Midfield_General

Love that. We need to get Dibling's contract sorted! Smallbone goes from starting to completely out of the squad.

Turkish window closed. Looks like he’s still with us?

Pretty much all of them! But if pressed - Egil Ostenstadt, Gordon Watson, Matty Oakley, Ken Monkou

Good news. KWP and Dibling next please.

Cool. Think he's said he tends to prefer the left as he can cut inside and shoot, but if he's flexible enough to play either side then that's great as we look a little bit light on the right otherwise. I'm looking forward to seeing him. Edit: Re Cornet

Fair enough. If you're dropping Dibling to start Fraser on the left though, who have you got starting on the right?

I'd go 4-3-3: Archer Cornet Dibling Fernandes Downes Lesley KWP Bednarek THB Sugawara Ramsdale Subs: Macca, Stephens, ABK, Lallana, Aribo, Fraser, SAA, Stewart, BBD. No room for Armstrong, Smallbone or Taylor - sorry lads. We won't though.

Martin's right when he says we have a bloated squad now. When everyone is fit and available for selection, there are going to be plenty who don't even get amongst the 9 subs, let alone the starting XI. For example*, this weekend we could put out a first XI of: Ramsdale; KWP; Bednarek; THB; Sugawara; Downes; Fernandes; Lesley; BBD; Archer; Cornet With a subs bench of: Macca; Stephens; Smallbone; Aribo; Lallana; Fraser; SAA; Dibling; Armstrong Which would leave no place at all in the squad for Taylor, ABK, Bree, Stewart (now apparently fit), Larios, Edwards, Wood or Manning, plus Onuachu and Sulemana (when fit again) who we know they're trying to shift out. Most of those you could argue we won't miss, but it seems a bit harsh on Taylor for example, and who drops out of that squad to fit Stewart in? (which presumably is the plan, given how long we've spent getting him ready). I really hope it's not SAA who has to step back down. (* It's just an example, I'm not saying this will be the formation, team or bench)

Declared fit and available for selection vs. Man Utd.

Key points from RM's press conference ahead of Man Utd: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c30308dly86o Summary: The manager said "changes will be made" to the side for the game against Manchester United, adding: "After three defeats, there inevitably will be changes. How many, you'll have to wait and see and who. It's such a difficult position because I feel fiercely loyal to players who have got us into the Premier League so I have to balance that loyalty from what they did last season to what some of them are actually doing now and the place they are in right now." The Saints boss feels his side "have learnt a lot in the first few games" and that they are "really close to being who we want to be and what we want to be". On the international break: "I've enjoyed the break in terms of seeing what we really need to focus on." Ben Brereton Diaz was substituted 35 minutes into Chile’s 2-1 loss against Bolivia in their 2026 World Cup qualifier but Martin said it is "not an injury so I guess the coach has his own reasons". On the scrutiny he has faced in recent weeks: "It doesn't overwhelm me one bit, it's just part of the job. It's the same last season, we had a period at the start where we had a really tough time and then people can say what they want with very little recourse and will judge us based on a highlights reel of eight minutes so I treat it all the same. There were people that called me a terrible appointment for the club and said they need to make a change after losing four games [last season]. There will be the same people doing that now after three games, three defeats, so I treat it all the same." All players have come back injury-free which is "all you can ever ask for as a manager after an international break". Martin said the club didn't plan to have such a big squad, stating: "Some of the outgoings didn't come off and didn't quite go to plan so leaving a lot of good players out of the squad isn't easy but it's up to us to manage that."

Was that the one where Michael Owen was on co-comms and tried to argue that it shouldn’t be given offside, proving that he didn’t have even the most basic understanding of what offside was?

The only ‘media source’ so far is Football Insider isn’t it? Which is a complete joke of a site that no-one takes seriously. No quotes, no sources named, just ‘Football Insider believes that Russell Martin will be under pressure if he keeps losing games’. Like, no shit lads. At this stage, with no credible sources backing it up, it is indeed just chancers making obvious headlines for clicks and ad revenue. Unless I’ve missed something more credible?

I'm just talking about the reaction of the crowd though. Where I was in the Itchen I didn't hear any booing or anything that suggested that the crowd was ready to turn en masse. I haven't been to an away yet this season so maybe it's harsher away. You may be right though that it could take a nosedive if we lose three more, although I think the style we play will have as much of an impact on how people react, as the results will. We'll see I guess.

The crowd hasn’t really turned yet though has it? At the last home game (Forest) it was disappointment, but no booing or obvious signs that anyone was turning on him. I think he’s currently got a lot more goodwill in the bank than that, though that may obviously change if we keep giving away these stupid goals. Jones was toxic pretty much from the off because the crowd was already down from the end of the Ralph regime, then Jones came in who nobody wanted and who proceeded to play shocking football and continue to lose with awful performances. I don’t think Martin’s anywhere near that level yet, nowhere near. And rightly so. He’s generally much more popular as a bloke and he’s just won us promotion. He’s earned a lot more goodwill and the opportunity to get it right.

Ipswich at home is very obviously a game we should be capable of winning

I very much hope Russ swallows his pride and changes things sufficiently that a change is not felt necessary. Just play a bit more pragmatically to give ourselves at least a chance in some games and make everyone feel that we gave it a good crack and did everything we could, even if we go back down. The thought of an SR-led new manager recruitment process, especially without a DoF in place, is not pretty. Who knows who they’d bring in. I can see them being persuaded to give Lallana a go, which would be another big box ticked in the tried and tested ‘how to guarantee relegation’ blueprint (the one where you end up having three managers in a season).

I've clicked it so others don't have to. Doing the Lord's work here. 'Sources say', with no quotes or evidence whatsoever. Absolute fraud of a site. Ignore.

Spot on.

I actually think that's what's causing the frustration though. On paper that looks like a side that has got a decent chance of being competitive. But no side can be competitive if they're gifting the opposition goals all the time, and it feels like what they're being told to do - rather than their quality as a team or individuals - is what's causing the gifting of the goals. If you put that team in a straightforward 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 with instructions not to take the risks at the back and play a bit more like Nuno or Frank did, two established PL managers, would they have a better chance of getting something out of these games? We don't know, but I think the frustration comes from not yet being able to find out. If anything, that's what's not being given a chance - just the more conventional, 'keep it tight', play-to-your-players-strengths and be hard to beat approach that most (not all) promoted clubs tend to apply when they're trying to bed into this league. It feels to many like we're trying to be way too clever to an almost contrarian degree, and that's what's not giving us a chance in games we might otherwise get something from. I'm not having a go at you or the people defending Russell btw - I also like him and I want him to succeed, I think the opprobrium from some is way over the top and the petty name-calling is pathetic. I just think that's where the frustration is coming from at the moment, and I can understand that too.

Liverpool also put their foot through it numerous times yesterday, just to clear their lines when there was nothing sensible on.

Aside from the specifics of how the players are being asked to play, surely there's a basic premise that every promoted team has to adopt at the beginning which is 'make yourself hard to beat'. If you can keep it tight for the first few games, not concede too many, grind out a point here and there, then little by little the confidence starts to grow and you might start to feel like you belong in this league. Then you can build from there. We haven't done that at all, and already some of the players who looked so confident last season - THB springs immediately to mind - look like their confidence is being hammered. And when the confidence goes, that is hard to recover from. Martin might be able to shrug off defeat after defeat, but I'm not sure the players will be able to. I wonder at what point they start to question him. He's walking a dangerous line.

Oh well that's slightly better news then 😉 (thanks for the correction). Point still stands though - when a Toney-less Brentford can put 3 past us without really having to break sweat, United could give us a proper kicking. I wonder if a right pasting is actually what it will take for the penny to drop that something needs to change. Either reaching his own conclusion on that, or someone from the ownership having a quiet word behind the scenes.

Underneath the bravado, he has to be very concerned - as I think most of us are - about us getting an absolute hammering by Man Utd, playing the way we are. They may not be what they were, but they still have a billion pound squad stuffed with senior internationals who are more than capable of forcing mistakes and capitalising on them. Three defeats on the spin, against moderate PL opposition, with only one (consolation) goal scored is a bad enough look in itself, but if we give the same gifts to United that we've been giving up to everyone else and end up on the receiving end of a pasting, then surely he has to start looking over his shoulder and worrying about how secure his job is. A heavy defeat puts him into De Boer territory. Unless of course, he's been given reassurances that he's SR's guy no matter what happens and will stay in charge even if we go down, which isn't out of the question, and might explain the bullishness.

No way would Jones fight fair. As soon as the bell went, he’d drop to all fours and gallop forward like an animal, emitting a guttural bellow, launching himself biting and snapping at Russell’s beautiful crotch, with the goal of chewing his nads off, like a rabid Welsh honey badger.

Agree with all of that, and I’d also add: 11) Kept KWP, which is a huge boost, at least until January 7 from me, because I’m not convinced we’ve got the goals at this level. Really hope Archer proves that completely wrong though. Still totally buzzing over Ramsdale. I think he’ll turn out to be our most important signing for many, many years. It’s great that the owners have backed the manager and have really invested in the squad. Over to RM now to see what he does with them. One thing’s definitely changed though and that’s that I now feel excited for the season rather than the deflation that came after the Forest game. There’s a bit of a feel-good factor, for me at least… until 4.45 this afternoon anyway COYS