Lighthouse

Bertrand again, just static. No threat down that side at all.

That’s why I wouldn’t be giving Bertrand a new deal. Should have been steaming down to the touch line there but plays a half-arsed cross from 25 yards infield instead.

That’s not a foul.

Slowly and sideways, I assume?

I’d guess so.

Well in that case we’ve got Lemina as our fourth choice CM this season, so we aren’t a player short.

What would you say was his best performance for us last year?

Hammond never even made the match day squad in the Premier League, he was loaned out to Brighton in the summer transfer window after JWP had started one League game, against Man City. Morgan, Cork, Davis and 17 year old JWP (who’d never played a league game before) were our options that year. We quite clearly didn’t lose two in summer either, Reed was never here, he spent the whole of last season at Fulham. We sold Hojbjerg and bought Diallo, it was a straight forward one in - one out.

Yes, eventually. I can’t think of a single academy player who’s spent his whole career being backup at Saints. Of course it’ll cost more than £13m to find a player of the same standard, he’s had 1.5 years of consistent football and has improved significantly.

I don’t see any sense in that, why would Boris be scared of a small minority of illegal immigrants, who can’t even vote. Also, this isn’t a large number of BAME being anti-vaxxers, it’s a large number of anti-vaxxers being BAME, which is completely different. Vaccine passports won’t be seen as racist and I think anyone who tried to argue that was the case would be widely disregarded.

I don't see that really being an issue. If the government meets their target of having everyone offered the vaccine by the end of July, it's not going to be an issue for very long, if most stuff doesn't restart until mid May anyway. I can't see anything wrong with your second paragraph personally. It's not even a nod and a wink, simply a basic fact of life that if you make stupid decisions, you have to live with the consequences. I hope that 'Plimlico plank' sticks to his guns. If I was a restaurant manager and someone came to me asking for a job, who didn't believe in washing his hands after taking a dump, I'd send them packing.

How in the blue frig is that NOT a penalty but Bertrand’s against Wolves is?!

Part of our philosophy is giving young players a chance. Players like Jankewitz are never going to get a game if they’re fifth choice behind a bunch of senior players. Our current CM situation is no different to when we first came up and JWP was one of our options, or a couple of years later when Reed made a few appearances, or Stephens playing when Fonte/VVD were injured, or N’Lundulu/Obafemi being forth choice striker.

Ooosh! That finish.

It wasn’t just that though. The season started with a pretty drab 1-1 with Watford, our only goal coming from a corner. Then there was a trip to OT, which I’d never expect anything from other than maximum commitment. We didn’t even get that though, it was like a training match and we were quite happy to give them a gentle 2-0 win and keep the score respectable. Third game was Sunderland, another mediocre team at home who we rarely threatened until a Pickford howler five minutes from the end. Then there was the European campaign, which started well against Praha but after that a couple of Virgil goals from set pieces were all we managed in the other 5 games.

We have two players injured in the same position, what else would you except? We may lack quality in depth overall but not in CM.

At this rate, the 9-0 is on.

One could assume they’re two points ahead of us in the league and their remaining games are Home - Spurs, Man City, Leeds, Wolves Away - Liverpool, Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Villa

Why? It’s not like you’re actively contributing to their demise. Betting on Saints to go down this season is just a very generous donation to a bookmaker but if people want to do it, that’s fine by me.

Because he has left and forged a decent career as a first team player at Villa. Chelsea fans probably thought the same about Bertrand when we signed him and he started putting in consistently excellent performances. Likewise Spurs fans are probably moaning about KWP being so good for us this season. At some point a young player has to move on for his own career and start playing regular football. Not play reserve football for years and wait for someone better to get injured.

My main gripe about Puel was that we were just awful to watch at home. We had three decent League performances, the rest was dross. In the other 16 we scored 8 goals, only 4 from open play and one of them was a goalkeeping howler. I don’t hate him by any stretch but after failing to score in (I think) 6 of our final 7 home games and playing for a 0-0 against teams like Bournemouth, Be’er Sheva and Hull, I think we were right to bid him au revoir.

Imagine if he had allowed the goal after blowing his whistle. If I were a West Brom player, after that I'd have just ignored any whistle and played on, then said, "well, last time you played on after the whistle so..." It would have been childish but would have underlined the absolute prat he made of himself.

He wanted first team football, we got a decent fee for an academy player who wasn’t getting first team football. He wouldn’t have developed like he has at Villa if he’d stayed. Seems to me like all three parties were a winner here, no need to put a negative slant on it. Besides, I don’t think he’s anything astonishing.

The people who watch them every day in training clearly think otherwise. Valery and Vokins were thought of as two of the better options and yet the former especially has looked like a fish up a tree for many of his first team appearances. Throwing kids in to see if they’re good enough will just end up with more Jamie Whites and Olly Lancashires.

I actually want to see it. Just having the boot on the other foot and the big teams moaning about City outspending them.