Saint86

Che bulling everyone 😇😂 Loving these Chelsea tears at halftime. Hope we see more. Thought we'd get tired, but actually we seem to be out lasting Chelsea. They're still very dangerous in around the box with their quick passing and movement meaning they'll always be a threat. Be interesting to see what we do here. Think we have to keep going as we are. Cannot afford another slow start after halftime.

Great to see this still going 👍

🤣😂

If the kids stays injury free he is going to be a top top centre back. I'd struggle to think of a better CB performance at this level from someone as young as that. Certainly at saints. Isn't he 19 or 20?

Ditto he'd absolutely tear it up in MLS... earn a fair whack as well.

Are we really selling our best CAM (after Aribo)? Struggle to believe that's true.

Wednesday at home then... take that. A lot of prem teams playing each other in that draw, and one of city/Chelsea going out. Could open up nicely for another cup run.

I wouldn't be too concerned with the current squad's quality going into the season. Any further strengthening is a bonus though ofc. We do need to shift some of the extra players however.

That's fine, i am content for you to criticise Lighthouse and get the message across 😙 Looks like the vote options have been updated midway through voting?

O Yup - but not an option 😒

There are better ways to go about asking for things like this tbh. Also, your vote didn't offer a combined build up and match thread, with a seperate reaction thread.... Dissapointing from you imo 🤔, especially as that would be a logical enough approach and my preference (if we were having seperate threads 😒) - this is just another sham democracy in which the people are not actually represented 😪. Back to the point - united are there for the taking and our confidence should be up.... I actually think it favours us that they beat Liverpool as we would certainly have got a crisis reaction otherwise... But they also have a good record against us and always seem to turn up at SMS lately. I would like to see us go at them, not let them settle, and get at least an early goal - keep them on the back foot and hopefully they'll disintegrate again - vociferous fan support required. Reckon we'll get a 2-1, but knowing us a 2-2 is just as likely. I don't think we should be losing this.

Yeah true, I feel like we're probably playing them a game or two to late in all seriousness. They're going to have to sort themselves out soon, and it's basically unthinkable that they'll lose their first 4 surely? It feels like it's been a while since we beat them at home though, would be a nice win to get and one that should really give the players and Ralph a big confidence boost after the negativity and pressure that's built up lately.

Tbh I don't know how anyone can sit here and say Leeds are poor? They've done great business and have been tactically very effective under Marsch - feel like he is very underated purely because he's an American? They were going down last year before he arrived, and he's come in, changed out key players, and built a very dangerous and workman like team. Great result against Chelsea as well yesterday. It was a good point for us all things considered.

Another quote from senior management effectivley calling on our fans to be patient and keep showing support. Been stressed a number of times now.... I hope they've not been checking saintsweb 🤣

By the time you've gone past Greece, it's less a saga and more an Epic 😌. - MLG mode deactivated

The officials had an awful game in spurs Chelsea. Both spurs goals should never really have happened with decent refereeing. It's hard to blame Taylor when you've an absolute imbecile (best case) like Mike dean behind the cameras and in your ear.

Gutted to be losing bednarek, he's been a rock at the heart of our defence for ages now. I think we've all known sales were inevitable, but to be losing one of our most experienced players to a direct rival like villa feels like a bitter pill to swallow. Imagine he'll do well there, he's fast, powerful, good in the air and an expert judge when it comes to the tackle / interception. Will leave a big hole to fill!

There is no scenario where i want to see Jan Vertonghen playing left wing back for saints. Talk of this is just mental to me.... can you even imagine him running up and down the wing? Let alone continuously...

hah, he is you're right!!! In that case i like him even more 😅

What I think they're doing is a decent strategy but carries risk. They look to be investing somewhere in the region of £60M-£100M this window (subject to remaining transfer business). That's going to be a loss on our books in our 3 year accounting window for FFP. But that investment is almost entirely into good value players that we can develop to a level / value that exceeds what we paid for them. They then either contribute to the team, or, the ones that we sell generate increased revenues which can be used to pay off debts / and reinvest, and also boosts our limits under FFP at that given future date. A cycle which we can then hopefully repeat (aka Brentford). These players will all likely have lower wages (than equivalent standard players) for most of their time here as well. The obvious risk is they don't develop as expected and we don't end up with a first team of either good quality players or players that we can sell for profit - at which point we'll be treading water without further investment. I suppose the worst case beyond that is that we get relegated and/or they don't develop to the required level and we need to strengthen to survive and sell them at a loss - but i think that is unlikely.

Looks like a pacey and reasonably well built striker that can finish well with decent composure and is good with his head. Likes a scissor kick. Edited - he's a lot taller than i thought he was 😎

I don't think you'll get accused of bed wetting, one fit full back and 1 point in August are both reasonably possible, albeit I think slightly unlikely/conservative given I reckon we'll pick up points out of Leicester / United, perraud is surely back soon, and we'll hopefully address any residual squad depth issues at fullback. Also don't forget Tino is in training so hopefully back by the end of the year.

Yup. Gabbi is green, whilst Austin is red... yet Austin cost a lot less and scored more goals Whilst Gabbi got loaned out when we couldn't sell him. Too early to put Salisu in the green column, he missed his entire first season basically, and hasn't yet played 1 season's worth of matches for us. Within that he's shown great promise and some spectacular errors. So amber for me, but i think he'll be green by the end of this season. Bednarek is a in amber is probably about right given what we paid for him and how he's become a mainstay Centre back.

I'd take both Diaz and Pukki at the right price 😅

Was DS a pompey fan??? I guess that would make some sense retrospectively - i always felt he had no real passion for writing about the club, and he also published a couple of less favourable articles (not least when he wrote about us feigning injuries for tactical / recharge breaks). But he also had a tough act to follow (in Anka), as I think he is a quality sports journalist. At any rate, I've really enjoyed Jacobs writing since he took over from Dan - there has been some very good reads from him lately, in particular some tactical breakdowns on individual players and a couple of good interviews/pieces on club strategy. The Echo has also stepped up its coverage as well, although not to the same level.