BARCELONASAINT

ummmm, we have Austin and Ings both whose long term fitness is very questionable and Long who couldn't hit a barn door from 2 foot out and we are prepared to let Gabby go.....who in my opinion would score goals in this new high press tempo Ralph is bringing to the team. Are we really going to rely on Austin, Ings and Long staying fit to supply the goals??......very very dangerous IMHO unless another striker is being looked at??

never mind Gabby, what the hell are the plans for Carrillo???

Really pleased we got RH in when we did!!!

I love the thought of telling our pampered players that they are actually going to do something close to a full days work instead of being able to go home and play on the Xbox or down the golf course etc.......poor souls can you imagine it

It would require a minor miracle to suddenly change this squad of blundering idiots into a winning team......our defenders are not going to suddenly discover the art of defending in 48 hours when they haven't been able for the last 2 years!

I think we are down, the squad is awful

I'm very happy with this one and very surprised we have got our man......can only think we have promised him funds

we lose again

right now you could tell me Arsne Wenger was in the running for the job and i wouldn't be excited......nothing about Saints excites me anymore, the whole club is thoroughly depressing!

I don't think there will be a **** storm on here if we lose.....I think we are way past that....I am resigned to the fact our owner and board are crap and don't give a **** and have employed a complete moron as a manager. I have now got to the stage where i totally expect us to lose every game we play.

Newcastle, Cardiff and Saints. We are just awful and if we are incapable of beating a very poor Newcastle at home then we deserve to go down. The last 3 seasons have been awful as a Saints fan. I just don't look forward to us playing anymore.

personally think we are far too cautious and nervous playing at home.....can see us losing this 1-0

easy 3 points......for Bournemouth!

I really hate Klippety Klopp and the Liverpool team.....but my god they are excellent....brilliant game of football last night. If Liverpool can be bothered they will destroy us.

where does it say this??

Gabbi every day of the week

can't see anything but a loss, 2-0 Palarse........like some other posters I have actually taken to betting on Saints losing which is a sad state of affairs....plus side I have made some money!

Absolutely this!!!

If we start as badly as we have the last 2 games the game will be over by half time. At the moment i am struggling to see a win for us.

Probably deserved the job for keeping us up and i'm certainly not going to ask for his head 2 games in.....after 10 games maybe that opinion will change. Did i personally want as our manager? NO Do I think he is a decent manager? NO Do I think he is capable off getting the best out of this squad? NO I want him to be successful because if he is not that means we are losing matches and i'm a Saints and I want us to win games. I don't want him to lose games just so we can sack another manager.

Thank god for McCarthy....we are a shambles at the back and this is against the likes of Burnley. Pluses so far McCarthy, Armstrong, Uncle Fester and Lemina

Hope the boys can hit the floor running this afternoon and we get the perfect start to the season. TBH i am not at all confident for the coming season. I think our defence is made of glass and our midfield offer little protection. I don't think confidence is running particularly high at all but i'm hoping that a win in our first match of the season will change that. C'mon Saints!!

My head is telling me to keep calm and pre-season means nothing and to ignore the abject performances and our invisible defence. However my heart is telling me Hughes doesn't have a clue when it comes to coaching defenders and nothing has improved from last season. I really really hope i'm wrong but I think we will lose Sunday because having watched the pre-season games I can see no improvement and some players actually look to have got worse which to me is a damming indictment about Hughes as a manager and motivator. Please don't get me wrong, i'm not bashing the club or Hughes that's not my style.....this is my honest opinion of how I see things and it frightens me.

I'm stuck at work with only the benefit of reading the comments on here so difficult to judge how things really are. However I was at the game on Wednesday and was really concerned at how poor our defence was and it appears the same is being said again today. I'm not going to say this is disastrous but I do honestly believe we are in for a terrible season because I do not believe we have done anything to address our defensive frailties. The best sides are built on a strong defence and we have one made of glass.

went to the game tonight and obviously delighted with the great turn around. However had that been a Premiership game we would have been dead and buried by H/T. WE ARE ABSOLUTELY SHOCKING AT THE BACK....I hope the new lad comes good but i'm not convinced he is any better than what we already have. In what was a very poor first half the players that stood out for me were Armstrong, Gabbi and Bertrand. Second half was so much better but lets be honest here we were playing a very ordinary Celta Vigo....but credit where credit is due the players that played in that second half put in a shift and were rewarded. Great cross for the first goal and Austin did what he does so well......if he keeps fit and we provide the service he will score goals. We need to keep Targett based on tonights performance. Was really pleased for Armstrong when he scored because he had a busy game and could be a really good player for us. I have said it from day one that Gabbi is the most intelligent of our strikers and he looked very good tonight. Long was just bloody awful, Romeu and Davis were ponderous. I really want MoEly to be that jewel in our crown and he did show some nice touches and finished the rebound well but overall I was disappointed in what i saw of him.....but it is early days and he is bedding in. All in all great comeback and plenty of positives.....but i'm still massively concerned when teams attack us.