Bob60

Not really picking on your post but have seen this a lot about the formation Being a long suffering season ticket holder I have seen this squad and others in recent years played in a variety of systems, 4:2:2:2, 4:2:3:1, 4:3:3, 3:4:3 etc. None of these have made us look any better and we still concede goals at an alarming rate. Think it's time to conclude that the players are just not good enough.

I may be going against the flow here but I feel that this season was dead when it started, a manager wedded to a system that would never work in the prem with our squad then a poor window with no prem quality left is with a slow death this season. That on top of a decline over four seasons led by little spending in the Kat and Chinese eras, of you stand still in the top leagues you go backwards, have left us in a very bad state. Now the backer has taken action and put himself in the chairman's seat, employed a new football director and manager. I am never keen on three at the back but after what has gone before I don't care what formation we play. I now feel we need to get everyone aligned and allow the team to be built around what the manger needs and slow time to turn this around. Constantly changing will not help, major work is needed and this will take time.

No no no, the beers before and after are the only thing keeping me sane😬

In my over fifty years of supporting saints and going to games I cannot think of a game I have looked forward to less. This season has been awful and have had to spend most games watching and listening to the away fans celebrating in front of us. Roll on May. Still I expect to renew next year, does anyone know of any help groups that can help with this addiction.

I agree about the midfield but this has been a big problem for a few seasons and especially this one. The midfield options were have are sub standard to put it politely and I think this has caused/causes many of our issues. They don't win the ball, turn and play forward or control games which makes the defence look when worse than it is.

Think it's more a case of us not knowing at the time if Chelsea would recall big Les so we had to activate the recall just in case. Now Chelsea seem happier he can go back and we ask the going rate.

Sorry to report that from the other end of the stadium we barely hear the 'wall' at all and sadly noise we hear is only the away fans celebrating.

Thought Juan was on loan in Turkey for the season?

All done and signed. 18 month initial deal.

Assume this is a complete guess as if it was something you had heard and knew to be fact we would have some meaningless pictures and not a name?

Funnily enough Adam Blackmore suggested in his podcast on Friday that he expected a club statement on the season so far etc on Saturday or over the weekend. He later said it didn't look like it was going to happen. Who knows what they were going to say but maybe Brighton changed it?

I sort of agree that if you are offside in the box you are interfering, but the big issue for the fans is consistency. Arsenal's second against us was worse than this goal but is given, today arsenal get a pen when the keeper hits a player who had just headed the ball whereas against the dippers their keeper wiped Armstrong out without getting the ball and they even get the free kick. They need consistency of these are rules of the game.

In that case they are not rules or laws just guidelines. The problem is if it's subjective then it's unfair. The arsenal one had to be interfering as he was right in front of our keeper, that gets allowed. If you are in the box you are interfering as the defenders and keeper are aware of you and you have taken some of their attention?

I do agree it's not all on him but his job is to set the team up in the best way, that includes stopping goals. I still think his set up of the team contributed a lot to the second goal and think it's harsh on Suga to call it boneheaded or stupid for the third.

So what would you do then, just leave it at it is and get all the fans to cross their fingers?

My point is that our main issue is conceding too many goals. We need to look at different ways of solving this. What we are currently doing is not working. These players playing a system that suits them more may help with that. This manager seems incapable of seeing that.

So we are so bad at the back we let them be exposed on the wings time after time? I watched the Newcastle v wet spam game last night, both played a back four, neither had a problem creating chances and when they lost the ball the fullbacks were defending. So it is possible.

We don't have to play five at the back, we could try a solid four. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results.

No, the chance was because he had the freedom of the pitch, he scored easily because the keeper messed up. My point is that when you are conceding goals at the rate we are maybe you could try playing defenders as defenders. Teams do still score goals without having fullbacks playing as wingers.

Also the fact that in our system the fullbacks are pushed so high that any winger has the freedom to run into space unchallenged.

Would fit in very well on here, automatic entry into COT.

Finished 4-4 😁

So you are saying that like it's a fact after 8 games in the prem and ignoring the fact that he may improve in the next 30 prem games😂😂

That brings back memories what a team we had then. Good times

You are probably right but my point is that they tried to create one main singing end by getting all the 'singers' together, in previous years we could hear that end more than now, most that did sing from the rest of the stadium moved. We do sing quite a lot, we can't hear you you can't hear us, maybe the singers need to try harder.