West Ham v Saints - Sat 24th 3pm

[Miltonaggro]

53 minutes ago, Osvaldorama said:

Prowsey to score a free kick would be good comedy 

90 +5

[disconnect]

2 hours ago, Saint Garrett said:

They're not brilliant, but they are the best team in the league, with the best player in Bowen. We could never deal with him in the prem, let alone this lot.

However, Tonda is a very good manager and we are a better side in a more open game (I think it will also suit them)

I'd go with Jander, Downes and JWP personally. Big game, big Saturday 3pm day out, I'm sure the support will be superb

Peretz
Bree Stephens Schlotterbeck Manning
JWP
Matsuki Downes Jander Scienza
Larin

Lets hope Larin is fit, (and has had a bit of a kick up the arse) as he's been off it since the international break.

Think Larin's been off it as he's not fully fit tbh. Came home with an injury after the international break and been having to play as the alternatives are not quite doing it. If Dobbin or Mubama had shown more, I think Larin would've been allowed a bit more recovery time. 

Interesting to see KWP was the starting right back at the start of the season but in the past 4 games has been subbed off twice at half time, played 24 mins vs Lincoln and left on the bench against Swansea. 

[Pamplemousse]

We've been given one of the Prem refs for this one, Michael Salisbury

[musesaint]

50 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said:

We've been given one of the Prem refs for this one, Michael Salisbury

Hope his eyes are better than last Saturday’s Premier League offering and that he can make some basic decisions without the intervention of VAR. 

[Roy Munson]

Fucking terrible stadium. Still, I'm going to watch us for our 2nd away win of the season.

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

6 hours ago, Roy Munson said:

Fucking terrible stadium. Still, I'm going to watch us for our 2nd away win of the season.

Yes, when they got relegated, I was expecting a soulless half empty stadium but the buggers have sold 50,000 season tickets this year. Will be interesting to see the atmosphere on Saturday.

Like Wembley, it's a ground where it's useful to take binoculars to see the players....but I'll give that a miss this time 😉

[saintant]

Many reasons to want to beat these but, if we do manage it, none will be more satisfying than knowing how much it will piss off that prick James Corden. The thought of us winning and leaving him with a face like a smacked fat arse would make victory taste all the sweeter.

[saintant]

10 hours ago, musesaint said:

Hope his eyes are better than last Saturday’s Premier League offering and that he can make some basic decisions without the intervention of VAR. 

Yeah, saw him leaving St Marys accompanied by his guide dog.

[Zorba]

10 hours ago, saintant said:

Yeah, saw him leaving St Marys accompanied by his guide dog.

Pervert!

[Pamplemousse]

Just thinking back to our last games against West Ham at this level. There was a real edge to them, top two for most of the season, Allardyce in charge for them, Hooiveld terrorising them, red cards, brilliant times. And we both ended up getting pipped to the post by bloody Reading who came out of nowhere to win the league!

[Saint Fan CaM]

2-1. We’ll not have enough - our frailties will be exposed.

[suewhistle]

12 hours ago, saintant said:

leaving him

I thought it was always...

[saintwbu]

On 19/10/2026 at 22:58, Pamplemousse said:

We've been given one of the Prem refs for this one, Michael Salisbury

Truly possibly the worst referee in the league - disaster and controversy seems glued to him everywhere he goes. Disallowed our goal against Villa in the first relegation season for Ramsay just falling over next to Elyounoussi, and had several high profile shockers since.

Edited yesterday at 08:05 by saintwbu

[Saint86]

This will be an interesting game vs the stand out favorites to win the league. 1st year parachute side vs 2nd year parachute side (although West Ham under Nuno should never have gone down). Its also the 2 best managers to ever grace the championship (statistically).

If it was the first half of 2026 we'd all be going there with zero fear and expecting to turn them over. This season its still early and a bit disjointed with the personnel changes, spygate fallout etc. But we go into it with 3 clean sheets, full of confidence, and in reality the best CM in the 2nd tier fit and looking like he's come back on fire. No one is living with Jander and JWP in CM and Azaz in front.

There defence is better than ours. Only really Schottlerbeck that threatens that starting back line imo. Although Bree would perhaps have a shout at breaking into it. Keeper wise its a lot closer. Still haven't seen last season's Peretz yet - maybe this weekend is the start of that?!

Attack wise. Larin (if fit) is without question the best CF in the league. But their wingers are a scary prospect - Bowen will be a real issue vs Manning/Wellington with Scienza playing in front - but then equally that will be an interesting dynamic because will Bowen get full freedom if it leaves Leo free to cause havoc himself? Attack the best form of defense down the left?

Pretty confident we'll see Matsuki down the right with Bree - which will give us industry and allow those overlaps we've seen so much off in recent games.

If all of Jander, JWP, Azaz, Larin, and Scienza are fit and avaialble, we will cause any side a whole host of issues - and it will be interesting to see whether Nuno goes toe to toe with us on the attacking front, or we see a cagey game early in the season.

One thing i think that is in our favour is that we are playing the away game relatively early on in the season - West Ham have been solid if unspectacular lately. 2 wins in their last 5 (all comps) and frankly the 9men Lincoln implosion is the oddity there. The other was a 1-0 win vs high flying Swansea, which is not the comfortable win we enjoyed vs them. I would rather be playing them away now than when they're in full flow later in the season, and when their impressive squad gives them the advantage of depth. As it is, we will have home advantage for the crunch home game at St Marys.

In summary, I think this will end up 1-0 to saints or 1-1 (someone needs to back Tonda and the boys!). But lets see. Either-way, its nice to be playing a side of their quality (i.e., not parking the bus or trying to kick the crap out of us) and it will be a very good test of the team.

Ultimately, this side beat Arsenal, Fulham away, and it took Man City 80+min (and a deflected bouncing outside of the box strike) to score against us at Wembley. The belief, confidence, togetherness, and relish in this side will come out in a game like this. I also wonder if the 4-1 might odly play in our favour - sets an expectation among their players and fans that has no grounding in reality.

Edited yesterday at 13:12 by Saint86

[Jack]

Peretz 

Bree Jack Schlott Welington 

JWP Jander Bragg  

Azaz Larin Scienza 

 

Fully expecting Tonda to do something other than an obvious 4-2-3-1 with round pegs in round holes for this one, and assuming Downes won’t make it wearing his space boot. Azaz and Scienza to drop in to look more like a 4-4-1-1 when we needed. I’d be inclined to go with Welington in this one as he’s a better defender and we’ll need to keep Bowen tightly marked, reckon he’ll have Manning on toast. 
 

Probably miles off with that guess, just hoping Tonda ditches the lop sided three left back formation we saw against Bolton. Could be anything. 

[Football Special]

3 hours ago, Saint86 said:

This will be an interesting game vs the stand out favorites to win the league. 1st year parachute side vs 2nd year parachute side (although West Ham under Nuno should never have gone down). Its also the 2 best managers to ever grace the championship (statistically).

If it was the first half of 2026 we'd all be going there with zero fear and expecting to turn them over. This season its still early and a bit disjointed with the personnel changes, spygate fallout etc. But we go into it with 3 clean sheets, full of confidence, and in reality the best CM in the 2nd tier fit and looking like he's come back on fire. No one is living with Jander and JWP in CM and Azaz in front.

There defence is better than ours. Only really Schottlerbeck that threatens that starting back line imo. Although Bree would perhaps have a shout at breaking into it. Keeper wise its a lot closer. Still haven't seen last season's Peretz yet - maybe this weekend is the start of that?!

Attack wise. Larin (if fit) is without question the best CF in the league. But their wingers are a scary prospect - Bowen will be a real issue vs Manning/Wellington with Scienza playing in front - but then equally that will be an interesting dynamic because will Bowen get full freedom if it leaves Leo free to cause havoc himself? Attack the best form of defense down the left?

Pretty confident we'll see Matsuki down the right with Bree - which will give us industry and allow those overlaps we've seen so much off in recent games.

If all of Jander, JWP, Azaz, Larin, and Scienza are fit and avaialble, we will cause any side a whole host of issues - and it will be interesting to see whether Nuno goes toe to toe with us on the attacking front, or we see a cagey game early in the season.

One thing i think that is in our favour is that we are playing the away game relatively early on in the season - West Ham have been solid if unspectacular lately. 2 wins in their last 5 (all comps) and frankly the 9men Lincoln implosion is the oddity there. The other was a 1-0 win vs high flying Swansea, which is not the comfortable win we enjoyed vs them. I would rather be playing them away now than when they're in full flow later in the season, and when their impressive squad gives them the advantage of depth. As it is, we will have home advantage for the crunch home game at St Marys.

In summary, I think this will end up 1-0 to saints or 1-1 (someone needs to back Tonda and the boys!). But lets see. Either-way, its nice to be playing a side of their quality (i.e., not parking the bus or trying to kick the crap out of us) and it will be a very good test of the team.

Ultimately, this side beat Arsenal, Fulham away, and it took Man City 80+min (and a deflected bouncing outside of the box strike) to score against us at Wembley. The belief, confidence, togetherness, and relish in this side will come out in a game like this. I also wonder if the 4-1 might odly play in our favour - sets an expectation among their players and fans that has no grounding in reality.

Appreciate the optimism but getting a bit carried away with Jander who had an excellent 70 mins vs Norwich but then wasn't able to play any of the Bolton game, to be seen if he can last a whole game yet, Downes being injured is a big miss and who knows if Larin can play. Makes us so much weaker than our prime.

[JSpeake]

I’m a bit torn on this one. I think  West Ham when they are on form (at home) will beat anybody in the Championship comfortably - I’d hate to throw on Larin and Jander when they are not fully back fit, risk them aggravating their issues and getting a more serious longer term absence, and ultimately lose in any case.

We need a fully fit, fully recovered Larin and Jander for the multiple games coming up.

but I fear a side without Larin, Jander and Downes will be too weak.

[benjii]

2 hours ago, Football Special said:

Appreciate the optimism but getting a bit carried away with Jander who had an excellent 70 mins vs Norwich but then wasn't able to play any of the Bolton game, to be seen if he can last a whole game yet, Downes being injured is a big miss and who knows if Larin can play. Makes us so much weaker than our prime.

How do you know he wasn't able to play? I'm sure he could have played some part but there was no reason to put him on when we're trying to score a goal and have all the ball.

[captainchris]

4 hours ago, Jack said:

Peretz 

Bree Jack Schlott Welington 

JWP Jander Bragg  

Azaz Larin Scienza 

 

Fully expecting Tonda to do something other than an obvious 4-2-3-1 with round pegs in round holes for this one, and assuming Downes won’t make it wearing his space boot. Azaz and Scienza to drop in to look more like a 4-4-1-1 when we needed. I’d be inclined to go with Welington in this one as he’s a better defender and we’ll need to keep Bowen tightly marked, reckon he’ll have Manning on toast. 
 

Probably miles off with that guess, just hoping Tonda ditches the lop sided three left back formation we saw against Bolton. Could be anything. 

Excellent summary

[Football Special]

2 hours ago, benjii said:

How do you know he wasn't able to play? I'm sure he could have played some part but there was no reason to put him on when we're trying to score a goal and have all the ball.

Sorry just meant he didnt play any part in that game so been a stuttered come back, fingers crossed he can put in another top performance Saturday,  but too early to proclaim he's "come back on fire"

"But we go into it with 3 clean sheets, full of confidence, and in reality the best CM in the 2nd tier fit and looking like he's come back on fire. No one is living with Jander and JWP in CM" 

[Saint Fan CaM]

8 hours ago, Jack said:

Peretz 

Bree Jack Schlott Welington 

JWP Jander Bragg  

Azaz Larin Scienza 

 

Fully expecting Tonda to do something other than an obvious 4-2-3-1 with round pegs in round holes for this one, and assuming Downes won’t make it wearing his space boot. Azaz and Scienza to drop in to look more like a 4-4-1-1 when we needed. I’d be inclined to go with Welington in this one as he’s a better defender and we’ll need to keep Bowen tightly marked, reckon he’ll have Manning on toast. 
 

Probably miles off with that guess, just hoping Tonda ditches the lop sided three left back formation we saw against Bolton. Could be anything. 

Completely agree that Bowen will have Manning on toast. Hoping Tonda will do the right thing and start with Welington, bringing on Manning later particularly if we’re behind.

[Mr X]

I want to be wrong 🙏 but predict Tonda and the club will get a reality check with our first heavy defeat 

Think we will try to slow the game down and frustrate but they will be too much for us 

[Football Special]

1 hour ago, Mr X said:

I want to be wrong 🙏 but predict Tonda and the club will get a reality check with our first heavy defeat 

Think we will try to slow the game down and frustrate but they will be too much for us 

Having already lost 4-1 to West Ham this season i dont think it's that much of a reality check 

[Cabrone]

On paper it's a loss but this is Saints so we'll win 1-0.

[Lighthouse]

14 minutes ago, Cabrone said:

On paper it's a loss but this is Saints so we'll win 1-0.

They’ve only won half their league games so far and ‘on paper’ we’re one of the toughest teams they’ll face this season. Can’t be going into this with an inferiority attitude, we’re much closer to them than Bolton are to Saints, in terms of personnel availability.

[John B]

27 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

They’ve only won half their league games so far and ‘on paper’ we’re one of the toughest teams they’ll face this season. Can’t be going into this with an inferiority attitude, we’re much closer to them than Bolton are to Saints, in terms of personnel availability.

We are currently not scoring enough goals to be really confident but one piece of luck can change this

[Matthew Le God]

9 minutes ago, John B said:

We are currently not scoring enough goals to be really confident but one piece of luck can change this

We are the 3rd top scorers in the league

[Saint86]

40 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

We are the 3rd top scorers in the league

And we've also only lost twice - both times against physical sides that were allowed to kick lumps out of us. Conversely, every team that has tried to take the game to us has lost - often decisively. 

[Sheaf Saint]

2 hours ago, Football Special said:

Having already lost 4-1 to West Ham this season i dont think it's that much of a reality check 

Shouldn't read too much into that really. It was in August before we signed Schlotterbeck, who has made a massive difference to our defence recently. We also started with Bragg and Akachukwu in midfield (no Downes, Jander or JWP), and Mubama up top. 

[explorer saint]

1- 2 Saints Finn & JWP to score 

[Dark Munster]

2 hours ago, Saint86 said:

And we've also only lost twice - both times against physical sides that were allowed to kick lumps out of us. Conversely, every team that has tried to take the game to us has lost - often decisively. 

Except in the League Cup against West Ham. 

[John Boy Saint]

On 19/10/2026 at 23:51, musesaint said:

Hope his eyes are better than last Saturday’s Premier League offering and that he can make some basic decisions without the intervention of VAR. 

Matt Donohue is apparently back on Premier League duty this weekend, he must be mightily relieved to have VAR backing him up. 

[saintant]

14 minutes ago, John Boy Saint said:

Matt Donohue is apparently back on Premier League duty this weekend, he must be mightily relieved to have VAR backing him up. 

The problem for many refs is, they get so used to the safety net of VAR, they almost freeze when it comes to something like awarding a penalty in a Championship game and end up giving nothing as we found out to our cost. 

[Wade Garrett]

Any news of Flynn Downes?

[saintant]

Never fear, Tonda will have a masterplan up his sleeve for the Hammers.

[Dr Who?]

I am taking this game as a free hit, anything would be a bonus. Then thinking about it we tend to save our best for the bigger games. Still think we will lose 3-1

[LiberalCommunist]

Watford/Wrexham and the -4 means we don't have any free hits, unfortunately. 

[saintant]

10 minutes ago, LiberalCommunist said:

Watford/Wrexham and the -4 means we don't have any free hits, unfortunately. 

Nor should we. This is the Championship not the Premier League and we should be disappointed after any games we do not get a win or, at least a point for the tougher opponents. I'm pretty sure this is the attitude of Tonda and the players.

[benjii]

7 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

We are the 3rd top scorers in the league

Currently is an adverb meaning "at the present time" or "right now". 

[Matthew Le God]

12 minutes ago, benjii said:

Currently is an adverb meaning "at the present time" or "right now". 

If you want to go down that road, Southampton Football Club Men's 1st team were not playing a game at the time of his post!

[Weston Super Saint]

10 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

If you want to go down that road, Southampton Football Club Men's 1st team were not playing a game at the time of his post!

That's you told @benjii - no way to counter such brilliance.  None.

[John B]

7 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

We are the 3rd top scorers in the league

Why do you always try to be Billy Big Bollix and bully posters

The point I was making is that in our last four league games (currently)we have only scored three League goals I think which is contributing possibly to a flat feeling and a lack of true confidence within the fan base which includes me.

If we get some good luck we may well score a few goals and there will be more confidence on here

 

 

[Harry_SFC]

Larin hasn't trained yet this week 😬

[Football Special]

1 minute ago, Harry_SFC said:

Larin hasn't trained yet this week 😬

Sounds unlikely we'll see him and Downes , two of our best players really unfortunate 

[Harry_SFC]

6 minutes ago, Football Special said:

Sounds unlikely we'll see him and Downes , two of our best players really unfortunate 

Yep. I feel playing Jander softens the blow of Downes but losing Larin is a massive miss as we don't have a suitable replacement. 

[bpsaint]

Torrential rain and 40mph winds come kick off on Saturday, won’t make for a pretty spectacle.

[LiberalCommunist]

32 minutes ago, bpsaint said:

Torrential rain and 40mph winds come kick off on Saturday, won’t make for a pretty spectacle.

That may well work in our favour.  Scrappy game. I'd take that risk with some big wind and soggy grass. Dobby the house elf to bag a brace. Okay I'm clearly drunk!