Nordic Saint

Their average home gate is 4,684. When they were in the third division it was 659. They never managed an average of more than 9,000 in their history.

Let's face it, he's not someone you'd like to see in our team, is he? The other players probably feel the same way.

I can only assume you are not a local fan and don't get the rivalry. I still remember the joy of beating Pompey 7-0 in the FA Youth Cup. It mattered more than a first team match against many other teams. Every game against them matters to fans here and they all get talked about for years afterwards, even friendlies. "Going for Blood" 'Going for blood...Cowley not messing about...strongest line-up ever seen in a Hampshire Cup game?' - Portsmouth fans give verdict on side to face Southampton B for south coast derby | The News

9 of the Pompey starting XI are from their first team squad and they have their first team manager in charge. It's men against boys. No wonder Ralph is swerving it. Couldn't we at least have put out a competitive side?

You should look at other clubs' messageboards. You'll find threads like this on all of them and our fans are more patient than most. Fans at the big London clubs, for example, are utterly ruthless in their criticism of new players. With them it only takes 2 or 3 games for a player to become "a f---ing usless c---t".

Nobody has 'turned on him'. He's got the full support of all Saints fans at every game. He is a very promising young goalkeeper and as you say, he is "good for his age" (in fact, I'd even go so far as to say he is very good for his age) but you can't help questioning whether he has been thrown in to the Premier League too young. It would be more sensible to use him initially as a cup goalkeeper to build his confidence. The problem is we never recruited an experienced goalkeeper to replace Forster. You could say similar about some of the other youngsters we've recruited this year: they are being thrown into the deep end too soon and it's bound to shake their confidence. We may have got the record for the youngest team in the Premier League this season but our record on the pitch is not very good.

Bazunu hasn't kept a clean sheet for 16 matches for Pompey, Saints or Ireland over the last half a year. Obviously, he hasn't kept any yet for us. I wonder what the Saints club and Premier League records are for the number of matches before a goalkeeper keeps his first clean sheet? I guess Bazunu must already have broken the Southampton club record for the Premier League. Fraser Forster went 1 game before his first and kept 3 in his first 5 Premier League games. Alex McCarthy went 7 PL games before his first for Palace but kept one in his first PL game for Saints. Gazzaniga went 6 PL games before his first.

Thia game. What game have you been watching?

Like TAA, he is good going forward, but a weak link defensively, which is why astute opposition managers like Guardiola target him..

I see Wanyama may be returning to Celtic. He's still only 31. I'd prefer him to Diallo. Victor Wanyama available for Celtic transfer as contract 'truth' laid bare | Glasgow Times

Nostalgia's not what it used to be.

No, it's listed as Portsmouth v Southampton B. They will use first team players.

I guarantee you they will. They chose this prime midweek date for the fixture because it has 6 days after it without a first team fixture for them, when there are 2 League One fixtures they need to rearrange which they could have prioritized instead. They know that thrashing any Saints team will be very important for their fans, and. let's face it, even League Two teams can beat our B team, which is just a bunch of teenagers, most of whom will never make the grade at Football League level, plus Ollie Lancashire, easily.

Unless we do what Pompey will do and play at least some first team squad players, we'll lose, probably by a big score. Last night Pompey beat Aston Villa U21s 5-0 while Saints U21s lost 2-1 to Exeter. There is no evidence that our U21s can beat Pompey. Why do we have to play our U21s anyway? It's not a rule, is it? Some of our fringe first team squad players could do with match practice.

True, but I like watching Josh Doig play. He really is a great young player. Larios was good against Everton and is one of the best youngsters we signed this summer, but, like Cedric, he is so short that he encourages the opposition to play high crosses over him.

Arnautović

If we want to buy a brilliant young left back who is going to be worth a fortune in future, we could do a lot worse than Josh Doig.

Pompey will play first team players as they don't have a game for 6 days after that and their fans will regard it as one of the biggest games of the season.

We still miss Tadic. He was excellent yet again for Serbia last night. They finished top of their group and will replace England in the top section of the Nations League. What a front 3 they've got with Tadic playing just behind Vlahovic and Mitrovic. No wonder they score so many goals. Elyounoussi was on the losing Norway side, who, even with Haaland up front, were scoreless.

I think Bazunu is a promising young goalkeeper but wonder whether he has been thrown in at the deep end too soon. He let in 2 more goals against Armenia last night, which means he hasn't kept a single clean sheet for half a year for Saints, Pompey or Ireland. Let's hope he gets his first on Saturday to restore his confidence. Nations League: Republic of Ireland must learn from 'absolute madness' of win over Armenia - Stephen Kenny - BBC Sport

To be fair, a single victory does seem like a major triumph for us nowadays.

We need to buy a striker in January.

At last, Edozie. Let's hope it's not too late.

What a home debut! He scored a late winner for Girona in a 2-1 victory v Real Valladolid tonight.

Just watching the 20-year-old Scottish left wing-back, Josh Doig, make his home debut for Verona. Wow, he is some player: a left-sided version of Kyle Walker-Peters but perhaps even better. He's going to cost a hell of a lot more in the next window than he did in this one. Josh Doig and the five full-backs that Southampton could turn to after Manchester United blow - HampshireLive