Charlie Wayman

I imagine if Chelsea were to agree to "sell" Broja to Saints, the buy back fee would be identical to what we might pay for him. No way would they agree a deal where they had to pay us more to get him back than we paid them in the first place? Makes no sense at all. Any advantage to Chelsea of a short-term "transfer" as opposed to an extended loan would be cash flow, some money in their coffers and his wages off their balance sheet.

Strange indeed as part of the reason given for him leaving Palace was health concerns. Having said that he is a lovely personable gentleman and it will be good to see him back on the touchline. Rather one of him than ten Bielsa's or Guardiola's.

How do you know what we are prepared to pay? The new owners may surprise us. Agree with you on extended loan which would be in everyone's interest except envious clubs. He is certainly not ready for a regular starting slot at Stamford Bridge but could be in a couple of years so Chelsea won't be in a hurry to sell him just yet.

We have a different team this season

This thread becomes more ludicrous by the minute. People, stop wasting your time worrying about what a newspaper hack thinks.

We need 13 points from sixteen games to be safe. How difficult is that? Let's focus on how to improve our squad in the summer than worry about what's left of this season

Not a good watch but a good result. Thumbs up to Salisu. Excellent goal from KWP.

Me too but a two week trip to Barbados wouldn't be one of them. Right now I'd settle for a match day trip to St Mary's with zero risk of catching Covid and ending up on a ventilator. Believe it or not I am really looking forward to next Sunday when the kids play at the stadium and I'll get down there for the first time since this all began. That apart, there seems to me to be very little prospect of Saints getting anything against City today. I have a feeling that it will be 'hide behind the sofa' time at 5.30pm. Just keep the goals against down lads, could be important later in the season.

I must have upset you some time along the way, if not it'll be soon...........

Seems like an exercise in futility and despair. Crystal balls are a myth.

When the news of the takeover broke, Ralph said in one of his press conferences that this would enable us to do our business much more quickly in the transfer window as we would no longer be impeded by the need to sell players to raise cash first. 20th Jan today so where are these new assets? The lack of activity must suggest that we will not be doing any business this month.

We've highlighted Ballard's potential on here before. Hopefully he will continue to develop at his current pace. If we can find a first team slot for Broja irrespective of his form because he happens to belong to a big club then why not Ballard? OK, it's U23 Div 2 opposition and not Div 1 but that's not his fault and if we get promoted he'll probably flourish at the higher level as well. Let's face it the two A's are not exactly setting our world alight so why not give the lad a chance, certainly next season he should be in and around the first team camp.

Done! No doubt I'll now be bombarded by unsolicited e-mails and adverts.

Pep has overcome everything that has been tried against him. Very doubtful there are any surprises left in anybody's playbook that will cause him more than a moment's hesitation. We just need to play our best players in a formation that works best for them and ask them to give it everything. We've had a weeks's rest so should be able to maintain our frenetic pace for most of the match. We don't have the quality of players or skill set to take them on head-to-head and hope to get a result so t's down to how long we can hold out and the hope of a free kick or two in the final third. The highlight of this match will be JWP v KdB for MotM.

I'd love it if we played 4-2-2-2 or 4-3-3 againstCity and took the game to them but three at the back is almost Ralph's default setting against the bigger clubs, the aim being of course to stop their free ranging forwards having a field day. Sooner or later it won't work. Presumably KWP back in and Tella to the bench will be our only change; Forster Bednerak - Lyanco - Salisu KWP Perraud JWP - Romeu - Diallo Redmond - Broja Our best hope is for a few free kicks in the final third so we need to practice the dark arts this week. Scoreline 0-3

Forget it! Waste of breath and time.

Because the international referees conspiracy against Southampton Football Club to ensure they remain a small club had to consult their lawyers before confirming it was definitely a penalty?

Clutching at straws old chap. On the day we were not good enough and Wolves were much the better more composed side. Luck had little to do with the outcome yesterday too many of our players went missing for the afternoon. The penalty was clearly a penalty, the ball was travelling across the goal at an angle and you can argue all day about whether Bednarek's foot brushed against the ball or not, the important point is that he did not deflect its direction of travel at all. Had the ball shifted its direction of travel by even 1 degree the ref would have not given it. Watch again and you will see for yourself.

Out thought and out fought today. Wolves are a good side. We seem to have been a bit hyped up from the start and passes were too hurried and often went astray. We never really got any rhythm into our play at all. Wolves obviously know our game well and were in our faces from the off giving us little space to work in. Tella and Redmond were off colour and provided little threat. Perraud played reasonably well down the left but Wolves exploited the gaps behind him leaving Salisu with too much to do until Perraud made his way back. JWP & Romeu imperious as ever but the back three were hit and miss and did not fill fans with confidence. JWP tried his best to carry the game to the opposition with that wonder goal, other teams will be desperate not to foul anywhere within the final third at this rate. Not sure why Ralph didn't replace Tella with JWP at HT to give us more of a threat on the right. In truth all his subs were a bit weird, Adams for Diallo made no sense to me and hauling Broja off seemed like an act of madness. I had hoped and expected a better performance and a better result but it seems three games in a week at our level of intensity is unsustainable.

That's the spirit old chap, ever the optimist!

Faint heart never won fair lady

100% correct. Totally agree with you. So will Ralph!

Saints are playing with a new positivity buoyed no doubt by the takeover and a sense perhaps that we are no longer a club that has to beg, borrow and steal its way to surviving in the PL. Removing that shadow over the club may derive huge benefits for the manager and the players. We are in good form with great team spirit and a sense of togetherness that we have not seen for a few years. A happy dressing room indeed! We have nothing to fear from any other club in the PL as results testify. Having lost only 6 games all season - arguably two of which we should never have lost anyway - we have amply proved we are very difficult to beat home or away. Saints should go into tomorrow's match with confidence and dare I suggest bit of a swagger, the result in the reverse fixture at SMS was a travesty on the balance of play and we are far better now than then. Barring any serious injury problems that we don't know about yet our current starting XI is good enough to take the game to teams around us in the league. I expect us to do well tomorrow and looking for a 3-1 win COYS.

I was thinking the same. Insane tackle suggest he has a lot to learn before getting a first team call up. Why do they do these stupid things?

It's on days like this that we remember why we follow our team through thick and thin, year in year out. You just never know.......