trousers

I'll leave it for @Matthew Le God to point out that this is the first round that PL sides are involved in the FA Cup and, as such, we haven't had a chance of being knocked out yet...

When reminding yourself that such a striker might have been out there, will you also be reminding yourself that they might not...?

Good job we've got a fantastic "recruitment department" then, rather than having to rely upon Saintsweb members who know zilch about such matters (apparently) to convince players to join us...

Bless you

A bit like when we rolled the dice recently and got in a new manager you mean...?

Thinking out loud, I guess the only way loaning in a player now would make sense is if we can get a guarantee to roll the loan over into next season too. That way, we get to bed them in for longer. But, that's not how loans tend to work, unfortunately, so probably best if I stop this thinking out loud malarkey...! 😁

Fair point 👍

Yep, have had a few of those this evening too

Other than 'rules for rules sake' why would the powers-that-be put an arbitrary cap on this? It's not as if a player could move clubs more than 3 times a season (realistically) anyway, given there are only two transfer windows, and it would no doubt be a rare occurrence anyway. What advantage and/or problem are they trying to suppress? (Probably something obvious that I'm missing)

Yeah, quite possibly. My frustrations with the ownership clouding my usual rational thoughts! 😁

I could've sworn Juric was asked in one of his first interviews whether he's been told he could bring new players in during January and his answer was "yes"...? (I'm not saying we should be spaffing money on anyone, just recalling that Juric seemed to think it would/could happen)

If there was ever one sentence that summed up the clowns 'running' this club, that is it. There's amateur then there's these buffoons. What club thinks it's normal to sit around a table to discuss transfer options for the first time 7 days into a window? (Yes, I appreciate that it would have probably happened sooner if Martin had stayed in post, but regardless, surely it could've happened sooner?). Bunch of sleepwalking cretins.

Inevitably, there will be people that compare Jurić's first 16 games in the PL with what Martin achieved in his 16 PL games. However, that wouldn't be comparing like-with-like... Martin's 16 games were preceded by a full pre-season and with an inherent feel-good factor about the place. Jurić isn't starting from the same place. Firstly, as you say, he's got players that aren't "front footed fooball" fit. And, secondly, he's not had any preparation time to instill his way of playing and unprogram the possession-based-football 'automatisms' that are ingrained in the players' minds. It's obviously a tad concerning that after a relatively competitive start versus West Ham, we appear to have taken steps backwards in the following 2 games, but that could just be the consequences of the club trying to change the whole playing philosophy mid-season, which will inevitably lead to disjointed and inconsistent performances. I gave Martin the benefit of the doubt for 10 games this season; I think we need more than that to judge Jurić, given the significant headstart Martin had over him.

Dear Sport Republic.... Given we're already down and out, how about signing this Bishop fella to help send Portsmouth Community FC back down to Divsion 3?

Yeah, in all seriousness, when having to get one's fix of matchday reactions from the likes of Facebook and Twitter at the weekend it actually makes you realise that this place is a veritable sanctuary of rational thought by comparison.... (ok, maybe over-egging it slightly there....! )

By what measure? Before Saturday's game, Brentford had played 9 aways, drawing 2 and losing 7 (0.22 points per game). We had played 10 aways, drawing 2 and losing 8 (0.2 points per game).... Some might also say that Brentford's aways were on the trickier side too.... Liverpool, Man City, Spurs, Man Utd, Fulham, Villa, Chelsea. (they took the lead in 4 of those matches, FWIW)

Name 5 posters who believe our current predicament is 100% down to Martin and no other factors, e.g. quality of players, owner ineptitude.... (clue: there aren't any)

Apologies for my lack of clarity Monk... I simply have no idea what a "design studio advisory business" is! First time I've heard of it.

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/24834560.elon-musk-appears-back-ex-southampton-boss-replace-nigel-farage/ Maybe Rupes could put in a good word for Saints if Musk is ever looking to buy a football club...

Does seem bit of an odd one. I'm not suggesting for one moment that he's significantly better than any of our other players, if at all, but the one thing we're crying out for is Premier League experience and he's one of a few players in the squad that brings that to the table.

Part of me is hoping you're not jesting... Sounds like a splendid plan to me sir!

Only me who would prefer the forum to be down every match day then...?

You should have done.... We'd all be hailing you as a football genius by now if you had....

Tempting... But I'll save the embarrassment this time...