Badger

A game that brought Jones name to Rupert Lowe's attention. We know what happened next.

Looks good in clips I've seen, but so did De Ridder.

Agreed.

What MOTD couldn't convey was that Saints were in total control until Bournemouth made it 1-1. Yet another occasion where we lose possession from an attacking position - in their penalty area - to be sliced open in midfield and defence. Stephens was approaching Hoedt levels on occasion yesterday. Apart from giving Bournemouth their opportunity to nick it, the most telling moment for me was in the first half where in their half he was outjumped for a simple header in their half which enabled Bournemouth to break. Not sure who their player was but looked a few inches shorter, and I din't think Stephens feet left the ground. You can't imagine some of our previous CB's being left flatfooted like that, Fonte, and before... John McGrath would spin in his grave at that. Armstrong showed why he's unreliable, needlessly lost possession. Not the first time this season. Ralph has done a tremendous job. Having sorted our league status out, as he says start planning for next season. I've no doubt he'll look to clear out the deadwood, and some of their cards will have been marked- when did Elynouussi last feature ?. I expect RH will have targeted the players he wants. Wish I could be confident that Ross Wilson and whoever can deliver on Ralph's plans.

Has it been a rumour somewhere ? An link though as it meets a lot of the suspected criteria, young, likely to improve, Ralph link etc. At the moment though we have a young CB with potential to improve (Bednarek), in my view what we desperately need is someone experienced and capable of organising the defence. Which isn't to say we shouldn't also look to bring in up and coming players, but with limited funds the organiser is probably the priority. Thanks for posting the link though. Makes interesting reading.

That's an interesting bit of sleuthing on your part. Where does this name come from, just from your internet search or anything more ? Obviously there is a Ralph - RB Leipzig connection, but who knows, his departure might be due to the fact he's a German Hoedt. Of German based CB's I suspect Orban will be amongst RH's wishlist, but questionable if we could prise him away.

Just had a look on the OS at ticket availability and it appears that only a few isolated singles are dotted around in the blocks I checked. It showed 35 (Kingsland) and 39 (Northam -Kingsland corner) as grey - "not available online". Anyone know what that is about ? A block booking for Chinese tourists perhaps ?

Yes, f^ck it, I was going to drive down from Gloucestershire but I reckon it would be better for the planet if we all cycled. Better leave in a minute as I've not been on a bike for nearly 50 years. Global footprint and all that.

I think the question could be left at the bit I've highlighted. I'm unaware and would welcome anyone identifying his achievements/track record for being brought to the club under Les's guidance in the first place. We were linked with the bloke at Norwich, and on reading about him he was involved in clubs who made progress under his watch. Ross Wilson was at Huddersfield and was linked with us in the press for about 18 months before he arrived. Interestingly their rise seemed to take off after he left.I don't think he was involved in bringing David Wagner to the club for example. So what have either Wilson or this other character done to merit their roles at Saints? Genuinely interested. Yes - hope Ralph can identify the players we need, and that we now have someone capable of securing the deals. Lets not have another summer of dither and bumbling.

He can play 'Kleber Chala' to Elynoussi's 'Delgado' perhaps.

Very interesting. This also includes Benteke in the team of the week, should we try signing him as well? Is that Harry Krishna on there too ? Wonder what became of him he was quite famous in the late 1960's if I remember corrrectly.

I think Jarrod Bowen may offer a bit more to suit the RH style (albeit from the limited bits I've read/seen).

Not greatly optimistic regarding permannent fees, and several are likely to have to gon loan. Hopefully we might be able to use some of the surplus younger players as bargaining with Championship clubs (Reed, Hesketh for example).

Burnley are exactly the sort of nasty niggly team that could grind out a result against City and throw the advantage back to Liverpool. And Leicester at home won't be a formality. On balance City appear to have the harder run in, leaving aside Liverpool's CL commitments.

Must call for an all night vigil.

Who do you recmmend ? Austrian midfielder - Wolf ? - is meant to be agood prospect from a report I saw earlier in the season. Don't suppose Salzburg would like to take any of Elynoussi, Hoedt, or Bouffal in part exchange would they ?

We don't need to. We've had Les Reed for a decade, I thought Ajax came over here to see how Les did it. As for this season, yes would like to see Ajax v Barcelona in the CL Final.

On the subject of pubs near the ground, what became of The King Alfred ? Normally park the other side of Northam Bridge but walking from the town end noticed it looked to be locked up and closed.

Or, a couple of poor seasons even.

For me it's a combination of: Poor defence generally, as individuals and as a unit, all error prone. Mentally fragile and nervous edge to their game. Tactics - seem prepared under previous managers to sit back and invite opposition to attack us. Is this deliberate or due to fatigue ? Hard to eradicate that pattern. Tiredness and fitness levels effecting both energy and concentration (add the MF to this also perhaps) - didn't seem to happen when WGS was manager. Hopefully a summer training session under Ralph will sort it out. Just not "savvy" enough to manage a game out, need an Alan Ball or Jimmy Case figure leading on the pitch, but not there. Might also want to add the fact we never give ourselves a 2 or 3 goal cushion when we are on top. If we did the last minute goal conceded might not be as critical.

but despite that they still carry a goal threat, and the ingredient our defence seldom copes with , pace up front.

Sheff Utd in good position for automatic promotion. Delighted for Billy Sharp. And that Leeds might miss out.

Better than Harry Maguire though, and sometimes reminiscent of a young Franz Beckenbauer. Or at least some suggested this a couple of seasons ago.

Problem is that he has one game like that a season, the rest of the time he's average and ineffective. If dropped or sidelined when his form drops there's a sulk to contend with. Depending on recruitment in the summer I'm not sure we can afford the luxury of both Boufal and Redmond as regular starters. Throw JWP into the mix and despite his recent surge in form we are very lightweight.

So that's Wilson and Glover, two without a track record between them.