macca155

Well I've voted Labour in every General Election since 1979. Think things are bad now, try the horror of Thatcher. I would do so again as the alternative is still too ghastly to even contemplate. However I do concur with what you say. They boxed them selves into a corner with some daft manifesto commitments, but every party does that. Reform would repay all student loans and deport most of our NHS workers. Long road ahead

Normally I need a couple of weeks recovery time in a dark room before watching Saints again. Just might be able to face this one now. Let's hope it's a more Fulham like performance rather than the Bournemouth disaster. Utd will consider themselves rock bottom if they fail to beat Saints. They'll be quite hyper to start with.

Blast, we'll that's that then. Although he is on a long contract so the club are at least in the driving seat.

Considering that Saints haven't been able to score, defend, or barely get out of their half recently, I'll take a 3 0 win, no matter how limited the opposition. Sulenana played well first half. Problem is Premier league defenders don't fall for his twisty turny trucks. Nevertheless he put in a proper shift, tracking back and everything. Good to see. Judging by the way he came off I suspect that's his last game for Saints. Seemed to be quite a few goodbyes going on. Pretty standard for the rest. Tyler's bored teenager act is starting to grate a bit, but the lad has an uncanny knack of turning any player anytime he wants. Big bucks coming in for him. Fernandes was the pick for me, he looks a top grade Premier league player. They'll be a fight for him as well.

Good grief seen more here at a reserve game. Should have saved some money and played at Marchwood. Very disappointed no youngsters in the team on the bench. An opportunity lost but I guess Juric has to get another effective 11 together. Decent half. Sulemana is ripping them apart. Ugochukwa, Fernandes and Dibling just too strong for them. Swansea are a bit all over the place but the defence is giving them half chances. When were we last 2 0 up? Stoke I presume but shows how desperate the Championship is. COYS

Not sure where to write this, but I guess here will do. If ever there was a classic example of the malaise at our club, it is the Ronnie Edwards debacle. Despite looking decent pre season, he was frozen out, then loaned out. Now I read he had a great debut for QPR ...... as a bloody defensive midfielder. The one position his 'actual' team have really struggled with all season. I knpw its a lower level but did no one think to try that. Absolute arse

He's a brilliant manager, totally owned Martin at St Marys. Changed formation mid game, timely substitutions bosh Forest scored. My seat is uncomfortable close to the away dug out. Saw it all in panovision. His whole coaching team congratulated him. Martin stood there bemused. I knew then we were in trouble.

Harsh to judge him on that game alone, he was hopelessly exposed. Has a bit about him at times but he seriously needs to up the work rate.

Precious little other than what I read from other posters. However he seems to be highly thought of. Bought from Cork, U19 and U21 Irish international. He clearly isn't some wet behind the ears 16 yo. He's 19, experienced and a regular for the under 21s and a successful season in the Irish league under his belt. With the midfield in its current perilous state, he has to be worth a start in a cup game, otherwise what is the point of signing him.

Taking the opportunity to take my 6yo Grandson to the game. He beat me at Monopoly so this is his punishment. Relatively cheap and surely there has to be a response. Swansea were taken apart by Pompey, so surely it's reasonable to be positive about this one. I assume Downes and Ramsdale will be rested to help with injuries. Onuachu and Sulemana probably sold by then I'd go with McCarthy Sugawara ABK Wood Manning Ugochikwa O'Brien-Whitmarsh Fernandes Lallana SAA Archer I know it isn't Juric's favourite formation, but there really isn't any call for 3 CHs. That team should destroy Swansea. There is a lot of Championship talent in there, with more on the bench. So hopefully they'll avoid conceding 5...

Not that it is worth an argument but I think we all realised we were doomed when we witnessed the recruitment debacle. Martin's niavety and stubbornness simply compounded that. He was handed an impossible job by the SR idiots upstairs. Probably took more blame than he deserves but that's the job.

Oh no we have to go through it all again

Suspended 5 yellows

Dreadful performance and a poor management. Juric has held his hands up to that, which is fair enough, but he better sort it for next week. I assume some of those selections, and substitutions, were for shop window purposes. Better be, as there really is no other excuse. THB's form has been pretty poor recently. By taking a decent RB away from him, and expecting him to move into midfield, a once decent defender looks ragged and stretched. Wood in contrast has been one of the few rays of light and he gets substituted for ..... Taylor. However, everything revolved around the lack of a midfield. It isolated the attack, such as it is, and exposed an already wobbly defence. Firstly O'Brien Whitmarsh should have been on the bench. He's young fit and knows the position. If Les is good enough so is he. Secondly Jan 1st SR should have raided the Championship for a midfielder. At the very least put a fight up. Players and fans are broken. Last 4 home league games Saints have lost 16-1. A damming statistic. Soon those empty seats at the end of the game will be matched by those at the start.

Just watching Swansea get turned over by Pompey. The deluded fools still play Martin ball. Two goals gifted so far. Oh and Grimes is rubbish. Saints might actually stand a chance on the 12th.

Suspect that's true but Goslkeeoers can afford to play the long game. He can't keep bouncing from one club to another, he's had way too much experience of relegation as it is. If he is happy with his mates he may well be tempted to stay tge extra year. As always it depends on who is prepared to stump up the cash.

I think that's the point. Start the process now whilst they still have some value. Particularly with Onuachu and Sulemana. We know KWP will go. Dibling, Fernandes, and THB will attract reasonable offers. However you are right, Aribo, BBD, Stewart, Frazer, Bree, Taylor, will be tougher to shift. Equally we assume Charles and Ballard will just come back but the Tella scenario could repeat itself.

Problem is nobody trusts SR. A lot of the resources are there they just need to be managed well. Personally I would bin off ABK, Sulemana, BBD, Ross Stewart, Smallbone, Bazunu, Cornett, Taylor, Aribo, Larios, Frazer, and retire Lallana. None of those add anything extra and it will bring in some cash and release wages and a loan place. In some cases it will make space in the treatment room. Bring in Joe O'Brien-Whitmarsh to support in midfield, he should be ready now. SAA and Jay Robinson also need to be considered. Obviously we have Shea Charles and Dom Ballard for next year but another decent Championship level midfielder would do no harm. JWP is warming a bench somewhere. In the summer Saints will lose Dibling, Onuachu, KWP, Ugochukwu, and regretfully Fernandes. Ramsdale will probably stay he has too many relegations against his name now, he needs to rebuild a bit. See where they are then at the end of the season and fill in the gaps where necessary.

It's not as if it's hard to work out why the club can't compete. Forest, Bournemouth, Fulham, Palace, and Brentford are showing how it can be done. Every week Saints are outclassed by players who are coached more effectively, have a far stronger tactical structure, and above all else are resilient to knock backs. I thought they played ok yesterday. It wasn't terrible and the defence did its job pretty well. However with Aribo, Bree, Armstrong, and Sulemana on the pitch, the team is weakened. They aren't bad players, far from it, but at this level the game is very fast, and they need that extra second to make a decision. That puts the team under pressure and allows players who do have a bit of an edge like. Dibling, Onuachu, and Archer to be too easily marked out of the game. KWP absolutely rinsed Palace down the left for the first 15 minutes yesterday. Palace simply doubled and tripled up on him. Knowing full well that the ball would eventually find Armstrong or Aribo. When it did it was played back or lost. Against West Ham the threat came from both sides and through the middle. Consequently the WHU defence was being pulled about and gaps appeared. Need more of that.

Palace were better than Saints, and comfortably shut down the game once they went ahead. Ridiculous decision by the ref and VAR, but I've a horrible feeling that even without that, Palace would have scored another winner. It just seemed inevitable. Last three games have been better. More organised and definitely in the game. Saints even managed to threaten the goal occasionally. The squad has no depth whatsoever. No Downes and Ugochikwa benched (why???), destroyed our midfield. No way should that be the case. No Sugawara, no service to Onuachu. KWP threatened for a while but Palace easily swamped him with no other distractions. It's desperate and I feel for Juric, he has nothing to work with. Priority now is being hard to beat, thin out the squad, and aim for 20 points. An admittedly laughable ambition right now, but at the very least lets avoid any more stigma or unwanted records. If we fall below Pompey's 19 we'll never hear the bloody end of it. That's the equivalent of 4 wins and a few draws from 19 games. Pathetic as it is, I would almost be moderately pleased with that.

Great strike from Eze, that's the sort of Premier League quality Saints don't have.

Wood has put everything into the last few games, probably stretching a bit today. Absolutely ideal situation for ABK to show what he can do. Ugochikwa for Aribo is bloody obvious. I guess Juric is having a good look at the squad. Still very much in this game. COYS

He really isn't having a good game, midfield is utterly useless. Plus the defence is being bullied at set pieces. Ugochikwa and ABK need to be on in the 2nd half, to dish some back.

Whatever we have offered KWP it isn't enough. That was brilliant

As someone said, they'll be man marking today. That's a big change to previous tactics, it will be interesting to see how they cope. I guess the aim with 3 forwards is to push Palace back and isolate Mateta...... now that is brave.