SaltashSaint

****e formation again.

The full backs need to push forward more. We are getting walked on in the centre of the park.

Any manager with an ounce of football intelligence should recognise this. Let's hope we stick with it on Wednesday night.

This was always going to happen with the formation we are playing. Five at the back works if you have full backs who can bomb up and down at will, providing support in both midfield and attack. However, you also need a striker who can hold the ball up, and an attacking midfielder or two to make up a minimum of five attacking players. That allows the three defenders and two holding midfielders to defend. What we end up with is eight players at the back, all getting in each other's way, trying to defend zonally, without a clue of who to mark. Too many cooks and all that.

We are knocking the ball about well enough, but there is no end product as there is no-one to aim for. The worry is that as soon as we lose possession, we look like we are going to concede. We will do well to keep it below five I think.

I just hope that, going forward, we ditch five at the back and play a recognised striker. This is abysmal.

This, 100%.

Absolutely embarrassing. Stephens awful and Ralph deserves criticism for selecting him.

Wrong team, wrong formation, inevitable result.

In our current predicament, there is no such thing as a 'free hit'. We need to pick up points wherever and whenever we can. Simple as!

I so hope I am wrong, but I am predicting a comfortable 3-0 defeat. With Redmond up front, we have no-one to run with the ball and no-one to take anybody on. And five at the back against one striker? Let's hope Valery and Targett bomb forward and prove this system is effective.

You're probably right unfortunately, but playing five in there will give us a better chance. Five at the back leaves us so exposed in the centre of the park and I fear a hammering if we do. But here's hoping for a miracle!

We need to win the midfield or we will get swamped. I am hoping for this: McCarthy Valery Bednarek Vestergaard Bertrand Hojbjerg Romeu Ward-Prowse Armstrong Redmond Long

Today was diabolical. Playing five at the back at home to Cardiff was a joke from the start. If you’re going to use the formation to push the full backs up, press high and attack, that’s great. But for long periods of the game, we had six or seven players in defensive positions when Cardiff were camped back well within their own half. Two points from our last three games is extremely poor and looking at the games coming up, we could be in deep trouble. There’s clearly a lack of options for Ralph, but this team is crying out for pace and has been for the past two seasons

We have no creativity, no pace and no-one prepared to take a shot. January was a disaster for us and it will come back and bite us on the a**e!

Looks like the Cedric deal will be completed tomorrow with Inter paying £14 million (16 million Euros). I can't tell if that is a transfer straightaway or a loan with a commitment to buy him in the summer.

What a fantastic team performance and a well deserved win. For the first time in a very long time, I am enjoying being a Saints fan! Massive credit has to go to Ralph, but the players deserve a pat on the back for the way they have taken onboard his tactics and implemented them. Happy days!

Ramsey, Johnson, Slattery and Gallagher all did okay, but they are way off being Premier League quality. The first three would all benefit from loans in the Championship / League One. Gallagher would benefit from a permanent move away from the club.

Absolutely brilliant performance from everyone, but Romeu was outstanding. Well done to both Long and Targett too, who will hopefully get the credit they deserve for their displays. In Ralph we trust!

We must be watching a different game. Mo was nowhere near the ball and Lemina was not picking up either. Regardless, it was also ****e defending in the box too.

Yes he was. Silva and Mahrez. There was no cover for the full backs in midweek and there wasn’t there either.

Targett, yet again, left to cope with two players. Happened all night long against West Ham too.

This all the way. Bertie and Redmond work well together, and they provide some great width. I am hoping for McCarthy Cedric Stephens Bednarek Bertrand Romeu PEH Armstrong Lemina Redmond Long (Gabbi if Long injured) And please Ralph, push the team up the pitch, allow them to press, and encourage the likes of Armstrong, Lemina and Redmond to push forward at every opportunity. It would be great to take the game to the opposition for a change!

Don't underestimate the impact the wind is having on this game. With it behind us in the second half, I am quietly confident about coming away with a win. A few shots at goal may help though!

I am hoping for McCarthy Valery Stephens Vestergaard Targett Romeu Hojbjerg Lemina Armstrong Gabbiadini Redmond