david in sweden

I don't think Wilson would dare to take credit for signing VvD. IIRC. .Saints were only one of several Prem. club who had watched him at Celtic, but most thought.. " he wouldn't make it in the Prem ." otherwise I'm sure they would have bid for him long before we did. Koeman bought 8 players in his first season , and most of them were his (Dutch) choices and not necessarily those on any club list, although I'm sure we knew about them. Puel's main contribution to the squad ...was to sign Boufal.

Les Reed was the figurehead for the entire process, and perhaps took credit for some of " Mitchell's signings" after PM left...it seemed like Reed just passed over responsibility to Wilson, because the standard of recruits was poor not to mention the size of some of the fees we paid out. Wilson was out of his depth and OK'd some very poor choices. Hoedt was a bad choice. Bednarek was better AND cost only one third of Hoedt's fee. I think I'd give Claude Puel his share of the blame ...for letting Jose Fonte go ..because he thought VvD could take over that role. Two weeks later Jamie Vardy crocked Van Dijk and we lost him for 6 months...(Liverpool have the same problem now).

Not Ross Wilson for sure ....

We are all anxious to see the new guys playing, but WHO would you drop in order to put them in? ... two wins, two clean sheets..and Vestergaard finally showing up .. maybe no changes are due yet. " If it ain't broke - don't fix it" ..... and never change a winning side .... Being without Armstrong is a blow, but Theo will start (at least) and maybe prove those doubters wrong. Chelsea may get a lot of the play, but I take it for another Saints win at " the Bridge."

After beating Belgium..GS desperately underestimated Denmark, and even aside from his great penalty... Eriksen ran the game and was my MoM. GS chose a side far too young and inexperienced , and whilst my commentator raved about Mason Mount, but failed to admit that whilst getting into some great positions, failed to make a single pass of any meaning. Several " overgrown schoolboys " who look good in a top-end Prem. sides, but haven't come to terms with international football. Reece James took it on himself to argue with the ref - after the final whistle - and got himself red card, too. The start line-up was far too young and lacked experience, and GS must learn that just having Rashford and Kane up front without any real support brings no guarantee of a win, and that he needs to have a balanced side at the back. Maguire showed up for what he is - a clumsy, overweight bully. I could see the second yellow coming as son as he got the first and both he and Kyle Walker have got to get their act together PDQ, or they'll be out. Southgate has to deal with the "teenage antics" of players who ignore Covid restrictions to go to parties, or entertain girls after lights out and "give them time to grow up" before venturing to include them in squads again. In retrospect ...Prowsie and Ings can be very thankful that they weren't involved in the whole debacle.

After beating Belgium..GS desperately underestimated Denmark, and even aside from his great penalty... Eriksen ran the game and was my MoM. GS chose a side far too young and inexperienced , and whilst my commentator raved about Mason Mount, but failed to admit that whilst getting into some great positions, failed to make a single pass of any meaning. Several " overgrown schoolboys " who look good in a top-end Prem. sides, but haven't come to terms with international football. Reece James took it on himself to argue with the ref - after the final whistle - and got himself red card, too. The start line-up was far too young and lacked experience, and GS must learn that just having Rashford and Kane up front without any real support brings no guarantee of a win, and that he needs to have a balanced side at the back. Maguire showed up for what he is - a clumsy, overweight bully. I could see the second yellow coming as son as he got the first and both he and Kyle Walker have got to get their act together PDQ, or they'll be out. Southgate has to deal with the "teenage antics" of players who ignore Covid restrictions to go to parties, or entertain girls after lights out and "give them time to grow up" before venturing to include them in squads again. In retrospect ...Prowsie and Ings can be very thankful that they weren't involved in the whole debacle.

There is really nothing wrong with this deal. Whilst some people talk about us lacking experience in the squad (TRUE) .....others will say he's TOO old at 31. Aside from his Saints history ( not a issue here) his experience since leaving the club has shown that he was good enough to get 40+ England caps , and scored some good goals along the way. We are not talking about giving a 4 year contract to a 31 year old ..... (Puel should have offered that to Jose Fonte), but a 9 month loan to a player who will be out of contract next summer anyway . We are not looking to use him for 90 minute games every week, but being a good game- changer, and IF he can impress enough with goals / assists then Ralph will be able to make a judgement on that at the end of the season. Surely a win-win situation and a small help to take the pressure off Danny Ings.

An excellent idea for a "B Team" .. (instead of U23's.) Our second XI ....we can field anyone from a teenage talent to an established (overage) player recovering from Injury or some of the " bench players " who generally get little / no proper game time and need an outing to keep sharp. Decades ago many fans looked worried when we suddenly brought in " 21 year old " for his debut, but with teenage talent abounding now ..any 21 y.o who hasn't had some game time in the first team may well be on his way out of the door.

After the success of the Koeman years, we sold the remainder of our Crown Jewels and let Messers. Reed and Wilson squander the profits on a string of " less than talented no-accounts". It isn't JUST the transfer fees, but the high salary / long contract deals that is the real burden on our finances. Hopefully the next crop of Academy starlets may save us more of the £20 million "square pegs" we landed ourselves with ...of whom Hoedt was just one.

As Sue Whistler noted ....a good game NOT to be involved in. Southgate giving out England caps to every young starlet in the Prem. as a belated reward for last season and then playing them all out of position, but it will increase their eventual transfer fees when clubs sell them on as " an English international ". Am still amazed that Roy Keane has the gall to call JWP .....a cheat ! Has he broken all the mirrors in his home ? The NON selection of Danny Ings v. Denmark prompted Darren Bent to write (in amazement) that Danny only got 22 minutes play over the 2 games that's one minute for each Prem.goal he scored last season. It's phenomenal Danny scored so many from open play DESPITE not playing for a top 5 club.

of the 16 fixtures only 2 are certain to be games between Prem.sides. Bournemouth v. Arsenal and Burnley v. Norwich. Spurs must beat 'Boro to get to play against us and IF... Watford beat Tranmere they will play Wolves or Man U. that means there could still be 11 Prem. sides in the last 16 if they all won.

(to my knowledge)....He is a regular with Gala, but hasn't scored any goals yet.

young players like Obafemi and Adams have to learn to play against opposition like this in the Prem. If they can't show up at all, then their futures look bleak. we can always wait for Danny Ings to come on at 80 mins. and score the winner.

It was Dave Beasant who dropped a bottle of mayonaise on his foot....but no-one ever said which brand it was.

RH says Valery has a bad virus and he hasn't played since 30th November and not even been on bench since. Maybe ..he really is ill ?

Correct -No Romeu in the last two ....but also no Vestergaard . Coincidence ..or ?

Bit of a reality check needed here. A look back over the last 40-50 years shows that trips to Newcastle were almost as unrewarding as those to Everton. At one point in history it was suggested (by one joker) that Saints could save the cost of coach fares and send the points to Newcastle - by post. Ralph followed that old football maxim - never change a winning side - but he was forced to and started without Vestergaard and Valery. Then the problems began. Stephens never seesm to settle on the right and was often beaten for pace. and Bednarek and Yoshida were both on "their wrong side(s)" until the change of formation after half time. To their credit Newcastle came out of the traps at full throttle and never gave Saints a moments rest (almost as bad as the Liverpool game at SMS). Two goals in three minutes was enough to seal the points in the first half, and although Perez was virtually unmarked for all his goals, few can deny a man a hat-trick in any game. We looked better after the break with Lemina back on the pitch - and scoring- and ASrmstrong does bring something extra to the midfield formation, but it was tough on Yoshida who had three good chances and might have got at least one goal on another day. His late effort was deflected away off the goalie's knee (!). Hopefully won't play that badly in the remaining games, but we really need some "VAR-type luck" as we have been cheated twice in a year in Watford games. Leading 2-1 in added time their (******) striker handled the ball across the line and "stole two points" from us in last season's away game, and this season at SMS saw that infamous Charlie Austin "disallowed goal " that brought on his amazing outburst in the after-match interview. If there is any justice in football- we're overdue a win against Watford.

Ward Prowse made his Prem. debut (2012) in a team managed by Nigel Adkins. After which Pochettino used his talents sparingly. as did Koeman during his time. Successive managers have been obsessed with playing big money signings hoping they would find form, whilst many in the U23/U18s played on year after year in despair. Hughes ignored Prowsie and it's taken a manager like Ralph to utilise his talents properly. Those people who have criticised him forget he is only just 24 - and upwards of 200 appearances. if we sign someone that age this summer, people will say ..." he's a good young prospect". Hughes obviously wasn't bothered with the younger players either and let McQueen, Reed, Hesketh and Sims go out on loan without a second thought, and it's cost us dearly when not alternatives to use. Josh Sims has impressed on many occasions he's played for U18/U23's and looks like an new player under Ralph's new regime. Expect to see him featured (if not starting) for the rest of the season, and he could become .."the NEW Shane Long" next season, hopefully with a few more goals. THIS GAME will go down in list of "legendary games" that people always like to quote - if only because it was the day we dumped "arrogant Spurs" (Pochettino's words) .. after they took us to the cleaners in the first half and couldn't finish the job in the second half. Those expecting JWP to turn up in an England shirt next week, shouldn't hold their breath as even Gareth Southgate has his favourites - and with luck we might see Prowsie get 10 mins as a late sub in a game that England have already comfortably won.

Cheated again. Rule no.1 in the Referee's Handbook; Never award a penalty AGAINST United at Old Trafford. A handful have done so over the years, but two of them have already retired. Good performances all round, but its the final result that counts. Those Ward-Prowse critics had a reasoned arguement, but now we can see how good he can potentially be when playing in his best role. Steven Davis had a monopoly of a midfield role (and rightly so) but JWP was often mis-used in roles that failed to take advantage of his talents. Good to see him given a free role. Angus Gunn probably faultless for any of the goals, but it's a long time since we had two keepers of similar quality to choose from. Many that we have conceded can be attribted to individual defensive errors

A former Puel player in France, I think (?)........no-one has suggested a 5 year contract - so why not ? .......yes he is a surprise name, but at 30 he is younger than Steven Davis and would add extra strength to the squad. Was Pardew's star player when at Newcastle...

well that's it now ....all done and dusted in the Swedish Leagues, where most games were played on snow-covered pitches as the first real snowfall came to southern Sweden last Monday. No surprises as Malmö had already won the Allsvenskan title a week ago and finished their season with a convincing 3-0 win over Hammarby, whilst AIK and last years champs Norrköping both won their last games 3-1 but it was AIK who finished second on goal difference. Last day games gave a goal feast with Djurgården scoring 5 away at Sundsvall and, to add insult to injury, the luckless Falkenberg were blitzed 7-0 by Häcken and relegated with just 10 points to their credit. Helsingborg (managed by former international Henke Larsson) will want to win their play-off in order to stay in the top level, but some consolation for the Larsson family where Henke's son Jordan ended up as their season's top scorer. Like father like son.... New names in the top tier next season will be Sirius and AFC United....wonder what they're like? One bright spot was the return to Superettan (read Championship) for Brommapojkarna (the Academy-based club) who yo-yo-ed up and down to / from the top tier a few years back, before sadly descending in the third tier, (L1 ) but finished top of that league under the new management of former Swedish international Olof Mellberg, and they'll be hoping for another good season and a shot at getting back up to the top level, unless they (like Saints) start losing their best players to " richer /bigger "clubs.

I think it's ''brave'' that you start a thread with this headline, especially when there are others on this site who defend their wrong decisions to the death with poor excuses/dodgy explanations. Some people see no further than the last game ...or the next match. As memory serves; even Nigel Adkins, along with Pochettino and Koeman didn't start their tenure as manager with fantastic results but in the longer term showed their strengths and qualities. Puel is a new manager with a new system - and it takes time to adapt. to a new manager / new system, and a lot of us were disappointed in our weak start to the season. I was over to see the opening game v. Watford, when a lot of things hadn't sunk in and we looked a bit shambolic especially when we had so many shots, with little reward. A manager can devise all sorts of formulas and solutions, for good play and good build up but it's down to the player(s) who actually shoots on goal to get results, the manager has no control whatsoever. After more than 55 years as a Saints fan..(and there are a lot more in my generation) I tend not to take a serious look at the table before about game 6 or 7, and think managers need a lot longer than that to establish themselves. Puel has brought a lot of expertise to the club and it's taking a bit of time for that to sink in. Despite the exodus of players and managerial changes there is still a firm basis at the club to build on.....and we don't yet know what Puel may prove to us by the end of the season. The willingness to bring our Academy players into the first team squad (and give them game time) shows a lot of foresight when you consider that many of these lads have spent the last 10 years with Saints - even if it was at Youth level. It takes patience for a coach to mould a team as he wants it to be, and patience from fans whilst he's trying to achieve it.

To be fair....I think Reed would have had a problem getting ahead of Wanyama or Romeu last season, and by the time we found form again in the Spring, Koeman (or anyone else) wouldn't have wanted to experiment with a new face if it meant leaving out one of the established names. The midfield was fairly settled with Clasie, David, Tadic and occasionally Romeu and both Reed and hesketh were the backbone of the U21's last season. Sadly, the U21s had avery poor season and won only once in eleven starts so no-one would have got any glory from that. Koeman may have deliberately avoided U21's starlets at the time, but TBF....I watched most of the U21 screened matches on YouTube and very few of them covered themselves in glory I'm afraid.

It's surely not difficult to criticise Martina (on a poor day), and he does have his faults but tbf....he isn't first choice RB either, and DAJFU that equates to his ability at this level, and but for the timing of Pied's injury, Cuco would be in Koeman's squad at Everton. In his defence ....I'd say that I've seen a LOT worse players in a Saints shirt playing in that position.... .....as for Clasie... I have seen him play OK ...in a few games, but he does lack the consistancy needed for the Prem. and has disappointed a bit. Tadic has excellent ball controls, and can be a game-changer, but he needs more chances to run with the ball that he doesn't get when pinned down on the sideline by three defenders. He's better playing centre midfield in more space... but you can't have everything.

well it might have got a few laughs ...or even queried looks from those who never saw him play, but Tony Knapp was one of the best team captains I've seen, and stood out as a real leader during his time (in the early 1960's). Went onto a good managerial career, too. In those Euro games where VvD has been captain (in lieu of Fonte) he's been an outstanding figure and looks a totally different player in the leadership role. I wouldn't want to see Fonte disappear quite so quickly, but Virgil has all the qualities to be able to replace him... (if/when) NOTE; I also think Yoshida has looked a much better player when he's played alongside VvD, hardly put a foot wrong on Thursday.