SaintJackoInHurworth

We lost a great owner (Markus Liebbherr) and the replacements have not been anywhere near as good. We lost a great MD (Cortese) and his replacement has not been anywhere near as good. We have lost some great managers (Poch and Koeman) and their replacements have not been anywhere near as good. We have lost some great academy and player recruitment staff (inc. Georges Prost, Huw Jennings, Malcolm Elias, Paul Mitchell & Matt Crocker) and their more recent replacements have not been anywhere near as good. We have lost some good players and their replacements have not been anywhere near as good. Overall it is a shocking tale of decline which can be seen in every area of the club. That having been said... * Hughes is an improvement on Pellegrino - though he would not have been my preference this summer when appointing a new manager. * Lemina was great when he first joined us and somewhere in there there is a good player waiting to re-emerge. Good coaching and management could help him rediscover that form. * Hojbjerg has been one of our better players in some matches within the past six months, so some of the criticisms of him are a little unfair. * Hoedt is still young and despite everything does still have potential as a defender - if only he could benefit from good coaching and a little more encouragement to rebuild his confidence. * Bednarek started badly for Saints at the start of last season but did well at the end of last season and deserves to be given a chance. * Romeu was good for us under Koeman and even under Puel - good coaching and management could help him to rediscover that ability and form. * Gabbi started well with Saints - good coaching and management could help him rediscover that form. * Austin started well with Saints - good coaching and management could help him rediscover that form. * Ings started well with Saints - good coaching and management could help him rediscover that form. * Redmond started well with Saints - good coaching and management could help him rediscover that form. * Cedric was part of the successful Portugese Euro 2016 squad - good coaching and management could help him rediscover that form. * Bertrand is a quality full-back and was unlucky to lose his international place - good coaching and management could help him rediscover that form. * Targett had a great season last year at Fulham - good coaching and management could help him rediscover that form. * Some other youngsters have previously shown promise - good coaching and management could help them rediscover that form.

I think confidence is so important. Hoedt's confidence is shot and maybe he needs a break from the firing line. Bednarek had the same at the start of last season but when he was brought back in at the end of the season he did really well. Maybe it is time we gave him another run in the side? Clearly confidence is important for our strikers too. I would have thought today would have been a good day to give Gabbi a run out. Is he injured or has he fallen out with Hughes? Where's Elyounoussi too? I'm not a big fan of his but it seems strange to play a full back on the wing! Even stranger that Armstrong was not the one brought in instead of him, though I can see the possibility that maybe Hughes thought it would give us another defensive option.

He is on the bench today!

Now that Saints have released news of the new third kit, I wonder whether there is any possibility that SD might put that on sale on their website... or maybe the second kit, if and when that finally goes on sale!

1. Man City 2. Man Utd 3. Liverpuddle 4. Spuds 5. Arse-nil 6. Chelski 7. Everton - with Silva receiving huge plaudits for transforming Everton into a club that can compete for European qualification. Relegated: 3 from 4 - Cardiff, Huddersfield, Brighton, Bournemouth Saints: 15th - Saints will still struggle for goals though they may get a few more than the last couple of seasons. However, they will also concede a lot of goals until Hughes decides to abandon 3-5-2 and reverts to 4-4-2 for the last ten games of the season. The other team to finish below us will be West Ham. At Chelsea the saga of whether Hazard will stay or go will rumble on until the closure of the transfer window and then again in the January window. Chelsea will not let him go at either time but his performances will suffer - especially in 2019. Puel will be sacked in December with Leicester in 12th, after a fairly good start to the season is followed by a run of 10 games with only one goal. Leicester's directors are labelled heartless for sacking him just before Christmas. Burnley to be eliminated early from European competition and have a poor start to the season, but will recover to finish just above mid table. Crystal Palace will surprise everyone and finish in the top half, narrowly missing out on European qualification. Leicester will recover from 12th to also finish in the top half. Jack Wilshere, Charlie Austin, Andy Carroll, Dean Sturridge, Danny Ings, Adam Lallana, Ashley Young, Luke Shaw to spend most of the season injured like Oxlade-Chamberlain. Oxo to defy expectations and return in February but then to get injured in his third game with a completely different injury that keeps him out for another year. Portsmouth struggle as Jake Wigley proves to be a worse coach than his father. The club are fined for making an illegal approach for a player and several players go on strike. Wigley resigns, but Paul Robinson becomes caretaker manager until the end of the season. Despite a record of only one win in the last seven, the board offer Robinson the manager's job permanently at the end of the season after Pompey narrowly escape relegation on the last day of the season - but their escape is only because of results elsewhere.

It's a shame I just missed out on this deal. I wasn't planning to buy a home kit this season but when I saw this thread on Sunday night I nearly changed my mind! Sadly I then discovered I could only buy it in small and didn't want to risk that! Unless they relaunch the offer I will probably just skip this season's home kit. However, I am wondering whether there might be any possibility that they will run an offer on the away kit. Is there any news on when this will be released? And is it going to be yellow and blue as has been said in the rumours? If they do an offer for the away kit I might have to consider it.

Alex McCarthy - Age 28 - new four year contract, player of the season 2017-18, former England U21, former England squad (0 caps) Fraser Forster - Age 30 - one year into five year contract, former England player (6 caps) Angus Gunn - Age 22 - Five year contract, England U16, U17, U19, U20, U21, England squad (0 caps) Harry Lewis - Age 20 - one year into three year contract, England U18 Jack Rose - Age 23 - New two year contract Kingsley Latham - Age 18 -New one year contract Adam Parkes - Age 19 Alex Cull - Age 19 That is a lot of goalkeepers! Lewis, Latham, Parkes and Cull don't affect squad numbers (not that anyone is expecting any of them with the possible exception of Lewis to get anywhere near the first team this season!) but that still leaves McCarthy, Forster, Gunn and Rose as players whose age means they would need to be counted in the squad stats if they are to play. So what is going to happen? * There is a lot of talk of Forster going - whether on loan or getting sold remains to be seen. * What will happen with Rose? Is he going to get a squad place or go out on loan? * Lewis is supposed to be a great future prospect but he now has a lot of keepers in front of him. What is his Saints' future now looking like? Will he go out on loan again or will he become the recognised third keeper rather than Rose (assuming that Forster leaves)? * Latham, Parkes & Cull - they have a lot of good keepers in front of them, so they are going to have to work hard to prove themselves! No pressure though as they are still young, especially in goalkeeping terms.

While we have been having a good close-season so far as far as transfers are concerned, one position that remains of some concern is right back. We have a good first choice in Cedric, but if he gets injured we seem to have very little cover in that position, having released Jeremie Pied. Therefore, I am wondering if there is any news about this? Are we in the market to sign anyone? Of course it may be that it is felt that Yan Valery is ready to take a step up into first team contention. If so that will be great to see and I hope he will be a great success. Alternatively, could Hughes be considering the possibility of one of our right backs providing cover on the left? Or could another youngster like Alfie Jones or Jake Flannagan be converted into playing at right back?

I don't normally buy myself a Saints' shirt this early in a season - I usually dither for a while first. However, if they get some more kit in stock this week I may have to consider buying myself a shirt this week. Incidentally, someone said that the app offer expires at midnight - where does it say that? I'm hoping I can benefit from this too!

I agree - but while we are talking about it, what a chance to take out any reference to anything crap from a Saints song...! How about this alternative?: When I was just a little boy, I asked my mother what should I be, Should I be a keeper, Or out on the pitch? Here’s what she said to me, Think of it clearly son, You're Angus, son of Bryn Gunn, So go and be number 1, And play for Saints, He's our keeper! He's our keeper!

Evidently we are about to sign a French youngster called Allan Tchaptchet: http://sportwitness.co.uk/france-southampton-complete-signing-young-defender/

Basing this on the full current squad... Sell or release: Carillo, Gardos, Taylor Keep: McCarthy, Cédric, Valery, Yoshida, Stephens, Hoedt, Bednarek, Bertrand, Targett, McQueen, Romeu, JWP, Lemina, Hojbjerg, Davis, Tadic, Redmond, Sims, Austin, Gabbiadini Unsure, but probably/possibly keep or loan out: Forster, Pied, Wood, Jones, Flannigan, Clasie, Reed, Hesketh, Boufal, Gallagher, Long A few of this last group may be sold and replaced with better quality players, but should be kept if we cannot replace them; others I don't know enough about how well they are developing as younger players and/or whether they may be getting to an age when they take up an extra space in the squad without being yet good enough to warrant a place. If we end up with too many players for our permitted squad size then we should send a few on loan again - including potentially some of the 'keep' group (e.g. Sims)

I didn't believe we could do it, but it looks as if we are just about there now. OK, I know we need to be cautious and make sure that we don't concede a record haul of goals on Saturday, but I am going to allow myself to believe we will stay up. Of course, the inquisition into this cannot start before the last match, so let's just enjoy this now. I wish I could be there on Saturday - hope those of you who go are able to enjoy it!

I hope so! We need a second quickly so I can relax a bit.. followed quickly by a third!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43960000 - West Ham: Andy Carroll sent home after row with manager David Moyes I wonder how significant the falling out between Moyes and Carroll could be? They have already got a tough run-in - could losing him make it even tougher? If they lose every game they become another team that we could pass with only three more points. On the other hand, these sorts of things can sometimes help nuture a siege mentality in a football club, which could help them secure a couple more points and with it keep them in the Premier League.

Haha! You have to remember to delete the sentence you started writing before you decided to structure what you are writing differently!! I was looking for this myself earlier and have been looking out for it for a few weeks, but it doesn't look like they are doing it this year. They usually do it with about five games to go. As I haven't seen it I have been creating my own predictions by doing all the calculations myself and then displaying it all using a table which I can create at http://www.teamopolis.com/tools/bbcode-table-generator.aspx Sometimes I also paste the text into Word and use Find and Replace to change td] to th] Here then is my attempt at predicting the results and final table based on Saints drawing all three of their remaining games and getting three more points: [table] [tr] [th]Saints v.[/th] [th][/th] [th]Stoke v.[/th] [th][/th] [th]Swansea v.[/th] [th][/th] [th]Huddersfield v.[/th] [th][/th] [th]West Ham v.[/th] [th][/th] [th]Brighton v.[/th] [th][/th] [/tr] [tr] [th]Everton (A)[/th] [th]2-2[/th] [th]Palace (H)[/th] [th]1-1[/th] [th]Bournemouth (A)[/th] [th]1-2[/th] [th]Man City (A)[/th] [th]0-3[/th] [th]Leicester (A)[/th] [th]1-2[/th] [th]Man Utd (H)[/th] [th]1-2[/th] [/tr] [tr] [th]Swansea (A)[/th] [th]1-1[/th] [th][/th] [th][/th] [th]Saints (H)[/th] [th]1-1[/th] [th]Chelsea (A)[/th] [th]0-2[/th] [th]Man Utd (H)[/th] [th]1-2[/th] [th]Man City (A)[/th] [th]0-3[/th] [/tr] [tr] [th]Man City (H)[/th] [th]2-2[/th] [th]Swansea (A)[/th] [th]1-2[/th] [th]Stoke (H)[/th] [th]2-1[/th] [th]Arsenal (H)[/th] [th]1-2[/th] [th]Everton (H)[/th] [th]2-1[/th] [th]Liverpool (A)[/th] [th]0-2[/th] [/tr] [tr] [th][/th] [th]5-5 3 pts[/th] [th][/th] [th]2-3 1 pt[/th] [th][/th] [th]4-4 4 pts[/th] [th][/th] [th]1-7 0 pts[/th] [th][/th] [th]4-5 3 pts[/th] [th][/th] [th]1-7 0 pts[/th] [/tr] [tr] [th]TOTAL [/th] [th]35 pts[/th] [th][/th] [th]31 pts[/th] [th][/th] [th]37 pts[/th] [th][/th] [th]35 pts[/th] [th][/th] [th]38 pts[/th] [th][/th] [th]37 pts[/th] [/tr] [/table] Final Positions for teams currently in Bottom 7 places (NB Teams in 13th/14th may actually finish above teams in higher places & I am predicting West Brom to lose both their remaining games 2-1): [table] [tr] [th]Team[/th] [th]P[/th] [th]W[/th] [th]D[/th] [th]L[/th] [th]F[/th] [th]A[/th] [th]Pts[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]West Ham[/td] [td]38[/td] [td]9[/td] [td]11[/td] [td]18[/td] [td]47[/td] [td]72[/td] [td]38[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Brighton[/td] [td]38[/td] [td]8[/td] [td]13[/td] [td]17[/td] [td]33[/td] [td]54[/td] [td]37[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Swansea[/td] [td]38[/td] [td]9[/td] [td]10[/td] [td]19[/td] [td]31[/td] [td]56[/td] [td]37[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Saints[/td] [td]38[/td] [td]6[/td] [td]17[/td] [td]15[/td] [td]40[/td] [td]59[/td] [td]35[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Huddersfield[/td] [td]38[/td] [td]9[/td] [td]8[/td] [td]21[/td] [td]28[/td] [td]63[/td] [td]35[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Stoke[/td] [td]38[/td] [td]6[/td] [td]13[/td] [td]19[/td] [td]34[/td] [td]68[/td] [td]31[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]West Brom[/td] [td]38[/td] [td]5[/td] [td]13[/td] [td]20[/td] [td]32[/td] [td]58[/td] [td]28[/td] [/tr] [/table] In other words, to answer your question, yes it is possible to stay up with just three more points!

While you are almost right, actually it would still be (just) within the bounds of possibility that Swansea could still finish above us - though it would require Swansea to probably only lose by one goal in their two defeats (especially the one against us) and then for us to lose very heavily against Man City (e.g. 6-0) and Swansea to thrash Stoke (say 4-0). Nevertheless the odds of that happening would be slim enough for me to be very happy to find us going into the last game following that set of results. You also have to remember that if

I don't want to put a downer on this as we need to try to win and the fact that their season is now virtually over gives them less to play for. However, I think this is going to be a very hard match to draw let alone win. Despite having a bad start to the season they have won all but one of the matches that they have played against the teams outside of the top seven. The only match they didn't win against those clubs was a draw against West Brom back in January. Since October they have only lost two games at home (against both Manchester clubs) and drawn three (against Chelsea, West Brom and Liverpool). They have won the other eight home league matches, including four out of eight matches won at home since the start of the year. If we can achieve a win it will be a significant result and we must go for it, with defeat leaving us back in the mire. The one thing that we have going for us is the now distant memory of our last match aginst them - our best win of the season when we beat them 4-1 at St Marys back in October. I wouldn't mind seeing us turning in a performance like that one!

It is as simple as this: We MUST win this game!! If we can win it, we should find ourselves breathing down the necks of the teams above us: Saints would move on to 32 points. Swansea will achieve no better than a draw at home to Chelsea. They will have 33 or 34 points. West Ham are playing Man City. They are likely to lose. They would then have 35 points. Brighton are away against Burnley. I would expect them to lose that game. They would then have 36 points. If Huddersfield win at home to Everton and get three points we would struggle to catch them. They would have 38 points. However if they lose or draw, I don't see them getting any points from their remaining fixtures, so on 35 or 36 points they would still be catchable.

I think Brighton need to also be considered as still at risk of relegation. They have the hardest fixtures of any club at the bottom with three away games againt teams in the top seven and a home game against Man Utd. They could potentially get only one point from thiose (though I predict they might force a draw in the home match against United). Therefore I have done the following comparison of fixtures and potential results for Saints and the five teams above us (including Palace who have easier fixtures but only three remaining games): [table] [tr] [th]Saints[/th] [th]Swansea[/th] [th]Huddersfield[/th] [th]West Ham[/th] [th]Palace[/th] [th]Brighton[/th] [/tr] [tr] [th]Bournemouth (h) W[/th] [th]Chelsea (H) D[/th] [th]Everton (H) W[/th] [th]Man City (H) L[/th] [th]Leicester (H) W[/th] [th]Burnley (A) L[/th] [/tr] [tr] [th]Everton (A) D[/th] [th]Bournemouth (A) L[/th] [th]Man City (A) L[/th] [th]Leicester (A) L[/th] [th]Stoke (A) D[/th] [th]Man Utd (H) D[/th] [/tr] [tr] [th]Swansea (A) D[/th] [th]Saints (H) D[/th] [th]Chelsea (A) L[/th] [th]Man Utd (H) D[/th] [th]West Brom (H) D[/th] [th]Man City (A) L[/th] [/tr] [tr] [th]Man City (H) L[/th] [th]Stoke (H) W[/th] [th]Arsenal (H) L[/th] [th]Everton (A) D[/th] [th][/th] [th]Liverpool (A) L[/th] [/tr] [tr] [th]34 Points[/th] [th]38 Points[/th] [th]38 Points[/th] [th]37 Points[/th] [th]40 Points[/th] [th]37 Points[/th] [/tr] [/table] Now this would see Saints relegated, but it doesn't take a lot to change this. For example check out these scenarios... The Swansea match could be crucial. If we were to win that we would end up with 36 points and so would Swansea. However, as long as we do not concede five or six goals against Man City in our final game we would hopefully have a better goal difference than Swansea and would finish above them. If we were to achieve a draw against Man City in our last game and West Ham were to lose all of their games we would both be on 35 points and West Hame would be relegated with an inferior goal difference. If we were to beat Swansea or Everton and Brighton were to lose against Man Utd as well as the other matches, we would both have 36 points and it would be down to goal difference between Saints and Brighton (and Swansea if it were them that we were to beat). In all likelihood this run of results would result in us having a superior goal difference to both Brighton and Swansea. If Huddersfield were to lose to Everton as well as the other matches and we were to get a draw against Man City, we would both have 35 points, but we would have a far superior goal difference. So, in essence every game is crucial and it is till vaguely possible that we could stay up. However, it is absolutely crucial that we beat Bournemouth.

Sadly I don't think even four points from our next two games is likely to be enough. I think we need at least nine or ten points from our remaining games (and even that relies on Swansea, Brighton or some other club coming unstuck). To get that I think we really could do with winning both of the next two. That having been said, I do believe both games are more winnable than the games against Arsenal or Chelsea and if we can perform like we did up front aginst those teams while sorting out our defence then who knows what could be achieved?! I think it is highly unlikely but I will continue to hold on to that feint hope that we COULD MAYBE do it!

I think Yoshida is either right-footed or two-footed isn't he? There is an article from back when we fisrt signed him that talks about him playing on either the right or left side, including as full-back: https://premierskillsenglish.britishcouncil.org/players/player-profiles/maya-yoshida-player-profile. Yes - I think McQueen has not been given enough chance this season. It is just a shame he is injured at present. However, if he is not fit enough for the next game then I don't think we have much alternative but to keep Bertrand at left back. That looks good, but I wonder whether we should be thinking about using Austin... though maybe bringing him on as a sub like today is not a bad idea? I'd love to see Jones get his chance at some stage, but is he ready for this yet? Or is it a big risk for such a crucial match and against a team that only last season won the Premier League?! Is Jones ahead of Will Wood and Jan Bednarek in the reckoning?

I was one of the first to call for us to try out five at the back following the inept display against West Ham and I think it proved to be a right decision by Hughes to play that system. Unfortunately, however, with Stephens suspended for three games we cannot play the same five at the back in the next game. So, it got me thinking whether we can still play that way despite the loss of Stephens. My first thought was that we could play Gardos, but judging by the fact that numerous managers have passed him over given the opportunity to select him I think we can conclude that it is unlikely that Hughes will risk playing him as the third centre back. Another potentially better option, however, would be to play Bertrand in the centre and someone else at left back. The obvious alternative for left back is McQueen, but he is injured, so it is maybe a question of whther he will be 100% fit for our next game. Another option may be to play Pied or Cedric at left back. While they are, in theory, both right backs, I think both are capable of playing at left back. A similar option would be to play Pied at centre back. I seem to remember he can play at either full back or centre back. The final option would be to bring in one of the youngsters - maybe Alfie Jones, for example. What do you think? Should we just go back to four at the back or should we try to play five at the back again? And if we go for five at the back, which five would you select?

So, just thinking about this some more, we could maybe get six more points this season and survive. It might look something like this: [table] [tr] [td]Saints Vs[/td] [td] Result[/td] [td][/td] [td]Huddersfield Vs[/td] [td] Result[/td] [td][/td] [td]Stoke City Vs[/td] [td] Result[/td] [td][/td] [td]C. Palace Vs[/td] [td] Result[/td] [td][/td] [td]Swansea Vs[/td] [td] Result[/td] [/b][/tr] [tr] [td]Arsenal(a)[/td] [td]0-2[/td] [td][/td] [td]Brighton(a)[/td] [td]0-2[/td] [td][/td] [td]Spurs(h)[/td] [td]0-2[/td] [td][/td] [td]Bournemouth(a)[/td] [td]1-1[/td] [td][/td] [td]West Brom(a)[/td] [td]1-1[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Chelsea(h)[/td] [td]1-1[/td] [td][/td] [td]Watford(h)[/td] [td]1-1[/td] [td][/td] [td]West Ham(a)[/td] [td]1-2[/td] [td][/td] [td]Brighton(h)[/td] [td]1-1[/td] [td][/td] [td]Everton(h)[/td] [td]2-1[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Leicester(a)[/td] [td]0-1[/td] [td][/td] [td]Everton(h)[/td] [td]1-1[/td] [td][/td] [td]Burnley(h)[/td] [td]1-1[/td] [td][/td] [td]Watford(a)[/td] [td]1-1[/td] [td][/td] [td]Man City(a)[/td] [td]0-3[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Bournemouth(h)[/td] [td]2-0[/td] [td][/td] [td]Man City(a)[/td] [td]0-3[/td] [td][/td] [td]Liverpool(a)[/td] [td]0-2[/td] [td][/td] [td]Leicester(h)[/td] [td]1-0[/td] [td][/td] [td]Chelsea(h)[/td] [td]1-2[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Everton(a)[/td] [td]1-2[/td] [td][/td] [td]Arsenal(h)[/td] [td]1-2[/td] [td][/td] [td]C.Palace(h)[/td] [td]2-1[/td] [td][/td] [td]Stoke(a)[/td] [td]1-2[/td] [td][/td] [td]Bournemouth(a)[/td] [td]1-2[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Man City(h)[/td] [td]1-1[/td] [td][/td] [td]Chelsea(a)[/td] [td]0-2[/td] [td][/td] [td]Swansea(a)[/td] [td]1-1[/td] [td][/td] [td]West Brom(h)[/td] [td]2-0[/td] [td][/td] [td]Stoke(h)[/td] [td]1-1[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Swansea(a)[/td] [td]1-1[/td] [td][/td] [td][/td] [td][/td] [td][/td] [td][/td] [td][/td] [td][/td] [td][/td] [td][/td] [td][/td] [td]Saints(h)[/td] [td]1-1[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Final Points[/td] [td]34[/td] [td][/td] [td][/td] [td]33[/td] [td][/td] [td][/td] [td]32[/td] [td][/td] [td][/td] [td]39[/td] [td][/td] [td][/td] [td]37[/td] [/tr] [/table] The problem of course is that getting a point against Chelsea and City is highly unlikely even allowing for the likely situation that City will have nothing to play for by the time we face them, although in actual fact goal difference in this situation means that we could get the same number of points as Huddersfield and still finish above them. But, I guess I am still just clutching at straws with all of this!

So you don't think that Cedric/Pied, Bertrand, Lemina and McQueen have any pace? I think you will find they do! If you want even more pace with that formation then you could replace JWP with Sims or Redmond and Austin with Long or Gabbiadini. The problem with Redmond and Gabbiadini is that they are completely lacking in fitness and confidence and Long is similarly lacking in confidence (though for him fitness rarely seems to be an issue). And in terms of creativity, I would argue Lemina has a fair degree of that if he is allowed to express it in the right areas of the pitch (i.e. not defensive midfield which is not his strongest position). I am not here talking about some theoretical situation where we pick the best side on the basis of a player performing at their best; I would not be leaving Tadic and Redmond out in that situation. However, with so many players with low confidence we have got to pick a different side that reflects that. With this formation the role of pacy wingers is mainly given to the wing backs and I would argue they have plenty of pace and a reasonable level of creativity - even if not perhaps as much creativity as Redmond, Tadic or Boufal at their best.