Ivan Katalinic's 'tache

I wonder if Blackmore is slightly irked by the fact that he wasn't chosen to run the last fans forum, given he's been on the mic for previous ones? Maybe he's not quite as 'in' as he was and he's decided to be a bit more vocal as a result?

Could be a "name on shirt" money spinner. Just like Jelle van Damme was...

For me, yes, just ahead of KWP and JWP. Fantastic player and an absolute steal at £7 million.

Well that was a pleasant surprise. Everything I wanted from a Saints team. Resilient, confident on the ball, worked hard for the full 90 minutes and (Danny) took our chances when they came. Thought Salisu looked better than Bednarek when he came on and nice for Jack to get away with his momentary lapse of concentration for once. Minamino flattered to deceive for me, was calling for Theo or Tella to come on and make the most of what was coming his way. Nice to see a Saints keeper stop a penalty for once too. And fair play Ralph, you got this one right. More please!

Never a red but great to see us finally show some fight at last. Salisu was immense and maybe even threatens Jannik's position. Stephens gave us some much needed voice and belligerence. Adams worked so hard and Armstrong gave his usual hard running performance. Dare I say it, Ralph even got it right tactically when we went down to 10...

But surely he will want to protect his legacy? Oh...

I do wonder how much our ability to adapt if things aren't going well is hindered by the playbook Ralph spent the summer producing. It's great if it's working but, if it doesn't or it starts to fail, unpicking it across all levels when you've spent the initial months of a season trying to embed it must be pretty impossible in the short term. Maybe it's too rigid and doesn't allow for greater tactical flexibility and/or maybe it's been quickly sussed out by the rest of the league but it might explain why we try the same thing week after week, game after game regardless of how we are doing. It could be the players are starting to feel the same - there's only so many times hit your head against a brick wall before you realise it hurts! I guess it would also require the author to admit it's not quite perfect or, worse, completely flawed and I'm not sure Ralph would want to show such loss of face.

Be honest now - are you Ian Branfoot? Do you want to make us the new Crystal Palace? 😀

As per normal, great first half, poor/ran out of steam/ideas/Ings second half. Not the thumping I thought we'd get but still no points. On a worse run than Sheff Utd in 2021 tells its own tale. Salisu and Tella did ok, Ings looked better and took his goal well, KWP was his usual effective self and Armstrong drove us forward in the first half. Not much from the others really. I can't believe my own apathy at the result but that mirrors the general lack of enthusiasm about our club at the moment. I don't think watching the same system fail week after week, with no variations to formation or approach really helps.

Is that a "dare you to sack me" side or what? We're going to get dumped on again aren't we?

Gary Lineker did once. I'd suggest we've been doing that consistently since we beat Liverpool in January...

Hopefully Ralph's booked in to attend...

An utter waste of a semi-final. We'd have been better off letting Bournemouth get there and save ourselves the embarrassment. I imagine they'd have had more of a go than we did. If that's leaving it all out there then the amount of effort it takes to be a professional footballer has diminished massively from my recollections.

I wonder if we'll get to join ESL2. Or 3.

Jeez! How bad are we. It'd be "interesting" to run a poll to see what everyone thinks is our worst half of football this season. It wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't at Old Trafford despite the score...

Wasn't there also an Egyptian centre-back we were linked with - Hany Ramzy - after he did so well at the 1990 World Cup? I seem to recall his name popping up a bit on Clubcall too. Hmmm... the number of names I'm starting to recall alongside posts which are prompting me to remember other linked players suggests I really did waste too much time/money on Clubcall!!

We seem to do better with Scandanavian players, IMO, many of whom these days are now hoovered up by German and other continental European sides. Bringing them in from their own countries before they move to those leagues surely has to be a better bet than scouring South America where we don't know if the player will transition well to a very different style of football. I accept we've had the odd Stig Johansen or Vegard Forren but they didn't really break the bank in terms of transfer fee. I'm thinking Lundekvam, the two Svenssons, Ostenstad, Vestergaard, Hojbjerg, Ostlund and Stensgaard (ok, I'm joking about the last one) but I think you get my point.

Yep, think so. Thank goodness he signed Ali Dia instead...

I remember running up bills to learn the latest on our (probably non-existent) attempts to sign Pavel Kuka or Paulo Alves, often encouraged by tempting Teletext adverts...

They did a retro version of that shirt at the end of last season minus the hummel logo. It sold out quite quickly (I bought one at the time) but stocks were never replenished. I wonder if there will either be a "hummel" retro version in due course or, as you hint, it could be next season's shirt will be based on it.

According to the Athletic, Ralph has made 75 substitutions in the 29 games this season and they have yielded 3 goals and no assists. Only Burnley, Villa and WBA are worse. When we talk about small squads, does this hint at an even stronger reliance on our first XI than the rest of the league? Clearly, this stat can't just be taken at face value because some of those substitutions may have been very late and too late to make any real impact (Diallo had a few 5 minute cameos at first and N'Lundulu gets a customary minute or two when we're desperate) but it does give the impression who we bring on makes no difference or even makes it worse and maybe our squad depth is even weaker than it appears.

Tenuous link to a new striker: Premier League sides monitoring Hatayspor striker Aaron Boupendza (90min.com)

The football under Branfoot was atrocious. But there were genuine talents in the team like Le Tiss and Shearer. There was also passion from others even if it was all long ball. I don't really see either from our current crop. Danny & Prowsey are decent but no more. Armstrong is good too but not top class. Bertrand was great but is in decline & this is KWP's first regular starting role, where he's started well. Beyond that, there's not much. Ralph is doing his best but he's too fixated on one style and seemingly can't or won't adapt during games when things aren't going well. I'm beginning to wonder if that's the cause of the heads going down when things go wrong. The players can see if something's not working but also know we will do nothing to change it up, to try to make a difference. They look knackered and stale all of a sudden and don't have the fighting spirit Branfoot's squad had to at least battle. Branfoot also doesn't have the real embarrassment of 2 9-0 defeats on his record. Ralph doesn't seem to have the tactical or motivational nous to help them out either. Very worrying. We may stay up this season but not next if this continues.

Beaten by a side who showed more urgency & wanted it more. Not acceptable. Not sure if it's Ralph, the players or both. Wouldn't be surprised if the😸same happened next week too.

I just don't get resting our only likely sources of goals - Ings and Minamino - for the most winnable game we have out of Chelsea, Leeds and Everton. Can't work out whether it's totally underestimating Leeds or overestimating the ability of their replacements. Everyone knows our game plan is to get in front and hope to hang on so to not even try and get in front is bizarre. Bednarek is not a right back and not even a competent stand-in one either. We have 4 fit centre backs why not be pragmatic and go to 3 at the back and play with wing backs at least until KWP is fit again. There's no resilience in the side to cope with bad decisions or conceding a goal and it seems to be a cumulative effect from several poor seasons save for the start of the first lockdown. Even in the Redknapp relegation season at least there was some spirit in the side but there's nothing in this lot. If were to slip into the relegation places, I see no evidence there is enough fight to try to get out of it. A thoroughly depressing effort. Again...