Minsk

Meanwhile away from politics and back to football...... I see the North London yobbos have followed Liverpool in doing a furlough U-turn. So only the bottom team, Sports Direct and the bucket rattlers doing it from the prem.....

Spot on Jimmy. Further more, if the proposal to play matches in June/July does go ahead: Any resumption of the season will have skewed results to those that would have happened if all matches had occurred as planned at the start of the season. Players who were injured will then be available (i.e. Kane was out for the season but will most likely be able to play in June/July - there is no doubt Spurs are a different outfit when he plays); there will be no home advantage; weather conditions will be completely different (how will Burnley manage to get any points without howling winds?); etc. So any relegations/promotions (or lack there of) could still face legal battles. To mitigate somewhat against these a rule would have to be brought in that no clubs could field any players who would not have been available when he original fixtures were scheduled to be played. Very hard to police in regard to injuries, but could easily be brought in in regard to players not signed for the season/loaned players. What couldn't be enforced is making players play who are out of contract on June 30 after their those contracts expire. I guess it will be relatively easy to extend loan deals into July - if all parties are in agreement. The absolute hardest thing to do would be to keep covidiot fans away from the fixtures and to stop them partying in their home towns/cities - especially when titles/promotions are won. With this in mind, it may be one thing for the football authorities to have a plan to conclude the season - but the government/police may well not permit it to happen (in June/July). Just void the season and start it all again this September with teams as they were a year previous - if normality has resumed by then.

Fully agree. As for prize money, if the league isn't concluded, just divvy it all up with the same amount being paid to all 20 teams - just to give those at the top even more to complain about.....

Obafemi loves a day out in London! Will Smallbone playing very well.

No Age; injuries; lack of pace - all against him. Not to mention his return of only 1 goal in the past three seasons - in all competitions. And that's without taking into account a dubious attitude. Laughable how Batman was so against Shane Long getting a contract extension - despite him displaying all the attributes to perform well in Ralph's teams - yet is championing us splashing out a big signing on fee and an undoubted higher salary for Lallana. Anyone could be forgiven for feeling he has been trolling....

Congratulations!!

Fully deserved win. Excellent performances all round. Really can't pick a MoM as they were all superb. Fully expect Lineker to bemoan VAR and say how hard done by Leicester were on MotD tonight.Well done Ralph and the coaches for turning us around.

No, he is a footballer being asked to play football. Moreover, he is a fullback/wingback being asked to play fullback/wingback. He wasn't being asked to be a wicket keeper or a hooker, or to be the goalkeeper or striker. Unless there was a personal/family emergency none of us have been made aware of, to leave the way he did is disrespectful to the club, management and supporters.

No, he is a footballer being asked to play football. Moreover, he is a fullback/wingback being asked to play fullback/wingback. He wasn't being asked to be a wicket keeper or a hooker, or to be the goalkeeper or striker. Unless there was a personal/family emergency none of us have been made aware of, to leave the way he did is disrespectful to the club, management and supporters.

Doh! Franny is there.......

Mark Dennis is my absolute favourite Saints LB of all time. That said, how could you leave Franny Benali off of any list of Saints LBs? Not that great a player but an absolute legend. Oh, and Gareth Bale didn't turn out to be too bad a player; not at LB though....

Bertrand only returned to training on Thursday. 2 weeks now to get him fit and firing.

I thought we played pretty well and were deserving of at least a draw. Shout outs to Romeu, JWP, Valery and Redmond. Adams showed some promise, but should have buried his header; Bednarek made one outstanding challenge in the box.

Good read

Well said both.

For all those complaining about being searched going in to a football stadium in the UK - NEVER go to watch a match, or any other sporting event/concert in Belarus; it is the same type of security arrangement as you get when flying internationally (except they don't check everyone's passports - yet).

My thoughts exactly. That said, I thought Cedric had reintegrated well and was going to be used as back-up for both RB and LB this season.

Pretty sure he said Goa first came to Southampton 'to buy a Sunseeker' and not 'by Sunseeker' but I get your drift and the point still stands. I agree, a very good watch. Whilst there was no Earth shattering news in there, it was good to see the honesty about where they had gone wrong previously and what they are doing to address this. I thought they all came across very well, speaking in a down to earth way and not at condescending as some previous board members had done. As for the immediate future, confirmed what was obvious in the fact that we need to shift out far more players than we will bring in; but it was nice to hear that they are planning to bring a CB whether Hoedt is moved on or not.

Nothing like over-egging a situation (pun intended). 6 of the 26 who went to Austria can not be described as 'first team squad' members (except in dire circumstances of multiple injuries/suspensions to players in one position.) Another, Valery, is certainly a first team player but firmly in the U23 category. Two others, Hoedt and Cedric, have been told they can leave should they find a suitable destination (although I will be okay with the later staying.) Of those left behind I would only class Armstrong as a 'first team squad player' whom the club wish to retain; with possibly Slattery added to that but, again, he is easily classed as an U23 player. And one of those left behind, Gallagher, has already been sold. I think everyone is fully well aware that the club needs to, and wants to, off-load at least Austin, Carrillo, Hoedt, Boufal and Reed. It is clear they are also happy for Lemina to go. I dare say they would let Hesketh, and a few others, go as well. Not to mention they have said they will allow either McCarthy or Forster to go. That doesn't mean we need to sell all of them in order to bring anyone else in; just one or two (depending on who, and for how much.)

Good post. Whilst our squad is bloated, and there are obviously players in it we don't want, overall it isn't too bad. As for the CB issue: Every time Ralph set us up in a 4-2-2-2 last season I cringed. We clearly didn't have the players for it, which is why virtually every time he was forced to change the formation. That said, on almost all of those occasions Yoshida was out injured; as was Vestergard for some - leaving us with a CB pairing of Bednarek and Stephens. Personally, I think Yoshida is our number 1 CB. He is certainly the most experienced and the quickest of them all. So, against the weaker teams, I wouldn't be too worried if we started with CB pairing of Yoshida plus Bednarek or Vestergard (depending on availability and opposition.) Again IMHO, I feel that against the stronger teams we should employ a back 3/5. That said, it has been mentioned quite a bit that Ralph IS looking to bring a new CB in; I just don't think that will happen until Hoedt is sold (or loaned). Looking a bit further up the field, at midfield, I think we will see one ore come in if/when Lemina moves on. As others have pointed out, at present Romeo is our only holding CM - and he isn't really mobile enough to play the full-on Ralph game. In Ralph's 4-2-2-2 he doesn't want the defensive most 2 to just sit in front of the defense. He wants them to be mobile, getting up and down the pitch, as well being able to pick out those long range passes. Quite rightly, people are worried about JWP/Hoj being those 2 (with only 2 CBs behind them) - especially against teams with a strong midfield. I think Lemina, JWP and Hoj are all suited to the box-to-box role (yes, even JWP who I think has vastly improved, especially in strength/tackling, under Ralph) but can all be a bit reckless/ill disciplined in a defensive regard. So I can see a more defense minded signing coming in if/when Lemina goes. (I won't be unhappy if Lemina stays, as I think he would get his head down and work hard to earn that 'upward' move in January). So, all in all, yes we can obviously be made better by transfer dealings but it certainly isn't all doom and gloom if we do start the season as we are - which we won't.

Because Ralph wanted to play 2 different sets of 11. Therefore needed to play 4 out of 6 CBs. Yoshida, Vestergard, Bednarek plus one - I guess this means he rates Stephens higher than Hoedt and Klarer. Not rocket science.

Good clip of GK training on Facebook. Frazer looking sharp!

It's even worse for them now, Koscielny wants away and seems to be pushing to have his contract cancelled. I wonder if we can give them a BOGOF offer: buy Lemina get Hoedt for free? https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48948345

Whilst form can change, Wilson got off to a flyer two seasons ago before picking up a bad injury. He followed that with an excellent season last time around. I think he is an excellent striker and am very surprised he hasn't been snapped up by one of the big 6. I think all, except maybe City, could find a place in their squad for him. I guess the question mark is over his fitness/ability to avoid further injury.

Pretty much agree with all of this. I would also like to add that just about every time Ralph tried his 4-2-2-2 last season it absolutely flopped; with him swiftly reverting back to a 3-4-2-1. Looking at the squad that has gone to Austria it would seem, at the moment at least, that Ralph is planning on sticking with the 3 at the back (why else take 6 CBs and only 4 CMs?).