Vancouver Saint

Only saw the second half - thought we were the better team but never looked like we were going to score. If Will Still is setting us up as a crossing team we need a big, aggressive No.9 who is going to get to the ball first...you just knew every cross was going to be met by a blue head or foot first. I do think the timing of this game worked better for Portsmouth than us...international break, lots of new players for us who need some time together. Not the result we wanted but too early to panic. I think if we start playing the ball on the ground and central mixing it up with wide attacks and crosses we will be top six.

Fair result. We didn't do enough to win. Thought we lost this by failing to exert our dominance earlier. Archer doesn't work as a lone striker and he looked isolated. Robinson not one of his better days. Azaz will get better. Two great free kick goals - unfortunately one was theirs. I still have questions about Bazunu for their first - yes it was well struck, but the angle was tight again - he's been beaten both sides from narrow angles Stoke and Watford now - you want your keeper to save at least one of those. Stewart on the wing, really?! No, needed his head on the ball in the centre. It's a long season, thankful we didn't lose that as momentum was with Watford after their second equaliser.

Sounds like an excellent signing by all accounts - and weakens a Championship opponent challenger at the same time - double-whammy.

Any streams anyone outside of the UK? Sky Sports normally reliable but not working...

Well that should be the reality check Will Still needs. I missed most of the first half but thought we were way too ponderous at home to not be surprised to go 0-1 down to a mistake (again)...then a terrible second goal to concede. Bazunu? Everyone says he's had a good season and he made a match-winning save against Wrexham - but that second goal should just never go in - has to be saved. The difference was some appalling lack of finishing (Flynn Downes - how? Stewart - wha? Our other Downs - hasn't give me any confidence he has a nose for a goal) and the goalkeepers. Thought we looked flat, grey and slow and Stoke were more up for it than us which is unforgivable. Ref opened the door for us with a soft red card and we couldn't take the opportunity. It's a long season, but we will have to do much much better to be top-two challengers.

Will take the draw. Much better in the first half than the second. Missed the first 20 minutes and wondered why no Stewart or Downs - answered above...

0-2 win for the Saints. Yes, I realise that means a clean sheet and I am being ridiculously optimistic! I feel this could be one of those games where they throw everything at us, we score one against the run of play in the first half then cling on until the 85th minute when we break away and do it again!

Haven't read any posts yet but reckon this win is down to me! Managed to watch from the 35th minute - what I saw from then was Saints in control despite commentators best attempts to convince me Wrexham should have been 3-0 up. Liked what we were doing. Right substitutions.Amazing free kick goal from Manning (I confess i said 'no chance' to myself as he ran up to take it)...just when it looked like another hard luck story after two appalling non-called penalties from the officials (what are linesmen for if the ref doesn't see it or give it when it's so obvious?!) Incredible to snatch it at the end. Well played Stephens. Could this be our season?

Thanks Hamilton. Last time Brave Browser worked with soccer100 to access - worked for me for this game

Any overseas Saints fans on here know the best way of watching Saints games live? I tried the Saints channel last time we were in the Championship and it was a disaster. Ended up with Brave Browser and chancing Saints games were covered...any better suggestions please? P.S. I hate lunchtime games - 4.30am in the morning for me!

You're right! It does get a bit silly when you see these huge 6'4" goalies with huge pads literally blocking the goal...but there is a size, weight and agility trade-off. These NHL hockey forwards are so good they can hit a small space only a couple of square inches wide. My son is a good hockey player...not quite NHL standard...but he can regularly score 'bar-down' goals intentionally (that is goals that go in off the underside of the bar). Same thing applies with footie goalies - I'm thinking of a certain Fraser Foster here...a giant of a man you'd think would block most shots but anything low to either side! (or high or straight at him for that matter!)

Thank you so much S-Clarke, very helpful - you are a gent. Some players in the looking certain to stay space I would give away for free to save wages and eliminate the threat of taking space up on the pitch...BBD / Smallbone. Jay Robinson a highlight in the certain to stay list I hope too. I'd have put Nathan Wood in the keep category too. When you see it like this, if we could keep Fernandes and THB we could be alright this season...

I know I'm being lazy, but can someone spare me the trouble of trawling through the last however many pages of this and just summarise who we've sold / who is on the block now (i.e. real offers on the table) and who we've acquired or is definitely staying. Thank you in advance. FWIW my thoughts on transfers: I can't believe a new No.1 goalkeeper isn't our top priority. Hockey is the national sport here and the goalkeeper plays a disproportionately important role in determining the team's success or not...not so different in footie. I think our fortunes this season are directly linked to if Fernandes stays. And we have a new captain. It used to be it was the best player that everyone looked up to that was captain, age didn't matter. I think Stephens seems like a decent bloke, but giving him a 3-year extension and the club captaincy is idiotic IMHO...it takes away the opportunity to retain and attract the new captain material we so badly need. Of course if Stephens goes on to have the season of his life and lifts the Championship Winners Trophy at the end of the season I'll be delighted to eat humble pie.

Class act. Deserved a better team and club than us the last couple of years but stuck to his task with total professionalism. Added some much needed flair in a dreadful season. Wish him well. Think it'll be Fulham who benefit from our loss.

I'm more concerned about where to watch the live games - last time we were in the Championship the SaintsViewer platform or whatever it was was a complete joke.

Mickey Channon my favourite player. Takes me back seeing Terry Paine laying on passes for him to score. His famous windmill celebration clearly didn't come out until later years! I met him outside Vicarage Road once when I was doing a Post Grad Diploma in Watford...a gentleman as ever. My sister met him recently at a horse racing event and he was the same.

Whoever we get as manager I just hope the focus and investment goes into what we put on the pitch. Although the manager is a crucial appointment of course, how we manage the transformation of our current squad through culling, active selection and recruitment will be the most important factor. Our past track record ion recruitment is woeful. Fernandes perhaps the only bright spark. We need a complete rebuild, starting with a playing captain who is at least close to the best player on the pitch if not the best. Even if (laugh out loud now) even if we managed to keep Fernandes to have something to build around, we need a new goalkeeper, two new centre-backs, and a proven striker (we have to assume Stewart won't be available for the majority of the season through injury). What we do with Jack Stephens is the litmus test for me. He may be a great servant to the club, and he seems like a really nice guy, devoted to the club, but if he's still with us next season...and worse as captain...then I know we've have ducked out of making the easy (from a distance, difficult in person) decision and are doomed. How we start the season is going to make a big difference this time. We're a team that has forgotten what it's like to win a game of football. Once that becomes embedded in the culture it's difficult to change - we have a chance at the beginning of next season to rediscover the feeling of winning and turn the ship around. It will need to come quickly, because this 'worst ever' season has drained the goodwill of even the hardiest of diehard lifetime fans like me.

Well happy to admit my 0-6 forecast was way off. Happy with the point and the pride in the performance. But reality check here - let's not kid ourselves that fortune favours those who play the low block in an incredibly negative approach and pray to the gods we get lucky. Rusk is not the answer!

0-6 to Man City B team. If we're lucky.

Completely apathetic. This team and this season has managed to grind 56 years of support into disinterested apathy - I never thought I could be this dissociated with the club I've supported all my life. There must be an award somewhere for maximum brand equity erosion or something that SR would win hands down. Man City B to win 3-0...boring boring stroll in the park for them...us trying to park the bus, which is really a very badly battered VW camper-van.

So proud of our team. Great effort to win that title of worst Premier League team EVER! Whoever thought Rusk was our saviour might need a rethink after that. Zero effort, bizarre substitutions...Smallbone the gamechanger in for Fernandes...rrrright....! Jack Stephens with a side-bet with the bookies for multiple fu*k-ups leading to a goal? Had to be.

I get it, we are a very limited team - but the managerial approach is the reverse of 'fortune favours the brave'. We sat so deep we invited pressure on us. There was no outlet and every time we cleared it cam straight back at us. It was inevitable Fulham were going to score. What we needed int hat last 20 minutes when we were still 1-0 up, was actually a Joe Aribo to be able to pass out to and get further up the pitch. I know people don't like him, but he can work hard and keep the ball at his feet, draw fouls etc. I would keep Fernandes, Downes, THB (properly coached), Dibling if we don't get more than £60M for him - otherwise, the rest can go. I'd include Ramsdale in that - I just don't rate him...he's a great shot-stopper but he doesn't command his 6-yard box let alone 18-yard box, shouts a lot but still fails to make that big save when we need it...or more importantly, prevent the threat by coming out and catching the ball cleanly from set pieces. Let's get our money back - we can get a better goalkeeper for half the money. We need some hope for next season. Lack of news around the new manager is disappointing. ANy news on that front?

Only saw the game from the 50th minute when we were 1-0 down. Thought we played pretty well after this point and were the better team. Certainly deserved at least a draw. Dibling should have scored earlier. Team certainly playing for Rusk until the final minute...could have won it with a few minutes more

Just seen a BBC poll that shows 71% think we were wrong to have sacked RM - WTF! - who are these people?!🙄

Rohl for me, with Cooper as a fallback option. I don't really know how good either are, but going on the reaction of Wednesday fans to Rohl's imminent departure it seems he was well liked there. They are sad to seem him go but also want to see him succeed and know their management is the issue,