SaintBobby

Not really. Don't seem to be controlling midfield at all well. But it's a slightly odd XI we have out there.

Hmm, that 45 mins of football was even more boring than peak Puel!

Thanks, v good stream.

So, does anyone know if this is being streamed or is on Saintsplayer perhaps?

He is listed as a substitute, no?

Well, if it's the last 5 years you're interested in then Everton, on average, finish five points above Saints. This obviously includes two seasons where we got our highest points totals in the Premier League (60 and 63) and Everton got amongst their worst ever (47 and 47). Debatable whether you consider this an outlier or part of the "new normal", I guess. I think it's an outlier. Looking at the bookies' odds, to finish in the top 4, Everton are 8/1, we are 20/1. To finish in the top six, Everton are 2/1 and we are 5/1. To finish in the top half, Everton are 1/8 and we are 1/2. To be relegated, Everton are 100/1 and we are about 20/1. Sound about right to me - i.e. very likely that Everton will finish above Saints, but not a total racing certainty.

If we keep all the players we have, I'd be happy just signing a decent DM now.

Yeah, it's possible, I guess. But the season before last was Saints' best ever points finish and Everton performed well below par. Last season is more of a reversion to the norm, I guess. All things equal, you'd expect Everton to finish above Saints. Of course, it's never the case that all things are equal, but I'd guess that Southampton finishing 16 points above Everton has been very, very unusual in the last 50 or 60 years (possibly the biggest Saints lead ever? I haven't checked)

Gotta love self-referential. What a miserable, utterly sad **** you are.

Once a player makes it utterly and publicly transparent they want to leave, it's hard to keep them. Not impossible, but very, very hard.

Lukaku from Chelsea to Everton for £28m?

Sad news indeed, but this isn't Saints-related is it? It's odd to me how some tragic cases like this capture the public imagination, there are many such cases but only a few seem to grip us. That said, maybe it's a way for us to think about sadness and mortality overall, through the example of one magnetic and engaging boy.

Please. Close. This. Thread. Embarrassing.

We finished 15 points behind Everton last season. I think that is too big a gap to make up tbh. Not impossible, but I'd say Everton are 90% likely to finish above us.

This is seriously what we're whining about now? We might become the new Arsenal. Sigh.

I'd imagine that last year's top 7 will be the top 7 again. Sure, it's possible that one or two of them will implode, but far from likely. I'm more interested in targeting a points total than a position. I'd hope for 60 points, which would be a very big improvement, although probably not enough to climb into the top 7.

I'd imagine that last year's top 7 will be the top 7 again. Sure, it's possible that one or two of them will implode, but far from likely. I'm more interested in targeting a points total than a position. I'd hope for 60 points, which would be a very big improvement, although probably not enough to climb into the top 7.

Good luck to Jay I'd say this is an amazing piece of business by Saints. £12m for a player who looks like he may never fully recover from his injury is absurd.

On Alaves v Saints comparisons. Getting the former to 9th and a cup final is enormously more impressive than getting the latter to 8th and a cup final.

Feel sorry for him. Until that horrific injury he looked on the verge of something special. Now, he looks like an average Championship striker at best. Maybe a change will do him good. Hope so.

We missed a penalty at home v Man Utd by inches, not by a million miles.....HTH

#QTWAITN

If we sell players, we should almost always sell to the highest bidder. With a very slight discount if selling to a club who aren't a meaningful rival (i.e. way better than us, way worse than us or foreign).

8pm today

Big ask to finish above any of them - unless one or more of them has a truly dire season. However, to be 15 points behind 7th and 40 points off top might be thought a bit poor. The fact that our league position this season might be a respectable 8th does disguise that a yawning chasm has opened to the top 6 or 7. A chasm it looked like we are closing in last 2 years, but is now huger than ever.