Saint Pete

The thing is, you can live with a couple of games of hard luck stories of "we had loads of possession, they had very few chances but somehow they won", but it's the same thing over and over now and Martin clearly doesn't have an answer other than continue doing what we're doing and hope something somehow changes, hope rather than pro-active expectation. We are ineffective going forward but continue to do the same things every game. The club have to act now, otherwise it will be pointless when they eventually do as will be too late. Change of tack needed, hope someone at the club has the balls to recognise that now.

Week commencing 16th Dec. Our Russ will be gone by then, so new manager bounce should see us smash 'em 4-1. Who do we want in the semis? 👍

Brentford or Palace at home please.

It does feel like we are kind of marking time at the moment. I am not RMs biggest critic but I think everyone can see now that a change is going to be inevitable before too much longer and it feels like if we leave it another couple of games, it just makes it even harder for his successor to achieve anything this season. Regrettably, I would make the change now, although obviously it does depend on getting a better and more experienced replacement in which is not a given by any means.

I was thinking Sulemana personally. More likely to be a smaller forward player to cover the edge of the penalty area?

The defending (or lack of) on that corner was unforgivable at any level. Yes, we were down to 10 men, but there were actually 3 Leicester players on edge of the box completely unattended, allowing them to play an easy pass along the ground from the corner and get a free shot in. Ramsdale should do a lot better with the shot as well. Defending from set pieces generally is still something we don't seem to be addressing and there were several throughout the match where players weren't being picked up. So no surprise when we were eventually punished. Until we get these sort of basics right, we'll have no chance in the premier league.

Yes, have to say I was pretty shocked when Smallbone came on when we could have had Lallana on instead, who is on a different level of quality, about time Russell faced up to that. The Fraser one was different, in hindsight it definitely should have been Taylor who came on at that point, who would have had at least half a chance of coping with Fatawu better.

My first game of the season today after some very tough times personally over the lpast few months. I had an unbeaten record last season in attendance (7 wins and a draw) so I'm hoping I can bring some good luck today (I know, different league now). It's still early days in the season, so just getting a win on the board could bring some confidence and an upturn in fortunes. You've got to have hope, haven't you? Come on you Saints!

Yeah, point taken about how long it took Che to score. Certainly not writing off Archer at this stage, looks like he needs a shot of confidence that he can do it at the top level. Hopefully once he gets his goal that will come and he can prove to himself and everyone else he belongs in the prem.

Not sure he can have proved he has better finishing ability when he doesn't have a prem league goal for us yet. More time needed to judge that IMO. But Adams wanted to go, so it was his choice to be fair.

I would have had JWP back in a heartbeat if it was possible to do, he is genuine proven premier league quality and pretty much all the other midfielders we have are not that currently. I agree though that there is not really a direct comparison to be made between him and Downes, they share some qualities in terms of keeping possession, but in other ways they have different strengths and weaknesses. I think they could have both been accommodated in the same team potentially, but not to be so we move on.

Yeah, this one doesn't sit well with me at all. Can't help but feel we have messed up by not giving him more opportunities in a period when the other specialist left backs we have played have not been great by any means.

But Edwards and Wood are new signings, presumably intended to play some part in our premier league season? Bit worrying if they can't cope with a Championship club's reserves.

It's plausible that Ramsdale may be loaned out somewhere as you would think he's too good to be happy to stay on the bench for another season playing second fiddle to Raya. Whether we could pull off signing him is more doubtful but we can dream!

Yep, tend to agree. I don’t see enough in his recent seasons with Brighton to think that he would be able to make a meaningful contribution on the pitch and not convinced from some of his comments on leaving Brighton that he has a huge amount of drive for the game anymore. We shouldn’t rush into this kind of move in my opinion before assessing properly who else is available.

THB - "I know I am permanent now" , 😀😀

Massive well done to Russell, the team and everyone there today. It's going to be a great evening now!!! 😁

Great news about Che. Big question now is whether he starts or do we save him as an option off the bench? I suspect probably the latter due to lack of training time, but will be a great option to have if things are not going out way.

Very good professional performance and well deserved win. David Brooks was my man of the match today, class player who showed why we signed him for those who have been questioning that lately. Smallbone also had a good game and used the ball well.

Feels important to get a win today to go into the play offs with a bit of confidence. Also prefer our draw in the play offs to face WBA rather than Norwich. Onwards and upwards!

Objectively, play offs are still much more likely than top 2 and if there is any chance of Downes injury being made worse, we won't want to risk him being potentially ruled out for a longer spell including the play offs, which would be disastrous. So I can understand the caution to be honest. I just don't understand the choice for his replacement!

I just don't get why Martin is so reluctant to play Charles as the Downes replacement when he seems the obvious choice.

I reckon there may be a few changes tonight to get some fresher legs in from the start. Maybe Stuey, Edozie and Rothwell coming in? Will also be interesting to see if Downes continues to start or whether it's felt he needs a rest at some point..

Hopefully Charles will be in squad tonight. Downes will likely need a rest at some point.

Leicester's next 2 games are away to Sunderland and Hull. After 3 defeats on the bounce, they won't be fancying those too much...