WALK DMC

I agree with the comment about Gunn, but why the heck would be go back to 3 at the back ? For the last 5.5 away games its worked really well, even when Vestergaard was part of a back 4 at Palace (ignoring his awful first half error). Please keep some continuity in formation and players ..... I would also hope Valery is back and we can get JWP back in midfield instead of Romeo who was very quiet yesterday. I think that there is a strong chance that with the break coming up that Ings and Long will start too.

I agree, he is an experienced Premiership player and still has age on his side, we should try and keep him longer term. However, in business you sometimes have to make difficult decisions and take actions that you'd prefer not to. Lets suppose that Hojberg has already privately indicated that he isn't going to sign a new contract in 2021 and we lose to Spurs on Saturday; we may be faced with the fact that the rest of our season consists of having a low chance of getting into Europe, a low chance of getting relegated and a high chance of being in the middle of the table with the also rans. Hojberg's value will continue to decline as he gets nearer to contract end and it is possible to squeeze a bigger price by selling an asset in January. Saints could take the view that sell him now, we could get an extra £10m for Ralph's summer spending budget and maybe getting someone in on loan like Morgan until May who would provide some cover (not that he is as good as he was). I think that the same sort of thinking could be being applied to both Adams and Vestergaard as well - although obviously their contracts have longer to run. I'm not suggesting that we do this; merely that it is something that should be considered - making this type of business decision is horrible, and not one us keyboard warriers have to do this, or take the consequences when it goes wrong. But, if Hojberg isn't going to sign another contract, we will need to sell him either now, or in the summer - and the question is how much risk would we take if we did it now ? 3 league positions (15th instead of 12th ?), 6 league positions, (18th instead of 12th !! ) ?

I agree. I'd be happy to "scrape" 4 points over the next 2 games through any means possible. I think we have to build our confidence and form again at home. The first point is to get to h-t at the very worst drawing; every match this season we have been chasing the game in the 2nd half. Half-time scores in Premiership this season are (from memory) 0-1 (Liv), 0-1 (Man U), 0-2 (Bournemouth), 1-3 (Chelsea), 0-5 (Leicester), 0-1 (Everton). In some cases the game is over before we've even started. With the exception of Liverpool we've conceeded a goal (or more) in the very early part of each game. So getting to 15 minutes without conceeding, getting to h-t with a slight lead or drawing, and finally start a 2nd half without having to score at least 2 goals to win. Achieving 4 (or 6) points will help give us a foundation to push on over the rest of the season. It won't be easy, but I think that we start small (cut out early goals against) and we can kick on. In comparison to last year we have Djenpo, Boufal & Cedric available plus an in-form Ings, so we can match or exceed last year's performances under Ralph. We just need to get started ..........

We have two issues: 1) Short Term - The first ambition has to be staying up this season. I'm assuming that we can't get any quality renforcements in January, as we don't have loads of spare cash and it is notoriously difficult in that transfer window. Regardless, I think that while it is difficult, we can turn it around enough to get to 17th or above. But I wouldn't put a lot of money on it. 2) Longer term - so we survive, but what then ? I think we need two centre halfs plus a midfielder with some mobility/pace and leadership capabilities at a minimum to get further up the table. Will we be able to sell any of the usual suspects for decent cash ? e.g. Hoedt/Carrillo/Lemina/Forster etc. The answer is we've already tried and the answer is almost certainly No. We have three senior players whose contract expires in 2020 - Long, Yoshida & Cedric. While that will free up some of the wage bill, we'll probably need to replace Cedric with cash so the savings will be limited. In summary, even if Ralph works miracles and keeps us up we still have long term structural problems which will either take another 2-3 years to resolve and/or an injection of capital (which under current ownership is unlikely). This is more concerning than the fact that we don't currently have a single premiership quality centre-half (Unlike some here, I'm not a fan of Bednarek who is very slow and has very variable distribution). We're in big trouble for a few years. I think Ralph knows this, but what to do ........

Clearly he has to be given more time; we have so many players that have been written off (e.g. Redmond) but needed time to settle in and gain some confidence before we start making a negative conclusion about. My concern though remains the same; he scored 22 goals last year. 21 were with his right foot, just a single tap in with his left. No headers. Unless he can improve these areas he will be a very limited player and easy for premiership defenders to mark. For the Burnley game he missed a good chance in the first few minutes because he hit the ball with his right (instead of his left) and he missed another good chance against Liverpool because his header was inadequate. It is very difficult to lead the line if you can't head a ball or shoot adequately with your weaker foot. It will be interesting to see if Saints can develop these two apparent weaknesses - you can get away with these fundamental limitations in the Championship, not in the Premier. But he is young and learning ..... Let's give him the season to improve.

If we win, we'll go 4th, win 2-0 we'll go 3rd ..... Admittedly, it would only be for a few hours before the other games complete and we'd still have to win, but it would be nice to see our name next to Liverpool and Man City just for a temporary period.

I agree, very few of the goals were the result of free flowing moves, but perhaps that is down to the style or abilities of Birmingham. I thought that he showed good pace, strength and a strong right foot shot. My other observation (based on a single video) is that of the 20 goals, only a single one was scored with his left foot (a tap in) and no headed goals at all. He isn't the tallest guy, so isn't necessarily going get many goals with his head, but good shorter strikers such as Keegan/Mane still score a fair number of goals with their head. I'd be more concerned with the absence of left foot goals, Premier league defenders will quickly suss out to keep him on his left. However, let Ralph get at him and coach him into some different techniques, and I'd want to see more of his general play to understand if he really is one footed, as we know a single Youtube video can be very, very misleading .... Overall I am on the optimistic side if we can get this signing off the ground.

In the 36 premier league games that Saints have played this season, we have won 9. Vestergaard has played 23 matches. When he hasn't played (13 games) we have only won once (Brighton away). While his limitations are clear (lack of pace, turning speed), we really miss his physical presence and height when he isn't there; all our other centre halves are not the most physically strong individuals (Yosh & Bed are almost slender ....) and certainly towards the end of games when opponents have a tendency go more direct, we miss his ability to head clear and block shots. Due to his limitations he probably isn't suited to a back 4, but if we are to bring in a new centre half we need to make sure that they are physically strong and dominant as I don't believe any of our existing pairing will work either.

If this is the match you mean, it was 1971. One of my favourite games from my youth.

I've always believed that if you're going play Charlie, pick him at home where we typically get more possession, create more chances and he doesn't have to wear himself out chasing lost causes . I'd love to see his career stats, I'm pretty sure that they would back this up. If you're away (or maybe at home to the Top 6), play Long because although he is unlikely to score he gives you a get out ball and stretches the other team. I've noticed that Hughes seems to have had a tendancy to do the opposite .....

He also made the Brighton goal in the EFL, so two assists this season.

I am no fan of Hoedt and Stephens, but due to the rush to find them culpable for everything the question of why Walcott was allowed time and space behind the defence to make his cross. It is very difficult as a Centre half to anticipate every possible scenario when a player can pick his cross. Bertrand closed down the player on the ball to stop them crossing it, who slipped it past him and into Walcott. Lemina was the closest and should have anticipated what was happening and supported Bertrand. It was schoolboy defending and if it wasn't for the desire to blame our center defence for everything it should have been highlighted as the main contributory factor to the 2nd goal. Once a winger is behind the defense, even the best defenders in the world struggle against a cross. Regardless, I hope we see Vestergard and Yoshi back for Leicester.

No, Redmond was on the left. JWP was on the right. Tadic played in the middle behind Carrillo. Although, I agree that Tadic's best position is on the left and we should play him there more often (not on the right, or centre).

Well, since the start of 2018, Saints goals have only been scored by people who did not register a single goal in the first part of the season (Aug-Dec). Long, JWP, Stephens and Sanchez (og). Based on that I predict our goal scorers will be Cedric, Hoedt and Hojberg ...

I'm pleased that Long gets some credit. I get fed up hearing how awful Long is and how could he possibly be chosen over Gabby. Yes, he doesn't score enough, but he adds pace and a whole hearted attitude which is lacking elsewhere in our team. And as the OP says, he provides a speedy outlet and threat to relieve our team. The reason Obafemi was brought on last week against Spurs was they had realised that they could squeeze our team by pushing up as they had no fear of a ball over the top, so our MP put on the only true pacey player available to him. We missed Long and this is why he is so very important to the team. Sometimes his other contributions, such as the assists against Watford away only seemed to receive a cursory acknowledgement. Both goals demonstrated some real quality. I personally feel that he is more effective away from home with more space to run into, but he still contributes at home too. I already see proposed teams for the Brighton game in other threads and his name isn't nominated. He'd certainly be my preference on Wednesday.

I don't know much about rocket surgery, but I'm interested to know who would have been the 3 if you move Stephens to RB/RWB ? There were no other center halves on the bench. While I don't necessarily agree with the Boufal substitution, I can understand the logic that the manager wanted some additional height for the inevitable direct bombardment towards the end of the match. It also allowed us to play two up front shortly after. I quite like the idea of Long and Carrillo up front as one is strong in the air and finisher, the other has pace and movement. But it was a strange moment, although talking to my son who went to the game, he didn't think it was as stupid as Dave Merrington did. Hull City in the next round please. I'd like to welcome back Nigel.

Even though Hoedt is tall, I'm not convinced that he is great in the air either. I think he has potential but needs a dominant strong partner who can head the ball. All in all, we have three centre halfs and none of them are good headers of the ball. We have a very unbalanced team throughout.

I agree, although I think that part of the problem is that while each of our centre halves have some good strengths (i.e. skill on the ball, decent pace), they are too similar and none of them have the physicality or ability in the air to play against direct bombardment. It's probably why we were better playing Man U (without Lukaku) than Watford as their styles were so different. Silva clearly noticed this yesterday and towards the end replaced his pacey forward with another big bulky substitute to supplement Deeney. While I'd like to sign an outstanding prospect for £20m, our focus is to stay up and decent bargains are difficult to find particularly in January, so a cheaper, more mature, physically commanding centre half on loan would work as a short term solution, until we can regroup in the summer and plan a longer term recruitment strategy. I'm not a fan of Wes Morgan, but if somebody like him played yesterday in the 2nd half, I believe that we'd have comfortably secured 3 points. I just hope that start to get linked with a few centre halves soon ...

Isn't it three players ? Boufal - WBA Yoshida - Stoke Romeo - Man City Regards

This is interesting although there is one line sounds a concerning. It sounds a little too familiar ...... 'Scoring goals was what Alaves found most difficult last season, netting just 41 times. Only three teams in La Liga scored fewer and two of those sides – Granada and Osasuna - were relegated. ' Personally I can't see too much in his CV which would make Saints want to procure his talents, so wouldn't be too disappointed if this didn't come off. Of course, that still leaves the question, who can take us to the next level ?

I agree, although with such an intelligent player as Gabbiadini, such a style could be effective again. I still believe Jay Rod running from deeper positions was a strength that we miss as Puel always plays him as the main target.

Jay Rod was most successful for Saints when he played on the left left side of the three in a 4-2-3-1 formation. That was the position that he also played in his one appearance for England. Since returning from injury he hasn't played there, but it would be good to see him tried in that role before the end of the season. I felt that it suits his attributes and running with the ball froma deeper position was one of his strengths. I appreciate that he may no longer have the fitness levels to play there, but before we give up on him completely and flog him in the summer, it would be nice to try him in the role where he had so much success. Now that Saints play 4-2-3-1 he could be utilized there again. Unlikely to happen, but would be bad news if a new club succeeded by playing him in his best position because we didn't try it.

One thing that was noticeable on Wednesday was Redmond sudden desire to use his left foot more (not just the goal), but his crossing throughout (an excellent one just before the hand-ball incident) and numerous times in the 2nd half including for one of the goals. I appreciate that he scored with his left foot v Watford in the first game of the season, but until recently he tried to avoid that foot unless necessity demanded it. Now it almost seems more instinctive and he will become much less predictable to defenders because of it. Whether it is down to the Saints' training staff or just increased confidence with the England I don't know, but it is encouraging to see ....

He seems to have a good pedigree, but appears to be very injury prone, so we may not get too many games out of him. Could work as a short term solution, or could just be somebody to keep Austin, Van Dyke company in the Injury room ......

As I suggested in my earlier post, a new striker would help, but ...... there have been many many matches this year (e.g WBA, Everton, Stoke) where it was also the paucity of clear cut chances that contributed to our inability to score. I just have a horrible feeling that a new striker (who won't be top top class) in Jan will just be rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic there are other fundemental issues to address.