Fitzhugh Fella

Been a bad week really. All this “Ralph on the brink” in the press is unhelpful. Either get rid or don’t. Now this ridiculous decision to penalise home fans in the Itchen tells me the leadership of the club are clueless when it comes to understanding or backing home supporters. Going to St Mary’s in the last couple of years has been fairly depressing but we keep going. The club are treating their fans with disdain. They can afford that while Sky bankroll them but my advice is never forget the hand that will always feed you through rain and shine.

Absolutely brilliant and well thought out post. Thanks.

I have been in the Ralph out camp since last season and remain so but I will say the Board not delivering a striker must have been a kick in the nuts especially when Ralph said we would be signing one. Notwithstanding that however he has been largely responsible for digging his own grave and must face the consequences. He should go now. Put Selles in temporary charge and then break the bank (you’d probably have to) for Thomas Frank. No thanks Rafa, he would be a stepping stone and off to a bigger club soon enough. Poch was loved by the players when he was here but I doubt he’d fancy taking on the big boys with our budget. I hope this does not become dragged out. Dead men walking is not a good look.

When Trousers gets off the fence and pronounces then the game is well and truly up.

This and this again. This year has been utterly miserable at St Mary's. Going up there for home games has been an ordeal with no pleasure or pride. That says it all to me. I don't mind losing if we play with heart or even cohesion, but most of the last 9 months has been simply ghastly. To keep Ralph any longer is just prolonging the agony which we all know has to come.

Another of the coaches recruited in the summer (Alex Clapham) has now departed. Something not right or just bad luck?

Can we have a poll to decide who is the biggest pedant on this forum now MLG has gone underground please?

Take your point but that performance plumbed new depths.

Good post. Ralph just drives me nuts with his idiosyncratic decisions.

Echo reporting the odds on him being the next PL player sacked have dramatically come down from 16/1 to 9/4 this morning.

Another player who has regressed under RH. The list grows.

With Ralph as soon as he gets a couple of decent results under his belt he reverts back to over thinking and tinkering and bang we go back to the bad old days. With him it’s the odd peak mixed with loads of troughs. We are locked into this mad cycle of a few highs mixed with too many lows. Will we ever escape I wonder? Posters claiming Lavia’s return will sort our problems out make me smile, he’s a teenager with 3 PL starts to his name and all of a sudden he has become crucial to our survival. Really? Yes great prospect but to hang our hopes on his slender shoulders is unrealistic. Ralph is Ralph. He’s not going to change. But right now under him we seem to have no cohesive plan or settled tactics. Basunu came in and looked the real deal but after just 7 games he is visibly regressing just as Gunn and McCarthy did before him. It seems players regress after coming here. The situation with Maitland-Niles is baffling. Why sign him if he doesn’t know how to play the way Ralph wants? He’s 25 and coming from Arsenal can’t be that unready surely? He’s been hung out to dry with the manager’s comments. My only hope is SD have the situation in hand. They have shown ambition in the window, but the failure to get in a striker undermines their ability to deliver. Plenty to ponder.

Sometimes you come across as a smartarse we could all do without. No offence

You are obviously a dedicated fan

We habitually lose to teams that are going through an injury crisis. It’s a Saints thing.

I know someone who came over especially from the States and had tickets at the Oval Thursday and Friday and one for Saints v Brentford today. Saved up for the sporting trip of a lifetime so, it isn’t just another match for some. A lot of dosh has been spunked up the wall because the PL were frightened of getting trolled by the grief police at the Mail

The British love nothing better than a good “mourn”. Stupid decision which will inconvenience many not to mention put a lot out of pocket. And what good will it do? Not surprised however the PL not one to put there head above the parapet and take on the likes of the Daily Mail. It never happened in 1952 so why now? The Queen did a fantastic job and I salute her service to the country but I just don’t see why a game of football can’t be played. The crowd could have paid their respects in public by having a minutes silence which would have been impeccably observed I reckon.

It’s got to be said the new owners have put their money where their mouths are so fair play to them. Plus the fact they were prepared to spend big on the Dutch winger. We are definitely in a better place than this time last year but I have concerns over our lack of depth up front. It only takes an injury to Adams to leave us looking incredibly light weight in that dept and we can’t expect the youngsters to step into the toughest league in the world and do well. A good experienced striker was an absolute must and unfortunately it has not materialised. Those saying they are not worried about not buying a forward have their heads buried in the sand. A lot had written off Adams and Armstrong six months ago. Now they are all we’ve got notwithstanding Mara who still has much to learn. Let’s just hope Che doesn’t drop a bottle of salad cream on his foot anytime soon.

Signed a lot of promising players but not signing a decent forward might well come back to haunt us. Adams and Armstrong are good players but 38 games?

Redmond staying is such a step backwards.

Blackburn just signed George Hirst son of David

Well now he has finally learnt to stop fannying around with stupid team selections and tactics we have suddenly put in some decent performances. Let’s hope he has finally wised up

Gonna be a long day waiting for news

Surely we just want honest articles and if that includes negativity then as long as it is true then I want to know it.

I think he meant with RH’s idiosyncratic selection policy he could well pick him at CB.