Lighthouse

I think our problems run deeper than that and TBH Targett never really looked good enough. He'd be a bit better than Danso or Hoj but still a very limited, Championship level player IMO. Valery was a better player last year and look how poor he has been.

I would rather have a goal scorer than a reserve LB and if we genuinely are that tight I think selling Targett to buy Adams was a sensible choice. There are two obvious problems with that: 1) So far Adams hasn't been a goal scorer 2) Good grief, are we really that tight for cash. I still think we made the right call on that and that Adams will come good eventually. Supposing Ings' injury problems continued, would you really want to go through most of a season with Long/Obafemi up front?

I remember when he got sacked by Chelsea, not long after we won at Stamford Bridge. When interviewed about the match he insisted the ref. had cost them the game by not giving a penalty (which replays later showed was dubious at best). When asked about two more blatant penalties not given to Saints he just said, "I'm not going to talk about that" and stormed off. He comes across as a delusional narcissist and I can't see him as anything other than a massive downgrade on Poch.

I know that, I was referring specifically to his time at Newcastle. About five years, same as Poch. Didn’t win anything but got them playing some brilliant stuff and CL regulars. Anyway, all down to opinions. Personally I’d call him a great manager, trophy or not.

Why is that different though? Poch’s team is only as good as the resources he has available and I’d say he has got the absolute maximum out of that squad. I have no doubt he’d have won the league comfortably with those early 00s United and Arsenal squads, later 00s Chelsea or modern day City. I’m trying to think of other managers. Sir Bobby never won anything at the Toon and they built a statue of him, probably a reasonable shout.

Spent f**k all compared to the other top 6 and even Everton. Despite this he achieves: - 4 consecutive CL qualifications (what the shareholders are really bothered about) - CL final - 1 domestic cup final - 3 domestic S/F Wow. Just wow, Levy is off his trolley.

He was on a train to Charlton once (packed with Saints fans), when we went there in League 1. Couldn't figure out why everyone was suddenly singing swing Lowe until I overheard someone explain on the way to the ground.

We used to play on the AstroTurf at Fleming Park every Sunday night. That was yonks ago now, probably c.2007-08.

I've met a few people from here and generally found them quiet agreeable in real life. Even the people I thought were idiots on t'internet. I think the anonymity of a forum tends to dehumanise people's attitudes towards each other and make them say things their social filter would usually block out in a face to face scenario. Plus a lot of what is written down loses it's nuance and may come across badly.

Are the paper clappers still there? I’ve not actually been to SMS this season but if they are it’s the most ridiculous environmental f*ck you I can think of. I’ll bet they just go straight to landfill in the other plastic bags full of rubbish. We’re about ten years behind the times with Dyson hand driers too.

I’ve just about had enough of you and your elk.

No doubt things have been said within the privacy of the dressing room etc. but having them in the public domain serves no purpose other than to satisfy the morbid curiosity of the fans and media. It's like posting step-by-step updates of your divorce on Facebook. Sure, your nosy friends will want to know and no doubt there is plenty to be said but not there for everyone to see.

My personal favourite is women who take selfies from arms length, two feet above their head; breathing in and leaning forwards. I know every time I see them I think, "wow, there's a normal sized/slim women with big boobs, she must have an amazing body!"

It depends how you define worse. I doubt we'll be losing 1-5 at home every week in the Championship, like we are now but I'd imagine we'd be solidly in the bottom half. I wouldn't get your hopes up about signing anyone particularly exciting either. Again with the buzzwords though. What does 'back to basics mean'? Play 4-4-2, with Big Sam in charge? What are you actually, specifically suggesting we should do, which is both feasible and affordable.

That depends on who you mean by me. Me the average fan - Nothing I can do. It's a simple choice of pay your money and watch or don't. Personally, I choose not to at the moment as attending is such an utterly joyless waste of money. Neither choice will have any bearing on how the club is run as even a drop in attendance of a few of thousand is like a pea in a Vindaloo compared to the TV money. Me if I was the manager - There are things we can do differently to Ralph but none of them will make us all that better. At 2pm every Saturday I look at the line-up and think 'Christ that's terrible'. Then I think for a second and there really isn't that much I'd change with what's available. Me the DoF - I don't think there's much we can do short term and I wouldn't panic buy in January, wasting what money we might have in summer. The coaching team needs changing. Kelvin and Jaidi are the obvious scapegoats but it feels too much like jobs for the boys. We need to take our time and find the right people, even if it takes us until summer to find them. I don't care if they grew up in St Denys or St Petersburg, it's not relevant. Marcus, Adkins, Pelle, Tadic, Koeman (plural) ... all had no connection to the city and gave us some of our best years ever. As for the players, there is no way out of that. We're stuck with them until such time that their contracts expire or they get an equal or better offer elsewhere. 'Having a clear out', 'clear the deadwood', 'trimming down the squad' etc. are just football forum buzzwords. The best we can do is try and loan them out so that someone else can temporarily pay a percentage of their wages. Summer will largely depend on who has relegation clauses in their contract and who is willing to take a pay cut to pay abroad because they don't want to play tier two football. Me if I was Gao - Well, I can't invest if I haven't got a pot to p*ss in. The PL really shouldn't have sanctioned the takeover in the first place but I guess that horse has long bolted. I can either sell and probably make a significant loss but then maybe the money I do make will be away from China and free from state interference. Or I can hang on to the club, having to put what money I do have in to balance the books, or borrowing and running up debt, in the hope that I will again have a PL asset in a couple of years. In short, there is neither a good nor fast way out of this, things are going to get worse before they get better. My post wasn't meant as a personal attack but your friends post is too much of a romantic fantasy about football. PL football is purely business now, like it or not.

It all sounds nice but really it's just a bunch of football cliche's and easy answers which we're either doing already or just aren't feasible. Accept relegation - In what way? Forfeit every game for the rest of the season? Plan for the Championship - I'd be amazed if that hasn't been a contingency since the day we got promoted. Get rid of who we can - Already done that. Nobody will want to cancel a big, juicy contract; most of them are out on loan. Bring in experienced pros, with leadership - Easier said than done. We have no money for anyone good enough with those qualities. Hungry, local youth - We've done that with JWP and like it or not he's the best we've got from around here. Too many clipboards - I don't know what this actually means specifically. Sports science is a vital part of any squad. We are just a commodity to generate income - So is everyone in the PL. Some owners are just better/richer than others. The owners of Liverpool and City didn't buy them because they love the cities. Find an owner who knows the area - I think Rupert Lowe did that pretty well and look how all of that turned out.

Which other CB would you say is obviously better?

A boxing match between two of these Youtube/Vlogger types apparently being major sports news.

That’s what I was going with, their form/fitness in these particular years. For e.g. I’d have Mk.1 Bertrand in the side but not Bertrand 6S, which has a cracked screen and doesn’t support iOS3.5.2.4.1. For 2005 FF read 2019 Lemina Djenepo maybe but he’s not proven himself yet. Phillips/Ings/Camara is umpires call (I eventually went with Ings for his goals) and probably the only genuinely pleasant dilemma in that whole team. Redknapp and Oakley can take it in turns to be fit for 60 minutes. 2005 Claus was one of the worst displays I’ve seen over a season from any saints player, let alone captain. Full of mistakes, bottled it when the going got tough.

Go on then...

Sparta Prague at home, after that I thought we’d stroll that group, along with Inter. The second halves against Wolves and Spurs were decent last year.

When you say coaching, I do wonder if Ralph and the coaches are on the same page. I know it’s fashionable to pick on Kelvin right now but it would be an astonishing coincidence if Ralph’s ideal coaching team included a man who just happened to be our goalkeeper in 2006. I’d ask Ralph who he wants helping him, then go out and get them. Basic positioning, concentration and defensive drills has got to be worth as much to our squad as a £30m signing.

Combined team, assuming we’re trying to make it good. Niemi Telfer - Yoshida - Vest - Le Saux Oakley - Romeu - Prutton - - - - - Svensson - - - Crouch - - Ings Bench: McC, Higgy, Cédric, McQ, Redmond, Camara, Phillips Good grief was I struggling at CB.

At least we've signed a striker.