austsaint

Quite right, once the rustiness gave way to classy counter attacking at about the half hour it was a very enjoyable watch, against a porous Norwich defence. Ings was so good, Armstrong grew into the game as did Redmond. Great position to be in now and can imagine we'll see more of the "kids" as things wind down.

Will be interesting to see (and hear) what technology the broadcasters use to create "crowd noise", camera angles etc to liven the atmosphere for the viewer.

Very much this! I find it curious that of the three main midfielders in the squad, two are massively underrated/appreciated and the other somewhat overrated/appreciated (though he has improved lately). Hojbjerg is the foundation of the match day squad, along with Ings. Hope he stays.....he certainly has a lot of time to think about it!

Niemi, VVD, Pahars, MLT and Mane

Nauseating indeed - a classic case of privatising profits and socialising losses.....Shankley's legacy trashed by a greedy, self serving Club. Likewise, Spurs with the nauseating Levy pulling the strings; his pay packet won't suffer, nor the star players but the average employee gets jettisoned to the public purse for a lifeline.

Sorry to derail a serious discussion, where quite rightly our Football deprivation is secondary - what is likely to happen if there isn't another ball kicked this season? Do Leeds and WBA spend another year in the Championship?

Thought he played well today - and worked hard off the ball too. He was poor v Villa but all other recent performances have shown he adds something to the team. Don’t get the “write him off” verdicts. If you have to criticise players today, what about Shane Long? Valery?

He wasn’t unlucky to be sent off..though there wasn’t intent the replays clearly showed a studs up contact to the shin. Team was unlucky though; deserved better after that spirited second half.

Sure; but I didn't see a "to date" inclusion in your original post.

Because the unfit RB who was released won't be unfit for the rest of the season. Meanwhile, for the rest of the season we will have to muddle through with JWP, KWP and Valery..making us weaker on all the evidence which includes how good results were when Cedric started. Fairly conclusive I'd say.

Glasgow....give it up. Your posts are suffering from troll fatigue; stale, unfunny and obvious.

We won't be relegated - but we looked like a relegation team today.

Smallbone does look like a good prospect but Romeu would have been a better choice today. Today also showed how much Long is flattered by the presence of Danny Ings and on his own or with a partner like Obafemi, his deficiencies are laid bare....should not be getting a contract extension. Am a big fan of Boufal, but he was disappointing today and please (Ralph) stop playing JWP at RB.

I've watched the game twice - was Grealish having a strop? He questioned the yellow card given when Djenepo went close near half time but otherwise it looked as though he took all the attention and double teaming in his stride. He also had a fairly impressive game in a side which looked shambolic - Mings aside. I don't think Grealish was in anyones pocket today as others have claimed. The other thing I noticed watching the replay was the quality Smallbone showed in the first half - very composed and a nice range of passing. Hojbjerg very good as well along with Djenepo.

Massive three points. 28 shots v Villa 4....9 on target to 1 underlines the dominance, even if it was nervy util the 93rd minute. Great to see Djenepo back to early season form; promising first half from Smallbone, JWP did his job, Stephens good, PEH good. So nearly off the mark for Adams but a great assist for Armstrong's gut busting run and well taken goal.

His 65 minutes v Spurs and the 30 v Burnley were as good as I've seen him play for Saints. Full of energy, great touch, good crosses, nice link up in dangerous areas and a willingness to press and harass without the ball. Ralph must have noticed all that, which just leaves the question mark (in Ralph's mind) about SB as a 90 minute player.

And he deserves his wish. Let him cuddle up to Brendan again.

What a load of tosh. Shane Long, at 34, has, or should have no place in any Prem side.

Except that unlike the first two you mentioned, Boufal was pretty good until injured.

It's not bizarre to say Armstrong was sloppy and ineffective - nor bizarre to offer that JWP, though steady, did not have an excellent game. We did play very good Football in beating Leicester, Palace and Spurs...but we didn't "tear them apart"!

There's a little bit of "Pollyanna" in your "instant reactions". Yes, the conditions were a leveller - yet intensity and commitment are possible and necessary in all conditions and SFC were short on both, particularly in the second half. Armstrong excellent? JWP excellent? I don't think so - I also don't think we would "tear them them apart on a dry day". It's been quite a while since the side tore any team apart.

Good summary apart from your comments about Boufal? How do you single him out? Played well against Spurs in the Cup before being subbed for Armstrong who didn't fire a shot - and played very well yesterday until being clattered by Hendrick - only to be replaced by Djenepo who seems to have lost his early season form; while Armstrong put in a full game shocker. I understand that Boufal can be frustrating, but on song (which is often enough) he looks the most likely to create chances in dangerous areas.

Long really is an awful player - Ralph has really got this one wrong if there's a contract extension. Boufal has shown he can place a pass in attacking areas - Armstrong's touch and passing today were mediocre - he's really just a fast, direct runner - his touch isn't that good. Also disappointed in Djenepo today - seems to have lost the confidence to take the game on.

Very poor games from Armstrong, Vesteraard, Long (why wasn't he replaced earlier?) and Djenepo. Once Boufal was hurt all creative threat disappeared and there never looked a way back from 2-1. The strike of Ings was the one highlight on a very average performance

Long has been quiet and Armstrong very wasteful - Adams for Long is a good shout.