Saint86

Well we definitely got away with one tonight imo, not that it had any bearing.

Leicester will be licking their lips.

On the basis that it would involve beating city (chasing the quadruple) in a Wembley cup final, i think no saints fan should be under any illusions just how slim our chances of winning the cup are. For that reason alone i fully concur. It would be a 10/10 season. Given the insane wealth and squad disparity between our two clubs, it would be an equal achievement with 1976 for me.

Yup. 3 of those goals you'd think he could have done better for as well ^_^

Surely Saints fans put that up just to embarrass Portsmouth?!?! I mean, its just too bad to comprehend otherwise. Imagine celebrating one of your rivals most successful periods in modern history, and simultaneously your own relegation and worst period.

Yes, he could certainly be a role model for Harry and Megain.

I wouldn't bin of VAR as some are calling for. Any saints fan who says this should be shot imo - you only have to think about incidents like the Docoure handball, Charlie's Park life rant, or Gabbi's Cup Final hattrick.... There is no way you get rid of VAR tO go back to stuff like that 😱 But the whole thing is very arbitrary so whilst the article you shared is interesting, I also agree that it is quite flawed. Just for example take the Chelsea 3-3 game - neither Werner's handball, nor the offside assist were even reviewed by VAR. Other incidents are numerous this season - even simple things like the Leicester game's opening goal, which was a clear and blatant foul in the build up. And like you've said, vs Villa we were stitched (to the tune of a net 3 goal swing imo), and the Wolves penalty decisions were a farce. Leeds is another good example, and even the United game (where i accept it would have made little material difference) with the offside and red card / penalty etc. (Also, did anyone see the ridiculous penalty united were awarded last night vs Granada?!?!) To surmise - I reject utterly the notion that saints come out anywhere near "neutral" on refereeing decisions this season. 😅 I would be very interested to see a breakdown per game of major refereeing decisions for/against. Maybe next season we keep one (similar to the match prep time thread).

Stuart Armstrong is easily one of our best players these days.

That isn't a basis for calling it BS 😅. That is like saying that players have no ambition to move to a higher level, increase their pay packets, challenge for trophies..

Have you heard anything as to why bertie is off? I find that one strange given all the noises of giving him a position upstairs when he retired. Also means we have to buy 2 full backs this summer. One to replace him, and one for cover? Or is Ralph still keen on vokins and Valery?

Vestergard, bertrand, and ings are likely all going this summer. Might get away with just 2 of the 3.

When someone has one of these retro kits, could you give an update on the quality - particularly the logos. Agree they look quality, but not interested in spending £55 on a shirt that the logos will fall off of after a couple of washes.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-9447519/Tottenham-identify-Southampton-defender-Jannik-Vestergaard-key-summer-transfer-target.html#comments A story as old as time. Saints let a good player's contract run down, Levy gets a whiff, the tapping commences, and...

I find myself distrustful of what looks like poorly stuck on logos and club crest 🙃

Don't disagree with you. We need an owner prepared to invest under that situation regardless, that or a very canny transfer window (or 2-3). As fun as it will be, this season has shown that we simply do not have enough squad depth!

I thought the intention was to shift the adjacent season dates around to create a break for the QATAR world cup? I.e. the euros will enforce a late start to next season (plus player breaks). Then The world cup requires a minimum 6 week pause for November and December 2022 - something that will force the start of that season to come forward into summer. All of which means that next season is going to go ahead with minimal breaks for players over the summer and then a more congested season. In short, this season's fixture congestion is going to look mild in comparison to next season's... and some players will be jaded before they start.

The worry is that next year will be another condensed season sandwiched between the euros and world cup. Also, lets not kid ourselves, COVID measures will be back in full force come autumn/winter and we'll have limited access to training and rehabilitation facilities. All of that coupled with a small squad, contracts expiring, and dogshit financials... Will he have an even weaker squad to work with?

Legend. Bring back the banner and get him on it!

Saints are fucked financially. This is a former top player with loads of experience and a real love for the club. He's also been prepared to take a wage cut to come here. He's also offered a lot of attacking threat when in the team. On top of all that, there is certainly potential for him to have an impact behind the scenes in the future. Provided the wages and contract length are sensible, its an absolute no brainer. Who else are we going to sign on a free (or not) with comparable wages and ability? We should be extending Bertrand's contract as well.

I'd say thats a fair summation.

Dan Sheldon was poached from the Echo though right? So i guess he's stepped up? But sadly he is still quite limited.

It's not stark though, its an incredibly narrow view to take if anything, and it assumes that preperation time is the main thing that may be effecting that run of results. Just speaking objectively, the reality is that generally the games we've had more preperation time and won also occurred at times of less fixture congestion and greater sqaud availability / less injuries. Prep time is important, but what's more important is not having the spine of an already small sqaud out injured for weeks on end - at a time with heavy fixture congestion and limited recovery time for the players who were fit. Yeah, lack of prep time doesn't help, but i don't see it as the governing factor in that scenario.

Looks like theo is staying!

You saw our first 30min right. Great preparation in action 🙄 But whilst I agree prep time is a factor for our small squad, a lot of the players have been away on international duty so I wouldn't consider this as a game with lots of prep time.

Its a shame, in order to save the squad this summer i think we need something in place ASAP. As it is, we're going to be losing Vesty and Ings on the cheap (both of which will need replacing), as well as needing someone to fill the theo/minamino/long shaped hole (which will be a separate net spend event), possibly bertrand as well - not to mention that we have no full back cover.... That's a lot of quality churn for a club with huge debt and ongoing monthly losses. On the face of it, there is no way we should expect to be doing anything but reducing squad quality across the pitch as it stands 😭. And next season will be even more condensed that this year, what the Euros and altered season for the QATAR world cup.