LuckyNumber7

I remember coming out of SMS after beating Norwich in late February feeling on a bit of a high as we were in good form and playing pretty well. It really is shocking how things have totally unraveled since that Villa game. Our home form in particular, not just in that period but in the last 6 years generally has been utterly abysmal so it's no wonder the atmosphere at home games is so poor. Fans need hope and belief and it feels like an age since we had either of those.

Growth off the pitch before SR, are you serious? There was only one way we were heading under Gao. Say what you want about Rasmus/SR but they have at least invested and shown intent to try and turn the club around. We have signed some very promising young players, the problem being they didn't balance it out with enough experience but I don't think you can say they've decimated the squad. They clearly need to put an end to the Jones experiment though.

Today has swung it for me. Really didn't like the pile on when he had barely set foot through the door and felt he deserved a fair crack of the whip. However things like recalling and playing Bednarek, relegating should-be starters and new signings (DCC and Orsic) to the B team while sticking with proven flops like Moi and Diallo are hard to stomach. Even more concerning is just how disjointed we look and lacking any kind of playing style or identity. We are a poor team and were bad in the last year under Ralph, but Jones has actually made us worse and there are zero signs of any improvement. I do feel sympathy for him as he is obviously desperate to succeed and trying his best, but just looks out of his depth. Not sure who we could get in at this point but it's clearly not working with Jones so we might as well try something different.

I'm really trying to give Jones a chance but he's making it very difficult. Recalling Bednarek and making him our starting CB, whilst relegating DCC to the B team is a sackable offence on it's own. Orsic not in the squad at all. What's the fucking point in buying these new players if he's not gonna bloody play them? A World Cup semi finalist slumming it in the B team whilst Eluseless starts and Theo is on the bench. What a waste. If we go down without a fight today I might join the Jones out bandwagon.

Sky commentators said 2300 but I thought it was more than that.

Crouch scored 12 goals in 27 PL games for us the season we went down, not far off a one in two strike rate. He wasn't the reason we went down and if Onuachu can get close to that we would have a great chance of staying up. Our aerial ability in both boxes is pretty pathetic atm so he will add a lot in that respect. I'm not expecting miracles but just having a proper presence and focal point in attack who can cause a bit of chaos should make us more dangerous.

Franny sums us up as a club and city. Just far too nice and passive. But yeah as far as Sky were concerned, we were just there to make up the numbers last night while they had a collective wank over Newcastle. I don't begrudge their fans a bit of success but the love-in is truly nauseating.

It's weird, for a cup semi final I just don't feel anything at all. Got no expectation of getting a result. I'm fully supportive of Jones but that line up is horrible. Hope by the end he's made everyone look stupid.

Based on that , maybe we should put in a bid for the Cremonese keeper. They're bottom of the league and still without a win. Nevermind just looked him up and he was on loan from Inter, now been loaned to Auxerre. Just shows it really wouldn't have been difficult to do better than Bazunu though.

Maybe, but it would have eaten a lot more out of our budget that everyone here is saying we should be using on a striker. I'd have preferred a LB but KWP can play their and we have no other fit natural RB so it makes sense. He's cheap, low risk cover. For the post above that said he was crap at Villa, that was 4 years ago when he was only 20/21. Quite feasible he has improved since then. I think we should be sending AMN back to Arsenal if we can. I think Onuachu is off to Frankfurt.

Was in the back row of Kingsland South for the first time in years last night and got told off by the steward for standing up. Pointed out all the away end stood up and was told the stewards over there would deal with it, yeah right. 🙄 Basically Saints fans have to sit down and shut up while away fans can stand, let off flares and really do whatever the hell they like with no repercussions. The way the club treats it's own fans with disdain compared to away fans is a disgrace and they are not in a position to be pissing off loyal fans.

Just seen the highlights on Sky, they didn't even show Che's one on one miss ffs. Arma's goal probably rightly disallowed. Also at the game didn't see Murphy's gay little wave at DCC, hope someone smashes the little prick next week. DCC did very well to keep his composure after that.

Got back late last night so not read much on here or seen highlights but just a few thoughts. In the first half we were poor and could barely string two passes together, and time and time again Newcastle seemed to have an overload on our left hand side and were cutting through us far too easily. Not sure why their goal was disallowed but we were lucky to be goalless at HT. Much improved second half, was nice to see us come out and actually have a bit of a go at them and they kept gifting us back the ball for fun, as we were in the first half. But we really needed to make it count when we were on top, unfortunately it was the same old story with Che unable to score in a brothel. Armstrong actually looked lively and made a decent impact. Again not seen any replay of the disallowed goal but those few minutes where they scored and then ours was chalked off changed the game and all our belief drained away, an all too familiar feeling. Once DCC was sent off it was game over and just trying to keep it at 0-1. Charly was the big positive, think he will be a very good player for us. Orsic looked a bit lost, hopefully just needs a bit of time to adapt to the faster pace of the English game. Only one goal conceded again (although they did miss a few sitters) and it does feel like we're getting harder to break down. Sadly we just don't have anything like the quality Newcastle do but I thought we gave it a good go and at least are still in with a small chance. SFC, PLEASE sign a striker!

Absolutely, we obviously had an interest but maybe just like the experts on here were telling us, the club have decided he's not worth the fee that Villareal want? I mean we were trying to just get him on loan initially anyway and none of the reports have said we're close to a deal. People moan when we're linked with a player cos he's crap and overpriced, then moan when the club refuse to pay that price. Maybe, just maybe they have now switched their attention to other targets who they deem better value? If Bournemouth want to come in and pay over the odds for him then let them. I'm not bothered about losing out on him as long as we do get someone in.

I agree it's a low bar. Are Jackson, Haji Wright, Estupinan etc upgrades? Plenty of links which have been met with disdain on here, I think we're unlikely to get someone who everyone thinks is a clear upgrade as we're just not very attractive atm. I expect us to get someone in but doubt it will be anyone with a proven record in a top league.

If only it was that easy. I'm sure the board are trying very hard to get players in but unfortunately our failure to get a striker in the summer is coming back to bite us on the arse as being in our predicament will put off anyone worth their salt. Supposedly Ings turned us down and according to the Echo so has Ekambi at Lyon. https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/23267993.ligue-one-forward-reportedly-rejects-potential-southampton-switch/ We have almost zero chance of persuading the likes of Beto and Dembele to join even if we stumped up the huge fee. Someone like Onuachu at Genk or Gyokeres may be more realistic but whether they're good enough I have no idea.

Very harsh. I think aside from his height he looked pretty decent in his few appearances but is clearly one more for the future. We needed full back cover in the summer so I don't think it was a strange signing at all. If he wasn't injured I think he'd be getting decent game time now as Jones clearly doesn't rate Perraud.

Swap winger for defensive midfielder and I'd totally agree.

Of all the mistakes SR have made, signing Bazunu as our number one is easily the biggest imo. After several years of being stuck with McCarthy and Forster we had a golden chance to fix the goalkeeping position in the summer and somehow the club have managed to make it even worse. What we desperately needed was a confident, commanding GK with a bit of presence and experience, instead what we got was a 20 year old bag of nerves who has never played higher than League 1. This was the one position we really couldn't afford to gamble on youth. People talk about his potential but to be brutally honest I don't even see that. He constantly flaps at crosses, barely makes a save that isn't straight at him and inspires no confidence at all. Just another Angus Gunn, if anything he's worse. If we're not going to sign another keeper then I'd rather we played Caballero. That alone shows how much we've fucked up this key position.

He has 6 goals in 18 PL games this season, quite a few of which were just a few minutes off the bench. I'm amazed anyone would turn their nose up, we're not going to get better. He's still only 30 and been relatively injury free at Villa. Should have a good couple of years at least left in him yet, I'd rather have him here than at one of our rivals. As said above, the sort of deal I could see happening on deadline day.

Agreed, he was excellent for the first part of last season but does seem to have regressed a bit rather than push on. Very much blows hot and cold these days and I would be more than happy with a partnership of ABK and DCC with Lyanco as decent back up plus a new signing. I'm sure Sali will be off in the summer as looks unlikely to sign a new contract. As long as we get a decent fee I wouldn't be too upset.

Kazeem Olaigbe is at Ross County and getting fairly regular game time, though has yet to score for them.

He was a bit clumsy in possession a few times but other than that I thought he looked bright and alert and has something about him. What I liked were the two important defensive interventions he made which were acknowledged by his team mates. For a 20 year old kid who's only just flown in to a new continent and culture I think it would be harsh to judge him too much on yesterday's game, but I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do once he's properly settled.

Bloody hell the state of those scousers, absolutely cringeworthy.

3 wins in a week... We fucking won at Goodison... Arise Sir Nathan!!