A visit to the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham for the last game before the momentum killing three week international break which no one really gives a shit about or wants. This international break has seen a first call up for Kuryu Matsuki to the Japan squad and so he joins the likes of Cyle Larin, Finn Azaz and Ryan Manning as players who we desperately need to come back fit from the international break. At least we don’t have to worry about Ross Stewart anymore.

Wrexham Hollywood FC are coming off the back of a 6-0 capitulation at West Ham last week which has got everyone talking about Phil Parkinson and questioning his role as manager. This is on the one hand quite frankly ridiculous because he has overseen three promotions in three years and a really solid 7th place finish last year, but such is the way with ambitious football clubs. If they slide back towards a mid-table finish this year, it’ll be a test of the owners resolve, around their stated aim of taking Wrexham to the Premier League. Phil Parkinson is of course, largely responsible for them being where they are but then Paul Mullin was responsible for all their goals in the lower leagues and they soon got rid of him as soon as he got to a level where he wasn’t going to be useful. Maybe Parkinson has reached that level as well. Time will tell.

Because of the drubbing they got at West Ham, I can’t imagine that Parkinson is going to set up the same way that he did against us last year when we beat them 5-1. In that game we continually broke through midfield at pace and were on top of their back three and running through it. Parkinson will not be able to afford a similar heavy defeat so I imagine he will set up a lot more conservatively than he did that day. I expect to face long balls up to the centre forward and plenty of them, with a focus on set pieces.

Wrexham’s Hollywood owners Rob MacWhatsisname and Ryan Reynolds decided it was an ideal time to put a little video out about Firefox Internet browsers and its security features. They weren’t even subtle about it with the Middlesbrough training ground scenario and hiding behind a tree. It was very funny but I struggle to see how that helps Wrexham at this point. I’m led to believe that Phil Parkinson would’ve signed off on it but I imagine it will add to the motivation of the Southampton dressing room. Since the video, social media has been alive of course and the engagement has been huge, which was the point from the Hollywood point of view, but purely from a football point of view, Spygate has not been a major issue in the buildup to any individual game up until now. It’s been under the surface but Wrexham, who have nothing much to do with it, have made it front and centre in the buildup to this game. Get in there and make it all about you lads. It won’t even be the main issue when we play Pompey in a few weeks. Middlesbrough – of course might be different.

The siege mentality we have developed after five months of hammering from everyone, means that this is at least irritating to the fanbase. Tonda got asked about it of course by the media and it was a real damned if you do, damned if you don’t. He said he’d seen it and said that it wasn’t very funny for him, which of course got him slaughtered by various journalists like that fucking idiot Luke “weapons grade spy equipment” Edwards, who expected him to have a sense of humour about it. Tell me Luke, what would you have written if he’d said it was hilarious? I expect you would’ve congratulated him about laughing at the situation. Absolute arsehole.

The wider football journalism world has been aghast this week because of a couple of things going against Manchester United. First of all, they got a dodgy VAR decision against Manchester City and lost the game. All of a sudden, the national media narrative is that VAR is terrible and especially for match going fans. I’ve seen the likes of Martin Samuel and Scouse Potato Wayne Rooney pushing the “football is better without it” argument. Well done lads but where was the outrage two years ago? Off the top of my head from our last season in the Premier League, I can remember Leicester at home, Arsenal away, Brighton away, Wolves away and Crystal Palace away where we got absolutely mugged off by VAR. The outrage then was very, very non-existent.

Whilst we’re at it, where was the outrage when Max Alleyne was poached off Saints by Manchester City at age 15. Where was the outrage when Harrison Miles was poached off Saints by Manchester City at age 15. Where was the outrage this week when George Kift was poached off of Saints by Manchester City – I think he’s 15, he might even be 14. However, there was massive outrage this week because a Manchester United youngster JJ Gabriel seems to have had his head turned by Real Madrid and/or Barcelona and suddenly it’s a massive issue. Some aspects of football are absolutely fucking shit and national mainstream journalism is one of them. However, they are what they are. The bigger issues are that VAR is shocking from every angle you look at it and needs getting rid of and the practice of 14/15 year olds being tapped up and poached needs to be addressed. I don;t know what the answer is for that one but for starters, the compensation figures need to be a lot higher with maybe an automatic 50% sell on clause.

Back to Wales though, and Saints have to get their away form up and running and going into the international break firmly ensconced in the play-off positions.