goodymatt

Avoid defeat in this match and we will equal our all time undefeated league record. Wednesday are much improved, winning their last 3 in all competitions. Will our former assistant end our run? I still think we will have too much for them. 2-1 Saints. Baz KWP THB Bednarek Manning Smallbone Downes Stu Arma Che Fraser

Not sure what was the nicest surprise, the quality of our youngsters or finding out Che actually does have a left foot… Ryan Fraser, great performance and he has further reassured me that Edozie and Sulemana injuries shouldn’t stop our momentum. He’s been great off the bench but this was a full game performance of high standard. I would like to sign him up permanently please. Also pleasantly surprised by Lumley. Didn’t have much to do but saved well when needed and I thought his distribution and speed of decision with the ball fitted in well to our style. That video of his bloopers was a worry but I think he’s better than we expected.

https://x.com/fabrizioromano/status/1743701920722629090?s=46&t=7raSKCMt6LV8RJ1C2d39WQ Sounds like a decision will be made soon regarding Fabio Carvalho. I’d like to think we would have a more clear starting slot than Leeds. Wolves would be his preference if he has playing time, I’d imagine. Hull could have Benson and Philogene starting, they are building a decent team.

And Fabio Carvalho, sadly.

I hope we still have too much for them but they do seem to have turned a corner. Helped by 2 pen misses and an OG by Cardiff so far today but they seem much more potent all of a sudden. Our former assistant as their manager adds another dimension on his return to St Mary’s. Don’t piss on our chips please Danny.

We were due to play Hull at home on 27/1, not WBA?

Martin saying Edozie back for end of Jan/start of Feb. Sulemana and Bree will be similar timescales too apparently.

I think we will need to better 2ppg in this period to grab second. Harder fixtures follow too. Our last 18 games have been 2.33ppg, I’d be disappointed to drop below 2 during this period. As Saints fans we are conditioned to expect us to mess up. Keep proving us wrong, Saints!

Am I being harsh in thinking this is THE glaring hole in our team? Every opponent targets the space he leaves. He gives the ball away in dangerous areas regularly. He can’t defend. For me Manning is a LWB that suits 5atb but we are playing him at LB and he looks out of his depth. To be fair to him he looks decent going forward, good cross on him and the natural left foot is good for balance going forward. If we were to sign just 1 starter, this is what I would choose (assuming nobody leaves).

It’s actually 13 away games played (6W 5D 2L), 23 points total. 1.77 points per game. I look at Huddersfield (conceding from a cross), Watford (last min goal under the keeper) and Norwich (dominated the game) as 6 dropped points. Not a bad record. We still have the 4 other highest placed teams to play away though.

Please sign a LB, it’s our weakest position by far.

Overall I thought we deserved a win. Stephens unlucky to hit the bar, Fraser pen shout, clear red card missed for Stacey. Total dominance but once again it doesn’t take many shots on target to score against us. Norwich also scored a goal given offside but it looked onside on the replay? xG (forum’s fav stat) was 0.81 to our 2.51. We just weren’t clinical enough and that’s frustrating when chasing down the autos and missing chances to close the gap. 18 games unbeaten is incredible, let’s go and beat that record.

I saw this too, protective boot and on crutches. Probably not a good sign but could just be a precaution. I’m sure we will find out over the weekend.

https://x.com/thesecretscout_/status/1741862484393255138?s=46&t=7raSKCMt6LV8RJ1C2d39WQ Looks like we tried to sign Jalo from Barnsley but he has now signed a new deal.

Hoping his injury isn’t serious, having been in great form for us. If he is out for a period, suddenly we only have Fraser as a proper winger, with SAA in reserve and Arma playing wide at the moment. You can see why we are interested in bringing in a RW player.

Good to see Downes back, hope he’s fit and firing. Stephens playing RB again?

We are clearly signing a RW player then, plenty of links: Diallo, Brooks, Benson, Carvalho. In the summer we tried for Roberts and Philogene. I wish Tella had stayed but £20m for the FFP was too good a deal for an academy player.

Is this happening???

We've actually scored 1 more than Leeds so far, due to our recent big wins. Its their defence that is giving them the GD edge.

I think he was out long term with his cancer issue, followed by hamstring and fitness. Likely due to the lack of playing time during his treatment: This season he’s made 11 appearances for Bournemouth with no recorded injuries. Perhaps dropping down a level for game time is just what he needs? We do have reasonable depth in wide areas too, so perhaps less of a risk than Stewart was for example.

Might we play Arma centrally freeing up that RW spot? He has looked more influential as a wide striker though.

Summary of transfer rumours so far, not long now until the window opens… In: Matias Soule (Juventus) Charlie Cresswell (loan from Leeds) Amad Diallo (Loan from United) Ben Johnson (WHU) Bojan Miovski (Aberdeen) Danny Ings (Loan from WHU) Ryan Fraser (reported we might make a permanent but not sure why we wouldn’t wait until the end of the season) David Brooks (loan from Bournemouth) Out: Holgate (loan recall to Everton) KWP (WHU interested) Che Adams (reported we may cash in) Sekou Mara (loan to Lille) I think Philogene and Delap at Hull would have been great signings, shame we missed out on those two previously. Amad Diallo would be a great signing.

https://x.com/alex_crook/status/1740671731252277411?s=46&t=7raSKCMt6LV8RJ1C2d39WQ TalkSport (Alex Crook) saying Saints and Leeds are interested in loaning David Brooks from Bournemouth.

On Martin’s love/passion for our club, he has his sons attending games, who seem excited by our players and asking for shirts for Christmas. Seems to be trying hard like he did at Swansea to build a connection with the fans and everyone involved at the club. Even if it doesn’t work out or he ends up getting a better offer, it’s a positive and welcome approach. His respect towards Swansea this week was nice to see. I like the guy and really want him to succeed.

Fair comment that he did tweak some suicidal tactics like the corner set up you mention. I do think it’s also a result of the positional understanding that’s built up over time which is giving us these excellent passages of play to watch more often.