LuckyNumber7

I've been to Gdansk and saw the stadium from the plane, it is indeed very impressive.

Well that's really worked out for us the last five years! Since when has 22 PL goals been mediocre? Even 12 is a good return for a club like Saints. And his 7 goals last season were achieved in fewer minutes on the pitch than our two main strikers who scored 7 and 6. If he returned I'd be pretty confident, injury permitting, that he could score 10+ which is not to be sniffed at. Everyone always talks of needing a 15-20 goal striker but in reality that is only usually achieved by the top strikers in the league. For a decent fee and on a 2-3 year contract it would be a no brainer imo.

We know that if he can stay fit he is proven quality and fits our system. Is clearly better than any of our other forwards. For the right price I would have him back. I don't see a queue of quality strikers lining up to join us within our budget. Ideally we'd bring in two strikers this summer to replace Broja and Long/Armstrong. A bit of experience and known quantity in Ings, plus a younger striker probably from some foreign league would do nicely. I understand the concerns over his fitness but don't think he had too many injury problems last season, mainly just fell out of favour with Gerrard. It won't happen anyway so it's all academic.

If we are seriously offering Long another contract then my faith in Semmens and the new owners will be severely dented. At 35 he should be nowhere near a PL pitch, as shown at Bournemouth he's not even good enough for the Championship now. I honestly don't know what we are doing but the thought of McCarthy and Long both still being around the team next season is utterly depressing. Not even bashing Long, he's been a great servant for us but all he does now is come on for a few minutes and run around a bit and throw himself to the floor. He should have been released two years ago, by keeping him around when he's well past it all we're doing is tarnishing his memory here. I honestly can't believe we're not releasing him. What other PL club would have him?

Would be happy with any of Barkley, Traore and Diop.

Let's not forget he won Player of the Season under Koeman so whilst he's never been a prolific goal scorer, he has still been an important player for us. THAT Anfield goal, the goal against Villa and the record breaker at Watford are the obvious highlights. Well past it now and shouldn't be retained, but even this season he basically turned around that cup tie at Swansea. Not the most talented player we've ever had but has certainly made a contribution over the years. I wish him good luck at Reading or wherever else he ends up.

Yep spot on, it feels like there has been a disconnect between the fans and team for a long time now. It briefly improved when Ralph first arrived but clearly hasn't lasted. A terrible home record together with the high turnover of players over several years I feel has really affected the atmosphere and there is a significant feeling of apathy amongst the fanbase. I don't have a ST any more but it feels like a long time since I actually enjoyed going to games. I don't know what the answer is but something needs to be done.

I know very little about Dragowski but Johnstone is shite. Seems to make a howler every time I've watched him so not sure he's really any better than McCarthy.

Thanks for the memories and the loyalty Super Kelv, will never forget that Leeds game! Best of luck for the future.

Good player from what I've seen but I'm getting really worried we're just going to sign a bunch of kids. That's all well and good but it's surely blatantly obvious that we need some leadership and experienced older heads out on the pitch too.

West Ham's average attendance last season was just under 60,000 - third highest in the PL. We can only dream of those figures. Like it or not they are on a different level to us now, big London club with much bigger fanbase and stadium - and that in turn attracts more investment. And their fans hate their owners!

Absolutely I would, if the fee was reasonable. If we don't find some goalscorers next season we will be relegated, simple as, and I don't think there's an abundance of quality strikers out there within our budget and willing to sign for us.

Nah I disagree. Stephens and Bednarek make just as many if not more mistakes. Agree we should have signed a proper starting CB in the summer though. We basically have Salisu and three backup CBs.

Feels like deja vu from the last few months of last season too. So depressing. I'm a long time supporter of Ralph but we need a change. In fact we need lots of them. Manager, players, coaching staff. Without major improvement I can't see us staying up next season.

Think he's been alright overall but had a shocker today. We need better though for sure. I still think he's our second best CB which says it all.

Whether Broja is here or not next season, our attacking positions need a complete overhaul in the summer. I'm far from convinced we'll get it though.

I'm a long term Ralph supporter but starting with 35yo Shane Long in attack is reason enough on it's own to be sacked. I like Ralph and think he's got a lot of plus points but after yet more thrown away points today I do feel like we need a change. The whole club is feeling a bit stale right now, there's no buzz or excitement, just a ton of apathy. A new manager with some fresh ideas along with a bit of an overhaul of the playing squad could be what we need. It's a gamble though as Ralph pretty much guarantees survival each year.

Yep, genuinely looking forward to watching Gillingham v Rotherham! Can't beat last day drama.

Armstrong and Theo are the standout failures, the rest have all been decent at worst. Given the financial restrictions I'd say it was a pretty good window.

As good as Prowsey has been, it has to be KWP for me. He is so consistently good and seemingly just as comfortable at LB as RB. Excellent defending and going forward, he's been our best signing for a few years.

If McCarthy is our No.1 next season that would be some shocking mismanagement by the club.

For those interested, the Echo has live updates... https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/20081908.live-updates-southampton-vs-portsmouth-national-league-title/

I agree as a whole this season is very similar, think I heard we're on the same points tally as at this stage last season. Quite clearly last season we over achieved in the first half and under achieved in the second half of the season, in large part due to the injuries. This season it's been a bit more evenly spread although still streaky. Of course I'd love us to be challenging for europe but I just don't think it's realistic to expect that given our financial constraints. We do have some good players but we also have an awful lot of crud still. No I'm not happy about losing 0-6 but it can happen even to the top teams in this division, whilst it's a concern I prefer to judge Ralph on his whole tenure rather than a few games in isolation. Tbh I think we should wait and see where we are come the end of the season. If we finish 17th I will most likely be wanting a change as well. But we have just as much chance of finishing in the top 10 which would be a good season surely. Our form will return at some point, let's see how it pans out.

And what did you expect this year? We are miles clear of relegation (again), only a point off the top half and got to the FA Cup QF (again). All after once again having one of the lowest net spends in the league. True under Ralph we are very streaky, have good runs and bad runs and a handful of truly awful games, but the bigger picture is we are performing at least to par if not above, whilst also trying to play attractive attacking football.. Not saying Ralph is perfect by any means but I think he's a good fit for us, and until we start showing more ambition in the transfer market this is our level. To all those who want Ralph out I'd say be careful what you wish for, because it absolutely can get a lot worse than this.

Hilarious watching a bunch of internet warriors frothing at the mouth because an ex footballer questioned the truthfulness of the media. MLT is and always will be a legend, and having met him a couple of times he's a lovely bloke too. I'm horrified by what we've seen from Ukraine but I couldn't care less what his opinions on covid/Russia are, they're not important.