Lighthouse

You get the 50,000 antiques collectors, dog trainers or train spotters in one place and tell me not one of them is racist.

I think when most people say open they (I) mean not denying it and having a boyfriend. You don’t need a flag waving glittery parade down the Mall, just not denying yourself is all you need.

Who has experienced it though? We’ve not had an openly gay player since Fash and that was back in a time when people used to chuck bananas at John Barnes. I think it’s sad an unnecessary that players feel the need to hide it in 2020. The positive reaction would massively outweigh any homophobia if someone did come out.

The whole team was crap against Leicester, even if Valery was a stand out performer. He’s no worse than Martina, Pied, Richardson, Kenton, Targett, Fox or any of the other reserve full backs we’ve had over the years. Like it or not, he is about our level when it comes to cover in that position.

We've been here before with, "player X was racially abused on twitter." There's no point in being offended or upset. It sounds silly and easier said than done but social media is an almost borderless, unpoliced free for all, where anyone in the world can say anything to anyone else.

32 and it’s certainly getting that way when you’ve had injury problems and a lack of regular football. 2014 Lallana would obviously improve this team but he hasn’t been that player for a long while now.

Don’t know what to make of the Flack situation. I wonder if it ever occurred to her, or was suggested, to delete all her social media, drive up to Keswick and spend a week walking around the Lake District. It’s not a cure but I can’t help but feel a week away from it all, in a rural town where everyone is over 50 and never heard of her, might have given her a chance. I doubt there’s a celeb alive or dead who hasn’t been abused on twitter. If you’re going to make yourself an open goal for the whole world, you need to have a thick skin towards pretty much everything.

Not for me. Old, injured, only here for a pay cheque. Not been consistently decent for years.

I saw an interview with a female pop star a few months ago, can't remember who, I think it might have been one of Little Mix. She was talking about the online abuse she was getting from trolls, people commenting on her weight on Instagram etc. Eventually it lead her to a point where she either contemplated or attempted suicide. Her friends and family helped her pull through and things started to improve when one of them suggested she delete her Instagram and Twitter accounts. Not wishing to downplay any of the abuse she received but I find it utterly astonishing that some celebs would choose to commit suicide, rather than delete their social media accounts.

All set up for one of those 'glorious European nights at Anfield', where Athleti take the lead and Liverpool need three goals to go through. It's all looking hopeless with 5 minutes to go, when they make it 2-2 on aggregate then pull off a sensational winner in the last minute of injury time.

You don’t want to face the wrath of his bunghole.

I wouldn't sign him but I would bring him back and just let his loose, sort of feral around the city.

Because they're used to playing there. They know the surface, the grass length, water it how they like, the dressing room, the sun direction etc. Yes, having a passionate stand of continental ultras would give them a small boost but in no way does that account for the four years of sh*te we've had to watch.

This site has ruined a lot of things in real life for me. Breaking Bad, the Ottoman Empire, Bruce Wayne, salt-water molluscs...

Any professional worth his salt should be able to turn up and perform in an empty stadium. A passionate crowd can sometimes give a team that extra lift, 1% extra when a do or die game is going down to the wire. However, nothing the fans at St Mary's have done (or not done) over the past four seasons is any excuse at all for some of the abject, pathetic non-performances the team has put in. Any player who says otherwise needs to shut up and take a good hard look at his own attitude. Players are all to quick to dismiss the fan base when it comes to going on strike, refusing to play and demanding a big money move elsewhere etc. So for some of them to turn around and pretend they care about our supposed lack of support would be taking the p*ss.

Okay, we’re safe to the extent that an absolutely pitiful run of form, akin to our first 12 games - losing every home fixture, with the 9-0 included - will keep us up. We might lose against Villa, we might lose our next three. We won’t lose our last 12.

Superb batting from both teams. 222 looked a decent target but the last two overs were fairly comfortable.

Won the cricket too, not a bad 10 minutes that.

My point is that even if we've got 100 players of the wage bill in the last 2 years, we're still too heavy by 1 'keeper, 1 CB, 1 AM and 1 ST.

Yet we're still forking out wages for: 3 goalkeepers 2 RB 5 CB 1 LB 4 CM 5 AM 5 ST That's not including the likes of Sims, Vokins or Slattery or the payoffs we'd have had to give Austin and Clasie to get rid of them a year early.

Nonsense, Saints are little different to any other Premier League fans. Complete silence never stopped Arsenal from winning trophies. We're hardly Galatasaray but Austin is just trolling. When you're paid the average man's annual salary every 3 days I think you can put of effort in, even in an empty stadium.

Obviously not but you're assuming we won't have any more money to spend, which we might if we can shift a couple of players. For example you might be able to sell a £300k house and afford a £400k house. What you can't afford to do is keep the first one and have both.

We would obviously have to spend more than JUST what we'd save on Long's wages but hopefully we do have a bit to spend on transfer fees. It's our massive wage bill we're trying to trim down. We're not going to bringing in anyone special with just the money we've saved on Yoshida and Cedric.

Fair point on the 'Dinlos' remarks, Casey give it a rest. Back on topic, to answer this bit; no we probably can't... because we've got players like Long on the books. I can't see his agent accepting much of a pay cut, so where does that leave us? Two up front, so room for four strikers on the wage bill. Ings, Adams, MO and Long - There full up already, no space for anyone else. If we want to bring in a striker, someone else has got to go. Long was the obvious answer; high wages, 33 years old, limited talent. All reasons to let him go but apparently we aren't. Exactly. If the owners want to run a tight financial ship, as they obviously do, it means letting players go when we can to bring in new ones. As it is we'll probably be stuck with a similar squad again next season and achieve similar results.