david in sweden

Despite relegation we survived for many years without mortgaging St. Mary's to the hilt and without spending more than 20-odd million on any single transfer. Perhaps we didn't always get value for money ; (Carrillo and others ) but compared with the amounts that some " big money clubs " squander on useless transfers that they regret soon afterwards, I don't think we have too much to be ashamed of, and I think it's fun to win a few games and not just fear a defeat every week. As a sometime " conspiracy theorist " I think that some of the 100+ million transfers we have seen in recent times only go to prove that some clubs have no real idea of " the true value of players in the game " ...either that, or it's a sly way of lau*dering money in the guise of buying " top players ". It only goes to devalue the efforts of less-fortunate clubs who don't have the wherewithal to compete in the transfer market. Everton have become the first club to get punished, but some think they deserve it because they have paid out huge fees for some players that no-one else seemed to be remotely interested in, and looking at some recent fire sales at " the top end of the Prem ". ... they are certainly not alone in that respect. The Premier League may be an incentive for players to improve themselves and succeed, but most fans only want to see their team win a few games regularly.

Given the fact that most of our summer signings have shown up reasonably well so far, we should try to make permanent deals for the likes of; Downes, Fraser and Harwood-Bellis ...wherever possible. I'd be more concerned with who we might consider " letting go " in January, and get in a few "new faces". From a purely economic standpoint, we should get rid of Adams and McCarthy - whilst they have any value / worth, and ..in so doing, cut a slice off the salary bill in the process, but Onuacho's future is open to conjecture...stick or twist ? However, I'm (sadly)...still unimpressed by Aribo and Mara who should go out on loan to play regular football, or even be sold on.

Let's face it.... almost every footballer ever born would have a better work rate than MLT, but few would get anywhere near his goal tally (at 30 years of age), or within a mile of his penalty record, and be lucky to feel that they had 1/10th of his skill on the ball. RE Shilton and Niemi ... Having seen both men play, they were a law unto themselves and D.A.J. for their respective club(s) and countries - despite the sometimes poor defences they had in front of them.

Strange ?..well maybe, but as you wrote above : it was ... ironic / predictable / or, just a mark of respect ..to Kenwright who gave over much of his life and likely no small portion of his wealth, attempting to stabilise the club, but without saving them from " the inevitable ". One wonders if Everton will manage to escape - yet again - from the relegation that has threatened for the last few seasons.

think it's a bit of semantics. Yoshida is the most capped Saints player having passed 90 international in his time with us. (currently 126 caps). it might be argued that Steven Davis..(currently 140 NI caps ) played more... but he won around only 70 of those whilst he was with Saints.

Shane Long might have scored a few more goals, but was worth the effort for his blinding pace, those assists and a few spectacular goals. That late League Cup SF goal at Anfield , then the record-breaking " 7 second special " effort against ..Reading ?... ...and a superb 40 yard effort v. Villa. Atlanta Saint ( above) has said all that is necessary), but Charlie Austin might well be credited with responsibility for the Prem's introduction of VAR. He had a perfectly good goal at SMS disallowed (which was a featured TV match ), then ranted about it in an after-match interview, and just 4 days later ... a Prem. League Chairmen's meeting saw it and agreed with him and didn't need much more convincing. Boufal scored 3 of the best St. Mary's goals in the last 10 years, but did little else in his time at the club and only seemed to enjoy double nut-megging defenders on the halfway line, but sadly could NOT be described as a team player either. Jay Rod was unlucky on two counts. He had a miserable start with Saints, being played out of the left wing, whilst Rickie Lambert was first choice striker, but when both later struck form they were a joy to watch, and both had their tickets booked for the 2014 World Cup - only for Jay to get a disasterous injury that cost him his place in the England squad and almost finished his career, as he was never the same player afterwards.

Agreed Colin ....not to mention that he is the most capped Saints player of all time and won most of his 100+ caps whilst at St. Mary's.

Agree with the comment, but our strongest advantage a.t.m. is having Stuart A. and KWP attacking on the right hand side and therefore less passes going to the left, but I agree that he ought to "have a go " when chances come his way.

Baz is not alone with criticism of keepers at the highest levels, but he is improving with every game and we should take that into account. It takes time for a young keeper to develop and very few in any generation have been successful at such a young age. One of Baz' successors at Man City .. James Trafford (?) cost Burnley 18 million in the summer and look where they are in the Prem. table but as I've always said......." .a keeper is only as good as the defence in front of him ". The season that England keeper Peter Shilton signed for Saints, (1982-83) ..we conceded 19 goals in his first 9 games.. .not all his fault.

.but surely not surprised. Repeating some of the "mistakes" I encountered when teaching would get me banned from this site.

....oh you mean when we win games regularly ..AGREED !

Elyounoussi ...........might have been something to do with the position he was told to play in..? Maybe we shouldn't mention Dusan Tadic either. Got fed-up with his role at Saints and broke lots of goalscoring records when he moved back to the Dutch league.

Good experience for a couple of promising teenagers getting the chance to play at a slightly higher level.

don't forget also that KK was just ONE of FIVE players he signed who had captained England ... at one time or another.

I still find myself looking at the Prem. table on occasions ..(ooops old age, or dementia kicking in ) ? .....but in so doing I realise that the Prem. is , and always has been ..." 3 mini-leagues ". The top 6-7 fighting for a Euro spot every season, The mediochre midtable clubs who occasional get a good run, but just aren't good enough ...and the no-hopers who rejoice every season when they have survived for yet another year of TV money We've been in all three categories in the last 10 years .....before (like last season)...the inevitable finally happens. Do I miss the Prem. ? ...perhaps when we knock over Man U ., Arsenal or Tottenham, but I like seeing my team win too much. I would like to see us get up again soon, but only with a squad good enough to stay there ..and doing it without spending 200 million.

Puel never knew what his strongest team was .....

A lot of criticism early season about Russell Martin's " total possession tactics" ( 73% yesterday at Millwall ) but it's taken several factors to become successful. It really does tire the opposition late on in games and several of their players were running (or should we say " walking) ..on empty in the last 10 minutes, and several of those who were subbed off looked totally exhausted. Game 15 yesterday, but only the third time that RM has had the luxury of the same start side in successive games. Hopefully this is beginning to work now, and the subs. are beginning to look inspired, (second time for Fraser). Pity Bree was injured, he is beginning to look like the real thing in both FB positions, but need a special mention for Adam Armstrong. Now being free of " the burden" of having to play alongside Ché Adams he has a new lease of life. Aside from being amongst the leagues leading scorers, he contributes his share of assists and pops up all over the field, both as a creator and defender, and is a great inspiration to the whole squad.

...have just read comment from Stuart Armstrong about possible contract extension after summer. He has the sort of experience we need right now to be amongst the younger players who are still finding their feet in senior football, and if he's fortunate enough to stay injury free ? - he can be a great asset in getting us back to the Prem. No-one expects to see him playing 90 minute games every week, but he could still DAJFU for a few more years. Looking back some years Stephen Davis could still command a place in the Prem. squad at age 34 before he returned to Scotland ..and then got another 4-5 seasons in the SPL. All things considered it could be a win-win situation if Stuart signs on for a few more seasons.

Mmmm.. let's not go there at the moment, eh?

......the answer to that is that having built a good side , he will want to stay regardless of who might come for him..

...without VAR ....that's the sort of thing you can do and get away with in this division...

Think you may be a trifle hard on AA ...(CB Fry) there is a lot of difference between playing for 80-90 minutes and wasting chances that come, and the opportunity to even having a chance to score. As an example last season. Adam Armstrong was automatic starter during Ralph's shorter term as a manager and started 11 times in the first 15 games albeit on left wing, (but did score the winning goal v. Chelsea), whereas Che Adams was always the main striker but seldom scored so often. The two subsequent managers disregarded Armstrong as a starting option and he was used as sub. on just 15 games during those remaining games. Closer study showed that around half of those were in the closing 10 minutes and several even in "added time" - not many chances there , and occasionally he had no goal chances at all. There has been an internal debate on here about the effectiveness of Che Adams as a lone striker and even when they both played in the same start side, as it was Che who had (and frequently missed) the most chances, and this was no favour to Armstrong who got less opportunities. Neither striker showed up as a dependable goal scorer, but we now see that given RM's alternative system, Armstrong has already scored 8 times this season as well as a serving well in a defensive role when needed. This side is still looking to settle into a real rhythm but Armstrong is showing up much better.

Entertained ?... that is asking a lot. Have you been watching Tottenham again ? ....What do you expect .. World Cup football.? In some games we have to dig deep, but personally as long as we can last out 95+ minutes and come out with 3 points, I'm willing to put up with it.

Not sure "the system" is totally to blame Whitey, there are still a few players who were outstanding at U21 level, who haven't yet adapted to " the men's game ". If we are still in the top six at the end of the season...... I'd say it wasn't such a bad transition in style.

I think a lot of people are unfairly critical of Russell Martin whilst ignoring the fact that the club has made the most radical squad changes in half-a-century. Should we really be expecting to be one point behind a good Leicester side after just 12 games - purely because both clubs were relegated last season.? Despite relegation Leicester weren't the worst side in the Prem. and one or two other clubs should feel very lucky to still be playing in today's Premier League. RM's late arrival - along with a dozen young players, (many of whom had never played above U21 level in any league), isn't a recipe for instant return to the Prem. That now-dismembered squad we had at the end of May proved that they simply weren't good enough - even after serving under 3 managers last season. Blaming the manager is always a knee jerk reaction by fans, as everyone makes mistakes, but the manager isn't the one to take all the criticism as his playing style has still not sunk into a few heads in the squad, and all should note that consistency is difficult in a team that has only played the same start side for TWO games. Aside from two disasterous results (v. Sunderland and Leicester), our defensive record is (as good / bad) as many other sides this season, but the main reason for our lost points is our poor conversion rate of shots / goals ratio, and not the defence, as " our recognised strikers " have fallen short many times. It is encouraging that our 22 League and Cup goals have been scored by 11 different players, but clearly we need consistency from the front line, although I fear that too many critics will instantly demand someone's head, if Ross Stewart doesn't pile up a dozen goals before the New Year. Remembering that almost any game can run to 100 minutes nowadays, we have scored 6 goals in ...the last 5 mins / or in added time ...so far , and gained an " extra 10 points" , that we might not otherwise have had ...so very positively at least we don't give up until the final whistle. Our now-reduced squad is populated by a few bodies who ought not to still be at the club, and we can hope that a few identified targets can balance the equation with a few more transfers in during the January window.