redkeith

I think we scored a late winner at home to Sunderland using a Delap long throw, in a game that I missed. The closest I saw after that was the first game of the season at Villa under Sturrock . It was flicked on and Fernandes volleyed it goalbound, only for it to hit Kevin Phillips up the arse. A few minutes later, we got anothe throw in a similar postiion and ..... we took it short. From that moment on the 3 of us who went up from Salisbury knew we were relegated !

That was a definite foul on Fernandes before the penalty

I think a lot of players will be in for s shock this summer. I can see Fernadnes, Dibbling and Ramsdale having being sought after. THB has his England cap and goal for his agent to help sell him. Charles and Edwards have mpressed on loan, so there may be bids for them . Diaz might well make his move to Sheffield United permanent. Other than that , Sulemana, Onachou , Sugawara , Aribo, ABK, Wellington and possibly Bedanarek will have suitors abroad. As for the rest, nobody is going to be after Mc Carthy, Bazunu, Stephens,Fraser, Taylor, Wood, Bree, Downes ,Manning and Smallbone. There may be a bit of interest in AA and Archer, but not on this seasons stats. I think we will be left with Mc Carthy, Bazunu, Taylor, Bree, Wood, Stephens Downes ,Manning , Smallbone AA, Fraser, Larios, Stewart and Edozie. If we are lucky we might keep Wellington, Charles and Edwards. I would like Onachou to stay, but he will probably go for a piss take offer from Turkey.

It worked for George Costanza in Seinfeld. 'The Opposite' is my favourite episode.

Wharton and Roberts show that there is some talent in the championship if you look hard enough. I like the look of Ivanovic at Millwall, a mobile centre forward who scores goals too. Very similar to Delap but scores a few from distance too. If Plymouth go down, I would buy either of their new Centre backs. Both look to attack the ball at all times and they would add a bit of grit to our back line. They might not be good enough for the PL, but neither were Jos Hoilberg and Mike Pickering. We will probably need some new No 10 /Wide players , as we would likely have only Edozie and Fraser left. Defensive Central Midfield also needs a boost, as we currently have no back up for Downes and Charles. I would have us something like New Keeper Res McCarthy, Bazunu Sugawara Edwards Plymouth Wellington Wood, Bree, Stephens, French Lad, Manning Downes Charles New, Smallbone , WitMarsh New Robinson, new Edozie Ivanovic Archer AA,Fraser , New , Ballard I fully expect Aribo, Dibbling , Fernandes, Ramsdale , Bednarek THB and Diaz to go. Keeping Sully or Tall Paul would be a bonus. I would also like to see the youngters get more minutes than we gave Dibbling SAA and Meghoma last time.

I gave up at 3 nil when Smallbone came on. I have been watching Saints for nearly 60 years and have never felt so disconnected from the club. We barely laid a glove on Brighton. For the rest of this season, can we get the team to run out to 'No Fun' by Iggy and the Stooges. None of that uplifting oh when the Saints nonsense.

God that was awful right from the team sheet , bar about 15 minutes of the second half. Everyman and his dog knew what Aribo and Smallbone would offer as a defensive sheild, Boh Diddley squat! This Last pts GD Bournemouth Home 1-3 1-0 -6 -14 Next up is Brighton at home and a chance to extend our run of consecutive home defeats . Last time they schooled us to our favoured 3 1 defeat, even though we had the worlds best manager Ancellotti Jones. I watched them get battered by Forest a few weeks ago, and their midfield then seemed to be trying out various Aribo/Smallbone combinations . However they seem to have got over it , with 2 good wins over Chelsea. A lot depends on how rejuvinated Downes is for this one, and if Big Les is fit enough to start.

I don't mind the 3 centre backs so much. It is playing without a defensive midfield that does my head. It only works in a fantasy football team, not on actual grass. We may as well go W M formation , it is that outdated.

Pretty much everyone, bar maybe Sullemana and Wellington, had an off day. Passing was terrible, crossing was even worse. As for Manning, he was the worst of the lot. Chose the wrong option every time, and missed a sitter. Can't understand why he swopped with Wellington, and why he didn't get hooked after they scored. PANTS !

I watched some of his debut against Leicester and his passing was amazing , long accurate and positive. Hard to judge his defending in that game as he had only been there for a few days and Leicester were having one of those days where we every breakaway resulted in a goal.

I still think that Leicester up this year. Last season they finished 7 points clear of Leeds in 3rd place. That is a whole 6 points that they didn't use. I am sure that their honarable accountants and legal team can get those points carried over to this season!

Well that was unexpected! Good battling performance, great debut from Wellington and a late poachers goal from Tall Paul. Even managed to to see the game out with the defensive midlfield powerhouse of Lallana and Smallbone. This Last pts GD Ipswich Away 1-2 1-0 -6 -13 Next up is Bournemouth at home . Last time they beat us 1 nil. I must admit that it felt like a much bigger defeat than that at the time, maybe because we already needed snookers by that point in the season.

An encouraging start, well a good cross and a goal, that was soon to be countered by taking 5 minutes for VAR to overturn a penalty decision. I have 2 issues with this, one is that 5 minutes is a long time for a dec ision that is eithe "clear" or "obvious". The other is that Aribo might have made contact with the ball if Isak didn't have hold of his shirt. We had a more clear and obvious one not given against Liverpool where Armstrong could be seen to have hold of a shirt after he was bowled over. Hats off to Les for pointing at Tonali after he let him run though to score, might have been better to run with him but not enough notice for anyone else to pick him up, or for anyone to put a bet on. pts GD Saudi on Tyne 1-3 1.4 -9 -15 Next up is Ipswich away. Other than Delap, I dn't see many Ipswich players being poached in the summer. However they do have a reat manager who has them well organised, and is great at making changes in the 2nd half to get them back into games. I have got the the point now, that I am maintly watching Saints to enjoy Fernandes and Dibbling in a red and white shirt. The rest is so much of a muchness. This equates to a 1-0 loss at Leeds in our last relegation season, or a painful 3-2 loss up there last season.

Spurs will be desperate to get some players in this week. I think we can sell them Larios, Stewart and Stephens. .

I was heavily involved in SISA. After Branfoot was removed and reqular meetings between SISA and the board it did all fall apart really, as there was nothing left to protest about as the club was being well run .

I think that the agent is being a dick here. Tyler is injured ATM, fairly minor this time but another time could have been career ending . He is on peanuts currently, a better contract will give Tyler more security, will give the agent a cut and will in no way impact when he is sold. Other than Van Dyke (tapping up) and Morgan ( too many others sold that window ), I can't think of another player that Saints have ever made to stay.

Almost the complete opposite of the last game, we were completely abject until the substitutions, we sort of makes you think that ans unfit Downes and out of confidence AA are a big part of the problem. pts GD Notts Forest Away 3-2 4.3 -9 -16 Next up is the bodies in the carpet billionaires from the formally likeable Newcastle. They have Isak up front, who is both big and a number 9, so they probably like him. Would like to think that AA and Downes are back on the bench and I would like us to press them like Bournemaouth did. Not sure that Tall Paul can do that though, and I think we need to swop him and Sully, so that Sully is up against Dan Burns. Last time it was a comfortable 4.1 to Newcastle.

That one is down to Aribo. He had 5 players to pass to to set us up on a break. Instead he gives it to them ang jogs back. Lazy, lazy ...nt

After last nights encouranging 80 minutes before the slump. Man Utd Away 3-1 0.0 -9 -16 Played brilliantly for 3/4 of the game until injuries and fitness took its toll. Next up , in form Forest away. Last time it was 4-3 to Forest, although the game wasn't that close really, the 3rd Saints goal came in injury time. This time they are in great form, solid at the back and devastating on the break. With Sully and Fernades as our only fit attacking options, it is hard to se us scoring in this one.

I watched the Tamworth Spurs match last week and the commentator said that Tamworth only trained 2 days a week. My immediate thought was that is more than Saints did under Martin.

Very true. Josh Sims was one who looked amazing in his first couple of games, until players learnt to lean into him and ease him in to touch.

Surprised that Swansea are playing Franco on the left, I seem to remember that he was very much a right winger !

No reason, just did it on the first line and copied it from then on.

I thought about doing this at the start of the season, but I didn't , mainly for superstitious reasons as last time I contributed, we got relegated. Now that that ship has sailed, I would like to start it up. The main only change to the format is that Ipswich will replace Leeds in the comparison, as all the other teams have changed. August 2024 2023 Points GD Newcastle away 1.0 3.1 = +2 Diaz's only contribution this year, the sending off. Stephens hospital pass and McCarthy shank for their goal. Forest H 0.1 0.1 = +2 Defended too deep for a corner, and Aribo decided to dribble it out from his own box instead of clear it. Brentford Away 3.1 3.0 = +3 Kamaikaze defending/RussBall for first 2 goals. September Man U Home 0.3 0.1 = +1 Great 20 minutes until the missed penalty, complete shitshow after that. Ipswich Home 1.1 2.2 ( Leeds) +1 On the verge of a win until we defend a last minute corner too deep again, and Aribo bottles his block to deflect a shot into the top corner Bournemouth Away 3.1 0.1 -3 -2 Baffling team selection followed by and inept performance. October Arsenal Away 3.1 3.3 -4 -4 Decent perfromance and good goal, but lack of concentration led to an immediate equaliser . As for Var on the 2nd ... Leics City Home 2.3 1.0 -7 -6 Good first half, shit subsitutions and Var not giving us a penalty at 2.1 turned the game. Defending too deep at a corner,yet again, for the winner. Man City Away 1.0 4.0 -7 -3 Looked like a battling performance at the time, but it was the start of a run of relegation form from City. November Everton Home 1.0 1.2 -4 -1 Close offside and one of the bar from Everton, Pickford blindsided for Armstrong winner. Wolves Away 2.0 1.0 -4 -2 Started Okish against then bottom side, but after a ridiculous Var disallowall of an equaliser, the Wolves goalie's gloves were untroubled for the rest of the game . Lpool Home 2.3 3.3 -5 -3 Good comeback to get ahead, but McCarthy and Sulemana presented them the win. Brighton Away 1.1 3.1 -4 -1 Terrible first half better 2nd. Could have been a win , until Var decided that Armstong could ever interfere with play. December Chelsea Home 1.5 2.1 -7 -6 Got back into the game for a bit, but then our supposed captain decided to pull someones hair! Villa Away 1.0 1.0 -7 -6 never troubled the keeper once against a villa team bang out of form ! Spurs Home 0.5 3.3 -8 -11 A total capitulation against a team with most of its defence and midfield missing. Finally the board noticed! Fulham Away 0.0 2.1 -7 -10 kept the game quite, looked more organised and could have nicked it at the end. West Ham Home 0.1 1.1 -8 -11 Created loads of chances but couldn't take them . Failed to clear a stupid corner for the winner. Palace Away 1.0 2.1 -8 -11 Took the lead, Palace equalised by pushing Ramsdale out of the way, but they were well worth their win. January Brentford Home 0.5 0.2 -8 -14 Another shitshow against a team without an away win. We lost the Rasmus derby, so we have to keep him ! So after just over half a season, we are 8 points and 14 goals worse of than when we finished bottom last time. Not sure what Sports Republics Data Analysts can make of that! Edited- picked the wrong Chelsea win

This match is free on BBC2 Wales, so at least I will be able to see all, the goals we let in, unlike Saturday when the first Brentford goal was lost to buffering. Hope that Aribo is dropped for this one. His tracking of runners is at Sunday League , 10 pints on Saturday night levels.