WALK DMC

The highlights clip had him almost exclusively playing on the right. Maybe he just doesn't have any highlights when he plays on the left !

I agree that he has the quality, leadership, flexibility to add to our team. He was in the England squad just 3 years ago so is of decent quality. But if his wages are £100k per week for the next 2 years that equates to £10m (ish) - of course he may be prepared to take cut or Man U might subsidise like Theo. But his injury record is horrendous - over a longer period worse than Danny Ings when he joined. Based on his record even in a "good" season he would only be available 20+ games per season and who knows if the most recent injuries have caused long term impact to his capabilities. It is a risk - we could be lucky and he could be injury free for much of the next 2 seasons or his injury could flair up in the first game and we don't see his again for 2 years. Assuming that a very thorough medical doesn't show anything up I 'd probably suggest that this could be a potential option - but if we do, I suggest we all keep our fingers crossed every time he goes into a tackle. It's a risk -

I think it is a fair argument. Where I do think that there is some shafting going on, is where a player on their last year has been tapped up and insists on only joining a single club - it means the negotiation abilities of the selling club is virtually zero. This seemed to be the case last year where Hojberg rejected the overtures of Everton and was only interested in going to Tottenham. I am assuming this is why there appears to remain some bad blood between the clubs. It wouldn't surprise me that something similar happens with Vestergaard, although I hope that Ings can aim higher ...... We'll see.

It was a good achievement to get to the final, we shouldn't diminish it. However, I remain in the camp that it was despite Southgate rather than because of it. I agree with your point that we have weaknesses in the squad/team - midfield being the obvious one, but player for player I feel with compare with the likes of Italy and Belgium (although I still think France are a step ahead). Look at Belgium's defence - are you telling me that the aging Vertonghen & Alderweirld compare to Maguire & Stones ? All teams need to adapt - I just feel that people like Roberto Mancini who managed multiple teams to multiple league titles in Italy & England is a far better Manager than Southgate (13th & 19th with Middlesbrough) in using their available resources. Ultimately at the last two major tournaments England have beaten Sweden, Czech Republic, Germany & Croatia, demolished Panama and Ukraine, struggled past Denmark & Tunisia (with late/disputed goals) and effectively drawing (ignoring penalties) with Scotland, Columbia and Italy. They've lost to Belgium twice and Croatia in the semi. Those aren't bad results - but they are only par for the course. I still believe (nice phrase 🙂 ) that we will never achieve what we are capable of with Southgate in charge. He isn't an awful Manager, but I doubt anyone in the Premiership would employ him based on his achievements in the last 10 years. I do accept that managing in a league is different to international football, but not to the extent that it is only possible to be good at international level. Either way, it is clear that he will lead the team to Qatar, so we need to get behind him and the team and hope that he will adopt a more risk averse approach going forward, otherwise if the draw isn't as favourable as the last two tournaments, it could be a much shorter stay.

Che's video of his last championship season with Birmingham had plenty of shots from the edge of the box i.e. not tap-ins. The issue was that every goal was scored with his right foot. He didn't seem to have the ability to score with his head or left foot. This has continued with Saints. Armstrong's video shows someone who has pace and can finish with both feet and contribute a few headers too. One of the other posters noted a resemblance with Ings' style which I can also see. Of course, looking good in the Championship is very different from the premiership (or even the French Ligue 1 as Perraud may find out too), but as clips go I found it encouraging.

Unlike some of the more optimistic posters on here I don't believe that if he isn't going to sign an extension that there is a chance in hell that he will stay for 12 months until his contract runs down. I'm pretty sure it is us stating our negotiating position so that other teams don't think that they can get him for a give away price, but the reality of the situation is that £20m+ is a huge sum of money for a club like Saints and we'll accept what we can get - I think the question will be whether he leaves soon, or right at the end of this window when other teams (plus us) become more desperate to bring someone in. I hope sooner rather than later, but you don't always get what you want .....

Totally agree. I think that the only bargaining power that we may have is that there does appear to be a number of clubs interested in him which could drive the price up. Hojberg went cheap because it seems that he made it clear that he only wanted to go to Spurs - hopefully that can be avoided this time. I'd certainly bite the hand of anyone offering close to £25m.

As someone else pointed out this may just be a Twitter "rumour", so shouldn't be given too much credibility. But if there are crumbs of truth in it, I don't think it is so absurd. Both Forster and McCarthy contracts are up in 1 year, and assuming that we don't replace Gunn this summer that would mean we would have to recruit two new keepers next year. I don't rate either keeper but actually keeping one as a backup would make sense as we probably don't have the cash for buying two keepers. Maybe Forster has already told Saints he is off or won't reduce his current salary. There is so much we don't know, but somebody has to do some long term planning. My preferred option would be to get a new Keeper this summer who is a clear number 1 (and get rid of Forster or McC), but we all know that funds are stretched so maybe this will wait another year. I absolutely hate the idea of alternating keepers, but again not sure that the Twitter stating that Ralph will do next year was based on an actual clear statement.

Brady is very good with free kicks, but not a role that we are lacking in .....

Brian Clough used to refer to them as "thugs" as referenced in the link below. I don't believe he was completely clueless, and certainly saw them play. Quote unquote: Clough, Leeds, dustbins and cheats - Football365 BTW - I actually agree with your general comment that we need stronger leaders/winners in the current team. There is certainly a lack of mental strength regularly displayed.

I think our only advantage this year is that Hoedt, Lemina Forster are all on their last year. They may be more willing to compromise on their salary - for example, if they get offered a 3-4 year contract it would be worth more security than hanging around Saints and perhaps picking up a big injury. Of course, they will become even more attractive in 12 months time when they will be essentially free and will anticipate a decent signing on fee. Its not going to be fun.

Really surprised by the line-up. There are a number of very odd selections which are hard to explain. Could we have decided to strengthen our midfield by playing a proper 3-5-2 ? Redmond LWB and the middle three of JWP, Armstrong & Diallo. This would leave Minamino and Ings up front. I think that I am just clutching at straws here ...... The Minamino situation is beyond weird; if Harry Rednapp were still Manager I know what people would bee insinuating about his continued appearances.

Excuse me, I didn't explain myself well enough. I wasn't suggesting that they drop JWP, just that we find the right partner for him when he plays at central midfield. However, my main point is that were we to spend money on another centre midfielder, then we might not buy a deputy for KWP because we would have extra cover in midfield so JWP could play RB if KWP was injured. I have no insight on our budget, but I suspect it isn't substantial so we will probably make compromises and having players covering multiple positions might be one way of balancing the books. And yes, I don't like square pegs in round holes, but until we have some proper investment ......

I think we write off Romeu too quickly. We have missed him in his recent absence, so dropping to 4th choice to quickly could be a mistake. He is 29, so not too old and he has never had any pace, so won't decline as quickly as some. I think the key will be to get the right combination. JWP & Diallo just don't seem to work as well together and maybe Diallo needs a bit of physical muscle to complement his pace. If we were to get Thomas Delaney it wouldn't surprise me that JWP just became the new Right Back cover ......

Earlier I suggested that we keep this topic to another place on the forum. People seemed to agree (8 likes so far), but some keep insisting on repeating their views ("my mate in Waitrose" is one of the sillier ones though 🙂 ) Please use the Lounge or a specific thread for exchanging opinions on this topic. It is ruining the run up to the game and the arguments are routine and really only tells us who reads The Daily Mail and who reads the Guardian.

Isn't there somewhere else on this forum for discussions such as this ? Happy for people to state their views, but this is the pre-match thread for a game tomorrow night. In team news, Romeu may be back on the bench and Bednarek has recovered from his heel injury so is also available.

I agree with most of what you say, particularly the organisation, commitment and leadership that he brings to the team. But ......... I think it is the high volume of fundamental mistakes that Jack makes that worries the posters. He was clearly at fault for the goal, and nearly gave Palace a route back into the game on Tuesday with another slip. Everyone makes mistakes, but it is the number and simple type of errors that magnify the problem. From my perspective, Jack is a valuable member of the squad, but unless he can cut out the number of big mistakes he won't be a member of the starting 11 on a regular basis.

I have to bow to you guys ability to assess the potential of a player so quickly. Just to summarise: This was Carvalho's 2nd game and he scored a good goal (ably helped by Jack getting on his wrong side). He is 18 years old. This was Tella's 16th appearance for Saints. He is 22 years old in July. I am not saying that either of you are wrong, just that I admire your skill in making such a snap judgement on such a young player. Impressive.

Ralph has never seemed keen on him, choosing others to start for games such as Shrewsbury. I'm not convinced the tackle at Old Trafford is the only reason for him not playing since. We were desperate for players on that fateful night and I think Ralph just decided to throw him in because other alternatives (Romeu, Diallo & Smallbone) were all injured. With hindsight he could have played Armstrong in defensive midfield but at the time he wasn't considered for that position. I have absolutely no idea whether Ralph just doesn't see a potential Premiership player or there is some sort of attitude problem, but I still don't think that the infamous tackle is the only reason for his continued omission. I suspect that he will disappear at the end of the season to another club (Belgium was mentioned in January), I just hope that it doesn't come back to haunt us. He certainly wasn't pulling up any trees in the U-23 team in 2020, so maybe he just isn't good enough.

Interesting article here on Sean Roughan who we had on trial last week. Analysis of Sean Roughan’s trial with Southampton | The Stacey West

My aging memory seems to believe it as a bit of both. I remember the articles when Ralph arrived from Bertrand saying it was nice to have a clear direction at last. The clear implication being that there wasn't one when Hughes et al were here. However, it is possible to dismiss it just as a player trying to get in the good books of a new Manager, so should be taken with a pinch of salt. But, I also recall that Ralph didn't seem to totally believe in Bertrand when at the beginning of 2019-20 (following an absence through injury), Djenepo was preferred to Bertrand against Sheffield United and then the following game Danso was chosen again instead of Bertrand ..... These were very odd selections and I think it is fair to say that neither was a success. However, since then, Bertrand when fit seems to have been Ralph's first choice, so maybe he changed his mind (probably Danso's performance helped that .......)

I recognise that Bertrand hasn't got forward as often recently, and I also thought Jack had a good game against Leicester but it was a "backs against the wall" performance from the whole team. It just isn't true to say that he made more and more threatening runs forward than Bertie has been doing. Jack has had two good performances at Left Back against Leicester and Newcastle home, but other matches at full back have been less successful (e.g. Right Back v Newcastle away). He is just about good enough to cover full back (particularly when out of possession), but let's get some proper full back cover going forward. This season has highlighted putting square pegs in round holes doesn't work in the long term.

I'm in the give Ralph a few months of the next season camp, but understand why some people want him out immediately. I thought that your assessment explaining your rationale and balanced viewpoint was a really good posting. While I don't fully agree with your conclusions it is good to see that it is possible to have alternative views on here without resorting to name calling; thanks for expressing your position so clearly. As you say, it will be interesting to see if we learn something from the last season rather than dismissing it as a one-off.

This is just nonsense. Leicester City don't have the reputation or prestige of the Chelsea and Liverpool's of this world but they are a damned fine football team. Yes we need to put in a good performance, but statements such as "the jig's up" are disrespectful to Leicester; even if we were 11th and in satisfactory form, I would still anticipate a loss to a 3rd place team. I'm hopeful that we can get some sort of result, but a single game isn't going to determine the Manager's fate. It will be the next 6, the previous 15 and the first half of the season that all need to be considered. The team are drained of confidence, but I still feel with a little it of luck we can get something out of this. Let's get behind the team - they need it at the moment !

Many thanks for a very interesting analysis. A couple of people have mentioned the infamous run in 1988-89 under Chris Nicholl when we had to wait for a last minute Neil Ruddock penalty to get our next win. It was pre-Premier league so before your assessment, however it lasted 17 games, no wins and gained 8 points. Very similar to our current run from a points perspective. Interestingly the following season under Chris Nicholl we finished 7th and then the following season 14th. We then sacked Nicholl and replaced him with Ian Branfoot ! I think that it does highlight that patience can pay dividends and Managers can sometimes recover from the depths of despair. One of my main concerns is that who could successfully replace Ralph with some of the structural issues (lack of investment, high salaries paid to the likes of Hoedt) we have. None of the names fills me full of confidence (although I think the Brentford manager would be interesting). I wonder what Ian Branfoot is doing these days, maybe he can take over again ?