OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint

So he says his lawyer told him that all allegations against him were unfounded, to which his lawyer says "I didn't say that". Really doesn't sound like a trustworthy character and I remember him as the person who bankrupted our club. That's probably not accurate but fuck him, he sounds a right arrogant knob.

Half watching the Man U Arsenal game, I'm thinking: Is this the most boring premier league season ever? It's more than we have runaway leaders (who really don't need the assistance they get from refs every game) and the bottom three sorted with 10 games to go. The football seems so sterile and there's something sad about the commentators trying to hype it all up. There's too many self-interests for things to change but when the main interest seems to be which team will come 4th and 5th in the league, there's something wrong.

My God Sugawara is shit too.

Yes, don't know what I was trying to ask. I was thinking if we get £25m for Dibling/Fernandes, does Spors then have that to spend on the rebuild because £25m goes a long way in the Championship. It becomes a bit like when we bought Ricky Lambert which I vaguely recall cost a lot more than other teams in that league could afford at the time.

Where are we with purchases this summer? Does Spors have to balance books/sell players to buy? In the Championship, money should go a little further, especially if you're buying players to get us promoted rather than proven premier league players. And I still think our scouts could do worse than spend time looking around the League 1 & 2.

In some respects, there's not much to be gained from harking back to 'if Ralph had been given a striker' type talk, but I genuinely believe he's the best manager fit I've ever seen at this club. With the right support, we could have been playing European football for years on end and he didn't seem to have the ambition to want to go to a bigger club - he wanted to make a smaller club big. Our club. The arrogant SR version 1 completely mismanaged him and made a series of monumental fuck ups. That stated, I do think we've hit our lowest ebb. SR are learning from their mistakes and we won't be doing a Luton.

The difference is that SR have had a bit of a clearout of the people at the top and with the DoF supporting Rohl's style of play, I'm expecting this to happen. There's even a thought that when they approached Rohl last year and he effectively said wait until the end of the season, Spors was recruited to support Rohl's style of football.

It's almost a question to be asked in another thread. Do you tinker with the current squad on the basis that in the main, they're good enough to get us promoted and then next year make the wholesale changes. Or do you make wholesale changes this year? Personally, I'd like to see the start of the rebuild this year with a clear out of a lot of players

Yes, that team would be perfectly competent as a Championship side but in 18 months time, if we get promoted and need to strengthen the squad, we'll be in the same situation as this season when we struggled to attract quality players to the club. We should be looking this summer to bring in players who can take us up and stay with us when we get promoted.

Blimey Woodsaint, I would call getting rid of 14 of the squad a mass clearout. I expect Fernandes to also leave. That said, I'm not disagreeing with you. I'd like to see a mass clearout and rebuild a squad on strength and speed. My son suggested getting the best league 1 and 2 players together, put them in a circle and throw balls at them. Keep the ones that can control the ball because they have an eye. All the rest of the skills required can be taught.

Agreed. Once the season is over, I'm hoping Spors goes in to turbo mode and makes his presence felt and wouldn't be surprised if one of the first things he does is to drive up to Sheffield and bring Rohl to Southampton.

If Fernandes stays, I'll be very happy but also very surprised. I'm struggling to think of anyone in our squad who could form the spine of a future team. This summer I'm hoping for a mass clearout

Like Christophe, I think SR could be a long term bonus to our club. We were on a downward slippery slope until they came in and while we're still sliding, I think SR have the financial clout to stop the rot. When SR first came on the scene, I was pissed off because they side-lined Ralph. But there's no denying they've spent money. It was completely wasted on that January window two years ago, but even last summer we spent £120m and were the fourth largest spenders in the premier league. Yes, it was again wasted but their positive intention has always been there; it's just the wrong people were at the top. Now there's been a change in personnel at senior management. Some doom mongers are saying that the club is rotten and failure is ingrained and we'll sink next year too but I don't subscribe to that. We will be one of the rich clubs of the championship next year. We have every chance of bouncing straight back.

Was prepared to give him a few games to see what impact he could make, but having watched us concede 8 and score none in the last four days is enough for me. I get it he's on a hiding to nothing, I get it that some players have thrown in the towel but what I don't get is his inability to adapt and try new tactics. He gives off an air of someone who wants out. That's understandable. He probably came in thinking he'd give it a punt and quickly realised his position was hopeless. But poor tactics and playing players out of position (why does he play Aribo at centre back?) tell me he isn't the one to lead us next year.

I've also come to the conclusion that only Fernandes and Ramsdale are premier league quality. Other than those two, our entire squad of players fall in to one of three categories: 1) Useless - Sugawara, AA, Smallbone, Aribo, Manning, Bree, Archer 2)Don't care anymore - KWP, Dibling, THB, ABK 3) Useless and don't care anymore - Sulemana, Downes, Stephens, Bednerek. Frankly, I won't be disappointed to see any of them go at the end of the season. Time for a massive clearout.

Yep, harsh on them but they'll also be part of the record. I actually don't mind us holding the record defeat record because we bounced back each time - but lowest points total; is something else.

Apparently, Chelsea currently haven't got a goalkeeper that's any good (not that should bother them) but nor do they have a fit striker. It's an ideal time to play them but our guys seem to have given up the ghost, so this could be a really dreary 2-0 to them. They also seem to have more than the usual morons who stare at the away fans all match and give it the verbals. There's a ginger OAP who's usually good for a laugh.

The three teams to be relegated this year are predicted to be all the promoted clubs and to score a combined record low total of 63 points. It will beat the previous record low of 66 points set by last year's three promoted clubs of Sheff Utd, Burnley & Luton. That gulf between the premier league and championship is getting bigger and bigger!

After seeing consecutive managers being so pig-headed, impractical and unwilling to adapt, I would have said the blame between managers and players was 75/25 - but ultimately, I think it's the management that have caused this club to go in to freefall. It's not just SR either, the decline started before. I also believe Dragan wants to succeed. He pumped a load of cash in to the club when he first came in and he's now making changes when he's seeing things not working. Spors has a big job on his hands so I would like to see him taking a more public role in the coming months.

Thinking of betting on football, how's Ivan Toney doing in the Middle East? If he wants to be reintegrated into English football, I'd be more than happy for Saints to take a punt on him. Genuinely think he could be the striker we've been missing for the last few seasons.

Must admit, I can't see us getting anywhere near £60m for Dibling. My guess (and it is a guess) is more like £30m for a teenager who has got a lot to learn and frankly looks a bit cumbersome. As to THB (who also looks a bit lardy), I'd be happy if he stays but offers over £25m will be given serious consideration.

Nope, never bet against your interests. Admittedly, haven't won much this season, but got one 2-1 this year which has recovered most of the losses.

Didn't realise Liverpool FC started in a chapel! First Spurs copy our iconic song and now the scousers...

It really wasn’t. Maybe you're right. It was just the moment and everyone got a little carried away. Anyway, his first touch was a knee ah that went to their striker and he scored so the mood soon changed.

Agreed and we don't need superstars to do it so why doesn't Juric at least try it? This man-for-man marking can be done for corners but yesterday you saw ABK being pulled totally out of position leaving a massive gap at the back. At Ipswich, it was Bednerek being pulled out of position leaving Delap to power through. Learn by mistakes Mr Juric.