UpweySaint

*Burton bradstock, just down the road. But I take your point! Good to see him doing well, always thought he might make the break through with us but his progress seemed to stall and it never quite happened.

Yhep, far too many in the media keen to stick the boot in. Quite a few of the 'you can't keep selling your best players' mob were happy to see our failure as if we willfully planned to see our best players be tapped up in Blackpool hotels year on year. Puel is/has been a decent manager, just wasn't right for us. Probably not a good fit for this league by all accounts. No shame in that. Pellegrino was never the right man for the task at hand. I think some go OTT on their attitude towards him but clearly wasn't up to the job. He was a nice chap all considered but that kept him in post too long.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/apr/26/claude-puel-leicester-city-manager-future-uncertain Similar piece, sounds fairly similar to views of him here. Sacking Puel was never the mistake some of the smug kn*bs in the media made it out to be, we just royally buggered up the replacement!

http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2018/03/21/name-to-watch-16-year-old-southampton-talent-enzo-robise-feature/ Nothing too detailed but, for what it's worth, a fairly recent brief mention for Enzo.

Care to elaborate?

About three hundred quid, that's decent and my car is falling apart! Never the less I briefly lived in Pompey and now too many smug knobs who would be giving it the big'un if we were in the same league to make it worth it!

I got a very good price on a double, us down pompey up. I thought, and certainly hoped, it would be a few quid down the drain but, after seeing our slump last season alongside the mickey mouse takeover down the road I thought it was worth a punt just in case. Of course I would much rather see us stay up and lose but I am genuinely torn on Pompey. If we are screwed anyway a few hundred quid wouldn't be a bad thing. Ideal scenario, Pompey charge into the playoffs, we manage to escape last day of the season, pompey proceed to f*ck up the play offs and I find an appropriate time to take a decent cash out.

I suppose it depends on your age, as a product of the 90's I can appreciate greats from before but, if you asked me on the spot, my answers would probably reflect my own 'heritage' as it were ... For me Liverpool would be Barnes or Owen though only as Kenny was before my time. Arsenal, Bergkamp or Henry? Chelsea, Zola. Palace, Wright. Leicester probably Mahrez. City, Aguero. Mn utd, probably Best though Scholes needs a mention. Newcastle, Shearer. West ham, Rio. Stoke, Shaqiri, never understand what he's doing there! West Brom, probably better historical examples but Gera was decent on his day. Spurs, Hoddle. Kane/Bale both worth a shout though. As does a fit Ledley King. Some of the teams with less time around the top flight it's tricky. Will always remember Fletcher for Bournemouth.

There is an unfortunate reason we keep getting our talent cherry picked. If we can survive this season the goal long term has to be imitating the trend of European teams who recruit well and sell big while keeping together good sides. I know we aren't on the same level but the likes of Dortmund, Monaco, Atletico, RB Leipzig etc should be our model. Still maintain we have more quality players than a number of teams above us.

Our best, as in for their impact with us, Bertrand, Pelle and Mane (though Davis and Tadic only just edged out). The most talented three, Mane, Toby and VVD. Whatever has gone right or wrong over the last few years I have to say our recruitment has been better than most. Some of the players who have come through the club have been top quality. Could have easily mentioned Clyne, Lovren, Wanayama before we even get to the academy lot.

Enter joke about Bertrand having carried the side and/or various left wingers ...

To be fair the lad hasn't looked too happy for a while. Form, manager or just not settled ... it could be one or all three really. Have to say though our fans have really got behind him and keep singing for him. I think we all recognise he is a talented player, just a case of getting the best out of him while we have him. Hopefully Hughes may be able to give insight. Even though his record as a manger is a tad patchy there is no doubting he was a top quality striker. On a side note I think some are being a tad harsh on Carillo. I'm not going to say he's started great but he has played a part in some of our better movements/goals from corners lately. Don't get me wrong I think we won't see too much from him this season but, should we scrape survival, we may be able to get more out of his next term. He has come into a team playing utter dross. I can't remember him missing a myriad of chances so again maybe with others playing better around him ... We all largely agree we needed the option of a target man like Lambert or Pelle, he may be able to come good and fit the brief. Then again buggered if I know, I thought Olly Lancashire was going to be top quality!

I'd make a case for a few but generally take the point. Think Stephens has done okay all things considered and has at least shown some bottle - even if he would benefit from being part of a more assured backline. Sims has shown enough in cameos to make me think he could give something too.

I really doubt it but can't help but feel it would be pretty hollow, though you never know if we get out of this mess the relief and euphoria may kick in! Be nice to have something, anything to get excited about this season. I've managed to find a few positives but it's hard work finding anything exciting about us this season. Olomola's almost magic cameo if i'm grasping! (how tragic is that eh!) Oh well, if nothing changes over the next few weeks it may be time to start drawing up a list of positives to relegation.

I've been trying to avoid the constant negativity and find the positives but this has been utter w*nk! No urgency, no movement ... I know our confidence is shot but every time we play the safe pass and give Newcastle a chance to organise. The rare glimpses we have upped the tempo and committed men we have looked something approaching dangerous. We may as well go for it second half. Sims must come on, looked fearless last time out, we need more of that. May as well get Gabbi up and around Carillo to. 2-0 or 5-0 is irrelevant, we need goals, points and a bit of hope. Overwhelming sinking feeling today, if we stay up it will be more down to three other teams being more woeful.

Had a dream Cedric finally scored for us only for a 70th minute stoke equaliser and the game ended up another frustrating draw!

It's not illegal but there is a reason so few teams do it, i don't think away to burnley is the time for us to be trying a system we've not used all season.

Not getting in to a debate about the manager's quality but surely the line up was one of his more forward thinking? Arguably we only had the one holding midfielder and played the likes of redmond and tadic. Short of going two up top (beyond brave away from home when we are struggling) not sure how much more attacking we could have gone? He made good subs that had an impact too.

Neither side really deserved a win, Ashley Barnes seems to think otherwise post match, but good to see a nice Sims cameo, a striker on the score sheet and us digging out something from nothing. Also Carrilo's pulling backpost and nodding across reminded me of Lambert. The man is slow but we really benefit from a target man. I don't think much has changed in terms of our position today. We are still in the mire, most want the manager and les out, we continue to underwhelm though we have scraped together some points lately and our cup run shows promise. Personally I think we might just sneak over the line to safety. If we don't, oh well. Cheaper tickets, more games, academy products getting game time and clem may turn up at staplewood.

Time will tell but we clearly benefit from a more physical threat to play off up top. Looks willing too and has had a few moments of quality. Some step from Ligue 1 to prem too in terms of intensity, physicality and quality so he may take time to start to show more of his own ability.

Or maybe the problem goes higher up, we played like this for the tail end of last season. MP may or may not be any good but it is hardly all his fault.

First half unlucky, second lacked any real urgency. Didn't really expect anything from this one but we should have been able to make more of a contest of it. We weren't as bad as some on here make out mind! Burnley, Stoke, Newcastle, Swansea, Wham ... these are the games we need points from. Hard to take too many positives from today other than some tidy play in the first half. Other results have made today's result tougher to take but the table is still so close.

Referenced on the Guardian on an article re: Lookman as imminent as a part of an overhaul they are doing. They have apparently came out and said their current u18 crop is the worst they have seen in years. Less harsh publicly perhaps but arguably we should be looking at refreshing our structures, shame we couldn't tempt Mitchell back.

have you tried a vpn? fairly easy to use on chrome and a number available.

http://firstrows.xyz/soccer/xft-west-brom-southampton-fyz3d6762?l=1838476434