saint1977

Three points the priority, very reasonable first hour and very poor last twenty. Ings immense, JWP and Djenepo very good. Redmond just not on it at present. Working hard but confidence looks low. Farke shored them up with the two CMs brought on, Tettey picked them up. Caught square for the goal but Pukki took it well. Subs went wrong, would have kept Long on as an outlet unless injured. That said, only really a couple of chances although the Byram slice at the end was shocking.

Very sad news. Conflicting reports of longer term or shorter passing from cancer. Great bowler and commentator. How many great genuinely fast bowlers have England produced post war of any duration? Truman, Willis were pretty much throughout, Harmison and Flintoff were for spells in their career. Gough was very good, in the sharp category. Anderson and Broad brilliant bowlers, not express although Broad can get up towards 90mph. Statham before my time, superb bowler but like Jimmy quick but not express. Tyson my dad saw bowl and very quick, probably England’s fastest but not a long career. Larwood obviously pre war very rapid eg Bodyline. Also captained the side in the early 80s at a difficult time post SA rebel tours. Very brave resistance of injuries especially to his knees. Bright guy, very dry humour, will much missed on the cricket scene.

They just aren’t good enough to compete at this level and they know it. If they came up against our L1 and Champ promotion sides it would be Leicester all over again. Ings is the only one really who is. I think they might just about survive in the Champ if they worked hard with a cup final mentality but they are realistically top six League One on stupid wages because of that old fool. I agree the work rate isn’t good enough though, and if they try and play open football even against Norwich it’ll be heavy defeat. I don’t like playing direct but it’s the only way with this team. They can’t pass water.

They just aren’t good enough to compete at this level and they know it. Ings is the only one really who is. I think they might just about survive in the Champ if they worked hard with a cup final mentality but they are realistically top six League One on stupid wages because of that old fool. I agree the work rate isn’t good enough though, and if they try and play open football even against Norwich it’ll be heavy defeat. I don’t like playing direct but it’s the only way with this team. They can’t pass water.

I can’t get overly emotional about them tbh. If they aren’t good enough, they aren’t good enough. Watford are poor but still a PL side, this Saints side have dodged a bullet the last two years and would be in the bottom three of the Champ as well. When you are effectively a lower league side, you have to put in a cup final level of effort to compete or cause a huge upset like they nearly did last week every week and they can’t do that. How many consistently PL standard players has SFC got? Ings is the only one really, Boufal, Romeu and Redmond on their days. PEH solid Championship, JWP do a job at that level mid table for say Bristol City. Berty lost his appetite for the game as has Cedric. Vesty Champ/L1, Stephens L1, Long Champ, Obafemi National League, seriously, Gary Johnson has better loan players at Torquay from Bristol City. He is no better than Tyreke Johnson on loan at Woking. I’d like to at least see some hard work second half and try and cause a shock against higher level opposition. At least work for the shirt swapping at the end which seems to be the highlight. The club just needs to do what it’s going to do if Gao doesn’t sell up and see if we still have a club left at the end of it. What happens inbetween is irrelevant really.

People talk about Brexit and the establishment but there’s only one real establishment and this is it in evidence. Feel so sorry for those involved, to think 2011’s verdict of unlawful killing was going to finally bring some justice. Clearly the reward dividend for violently smashing the miner’s strike between political parties, police, tabloids is still alive and kicking, unlike the poor 96 people who never came home.

That's certainly the view of Paul Johnson at the IFS of both parties. Tories are being untruthful about the low level of increased spending to repair some of the severe damage from austerity and tackle social care. Ruling out tax rises for 5 years unsustainable. Brexit trade deal won't be done by late 2020 and total fantasy to claim otherwise. Labour get an equal hammering for just saying the top 5% pay a bit more, patently not so, people on lower incomes would have to pay more clearly as well. I don't like the LD's policy on Article 50 nor Swinson but after that report going to hold my nose and vote for them. I can't justify voting for two parties who will bankrupt the country and I'm a Remainer so Brexit Party are no good. Greens I don't think standing in my seat so that would have been an alternative. If I'm wrong (will check) then I may vote for them.

72m Nigerian Niara maybe. Joke that Ralph has no budget for Jan. Gao out.

72m Nigerian Niara maybe. Joke that Ralph has no budget for Jan. Gao out.

Don’t think he will tbf, plenty of senior Tories have been chewed up by Neil. Boris will be every bit as at sea against him. Corbyn knew what was coming though and was woefully under-prepared. It’s not quite Paxman but you know you have to engage properly and defend your key messages when you need to.

Don’t think he will tbf, plenty of senior Tories have been chewed up by Neil. Boris will be every bit as at sea against him. Corbyn knew what was coming though and was woefully under-prepared. It’s not quite Paxman but you know you have to engage properly and defend your key messages when you need to.

Like Saints, also prints/dictates a load of half truths and spin in the Telegraph to empty vessels such as Moore and Wilson. Unlike Saints, there are enough worse outfits to keep him in a job. There’s no Chris Wilder in this election to upset the plan. Like Saints since 2017, incredibly limited though and no mind/authenticity of their own.

Agree, she normally does on those events. I don’t agree with Nationalism but based on style, she engages with an audience far better than any of the others. That said, her and Corbyn on balance did have the least difficult audiences to handle. Corbyn was reasonable on some questions and poor on others eg antisemitism where I found him evasive and lacking specificity. I’d like to have seen a better answer on broadband benefits on growth boosting tax revenues as well. He just comes across like an experienced middle manager with some ‘out there’ views rather than a leader which is where Sturgeon cleaned up. Swinson struggled, a lot of Momentum and Brexit in the audience but was too defensive and not positive enough about what the LDs did achieve in the coalition rather than what they stopped Cameron doing. I felt the revoke policy if they got a majority was an albatross around the neck at the time of their conference. Boris as robotic as May which really surprised and disappointed me. Thought he would have done OK tonight. Couldn’t relate to an audience in a moderate large northern city which doesn’t bode well for breakthroughs in Labour heartlands. Ironic that posters comparing him to Prince Andrew as he was every bit out of touch. Needs to get rid of Cummings, would have won that hands down when he was London Mayor, which he kept on referring back to.

Good, it’s long overdue. I hear that KL the vulture was at the game, clearly a big profit on selling to someone like Gao wasn’t enough and probably eyeing kicking him out before the parachute payments come on stream if she can find a way of ousting him. I hope they can as nothing good will come from Gao but no trust in her either, she’d probably find a CSI type buyer next. If the Chinese government has backed some of Gao’s borrowings she might get more than she bargained for - that’s what happens when you get muddled up with someone like that. What a mess. I can’t imagine he was the only buyer around who would have turned a healthy profit.

Lesson is clear: the other donkeys exist to serve Ings, Boufal and Djenepo. Get the ball to them at the first opportunity, they can play football and the others can’t in the top two divisions as Bally did with MLT. Make it clear the others are workhorses for the those three. They don’t exist in their own right. Might get some egos eg PEH under control. JWP can take a few set pieces as a treat.

It’s like my car getting serviced at the local dealer and breaking down within 5 minutes with a £1000 fault which clearly wasn’t there when I took it in, but the dealer expecting it to be OK because they offered me a nice coffee whilst I was waiting for them. It comes to something when the Lowe era looks competent by comparison.

Whilst the stay put advice was clearly misguided - also see Lakanal Tower - funny how the Fire Service are getting all of the blame and headlines, and there is no scrutiny of Boris’s fire service cuts, the deadly commissioning of the refurbishment by Kensington and Chelsea complete with lethal cladding, Rydon the contractors who have cost this country a fortune which the taxpayer will have to bail from private sector failure nor the dreadful PFI policies by Labour which enabled it. Unfortunately the fire service probably doesn’t have tabloid or TV news editors on speed dial as political parties and major construction firms do.

I have thought this for a while, although I suppose our wages might be higher than the promoted clubs and perhaps Burnley. Back to the Askham days, feel sorry for the younger fans who only have known 2009-17. The club is pointless - literally - until Gao and KL are gone. You dread to think how low they might go before that happens. If you offered me L1 again with the club still owning stadium and training ground with a reasonable owner - Markus Mk2 would be too fortunate - I’d happily take that now and miss out the 2-3 seasons of nonsense in between.

Tbf to Ralph, what else can he do tonight? Bar Ings, Redmond and Djenepo, perhaps Romeu, he has a squad that can’t actually play football.

Is anyone surprised? One of the best ever PL teams Vs Luton/Barnsley/Stoke/Rotherham/Wycombe. That’s where most of the Saints players tonight will end up if they out a bit of work in and improve themselves. Right now, they will be lucky to join that ex Saints academic player in the Icelandic League.

Probably will after the City game as not many managers would survive a hiding like that. As someone else said, can’t think of a worse result in the club’s 130 year odd history. Do have some empathy though - four managers gone if they do sack him. As a manager, it must be tough when the players can’t seem to motivate themselves professionally or maintain standards, yet the owner doesn’t have the funds to completely turn the squad over with ones who embody the attitudes, pace and power you need. Look at how JWP has regressed again - lost his aggression and he is nothing without that. England player yet seems to need micro management. Bar Ings and Djenepo, you could say the same about most of them. PEH - Denmark international who can’t retain possession over five yards. The only way anything will change is a new owner who changes the place from top to bottom, including the coaching staff who even with such limited players can’t seem to get Conference South key professional basics right. Gao overpaid by miles so sorry, can’t see that happening either. The only thing a new manager could do is tell individuals the truth - JWP you are hiding and not showing sufficient determination, PEH reduce your emotion and play to your strengths and limitations. Gunn - commit to coming off your line. Bertrand - you are not showing the others your experience and quality, you should be leading the way but were a terrible skipper. Whether they respond is another story. Even Redmond is well off his game this year. Burnley players probably earn less in every position but know their strengths and weaknesses, pretty or not. You rarely hear of them not putting a shift in for Dyche regardless of the result. As a lapsed fan who takes some interest still, I can’t see myself going to any more games until the rotten stuff at the top is gone. Haven’t attended a game since Pellegrino as I’d stopped enjoying it.

Probably will after the City game as not many managers would survive a hiding like that. As someone else said, can’t think of a worse result in the club’s 130 year odd history. Do have some empathy though - four managers gone if they do sack him. As a manager, it must be tough when the players can’t seem to motivate themselves professionally or maintain standards, yet the owner doesn’t have the funds to completely turn the squad over with ones who embody the attitudes, pace and power you need. Look at how JWP has regressed again - lost his aggression and he is nothing without that. England player yet seems to need micro management. Bar Ings and Djenepo, you could say the same about most of them. PEH - Denmark international who can’t retain possession over five yards. The only way anything will change is a new owner who changes the place from top to bottom, including the coaching staff who even with such limited players can’t seem to get Conference South key professional basics right. Gao overpaid by miles so sorry, can’t see that happening either.

Wasn’t even aware they were playing until the texts from my mates started arriving at HT in the pub. Looked at the score, reports now - wow. For me, it is a natural culmination of getting mixed up with someone like Gao. Poor results are one thing but look at why he failed FAPP allegedly. We poked fun at Chainrai and others on the Pompey thread for years but is Gao any better? KL does not come out of this well. For me, I will start taking a significant interest perhaps in the future once KL and Gao are gone although I’ve actually struggled with the motivation to watch any football game end to end since WC 2018. Rugby and cricket - no problem. Would actually support a Phoenix club if one started to retain some link with the city. I do feel sorry for everyone who attended last night as they will be hard working people who shelled out £40+ to watch some millionaires clearly not lift a leg. My friends watching on TV supporting other clubs felt the support was superb FWIW and far more than SFC deserve. I see there are threads suggesting sacking the manager - I don’t see how that will help. If you have players who would struggle at lower levels, how can he be accountable for that? He is being asked seemingly to make a Michelin Star omelette with out of date Asda Smart Price eggs. What does he do? Play the kids? Academy has been ruined by Reed and Hunter. Have a go at the players? Harry tried that - didn’t work suggesting he had a squad that would struggle in the Champ. Try and pick them up? Hasn’t worked for Puel, Pellegrino, Hughes. He is a proud man seemingly so don’t think he will want to walk until he really thinks he can’t do any more. Leicester are clearly a good side but it sounds like it was Chichester FC vs Liverpool last night and I cannot believe the gulf is that big on paper. The team just got a draw at a Wolves side who have better players in every position and fought hard so is this also a issue at home games? Southampton University must have some good psychologists who can help the players overcome any mental issues or fears with playing at SMS. What about Peters and the Chimp Paradox? Think he has his own company these days but worth a try surely? The club could spend money in Jan if they aren’t cut adrift but if the culture is rotten, it won’t work.

This is what I think will happen and what I would do if I was the EU. My point last night was that Boris’s three letter tactic was incredibly unbecoming of a Prime Minister or of any office. That is what happens if the lunatics eg Cummings are really pulling his strings. It’s possible based on the numbers if Boris can step up on working rights that the deal can get through, but the now the deal is there, the swivels option of a WTO should be off the table. That was only ever meant to be leverage for this deal.

Boris really is a fat child. A fat, useless, spoilt child. Anyone considering voting for him really must have an IQ below 30. Even his own family don’t want to know him. He is the joint most unsuitable person to lead anything - a nation, a charity stall, the running of a bath - that I’ve ever seen. Along with Corbyn. Hope he gets sent to jail.