BARCELONASAINT

Without doubt you cannot ask for a better debut and i think when that bullet header went in we all thought "wow I wasn't expecting that", i certainly wasn't. It is far too early to say if Larin will be hit or miss BUT he is already an upgrade on DOWNS because he scored and he uses his physicality to hold up the ball and cause defenders a bit of a nightmare. My one concern is he appears woefully unfit. He reminds me of Tall Paul in that respect "blowing out of his arse within 10 minutes" At the moment he has not got 45 minutes in him and this is one of the things that fans from his previous clubs cited. We need to manage his game time carefully as we have with Stewart and hope to god Stewart stays fit. I see him being used as an impact sub at best for the last 20/25 minutes of games.

Unfortunately I did pick up on him looking in some discomfort soon after scoring and rubbing the back of his leg. He obviously carried on to the final whistle so hopefully was only a tweak.

something has gone on behind the scenes, there's no way you freeze out an asset to the point no one really made a concrete offer to sign him. I would love to know what he did because i can't believe he didn't do anything....it just does not make any sense.

For me today is where this set of players need to show they are still very much in the hunt for a playoff place. I want to see a statement of intent from us and to go at Watford from the start. We need to be winning all our home games now without fail as we have left ourselves a mountain to climb. Lose today and unfortunately i will not see us as a playoff contender.

I think the fans will give him a fair crack of the whip, lets face it Damion Downs only started to get negative crap from the terraces after quite a run of games where he contributed nothing whatsoever. All Larin has to do is put himself about, run around a bit and he's automatically better than DD.

like any signing Saints make i really want them to be successful and want to be excited about watching them wearing our colours. Even though most of the more recent stats and reports don't look great i will get behind Cyle when he steps on the pitch and wish him all the best. I listened to his interview last night and he came across well and he has all the motivation in the world for performing well for us!!!! Do this business for us and his World Cup place is a certainty.

Even the media team are totally disinterested ffs!

they don't watch anyone anymore, that much is evident by the last useless striker they signed!

your club are touting out Marks Inchaud to an American team, this is the 4th player Valenciennes have tried to entice the American team to take this month! It sounds to me the club are desperate to claw some money back in.

I'm guessing the same

So seems talk off Archer going to Rangers on loan maybe premature. Saints were in talks for another striker coming in on top of donkey Larins but talks have stalled meaning Archer goes nowhere!

woke up this morning thinking "fuck me that was one horrible nightmare" and then i realised it had not been a horrible dream!

This Cyle Larin makes Alia Dia look like a world beater...ffs!

AA is not young, hungry or likely to improve......time to move on, there are definite signs his appetite has gone and he's had his fill of Saints.

I have no idea if it is true but i've heard Wrexham have made an official approach to sign AA

To put this into perspective i have some insight into modern scouting as my son is the Chief scout for a team in the 2nd division of the MLS. He does not live in the USA and in fact has only been to his team in Arizona once. Yes he has travelled to watch players in the country his lives in (Venezuela), he did travel recently to do some scouting in Africa (Senegal) and he does go to games when back in the UK to visit family but that is generally as much face to face scouting he does. The vast majority of his time is spent analysing video footage and stats. Anyone that knows him recognises he has an eye for a player and this pre-season for his American team has been telling by the number of players his side have signed purely on his recommendation. I'm off the older generation where my idea of a scout is someone that goes to watch players all the time but i appreciate everything changes and nowadays it is possible to discover players purely through the ability to watch video footage.

why can't we battle like this every week?? Flynn, THB, JS all putting it about when they normally can't be bothered at all. Generally a crap game because Pompey had one game plan and i don't blame them, hoof ,hoof, hoof. We created the clear cut chances but only took one and today that was the difference.

hoof hoof hoof, no quality in this game at all. Pompey are doing what they need to, pump the ball long and high because we can't defend and we are just booting it away and repeat. So lacking in quality

Before the lineup was announced i wasn't bothered about todays game. The owners, the manager and the players bar the odd one or two have sucked the life out of me......but after seeing that lineup i am just angry, so angry with the absolute bellend of a manager who claims to understand what the derby means to fans and how much we need a result today after our pathetic home performance against the shit down the road. My wife has told me not to watch the game!

i absolutely give up with the moron in charge, wtf is he doing dropping Fellows to the bench and no Stewart starting. Absolute bellend!

Leo's story is fantastic and should not be overlooked by anyone. He hasn't had a pampered upbringing, he hasn't had the benefit of playing in some of the best academies, he hasn't had the benefit of living a top footballers lifestyle with the money that comes from it. Southampton really is his "Big Time" and he totally recognises that. We need to recognise the league levels this guy has been playing at up until signing from us....the jump up to the Championship is incredible and on the whole he has adjusted incredibly well. Tonda and whoever manages him need to play him to his strengths and his natural game if both the team and the player are going to benefit. The slow ponderous crab football stifles Leo's game. He needs to be played wide in a team that plays quick flowing one touch football that does not allow the opposition time to put 10 players behind the ball. We have all seen that when he has a one on one situation he can go outside or cut inside very effectively and is very capable of shooting. Tonda must stick to the way we played during his intial period in charge and the first half last night and Leo will flourish.

I think THB is awful, he clearly is NOT an intelligent footballer, you can see on the pitch how slow his decision making is. He is an absolute bang average Championship defender who makes Bednarek look like a brilliant defender and everyone wanted him gone!

I have a horrible feeling about tonights game. There are so many players that just look like they have no desire to be at Saints and are showing no will at putting in a half decent shift on the pitch. I will not be surprised to see an injury or two ahead of the Pompey game on Sunday and possibly the likes of THB or Flynn picking up a red card tonight so they don't have to play Sunday.

GOALKEEPER Gavin Bazunu explained his loan move to Stoke City was motivated by a desire for a “fresh start” away from Saints. Bazunu, 23, has joined the Potters on loan for the remainder of the season, in a deal that contains an option to buy, reportedly worth £8million. The Irish international kept a clean sheet on his debut against QPR, making two saves in a 0-0 draw against Stoke’s play-off hunting rivals. That point has left Stoke seventh in the Championship, two points adrift of the play-offs and eight clear of Saints. “A fresh start is what I was looking for, to be in a place where we are going to be fighting to get into the play-offs,” Bazunu explained in his first interview with Stoke. “I spoke to Darren [Behcet, Stoke keeper coach] and the manager, and all the conversations we had were very positive about helping me improve as a player. “All of those things are going to be put into place in training, and hopefully I can show them on match days. “The lads couldn’t have been any more welcoming. It’s exciting to come and play and be in a squad that is fighting for something big this season. “The Championship is a division all about momentum. When you win games, can you continue that form? The more games you win, the more you see yourself fly up the table.” Bazunu, whose deal expires next summer, has made 19 appearances this campaign, conceding 28 goals and keeping three clean sheets. He was offloaded by Saints soon after the arrival of Israeli international goalkeeper Daniel Peretz on loan from Bayern Munich. Former Man City academy graduate Bazunu has played 97 times for Saints since a £12m move in July 2022, with limited success in a Saints shirt.

I read that interview Baz gave and came to exactly the same conclusion.