Fabrice Fernandes no.1 fan

Maybe that is the plan for Lis this season, he'll be fourth keeper/Sammy Saint for the half time entertainment.

Weird game that. Classic Obafemi, a good finish to put them two up, then at 2-1 has the ball in the Millwall half, all he has to do is head to the corner and keep the ball, and he runs to goal, brilliant challenge wins the ball back and they lose possession. That equaliser is a quality finish...

The thread title can now easily be made valid, by simply moving the dash, this thread is now the "James Garner transfer- saga"

The performance this weekend reminded me a bit of Long's second season here, when he played wider with Pelle the focal point. Using his pace to run in the channels rather than through the middle, and press. I think there could be a useful player in there for us this season, if we can figure out how to get him, Aribo and Armstrong into the team without wasting one of them.

No Vokins either no sign of Mara either so guess he’ll be in the squad tomorrow

A ridiculous win from nowhere! Already one trophy in the bag, could manage a double if the one day form carries on and we can get more of the first team involved! then we have an outside chance at the championship too at the end of summer! if you count the Southern vipers and brave too, what a time to be a Hampshire cricket fan!!

Newcastle have announced today that they will wear their matchday warmup shirt as their kit away at Brighton (with full sponsors and branding) because all 3 of their kits clash! Ridiculous that this isn't better organised, needing 4 kits is ridiculous (and I know we've done it multiple times!) Got me thinking, what will Leeds wear this weekend, their home is white which from behind will look the same as ours, but the away is a seemingly pale yellow with dark shorts, so not massively different from across the pitch!

Would definitely take him here, he's the player Ralph seems to think Moi is...

Might see Mara get some gametime for the B team this evening, he wasn't even on the bench on Saturday so maybe not quite ready yet

I get that, think Romeu will be very important this year, but for me Hojbjerg will be in JWP's pocket all afternoon anyway. The reason I'd go for Lavia is the legs. Spurs will counter quickly, and have runners from midfield, so we'll need someone who can keep up with them really.

My team for the game would be: Bazunu, KWP, ABK, Bednarek, Salisu, Perraud (if fit, if not Djenepo), Lavia, JWP, S Armstrong, Adams, Aribo In a 5-1-2-2/ 5-2-3 sort of setup, where JWP can either sit with Lavia, and Armstrong push up, with Aribo tucking wide on the other side, or a front 2 with Armstrong and JWP behind and Lavia holding. They obviously have so much more quality in the key areas, so it will come down to whether we can outplay their system. If they have a front 3 against our 3 centre backs, we will need Lavia to drop in and help. But we might have more numbers in midfield and could win the game there if JWP is at his best. Will be interesting to see how we setup. There could be great battles at wing back, if they have Perisic at left wing-back KWP will need to be on it defensively but could expose him going forward.

One thing that’s been mentioned a lot is the fact that the same 11 started all the games, but I also noticed that 9 of those 11 started in the game at st Mary’s last September. I think squad chemistry and knowing each other’s games is really key. the mens team at international level always changes, when maybe a more settled 11 with just a few players coming in and out of the squad would be best same with saints, we really need to go into this season with a settled defence and stick with it, let them get used to playing together and build confidence in each other’s games

He got 2 against Watfords u23 yesterday, Morgan got one and Edwards another! Agreed, even with Dibling gone, we’ve got Ballard, Edwards, Pearce, Payne and Morgan all coming through who seem to be strong! I’m sure I also saw concern that Doyle might be leaving with Dibling but he played 90 for us yesterday

Coventry striker Gyokeres just scored a great goal, 24, scored 17 for them last season and is 6 foot 2 but mobile, seems like the sort of player we might look at; or those around us

Depending on when the fixture is we could put out quite the u23 team if we really wanted: Bazunu (20), Tino (19), ABK (20), Salisu (23), Vokins (22) Lavia (18), Diallo (23) Edwards (18) Ferry (21) Tella (23) Mara (19) I think starting Bazunu would be funny either way...

Already missed out on Arteta and Vieira from their coaching tree. Seemingly they also need to have played in midfield for Arsenal, so shall we let Fabregas manage Melbourne City for a year then get him? (Not going to happen!)

Come on now, no need to call me that sort of thing, calm back down. Quite clearly a joke, I don't actually think all tories are twats, I definitely think some are (Chris Grayling, Micheal Gove, the entitled money-grabbing politicians whose policies end up costing the country lots of money), but I also think lots of other people are too, not just based on political leanings. I actually don't mind Rishi, he seems to have worked hard to get where he is and his work as chancellor during the pandemic kept a lot of people's finances ticking over. Perhaps I just mistrust anyone proud to wear bright blue because of that lot down the road?

Same thing right... Interesting how politicians lean on football to try and seem more relatable, like David Cameron supporting Aston Villa, or was it West Ham! Would love to know which Curry house he waited in, the dizzy heights of Coriander Lounge or Kutis, or is he a Manzils fan...

It is certainly coming through, and the improvement in coaching too will help. When you look at players like Lucia Kendall for Saints, she's easily one of the best players technically, and that is because she will have been exposed to a higher level of skill and coaching from a young age. The thing with the full backs in the Euros is that oddly a fair few play as wingers for their club sides, so might be that they aren't as used to receiving the ball in the deeper positions. England look a different side with Greenwood at left back compared to Daly, because they offer different experience and skills. Greenwood has always played left back or centre back whereas Daly is naturally a winger. One of the themes of the tournament is the teams struggling if they don't have natural defenders and instead are working the most talented players into an 11

Think it comes down to the way teams are playing more now, we seem set on a front 2, but most teams play a front 3, where the goals are coming from the wider forwards not the number 9. Only 6 of the top 20 scorers last season were typical strikers, the rest were wider players who get on the end of crosses and cut in (Sterling, Mane, Salah etc) and attacking midfielders playing as 10s or high 8s (De Bruyne, Maddison etc). Our issue though, with 2 strikers on the pitch pretty much all time, is definitely an out and out striker to score goals, but a few more from the supporting players would also massively help!

This seemed to be the case to me at the NI Norway game. Around the ground they had covered any hint of it being Saints' stadium and replaced it with Uefa branding. Even the red and white perspex at the back was covered up! Hard to see when the work can be done to the stadium to refresh it and add the structure for new screens. Season is coming up soon, and there are still constant corporate events in the ground year round!

Hard to argue with this! Adds quality at the levels we need and the positions we need. I would really like a Dolberg type signing as an out-and-out striker, an obvious class about A.Armstrong (who will have his place in the squad). With those five, a starting 11 and 5 subs to bring on just instantly looks more quality.

Could be a back 3 or back 4 (although listed as a back 5!) Interesting to see how Edwards does, always seemed to be a right sided 10 for the B team so will be interesting to see if they use him at wing back today I do think it is important to see everyone and for them all to get fitness, but as pre-season draws on I would like to see closer to a first 11 play together, and this is definitely not it!

Looks to me like we’re playing the same system as England in 2018 World Cup In possession 3central defenders with the options to split wide, 2 wing backs for width, one holding midfielder with 2 10s in front and then 2 up top in front of that (so 3-5-2 in a way) then out of possession one of the forwards drops back as does a ten making more of a 5-4-1

Ignoring the weird patronising sarcasm above... I do genuinely hope Rafferty gets some time for NI tonight, would be such a shame for her to not get to play at her home stadium in an international competition, truly once in a lifetime sort of opportunity that.