tajjuk

That is wrong from the the data I have seen, immigration was the no.1 reason for vote leave people, it was nearly 40% as well, and it was over 70% of peoples first or second reasons for voting leave, which makes it the clear driving force behind the vote and the campaign put it front and centre because of that. https://ukandeu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/CSI-Brexit-4-People’s-Stated-Reasons-for-Voting-Leave.pdf And their reasons in the main part were ignorance, most of things said about immigrants by the leave campaign and leave votes I saw was just factually false, i.e they take our jobs, they don't pay taxes, they use more of our services services, they more commit crime, they cost our taxpayers etc. All pretty much false and you have to ask why people believe these things, some levels of prejudice and stereotyping has to be behind it. I mean Farage stood in front of picture that basically was the jews being marched off to concentration camps and yet people wonder why the leave vote was branded racist.

IMO to sell Ings you'd need multiple criteria to be met - 1. We wouldn't sell Ings unless we received a huge fee, upwards of £50 million, probably more like £60-70 million. 2. The club that would be buying him would therefore needs funds to do that and would need to have a need to spend that much on a striker. 3. Ings is 28, if we was to move clubs now, I reckon he would want someone playing regularly in the champions league and challenging for trophies now, not a club rebuilding or a project. Everton are ruled out by 3, they are are a mess and a mid table club, they have massive problems with a huge wage bill and have loads of deadwood to shift like us. They are not going to be challenging for top 4 in the next two years at least (if ever) Chelsea have just spent £54 million on a new striker and gave Giroud a new deal I think, plus have Abraham. Leicester have Vardy and probably can't afford that sort of fee without selling. Spurs have no money and have Kane. Arsenal apparently have no money and have problems all over the pitch, but have two good strikers. (plus promising young forwards as well) Can't see Man City buying him as they don't need strikers either. Chelsea have just bought Werner. The only realistic one is Man Utd IMO, but I can see them sticking with Rashford and Martial and improving other areas. Clubs across Europe can't afford him, aside the super clubs and I doubt Barca, Real, Juve, Bayern and PSG etc. are queuing up for Danny Ings, he's not that good. Whilst yes if someone wants him that is better than us and they stump up a big fee, he is likely to go, but IMO at the moment and for the forseeable future the club that can afford to spend £60 million on a striker, needs a striker and is playing champs league I don't think exists.

I feel he might be a bit like Bertrand, been at a big club already and has now found a settled place and is playing good football. Also have to remember he's basically back home now near his family and is playing for the club he supported as a kid. Plus I can't see anyone with the finances to sign him that would want to, Arsenal have no money apparently, Liverpool wouldn't shell out £50 million for Werner, Man Utd would want someone higher profile, as would city I think, Spurs have Kane. Maybe Leicester if they have have funds from Chilwell. Even if the Newcastle takeover happens I doubt that one, long way north and not really moving to club playing in Europe etc. it would take Newcastle probably at least 2-3 seasons before they were competing and Ings would be in his 30s by then so I think if titles and champs league football were in his mind now it's basically one of the top 4 now I think, plus maybe Utd.

I'd agree, we are safe, PEH doesn't want to be here clearly and Smallbone needs games to develop, these next 6 games would seem perfect for him IMO, a start against Man City would be a real test and experience for him against that midfield.

It's 4 points to catch up on Sheffield Utd and they have a game in hand, plus there are 4 teams between us, also all have a game in hand. I think realistically, we lose against Man City, we'd have to win the other 4 to stand a chance and maybe draw with Utd, 53 points and you are talking about 5/6 teams not winning 3/6 or something, so it seems unlikely. The only thing in our favour is we play Sheff Utd and Everton who are above us, but when was the last time we won at Everton. That would also mean use winning 6 out of last 9 games, which is 2 points a game, we haven't been in 2 points a game form for a long time, nor have we won 3 in a row for a long time and we'd have to win the last 3 games. But totally that is what Ralph should be telling the players so we don't go on the beach, plus getting Ingsy the golden boot.

Yes that is an apt description of what you just said. Odd that the campaign for anti-semitism doesn't note the fact that annexation of territories and conquest of territories are forbidden by the UN charter, which they seem to be happy quoting there, I am presuming they have not read that part. This is about the actions of Israel as a nation state, actions that should rightly be criticism rather than being wrongly classed as anti-semitism, what they are doing/have done in the West Bank is fundamentally wrong and their plans for annexation of the West Bank, is also fundamentally wrong. It's also against International Law. Zionism in itself is promoting the confiscation of land that is disputed and occupied by other people, its fundamentally against what the UN stands for and anti-zionism, is not antisemitism. It's being against Israel illegally taking land that does not belong to them, which is basically being against war, conflict and acts of aggression to take land, also known as colonalism. Also where is the 'self determination' of the Palestinian people, who are basically getting forcefully taken over by Israel, that statement by the campaign for anti-semitism seems rather hypocritical. So there really is nothing actually wrong with that statement by BLM there, because also particularly in the US, very powerful lobby groups push the agenda of Israel using basically legally bribery. And when people have spoken out about this, for example when congresswoman Ilhan Omar spoke about Isreali lobby groups pushing pro-Isreali policies, she got called an anti-semite, often surprise surprise by people funded by that lobby group. So that tweet is not anti-semitic and its also correct, the Isreali plans to annex the west bank are illegal and are basic colonialism against the UN charter and when people try to criticise pro-isreali influences in US and European democracies, they get called anti-semites, despite it being a criticism of Israel the STATE, not the Jewish people as a whole.

That is exactly what you said, what the actual F does the family background got to do with the Police literally treating all minorities worse than white people? What does it have to do with people not getting jobs because of their skin colour? what does it have to do with football shouting obscenities at them? What do you want them to do?, be more white? Black kids in America from all backgrounds are literally being taught by their parents on how to not potentially anger the Police in any way so the avoid getting killed, what to wear, how to act, where to be. What you did was victim blaming, it's like suggesting women who get raped were wearing the wrong clothes or shouldn't have got drunk.

You clearly don't understand what defund the police actually means if you actually think it is going to hurt anyone, so ignorance is your first failing. Highlighting racial injustice leads to more racial tension? That is some stupid logic right there, because you know they were doing so well before when it wasn't being highlighted? Let's just keep quiet then whilst people are being racially abused, discriminated against and literally killed because of the colour of their skin, in some cases literally by people who are supposed to have a duty of care to them, because that has totally worked hasn't it, because massive leaps and bounds have been made since this was last highlighted four years ago? Oh wait, not they haven't, what a completely dumb comment. Keep quiet for what, so some racist white people don't get upset? It's not political, if you think it is then that is just more of your own ignorance. It's social justice and it has massive relevance in football, especially when football has a higher percentage of black people than society as a whole, just like Saudi Arabia's potential takeover of Newcastle and it's human rights abuse has relevance in football. And the final part is classic 'whataboutism' and is just a completely dumb argument. Oh and the irony of calling me a mug when you literally have just repeated a stupid right wing trope and have displayed bucketloads of ignorance. So George Floyd being suffocated was in part his fault, because restraining a man on the floor and suffocating him for 20 minutes over a fake $20 dollar bill is of course a proportional response to that crime, that they weren't even sure he had committed. Oh and it was totally the black communities fault that the Police Officer who murdered him had something like 19 previous complaints against him and had being poorly punished for many previous failings yet so somehow still in a position of power and responsibility where he could pin a man down on the floor and murder him. I am also sure it's totally the black communities fault that black footballers get monkey charts. ................

True, though he took a little while to work his way in. Just find it odd that according to that article Celtic 'rate him highly' but aren't playing him, just wondered what the issues were.

It's none of those things. How can literally kneeling on the floor quietly be 'aggressive'? It's the most peaceful protest you can do, also how can a flag be disrespected? It's an inanimate object made up of some colours on a piece of material and for the UK its a mismash of 4 flags anyway. That is the same stupid argument Trump made and all the right wingers made when Kaepernick did it, which was BS then and it's BS now, saying it disrespected their military personnel, and the vast majority of those same personnel came out in support of Kaepernick. It's saying there is a problem, and that problem needs fixing, and that not enough is being done to fix that problem, and we who are doing this kneeling are in solidarity with the people suffering so more is done to fix the problem. I cannot fathom how you can possibly think it is in anyway aggressive. If people have a problem with the kneeling and BLM stuff then they seriously need to have a look at themselves. It doesn't create division at all, it's literally an act of solidarity with people being unfairly and unjustly oppressed, the only people it upsets are actual racists, like that pr*ck who from Burnley who ordered that plane. Literally millions of people across the world have come together in agreement about this problem and about how not enough has been done to tackle and are saying enough is enough.

Ntcham not being a regular at Celtic seems a worry to me, is that just Lennon being a bit of an old fashioned manager/different system that he doesn't fit into?

Unless you are like a London club with tourist fans or a massive global appeal club like Man Utd, match day income for PL clubs is not a huge part of their income. In 2018-19 Saints made £17 million and Newcastle made £23 million. Now you might reckon that Newcastle might have a bit more potential than us to expand on that figure with some better football, maybe European football etc. , but you also have to think of the area, it's not like Newcastle is London full of affluent tourists buying shirts and scarves all the time, there is probably only so much you can squeeze out of that playerbase even if it not far of double ours. Even Arsenal who make nearly £100 million a year from it, it's still only 25% of their revenue and if they were in champions league etc, it would be an even lower percentage. If you are buying a middling PL club, you are buying access to the TV money first and foremost and the global exposure of the PL. I wouldn't want the Saudi's though either, even if they splashed the cash, it would feel like blood money.

Some players there that are decent, Norwich are a weird one, some talented players there, play some very good football but no real team or backbone there, maybe a confidence thing or something to do with the players. But clearly some talented youngsters that have the right attributes for us, but as people say they are more likely to end up warming the bench for top 6 clubs. I mean both Norwich fullbacks you'd expect Liverpool to see them as potential back ups to Robertson and TAA, Spurs clearly need full backs as well, though Mourinho tends not to go for younger players, and Chelsea are looking at left backs so Lewis might be a cheaper option to Chilwell. Price wise though the best ones might be out of our range unless they have relegation release clauses. Villa really Grealish and McGinn are the pick but Grealish is clearly going to like Man Utd or someone. Fraser I think expects to go to a big 6 club and probably expects as a free agent well over £100k a week. Also not really a position we need. Fabianski I think is one of the better keepers outside the top 6, he might be worth a shout. Felipe Anderson if you could get some consistency from him, half the time he doesn't look bothered but he's clearly talented. Expect someone like him to go back to Italy or Spain and do well. I think Josh King would suit our system pretty well, he's quick, big and strong, and a decent ball carrier, not the most prolific but might be a good foil to Ings. Really we need defenders though, and to be honest most of those defences are pretty bad, might be some talented individuals in there but its a bit of a gamble. I mean like Godfrey, Aarons and Lewis all look like good youngsters, but this is their first season in the league and they are part of a defence that has conceded 56 goals and at times looks all over the place. Is that what we need to upgrade our defence? Not sure. Brighton are the most solid team in the bottom half, with the least conceded, someone like Dunk to lead the back line would probably be a good idea but they are unlikely to go down IMO. Any of those centre-backs in there like Mings, Mepham, Ake, Diop, Godfrey could potentially be very good, you just don't really know how much they are impacted by the team's form and the people around them, or whether it's just they are not as good as people thought. But they are all centre-backs that have been highly rated at various points and are not that old.

Dunno, Kaprenick was doing it 4 years ago, did racism, police brutality etc. end then? Here we are 4 years later going through the same stuff. It's a peaceful protest of solidarity for people who are continually facing oppression that literally threatens their lives, why does it bother you if footballers want to keep doing it? It doesn't impact you in any way.

Those are definitely the priorities no doubt. I think in an ideal situation then for Ralph's system you'd see an upgrade at GK, an upgrade on Bednerak (though I agree he is definitely our best centre-back, at least for actual defending, Stephens is a better ball player) and a mobile target man type player to replace Long, basically a Shane Long that is better at football, even if that sounds a bit harsh. Ralph's success at Leipzig was built around a front two of Werner and Poulsen, who is still doing that role at Leipzig and is a 6' 4" very mobile forward.

Highest defensive mistakes leading to goals in the league I believe, it's pretty clear where our problems are. We need a new defence, pretty much all of them bar Bertrand could do with upgrading, including the GK. But realistically we at least have to sign a right back and a centreback that actually improve the first eleven. Overall performance was hardly terrible, especially given the heat, I mean how many top level international sides do we see playing summer tournaments where they are flat and stale, but you can't gift opponents easy chances like that. With Armstrong, Ings, Redmond, JWP, Djenepo when fit, I think we have enough threat/creativity to be a top 10 if not a top 8+ challenging side, and when they fully play Ralph's style we trouble anyone. But you can't expect to win games by giving away easy chances.

Bednerak and Armstrong cost £12 million for the pair is what I said. And of course it is hard, but we've done it before and other clubs around Europe are doing it, like Leipzig, Atlanta etc.

Swap deals rarely happen, they are always talked about in the press, but how many times do you see them completed. If Spurs don't have the cash then they are screwed IMO, I can't see us wanting any of their rejects. I mean KWP hasn't even got in ahead of Valery, so I can't see us going for him, and the rest of the potentials aren't much cop either. I mean on current form Spurs are what a top 10 side? Top 8, do we really want people that can't even get into that team? I don't rate Dier either, seemed good when he came from Portugal and early England appearances, but since I have seem him since he seems to ponderous in his decision making, gets caught on the ball a lot, especially when playing in midfield. I swear Mourinho only likes him because he is a big lump.

One of those games where people predict us to win which is always a worry. I still wonder where the mentality of this team is, when relegation is a threat they seem to play well and then trail off. We got safe last year and finishes pretty slowly, the win at Norwich pretty much made us safe, so will we see the same intensity and effort? Also whilst Arsenal are bad away and have looked a shambles the last two games, their attacking line up could easily score against anyone. So this 'wounded animal' and complacency problem worry me for this game.

Guess who is cut out of that picture. Because of what it clearly means, black lives matter, unless you are a dumb right winger playing dumb, which many in the media do with the 'but all lives matter' trope, does not mean black lives above everyone else, it means all lives should matter but at the moment clearly black people's lives do not seem to matter as much. So saying 'white lives matter' when clearly white people in most western societies don't suffer the same social injustice, mistrust, racism etc. as minorities do is just offensive and racist. It's the same thing as 'defund the police' does not literally mean we have no Police force.

Yes some really good articles both on Saints and football in general on a lot of topics as well, from how transfers are done, things outside the game, tactics, etc. Really interesting and the Saints reporter Carl Anka is very good on analysing Ralph's tactics.

Do we? What like Van Dijk, Mane, Tadic etc. all signed for like £12-15 million. Two of our current key players in Armstrong and Bednerak cost £12 million between them. In fact most of our best performing players in the squad didn't cost huge sums, Ings was the most expensive as £20 million, then you have Redmond at like £12 million, Armstrong £7 million, JWP youth product, Bertrand like £10 million etc/ We just need to get back to the scouting department finding good young talent around Europe better than they have been recently where we have had more failures than successes. Look at Leipzig, they have turned into a top 4 team without spending millions and millions. Werner cost them 10 million Euros, Upamecamo cost them 2 million Euros, Sabitzer was less than 2 million, Forsberg was like 3 million etc. etc. Gamble a little, go for players from lesser leagues, scout players with the right raw talent that fit Ralph's system and he can coach into good players. We are in the lucky position of having the draw of the PL football and being able to pay the sort of wages that only the top clubs in many leagues pay. Most middling clubs in Spain, Italy, France, let alone Holland, Belgium etc. their highest earners will be on like £20 - 30k a week. We can easily double that and that gives us the ability to pick good talent up, hopefully the new scouting lead supposed to come in can help do that. Also Stephens hasn't been outstanding, he's been better than he has ever been before and better than the dross at the back we have had for the last couple of seasons, but we have to remember this is still basically half a seasons form from him, he could easily revert back to his old self, it'll take time to see whether this is a purple patch of form or whether he has matured into a good centre back.

Outside chance of Europa League on? If Man City's ban gets upheld it'll be 8th, which is 5 points away with hardly the hardest run of fixtures (plus games against Everton, Arsenal, and Sheff Utd who are in the running for those spots) Maybe reading too much into a good result against a poor Norwich team, but most of our players looked fitter and sharper than I thought the Man Utd, Spurs, and Arsenal players did as well. Plus no home fans, which is usually a disadvantage for teams, but given our poor home record might not be a bad thing for us. Though actually where they would fit qualifiers in might actually not help for next season.

It was a soft pen, VAR doesn't over turn soft pens because they are not obvious mistakes. I mean for such a strong player that Pogba supposedly is, he went down super easily. A bit clumsy from Dier, but not an obvious foul IMO, I bet if that had been out of the box Pogba would have kept going and not gone down. I could easily see that not being given for smaller clubs against bigger clubs, which I think is the point, VAR might clear up blunders, but it can't do much about the refs going like 60-40 on decisions to certain clubs, when they are more 50/50.

Ings, JWP and Bertrand are the important ones, those are clearly the players that are top 8+ quality in our team, they are also I think important leaders in the dressing room. Bednerak and Stephens are solid players, and seem to have improved this year, but at the same time I think if the scouting team got their act together they would find upgrades.