Charlie Wayman

It's never a good idea to make judgements when tempers are flaring and blood is boiling. VAR is not the problem in itself. It is the understanding, the interpretation and the application of poorly defined rules - for handball, offside etc - that lie at the heart of the matter. Humans are involved in that process and match officials face the same dilemmas as we would in their position. If the rules are not crystal clear for every conceivable situation that might arise then you have a potential problem. Nobody challenges or debates goal line technology. It works because the rules are clear and the technology is programmed to make the decision for us.

Understandably there is a lot of disappointment about the way things went last night but focusing solely on the alleged errors of the match officials rather begs the point. We are not scoring goals and it seems we cannot score goals. What we saw from Saints last night seemed more like desperation to me than a grand plan to put things right. From the outset we seemed to be playing a very flexible system based on fast running and frequent positional interchanges where the front four were popping up all over the place. Even the MF duo and the full backs joined in the mix at times. The nominal starting positions on the team sheet served only to misdirect the opposition. We had a lot of the ball and Villa couldn't get a foothold but we never seemed to have clear plan of where it was all supposed to lead.. Initially it all was very dynamic and exciting and looked as though it might achieve good results but as time went by more and more it resembled a bunch of headless chickens left to their own devices and to making it up as they went along. As pretty as it looked there were few occasions when we got through their lines and too many misdirected speculative crosses into the box were easily defended by a stout and determined Villa defence. We lost because we just did not know how to unlock a packed defence that too many times forced us to play down the wings and resort to lobbing balls into the box where we were always second best. Deflecting the whole debacle to a couple of admittedly dodgy VAR decisions avoids confronting the reality of our situation. We have very few papers of genuine quality who can make a difference to the outcome of games. Although he is a figure of hate here Grealish is the sort of player that we do not have. I am not suggesting that we have a team of mostly hard working journeymen but it is beginning look like that. Even Ings looked pedestrian last night and the only player that deservesd any credit was Oriol Romeu who did what he always does in his usual dogged and determined way but he is not a match winner. Has Ralph taking this bunch of players as far as he can? As frustration mounts and results continue to disappoint maybe he and others are beginning to ask this question.

Ralph makes it up as he goes along.

Only KWP and Vestergaard missing now so running out of excuses.

That may be true but JWP / Romeu have a fantastic understanding and automatism in midfield and we must recreate and hang onto that. Diallo at RB for me, he has proved that he is a great defender and can win tackles and also has the pace to bomb forwards down the right flank. I'd start with Theo even though he looked a bit jaded the other night - age probably a factor with quick turnover of games - with Redmond on at 60 mins. Armstrong of course He and Djenepo need to be eased back in rather than chucked straight in the deep end. There's not much to choose between the three of them if we're honest. I feel better times are returning starting tomorrow; 3-0 to Saints Forster: Diallo - Bednerak - Stephens - Bertrand: Walcott* - Armstrong*: Adams* - Ings *Subs: Redmond, Djenepo, N'Lundulu

Indeed, anybody who has followed Saints though thick and thin for 40 or 50 years deserves the utmost respect!

We all have to die in the end and John has had a good innings. One of a large group of friends in the Itchen he will be sadly missed by us on match days When dismissed by Cortese he just came down from the directors box a few rows behind us and sat with us. No bitterness that one could tell. End of an era one could say.

You may not have noticed that we already in the bottom half of the table.

Adams has been playing in the No 10 position for several weeks now. His work rate and success at holding up the ball and beating defenders cannot be faulted but that means he is never in the box when it matters. In effect we are playing with Ings as a lone striker where he is usually marked closely by the two centre backs thus stifling his play.

Can't expect much with four of our regular defenders missing. No point in pointing the finger, none of our lads played well tonight. When was the last time we gave the ball away so often?. Too many games in quick succession with a small squad has clobbered us.

A good hunch too. Probably Ralph's only option in reality.

Trying to be rational not emotional like you. Why not articulate your views why you think our much depleted side can avoid defeat tonight rather than resort to mindless expletives. Address the problem not the writer.

A double whammy, how many more injuries can we endure without the system breaking down completely. Death by a thousand cuts as they say. Sadly I think this has screwed us and a rampant Gunners at full strength intent on revenge will run us ragged. I hate to say this but we are going to lose 4-0.

Absolutely and when Diallo has moved on to a BIG club in a couple of years Oriol will still here grafting away at Staplewood, setting an example to the kids and generally banging in great performances on the pitch. Ralph values him very highly and rightly so and will not want to demotivate him in any way. Like Bertie, another Chelsea "reject" he has found a natural home here, seems more than happy with his lot and is as loyal as they come these days. When the chips are down he's the sort of guy you want beside you in the trenches.

False comparison. Totally different type of player so it is not either / or as you suggest. Romeu is a DFM, Diallo is an AFM. It will be horses for courses as far as Hasenhüttl is concerned depending on the opponent and the way they're set up. At SMS expect to see Diallo more often whereas away most likely Romeu will feature most of the time. JWP's position is not sacrosanct so expect a Romeu / Diallo partnership from time to time with JWP operating in the No 10 position.

Utterly ridiculous comment. Theo worked his socks off yesterday and was all over the pitch in support of the attack and the defence. The guy is a 100% pure gold and we are very lucky to have him.

We need to take at least a 2-0 lead at HT to make sure we have a chance of winning comfortably. Backs to the wall stuff can't work every time.

A lot of them disappeared when the forum insisted on English as the common language.

More posts like this Chris and you'll on your way out.

How many are we expecting next week then?

Diallo seems less comfortable and less effective in the sitting midfield role and resorted to safe tippy-tappy passes with JWP in the defensive third. He is much more alive and effective as an attacking midfielder and so it is not a problem to play Romeu/JWP in the deep positions with Diallo in the No 10 role. Him or Armstrong on Saturday.

Perhaps the Club are trying to off load him as he is one of the few saleable assets they have? Is it sell assets or go bust?

I feel a bit like Ralph, it was an um OK performance, just about. Far too cautious and unadventurous against pretty poor opposition despite the hype of the taters. A damp squib of a match on a damp night. A win's a win so we'll take it and move on. Bearing in mind that Diallo is still a relative novice and about the same age as some of our youngsters, there is clear gulf in quality between his abilities and reading of the game and any of the Academy lads who played tonight. That's not to say they won't learn but clearly they have a great deal to learn before they can challenge for a first team spot. Bit of a one man show directed and orchestrated by JWP.

From that podcast we learned from Bertie that he and the Club were not that far apart in negotiations and such details should be ironed out soon. It might be that he has to choose between a two year deal at higher p.a. money or a three year deal at lower p.a. money. He wants to end his career here so give him a three year deal and surely we can take a reasonable risk bearing in mind the vaccine roll-out and likely return of spectators soon. Where are we going to find a better right back in our situation even if there is one? No way will be find another KWP that was just luck.

Truth be told we do not have enough fit players to be confident of winning either this match or the one on Saturday. This is where a small squad and relying on the Academy lads has really lets us down. I'd rather we lose with the 'B' side tonight rather than be humiliated by the Gunners. It would be a lot more damaging to our confidence if we put out our strongest team for both matches, scraped a win tonight but then got roasted at the weekend.