Charlie Wayman

Since there has been no information on the OS about ticketing for this match, I phoned the ticket office today to find out what is happening, supposedly the match to be played on Thursday evening. The ticket office said there has been as yet no conformation from the PL of when this match will be played (?!) so no ticketing arrangements can be announced. They are in the dark, we are in the dark. I suggested they should post an item on the OS to at least keep fans up-dated on what is happening as many I know will want to see this match.

I've not seen you post before but you must be the only one with fingers crossed that Ward Prowse doesn't leave. Where have you been these past few years? Who would want him and which other PL team would give him game time. Many of us would give him away just to put us out of our misery.

It's tricky for refs and hard to believe they are in any way biased in their decisions. By and large one suspects they are on the side of football and players, that they like if possible to keep games flowing and not keep blowing their whistles for the sake of it. They use common sense if you will to apply rules that are not black & white in situations that often are not at all clear-cut. They must be crucially aware that their interventions should not wreck the match or atmosphere nor give a clear advantage to one of the teams. Handing out a yellow is no big deal intended as it is as a warning to a player to calm down, handing out a second yellow is a very big decision and a game changer; the referee knows that he could by that single act change the outcome of a match so he has to judge the incident by a different standard to that used for the first yellow. It shouldn't be so but it is! The problem is that a first yellow doesn't often change a player's behaviour and certainly not in the case of head strong players like Hojberg or our beloved Romeu. Maybe the answer is not to hand out the first yellow too easily when perhaps a verbal from the ref and the coach would do the trick? Or maybe change the system to three yellows and off. Sadly referees have become the butt of most club's poor performances. Media and pundits make matters worse by focussing only on a few minor incidents of a match and magnifying them beyond all proportion to their importance to the match... "Let's take a look at that penalty shout" being typical and after ten re-run video reviews they pronounce solemnly "The Ref got that one right!" If I were a ref, I'd tell them where to stick their punditry but of course TV is king and lower league journey-men footballers assume the mantle of world class status for insight despite no formal studies, training or qualifications for the job. The abuse and criticism that referees get is far beyond anything that most decent people would regard as fair minded or acceptable.

Not long ago, the rumor announced Southampton's interest in Victor Osimhen, the Wolfsburg striker on loan to Charleroi with an option to buy. An option that Sporting was quick to raise for an amount of 3.5 million, well aware of the added value it could achieve. And this should be the case since Lille would be willing to extend between 12 and 13 million to acquire the Lagos striker, leaving a profit of 4 to 5 million for the Zebras since the German club must receive a percentage on the capital gain. If the Nigerian goes to France, it's probably because Southampton has other aims. And the eyes of the "Saints" is rather than one hundred kilometers from Mambourg, or Sclessin where this season broke a certain Moussa Djenepo. Negotiations would have taken place last week to consider the transfer of the Mali Eagle to a club that, during the 2017-2018 winter transfer window, had received $ 84 million for the sale of Virgil van Dijk in Liverpool. If this transfer is confirmed, it would be the second largest outgoing transfer from Belgium.

That is certainly a controversial statement. Like you I'd hoped there was a way out of this fiasco but wiser heads on here assure me that there isn't. I much prefer your answer.

The day after Saturday in fact

We did, yesterday and look where that got us.

Scrape a 1-0 win and all will be forgiven, usual farewell waves from players only for most to return next year. Surely 'though Plymouth Argyle can afford Stephens, he'd loved to go home to end his career and should do well in League 2

This is what will really happen....: Ralph will ask for backing Board won’t give it We will have another poor season next season, finishing 17th to 20th. Ralph will leave

No idea what that is supposed to mean? If people keep telling a kid that he's bad and no good, guess what? He ends up being bad and no good! Fraser Forster should get away from here as fast as possible and build his career again elsewhere.

A solid if not spectacular performance built largely on good defending. our attacking threat but is bit limited and it took two free kicks to get us over the line. Klarer, Vokins & O'Connor starred in defence and Tyreke Johnson worked his socks off in the front striker role chasing everything all evening and causing their defence no end of difficulties. Ralph must be looking very seriously at these guys in particular to break through next season. Should be a great game next week whoever we play and a big turn-out should be the reward for our lads.

Certainly some tough talking from Ralph about shaking up the whole structure during the summer - "everyone must work 24/7 a week" - does mean that some of the coaches and other back room staff are under threat? Without being unfairly rude to the guy, seems unlikely Kelvin could work 24/7 for one day let along week-in, week-out?

Pellegrini has transformed WHU into a very good footballing side that comprehensively outplayed Spurs the other day. They are on the way up whereas we are in 'sighs of relief mode'. No contest really and the usual 0-3 drubbing beckons on the cards. Honestly after the season our lads have had campaign weariness seems inevitable and it is hard to see where the motivation will come from to do any better.

Still peddling the old jokes. More seriously. Ralph has a contract until 2021 so next summer is the time to worry when he has one year left on his current one and the Club ask him to renew with another 4 year contract. He certainly won't be resting on his Laurels, he is much more Hardy than that.

Au contraire mon amis, c'est vous qui parle B&ll&ks! Your reply has nothing to do with what I wrote.

We seem incapable of learning from our mistakes and glaring errors of judgement by Armstrong and Stephens nearly cost us. Yes, we stay up for another year but not by any means in style. It's all very well hanging on by our finger tips year after year largely because of the poor performance of rivals rather than anything to do with our own efforts but frankly this performance like so many recently was just not good enough. Unless Gao has access to a secret hoard of cash that he hasn't told us about before it is hard to see were all this is leading in the summer and one might reasonably feel that we have just put off the inevitable for another season.

That bloke is a Grade 1 Clkueless Tit! Obviously he wasn't watching when Mane scored the fastest ever hat-trick in the PL against Villa... "oh, were Southampton in the Premier league then?" You couldn't make it up but he always does.

This is such sad news. The poor man died literally of a broken heart. All fathers will shed tears for him today. We are not supposed to lose our children. RIP

If Wolves win it's over before Monday.

50mph gales will make things interesting, maybe we can beat Long's fastest goal record again from kick-off?

Ralph's game wears our players out after 65 mins after that we are rarely competitive and often with backs to the wall under siege. His style of play seemed to work well in the Bundesliga but maybe the PL is too fast and furious for it to work for 90 minutes. Every team is physically strong and fit so we get no advantage from that as over-exertion for 2/3rds of games leaves us vulnerable to others who pace themselves for the full 90.

Ralph will not drop Long after Tuesday's performance and in any case Ings is too static, otherwise you have probably called it right. Lemina is now an enigma but he is quality, would love see him start but Ralph cannot justify dropping Romeu. Expect Lemina on at 65 mins after Oriol's obligatory Yellow and Ings at 70.

To the Players: Step up to the plate lads it is really important you deliver tonight. I know few of you are looking for a transfer to Watford but let's have a top six opponent mentality just for the fans for once.

This is too bloody ridiculous for words, of course we should refuse, let's get our bloody priorities right! Who gives a monkey's about the few WHU fans who 'might' have gone to Wembley as well. Why in heck should 2/3k fans travelling 100 miles from the south coast have to be F'd around for the sake of the unlikely few East Enders who would miss the event at Wembley. If they are really that keen they should skip the Hammers match.

I'm slightly puzzled here, if a player is not very good in the position in which he has played most of his professional career then how can it be said that he is "a talented lad and a decent footballer"? That really is a non-sequitur. Self evidently such a player is not a very good footballer, period. Stephens is not a very good footballer at the level at which he is being asked to perform.