S-Clarke

As following us is about as fun as watching paint dry at the moment, what's everyone's thoughts on tonight's games? A couple of huge ones which could all but relegate Leeds if they go the wrong way. Everton could save themselves with a win at home against Palace too. I reckon that Everton will blow it tonight and Palace will hit them on the break, just a hunch. (and maybe a lot of hope too). I didn't realise Leicester played tonight, so at least when they play us they'll be absolutely knackered and we'll get the benefit. (yeah, of course it never works like that for us)

My bad, good point!

It depends if he's really unhappy, it may be a player decision as opposed to a club decision. Who knows. From what I've seen of him, which granted is limited, he doesn't seem to have a great deal to his game. Would I like to see more? Yep, for sure. Is he going to be the fix for us and the superstar goal scorer we need? Absolutley not, he's just another average player to join the list of average players we have. We still need better than Adam Armstrong if we want to move away from the swamp of this league. I agree on JWP, I don't think he'll go anywhere. The main reason is because there are probably no takers for the fee we'd want. There are players like Rice and Kalvin Phillips on the market this summer who clubs will probably see as priorities ahead of JWP, younger, more sense in a big investment etc. So I'm not too worried about that. How we are able to buy players if that's the case is the question though. It's obviously daft to criticise the new ownership for a lack of ambition and investment in the team when they haven't had a window, so I will wait and see their intentions. We have supposedly scoured the 'market' for investment for many years, turning down several people with 'bigger' pockets because we wouldn't have liked it, so if this new 'investment' doesn't actually provide investment then I think we'll all wonder what on earth the point of it all is.

Great effort by Rangers, to even be there is incredible really. Probably the first and last European final most of their fans will ever see, so a great experience. Just a bit gutting. Of all the players to miss it though, the player brought in as the coup. He has been absolutely terrible for them. Davis top, top player, top guy. We miss him more than any of our 'defectors'. What I'd give for someone like him in midfield right now, even at 37 he'd walk in to any of the 10 positions.

That's how I feel, especially with the low mood at Leicester. I just hope if we do turn up it doesn't fool the club into thinking everything is right. I don't think it will as I don't think they're that short-sighted or reactive, but we'll see.

Let's be honest, it's no surprise. The guy is an absolute cunt. Stealing a living as a footballer as well. I don't think there are many worse out there, certainly should be in non-league.

This is why I fear we will give long a contract so we don't have to buy 'too many' new ones.

I think McCarthy is one of the worst ball playing goal keepers I've ever seen, but our persistence with him just sums up all that's wrong with this club and the constant persistence with average in the hope it'll turn good. Redmond, Moussa, Ely, Bednarek all fall into that category too. He may have 'worked' on his feet a lot more but it hasn't helped, he needs to focus on getting it gone as soon as possible. But sadly that doesn't work with the way we set up, that bypasses the portions of our team where we set up the play (full backs) so it just keeps coming back as we have no real focal up top. A good goal keeper who is comfortable with the ball at his feet would change a lot if we are insistent on playing this way, it wouldn't fix everything, but I think we'd all notice an immediate difference. I even noticed a difference with Willy and he's a 40 year old bloke, his distribution is better than either Fraser or McCarthy.

You do wonder if part of the 'scared' attitude is just phycological damage from those historical record defeats. Players as well wouldn't be human had they not been scared by that, and for it to happen twice to a lot of them is enough to sink that feeling in even more. Yesterday, without doubt, was a damage limitation tactic. He was expecting us to lose, but wanted to ensure the score was respectable and obviously he succeeded if that was the plan, but it's sad that we were so scared that we'd be picked apart again - but it's probably no surprise. For me that team and the way we set up struck me as a bunch of players that the manager doesn't really trust anymore, so he has to protect them as much as he can. And likewise that doubt will creep in from the other side as well if the players feel a lack of trust from their manager.

So let me get this right. You're very pleased 'Redmond' may be staying and don't wish to put any blame on McCarthy. Yet at the same time you wouldn't mind if we sold one of our two actual PL players, captain and player of the season because he 'stops our attacks'' and slows us down. This is the sort of attitude that has spiraled us down to mediocrity. Happy to let the best players go by downplaying their importance, yet sticking up for and continuously trying to support the crap that is hanging around. Moussa, Armstrong, Redmond, Bednarek, McCarthy, Elyounoussi, Valery etc are the problems - not JWP. You build the team around JWP and get rid of the shit dragging his game down.

I can see us keeping Elyounoussi, but Redmond will be free to go I think. But you're right, they should only be squad players at best but they have to start because we're so shit. Getting two new starters in that area in the summer is as big a priority as CB and GK in my opinion.

I think with Palace they 'had to', they had so many players out of contract (most of their defense to start with), so they couldn't just sit back and not spend. They were forced to. I don't know where they got that money from, as they're not particularly flush, but it was probably sustainably done over a few windows rather than all at once. I don't see them spending much this summer because of that, their transfers last year were to build a new team and move towards a new future. They'll continue to grow with those players over the coming years.

McCarthy Valery Lyanco Salisu KWP Romeu JWP Armstrong Redmond Broja Adams That's probably as best as we can put out. I think both ourselves and Leicester have been equally frustrating at times this season, they've underachieved massively though whereas we are more on-par with what we expect. They've got a few players who can make a difference, but those same players want out (Notably Tiliemans). It's the sort of game I can see us getting a win in, as the atmosphere isn't great at the King Power at the mo. But equally we could get trounced 3-0 as per West Ham away at the end of last season.

Yeah I read that in the echo, it's daft. I don't understand. They can't even throw it long, even trying Lyanco on it now. I think it's a Dave Watson masterpiece, he's the set piece guy. Another who has been stealing a living at this club for too long. What seems to happen more often than not is that we get broken on because our CB's are in the wide area's after having taken a throw in. We seem to be looking for these tiny little gains and special ways to surprise teams, probably an admission that it's the only we can compete. It's all very depressing really.

Apart from the end of last season, it was just as bad. I think Ralph runs them into the ground, so by the end of Feb they're done and you've got to hope you already have enough points in the bag by then. (Luckily we always seem to have enough in the bag) Every end of season has been like this, it goes on for months. I said to my brother after we'd lost at home to Watford ''this is the start of many defeats on the bounce''. I didn't want to be right, but sadly it's just very predictable. I'd say the Norwich home game, even though we won, was a sign that we were starting to flag. Since that game we have only picked up 5 points. I think the lock down games back that point up, just before lock down - end of feb/start of march, we began to flag again. Lost to Newcastle in the final home game, and then had an enforced break. Obviously that break allowed everyone to recharge and have a massive period of reset, then we came back able to play that high pressing tactic again. How do you fix that is the question. There are two ways really, you either ignore the good that comes with playing the way Ralph plays and go for someone more conservative who will ultimately lead us to where we are now, just in a different way. Or we significantly back Ralph to bring in the first team quality he needs so we don't have to run a select group of players to the ground every year, as we just don't have enough quality to rotate them with. More depth, yes, but not quality. It comes down to what the club want to do. They either back Ralph's approach and back him to build a squad capable of sustaining it, or they admit they cannot back this approach and let him go and get a more conservative appointment in place.

These pitch invasions are all a bit daft really, they've not achieved anything yet. I can appreciate a pitch invasion if you win promotion, but a pitch invasion for finishing 6th or winning a Semi Final is just noddy level and idiot's like this will probably stem the end for them for all situations.

He really is bad isn't he, certainly ok for backup and occasional games but as a starter he'll cost teams too many points and you'll always struggle with him as number one. I hope the club realise that and don't peddle us the bollocks that he's the number 1, and we'll buy a new younger number 2 to develop etc. That would just about finish me off and confirm that the club don't really have a handle on reality, and are still trying to string out average as long as they can in the hope they become less average so they can proclaim the 'Southampton way' and 'Development' club nonsense.

24 points from that lot was incredibly ambitious. Don't get me wrong, I expected more than 5 but 24 is just a bit ott. That would have put us ahead of 'the rest' and very comfortable in 6th place. We don't have the players to be anywhere near that no matter who is in charge. I think people are guilty for overrating our players to be honest. As per most players, they're capable of purple patches but it's the consistency which makes them 'decent' players, of which they have none.

Diallo was a strange alternative really, because Sangare is the 'powerful' dominant CM you'd have thought we were after. Diallo is like the total opposite of that. And you could probably say we didn't need someone like him at that point, because we already had 'JWP' in the 'weak' midfielder role and Smallbone if we really wanted to blood youth.

It was never anything other than a PR stunt, something for the club to get the banners out for and 'welcome him home'. It's a shame it had to end like this but it was painfully obvious that the injury he had last season was the end for him. Part of the trust I had in the new club recruitment was dented when they offered him a deal. I'm not sure if he has another injury now or not, but he's clearly no longer at the required level either fitness or quality wise. I'm sure he's good to have around the lads though, even though we still lose every week.

Ah you're right, that headline £35m I've seen banded about is his release clause in his Sheffield contract. Either way though it does show you how values of players have shifted. Back in 2014 someone of Berges quality playing for Genk would have prob been around the 10m mark.

Absolutley no problem signing tino players, certainly a good idea for any club to look at those markets. The prob is when the club base their entire transfer strategy around that.

Villa tried to get Bentacur but once Spurs came in that was over, funnily enough though I'm sure I remember us being linked him him way back in the day. Dejan the winger is on loan, I think it was a £15m loan fee and then another £20m to make it perm at the end of the season. Again, out of our league really.

He has certainly gone backwards, that's probably down to a lack of playing time really and Ralph not helping the situation by trying to shoehorn him in at RB, or Right wing at times last season. He doesn't seem physical enough to compete in the middle, but as a squad player in the number 10ish sort of role he could provide something. Just as long as he has protection behind him, as when it's JWP and Diallo most teams in world football will dominate us. As you said, midfield is the engine room and it's been painfully shit since we let Morgan and Wanyama go, we've never really replaced either. (well, we've tried to be clever with the replacements)

The problem with Moussa, Elyonoussi etc is that we've got ourself into the same predicament that we did with Hoedt, Lemina, Boufal. We're never going to get our value back on them, but we seem hesitant to accept anything less than what we paid, right up until the point they have a year left and then we pay them off or something daft. But you're right, who is going to want any of those guys? I'd add Redmond to that list as well. They're on big wages, certainly more than you'd expect a promoted team to spend...and established teams aren't going to be looking at any of those. We'll end up paying them off again, I can see it. And obviously that eats into our budget.