Saint86

Yeah I know that, but he'll be a sub midway through the second half. So likely a minimal impact.

Its going to be a tough game tonight. KWP, Rom, Vest, Red, Djenpo, Bertie all out is a massive blow us and would be for most sides! Still, its games like this (where we have to trust the kids) that have turned up some great results historically - and at least we know we'll have a go and put in a performance to be proud of. I still fancy us to get a result!

And people think club debts can be cleared by selling players. We're seeing the face of football for a while to come I fear - Most clubs have accrued large debts, and their main assets have become significantly less valuable since few clubs can afford to buy. I wonder how many administrations will happen as a result of COVID, and likewise, will there be many wealthy investors queuing up to buy clubs once that happens?

Who remembers this legend 😅

Honestly, need to call their bluff and kick the big 6 out and shut the door behind them. Most of their teams exist currently because they are very big fish in small ponds. Put them in the same league, and you can only have 3-4 teams dominating. The league would naturally settle out to a similar format as the premier league. How long would fans of Tottenham or arsenal stick around when they're playing turgid football and struggling against most teams every week... Arsenal fans have booed out their last 3 managers (nearly with Arteta) despite top half finishes and silverware... Love to see them competing at the bottom of the league playing 4-5-1 against teams of world superstars 😆

Who was the guy who signed off all his posts with Love and Light (or something like that?). He seemed to have a very short stint in the sun!

Are the ITKs are keeping stum on this one? That in itself is interesting.

You're lack of faith disappoints me! He's not called Nathan "Henry" Redmond for nothing...

Yeah right, meanwhile for some of our fans, their biggest fear is only that Ings will join Tottenham...

You jest, but you have to wonder whether Chelsea will look seriously at Ralph partly because of the Werner angle. Who better to improve their misfiring striker than the manager that developed and made his reputation?

It looks like a sunday league kit to me! 😅

Having a go at Ings is very unfair IMO. The guy is a class class player, but his best years were ruined by injuries. He's got one final crack at playing at the highest level, and also has the Euros and World Cup to think about. Its just not reasonable to begrudge him that chance. All you can reasonably expect from him is that he gives his all to saints until he maybe leaves. Besides, as Ralph has said himself - if Ings is on fire until the end of the season, he may get CL football with saints next year.... 😆

I mean, i did state this when the accounts were released So, i certainly agree with going for someone like Daka. "If it comes to it, we should sell ings whilst we can and get the money in for him. Then go and get someone like Daka and be proactive. I love ings and he is a quality player. But he is starting to get old, he has injury niggles, and his value will only decrease from here on. If he wants a release clause that means he's already thinking about leaving (and no issue with that - its fair enough especially give the above points), but saints have to do what is best for us as well. By this, i mean sell him when we want strategically, not wait until an offer comes in and then potentially miss out on other players."

Sell him for £30-40m in the summer and sort out a deal to sign Daka immediately.

1. Home shirt is nice. 2. Its nice but a little too "Sweden" for me. 3. That mock up gets a run out every year ^_^

You've seen our benches recently. These days our "reserves" is basically the u23's (plus maybe Shane Long and forster). So I'm curious, do you confortably expect a starting 11 made up of our u23's and Shane long / forster to win or not? I'd personally expect something along the lines of: Forster Vokins Stephens Bednarek Valery Diallo Chauke Tella Armstrong Long N'Lundulu As a starting squad - but only if we are resting players / rotating.

If it comes to it, we should sell ings whilst we can and get the money in for him. Then go and get someone like Daka and be proactive. I love ings and he is a quality player. But he is starting to get old, he has injury niggles, and his value will only decrease from here on. If he wants a release clause that means he's already thinking about leaving (and no issue with that - its fair enough especially give the above points), but saints have to do what is best for us as well. By this, i mean sell him when we want strategically, not wait until an offer comes in and then potentially miss out on other players. Technically i'd have thought we can just restructure and service the debt / pay it down slowly? Ultimately the issue is that most clubs are going to be in serious trouble financially - and trying to raise funds whilst not spending much..... So i personally don't expect there will be much wonga sloshing around to justify transfer values like we've seen before. Or perhaps only in the cases of financially flush clubs. I'd expect to see a reduction in average transfer spend / spending trends.

Meanwhile Tottenham took out a £150m Bank of England loan with 0.5% interest 😅

Would quite happily see us continue with this season's shirts, although very doubtful that would happen. First we had the fiasco with the sponsor, and very few fans have been able to actually wear the shirt to the games.

The Shrewsbury game should be forfeited by them. Harsh as it is, their club clearly broke covid protocols and the price of that shouldn't be additional fixture congestion for saints. People looking at games in isolation. But as the number of postponed games stack up, the fixture list will be just as "intense" later in the season. And sod saints potentially missing out on Europe because of match congestion, jaded players / injuries etc. for something that wasn't our fault.

Daka to west ham, great signing.

I think we'll start to see the guilty teams forfeiting or a draw being awarded if both teams are unable to field a team. Particular clubs have taken the piss and should be punished. A lot of our fans basically advocating the Klopp protests almost a year on. No more fixture congestion 😅 https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jan/28/jurgen-klopp-unrepentant-over-decision-to-field-weakened-liverpool-side-in-fa-cup-replay-shrewsbury

And why we press and how we get chances and territory 😄

Its a really good piece on Hassenhuttle's tactics and how well drilled his teams are. To me as a relative layman, I would expect it to require a similar level of prep (as saints have) for teams to adapt their games to avoid our traps, which means they are invariably reduced to trying to defend against us and wait until we are worn down to try and get their goals. That is a huge credit to our entire set up given we don't have the biggest or most illustrious squad in football. When combined with assets like Ings and JWP, who can get you a goal from nothing, it isn't surprising (but remains impressive) to see us competing. As I was saying the other day after the west ham game. Our bad patch (with thread bare squad), has included narrow loses to in form united and city, goalless draws with west ham and fulham, and a victory over League leaders and defending champions Liverpool... People should be dreaming of a top 4 finish because we do actually have an outside chance of managing it. And top 6 is certainly a good possibility. If sky wanted to offer me 650:1 for us to finish 1st or 2nd who was i to refuse ^_^ (if you aren't going to take those odds on a season like this, then when would you?)