Saint86

I remember their new owners saying some fairly detrimental things about Southampton FC when they took over, so frankly i hope we go their and slaughter them. Those same owners have shown themselves to be absolute imbeciles in recent weeks their are lots of reports saying the club is now swimming in debt after the leveraged takeover, and they've set about sacking the majority of the backroom staff that have built the club over the years. The dyche sacking has also driven a wedge between them and the fans. Glad we didn't get them as owners, and i personally think they're going to fully implode over the next couple of seasons unless they make a very good appointment.

Dortmund set the release clause though! Its a huge wedge of money for them ultimately, should be interesting to see how they spend it and what it does for their competitiveness in the Bundesliga.

I'd be very surprised if city let Delap go out with an option to buy!

There is absolutely no way i could go near fratton without a giant wedge of benali stickers to leave in my wake.

When you consider villa and Everton signed Gerrard and lampard respectively, you have to think surely they'd have been better off with the proven quality that is dyche?

Not really been following the keeper contract situation. Where exactly do we stand with them both? On recent evidence, forster is getting back to his best - so I would be looking to keep him myself.

Sounds like Bednarek's days are numbered, which is backed up by his attitude/performances recently, as well as Ralph's comments? Salisu i think is the player we might sell. He hasn't signed a new deal so his transfer value will only drop, he's ultimately replaceable (i'd argue JWP nad KWP aren't) and he's rumoured to be in demand. So could well be 2 new CB's required - but equally with money available to get them. Similarly, Djenpo and Redmond seemingly being moved on. And I still do not understand what is going on with Forster and Macca. Seems to me that we should be keeping Forster. But if we aren't doing that we need a solid #1 keeper. And finally, we'll be signing another CF this summer as Broja is clearly on his way.

There were times with Forster under Koeman when he was superb. Didn't we set (or get near) a new record for clean sheets or something? Then he had that knee injury (dislocated patella?) and he never quite got back there.

Stuck with us in the darkest days, and saved our promotion push that night. On the banner surely?

To each their own, but for me Carl Anka's work was routinely some of the best football journalism i've read in recent years. He wasn't just "quirky", and I'd argue having a "bigger voice" in journalism is a sign of ability. But anyway, given he wasn't a saints fan and he was very good - i think we were lucky to have him. You may not and that's personal preference. Although, the praise and benchmarking people do against Carl is a sentiment that gets echoed on here, and you'll also see it on the Athletic comments on the odd occasion he covers a saints story. If the Daily echo has stepped up to offer that kind of work as well then that can only be a good thing. Bring on the spoiling 😁.

Lovren over fonte as well 🤣

Yeah sorely missed is Carl, think we were spoilt when he was covering us. If the echo are turning out stuff like that then I'll start giving it a read again.

Just taking the statistical analysis, xG is a average statistical view. You can't really argue with the xG stat for the game since it's based on a significant amount of statistical data - but Chelsea are a top team with great finishers generally - so they should over perform it. Equally forster can still make several great saves from good finishes (that overperform xG) and still let in more than is predicted by the stats. Chelsea were on it, so was forster. Given the domination they enjoyed they could easily have had more.

Nah mate, it's Ralph's fault we're not challenging for Europe. Shit manager init. Nothing to do with impatient fans wanting him gone.

Good post, sums it up well. Sometimes it feels like the ones who want him sacked live in some alternative world where this squad should comfortably be mid table and challenging for Europe. No. Just wish some fans could get a dose of perspective and apreciate that their frustration at saints' progress might well stem from under investment, not this manager. Chances are whoever we replaced him with wouldn't get as much out of the squad nor be as loyal. Give him another season or 2 with the upwards trend on squad quality and see where we are. And besides any of that, his job is pretty damn safe post takeover, so no point getting to worked up about it.

Backed for 3-4 seasons? Your having a laugh mate and enbarrssing yourself, our place in the net spend table doesn't lie! 🤣🤣🤣 And how the hell can you say we haven't improved?! Jesus, but talk about a biased outlook... We were utter dog when he took over, it's a miracle we are still in the league given the players he's had and what he's had to shift / spend. We don't have a good squad even now. It's improved but it's a work in progress. Losing to the European and world champions who were clearly due a reaction is not the biggest deal in the world. The sack Ralph brigade are on par with the lot that were never happy prior to relegation, that wanted sturrock over hoddle etc... and look how that turned out. Unless there is a clear upgrade available you keep Ralph as its proven he'll keep us in the league, he wants to be here, and he'll work with what he's got to improve the squad and finances over the long term.

Any decent streaming sites left?

Think its not at all surprising given its vs Chelsea. Tino should have a lot of motivation going into this one...

If that rumour is true, then i am surprised he wants to be back up to a golden glove winner with many more years ahead of him. We need a keeper with the ability, ambition, and mentality to become a good premier league no.1. We don't want another backup level keeper - and Johnstone would be kissing his england hopes good bye with that kind of role.

I don't personally have an issue with what MLT puts on twitter because he should be allowed to put whatever he wants on twitter. Its fundamental to protecting free speech and the society we live in, but equally it doesn't mean people have to agree with him. What MLT can't do is expect to put stuff out there that clearly conflicts with his role as an ambassador for the club or his employment requirements. And specifically in this instance, i think basically everyone would agree he's a fool for commenting on war crimes with anything other than condemnation. Fundamentally though, his opinions shouldn't impact on what he's done for the club and city historically, nor the joy he's given to the fans. Its a shame for people that can't differentiate between his career as a sportsman and his takes on world events... Although I'd query why anyone would attach any particular credence to a footballer's personal opinions (or any other celebrity for that matter) on fields other than their profession.

It would be interesting to see, but by the time he surpasses beckham i'd image it will be with significantly more games (so assume more freekicks) - albeit in a worse team.

That video title is incorrect 😆

Attended a very interesting lecture on this recently. To paraphrase a global energy director from a leading global energy and construction consultancy: To provide 3 days of power (excluding personal/commercial transport) for a city the size of Tokyo would require approx. a decade of the current global battery production. That in turn requires colossal environmental damage to largely untouched ecosystems to mine the raw resources, land area and new power generation to produce the batteries, and ofc the batteries themselves contain a not insignificant proportion of fundamentally toxic waste that is non recyclable. Plus, about 70% of the world's cobalt comes from child slave labour in the Congo. They wrapped up by terming the current drive for batteries as the next big environmental disaster. Their verdict was that we should be pursuing life extension on existing plants, securing a reliable baseline supply (nuclear being a reasonable part of that), carbon capture where possible, and basically everything we can to push towards a hydrogen economy as soon as possible. In short, said person was not a fan of the current direction of global energy strategies and particularly battery dependence. But I guess its a case of "batteries" are where the money is now, so that is the way it will go. Some people will get very rich, and some people will get tremendous self worth out of their Tesla's etc. And the problems will be pushed down the road for the next generation.

#Facts (before MLG tries to garotte 😨 me, i mean this in relation to your first sentence). I also agree with your opinion as expressed in sentence No.2 😙.

He is a world class player on his day - but he's been stuck in a toxic environment with Madrid fans for years. He delivers for Wales time after time as well as on the biggest stages of all in continental and Spanish football. Its clear he only players when he really wants these days, but if Saints could afford to get him for a couple of years (and he wanted to be here) we'd be mental not to.