CAH61

Good post, Shane Long was another at his peak under Koeman.

We should have a better shot at the FA Cup this season with a kind draw, much more depth and quality in the squad.

"Thank God We Don't Have A Knee-Jerk Board" Exactly this, I stated a couple of weeks ago that things can change quickly at this stage of the season (we were then 6 points from the top ten and 4 from the bottom 3 and now we are just 3 points from the top 5) and more should be taken from performances rather than league position. The team are now showing the form of this time last season and hopefully this time we have the strength in depth to not be as adversely affected by a similar injury crisis after Xmas. We have also had a full pre-season and covid restriction are not affecting player's recovery time and the fixtures are more spread out this season too so fatigue and having to rely on inexperienced kids from the bench should not be a factor also. It is now Ralph's squad and he should be judged by results this season but it was only fair to give him a chance to play all of the teams at least once before any action was taken.

Stuey to start in place of Mo El, Che to start with Broja and both will score in a 2-0 win.

The CF invented the Spitfire here in Southampton didn't he?

Yep, there's a dangerous striker there for sure, i'd be much more concerned if he wasn't attempting to go for goal and shying away from responsibility.

😆 The Sweet always looked like hod carriers in drag!....

Brighton have a net spend of £214.86m?.....does that include the stadium!?

I have read that Redders may miss this one because of failing a covid test so the starting front four might be interesting assuming that Broja is fit. Will Ralph drop Che despite having scored in the last two or will he try Broja and AA up top together?, does Stuey finally get a start and will he persist with Mo El who has just the one goal and no assists this season in the PL?

Here was another great Friday night memory from the same season live on the Beeb... I can remember watching it in a pub in town and then a group of us singing "he's a bald headed bastard but he scored the winning goal!" in the streets afterwards. Ah memories...

I could see AA scoring 15 a season once he recalibrates his shooting sights.

He smashed the windows of the block of flats in Archers Road a few times as well IIRC.

Yes, this is a forum for differing opinions and no two fans will see the game in exactly the same way. I guess that ultimately the only opinion that currently matters is the man who picks the team and I think that putting JWP straight back in after 3 games out shows who he thinks best suits his style of play. This may be a bit harsh on Diallo, who was very good in his absence and it's nice to have a reliable back up for cover and competition. I think that JWP plays in the way that Ralph instructs him to, he and Romeu are the water carriers for the front 4 and the former has proved in the past that he can play in a more attacking role often arriving late in the box to get goal attempts (which he often spurned!). He is Ralph's captain and leader on the pitch so it's not that suprising to me that he continues to pick him.

Matt, Mick and Joseph Mills, Nick and Lee Holmes, Michael and Anders Svensson, Kenwyne and Paul Jones, Kayne and Sir Alf Ramsay, Richard Wright and Andy Williams!

All his passing, ground covering and tackling/interception stats are very good, he does the important things well for a CM.

He was our main man last season ahead of Stuey and KWP and was gaining national attention in the run up to the Euros with lots of fans of other clubs disappointed when he was not selected. As i've said, he is not flashy but all his stats show that he is a very important player for us IMO. The fact that Ralph put him straight back into the team shows how important he thinks he is.

It's only a few months since JWP was voted POTS but fans have a short memory. This season is not the first that he has started slowly (I believe he had a niggle in pre -season and a stomach problem) but he always gets better the more he plays. He is not a flashy player but he is a very important link up man in the middle and covers a lot of ground. That said, I don't think that his corners have been the best this season but his free kicks into the area have been his usual quality.

Things are really starting to come together and we look to be getting back to the form of a year ago. 4-0 would not have flattered us yesterday but the one goal we did score was a moment of real quality from Che. He is a form player so hopefully we will see him go on a good run of scoring. The balance looked a lot better with KWP giving their RB nightmares and Tino doing the same on our right.I think we are near enough to the best starting XI with only Stuey coming in on the right for Mo El and of course Broja will be in the mix too when he is fit.I think that AA will continue to get in great positions and will start putting them away and it would be nice to have 3 strikers scoring regularly.

I appreciate the job that he did here but I lost all respect for him the day that he moved to WARCHEST after previously slating players that move for the money ahead of loyalty on Sky tv. I don't for a moment think that he would come back here on the wages that we could offer him plus he would divide the fans and would have to be an instant success, I suspect that he burned all his bridges with the likes of Semmens and Steele anyway.

Two things last night proves is that we have plenty of good options now and that Ralph has more than one plan and is adaptable. If we play with the same energy, commitment and team spirit moving forward it's going to be an enjoyable ride.

I think there will be an uproar if Valery starts ahead of Lyanco.

TICKETING The ticket office is located in the Shed End (South Stand) next to the Megastore. The ticket office deals with all match ticket enquiries, including those of away supporters.

Tom Leach tweeted this... "Tonight could be interesting. Ralph will make changes + Valery has been playing as a CB in training lately, impressing Ralph." Possibly we could see him line up on the right side of a back three?..🤔

I would say at times in the second half of the season with a severely weakened team we looked like relegation candidates (but in reality we were already safe). I just don't think we are playing like a bottom 3 team with the better options this season but time will tell. We are 4 points from the bottom 3 and 6 from the top 10 to give perspective, things can change quickly at this early stage of the season.

In my opinion there are very good reasons why the form tailed off in the second half of last season but taking it a whole it was reasonable. It is a results business but he has earned half a season at least to get things right, sacking a manager too early is so final, just imagine if we had sacked Lawrie Mac after relegation and a couple of average seasons in the 2nd division before he got the right combination. This season is Ralph's squad and where he should be judged and we are barely into it yet, there have been good performances and results (drawing against Citeh and Manure ) and maybe one unacceptable one against Wolves which even then the stats were in our favour.