Nordic Saint

Yes, it was all about what advantage Middlesbrough could gain from it. Neither Ipswich nor Oxford seemed particularly bothered, as they couldn't see any benefit from it and analysts watching other teams' training sessions wasn't considered anything out of the ordinary. I still wonder whether it was a case of entrapment using information provided by the junior analyst who went back to Middlesbrough after a brief stint at Southampton.

José Fonte would have been an ideal temporary appointment and he probably would have been happy to do it, but Sunderland have got him now. I've never really seen Lallana as managerial material, but he looks the most likely candidate to cover for Tonda if he's banned. We certainly don't want a permanent replacement, whatever the length of the ban, as we won't get a better manager than Tonda.

It's not fair, but scapegoating is well and truly targeting Saints. Clubs like Man City and Chelsea are just too big and strong to be made scapegoats. That's how scapegoating works. A vulnerable target becomes a focus for hostility. Everyone's misdemeanors are then neatly wrapped up and paid for by the severe punishment of the scapegoat. It makes everyone feel better about themselves except, of course, the scapegoat.

In fact, Bielsa was given the FIFA Fair Play Award at the end of his 'spygate' season.

You mean the allegation by the Middlesbrough spy (not Will Still)*, who gathered information from Southampton before returning to Middlesbrough, as reported to Gibson's employee on the EFL board? Tonda Eckert didn't even have Will Still's phone number or that of any other junior analyst. The organisation of the scouting was an internal matter among the analysts. *I've clarified this, CSA96, as I mean the junior analyst who came down from Middlesbrough to work here for a brief spell before returning to them. He's the one who Gibson used. I don't recall his name.

It's amazing how much that happens in this world can be explained by René Girard’s scapegoat theory and, unfortunately, in the football league, we have become the scapegoat.

That was Tonda's 30th win today and he has the best win rate (61.22%) of any Saints manager in our history who's managed us for 30 or more games. List of Southampton F.C. managers - Wikipedia)

Guess who was the referee for our last league defeat at St Mary's, 8 months ago? Gritty Hull City secure impressive win at Southampton and move back into top six - Hull Live

Our home record against Bristol City is very good too. We haven't lost to them at St Mary's in the last 15 years (2 wins and a draw) and our all-time home record v Bristol City is: W18 D3 L4 Southampton football club: record v Bristol City

Our league record at St Mary's under Eckert is now: W15 D5 L1 The only home league defeat was to Hull 8 months ago.

That could have been the conclusion of our recruitment team. I wonder if they said the same about Mubama?

It would help the singing continue longer if fans knew more than one of the nine verses. Surely, the "When the stars fall from the sky" and "When the moon turns red with blood" verses wouldn't be too difficult to learn. If we sang more of the song than Spurs fans did, it would help reaffirm it as our song. I wonder how long it would be before they copied us.

Sam Amo-Ameyaw scored Strasbourg's 4th and 5th goals today: Ligue 1 - Troyes 2 - 6 Strasbourg | OneFootball

What an attack Saints U21s had last year, with a front 3 of Amo-Ameyaw, Ballard and Robinson: U21 Highlights: Saints 5-0 Fulham | Southampton FC Official Site

Stolarczyk, their first choice goalkeeper, got badly injured in their last game.