it seems that Russ does have it in him to be flexible with his tactics after all. No idea why he waited until the playoffs to demonstrate that, but I'm obviously not complaining! He's still young and inexperienced as a manager, and this season will have been a massive learning curve for him. Looks like he has finally taken those lessons on board. I was dubious about him being the right man for us inbthe PL if he got us up, but if he can continue to show the same kind of tactical nous he has shown in the last three games, and with some decent acquisitions in the summer window, then I'm feeling much more confident than I was a month or so ago. Well done Russ. You've earned a place in Saints folklore now as the man that got us back up at the first attempt.

Remember we'll have ABK returning from loan as well.

Yep, and the best thing is I never really felt like Leeds would score. Given how many games I've watched this season where we looked like conceding every time the oppo attacked, that's very impressive. Good to know we have that in us.

Sky can show scenes of Leeds players and fans crying all evening as far as I'm concerned!

Unsighted and low to his left? Yep, guaranteed.

This is going to feel like an entire lifetime!

Great performance so far, and a deserved lead. We've defended well and not really allowed Leeds to get into any rhythm. Not sure why the challenge that resulted in the Brooks injury wasn't a foul. Looked like a clear trip to me.

https://x.com/SouthamptonFC/status/1794713292348575922?t=7Ttyi4MItNWHDEpZbsvmdA&s=19

I guess you can use whatever criteria you like to decide who the award should go to. For me, @Wade Garrett gets the nod for his uncompromisingly acerbic pre-match posts that have never failed to make me smile.

So what you're saying is that we're not allowed to comment on inhumane actions by the IDF, on a thread specifically about Israel, because the British military has done bad things as well. Amazing logic.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/21/israeli-soldiers-and-police-tipping-off-groups-that-attack-gaza-aid-trucks

Yep:

I'm torn on this. On one hand, I agree that if he is played regularly in a settled, confident team with a clear playing style (unlike his previous stint in the PL), then I think he deserves another go. He's the best finisher we have, and if we could find a good way to create chances for him then he will still be a real asset. But another part of me thinks that realistically the Championship is his ceiling, and that the PL really is a step up too far for him.

I get what you're saying Hypo, but you're still putting all the onus on the Palestinians to change their ways first. Like it or not, Hamas exists as a response to Israel's illegal occupation of the West Bank and their oppression of the people of Gaza. If Israel are successful in completely eliminating Hamas with their current campaign (they won't be), then as long as the Netenyahu regime is still operating in the same way it is and engaging in its Zionist expansion, something else will just inevitably pop up in its place. What do you think would happen if the Palestinians did overthrow Hamas, renounce terrorism and declare an end to their struggle? do you honestly believe Netenyahu would reciprocate and end their illegal occupation of the West Bank? Of course not - it's ridiculous to even suggest that. So the whole situation is like a massive chicken and egg scenario. Neither side is going to deescalate until the other one does first, so it's just a perpetual stalemate. And frankly, suggesting that one side has more responsibility than the other to do so is just false.

But the EFL rules don't explicitly state that teams can't wear socks of the same colour. Only that we can't register a new design mid-season. Outside of that, everything else is governed by the FA laws. WBA could have worn their full lime coloured away kit with no clashes, but they were obviously allowed to play in their home shirt and shorts and socks from their 3rd kit because they preferred to wear mostly their home strip.

We can't register a new kit component mid-season, but there's still no reason why we can't play in white socks. The EFL rules don't strictly prohibit that, and the FA rules just say that the two teams must wear colours "that distinguish them from each other". In recent times I've watched Man Utd and Man City play each other wearing white shorts: and Newcastle v Sunderland when both teams wore their home kits that include white stripes and black shorts: Essentially it's down to the referee to make sure he's happy. There is genuinely no good reason we couldn't wear our home kit with white shorts, because the two kits would still be sufficiently distinguishable from each other to the officials, crowd and TV audience. This is solely a club decision and not at the direction of the EFL.

The black kit is our third kit. Our second kit is the white with turquoise, so we definitely won't be wearing that.

No, because it obviously still has many flaws due to the way in which it is used and the operators' opinions and interpretation of the laws. But what it has done is eliminate those absolute howler decisions, like disallowing Gabbiadini's opener in the 2017 EFL final when replays showed he was clearly onside. If we were to lose on Sunday and lose out on promotion because of an obviously wrong offside call, would you still be happy there was no VAR? I wouldn't.