LuckyNumber7

Fantastic week, we just look good all over the pitch atm and clearly so well drilled. So glad the club stuck with Ralph through the tough times, he is an excellent coach and fits us so well. He's now showing what he can do with the right tools at his disposal.

Agreed, his all round game has come on in leaps and bounds, and he is scoring a decent amount of goals now. We have a good strike pairing in him and Broja. He really needs a song though, maybe something to the tune of the Adams Family!

Apparently the reason VAR didn't advise the ref to overturn it was that it was too early in the attacking phase, not that it wasn't a foul. Which is utter nonsense as they went straight up the other end and scored within ten seconds. Anyway, doesn't matter and I'm actually glad it happened as it made the turn around possible and oh sooo much sweeter!

So so proud of that performance, thought we were gonna be robbed with their second goal that should never have stood. So good to see justice done! Ralph and every one of those players take a bow, you were fantastic!

What a disgusting piece of sh1t. Hope he gets dogs abuse at all away grounds.

I really don't see what the big deal is. For starters it's not an 'announcement' as such, clearly he's done an interview with Kicker and they probably asked him about his future plans and he's said he intends to see out his contract with us before likely taking a break. That's nearly 2 1/2 years away and obviously a lot can change in that time. It's also as pointed out above not the first time he's said something along those lines, yet no-one got their knickers in a twist about it before. If he was saying he will be going at the end of this season that would be different, but all he's saying is he's committed to seeing out his contract which to me is a good thing. That doesn't exclude the possibility of him being sacked if things go tits up in the mean time. Management is a very demanding job both physically and mentally, I don't blame him for not wanting to carry on into his 60's and 70's. 5 1/2 years managing a PL club is a long time these days.

But that's kind of the point, lots of clubs are now shoving away fans as far out of the way as possible and making it as hard as can be to make themselves heard. Newcastle as you say and Wolves also where away fans are stretched along the shallow lower tier in the side stand are probably the worst. We are just too nice and accommodating as a club. I'm getting fed up of watching hoardes of away fans sucking the ball in and celebrating behind the Northam goal, we must be one of the best days out for away fans and I'm sure it gives the opposition a bit of an advantage. Obviously the cup games highlight it even more but even for league games when the away side bring their full allocation we have less than half of the Northam. Would be so much better if we could find a way of moving them to the sides or at least a corner, and then make the whole of the Northam our main singing end. If other clubs can manage it I'm sure we can find a way. All that said, we need more songs too.

I didn't like the starting lineup, expected two or three changes but wholesale changes like that were always likely to make it difficult for us. Haven't read the whole thread yet but people blaming Ralph for players getting injured is one of the most stupid things I've seen on this forum. Seems Lyanco could be out a while which is a shame but thankfully Broja's doesn't sound too bad. Although we were poor, you have to give Coventry credit, they were well up for it and played some nice football at times. Could easily have won on another day. On Small - I didn't think he was as bad as some are making out, looked nervy early on but grew into the game and made some nice forward runs. What annoyed me though was his laziness at tracking back, a lack of effort is unacceptable. He's a young kid though, he'll learn and improve and he certainly looks to have the tools to become a very good player. Biggest disappointments for me were Arma, I really want him to do well but he just looks so far off the required quality sadly. When he has the ball it's like a hot potato as he seems to have no control over it. Not writing him off yet, his confidence must be very low but he desperately needs a goal or two. The other was Redmond who was really poor imo. He's having a better season but was back to his old self yesterday. Shout out to Caballero for some very good saves. And Stuey for that incredible goal which I can't stop watching, that swerve was Roberto Carlos esque! Into the next round which is all that matters but hopefully some lessons learned by Ralph. Also why the hell did the lino take so long to flag for their offside goal? It wasn't even close!

People keep saying this but the problem is the Chapel is the designated family stand. If we're going to have a 'proper' home end then either that needs to change, or the away fans need to be moved.

Well supposedly, but it's never been officially confirmed so depends what you believe. If we weren't on the hunt for a genuine no.1 this summer I would be very disappointed.

What on earth makes you think that? I can't imagine he'll be inundated with big offers from elsewhere in the summer. I'm pretty certain we'll be signing a new no.1 in the summer and if McCarthy stays and signs a new contract it will be on lesser terms and he'll be our backup, which is fine.

It's actually not a 'winter break' as such, it's because this week is officially designated as an international break. Although there are no games in Europe, there are plenty of World Cup qualifiers being played around the world this week.

Will Armitage deal looks imminent https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/19879220.southampton-set-sign-cheltenham-towns-will-armitage-reveals-michael-duff/

Yeah I saw that and had seen it mentioned previously as well. Then right on cue in the Man City game I think it was Stu who went down in around the 62nd minute when there seemed little wrong, but allowed him and others a breather and to take on fluids.

Indeed he did, on his first PL start (around the 2 minute mark). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk1E15K7cvo Also scored in their 6-2 win at the weekend.

I've not seen him play but I believe he was top scorer in the second division last season as they got promoted, and has continued to score goals in the top flight this season. Maybe we're looking at him as an alternative if we're unable to keep Broja.

Yes this is it in a nutshell, obviously with the long contract Chelsea hold all the cards and I can see no reason why they would want to sell now (or in the summer). Also as much as Broja might be enjoying it here I'm sure he fancies a crack at the Chelsea first team. I think the best we can hope for is a second season on loan. That said I would hope Saints are exploring every avenue to at least try and secure a permanent deal however unlikely it may seem, as if you don't ask you don't get!

Your opinion, I disagree. I like what I have seen of Lyanco so far although no doubt he is prone to the odd rash moment. I feel more confident with Lyanco at the back (and Stephens) than Bednarek, who always looks scared sh1tless.

Bednarek is pretty crap imo yet seems to escape a lot of the criticism aimed at some other players on here. He is as slow as Vestegaard, Bambi on ice with the ball at his feet and poor positionally and has been the mainstay of our awful defence that has shipped so many goals over the last few years. For me he is behind Stephens and Lyanco, I guess as a fourth choice he is fine but if we were offered £15M I'd snap their hands off, I can't imagine any other PL side being interested. What we really need (probably in the summer) is a new starting quality CB to partner Salisu but as we already have 4 CBs (plus Simeu) we need to sell one first.

Salisu is our best CB, why would you leave him out? Especially as he had an enforced rest at the weekend. I would drop Bednarek who is a liability and play either Stephens or Lyanco.

Puel deserves credit for the cup run. The quarter final at Arsenal, both semis against Liverpool and the final which we should have won gave us some great memories. Unfortunately they were the exception and most of our league performances, especially at home were utterly turgid. We failed to score in our final five home games and I think only scored more than one in three of our home games. I accept that the squad had been weakened but every week felt like we were just going in to limit the opposition rather than have a go at them, similar to Rafa at Newcastle. There was no intensity, nothing to get behind, it was just desperately dull and uninspiring. I'm still baffled how we finished 8th that season.

Hearing Martin Semmens speak on Solent he is very reassuring. Maybe I'm naive but it feels like he's a good and intelligent bloke who does actually care. Very pleased he, Crocker and Steele are staying. If he feels this is good for the club then I'm on board. Whilst we could have had a much worse owner than Gao, it feels like SFC has had a millstone removed from round it's neck., but only time will tell.

Until we know more details it's hard to know if this is good or bad but I'm cautiously optimistic. One thing is for sure, we needed new ownership as we were going nowhere fast with Gao. As others have said, I really hope Semmens and Crocker are staying on.

But they are only three points from safety so you can say the same about the other clubs down there. Watford have lost 6 in a row, Burnley still only one win and Norwich are hopeless. With three or four good new signings Newcastle should be able to stay up with ease.

Since when has finishing 15th with Brighton been such a great achievement that the likes of Man Utd should come calling? I think Potter is ok but some people go way over the top with him. I mean they have just come out of an 11 game winless run in the PL. They play decent football but like many clubs in the bottom half struggle for a consistent goal scorer. In many ways they are similar to us and I certainly wouldn't be touting Ralph for the Man Utd job as much as I like him. I certainly don't buy the idea that their squad is so poor that finishing 15th is some huge achievement. I would take Bissouma, Trossard, Cucarella, Lamptey and probably Dunk, maybe 1 or 2 more. I would say their finishing positions have been around par, but if he got them into the top 8/9 then rightly bigger clubs would probably take notice.