S-Clarke

Isn't it a bit worrying though that we look reliant on an 18-year-old kid? It does show how poor our options are and why letting Romeu go was an own-goal.

Oh christ, please don't compare me to Dalek 😀 I haven't said we should aim for 17th yet....😉

Thierry Small is back, what did I miss? If he struggles to get game time at Port Vale then he has a problem.

He isn't a terrible player, but the most unsuited CM you could find for the PL.

Standby for ......''January is a difficult time to do business''

We really shouldn't have signed a kid for this position. He might be talented and have potential, but get him for your bench and sign an match-ready one for the number 1 jersey It's not all on Bazunu, but he does worry me and can look like a bit of a rabbit in headlights (which is to be expected, as he's a kid)

We carry no threat at all, it's really depressing to try and see us attack with that bunch of misfits. You can tell we're weaker in that area because we're starting with Adam Armstrong, he shouldn't be anywhere near a competitive PL team. It's no wonder we are toothless. Midfield also an enormous issue, the gaps and the lightweightness in that area is nothing short of dire. We basically undone a really good transfer window in the last 2 days of it. Only we could have done that.

The finances in football have been going out of control for many years, the nonsense of FFP has just gone to serve the clubs who were at the top of the table when it came in. When you are owned by states, such as Man City, PSG, Newcastle, money doesn't matter. They just print more money back home when they want some extra fun. This is the first season where it looks like Man City are creating a bit of a mini league. They may have a dip, but to be honest no one seems to be able to touch them. But saying that, they haven't played us yet. That'll be their biggest test.

Sounds like nonsense to me, feels like they're trying to create a happy-rainbow-unicorn type atmosphere. If what happened on Saturday constitutes disturbance then these guys haven't been in football for long. Really worrying. Season ticket fans once again stitched up, like they were when they decided to install pointless padded seats in the Kingsland. If we're not careful they're going to make this a corporate only event and remove the opportunity for 'every day' folk to actually enjoy a game. Remember, no shouting, no swearing, no chants. Just clapping please.

'I'm not sure how this can be argued'. He got us promoted to the PL. That's the end of the discussion. You talk about the calibre of players we had but have a look at the WHU squad that season and Leicester - full of quality, lots of money spent. Did either of those teams finish Top 2? No, they didn't. We had a good core of players, Fonte, Lambert, Morgan, Cork, Lallana, but it's up to the management and the coaching staff to assemble a team from that, which he did. Adkins created the most enjoyable time I've ever had as a Southampton fan and I will never think of him as anything else than a huge success in everything he did.

I notice Watford lost tonight, surely Bilic is on the brink now? I give him 3 more games.

Don't be so stupid. Was your expectation at the start of the Championship season to finish 1st, miles ahead of everyone else? This league had West Ham in it and Leicester City with Sven by the way. I certainly didn't expect us to win automatic promotion at the start of the season. I'd hazard a guess that no, your expectation wouldn't have been to 'walk the league'. So on that basis Adkins actually overachieved in that season. The 'financial' backing stuff is a little bit fluffy as well, in that Championship season we signed Cork for 700k, Jos for 500k and De Ridder for a nominal fee. West Ham and Leicester blew us out of the water twice. You and lard have an incredibly odd fixation to prove that Adkins failed with us, seemingly due to a strong desire to need to be seen right in that he was the 'wrong choice' when we appointed him in league 1. Breaking news...he wasn't the wrong choice, so suck it up and accept that you were wrong.

Well exactly, that's why we can't play in that market if we're serious about doing anything of note.

If our scouts couldn't find better than Che Adams and Adam Armstrong, after months of scouting reports, then that's a little worrying.

Arguably we have the players to do it at the back, it's the midfield and attack I'm not sure about. ABK - DCC - Salisu KWP Perraud

It was upgraded until we sold Romeu, but now we're probably on par there as we have the same situation when Lavia is out as we had when Romeu was out (too lightweight) It is strange how we always do this. In some windows we leave CB short (when we didn't replace Fonte), or when we loan out all our full backs so we only had KWP. This season we have undoubtedly left our striking positions significantly weaker than last season, thinking we can ''make do'' with Che Adams, a kid and Adam Armstrong. That is probably the last position you can afford to play that game with, so we've dropped an almighty bollock imo.

Think we first play them in the new year. I always thought Forests approach was daft, should have focused on keeping who they had rather than buying all new. They'll go the way of Fulham without doubt.

It does feel as if the end is here now, it's just a matter of time and some paperwork to sort out I imagine. I will openly say I've supported Ralph during the years here and I've backed the style, as I think it's a modern and progressive way of playing (gegenpressing/energy/pace etc) and he's had to do it with a bit of a rag-tag squad in the main. During that period we haven't been in any 'deep' relegation battles either - so I think looking at it like that, he's done ‘ok’ in previous years. But things have changed now, quite dramatically. We no longer have that modern style, or any style in fact. Gone is the counter press, gone is the pace, gone is the energy - we're just flat, there’s nothing about us at all. I don't know if that's by instruction or if the players are just warn out by it all and need a change, but the last 12 months have been turgid. I had hoped this summer would have provided him with the players to adopt that style again - Lavia/Mara/Edozie/ABK/ etc - young, quick, energetic players. But sadly, we have regressed even further, there now seems to be a genuine plan to just hoof it long and hope for the best (as borne out by the stats) and that is usually what happens when you have no idea how to play. So, I feel a change is inevitable. It's a shame it hasn't worked out, I do feel Ralph was the right man at the wrong time originally. If he was backed from day 1, I think we'd have had a different outcome, but in the main he's had to work under difficult conditions here and I think that's made him alter his philosophy as manager, as he's light years away from the guy who managed RB and us at the start. At the end of the day whilst you can’t ignore our ‘2020’ form, you also can’t ignore our 2022 form. It feels as if the players have lost a little bit of belief or understanding in what we are trying to do.

I agree that he needs to do it over a period of time, but as long as he stays fit (Which has been a small concern over him) then he will become the best, as he's a freak. He'd improve any team he plays in, his power and strength alone are too much for teams to deal with. It does help having players like De Bryune who can pick him out without looking, but he's also the sort of player who has the attributes to make lot himself. To be on 17 goals by the start of October is just ridiculous. There's no longer a golden boot race, or a title race for that matter.

Romeu was declining for sure, but he was still an able player if required and added steal to the middle of the park. Whilst we saw Lavia as the 'modern' replacement, it really should have been a case of playing him with Romeu for a year and not selling ourselves short. I can somewhat understand the personal side of it in terms of the club not wanting to stand in the way of his return home, but sometimes I think we need to be a bit more selfish and think about our own needs rather than everyone else's. Nice guys always finish last and all that.

These games are always weird, everyone expects a total thrashing, embarrassment, record scores etc etc. We played City twice after being pummelled by Leicester, and even though we lost the league game, it was a somewhat respectable 3-1. It won't be record scores, but we'll lose. I was hoping we'd be close to a positive GD for the first time in many years this season, so a low-scoring defeat should be the target.

This is a transfer which looks more baffling by the day. Most agreed last season that we had no one who could come in and replace Romeu if he drops his level or he's injured etc. So we got in Lavia as a young player to develop underneath him. But to then sell Romeu we've put ourselves in exactly the same problem position as last season, with just one true 'destructive' CM in the team. Which has been made even worse because he's now injured, which will happen to young players as they get used to playing football regular. Absolutley insane risk to take to be honest. We had a really good start to the window, but the final few weeks of it were a little shambolic to say the least and it's undone all the good work really.

This in a nutshell really. Our best periods in the last 3 years have coincided with Broja or Ings hitting form, our good form has never coincided with Adams or Armstrong going on runs as they're incapable of doing so. It's frustrating to be honest, it feels like the failure to bring in that game changing attacker is going to undermine and render all the other improvements pointless.

Agreed, I think he's all but gone (maybe not January, but in the summer). Ditto KWP - some sell on there and he will have takers. The club will see it as we already have the replacements in the building in Tino and DCC, so we don't need to spend fortunes replacing them.

Another year - contracted until 2024.