goodymatt

Was Jones being ‘coy’ on KWP injury as well then? He doesn’t make the bench so surely not just a precaution the other night? I wonder if it’s just a game off to make sure or if he’s got a bigger problem?

As good a job Ralph did with such limited resources, the calendar year of 2022 performances (90th out of 92 professional teams) gets every manager on the planet the sack. We were patient as fans and the club were patient too, it had run its course no matter how much I liked him or how good a calibre of manager he was. For me the calibre of Ralph’s replacement remains the issue. Still do feel sad about Ralph as he was the most likeable manager we’ve had in a very long time.

I’m trying to give the guy a chance but every game is huge atm! We can’t have 2 of our best 3 CBs playing B Team games for minutes. How can you pick ‘Janny B’ and Lyanco over a fit, rested and available DCC. I can understand building ABK up as he’s had a couple of injuries now and needs rhythm. Orsic has been in the building long enough now that he should be ready, Kamaldeen Sulemana is very likely not going to be involved so how can you play Orsic a day before a big game. 5 at the back, please stop. We look so bad in that shape and the players even revolt against it. We need to win games and that’s not the solution. Formations can absolutely win games, tactics is one of the main ways Jones should be contributing to our performances and earning his money. I don’t think I’ll ever like this guy (not that it’s a requirement for him to do well). He’s had better backing than any Saints manager in history, no excuses. Please prove me wrong and be a success, our PL status relies heavily on it.

Anyone else think Paul looks a bit similar to Benteke in playing style?

I’ve just listened to this, in summary: Sulemana - similar style to Mbappe, needs patience and won’t save our season alone but with Onuachu could be the combination to help us stay up. Salisu - first name of the Ghana teamsheet. They see him as a VVD type player. Expect him to leave us this summer.

Big Paul is in the country, get him in the squad for Saturday.

I reckon he’s prioritised the league to avoid Lavia playing 90 mins midweek and then another 90 at Brentford? It was a cup semi final man 🤦‍♂️😭

That sounds promising!

Do we think this guy was second choice to Nicolas Jackson, having lost out to Bournemouth before his failed medical. Or did we drag that out as we had other irons in the fire such as Sulemana?

We have indeed.

We are 2 points from safety (with a bad GD) with 18 games to go. Basically we are 1 win away from safety, having spent the most of all bottom 8 teams in this transfer window (which worked out ok for a Newcastle this time last year). I struggle to accept this ‘we are down already’ view, given we have almost everyone to play once. Yes we had a nicer run of fixtures lately but that doesn’t change that we still have pretty much everyone in the league to play (Bar Everton who we beat and Villa who are in great form atm), pretty much the same for all teams? I agree that the manager situation remains a concern, I’m on the fence re Jones atm (he wasn’t anyone’s choice amongst our fanbase). He now has the tools to survive IMO. I expect it to go all the way but we have more than a small chance of survival. Do we think that all of the bottom 8 teams are going to put together European form? I seriously doubt it. Marginal improvements will make a big difference and we’ve strengthened well in this window, on the face of it at least.

Nice goals tbf, clearly consistency is the question from his time in France but he has an xfactor.

I voted 8. Alcaraz gives us the driving forward CM we were missing. Orsic, although starting very slowly should be a decent signing. Sulemana and Onuachu give us an abundance of pace and power we had otherwise been missing. Hopefully Paul keeps scoring goals. Bree is cheap cover and with KWP picking up another injury last night (let’s hope it is just a precaution as Jones said) it was a sensible move for a player the manager knows. Not sure we really needed Bednarek back. Not like Saints to spend £60m without any sales, having spent a fair amount in the summer too. Let’s hope we have enough to get out of trouble, I think it’s going to be tight regardless of a decent window. other than Everton all of our rivals have strengthened too.