BARCELONASAINT

and Messi is 5ft 5"!

I think Saint's cannot afford to miss a trick with players now more available to us from South America......however one such player who i have been following with great interest since he left Venezuela and signed for Santos is Yefereson SOTELDO, a real pocket rocket of a player and well worth the gamble. Since joining Santos he has been brilliant and due to Santos being financially ruined his lazy egocentric agent has just got him a comfortable salary move to the MLS for only $6 million dollars. An absolute waste of this players talent!

This is unlikely to come as any great surprise to anyone on here but i thought i would pass on what i have been told by a scout (not a boy scout before anyone on here starts!) that our seasons transfer needs are a RB, LB, Winger and a No 9. We all know we need cover at RB and LB and that even if Ings were to stay another striker is needed. However i am slightly surprised about us wanting another winger as we seem well stocked in that area unless RH has given up on a couple of ours. When i mentioned why do we need a winger we are about to permanently sign Theo his exact words were "Walcott's media team are paying for paid articles lining him up for a permanent move!"

Would i be motivated to bust a gut??......your question is everything i see wrong with the modern world because maybe i come from a generation where i did bust a gut to prove people wrong and show my worth and i'm still doing it. I'm 56 and still play competitive Saturday league football and push myself every season to remain in the starting 11 when the next oldest player is below 40.

I don't particularly expect him to be but the way some posters on here have posted that they are not surprised he's off if he can't get game time and he's better than Diallo....FFS give it a break. If an 18 year old wants to strop and ask for a transfer rather than at his age fight hard and knuckle down in training and show his worth then he can do one. I have no time for stroppy adults or kids who have not proved their worth.

Not bothered if he goes, nothing i have seen and i have watched him in games, has me convinced he is ready for the Premiership.

Nervous as hell about tonights game...not because i'm worried about losing but because i am really worried we don't lose any of our players to injury before next weeks semi-final.

I've been speaking to someone who is Southampton born and bred and bleeds red and white. He is also on top of other things he does acting as an intermediary for football agents. I asked him if he had approached Saints because of his vast knowledge of players in South America (particularly Venezuela) and his response was "I wanted to suggest an 18 year old LB/RB with a Spanish passport signed to the Griezmann agency and they out of hand said they are not interested in that part of the world" He stated they have no money to invest in the extra scouting and have already targeted scouting areas they believe in!

WBA are playing us at a perfect time for them. They have just had a brilliant result and their confidence will be high. Add into that we have a Wembley semi final the following week and none of the lads will want to risk missing a chance to play at Wembley and apart from the odd position the starting 11 already picks itself. Allardyce will tell his team to be very physical and hope our players won't to risk the 50/50 balls. With this weekends results almost all favouring us i wouldn't be surprised to see Ralph make wholesale changes and protect certain players.

N'LUNDU is a striker (or claims to be!) you cannot compare the two. Who do you think this 19 year old should be ahead of in the position he plays? It sure is not JWP, Diallo, Romeou or even Armstrong

I'm not sure who some on here have been watching? He is no where near the levels of JWP, Diallo or Romeuo, which put him as 4th choice at best and i would argue Armstrong would even be better in CM than this over hyped kid. At present we have to play our best 11 available and if and when we are safe we can start giving the lad some minutes and really see if he is anywhere near first team football. I watched him play against England U21 and i really was not impressed by him at all.

I think your question is wrong....it should be "How many clubs have dropped out of the premier league and then gone out of business as a result of the COVID pandemic and the financial crippling effect on those clubs" At the moment no one knows that answer but i honestly think those that drop out this season are going to be financially screwed and will be selling everyone that they can get a buck for. Anyone that does not think this will happen to Saints if relegated is deluded. This season and probably the next two or three are vital for us and the need to stay a Premier league team.

I cant remember the last time we got to the quarter final of the FA Cup with a very realistic chance of getting to the semi's and i couldn't give a toss about the game.......oh it's probably because it's never happened before. After Saturdays gutless performance i really don't care if the Cherries beat us, this team don't deserve a Wembley appearance, absolutely spineless bunch with no leaders on the pitch.

It's a bit bizarre to be honest that some think RH took a gamble. Even with the strongest 11 we could put out it would have needed a minor miracle to have got anything from City. In my opinion he made an extremely sensible decision not to risk players just coming back from injuries and focus on Sundays game.

Finding it hard to understand why so many are angry about last night, angry with the performance and angry with the team selection!!?? I was absolutely delighted to RH rest the likes of Diallo, KWP and Minime and not risk them getting inured again after just coming back on Saturday against Sheffield Utd. It was absolutely the correct call with Brighton coming up and a game we realistically should expect to win. As far as the performance went I thought we played some good sharp football considering we had Stephens in the middle, Bertrand out of position at RB, Salisu playing LB and Redmond who goes backwards with every game he plays.

Considering the lad has not played a competitive game since joining us and is only 21 I thought he had a bright start to his Saints career. There were signs of rustiness there but entirely to be expected. What i liked about him was his total calmness and you can see the lad could have a bright future if managed well. I watched his interview on Saints live after the match and he is a very softly spoken lad and comes across as very well grounded. He won't play Saturday as i fully expect Ralph to integrate him into the side slowly given all his issues this season.

I think we are all re-signed to him going and i would not begrudge him if it was a move to City where he will easily double his wages and pretty much guarantee trophies. Please just don't go back to Liverpool or to Spurs....that I couldn't stomach. I'm now assuming our fantastic scouting network are lining up replacements as we speak (tongue firmly in mouth!)

death threats etc have no place in society and those making them need dealing with. However that said the FA should bloody be looking at the last 2 games these incompetent officials have been in charge off and their ludicrous decisions made that have brought so much outrage. The FA need to be strong here and take action against Mike Dean and his side kick.

I really believe Ralph knows the Saints board have a long term plan and showed their faith in him last season by giving him a new contract when a lot of Premiership boards would have panicked and sacked him. He knows being Chelsea or any of the top 6 managers means no time will be given and instant success is a must! I honestly cannot see him going....yet!

If the Echo report is correct Ralph has pretty much stated none of the current injured players will be ready for Tuesday so it will be the same 11 apart from Bertrand who is suspended and McCarthy who will come back in. We have no strength in depth at all. Our current bench only weakens our side. Ndululu is just not ready to be playing premiership football and Long is past it. We are absolutely screwed if Ings or Che pick up a bad injury.

without doubt behind the scenes those that run the club will see finishing as high up the league table the most important thing this season with no gate income. It will be interesting to see if they give Ralph the freedom to pick his strongest side for the cup. I'm not for one moment saying he would be dictated to about where he puts his priorities but I do think Ralph has bought into the club and how it is run and the financial restraints we have. In this sense he is more of a club manager with no selfish agenda unlike dare I say the like of Mourinho!

We did what we had to last night and got through with no obvious added injuries which must have been the most important thing before the game. The game itself was not great but i didn't expect it to be with so many changes. JWP and Diallo ran the show as expected (Diallo has everything to go on and become a very very good player for years to come) Bednarek and Stephens were rarely challenged and i never thought we were in trouble at any point in the game. I have always admired Long for his work rate and harassing opposition defences but he seriously looks past it now and should not be anywhere near the first team. It worries me who we have to step into Ings and Che's boots when they are not available (Walcott maybe) I'm just not convinced by Ndlulu, I really played close attention to him last night hoping he would be excellent and turn it on but despite his goal i remain unconvinced. I really liked Watts, you could tell he was having a ball playing last night, never stopped smiling and was an absolute menace to the Shrews. I think this lad could make the step up.

That report from the Athletic is just made up nonsense, they have no idea!

Understandably INGS wants a contract that rewards his value to the team and that protects his future. IMHO we are financially suffering like every other club and cannot match INGS wage demands/length of his contract.....again just my personal opinion but i will be surprised if we are even close to matching what he wants. He is doing what is best for him and waiting to see if there is any interest from a club prepared to meet his pay day demands (and a signing on fee) Normally for a 28 year old i would not say his age is a factor. However add his very unfortunate injuries into the mix and he may feel he has 1 last chance for a big pay packet. Depressed this morning!

Understandably INGS wants a contract that rewards his value to the team and that protects his future. IMHO we are financially suffering like every other club and cannot match INGS wage demands/length of his contract.....again just my personal opinion but i will be surprised if we are even close to matching what he wants. He is doing what is best for him and waiting to see if there is any interest from a club prepared to meet his pay day demands (and a signing on fee) Normally for a 28 year old i would not say his age is a factor. However add his very unfortunate injuries into the mix and he may feel he has 1 last chance for a big pay packet. Depressed this morning!