Guan 2.0

Alfie Jones starts for the u-23s, while will wood is on the bench. It would appear they are out of contention for tomorrow.

To get some of the English talent we would have had to pay the English premium. Which we could only afford by horse trading with our continental success stories. Catch 22.

Encouraging. Keep the spirit and improve the defensive aspects, and we may have a chance against Chelsea. Optimistic right now.

Yes. Been calling for this for a while. McQueen has a knock anyway, let Jones come in and keep Bertrand on the wing. Win Games. Stay up. Let Reed go. Then rebuild : )

Good to see you join me in the straw clutching movement. Welcome brother!

Come on Arsenal!

I think we will win 4-0. Feeling positive about this one.

He carried so much dignity as he bluffed his way through a season where he was utterly hapless at best, and took his multi million severance like a true gentleman. Truly, we shall never see his like again. Hopefully. Goodnight, sweet Prince.

Were there many interesting possibilities? And did he confirm a draw is just like a win?

For those bemoaning the choice of manager: The club aren't going to sack Hughes. Just be glad Pellegrino is gone, at least now we have a chance of staying up. For those who think that a short term contract will have an adverse effect on the team: If that was the case, Pellegrino's brand of stale Dogsh1t football wouldn't have taken hold. Hughes wouldn't have been my choice in ideal circumstances, but he has kept Stoke as a mid table team for a number of years. These aren't ideal circumstances, so Hughes has my backing for the rest of the season. Onwards and upwards.

On Sunday I was told they were considering Kelvin and Radhi Jaidi until after the expected loss at Wigan (pessimistic but practical). But It appears that that line o thinking may have changed. We'll find out for sure when Ralph gets back on Wednesday.

Had heard this was incoming yesterday. But i would be lying if i said that each passing hour without word hadn't raised doubts that minds had been changed or delays had been sought. Celebrated the official announcement like we had scored. Hopefully soon all Pellegrino will be is a bad memory, or a punchline. Onwards and upwards. P.S. Finally Pellegrino is trending, lol.

Indeed. Replace him now, and enthuse the fans, give the team a fighting chance and get everybody working together with fresh ideas and confidence. We have some games we can actually win (imo) under a different manager West Ham (a) Swansea (a) Bournemouth (h) Everton (a) 3 we will be lucky to get a point from Chelsea (h) Arsenal (a) Leicester (a) And 1 annihilation to celebrate winning the league. Man City (h) If we change up now, we can get the 3 wins and a draw we need. If!

I think if we acted this week we might actually stand a chance... If.

Agreed. Called for the highlighted parts months ago. I'd add that whomever is made exec should institute failure standards and proper job performance measurement on and off the field, and make it clear who is in charge of enforcing those standards, to replace the current climate of shared blamelessness. All of this was avoidable to an infuriating degree.

How i'd go too, maybe swap out Romeu for Hoj though.

Absolutely huge. We need every fan roaring us on for this one. And hope beyond hope that A) Pellegrino took note of the positive impact of Sims and Gabbi/Two up front and B) Pellegrino sets us up for something other than a bore draw. A bore win is the minimum, but a draw is too little.

Yet another completely avoidable situation rears its ugly head - One that is symptomatic of our current malaise. If you have ignore the black box because your current manager can't attract the calibre of player to get you out of the situation that your current manager has got you into, that is a problem. If your current manager picks a bang average striker for 20 million, that is a red flag. If by this same process you are unable to replace the international class Defender you have just sold, that is the defining moment at which you must replace the manager before the window shuts. If you have a cultured youth star CB, who is ready to make the step up to first team football, and you let his contract run down in the under 23's at a time when you face a defensive crisis, that is a dereliction of duty to the future of the club. Before anyone accuses me of Cherry Picking this topic, I've been speaking on Jones' future for a while now, as i foresaw this very situation given our disastrous recruitment policy. Even if Jones Makes the bench now, no doubt his advisers will tell him to A) Run down his contract and hope any first team appearances attract other premier league teams, or B) Sign a short term deal that for a higher amount than we could have offered previously but with a ridiculously low release fee linked to relegation. I was worried when i thought we just had a clown for a manager, now I look at the examples of Norwich and Sunderland (currently propping up the championship table), and realise we must have a travelling circus for a boardroom. Abdication of responsibility and common sense has become a cottage industry at SFC. Instead we steam ahead with our half baked blue sky thinking, serial contrarians to any kind of logical solution, with absolute faith that our 'system' will magic up a solution.

On the flip side, it could spur the board in to action. Ralph might look at the fixtures, clear the 5 pledges from his desk, and realise that any new manager could be offered a realistic shot at a up final. Speaking of which, what are the rules regarding euro places? Does it go to runner up, or revert to league position? Because that could seriously impact the board position on the manager. The chance to turn a disastrous relegation bound season into a campaign to secure european football via the worlds oldest cup competition might be the only thing besides fan pressure that could shift pellegrino, and hand them a winning PR motive for breaking them out of their current mindset.

No, we would have sold the taxi for 20k, and bought a Rickshaw with suspect breaks for 10k, while boasting of the strongest transportation options in the premier league.

Indeed. Get Saints trending in relation to Pellegrino's unpopularity, even for an hour, or better yet have a feature written in a national that isn't from Jeremy 'Spokesman' Wilson, and you would shake the complacency at the core of the club out of its stupor.

If you are not a club plant, then the following is relevant to you: A) They don't think of you as a fan or supporter, they think of you as a customer. B) The operation of a football club is not simple. The support of a football club is not simple. It's a nuanced, complex operation, which needs to have clear lines of responsibility and failure standards. Failure to meet those standards will result in a drop in performance and a culture where nobody is to blame because everybody is to blame. Failure to recognise these realities results in relegation. C) Being afraid to criticise a badly run/performing club doesn't make you loyal, it makes you a lackey or a sycophant. D) People have backed the coach, they backed him when we went out of the cup to wolves reserves, when we fell into the relegation zone, and when players were put off transferring here in the January window by his management of the club. We have slid down the table, instead of climbing up. Now they have had enough. E) You speak of a Toxic atmosphere and blinkered views, while being blind to the fact that backing the manager on instinct while ignoring the horrorshow that is our tactics, approach and results on the pitch will create the most toxic atmosphere, a bizarre doublethink born from a half hearted obligation to "get behind the team FFS" while ignoring the dross being served up. It is the unthinking attitude which may sum you up best, tbf.