austsaint

Thought Lemina was clearly our best first half.

Game confirming what we already knew - Elynoussi isn't good enough; Armstrong a little bit powder-puff; Valery is nothing like a finished product; Stephens not good enough at CB; Long and Ings don't offer much threat. Only Lemina with some support from Bertrand and Hojbjerg look up to level.

Is Sims injured?

But I don't hate him like you once claimed Ginge. Ii's always just been about my assessment of his Football ability relative to the hype and media praise he has received. No doubt he has played at an improved level for much of 2019, but it's still a stretch to think he is going to be subject to a massive offer from Spurs.

Would be very surprised if Spurs paid big money for Ward-Prowse or recruited him in any circumstance. With respect to Sydney Saint it sounds like BS.

Good comments. For all the anxiety and nail biting the Club (and supporters) has been through in the past three seasons, it's remarkable that SFC has been able to recruit Pochettino, Koeman and Ralph since 2013. It would be a dream if Ralph stayed another season or two.

Couldn't have put it better. I hope Ralph isn't influenced by the two deflected; the tap in and the charge down. Both Austin and Long need to be replaced.

Was he? (best on the pitch for movement). Will he? (keep improving under RH). Long will be 33 next season - it's so good he has been able to contribute in the last few weeks with a few goals.....two of them were deflected; one was a tap in from Yoshida's scrambling assist and the other a flukey charge down at game's start which admittedly he finished with composure. Were it not for some of the good fortune he has enjoyed I don't think too many would be advocating a new contract. The Club needs better to avoid the narrow squeaks of the past two seasons.

Was he? (best on the pitch for movement). Will he? (keep improving under RH). Long will be 33 next season - it's so good he has been able to contribute in the last few weeks with a few goals.....two of them were deflected; one was a tap in from Yoshida's scrambling assist and the other a flukey charge down at game's start which admittedly he finished with composure. Were it not for some of the good fortune he has enjoyed I don't think too many would be advocating a new contract. The Club needs better to avoid the narrow squeaks of the past two seasons.

Flopped over the line to safety! Just the same it's been a remarkable job by Ralph to engineer Saints status. He has a task ahead to rebuild the squad. Surprised we didn't see Lemina today? Will be great to watch the last two games without the anxiety of trying to stay up.

Which is fecking infuriating.....any one with eyes in their head who watched Mane and VVD at Saints could tell they were world class players. The trouble with pundits like Neville is while they might know the game, they see so little of Southampton games they end up filling in their gaps to suit what they have seen.

I see him as one of the most unique and brilliant attacking players I've ever seen - and without trying to embarrass Shance further even in his early days at Saints you could see the class. I dislike Liverpool but I watch a lot of their games to get a look at Sadio. Salah's not bad either!!

Ultravox? One for the over 50s...sadly.

True enough. Funny thing is he (Ings) looked a lot sharper and faster when he first arrived from Liverpool.

True enough. Funny thing is he (Ings) looked a lot sharper and faster when he first arrived from Liverpool.

Couldn't agree more. Long got lucky last night but did finish with composure, but after that he butchered a couple of live chances and that's a pattern during his time at Saints. Will be a better side next season if he is replaced.

Yes, I understand the point you are making, yet think back to arguably our best midfield partnership in the modern era - Vic and Morgan; both picked up many yellow (and red) cards, neither was particularly fast. Like them, Romeu does a lot of hard intercepting, harassing and tackling - a lot of it goes unnoticed. When our Prem status is officially confirmed (Sat.?) Romeu is right up there as one of the reasons we have survived.

Disagree about Romeu - under Ralph's watch he has played on a par to the stint he put in for Puel. You only had to see how much pressure we were under when subbed to realise he is a vital part of the midfield. I think he, Hoj and Lemina with 2 CBs is a better set up than playing the 3 CBs. Recruiting a clever AM in the Summer would be wise, but I'm bettong Romeu will continue to flourish under Ralph next season.

Indeed, there were so many opportunities for that second goal to take the game out of a reach. Romeu being subbed surprised me - I know he was on a yellow but his defensive presence was missed in that last 15 minutes which was the only time in the second half we looked under threat. Could be a useful insurance point though.

Great first half - so easily could have been 2. Redmond has been outstanding and Romeu/Hojbjerg doing well in midfield. Got to give credit to Long for the composed finish. A second goal would be sweet - could be a long second half.

Long, Stephens and an out-of-position Ward-Prowse starting (what is his right position?) spells trouble.

Damage done in the first half, but a much, much better second stanza. Lemina particularly and Armstrong added intensity and run. Redmond's second half was very good. Surely we have seen the last of Stephens - he was awful. Felt sorry for Sims - the intensity Newcastle played with overwhelmed him and having JWP behind him at RB meant the right side was very vulnerable. I know I'm a serial JWP critic - but even if he was played out of position today - what has to happen for him to be dropped or at least subbed? That's four very ordinary games in a row.

The shape is all wrong today - no back up right back and trying to shoehorn Ward-Prowse in somewhere has meant we have been caught out time and again. Put Stephens at right back, bring Lemina into an attacking midfield role. I'd like to see Sims given more time with a different set up but maybe Long on for him - Armstrong is another attacking possibility

Quite so. I understand it took a while for Ralph to assess Josh Sims given all the "figuring out" he had to do with the squad, but this lad has had the qualities to be a bigger part of Saints squad for some time and it's more of a sleight on Hughes, Pellegrino and even Puel that he languished in the U/23s and then at Reading. It's not just the runs he makes, the space he finds and the ability he has to turn the defence around - in the Spurs game he showed he has a good eye for a killer pass and deft touch. Really pleased for him.

Well said - the lad has clearly suffered a complicated injury. There's no evidence that he has adopted a VVD, Lovren, Lallana etc attitude towards the Club - players do suffer genuine season ending injuries.