LuckyNumber7

Since when has booing national anthems been a fineable offence? Pretty obviously it's all part of the match day tribalism and trying to unsettle the opposition, the vast majority of songs in football are aimed at winding up the opposition, are we going to start getting fined for that too? I can understand people not wanting to do it, but getting fined for it is pathetic. If oppo fans booed our anthem I couldn't care less. In fact I'd probably join in as it's so bloody awful!

That would be disastrous imo. Redmond is not and never will be a striker, and whilst Tella looks promising he is largely unproven so far. Armstrong would be a good signing but relying on him and Adams for a whole season with such weak backup would be asking for trouble. Still think Obafemi has something about him but he could do with a season of regular football out on loan. If Ings goes we need another striker.

We may be skint but that doesn't mean we literally have zero to spend. There is still the annual TV and prize monies, crowds should be back next season plus we will sell a few more. Armstrong is being rumoured at £10-15M which should be just about within our reach. Then there's that guy from the Portuguese league we've been linked with (Ellis I think), who was being touted around £5-7M IIRC. Only the board really know what we are capable of spending and they are seemingly fine with keeping him if we don't get a decent offer. Selling now for around £20M doesn't help us a great deal imo.

But Hojbjerg was nowhere near as important to us as Ings is. Personally I wouldn't sell for any less than £30M. Get Adam Armstrong in now to have a season of bedding in and next summer when Ings goes look to bring in another young/cheapish striker. Another thing to note is I believe Liverpool have a sell-on clause so that reduces the fee we get even further.

Blimey, I can only think anyone saying Bednarek is fine starting for us didn't see us play much last season. He's an absolute plodder and should be third choice at best. I would be mildly disappointed if Vesty was sold but we've kind of been expecting it, and if it gives us some decent funds to help rebuild then so be it.

Of course it's subjective to a degree but I think most football fans would agree Villa are a bigger club than Saints. Bigger stadium, fanbase, historically more successful and as you say currently more spending power. Regardless of that it's fair to say if you take your Saints tinted specs off that they are a more attractive proposition than us atm sadly.

It's totally irrelevant what we did a few years ago. In the here and now Saints are going nowhere other than mid table at best. Villa are a bigger club than us, have genuine ambitions of challenging for Europe and he would get a decent pay rise too boot. It's very naive for people to think he would have no interest. I like JWP and hope he stays, he's an important player for us. However if we received a bid north of £50M I think we would have to seriously consider it as we could potentially do some serious rebuilding with that. Problem is I have little faith in the club to spend the money wisely.

He's fine as a backup, which is what he'll be at Leicester, but he has been in decline for a few years now and we needed better as our starting left back. Hopefully that's what we've got in Perraud. I'd have been happy to keep him as a squad option but he obviously felt he needed a change. One of those rare occasions when a move is best for all parties. He was a good servant for us and I wish him well, but not against us obviously!

Messi now a free agent. CHDAJFU?

Southgate is a crap manager but appears to have luck on his side. Such a hard watch though. Certainly similarities to Saints under Puel.

Thought the tournament started quite slowly but it's got better and better, this evening's games were unreal. Delighted the Swiss got through, great entertainment.

Haha that was funny. Wales totally lost their heads. Denmark looked very good. Gutted we didn't sign Maehle when we had the chance.

Absolutely bizarre to keep two holding midfielders on for the whole game when it was crying out for more dynamism. Don't think Phillips made a forward pass all game. Takes Foden off who had been the main threat. Southgate is way out of his depth.

The players wore BLM on their shirts, it's constantly displayed on Sky and in stadiums etc. They started taking the knee around the same time BLM were going on marches and taking the knee, whilst causing chaos in English and US cities. The players and football in general are the ones who associated themselves with BLM and are now confused how people think there is a link?! For as long as they continue (intentionally or not) to show support for BLM then fans have every right to protest that at football matches.

Ridiculous strawman argument, I don't think anyone has said racism doesn't exist at all in football or wider society, though I don't believe it's as big a problem as some make out. Just because I don't support taking the knee doesn't mean I don't find the racist abuse dished out on social media abhorrent. Taking the knee will always for many go hand in hand with BLM and their divisive politics which football chose to associate itself with a year ago. Of course I don't believe all footballers are Marxists who want to defund the police but saying you are taking the knee solely as an anti racism gesture doesn't simply remove all the toxic connotations associated with it. If the aim is peace and unity, I cannot fathom why they continue with something so divisive.

Give him a two year extension then loan him out for the season. He has the raw attributes of pace and strength but technically needs some refining. I think there's plenty of potential and room for improvement there but he needs regular football. Would be disappointed to see him leave on a free next year.

Exactly this, for all the wailing that taking the knee has nothing to do with BLM, we still have Black Lives Matter pasted across our screens every match on Sky, adorning banners in stadiums, and the players even wore it on their fkin shirts! I recall one of those England players kneeling, Tyrone Mings even attended a BLM rally. But yeah nothing to do with BLM... Seriously, the vast majority of people in this country are not racist. Replace taking the knee/black power fist with something less aggravating and drop all reference to BLM and the political baggage associated with it and most people will get on board. I would love to know what people think this is achieving, other than more division. I highly doubt footballers taking the knee is making actual racists change their views.

Think they payed £20M+ for him but he has struggled for regular play time. Plus Barca need the money. He's a good age too, would be great if we could pull this one off.

I'm definitely not happy to move forward with Bednarek, at least as a starter. He'll do as an option for squad depth but he is a major reason why our defence has been so poor for the last couple of years. Good at last ditch blocks and tackles but is far too slow and lacking in composure. If Vest leaves then we need a new right footed CB to partner Salisu as first choice.

If it's between us and West Ham then I don't fancy our chances sadly. Maybe Ronald can put in a good word for us.

Imo JWP offers more than Phillips, and taking four right backs is a joke (Prowsey can fill in there too). Feel very sorry for him, but from a selfish pov it's probably a good thing that he can now get a full summers rest after playing every minute of the last two seasons.

Bednarek has been shambolic for most of the season, he is simply not good enough like several others. I'd rather have Stephens playing which says it all. We need a massive refresh of the squad this summer but realistically it's not going to happen.

Back to back wins, nice feeling! Fulham were poor but we did what we needed to do and never really got out of second gear ourselves. Tella was a real threat after coming on and lovely moment for him. Aside from their goal Stephens was excellent and I would prefer him starting over Bednarek. With Salisu looking good Jan would be my 4th choice CB now. Hate to pick on Redmond but he really was appalling today and offers us so little. Otherwise a good day at the office. Now only three points short of Puel's total that got us 8th, been a strange old season!

I remember being quite disappointed when we originally signed him on loan as he hadn't been great at Villa, but happy to say he well and truly proved me wrong and has been a great servant for the club for seven years. Also seems like a decent bloke and quite intelligent, would like to see him return in some capacity after he retires. Undoubtedly was at his best under Koeman and has kind of been in slow decline since then but particularly the last year or so, not helped by the quality of the players around him regressing too. Therefor a parting of the ways is probably best for all concerned. Thanks for the service Ryan and good luck wherever you go next.

"We will not forget what problems we have and to try to solve them in the summer - we have a small squad and need more players." Quote from Ralph on the BBC. I think the club are well aware of what's needed. Whether we have the funds to do it is another question.