S-Clarke

That's pretty much a nail in the coffin for Fulham that one. Newcastle can't believe their luck! So, what's that - 10 points clear, 2 games in hand. Let's start offering contracts now. Safe as houses, as we always were.

Yeah, exactly. It's all getting a little bit ridiculous now. That's not clear and obvious to me, just let it stand.

Fulham got lucky there. Another armpit offside moment.

It's a fair point. Hopefully we're building some momentum again, so he can start to be part of a positive team in our remaining games. I still think he struggles to assert himself though, both on and off the ball.

Yeah, I don't think he's shown enough to warrant a big transfer fee. I can see him heading off to a foreign league where he can really show his talents.

We're not opening everything back up though are we? There will still be significant restrictions on elements of 'normal life' come June, you can bet your house on it. My job for example - we've been told we cannot go back to an office until November at the earliest. At a significant cost to the tax payer, 200k upwards, it's being revamped in order to abide to 'social distancing'. And every other site in my industry is the same. An obscene spending of public money on something that shouldn't really be needed, but it seems like we're being slowly lulled into a lifetime of social distancing. Beyond that, what happens? If the vaccines are indeed our 'way out' then we should be able to fill St Mary's in August. I'm not holding my breath though.

Arsenal fans loving him on their forums. He is proper average. Always was, and I was never upset to see him go. We've got a much better player now

But at what point does the vaccine actually provide the protection we were told it was going to provide? If we still hide away once everyone is vaccinated and we have herd immunity in play, then why? The risk is so low at that stage. If we're worried about the stages other countries are at then we will never, ever get out of this cycle. Wearing a mask in isolation isn't the problem, it's when we're not allowed to mix with people, or go to stadiums as we used to do. If we want everything in the world to be 100% before we open that level back up again, then we probably should accept that we will never, ever be able to open up to that level again - and that's pretty sad.

I think he's been an absolutely awesome servant for us...but if the opportunity arose to refresh that position, then I'd be keen to explore it. He's not getting any younger, he will likely want a big wage - and someone like Rico Henry at 23 offers much better value I'd have said. If Bertrand wants to hang around and play rotation with Rico or similar, then great....but I think it's getting to the stage where the club are looking at the future beyond Bertrand.

But it's not going to go away, that's the reality. Vaccinations and herd immunity will make it very manageable, but it's not going to go away. It will always be a risk - so do we continue to shut ourselves away in case of this? Should we stop driving in case we have a car accident? Should I stay in, in case a car runs me over? Should I avoid going to the doctors/or hospital in the winter in case I catch the Flu and get very ill from it? Life is full of risks, it's always been full of risks, but as a world we learn to live with those risks and you have to weigh up each side. We either hide ourselves behind masks and 2m away from everyone for years, or we accept there will always be a risk and we just live with it? I fully expect the mask wearing, 2m distancing, queues outside shops, no drinking at bars, x amount in stadiums to continue long after June - and that's what myself and others just don't get.

This is the million dollar question. All we've been fed for the last year is how the over's are venerable, anyone younger it is a very mild disease. This has been born out in the stats, and that is actually the words Chris Whitty uttered. There will be some younger people who have been badly effected, that will happen sadly - but statically it's quite rare. But it's just backtrack city. It was the same last year, we had Boris say in the summer last year how he expected us to be back to normal by November and remove the final forms of social distancing. But along came variant number 2 and we've been in lockdown pretty much since October/November time. Granted we didn't have a vaccine at that point...but the government do have form for significant backtracking because the SAGE fellas have scared them into it. Going by some science I've read, the way the vaccines are 'coded' means that it's very unlikely that they'll be resistant to any form of variant - maybe slightly less effective in some circumstances, but according to the science these vaccines should provide a form of protection for all variants. It's wholly possible we may have to get regular 'boosters' to pump up it's 100% effectiveness, but I don't believe we should remain in lockdown or social distasting whilst we wait for a booster. I just have a hunch that's the line we'll hear come the winter.

I listened and I must admit I came away feeling quite confident. He sounded quite bullish and obviously he must have reason to feel bullish. This is one of the quotes: "I am sure not only this player will sign (Theo), but we will have next season a very, very balanced and mentally strong side, for sure."

I'm with you, I don't have any questions in terms of how serious it can be and I'm not one of those who thinks the entire thing was made up on day 1. But to me, this feels like it's being prolonged now, and like you...the stats aren't adding up to me? There's still a lot of fear mongering out there, mainly put out by the SAGE guys if you read it. We were told that vaccines are the way out of this....but now we're starting to hear, as per last year ''testing is the way out of this'' - what is it? If we've all been jabbed, why is testing the key again? Surely there has to come a point when we all get back to normal? If the scientists have their way then It feels like this is going to be an endless cycle of the same for years upon years upon years. Opening up, closing down, opening up, closing down. ''Infections are rising, mutation number x - we all need a new jab, new lockdown required''. Rinse/repeat etc.

If i'm honest, I didn't expect anything else. Getting a new sponsor in this climate would have been challenging, I doubt anyone else would have offered that value. Sponsorship is sponsorship, no idea why it's a disgrace. If it allows us to keep a player or to sign an additional player that will improve our chances next season on the field, then what's the problem?

I think he's decent, you're not going to get much better for £10m. He definitely needs better players around him though, he couldn't burden the load all on his own shoulders. But he's very effective in the right partnership/with the right players around him.

Sounds like we must never criticise Southampton players or call them shit. But, we can call the opposition shit. So, if we lose at the weekend, who is actually shit?

Standard Lemina really, in and out of the side, 1 or 2 games where he stands out a little, but mixed in with a load of avergeness and 'missing in action' performances. I think we could poss get 7-8m fee wise from someone as a going rate. The Fulham agreed fee is 4-5m I think. But yeah, your question is valid - who else could be interested? If he does come back, it may well be yet another loan I guess.

We may still have Lemina to shift as well.....again! Might be able to get a couple of million extra if we are able to sell to someone else.

Elyonoussi is an interesting one as I feel like the club are going to give him a shot. I don't think he's suited to this league though. If he's happy being on the bench he'd certainly add some of that missing depth, but how impactful he can be is questionable.

The injuries Liverpool have had are a convenient issue for them to hide behind. The reality is that they have been regressing since the start of 2020 - in all area's, not just the back 4. I don't think many expected Thiago to downgrade their midfield and game plan as much as he has either, totally the wrong player for them. Real Madrid didn't have their first choice defence last night, but Liverpool didn't really do anything against them. Looks to be a year without the 'famous European nights' at Anfield next year.

Seems to have been the case for the last few windows. Seems a bit daft that Utd want to keep him around, but don't play him. I think he's looked like an accomplished player when he plays, needs game time at his age. I imagine this summer he'll make that clear to the club.

You can't ignore that he's been an absolute liability in recent games though. It was embarrassing how he was failing to deal with Wood at the weekend, and he was absolutely pulled apart against Man Utd. His average stats for interceptions are up there with some of the better players in this league, but his recent games in isolation have been really poor. I like Jan, i think he's been a decent CB for us - but he makes me really nervous atm.

Sadly I don't think he's going to be playing at this level for us. I can see him heading out to a L1 club to rebuild his career and climb back up the leagues. There was a potential PL player there at one stage, feels a lifetime ago now though.

If the wages are decent, then I have no real qualms about it. Don't expect tons of goals, but his movement does open space and create opportunities for others. Automatically our attack flowed and functioned better with him as part of it. Players like Ings and Redmond are better when he's around them, in my opinion. He has always lacked a football brain, but he does have good technical ability on the ball - let's not forget he has played at a very, very high level during his career - a very, very good PL /champions league level player at one stage. It feels like a decent fit for him to end his career here to be honest. I don't think there's any doubt in this one, it feels guaranteed to happen and will probably be announced before the end of the season.

Big fan of Diallo, a really good example of how our scouting has improved in my opinion.