Forester

Luck you. But I can assure others that doing this can lead to registered debt, credit file problems and the debt itself escalating beyond belief

Trust me, as a usually positive poster, it was a very poor performance and the highlights were, well, the highlights

A bit like Everton now reflecting on Allardyce taking them to 7th spot but sacked because of style of play, how I wish for the days of a cup final and 8th under Puel. Anyone who has seen the last two home matches and says that they are more entertaining than that season, or any more successful, must be so blinded by bias it’s embarrasing. Other than the top six, the only way you finish winning games in the Premier League is to keep clean sheets. Porch did it, Koeman did it and yes Puel did it. All did so differently, and with very different players. Rant over, back to today, very poor throughout and did not deserve to win (albeit neither did Cardiff). Frightening lack of quality in final third. Was Armstrong injured today? Hoping that we will have Obafemi back as an option for Arsenal and I assume Yoshida will be recalled. Sounds like it will come too soon for Ings. Looking at table this could well be one of those years that you need 40 points to stay up and that looks like a big ask with four of the top six to be played yet. We don’t face Udders until very last game of the season....

Agree with overall sentiment, poor performance against very astute opponents who probably deserved to win. And all in Baltic conditions! 3-5-2 or adaptation thereof has worked well for us, but I was agitating for this to be changed at half time and sacrifice one of the centre backs because it became obvious that the balance of players in front of the ball when we were in opossession versus level or even behind us just wasn’t right when you are chasing the game and Palace understandably happy to just build congestion. It’s very important that you take the lead with this system, not made for chasing the game down. Ralph did so very late and got away from it, I think he will reflect that on another day we wil not have done. The good news though is that the old adage of “if you don’t play well, make sure you don’t lose” is apt. Onwards and upwards.

Generally agree, albeit still holding a candle for Hesketh who has looked class when fit.

These are the key facts relevant to looking at that net spend table. While fans often like to see a big net spend, reality is that you really want to be successful but be recouping good transfer fees when you do ship players out. So it’s not the lack of net spend that is a concern per se, more the fact that it is WHY we have negative net spend that is incompetent. On the subject of January, I for one are quite happy not to spend this month and let Ralph continue to improve and assess the squad. If there is a great deal to be done then fine, but often it’s panic buying in January.

Yes agree with those names. Really enjoyed the fact that we continued to want to play high up the pitch even when ahead. Refreshing change from last season.

I cant complain about the result aa I think Derby deserved that, as painful as it is to say. While recognising he was on a yellow card I thought it was premature to take Johnson off who had some bright moments including a cracking cross for Long to fail to convert. Best player for me was JWP, albeit as others have noted he tired badly in extra time, and Redmond added a lot when he came on. Also thought Cedric (playing on left), Vest and Stephens did ok. But generally it was a bit frantic and disorganised which mass changes often produce. What a missed opportunity given Accrington away to have made the fifth round.

Gunn Vest Stephens Bednarek Ramsay Slattery Lamina Targett Moi Gallagher Sims

Puel sacked for being 7th? Anyway back to our game, while it was understandably backs to the wall second half with ten men, in the first half when it was an even contest we were BY FAR the better looking side. Long and Redmond excellent first half. Back three looked a proper back three even without Yoshi, and Romeu immense. Special mention to JWP who was excellent both in midfield and when he had to play wing back before Cedric came on. All three matches played in second half of season so far have seen better results than first games (marginally in the case of Man City!). Next goal now out of bottom three is to get ahead of the points per match played ratio

Who is GB? A Premier League Saints manager? Burley never was

Gunn Stephens Vest Bednarek Valery JWP Romeu Cedric Armstrong Redmond Long

Weird to see the ongoing fascination to slam Puel whenever there is a bad news story about him. From my vantage point, the guy finished 8th with no Pelle, Mane or Wanyama and look what followed us. And a cup final. He then took over Leicester in relegation zone, finished eighth and he is now seventh having just beaten Man City, Chelsea and Everton. Crikey what failure....

Hope the big move up to secondary school goes well for you in September

This is a good summary, albeit as a recent advocate of Redmond I thought he was as poor as Ings tonight. Back 3 looks a proper unit, such a shame Yoshi is off for a few weeks. Always enjoy going to the Bridge. Quickest journey back ever despite dire warnings over the tannoy of “don’t go back via Fulham Broadway”. We hardly queued doubtless helped by mass exodus of Chelsea fans before the end!

Absolutely the result I expected so not too down. Thought young lad did well given opposition on debut, and Bednarek put countless great challenges in. Austin showed why people have lost faith in him, criminally poor when clean through. Everyone is quick to nail defenders or goalkeepers when they make mistakes, but cock ups like that at the other end are just as damaging. Looking at the bigger picture the realistic table was straight after the Wet Spam game when everyone had played everyone once. That showed us three points clear of drop zone on 15. We need to pick up ten more points in the second half of the season than the first to be comfortable and we can do that. Don’t be too distracted by this week’s results as it is so skewed dependent on who you are playing in these first two games of the second half. Positives under Ralph’s selections since arriving at the club for me have been Vest, Bedanek and Yoshi, along with Romeu. Get Bertrand back, resolve the right back slot and keep Ings fit and we should be ok I think. Worries are the right back or right wing back position and the fact that we now miss both Yoshi and Hoj for the next month (Yoshi after Chelsea game). Never easy doing business in January, trying to get rid of big wage earning underperforming players is tough and you have to pay over the odds for decent players. Was hoping we could get away with a quiet January but I think he has lost patience with several in the squad listening to him tonight so brace yourself for a busy window I think.

Yep I said the same on the way back to the car. When you come in during December and attempt to turn a team into a high tempo outfit you really don’t want lots of fixtures in a short time. We looked well short in fitness terms today. Would make quite a few changes for the City game. Fitness permitting I would go with Long and Obafemi up front as I think raw pace is the way to go against them. Tonight I thought the back three again did ok, we seem to have got out of the awful defensive individual errors which is encouraging. Targett put some brilliant crosses in, but then dropped some real howlers. Think Pellegrini showed his tactical nous tonight despite having lots of absentees. Ings looked shattered and we thought he should have been subbed at half time. Amazed to hear some questioning why he came off at all.

Trying not to be pedantic but if you have another read of what I said, it was “if he continues this form”. To answer your question, yes if Redmond week in week out matches his performances of recent games he is absolutely at that level. As I tried to draw out in my post, the difference now is actual delivery of goals and assists.

Enjoyed that! Great to revive the “swing your hats if you love the Saints” from Palace away under Koeman, brilliant scenes, and the Ralph festive song was great touch! He certainly enjoyed celebrating with the fans and I noted was keen to point to Obafemi in order to deflect the praise. On another day we could have scored five or six easily and always looked a real threat on the counter attach with pace. Back 3 looking like a proper defence now, I notice they are much tighter together positionally as an impenetrable three man team. Both Hoj and Romeo excellent, the latter much better than he was last week and fully justified his place instead of Lemina. But the standout player once again was Redmond, if he continues this form I believe he will get an England recall later in the season. Has been playing like Sterling without the end product, but certainly sorted that out today with goal and assist. Finally Ings is running at more than one goal per two games this season, very few have a better ratio than that in the PL.

#prayforHeisenburg Where is he?

Hugely enjoyable, stadium was really rocking at the end like the glory days. Excellent performances from The back 3, both wing backs, Hoj, Redmond and Ings and both strikers from the bench made an impact. Romeu looked short of match practice. As excellent a performance as this was, don’t overlook the difference having a fit strike force brings as we converted good moments into actual goals today. Looking forward already to the trip up north next week!

Utterly soaked in the stadium and then walking back to the car didn’t help the mood. But I think that was the worst quality top flight match I have seen since starting watching in 1987. The only other candidate would be the infamous Friday night match v Notts County under Branfoot that we won 1-0, and they were managed that day by........yep Neil Warnock! Today we were out fought by Cardiff who just hooked on forward balls, made sure they worked every throw in down the touch line until level with our area before launching it in. Awful to watch, and we created next to nothing in response. One more of a long list of poor goals to concede and while we had what looked a good penalty shout on Armstrong in truth Cardiff could have taken some of their other clear cut chances. While I understand the rationale for the sacking, as I said before I would have given Hughes until after the Wet Spam game and sacked him then if we had less than 15 or so points. This week we sacked our manager after the best performance of the season and then had two games in four days. Today we seemed uncertain of our approach which given how little time Ralph has had seemed an own goal. Still we are where we are and unless we curb the defensive mistakes we will go down. Feels like we need at least three defenders in January.

Left after 89 min so missed our goal! Played some good stuff, hit the woodwork twice and numerous chances. Davis excellent in getting our creativity going. However, regardless of what Ralph does to our attacking play we WILL go down unless he either can: 1. Coach defenders to actually defend, get touch tight and be aware of movement in the penalty area, or 2. Sign at least three new defenders in January You cannot be required to score three or four every week to take any points from the game. Shame really as between the two boxes we look good but points are not won or lost there

Enjoyed that, good team and formation selected by Hughes and encouraging that rather than fading away in second half we played some good stuff. Nothing has changed my view that Hughes should be given until after the Wet Spam game as a minimum which is the halfway point.

Fascinating viewpoint. Firstly he has never managed Ipswich, secondly you seemed to have omitted his time at Blackburn and Fulham for some reason? So, to paraphrase your own argument: Hughes took Blackburn to Europe before resigning, led Fulham to top half before resigning and led Stoke to three top 9 finishes, so.....”what makes anyone think he will be any different here”? Dont get me wrong, he is on thin ice but let’s make sure facts are accurate and that when someone has managed for twenty years we don’t just pick out the sackings