Fabrice Fernandes no.1 fan

Agreed, you look at the stand-out back 3/5's over the years and a lot of them play with one more dynamic player in the back line to account for it having 5 defenders. Bertrand did it for us, you look at Chelsea under Conte and they had Moses as one wing-back so played with Azpilicueta as the wide CB so they still had the defensive strength to cover it. Even back in 2002 in the world cup, Brazil played with 4 traditional defenders, and moved a midfielder into the back 3 to allow Carlos and Cafu to move further forward. We seem to be stuck playing 5 traditional defenders with their skill sets not really being optimised. I think a better balance would be to have a more attacking wing-back option. So something like a back 3 of Taylor, THB and Wood. Taylor has the experience to be a leader, you optimise THB's on ball ability as the middle pendulum, and Wood can cover the right space well. You then play KWP as a Wing back, and someone like Fraser on the other side, so it isn't just 5 defenders who don't have the cutting edge we need from the wide positions.

Seemingly it'll be a defender who suits his style of play but isn't actually an upgrade on what we have to slot in with James Bree and Nathan Wood

He took over as Chris Hughton's number 2 at Brighton back in 2016 when a certain Nathan Jones left to try his hand at managing

Bravery and risk seem to be separated by a very fine line. I'd like us to be brave, Russ wants us to be risky. The best Saints teams I've seen haven't been risky, but build on better fitness and solid foundations. Under WGS, Poch and Koeman we had a dependable back 4 which didn't change unless necessary, and two solid midfielders in front of them, generally a defensive minded player, and a better passer both who could run all day. The brave players were the front 4 or so, or those bombing beyond them who could make runs in behind or take on a man, knowing the foundation was behind them. It is a simple tactical suggestion that we don't have. Bridge used to bomb on, knowing Marsden would be there if needed to hold back. In the same way Lallana could take a man on, knowing that if he lost the ball, Schneiderlin would get it back for him. We don't have that now, we just play risky football in our own half, there is no foundation of defensive ability or numbers behind the ball to help. KWP should be able to make runs like he did against Chelsea, but there should be someone covering so situations like Chelsea's second don't happen where we lose the ball and instantly give them a 3 on 2 in our defensive third. We should take care of the ball in our half, then take the risks further up the pitch. Against Spurs, we really need to try and start with some basic foundational play. Play an actual midfield, in front of a back 4, they will have Kulusevski running from deep so we need someone who can run with him and stop him cutting in, rather than a back 5 split wide inviting him in. Use the full backs to progress the ball to the wide players, and move the ball inside further up the pitch.

Not really the match to take anything away from other than a good experience for the youngsters. We have three games this week and this is the least important, so the team was basically the normal bench and u21s, the captain brown doesn't even usually start for us. Against a WSL team, that was just about experience more than anything

This might have been covered (I've not read all 23 pages) but it was frustrating seeing corners be taken short when we had the tallest player on the pitch being marked by their left back at corners.

The reality is, we don't have good enough players to dominate the ball at this level and think we'll win, we need to approach each game with a mindset of "what gives us the best chance of winning here" instead of always playing Russ ball. The next game is Liverpool and they will press us high and over-run us. Albeit a different manager on both sides, but we scored 4 against them not that long ago, and a lot of that was direct running in midfield and in behind, the same as how Forest beat them. For me, Dibling and Fernandes would be key, but also we know they want to play high and in behind us, and Salah is a quality we can't leave one on one. I'd play 4 at the back (5 just leaves a gap between LCB and LWB for Salah to have) and put KWP on Salah. Mccarthy is our best available shot-stopper so he has to start. Sugawara has the pace we need, and I think there is a good partnership in Bednarek and THB we haven't fully seen. To counter their midfield, I'd play Downes and Lesley (I know he's not been very good but hopefully in a double pivot he works better). I'd then have Fernandes as a 10, Dibling coming off the right, Armstrong off the left (his defensive work-rate and pace in behind would be of use) all playing with Archer as the focal point trying to get in behind. We'd play at least 6 behind the ball, but with the intention Downes and Fernandes move the ball quickly between the lines, and the front 3 are all happy running in behind or playing a bit more direct.

Quite a strong squad in the end, given what we could have been putting out, but we'll likely struggle still against the other franchise teams. Will be interesting to see Orr get some proper game time, Dawson is in there and Howell and Fuller so we do have experience. Sonny Baker is included too so an early chance to see what we've gained there. 2 overseas players tbc apparently.

Think there is likely to be a major overhaul of the squads in the women's game, and I can see other players moving around just as much as those we are losing. There is also a bit of an oddity where some players were contracted last year to a county for the regional level but played for the franchise area team, but that county is now one of the 8 selected. The example I have is Rhianna Southby who was a Surrey player, but also Vipers, so will assumedly now return to Surrey again but at a level up.

Interesting that Vince already had that locked in. Wonder who else might not be available, I know a few last year went to Australia for their summer and Dawson often gets a few franchise gigs too.

I think he looked best last season when he played right wing, but realistically was an inside forward playing off someone else. That worked well last season with KWP playing so high on the right, especially when we did shift to a back 5. I think we could get the same out of him this season, with Sugawara playing high outside him, and Archer playing more through the middle.

Chris Baird is one for me, should have been playing in place of Telfer/Nilsson in 04/05 and then seemed to be played out of place in the championship before becoming a bit of a rock for Fulham over a number of years. Not a flashy player but dependable and an asset we never made the most of, at a time when we couldn't ever defend. Kevin Danso is probably a similar one, where we played him out of position and didn't get the best of him. Nathan Dyer another who we didn't give as much time to as we could and went on to prove himself for Swansea Juanmi seems to have had a successful career either side of his time with us, but that seems to be down to him suiting the Spanish League better.

A joint appointment with Danny Rohl, also doing well with limited resources (and a defence including Valery) at Sheff Weds. See if between them they can bring the positive tactics we saw under Ralph

I wonder how much of a factor it is that he's already gone once and come back. If he's already seen the grass isn't greener, and Saints can already offer him life changing amounts, there might not be a rush from the player or inner circle to go elsewhere

Tella on the bench for Leverkusen and Romeu played for Girona. The squad we had at the end of the 20/21 season is quite a mixed bag looking back