StrangelyBrown

Probably worth putting into context that Everton generally have been a shower of shit for a while now and Holgate was hardly likely to look good under Frank Lampard. Ancellotti saw something he liked in Holgate so there might be something for us to work with... Not that I'm particularly a fan, just trying to be balanced

If Martin plays it smart the suspensions will give players the opportunity to grab their place in the team and create some fierce competition for places which can only be a good thing especially to keep Stephens and Bednarek on their toes.

McCarthy...

Despite the negativity on here for me it's so far not so bad.. - Orsić, Diallo, Caletta-Car, Walcott and Elynoussi aren't really a big loss - Salisu didn't live up to expectations and have now replaced with holgate who isn't great either at PL level (but may at least want to play for us ...) - Livramento went a decent fee, who may or may not recover from a serious injury - Ward-Prowse gone for arguably more than he's worth and we've replaced with Downes who may not be quite as good but is well thought of and looks capable - Lavia has gone for a good fee and have replaced with Charles who seems very competent We've also added: - Manning - jury is still out - Fraser - should be decent at this level and has something to prove We might yet lose some decent players, but given that we've gone down a division so far things aren't so bad.... Just not sure why there is so much negativity here.

Good away win against a very competent side. Still some work to be done at the back but Charles looks like a more than adequate Lavia replacement. I just hope we hang on to walker peters and tella (would say the same for Adams but looks like a done deal). Finally it's fun supporting Saints again!

They've been awful for years and while this season is a "step down" their failings are fundamental problems that will be failings at any level.

A mass overhaul at CB is long overdue. While Bazunu and McCarthy might be poor our defensive woes aren't solely their fault. We need players at CB that don't have lapses in concentration every sodding game. Stephens and Bednarek sadly have far too many mistakes in them which is exacerbated by a lack of pace means and poor ability to head a ball defensively.

Chelsea making Liverpool look like tinpot whingers - great stuff!

Depends who the next 12 are..... If it's McCarthy, djenepo, lyanco, onuachu, perraud, Bree, mara, sulemana, aribo and 3 youngsters who weren't going to make it I wouldn't be too worried

Wow.... One game in (that we've won) and three weeks to get a settled team together. Plenty of time to get things right.

I like your optimism. I can't see us keeping a clean sheet though with the chuckle brothers at centre back and a hologram in goal... 3-3 for me with 3 sloppy goals conceded from defensive brain farts

Bazunu was too good for league 1.... Just saying (I know nothing about Edwards so this isn't a judgement of his ability)

A decent manager should identify someone who is a waste of time and get rid - far too much time is wasted on disruptive wankers on the basis that they have bags of talent. Im really struggling to think of many cases where a manager has managed to inspire and coax the best out of someone like that in the long term.

I take it you mean in a football context?

Fair point. Although I would argue that we had too many nippers in the team for a lot of the year - we often had 4 or 5 inexperienced youngsters starting.

Good skills - it's only taken you 4 days to come up with that one. I bow down to your supreme intellect...

I think the problem is that the investment in youth needs to be a multi year strategy with a small number of players being added to the squad each year. The problem last year was that we took a short term high risk approach filling the squad out with a lot of youngsters which was highly unlikely to work.

Nice attempt at trolling - not very subtle though. Cant believe you actually caught someone when you went fishing with KWP/Bree as bait! I think you need to try a bit harder.

For me much depends on who plays in front of him - if we somehow sign a couple of decent centre backs he'll be less of a gamble than if we persist with what we have a CB. A combination of Bazunu and centre backs who switch off is asking for trouble.

I'm not sure articles on football insider are going to unsettle anyone - in the main it's a load of speculative tosh. Undoubtedly there will be some speculation based on inside info, but that will be the result of conversations with Lavia's agent, which would genuinely be unsettling.

Really?? 21 premier league games without a goal or assist - not exactly what I'd want replace JWP

He got massively carried away with all the attention he was getting - I was fine with him talking on behalf of the saints trust, it was as soon as he started talking on behalf of the fans that I took exception to him.

Let's also not forget him assuming the role of "voice of the fans" and talking utter bollocks on our behalf back in the lowe era...

That's his job.... If he sorts the shambles out then he's done what's expected of him, if not.... Unfortunately football tends not to work like the rest of the world... Managers seem to bare the brunt of bad decision making above them.

McCarthy shouldn't have been anywhere near our first team for most of his time here, but despite major flaws has played far more games than he should have done. If only we'd have gotten rid and kept Forster this season may have turned out slightly different... (although baz would have had to be dropped too) - I'm not saying Forster is great just better than McCarthy and Baz. Fingers crossed we get rid of McCarthy this summer