CanadaSaint

Having a natural left footer who’s pretty solid defensively really helps Salisu because he can concentrate on his CD role without having to worry too much about covering the LB area. I love KWP but having Perraud there gives us more balance.

Superb performance all around, with - unbelievably - chances to win it. Salisu was imperious throughout, but tremendous character and endeavour all around him. I feared red right away on the Armstrong tackle and I think we dodged a bullet there. I never have been, and never will be, comfortable with Ralph's high line. It counts on three things - a poor delivery (10% chance with DeBruyne standing over the ball), an offside call (50%), and a keeper intervention (20% with Forster or McCarthy). I'd much rather take our chances with a deeper line and reliance on Salisu, Bednarek, Broja and Adams. With another keeper we could have won the last two, and yes, I did see Forster's knee save from Sterling. We had five players today who would not have looked out of place in a Top 6 side. I don't care if we don't splash big money on incoming players, as long as we make a solid effort to keep the ones we've got.

Nine passes between our penalty area and the back of City’s net. Orgasmic goal. 😂

So what’s the back story on this? I’m now getting the annoying banner on my iPad and Macbook Pro. Is it a revenue generative initiative of Saintsweb, even for subscribed users?

If they’re keeping an eye on Saintsweb they’ll know we’re keeping an eye on them - and fix the typo on the second line of their About Us page. 😂

I have no idea what he did but that ball had almost zero spin on it. He didn’t quite catch his earlier free kick - the shot that nobody was expecting. If he had we’d have been talking about two absolute stunners.

At some point in the past few weeks I think Ralph sat on a rock for a while and reflected. The outcome is that he has tempered the tactical obstinacy that was either extremely good or extremely bad for us - there wasn’t much middle ground. In its place is a tactical flexibility that I feared he didn’t possess, and we (and he) discovered that we are a much better team for it. Whether it was deliberate or accidental, I really hope he sticks with it. Playing like that, there won’t be many automatic losses or under-achieving draws between now and the end of the season.

Tonight puts some “welcome to Southampton” pressure on Dragan and the ownership group. Great performance, great result, fans buzzing - and the first thing they hear is about the manager and key players needing to go to bigger clubs, including the talismanic JWP. He really looked like he was enjoying himself tonight, and he doesn’t have his feeder-club structure built yet, so It will be interesting to see how he reacts.

You have to wonder about the coddling that players get when JWP covered every blade of grass twice in four days and was still running at the end. It’s inspirational for everyone around him. As someone else saiid, what an engine he’s got.

Nice, but United would have to ditch 2/3 of their squad, including Ronaldo, to play Ralph’s way.

I get that JWP is not very creative, and it can be frustrating, but he’s a good 8 or 9 out of ten for pretty much everything else. He’s also become a solid leader on the pitch, and we lose him at our peril. Right now it looks like there’s depth all over the park, with players able to adjust their role to suit the situation. Tella’s looking like a fast-developing S. Armstrong apprentice.

There you go. fit wasn't for Gabby we'd be heading to Huddersfield next week.

I think you're right. Ralph is quick to forgive ineptitude from the senior pros but quick to punish mistakes from the younger ones.

Longy misjudged that - he was onside. 😂

Exactly. I like Ralph but I find his "my way" obstinacy infuriating at times.

In almost every "man short" situation I can remember, including both 9-0's, Ralph has left two striker-type players out there. I've always struggled to figure out why he would opt to do that, and dismantle the heart of our midfield.

I fear that the capricious football gods are brewing up an Obafemi winner.

We need to aim a few long ones at the centre circle and leave Broja to take it from there.

To this day I have a clear memory of meeting up with my 71 year-old Dad after the game (he was in the seats, we were in the Saints end) and his words were "You can take me now, Lord, you can take me now". And with Cambridge doing Newcastle, perhaps the magic of the FA Cup is coming back.

Valery was gradually working is way back into Ralph's good books, despite some reservations, but that might remove him from the reckoning. No big problem with the second yellow, but I think refs need to be a bit more tolerant before showing the first. With good refs a word in the ear is just as effective as a yellow, and it doesn't spoil games.

My stream's a bit behind. Channon's looking dangerous.

Any streams for those of us outside the UK?

Pleased to see that. His aggressive running has the potential to replace what we used to get (and badly miss) from the now-unreliable Stuart Armstrong, although he obviously needs more maturity and greater composure when a chance comes his way.

And another worthwhile thread goes off the rails with off-topic jousting that will end up with it disappearing up its own arse. We are the Moussa Djenepo of web forums. Thanks to tajjuk for pointing us back in the general direction of the goal.

I've already said I'm not expecting any fireworks, so there was no suggestion of chucking money around, but I specifically referenced a keeper. Eighth seems like a pipe dream but it's hard to believe that we're only seven points away from it with all the crazy shit that's happened this year - especially the second half capitulations