ErwinK1961

Or it could be that the vast majority of people acknowledge he is a good player, would be a big loss for us - but are (fairly) pointing out that since the contract thing has come to a head, his form has not been very good.

😕 Damn!

Wednesday 23rd October 1996 - League Cup - Southampton 2-2 Lincoln City. Le Tiss and Van Gobbel. I was 7 Pretty sure I also went to the Stockport home game quarter final later that season... was it Brett Angel that scored the winner 😞 First league game was April 1998 v Villa - lost 2-1, Yorke and Hendrie. Le Tiss scored a belter. The old man took me to games here and there when he could - though I became a bit of a Jonah unfortunately. Took 13 years to see my first win! v Stockport at home 2-0.

I got my info from the ever reliable wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Mason I'll stand corrected if that's not the case.

Seen this mentioned a few times, but Mason is from Bolton. So he's just fcking useless, not a skate. Wasn't Rob Styles a skate?

Good question, not sure how far in advance they know. Think Ralph was too cool/classy for his own good. I'm sure he was furious, but Premier League probably think 'ah well, it's only Southampton and they haven't caused a stink so let's crack on.' Wish we had a bit more sh*thousery about us at times, we've got better but still not enough. I would advocate asking Dean if he's actually going to watch the game this time, but knowing what that twat is like he'll end up going even more the other way.

That is genuinely unbelievable, the Premier League are taking the piss. Should make a formal complaint to FA, get them changed.

Fair enough on the Cryochamber, but Ralph said about sauna and pool being out of action too, which seems strange. Sure I saw a picture of Joe Gomez doing some pool recovery work the other day, so unless Ralph was exaggerating it does seem weird.

Whose going to pay the money for him this window though. Spurs won’t, they’ll wait until he’s down to a year left and try and wrangle a nothing fee. Arsenal won’t stump the cash we will want. If City wanted him, they’d have signed him already. Can’t see any others seriously wanting him. Not sure what else the club can do - they’ve offered him a pay rise and would be highest earner. If the only way he’ll sign is to have a small release clause (compared to ability), then we’re better off keeping those extra wages and selling him in the summer for the same amount as the release clause.

We’re using the Ings money to buy (free agent) Theo Walcott apparently.

This. Asking for a sub £20m release clause in my mind is basically saying you’re not interested in signing at all. In what world would we agree to that? Have a nice pay rise but leave for less than we paid for you? If he wants to leave that’s fine, his call - but I don’t think he’s that serious about signing a new contract.

Beattie 1-0 in 03/04, but other than that we haven't

Utd at home has been a really tricky game for us since promotion, not beaten them at St Marys since we came back up. Recall a number of games where we played really well but haven't won. The Van Persie hat trick game (shudder), 2-0 up when Hughes was in charge, both Koeman games (when we gifted Martial goals). Would be nice to put that straight.

Surely best to leave KWP where he is and play someone out of position at LB? Better than playing KWP at LB and bringing Valery in at RB, weakening both flanks. Valery at home to Newcastle... 🤢

Yup - Shelvey scored the winner that day if I remember rightly. At least he doesn’t play for Newc... oh FFS.

Great last name for a GK.

Hate to go all MLG on you, but Peterborough away was the third to last game of the season. And De Ridder didn't play.

Crikey, hope you're ok mate! I reckon Lemina and Hoedt will leave permanently next year, in the same way as Boufal and Carillo have this summer - probably glorified 'loan' deals where someone picks up there wages for the season and then they leave on a free. No-one in their right mind will pay a fee. Moi, if he has a good season at Celtic, may tempt someone stupid into buying him, or maybe he might come back into the fold? I'm hopeful that Bertrand will sign a new contract - but if he doesn't, then so be it. He'll be 32 next summer and we need to be thinking about a replacement for him anyway - Vokins isn't the answer at this point. Romeu, as much as he's a great pro and majority of fans have a soft spot for him, he doesn't really fit Ralph's style. Even in Ralph's post match after West Brom, he said that when the space is tight and he doesn't have to run too far, he is excellent... so admitting that he isn't as mobile as he would like. One of the GK's I'm sure will be gone next summer - ideally both Gunn and Forster and we get a new one, but that's probably too far. I'm probably in the minority, but I wouldn't be sad if Bednarek left - I don't think he's that great tbh, I think his ability has been exaggerated because of the quality of our other defenders. And no-one seems to like Vestergaard, so maybe they'll both go in the next 2 windows. If Ings and Bertrand sign new deals in the coming weeks, then this has been the best window for quite some time.

Won’t finish above City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Utd, Spurs, Arsenal, Everton or Leicester. Leeds, West Ham, Villa and Wolves will be very tough. Newcastle, Palace, Brighton we should be aiming to finish above, but could go either way. Got to finish above Fulham, West Brom, Sheff Utd and Burnley. So in answer to Trousers simple question... No. 12th

We still haven't addressed the issue we have if Armstrong is out injured. When he doesn't play, the balance looks all wrong and often we are crap. I think we have enough average 'wide' players as it is with Redmond and Moussa, what we need is an intelligent footballer who can pick a pass, find space, make good runs and chip in with a few goals. Signing Walcott doesn't change that.

Rashica off to Leicester apparently - loan to buy.

😲

Rashica would be excellent - rumours end of last week that Leeds and us were the interested prem teams, though note Leeds are signing a winger from Rennes - so would only leave us? Though Villa pulled out as he was too expensive (wages)... so not sure how we would afford it? Also, would then loan him out? Surely they'd want a sale.

Ralph trolling the fan base right now