derry

How it is.

We were undone by an almost unique in present times free kick. Usually and 100% of the time for us players queue up to hit the wall or the spectators behind the goal. It was a common occurrence years ago to have a few slick free kicks but with the advent of the easily bending ball they have gone out of fashion. Personally I'd like to see more of them. Yet again Soares is targeted by a taller player pulling off onto him. We have conceded so many goals due to his weakness in the air. I was hoping we would cash him in during the summer. He might be a nippy international right back able to play well against passing teams. Against crosses in the Premier league he is a real weakness. Stephens is a ball watcher, Hoedt needs to learn to stay on his feet, JWP is the perennial clockwork mouse with a decent dead ball delivery but from play apart from backwards and sideways gives nothing in an attacking sense. Too slow, too negative and nowhere near good enough. Sims is a far better player on the right of 4-4-2. Redmond flattered yet again, looked pacey and lively but he lacks intelligence and anticipation. Ings looks a decent player whilst Austin suffered from our poor attacking especially from the non existent right. The two central midfielders look a mismatch. Lamina looks a good player but if he can't play with the team we are wasting our time. Hojbjerg and Romeu were a pair at the end of the season and gave us a more solid look without the self indulgent Lamina.

Lamina was awful against Derby. He had to play against Moenchengladbach because he was missing in between. He was awful again, tried time after time to beat multiple opponents adept at pressing in numbers and virtually every time lost possession. As he had more possession than anyone else we hardly saw the ball before Lamina lost it again. When he lost it he either didn't try and get it back, didn't press, or just spectated. That is out of order and he needs a kick up the backside or get rid of him, he is a bad example.It would be a travesty and stupidity to even consider him against Burnley or anyone else for that matter playing that way.

I saw today that he died on the day of his wife's funeral. Last 18 months in care and nursing home with Alzheimers.

That was dire. The formation was crass to start with. Both full backs stayed way up the pitch obviously under instruction because it didn't work. after the first goal Bertrand spent the rest of the half gesticulating to the bench about his high, wide position. The first and third goals cut the back line behind the full backs. They were as useful as defenders as tits on a bull. Second half he played more orthodox. The full backs have to be defenders first and attackers after. Targett isn't good enough to play right side. The centre backs were exposed also by the two midfielders. Hojbjerg and Lamina don't play together. Lamina was hopeless against WHU last season and mostly left out after that. He was hopeless against Derby and again today didn't look a team player constantly trying to be clever then losing the ball and rarely tracking back to help out. Hojbjerg is limited, courageous and gives his all. He and Romeu are our most effective pair. Armstrong showed flashes of his ability but again came up against the lack of blend, pace and aggression from Austin and Gabbiadini. They don't play together and lack a cutting edge through the lack of pace to make aggressive runs. One or the other with Long or even Gallagher if their isn't new blood on the horizon. IMO Yoshida, Vestergaard and Hoedt. Bertrand as a left back and without Soares maybe Stephens at right back or new blood. Romeu and Hojbjerg as our best and most physical DMs. Armstrong, Long/Gallagher and Austin/Gabbiadini. Elyanoussi shows flashes but is settling in. Lamina needs to look at himself as he is talented but wasting it. JWP, Davis, Reed, Sims, Redmond look like peripheral figures. Maybe this week we will be moving two or three on with today sealing the opinion. Opening the way for a couple of reinforcements. Sitting in the Itchen under the hot sun watching a poor display was difficult to stick it out to the end. Well done the ref blowing up on 90 minutes. I'd had enough.

One of the vital players in Saints past. He was it's beating heart during the championship winning 1959/60. In the FA Cup 3rd Round we went to 1st Division Manchester City and won 5-1. Cliff pulled a thigh muscle early on but then there were no substitutes, he played on and led by example and courage. Later Cliff's character and strength was a major asset in getting us through the 2nd division and promotion again in 1966.

I've lost count of the goals we conceded last season with tall players pulling off onto the back post. Fundamentally he is unable to defend against tall attackers in the air because of his height which pressures our centre backs to try and cover him leaving gaps. Burnley, Brighton, Huddersfield, Arsenal just a few examples. A third centre back may help but he is still too short.

Whilst he is mobile and gets forward well his crossing rarely hits the target. His defensive work is a problem as he is light in the tackle and because of his lack of height is targeted on our back post by opponents. No more than useful but a definite weakness. If we get a good offer we should look to replace him.

Targett is a bit of a problem for the club. Firstly he has good value financially. Secondly he is a good player with three centre halves but not so good as an out and out defender in a back four. thirdly he looks a decent option on the right. I'm not an admirer of Cedric because he gets picked off on the back post and is singled out by opponents. I was hoping he would go.

Two things disappointed me about Mania HD. Firstly it just disappeared for the last six weeks of my subscription and secondly bitcoin. It was cheap but it regularly buffered or dropped out towards the end of the season.

Finally I subscribed to Ruya XL on Kodi. Last night I watched Burnley at Aberdeen (to see what we are up against and try the system.) and was really pleased with the quality even though it was Aberdeen's own station as no main channel was broadcasting. No buffering at all.

Thanks. I've had a good look round and Ruya XL seems to have a decent history and gets some good reviews from IPTV review websites. It is established on Kodi as XL, again with good reviews. There are a couple of tutorials that show setting up on Kodi. A word to the wise, if the skin / presentation on Kodi isn't Estuary it is best to change it to follow the instructions. I had mine on Confluence but changed to Estuary which matched the tutorial. It covers about 600 channels and a lot of American, Canadian, Australian etc. The bad news, it isn't cheap - an annual subscription is £175, however to coincide with the football season starting there is a special offer for July/August of £140. It does 1, 3 and 6 month packages which are equally expensive. I haven't signed up yet but I am inclined to after the reported problems with other cheap sites.

Stephens is good on the ball and holds up well and often wins the ball. It is obvious he doesn't like heading the ball or competing to win in the air. his biggest failing in my book is his ball watching and being caught out in the goal mouth. Hoedt is decent enough in the air but in critical moments often slips and ends up on his backside. Yesterday we conceded a goal because he missed a challenge by going in with the wrong foot because he prefers his left foot. It was a situation that required the right foot in rather than being late and missing with his left. His other major issue is the number of Cruyff turns he makes under pressure, sometimes losing the ball or slipping over. he was also ball watching for the close in goal. Vestergaard missed his tackle for the first goal.

Live on Saints OS.

Bit Coin is a bit of an issue, something I personally don't want to get involved with. Sportsmania/ManiaHD when working are Bit Coin, Flawless as mentioned above appears to require Bit Coin for payment. I'm looking for a credit card based site.

Thank you All. It would probably help all those that need to commit to a streaming site for the new season if anybody with current experiences could gave a heads up on here.

Thanks, have you used either of these?

What's the latest with sportsmania/maniahd? It's over three weeks since the last report. My annual subscription has run out. I see they are still using bitcoin. If they aren't viable what alternatives are people using?

Anyone know if tomorrow's match, KO 1300 BST, is live on Saints OS?

For season ticket holders, log in to account, click on the basket, the tickets are there for both matches. Follow through purchasing to checkout. Go to your email from Ticket office and get the tickets from the attachment. Print at home, absolutely free.

I'm hearing both Vestergard and Marlon Santos, also looking at Ings. I'm not convinced that this is likely as it would leave us top heavy at centre back. Ings also a bit of a gamble due injury and how he would fit in or be better than the present forwards.

I think Long's wife comes from Berks. I've heard very settled in Wellow and could well veto any move out of the area. Personally I like his effort and pace. I'd take him every day of the week over Redmond, Boufal, JWP etc alongside two or three goalgetters. Against Watford away he put us in a winning position with two searing runs. We just didn't use him enough out wide.

Glad we've signed him. I've watched him for a while. Cracking left foot and an eye for a shot instead of passing the buck.

Didn't he have a decent season the season before last and looked a good player but with two years left on his contract refused a new one. That soured his position at Celtic. Now with a year left Celtic have to shift him or he'll go for nothing at the end of next season, hence the realistic rather than inflated fee.

Told this morning from a pal who works at SFC that Madisson was offered much bigger wages at LCFC than we were prepared to pay so he went there even though he originally preferred SFC. He was mates with Reed at NCFC. LCFC just offered silly money.