BARCELONASAINT

I stand corrected on that point MLG but i think the rerst is relevant.

I honestly think that there is no hidden agenda regarding Salisu and it is purely a case that we have bought a 21 year old with bags of potential who needs to be integrated very slowly into the squad. English is not his first language, he has never lived in the UK before, he knows no one here, he's only 21 (a kid) and there is no way he will be at the same fitness levels and sharpness levels as the rest of the squad. I am making an assumption that Saints are being very careful with this lad not to rush him into the starting lineup before he is 110% ready and end up destroying his confidence. We all know the premiership is savage. Bednarek and Stephens finished the season strongly and will rightly start as our 2 CB's with Vesterguard the back up (unless he moves on). We all crave news about our players and silence can lead to all sorts of conspiracy theories.....however I don't think that is the case here.

I really hope RK is the right choice and he gets the backing of the board and we once again become a top top club. I've been saying for the last 3 seasons we have been on a decline and the obvious frailties have gone unaddressed. Would I rather we had signed Poch and do I think he would have been a better bet.....yup 100%

I am led to believe there are no issues regarding a work permit and that he has a European passport due to French connections. It makes perfect sense that this would have been checked prior to any bid being made. Also a host of Premier league clubs have been interested in him and therefore would have checked this out.

out of genuine interest how many on here still play grass roots football and will, hopefully, be returning for the start of the season in September AND have thought about what they will do if this "taking the knee" is expected of them before games kick off. For me it is a huge dilemma as I am totally against any form of discrimination but I am totally against "taking the knee". I have asked our football committee if we can discuss this subject prior to the new season kicking off as I neither want to offend anyone or back down from my principles! Sorry if this has been discussed before.

according to my immigration contacts no one will be allowed in by car, ferry, plane or whatever means without fulfilling the ability to self isolate....and that was the latest they were being told at 1pm today.

SFC don't appear that ready to re-start the season. Our manager is not even in the country and under new rules unless you are from France you will have to self isolate for 2 weeks when entering the UK. Not a dig at RH or the club, he should be with his family. However this is just another small example where football really has to take a back foot and forget about this season.

Sky are reporting a third Brighton player has now tested positive for COVID-19......I really can not see players wanting to resume this season anytime soon!

Glenn Cockrill

Ali Dia

I really do not think this season will be played out....not the way things are going now. I think we all better be prepared that we may not see any football for quite some time.

My point being, if that were to be the case, how do clubs survive?.......and more to the point, who would be mad enough to then buy a football club?

given the current climate across the world and things getting worse by the day who in their right mind would purchase a football club right now. At present who knows if there will be a premiership next season. I'm not one for panicking and i'm not one of those rushing out and stock piling but i'm also unable to recall anything during my lifetime that has already affected Europe (Italy in particular) the way the current virus has. Most Football clubs need the revenue from match days to survive, especially those outside the Premiership. What happens if all sporting events have to be played behind closed doors? How long could clubs survive?.........I think we are stuck with our Chinese owner at least until this current scare has passed, however long that may be!

obafemi just is not what we need in my humble opinion. He is such a contrast to Shane Long who never stops running and chasing defenders down. Obafemi is sooo lazy it beggars belief. It's a shame because LONG states he is incredibly fast, which beggars the question "why is he not doing what LONG does?"

no, not a chance in hell would i welcome him back

so pleased it's RH we have as the manager who works with all the players day in and day out and knows what he wants, rather than the would be managers on this forum. Ralph clearly likes what LONG brings to the side and who is a great foil to INGS. If Ralph wants LONG to stay then i'm happy with that.

great night up in London with fellow Saints fans. My first visit to Spurs new home and i must admit it is an impressive looking venue......but that's it...it's a venue not a football stadium, it's soulless!!! I could not believe that considering this was a sell out the only fans you could hear all night was us singing for the full 90 minutes. The game was a cracker, Saints played brilliantly, they carried on from recent good performances and totally dominated Spurs with only the odd breakaway for Spurs looking dangerous. Again we have suffered because we have not killed the game off when in total control and Spurs got lucky with a horrible deflection and an unbelievable poor decision from the ref and VAR. Full credit to the saints players who gave it everything, brilliant performance by Redmond for the second goal and what a finish by INGS. All in all i'm not too downhearted this morning, we outplayed them in their new venue and we all know we have a great manager and some really good players. Just need the manager supported in the summer transfer market to get in the few players we need to make this a solid Premiership team.

providing there were injuries picked up yesterday I would definately start the same 11 against Spurs, the players then have 10 days off! City were very wasteful in front of goal today and controlled the game until the sending off. If we play anything like we played yesterday we will give Spurs a good run for their money.

I've been told the problem with Valery is not so much any injury or issue regarding his health but more a case he has been frozen out due to his off the pitch antics behaving like a complete idiot. Apparently another youngster who also got too big for his boots was treated the same way but is back in the fold after knuckling down and showing the right attitude. I have no idea if this is true but I have no reason to disbelieve the person who told me.

Unless we have given up on Adams, and there is nothing to suggest that, he is very much part of the match day squad then selling him makes no sense. IMHO Adams is much better than Michael Obifembi who has poor ball control. Adams was so much better when he came on last night, he holds the ball up so well and is an intelligent player. It really would be stupid to let him go unless he is making waves himself OR we has lined up a replacement already. I still believe Adams will come good.

Just got back from the game thanks to roadworks hell tonight. A3 closed where it joins M25, M3 closed where it joins M25, trying to find an alternative route was hell. Anyway, what a game. Totally dominated it. Our fans totally out sang Palace fans who were very quiet. We wound Saha up a treat and he totally bit, it was hilarious. Prowsey did a brilliant job on him all night and Saha hated it. Excellent goals and could have been more if LONG could only understand it's a strikers job to put the ball in the net, not pass it back to their keeper. Defence was fairly decent apart from one moment in the first half when Vestergard thought he was Messi and tried dribbling the ball out of defence and got disposed and it should have been a goal to Palace. Excellent day, excellent result, well done everyone.....now i'm going to bed very happy.

Wolves are a very decent side, great game tonight and they were unlucky to lose. Adama is one hell of a unit and bloody quick and will pose us problems. I think LONG will give their defence issues as they looked suspect to a long ball behind their backline tonight.

anyone who was at the game yesterday must have felt for Che. It was an appalling game of football with only 2 standout players, JWP and Romeo who both controlled the game. Che got bugger all service all game long, Boufal had one of those games where he just looked disinterested. The right back playing out of position was just bloody awful and couldn't trap a bag of cement. Che is young, he is strong and as per the Chelsea game holds the ball up excellently and brings others into the game. It was a huge pity we did not have the likes of Redmond and Dneppo out there yesterday supplying Che because I have no doubt he would have scored. We were woeful yesterday in supplying the front two and all yesterday did was show how weak our back up players are!

Mods/Admin - can you please delete this thread? I posted it in haste and have created another thread instead as I did not know how to delete this one. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Hi all, My son is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to write a book on Venezuelan football. He was offered a publishing deal described as 'good' and 'the going rate' by other authors he knows, but it was frankly exploitative. He is using the Kickstarter to sell preorders of the book and because he is doing it this way, it has allowed him to be really innovative with how he approaches things. He's really passionate and knowledgeable about Latin America and football, and has been working very hard every day to put the groundwork in for this book. To date, he has 45 interviewees lined up, which includes: former international managers and players, domestic players past and present, the executive president of the Venezuelan football league, Adelis Chavez (brother of former President Hugo Chavez) who organised Copa America 2007 and is currently club president of Zamora FC, club presidents, and sports ministers. If you're interested in Latin America or football, check out his Kickstarter campaign here. His target is £5000 and he has already raised £3295 in one week. He tells me he needs to sell roughly 87 more copies in order to reach his target. Kickstarter is all or nothing funding, so if he doesn't hit his target, he doesn't get any of it and everyone keeps their money. You can't lose in backing his project - you either get a book or your money back! Here's an excerpt of his campaign page: "Why is a country with a population of over 30 million people yet to qualify for a World Cup, especially one in the football-rich continent of South America? Uruguay, two-time winners of football's biggest tournament, has a population of under 4 million, yet regularly reach the final stages of the competition. They're also the most successful team in Copa América history with 15 titles. Is there any way Venezuela, a neighbour ten times as populous, can become international football's next big thing? Red Wine and Arepas: How Football is Becoming Venezuela’s Religion will examine and explore contemporary Venezuelan society through the lens of football, answering questions on the relationship between the sport and politics, culture, and society. Written with the cooperation of the executive president of the Venezuelan Football League, Rubén Villavicencio, Red Wine and Arepas will feature exclusive interviews with players past and present, such as the 34-times capped midfielder Stalin Rivas, Copa América 2011 player Franklin Lucena, New York Red Bulls midfielder Cristian Cásseres Jr, and Manchester City player Yangel Herrera." His project has been featured in The Morning Star, in print and online, Mas Reino Unido, the biggest Spanish language newspaper in England, and on multiple online platforms and podcasts. If you want to listen to him discuss his project and talk about Saints(!), click here. Here's his campaign page, again: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/redwineandarepas/red-wine-and-arepas-book-on-venezuelan-football-and-society (Mods, can you please delete the other thread in The Lounge - I published in haste)