Saint Fan CaM

Happy Chrimbo fellow Saints fans.

Under normal circumstances this would be a Saints banana skin. Think we might grab this one...1-2.

Difficult one. Sell Austin due to fitness or Gabbi due to not gelling in team? I would say the latter is the hardest issue to overcome in the short term so sell Gabbi.

Cedric is the senior player and would usually start assuming fitness ok. Valary is a great prospect, but for now he lacks confidence going forwards and Cedric is a more rounded player in this regard.

Can't see Ralph jumping ship anytime soon...his philosophy seems to be very much tied to a project at a club and really investing in that. There's very little loyalty left in top flight football though now, so he might be tempted away next summer if things go well here. Hope not.

Tough he had a very solid game and worked well with Valery.

For many of the reasons set-out above, this was the best game of football I’ve seen at SMS for two years. Every last player can hold their heads high, irrespective of the result. PEH was a true and proper Captain...vocal, directive, spoke respectfully to the Ref. I’ve slated Redmond in the past, but today he looked the real deal with few mistakes. Ings big difference, but the most plaudits go to Ralph...to make THAT much difference in one week is nothing short of brilliant. It’s early days of course - we need many more wins to be safe, but now we all have something to believe in.

Let’s hope he’s got something about himself...can’t afford passengers now.

If we get Bertrand and Cedric back I’m thinking 3-0. If we get Ings back we may score a goal, but I doubt it. May be 4-0.

The best option all round would be to move them to the Northam Kingsland corner. Take a leaf from Leicesters ground placement of away fans. Makes a lot of sense.

Squad quality is far lower than where it needs to be for survival IMO. I actually think there's a more pressing need for better strikers...if we score two today we win. As there's little chance of a squad overhaul in Jan, I reckon we'll be down by end Feb.

If we were to reflect purely on what the squad looked like in the 'Lowe year' we went down, I think you would have to conclude the similarities are remarkably close. Yes we have what appears to be a better manager however whether RH can get this squad performing 20%+ better appears unlikely due to the lack of quality inherently available. IMO only 50% of the squad have Prem level POTENTIAL. Only Lemina and possibly MCarthy are currently looking like an actual Prem players. On balance then, yes we're going down. Too much to salvage. Hope I am utterly wrong.

I pretty much agree with this largely decent summary, however there are a couple minor factors missed...(a) what difference can RH make on some of our current players (including loanees) and (b) there are some players that don't have what it takes regardless of the managers ideas because basically they are not able to improve more in fitness or skill.

Sounds like a promising development, albeit a bit of an unknown. I do wonder if Mitchell was consulted in the appointment...quite possible ties had not been broken with back room senior management. Bring it on.

Oh dear....Here we Goa again. History repeating itself - poor squad, loads of managerial changes, lots of possession but no results, clueless Chairman. Just need the relegation on the last day to seal it.

This will not be pretty. 0-3.

Utd were dog turd given the value of the squad and so it can be said that we were the better team on the day. Problem as ever is that we miss that extra quality in attack and in the defence. Thought we absolutely bossed midfield - Lemina in particular was really good. Redmond still frustrates...there’s signs of a decent player, but his decision making and final ball are sometimes poor. The CB’s Hughes used are probably the best option we have right now, so I’d keep that....seems to work. Armstrong is finally starting to show some real class...hard working and has a decent shot in him. Hughes will be given more time...probably see what happens in the window and then a couple of games, but I think we could be bottom by 1st January without 3 wins.

Hoedt will play (are they angling to sell him...there’s no other reason I can think of)? And we will lose clearly, but not necessarily because of Hoedt but because we can’t score won’t score. Prediction...0-3. Will Hughes get the push? Nah, this club is going to sleep walk to relegation once again but this time make a success of it.

Yup...got one 50 tickets returned. Not a bad seat either TBF.

Turns out I’ll be in Leicester on business, so wondered if I could get a ticket at the stadium. Anyone know what the chances are?

Utter utter rubbish. Hughes has to go....I’ve had a gutful of this shambles.

Great goal. Assist for Redmond and excellent blocking by Austin.

Poor from Gabbi. Great for Hojberg to get the armband.

Stupid decisions in terms of his contract extension and breaking up the defence that made him look good. Fact is it’s not just about his big frame...it’s about his brain not being agile enough to (a) anticipate and (b) react quickly enough. There are plenty of big keepers in the top flight of football, but the really great ones have more than gristle between their ears and/or have an excellent defence organis3d in front them. Forster had neither.

I can see a 0-2 loss here. They will park the bus then hit us on the break when we’re struggling to get a hold of the game and when we’re desperately looking for an equaliser they’ll nab another. Home crowd goes wild, Raneri is dubbed the Messiah and the Saints march on into the relegation zone. Hughes presser is a sob story that makes it clear that the squad is still unsettled from the Les era and strangely he remains in place for the next home game. Tune in next week for the next thrilling instalment. Jeez I’m bored - there was a time, not so long ago, that I would be looking forward to.a return from an international break. This feels uncannily like the days of Lowe and it’s not pleasant.