Vancouver Saint

1-1 if we turn up and play like we did against Man Utd. 2-1 if we 'do a Leeds or a Brighton' and show them no respect whatsoever and play with belief and energy. 0-3 If we revert to 5 at the back and try to contain them.

What's up with our pitch btw? Looked really cut-up and patchy - not the perfect billiard table felt it usually is. Fubo commentators saying something about diseased grass? Will work against us as a footballing team if we don't fix it.

Posting before reading thread. Thought we deserved a draw at least. Played well against a not-very-impressive Man Utd team. Lots of endeavour, good possession after we conceded - just needed a finish. Still light up top. Che and Djenepo outstanding. Mara has something about him. Salisu and Ketchup an excellent centre-back pairing. Lost by an exceptional goal...tough. We will beat other teams if we play like this.

Pretty good draw...at home...7 all-premier league ties in other matches...

Please win this one Saints. And all the other games for the rest of the season come to think of it...

Just pinging a post in here to keep the Canadian Saints fans thread average of four posts a year up! I see lots of us on the 'main' forum. COYS!

Go with the team that ended the Leeds game in that formation as others have said. Start Aribo and Maru. Perraud if he's fit. Feel we might just win this one. 0-2 to the Saints.

Clearly super happy to get a point - Leeds were by far the better team for 60 minutes - high energy, dynamic, all over us...then a great - and let's admit it - unexpected turnaround. Yes with 4 at the back of course but what a difference a goal and a bit of confidence brings. Credit to A Armstrong for a strong run and decent delivery for Aribo who was very composed to finish. Commentators went from writing us off for the season to praising our determination and pitching us as most likely to win at the end. New players look good investments. Still need to fix basic defensive issues - like defending from corners and closing wide men down to stop crosses coming in. Still feel we need an out and out striker...perhaps Mara is the man? Hopefully that will give us some confidence to play with a bit more attacking flair and confidence away at Leicester next week.

Actually, I think he is right - third goal did kill the game. The mood on this forum is clearly 'Ralph out' (after the first game away at a likely top four club that few would have expected us to win) that I fully expect to get stick but that's how I saw it too. That third goal came straight after a good period of possession in the attacking third in response to a lucky let-off with the offside disallowed goal from the kick-off and it completely killed the game. Not just the timing but the nature of the goal - simply awful. And no I'm not a blinkered 'happy clapper' in the same way most of you wouldn't call yourself bed-wetters. Yes, yes, yes I agree the tail end of last season was abysmal and we really don't need to carry that over. Some clear management flaws today - Valery a starter? Never. Bednarek not my favourite (but in fairness did ok) Djenepo playing out of position but did ok IMO (Perraud clearly not match-fit after injury), no Adams (something going on, I expect it's the Forest offer) Romeu and S Armstrong looked off the pace today. KWP much better going forward than backwards, but no support up front to hold the ball up (AA totally anonymous). We do need a striker and a trusted CB (still think Lyanco might be that). Let's see what the Leeds game next week brings - hopefully a win and a great performance. We are typically slow-starters. I think the SR approach to the new season and investment in younger players is right. I like our hire in the Man City recruitment guy. Lavia was our best player today. Who's to say our new French striker isn't going to be good. Think we are building something. Give it a chance FFS. If I'm wrong, I'll hold my hand up - but I expect others to do the same if we come good.

So I'm posting before reading other comments. Thought there were plenty of positives in that. Game turned on a ridiculous own goal just when we were pushing for an equaliser that killed it as a contest. Lavia looked really good. Djenepo played well in his new position. Bazunu is a real goalkeeper. Aribo will get some goals. Perraud back. Downside, obvious failings - suicidal defending, Failure to stop crosses. Valery starting? No striking threat. Romeu and S Armstrong off the pace. Spurs will spank plenty of teams at home this season - the depth of their bench is ridiculous when you see the four subs they can bring on at once. No Che Adams...suggests Forest sale might be real - I'd be okay if that meant we got Timo Werner, otherwise silly to sell. We will beat teams around us if we play like that minus the obvious mistakes.

We'd be mad to sell Adams at this time IMHO. Two seasons learning his trade. Coming good at international level with Scotland. Super hard worker that allows us to play the high press. Just needs to convert more of his chances. This is his season to shine. 🤞

A fantastic recruitment and could prove to be a pivotal moment in our clubs fortunes. I like what SR are doing. Feel happy.

Like the look of Mare...and the way the club are going about their business. Looks like we have targets and limits and aren't afraid to move quickly when either an obstacle (Liam Delap) or an opportunity (Mare) arises. Would love to see us bring in another striker and attacking midfielder given the game is all about scoring goals and we weren't very good at that last season.

Rangers mate says Aribo is great and a fantastic buy FWIW.

Well I for one am very happy that we've prioritised sorting out the goalkeeping situation one way or another - it's been a problem for years that we've done nothing about. I was up for paying what we had to to get Nick Pope, but then His ambitions are probably higher than us. So by the look and sound of him this youngster looks like a sensible and promising bet to take. I wish him all the best. I would love to hear that he's a good preventative goalkeeper. I can see his agility and that he can make spectacular saves, but the really best goalkeepers are brilliant at snuffing out danger before it happens...they come for and catch corners and crosses to start with (McCarthy and Forster both crap at this). Then his kicking / distribution (again shouldn't be difficult to be an upgrade).

Well. Thank goodness that season is over. Like many others here I have been following Saints for over 50 years. That last run was as bad as I can remember. One (fortunate) win against Arsenal saved our bacon. How we went from the high of beating Tottenham away (the best game of the season for us IMHO) and the new owner takeover optimism, to the low of that awful run after Villa....I don't know. Trying to stay sane. Need to bin my hard drive default of 'how are we going to devise a way to lose?' which has become hard-wired. Ralph has one window for me - first 10 games of next season. The new owners have the summer to show us their intent through recruitment and transfers. If we don't buy a new goalkeeper (we should be calling Nick Pope right now) - then I will know we are not serious about overhauling our squad. Apart from JWP and KWP, possibly a fit Stuart Armstrong and Che Adams as back-ups, who else would you keep?

It's improbable but not impossible that Saints could finish top 10...and that Liverhampton lose out on the league (very likely) the FA Cup and the CL Final. Sad that schadenfreude is all the joy that's left in this season, but it makes me feel better.

Well, assuming Liverpool are still in the title race, I don't know how many they will score - anywhere between 4-10 depending on how much effort they want to put it - but we will be nil.

So they don't even VAR check that?!!

So the perfect start. Forster is sooooooooo crap - can't wait for him to go. He has to save that Wissa shot. There are many differences here but the most significant is the goalkeepers - theirs is confident and competent - ours is a flapper who's main skill is appealing for offside after the opposition has scored.

Well I'm glad someone asked the relegation question - wouldn't classify myself as a bed-wetter - possibly the odd 'accident' which is becoming more frequent with our atrocious form. The betting shops are generally pretty good at this. The odds on us being relegated are shortening from rank 500-1 outsiders to 200-1 to now 66-1...if we do lose to Brentford tomorrow, which current form suggests is more likely than not...then with Leeds and Everton not playing until Sunday....and if Burnley beat Villa at home (again form would say probable)...I wonder what our odds will be? Of course I'm praying we turn up tomorrow and play a blinder and repeat the 4-1 thrashing we gave them at home - but with the emotion taken out of it the possibility of us losing and the threat of relegation drawing even closer is real. Ralph spouting on today about a top 10 finish makes me even more worried about his connection with reality. We all know if there's any team that could claim a record for turning longest odds ever against relegation into reality - it's us. Hope to goodness we turn up tomorrow and win...at least draw. Enough bedsheet laundering already.

Well after this weekends set of results and our (yet again) terrible performance, perhaps this lot might actually register they are not incapable of being relegated and might actually turn up with some energy, passion and fight? Must be some sort of record to do with longest odds against relegation with three games to go that would be so Saints to achieve. Have been a Ralph supporter for so long but am ready for a change now. Inexcusable Adam Armstrong not given an opportunity to prove himself yesterday from the start (suggests to me Ralph holds personal grudges at the expense of better team performances). 2-0 Brentford.

I must be missing something? Isn't it entirely possible that we won't get another point from our last three games (on current form that is most probable)...and that Everton, Leeds and Burnley can accumulate enough points to surpass us. Are they all playing each other or something?

2-0 down, Livramento with a serious injury (hope not, but looks like it) - how many of us wouldn't have taken a 2-2 draw?! Tella instrumental in getting us back into the game - played really well and showed what a bit of pace can do for us up front. JWP obviously a great game - and you could see the step-up in his game after he'd scored. We were much the better team second half and totally dominated until the last 10 minutes. Wake-up reminder for anyone deluded enough to think we should give 'calamity' Foster a new contract. Redmond didn't really take his opportunity to claim his place. Salisu had a mare but recovered a bit second half. Would have rather seen AA instead of Long starting. Proper left-right backs in Perraud and KWP helped. Just relieved we didn't lose to a crappy last second, deflected jammy goal!

Yeah, feel a bit better now...just a bit!