HarvSFC

Akpom's always been crap too, Middlesbrough loaned him out to Greece last season. I was surprised by his numbers for this season, but Armstrong and Adams also had a season of very good numbers in the Championship, but then couldn't replicate those here.

Lens beating PSG 2-1 at half time. They're second with 1 loss this season. Play with a back three and Kevin Danso is the central centre-back and seems to be rated in France. Perhaps Ross Wilson did identify a good player.

Aston Villa enjoying the result of appointing a top level manager. We were level on points with them when he was appointed, now 9 points and 8 places behind.

This excuse is always made. Both Nottingham Forest and Wolves have announced one signing each ahead of the window's official start. Our closest competitors in 18th and 19th. It fits the narrative that is constantly pummelled into us by the people in charge that we're tiny little Southampton lucky to be here, rather than acting like a normal, competitive Premier League club.

At least Lavia and Mara get stoppage time.

I always found it to be madness how Argentina's World Cup winning centre forward is an often forgotten squad player at City. USA's first choice goalkeeper is Arsenal's second and hasn't played a minute in the league this season. Probably more examples.

Have Liverpool tapped up the new David Luiz?

Only plays well against us, so I suppose we wouldn't have to face him.

Another example after the multiple contract extensions that the decision makers don’t have a clue. Bednarek and Stephens aren’t good enough for us and we’re 20th, so they aren’t good enough for this league. We’re going into a relegation battle, Bednarek is passive and isn’t up for a fight. Goes missing, played in both 9-0s and what happens in the situation that we play a relegation six pointer, but Poland are playing the week after? He burnt his bridges when he got his dream move of a bigger club’s bench. Stephens is just a Championship player. Jones’ father in law surely has to get on the phone quickly to explain how shite the two are.

In the starting lineup which would signify no deal is close. Luton are on Sky at 6, so could see if Jones had left any talent behind.

Bednarek doesn't improve the starting eleven, he'd just be a returning number to add to the issues. We have two better centre-backs in Salisu and ABK. They aren't the issue. The lack of protection in front of them is, leaving them exposed and the goalkeeper conceding every shot is affecting the clean sheet statistics. Good tactical organisation would also help improve the defence, not bringing back Bednarek. The priorities in the defensive structure has to be the defensive midfield and goalkeeper ahead of the centre-backs, the club focussing on the centre-backs as the issue for conceding so many is too simplistic.

Relegation has a ripple effect on the whole club. A club that is known for its academy hasn't actually produced anything of note for a good number of years now because we were bringing through the players who had joined us in the Championship and League One years, and proved not to be good enough in the long run. We've finally got a good Under-18s again, how many of those want to come through at a Championship club? Will they look to leave at the first opportunity like Dibling did? And they probably won't come back like Dibling. Best case scenario if the players like Dibling and Jimmy Jay-Morgan do develop like we hope then we get a season out of them in the Championship, like we did Bale, Oxlade-Chamberlain in League One and half a season out of Walcott. All players who left at the first opportunity because we weren't a Premier League club. There's a far bigger picture to relegation than hopefully winning a few more matches.

Then you've got to think about if we do go down, how hard it is to establish yourselves back up here. Do we want to become a yo-yo club like Norwich, West Brom, Watford, Fulham up to this season. One season of good football, followed by a season of getting beaten every week. We're playing with Norwich's budget now, rather than Fulham's. So, this season for us would happen every other season. Last time we came we were flirting with relegation for the first half, 18th after 19 games, but we made some good signings in the Championship and League 1, added Rodriguez, Clyne, Davis and Boruc to them and a good manager in Pochettino. I don't think we'd get any of that were we to come up again. We're an established Premier League club, but haven't acted like one for a few years now and are looking like we're going to lose that status this season.

Frankly, for all the talk about having very little money, we've made too many mistakes with the money that we have/had. New contracts and wages going on underperforming players like McCarthy, Stephens, Walcott and Djenepo were needless and disastrous to have them eating up a large portion of wages at the club. I don't think many other, if any Premier League clubs would have offered these players a deal, let alone have them on the rumoured £70k that Walcott is on. Then, you go into the summer, address there are problems in the first team setup, so we get rid of the old coaches, but keep the underperforming manager, which proved to be a delaying of the inevitable, which many fans predicted. The summer window, we had this great idea of signing young, potential superstars. But, every player we signed was a punt and now they're proving not to be good enough. Once again, recruitment hasn't been good enough. Did we need Larios and Mara? Probably not, their fees could have gone elsewhere. Did we need to spend so much on Bazunu when a decent scout could have identified a currently better goalkeeper from Europe for the same price. Aribo for a pressing team? The last player that would suit a pressing system. Maitland-Niles, average Championship central midfielder, was once a very good right-back, but doesn't want to play there. Selling Romeu was also a mistake. We did make two good signings in Lavia and Bella-Kotchap. But, a good striker/attacker for the immediate was a necessity after losing Ings and Broja over the last two seasons. If we didn't sign some of the aforementioned names, we could have made a £20m-£30m attacking signing and been in a better position today, rather than bottom of the league on Boxing Day. Again, all the talk of having little budget, but we put it in the wrong areas in the summer and not the priority. Then we've taken another punt on the manager position. The most important part of a team, as a good manager and a bad manager are the difference between safety and relegation. We were in a precarious position when we appointed Jones, but it wasn't fatal. We were/are still close to safety and a good manager could have instilled some confidence and a game plan into the team. Any new manager we appointed was even given the luxury of having a break from first team fixtures and given time to work their ideas with the squad. However, we've returned with nothing. No new manager bounce at all. Jones said his mistake at Stoke was that he went in and tried to change too much, well it seems like his mistake here is that he's came in and changed nothing. We bought him out of his contract at Luton, so again a fee has exchanged hands, but was it to the right hand? Essentially, at the moment, as we sit 20th in the league it seems as though we can plead poverty all the time, but we're not making use of that small budget well at all.

"“The biggest dream is Liverpool, but I have to keep working hard at Celtic to prove myself and take it step by step. Should Mo Salah worry? From me? No! He is a super player.” Fits the bill of dreaming of playing for Liverpool and of course comes from our own feeder team.

His best lines being it doesn't matter where the club finishes in the league, when it does, the proof was in the summer when good level players didn't want to come to us. When the fans aren't feeling it, the players aren't. As a season ticket holder, the crowd always starts optimistic, until the players give a reason not to be, which has been going on for six years now. He doesn't enjoy travelling and watching the poor performances either. Only, he's paid a great deal of money to watch those performances, while we pay a large chunk of our wages to watch those performances. Then you've just got to hope that it was the departing Crocker who was behind the contracts for Walcott, McCarthy, Stephens and Djenepo, as those four moves were terribly wrong for a club with such limited resources.

Just had a look: https://www.northstandchat.com/threads/charlton-athletic-vs-brighton-hove-albion-official-match-thread.398266/page-24 "Ah well, hopefully a good warm up for the real stuff on Monday.I would take getting knocked out of the Micky Mouse cup first round every season if it means we then stuff the scummers." 🤣

Not a confidence inspiring victory, but we'll take the victory. When new manager's take over, you hope to see some instant, positive changes. I guess the closest comparison we have is Hasenhuttl taking charge of a deflated, unfit, 19th placed Hughes team. Within two games and a lot less time than Jones has had, we were pressing, showing a new way of playing and beating Arsenal. However, following all the PR pieces of attacking football, last night I saw the opposite, lining-up with five at the back at home against mid-table League One Lincoln and if not for an offside goal, we'd have given them the first half. One of the best things about Hasenhuttl getting sacked was that I wrongly believed we'd never see a Salisu throw again, but there he was again throwing aimless balls to the first defender. Positives were of course the win and Jones seeing that his initial tactics weren't working and he changed it, although I'd have liked the ABK halftime sub to have been the change in formation. But, we'd be a few goals down at half time playing that way in the Premier League. The best players were the subs, Edozie, despite the miss, S. Armstrong and even Walcott in his little cameo made two good crosses before needing to return to the physio. Notable omissions were Aribo, behind Walcott and Djenepo in the pecking order. Possibly because he's one of the laziest footballers I've seen and whoever recruited him for a side that used to be known for pressing, well hopefully it was Shields and he's gone. And Mara. Shows up in the B team and friendlies, but no first team minutes last night. And then there was Maitland-Niles... We've seen Oscar Gobern line up in midfield against League One opposition and he was a lot better against them than whatever Maitland-Niles served up. He's not a central midfielder and he needs to drop it. Wenger, Emery, Arteta and Mourinho, all very good, top level managers had a look at him and decided his position was a right-back. Improvements needed for Monday and as a Southampton and England fan I never want to see five at the back again after this year.

Hopeless. Bring back the World Cup.

Key thing is KWP being back. When on form he's one of our best attacking outlets, the wing-back formation could suit him and we're begging for a good attacker at the moment.

Wolves put £35m down on Fabio Silva two years ago before shipping him out on loan to Anderlecht. What's another £40/£50m.

Can't we just make an official public apology, while also stating that our interest in the player is over before signing him five months later? I think Liverpool did it once.

I think Adams is good enough for the build up play for us. It's the poacher/finisher that we're lacking.

The Champions League changes from 2024 as well, no more group stages, but a 36 team league. Some say it's similar to a "super league".

Jay Rodriguez certainly became a completely different forward after his.