Eric The Red

Loved his attitude, particularly up to that fateful day at Aston Villa in March. Real shame as I was really loving the team's efforts at the time, Spurs and Man U away, WHU in the cup etc etc. Definitely felt he really cared and generally had a very good relationship with the fans. I'll certainly miss him and give him a good cheer if/when he comes back for a visit. I'll be delighted if I have such a generally positive view of the next manager.

If you read the piece on Dan Burn he thinks Spurs played in Europe in midweek! He seems to have completely missed there was a round of domestic games in misweek and everyoen (except man City) was playing their third game in a week. The bloke is a clown who should be confined to the retirement home. Bring back Lawro

Agreed I'd be fuming if we had lost 2-0 like that but I don't think you can have it both ways. I don't agree with the penalty as his arms were in a totally natural position for trying to stop the cross. However if you use the 'accidental handball' argument then you have to accept that the first goal should stand. There were several heads touching the ball, including one from Bournemouth before the ball eventually goes in.

Think you need to add Villa to that list and I rule out Fulham just yet.

5 points would be above my expectations from the next 4. We are playing 3 of the top 7 plus a team currently top half. 2 draws (with decent performances) would be ok. A win and a draw would represent a good return given our recent form and very limited firepower

Brighton looked toothless, probably even worse than us. Forest were poor. Forest will be bottom 3 (irrespective of our position) without significant improvement and Brighton will be back to being bottom half unless the new manager finds a way to make them more effective

Definitely like his attitude and determination. I was not that unhappy to see him in and around the team, as long as not at right back! Good luck at Bournemouth Jack

Very sad to see him go , one of the special players. Wishing him all the best at Girona

I understand that was the reason (excuse) given and have no problem with you passing it on, just that I don't understand how deliberate handball of a goal bound shot isn't a sending off. I would have been incensed if that had been Saints rather than West Ham with the shot.

But when a defender gets sent off for 'taking out' a forward he gets sent off as 'last man'. The goalie is (nearly) always behind the defender then. Are they saying they didn't send him of because the goalie would probably have saved it? A very slippery slope if that's the logic!

It's obvious that Adams (probably through his agent) is very keen for a move, preferably to Everton, failing that the Midlands/North and is happy to stir things up as much as he needs to to get his way. I agree he's the best forward on our books and he should have played more at the back end of last season but which came first, his desire for a move or Ralph underusing him?

Think the Lampard and Silva odds could look generous come mid Septemner

I'm expecting Leicester Wolves or Villa at home. It would be 'funny' if it was Leicester, will we be able to lose by less than 3 goals?

Despite the detractors I am also sorry to see him go as definitely prefer him to A Mc. FF and A N Other (Bazuna hopefully) competing for the No 1 spot would have given me a lot of confidence.

My attitude to this depends on who was on the other end of the video call. If it was Crocker then I suspect this is absolutely correct in terms of who is their senior line manager. Ralph is/was probably away and it's not something to dilly dally over. The old coaches need to be told and then new ones can be brought in.. As someone who has had 'to let people go' I would have preferred to do it face to face but it may simply be that not everybody was going to be together after Leicester until pre season was about to start

Excellent article and thanks for all your blogs over the season. They remain one of my highlights of the (often very difficult) lot of being a lifelong Saints fan.

Surely we could sell away fan tickets using the same criteria Chelsea Fc would have used, e.g. ST holders members etc etc. Things could be arranged like setting up an online form, or even checking applicants with Chelsea before we issue the tickets. A question of whether Saints and/or Chelsea want to pull their finger out. One further thought perhaps we could also reduce the allocation to the 'medium', i.e. as per Newcastle, at the same time as 'helping Chelsea fans out'.

My wife would, and has told our daughter so! 😀

Having just seen the highlights on MoTD then sure we're not strong enough up front but with some decent goalkeeping we would certainly not have lost 3-0. I just pray Forsteris back soon - hopefully Wednesday!

I think there are risks for both sides of this. AV may be getting a manager who struggles in the tougher environment of the PL. Gerrard is putting his high reputation on the line and if his time at AV is said to be poor or even not good then the prospect of landing the Liverpool job could fade pretty fast. However wouldn't mind a cheeky wager that he could end up being the next but one England manager!

Aston Villa' board's delusions are apparent in even thinking about Gerrard. If he was even remotely interested in moving to a 'lower level' PL club he would be Newcastle manager by now. Publicly even considering a PL manager still in employment is just asking for litigation. I would suggest the best they can do right now is Lampard, or possibly Nuno, although that could more fan angst than Rafa to Everton

Haha, they've got even more 'in game' bedwetters that us!

Or possibly COVID. Smith said they had a couple of 'Covid issues'

Despite what some of the sillier comments from pundits Newcastle won't have limitless funds and very much doubt they would be bidding enough to tempt us (c£50m) or him (c£150k a week). They will almost certainly be concentrating on loan signings from here and abroad and any players deemed surplus by 1 of the big 6 who would be willing to come for around their current money to get games/get back into their international teams, e.g. Lingard