Barsiem

Either he's forcing his way out or Leicester are desperate for the money. Seems nuts to sell him in the middle of the season when promotion is not assured

Given how the 1st test is going it's looking more than possible Dawson is called up. Leach injured and judging by how the pitch seems to be we might be best playing 5 spinners each match ...

It would be funny if the Englishman who ends up with a Bundesliga winners medal this season is Nathan Tella rather than Harry Kane

1-0 up at HT

We should worry about catching Leicester only if we have already pulled clear from Ipswich. Leicester win all the way

We should hold a sweepstake on the next sponsorship/renaming deal. I'll go for Saudi PIF Bowl

Slate his ego all you want, but we had an incredible period of success under his stewardship. One (admittedly lower league) cup, back to back promotions, and purchasing some players who went on to become Southampton legends like SRL and Fonte - both purchased whilst we were in L1. He also brought in people like Pooch and was key in players like Lallana staying. Would it all have gone tits up eventually? Probably... But still it was a great time to be a saints fan

I'd be surprised if we're selling Stu. He's over 30 and less than 6 months on his contract so unlikely to get much money for him. We're better off keeping him and letting him go for nothing imo given how class he's been this season. I guess if he's pushing to leave it makes sense.

That's 5 loans we have, and I believe we can only have 5 in a match day squad, so this may affect moves for Brooks et al. We can get more loan players in of course, but at least 1 wouldn't be able to be picked. Guess Holgate may make way in that case?

Yes in theory, however fringe players for Bournemouth & Burnley won't normally be a massive step up from what we have. The RW & LB slots would be the easiest to get a foothold in the team though

If these players are choosing Hull over us then it'll solely be down to playing time on offer. Fair play to them for that - it'll be hard for any player coming here to break into the first team atm. Brooks perhaps had the best chance of happening anyway given he wouldn't need to relocate.

It may just be squad rotation. 4 games in ten days is a lot! But yeah not working brilliantly so hopefully we will be back to normal now the scheduling is a bit easier

Wasn't a good header tbh.... He should score. The forum would be in meltdown if Che missed that

Maybe it's a little early in the morning but I'm failing to see the disrespect here. Why should he want to meet a politician when he works in football?

It's the whole defence tbf. In much the same way when we were conceding a bucket load that wasn't all his fault, now we are defensively solid it's not all down to him, but long may this state continue!

He was facing the oppositions goal, so how was he to know what was behind him. What he saw was a potential breakaway and he stopped it. Right move imo at that point of the game.

Agree in principle but tbf I don't think we were competing with any squads that could be considered as strong as ours, Leicester's & Leeds'. West Ham were the strongest on paper that season from memory

Leeds leading Ipswich within 10mins. Would probably be the best result for us for Leeds to win

BLC holders can get free tickets for the game here. Guessing it's home only so be prepared to frown each time we score! https://bluelighttickets.co.uk/event/5438

More excellent contract news

Five injuries!! Add in Salisu missing most of the season & Lavia missing a good chunk as well most of our departures don't appear to be having the best of times currently

Ain't broke (currently), so don't fix it. THB & Bednarek stay as starters for me

It's been mooted a few times on here that Leicester & Ipswich are having exceptional seasons, whereas some are still very critical of our points tally this season. So whilst watching the game (and laughing at Alcaraz...) I thought I'd compare where we would be in the table with the same performance after 22 games over the previous 10 seasons (and a couple of others). 23/24 - 4th- ten behind Leicester & Ipswich (Leicester have game in hand so could be thirteen!), level with Leeds (+15GD), six ahead of Hull (possibly four ahead of WBA if they win this weekend) 22/23 - 2nd - two points behind Burnley (44pts), one in front of Sheff Utd (41pts) 21/22 - 3rd - three points behind Fulham (45pts), one behind Bournemouth (43pts), two ahead of WBA 20/21 - 2nd - two points behind Norwich (44pts), one in front of Brentford (41pts) 19/20 - 3rd - seven points behind WBA (49pts), five behind Leeds (47pts), 7 ahead of PNE 18/19 - 3rd - three points behind Leeds (45pts), two behind Norwich (44pts), three ahead of WBA 17/18 - 4th - nine behind Wolves (51pts), 5 behind Cardiff ((47pts), one behind Bristol City (43pts), one ahead of Derby 16/17 - 3rd - seven behind Newcastle (49pts), six behind Brighton (48 pts), two ahead of Reading 15/16 - 4th - four points behind Middlesbrough (46pts), two behind Derby (44pts), one behind BHA (43pts), one ahead of Hull 14/15 - 4th - three behind Leicester (45pts), one behind Burnley (43pts), level with QPR (QPR GD +11), one ahead of Derby 13/14 - 3rd - two behind Cardiff (44pts), level with Crystal Palace (CP +15GD), one ahead of Middlesbrough And for good measure when we last were promoted 11/12 - 3rd - two behind ourselves (44pts), one behind WHA (43pts), one ahead of Middlesbrough Ad finally Reading's record breaking season 05/06 - 3rd - eleven behind Reading (53pts), seven behind Sheff Utd (49pts), three ahead of Leeds So in conclusion everyone is right!! Not one team has reached the points tally of Leicester or Ipswich in the last ten years, but at the same time only twice would our points tally and goal difference have been enough to be in the automatic promotions, which is not an unreasonable expectation for our squad. We are unfortunate to be so far adrift of automatic promotion though, as in only three of the twelve seasons would we have been more than a win away from being in the top two, and we would have been at least 3 points closer to top two than we currently are. The above shows how teams spur each other on to get results. If Leicester wasn't doing so well I'm sure Ipswich wouldn't have their points tally (and vice versa) - same happens with WBA/Leeds, Wolves/Cardiff & Reading/Sheff Utd - it's never one team just running away with it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/67681286 Dawson overlooked for the India test series. Rob Key has spoken about it as per the attached and below. Interesting to know if Dawson was spoken to, or whether the decision was made for him Hampshire slow left-armer Liam Dawson, who last played a Test in 2017, has not been included despite being the County Championship's leading English spinner in 2023, with 49 wickets at an average of 20. "He is probably not someone who wants to go around India as the 15th or 16th man," said Key. "If he's not going to play then I don't think it's high on his agenda to be going as essentially a replacement bowler."

Love that reaction from Che. Gives the impression he's just been in shit form rather than given up on playing for us! Also love that their GK dived out of the way for him 😂