Dman

It was a strange game for me. We started really bright and looked great going forwards, probably should have been 1 up, but after 10 mins or so, they realised that if they just full pressed us from the keeper, we'd play into trouble and we started to panic. Bournemouth dominated the first half after that, we couldn't get out our own half, but that was more down to us. We played 1 DM, then 2 more attacking CMs and, being honest, it was way too attacking and they go through us way too easily. Second half was much, much better. I thought we controlled the game and you could see Martins coaching shining through. I was really unimpressed by Bournemouth. Ridiculously aggressive in a tackle for a friendly, constant petty niggly fouls and just played like they were fighting for survival. I couldn't really work out what style they play, seems like a counter attack. They pressed us well (from goal kicks), but we made it easy for them with all round sloppy play. McCarthy cannot play a minute for us next season, I didn't hit home until yesterday how poor he is with the ball at his feet. We need another CB, someone comfortable receiving the ball under pressure and imo ideally someone left footed (so many times we had to play into danger as we had no one who could turn out onto the left). Djenepo was Djenepo, very poor. Edozie was bullied. Adams very poor as well. Really impressed by Smallbone when he came on, done the simple stuff and reminded me of JWP, just as he had his transition to a more aggressive deep lying player under Ralph. Would definitely be keeping S Armstrong as well, gave us composure on the ball and drive through the middle. In short, any teams that are sensible in how they press us next season will probably beat us, but things to be optimistic about. We desperately need 2/3 players in urgently, GK, CB, ST.

Agree to disagree, I suppose. Its not about mental capacity, its about a difference of opinion. Personal opinion, but our hand is not as strong as people like to make out. Lavia isn't playing in the championship. He'll go and I suspect it'll be for less than the £50 we're demanding at the minute. Tino / JWP might give us a year, but if they do (and we don't go up), their value next summer will be way less than anything we could get this summer. Lets see how this all plays out. If we end up selling last week of the window, theres a good chance we'll be looking 3rd, 4th, 5th down our list of targets. People are happy to wait at the minute, but they'll start twitching as the window drags out.

FWIW, I think they should keep OT/Leeds. Been to the rose bowl a few times for England games / tests and its lifeless, much like most southern grounds to be fair. The Barmy Army don't seem to travel down here.

I see you keep saying this, but that counts for nothing if we don't go up. We are currently 2/3 weeks away from the first game of the season and still have no idea who will be playing for us next season and have a completely unmanageable squad size. We can't bring anyone in, until we let a few go. Martin himself acknowledged that... We'll miss out on our targets if we don't start to move players on very quickly. You need to strike a balance of not being bent over and shifting players who aren't going to be part of your squad. The players Leicester have sold, imo strikes that balance.

I have to say, I thought this when I saw the news broke. Bassey and Salisu are very similar players. Although he underwhelmed for us last season and I'll be glad to see the back of him, Salisu is a better player and represents better value for money than Bassey, imo.

Some positives to take from today, but also some signs of real concern. Reading are a poor side, but we looked nice and tidy going forward, I was really impressed by Edozie when he came on. But I can see us conceeding a lot of goals next season. Bazunu is a terrible keeper - not much has changed on that front.

We've been on the decline for many years now. The rot of having a losing mentality has been getting deeper for 2-3 seasons. It would have taken something pretty special to turn things around for any manager imo, let alone midseason.

yes, because there is absolutely no in between is there. Either we gain promotion or go down.. good point mate, you've done me 👍

They've signed a keeper today as well. Not sure what your point is around x replacing y though. They've signed a top CB, proven at this level on loan with the option to buy.. sounds like a decent deal to me.

so you keep saying, yet they keep signing players...

Genuinely, i think we could line up with our strongest 11 from last season and we wouldn't gain promotion. Individually they might be decent players, but as a squad, they are mentally weak and lack any class. They need to move on and we need them to move on. RE your example above, Lavia makes a real difference to us but I think JWP is actually a massive problem. Saturday showed the difference in class between the 2.

Forgot all about DCC - another we desperately need to shift.

Agreed. He simply doesn't do the basics well. Very, very poor keeper and we wont gain promotion with him in the sticks. He pulls off the odd (and I mean odd) fantastic save, but any time he 'has to think' he fails. He's the Che Adams of the goal keeping world. Actually, that would be unfair to Adams.

Brilliant news. Well done Saints for being able to move this idiot on.

He's nowhere near good enough. If we have to rely on him for any period of time next season, we're in big trouble. I'd like us to look at bringing 2 CB's or a CB who can fill in at DM.. Hasn't Charles played CB a few times for City youth team? Perhaps he could act as the 4th CB..

Because we've know for a long time we were going down. Fact check, but we were officially relegated 3-4 weeks before the others.

its finding that sweet spot. In 2016, we were in a much healthier and stronger position than we are today (FWIW - I think the deal for Mane was a pretty reasonable deal, at the time). Fast forward 5/6 years, we're a different club. We're no longer a PL side, we have a very very bloated squad full of massive bottlers and underachievers & we massively need a rebuild to change the mentality of the club (that wont happen with these losers lingering around). Simply put, we're not in a position to hold strong, imo.

Unlikely. £40m is a huge amount for any championship side, such is the gulf in finances between the relegated PL sides and other championship sides. By accepting a little less early in the window, its allowed them to build a side early. That £10m the might have budged on, will potentially turn to £50+m when they get promoted. They've packed their side with experience and seem to have a decent core of younger players still there. Its really disappointing we haven't yet been able to move on the likes of Che, KWP, ABK, Salisu etc. who are better players and will get PL / top league interest. Let alone the weaker players, like Perraud, Diallo, Djenepo, Mara, Lyanco etc. who are just clogging up the squad with averageness and probably have little appetite to play in the champ. We had a head start to build a championship squad, but seemingly are now loosing ground because realistically we cannot bring anyone in, without others leaving. We risk missing out on targets because we're not in a position to bring anyone in just yet. Had we been able to shift, ABK, Lyanco, Salisu already, would we have been in for Doyle? Who knows but i'd like to think so.

In fairness we're seeing the exact same shite as last season. The same mistakes, the same slow ponderous sidewards passing, the same lack of any threat in the final 3rd. That being said, its the exact same group of players throwing in the same shite performances. We need a clear out and re-build and we need it quick. Its disappointing we're 3 weeks away and there is still so much unknown about who we'll have playing for us next season.

according the the saints web gurus, they're absolutely skint. completely fucked and are losing players at a cut down fee for fun. no one would want to join them and if they did, they'd be crazy (including the manager who turned us down for them....) This place is going to be fun when we loose JWP for 25m. The same faces will be saying "we're a championship side, what do you expect"

Lets not put Fonte and Theo / Long in the same bracket when talking about leadership. Apples and Oranges.

He's given up the hope of the euros, his wife doesn't want 2 weeks in Germany.

if it costs you certain targets, thinking Piroe who could feasibly go to Leicester instead now, then it wasn't sensible from us. We could have easily struck a deal with them and met in the middle, kept relationships sweet. If they decide to sell players to us, then they'll only recoup that in the transfer fee anyway.

I love these theories. He's clearly not going to turn down a big money move to a big club north of London because his wife doesn't want to move.

Does anyone know the eligibility of Turner playing for England? How long etc? Given we previously fast tracked the likes of KP, Archer etc I do wonder if we have 1 eye on how he performs at CC level..