New Forest Pony

I saw him play 20 times last season. Yes he is that good. A proper finisher and goal scorer. As I’ve said on this forum before he scores the chances Che and Arma miss. I’d have him in a heartbeat.

People moaning on here about Piroe and Grimes not being good enough for us. Although I’m a Saints season ticket holder I live in South Wales and watched the Swans 20 times last season so have some opinion on them both. Piroe is a proper goal scoring finisher who scores the chances our current “strikers” miss. Grimes is a proper midfielder in that quarterback role. Tidies up keeps the ball and consistently makes accurate passes. Only downside is that he doesn’t shoot enough. They both know Russell and both would flourish in our team.

I saw him play 20 times last season. He might not be the quickest but he’s a genuine honest to god goal scorer. He scores the chances Che and Arma miss.

Apologies if someone’s said this already but with Hamer going to Sheffield United I can see Coventry being interested in Matt Grimes. I know we’ve got the additional pull of Russell but hope we don’t hang about before they start sniffing around

They’re chalk and cheese. Martin appears to be both a thinker and a decent human being

Swansea had Matt Grimes modelling their new away kit last week and I think he’s more likely to be playing in our kit next season if we’re lucky!

Couldn’t agree more. I saw the Swans a lot last season and he properly knows how to control a game (although he could do with shooting a bit more often) I genuinely believe he will be excellent for us as part of a rebuild.

More of a tough midfielder in the Romeu mould rather than a ball player like Grimes. Martin also played him as an emergency striker when they had a few injuries up front. Reliable rather than spectacular. But would add a bit of hardness to a weak midfield

I watched Delap playing for Preston against what I guess we must now call “Russell Martin’s Swansea” earlier this year and he was exceptionally disappointing that night. I know it’s just one game but he really didn’t live up to his billing

Also rumours that Leicester fancy him if/when they get relegated

I’ve seen quite a bit of Swansea this season on non Saints at home days and Martin is an interesting character. They were good before the World Cup break then poor afterwards before picking up well over the last few weeks. He’s very attached to five at the back possession football (which might fit with the Wilcox philosophy) and would continue to irritate fans who hate to see us pass the ball sideways. The recent improvement in the team has come from him finally switching to a back four. It’s still not direct though but very much build from the back. I’d certainly have him ahead of several of the others mentioned. And regardless of that I think we should definitely take a look at Ryan Manning (who’s on his way) particularly if we lose Perraud.

FWIW I’ve seen quite a bit of Swansea this season and Piroe is a proper goal scorer. Cool in front of goal and takes a lot of his chances. Genuinely surprised no one was properly linked with him back in January given the hype around the likes of Semenyo

I saw Smallbone play for Stoke last night in their 3-1 win at Swansea. He had a really good game. Played box to box excellent defensively, very calm in what was an unnecessarily bad tempered game. Played some good attacking passes and moves. Not sure he’s Prem standard yet but considering it was only his 23rd birthday (and yes I do know how young Lavia is) he looked like he’s definitely improving and playing with confidence.

I was at the Swansea Burnley game yesterday and thought he started very brightly definitely looked better than when he was last with us. However I also felt he faded significantly after a few robust challenges and spent too much time whinging to the ref. He’s certainly improved but I think he still seems raw. I don’t think he can be a major element in keeping us up and will probably benefit (at least personally) from staying at Burnley for the rest of the season.

Still have sweaty flashbacks from the 2009 Etape on that one! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Pellegrino out We want Pellegrino out I just don’t think you understand That we’re going down If you keep the clown We want Pellegrino out!

I'm moving out to Japan with work for the rest of 2016 so wondered if there are any other supporters out there. I'm in Fukuoka for a couple of weeks then settling in Tokyo from mid-September. I was out earlier in the year and watched the England-Wales game in the Footnik pub with a bunch of ex-pats but it would be good to see if there are any other Saints fans established in Tokyo already who either get together for games and/or a few drinks and Saints chat.

Swansea - but they are the only ones

He stands at nearly six foot three Charlie Charlie He'll lead us to the Champions League Charlie Charlie He'll score all the goals we'll ever need He wears the shirt of Harrison Reed And he's Charlie Austin Southampton's goal machine!

Seriously. Direct Free Kicks being scored by us. The last few games we've had chances in positions Rickie would've snapped up and we've been no threat at all.

Sorry to hear that - what a pain. However I could well be interested. Where are you?

Brilliant. You were sitting in front of us for the game and it was lovely to see him so excited!

FWIW I think "It's Only Rock n Roll" works really well - with the advantage of being simple Needs a bit of work but something on the lines of "Osvaaaldo - he's gonna score a goal and we like it Osvaldo - he's gonna score a goal and we like it - like it- yes we do!" Alternatively change "he's gonna score a goal" with "he's scored another goal" or "he scores us lots of goals" or similar and it with him or a variation.

Finalish comment. Great race - more exciting than last year. Froome fantastic Porte outstanding. Thomas a hero. Quintana a real talent but this could be the first of three for Froomie. Sadly how many more stages will we see Cav win?

What another great day's racing. First time we've seen any trouble for Froome. Just great to see it worse for Contador. And another big day tomorrow. Sky will just be glad he's got that time in the bank. Anyone see that tweet from the guy who had a mechanical today and rode the second climb of the Alpe in the big ring! Incredible.