Daft Kerplunk

Very talented player. Would be a very interesting addition to our young team.

The transition from midfield to forwards has been a consistent problem since the Koeman days. The pace and power we’ve added in between should help Adams, Armstrong, Mara, Ballard and Dibling if he’s promoted to the first team squad. The goal is surely to stay up more comfortably and then move on a little next summer before we lose a few players in 2024, and then locate the next batch of players. A continued upward trajectory will be important in attracting the best young players.

8.5/10 window if we don’t sign a striker/centre forward/false 9/10 killer combo player, and because we didn’t shift Redmond and Walcott. 9.5 if we still get the above miracle player. Some very exciting signings for a club like us, although they will no doubt have their ups and downs due to their young age, and that they’ve largely gone unnoticed by the national media, who’ll continue to be shocked because they can’t see very far beyond the more media popular teams and thus have a limited understanding of football. Better coaching and support for Ralph seems to be in place. We should be able to avoid relegation.

If he doesn’t sign, then there was no way we were actually interested in signing him. All media speculation and the club knew all along that nothing about this deal was true, or they would have told us.

Nathan Tella was signed from Arsenal if I remember correctly

None of this is true as Saints do everything totally behind the scenes. No rumours. Nothing. or…

Different to VVD but has the tools to be a top top player. Enjoy him whilst he’s here. Same goes for Lavia and Bazunu too.

Superb fight there, excellent win

Sky also have a betting company that they need to help so the more shit information, the better. Keeps up the fan drama as well

That was a heck of a saga

Add to Semmens and Steele the two of David Thomas and Tim Greenwell and you have a frightening mix of people who don’t have a clue about football fans, and football fan behaviour. From speaking to people at the club, Thomas and Greenwell are bellends of the highest order. When it comes to the issues on this thread, these two are the first port of call for the idiocy. I have heard that if these two were no longer employed by the club, few tears would be shed as not only are they dicks, but they also aren’t very good good at what they do and don’t like having informed and good people around them, preferring yes men and women. As evidenced by a club’s commercial department making it easy for away fans to buy tickets in home sections, and then a stadium rule being broken by the director of risk and legal allowing it.

You need to add: information will also be ‘leaked’ by the (any) club for its own purposes when useful to do so.

Go back far enough and you’ll see I’ve long advocated some better coaches alongside Ralph who could properly support him, and not let him get in the way of himself. It appears it may be working.

Hopefully Selles and the new coaching team continue to balance things against the flapping, over-complication and falling out with players.

Club plants

Has he signed yet?

Ralph listening to a coach who has the balls to say something is positive.

It seems like the true character of Semmens was shining through tonight. Maybe he is under more pressure now, and he thought he’d got away with it like he did when he engineered the Gao takeover.

He definitely is.

Unfortunately they’re not near the level required, whether that’s in ability, application or the mental aptitude required. If they were, they’d make a consistent impact in the first team, or at very least show regular signs of being able to cope with first-team Premier League football. Anyone who has been good enough does this and gets a move away, or in the case of JWP, cements his place in the squad, then moves to be a regular. It’s great to see young players make it, but it’s okay to acknowledge when they’re unlikely to ever cut it.

What is absolutely crazy from Ralph is this idea that players need time to understand how to play ‘our’ way. Each of these players has come through an academy, and first team football in some cases where they’ve learned how to play football. Needing a long time to understand how we play is all complete bollocks, and the fact that he is trying to overcomplicate it shows that he isn’t clear enough to players, and players will see through the nonsense. The chopping and changing of players and playing players out of position is a nonsense. Semmens and the other board members will think Ralph is a top man because they think their own efforts are too complex for the little people to understand, and that Ralph is like them and nobody else understands the difficulty in their work. All the players we’ve signed should be able to play for a well organised team by a man who provides clear and straightforward instructions, and who motivates players to play to the best of their abilities consistently. Football is most definitely not rocket science.

And chips too

Hi there, my name’s Dave and I’ve supported the club for 52 years, started off at the Dell watching Charlie Wayman and loved it when we won the FA Cup with Lawrie in charge. What a day when the bus toured around the city. I was in Millbrook that day. Wonderful. Jumpers for goalsposts. Oooh, lovely. Hmmm, I’ve forgotten my question… Ah, I remember, my question for the manager is, how does Stuart Armstrong have such great hair?

You have to hope this is the case. Martin Semmens is a marketing person, capable of selling the narrative, but thankfully SR have football people. This should mean they’ll see through Ralph if he can’t turn it around very quickly.

Dreadful. No other word for it. Yesterday’s selection, mad substitutions and players giving up surely means that Ralph is on borrowed time. He’s no tactical genius and players aren’t playing for him. Tick tock.