SonicBoom

I cant remember a more woeful half by a Saints team. Can anyone? We've given away leads before and even conceded a few but that half was pathetic. Most couldn't control the ball and then couldn't wait to get rid of it. This is worse than anything I saw from Puel, Pellegrino or Hughes. Anyone still trusting in Ralph - cos from what I see he has actually made everyone worse.

We have stopped playing. Get some life into it Ralph ffs

Our passing is shocking....

Id say that CB is the one position where age is less of an issue. Pace isn't paramount, but reading the game and experience can make up for that. Terry was still decent last season for example. I don't really think CB's are at their peak til late twenty's. So whilst I like the policy of young and hungry players in attacking roles, I'd be ok if we bent that rule for a centre back. I also believe there must be bargains around. Some of our best ever players have been relatively low cost centre backs - Fonte, Svensson, even back to Richards.

That's true if we buy an established CB. There must be decent CB's around. Previously we've found Killer, Dean Richards even VVD was only 12 million.

People do stuff like that all the time. I vaguely remember Carsten Janker's profile being edited to say he was hosting an all night rave with Rudi Skacel. Aah, what a night that was.......

RH must take some blame. I don't believe managers put a terrible side out to prove a point. He just put out a terrible side. There are enough people at the club who could tell him why they are fringe players. They aren't good enough to get in a poor side. Unless there are big changes we'll be back here again next year fighting the drop.

Trouble is, the window in question is a charity shop.

I've lost count of games where we've been pathetic in the first half. I can't decide if it's Ralph's issue or the players but it happens way too often.

Redmond is so frustrating. Does so many things well, but he's shooting is generally abysmal. He rarely hits the target and usually just puts it over the top.

RH needs to respond. Howe made a change after 20 minutes and changed the game. We've been dominated ever since.

How do we leave ourselves open so often when we are attacking. Ralph should have sorted this by now but we never learn.

Redmond has improved no doubt but imagine the player he'd be if he was a natural finisher and took care over his final passes.

Whether we are in a relegation scrap or not is not the issue. The issue is that, not for the first time this season, we go out on the pitch and are way off the pace from the first minute. We normally raise our level after half time but we start so sloppy. It's frustrating.

I know we're not allowed to criticise Ralph but come on, we get done from our own corners constantly. It's about time he sorted that out.

I think it's a worry. I understand that RH wants the players he wants but two games ago we looked terrible and were in the bottom three. Suddenly all our woes are over? This month we have moved Gabbiadini, Hoedt, and probably Soares. I wasn't a huge fan of any of them tbh but to let them go without replacing them in any way must make the squad weaker. For a team that 2 games ago was in big trouble that is a hell of a gamble.

He's like a young Raheem Sterling. Except he's not that young anymore. And he isn't anywhere near as good. OK bad example.

http://Www.hesgoal.com Scroll down to the saints game and click. Click on the little red x to get rid of it and it's then a good stream. Works well every week.

The one big player that always scores against us. Totally unmarked. I don't like Hughes but the players have to look at themselves. Someone did not do their job. Shocking.

I think there is another intangible that needs to be discussed. It's the simple fact that Puel gets on your tits. There I said it. There was a growing disconnect between manager , team and fans. Most managers would explain a tactic or a style of performance. Puel mumbled through interviews and I couldn't understand what he was saying. I understood the words but that monotone drone switched me off and he rarely said anything interesting. I know people will shriek that he doesn't have to be interesting in interviews but do you think he was any different talking to the players? And of course image matters. The best leaders are charismatic, people are drawn to them, will follow them and will fight for them. Persona is key. Look at Klopp, Guardiola etc. They understand the value of their image. IF Puel had to play a certain way he certainly never said so, which is what all smart managers do - even if they do it subtly, they make their feelings known. Now he's at Leicester and they don't like him either. So it's not just Saints fans. The real mistake was Pellegrino because the club manager to find one of very few managers that made Puel look interesting. Things come in threes so we did well with Adkins, Pochettino and Koeman. Then we had Puel, Pellegrino and Hughes. Let's just say I'm looking forward to the next 3.

I suppose it's fair. If you are on £1000 a month then getting fined £700 is going to hurt. If you are on PL mega money then the same £700 isn't going to even register. Does reflect the attitude of some young footballers though. 21 points already from his time in Italy and now another 18. The bloke has more points in the last year than our entire club managed. These guys think the rules don't apply. Just ignore everything and it'll go away. I expect the fine is more reflective of his disdain for the letters and ignoring requests.

Why are we worse when winning than when it's 0-0 ? Baffling.

I don't know why Gabbi gets a free ride. He scored a few at the start but not much since. In fact he rarely touches the ball. OK you could say we don't play to his strengths well a good player would find a way. Even if we don't then there is no point Gabbi making the same runs every time and getting nowhere. Surely he has to be more intelligent than that. Ings has made more of an impression already and he doesn't know the team. Austin is a better finisher in and around the box. But he's not as mobile. Ings is our main striker now. He's more than a poacher and I think he'll prove to be a great signing. He's been fit for a year at least so no reason to caveat with "if he stays fit" now. Gabbi is too passive and allows the game to pass him by - hence Hughes saying he must take opportunities. I agree our strike force is not the best, and even Ings is a gamble. But Gabbi flatters to deceive. He simply doesn't make any impact and so is easy to play against.

Most grounds are poor these days. That's what seating and ticket pricing has done. Watch Liverpool on the TV and you can hear the players shouting to each other at times. i don't think that's ever coming back unless they introduce cheap tickets and safe standing. Fans have changed. Their expectations are different. When I was a kid you got let in, yelled your head off, had a dodgy pie in the rain and went home. Now they want craft beers and decent wifi. Not better or worse. Just different. Mostly we are grumbling cos for the last two seasons we have been crap. Under Koeman and Poch I felt we could give anyone a game and potentially win. That died under Puel and MP. And then we finally succumbed to the thing all struggling PL sides do . We went for one of the managers off the merry go round. Winning games boosts the atmosphere and silences the opposition. We just aren't good enough to do it.

I thought it was reasonable. Not sure why Blackmore talked about Ings time at Liverpool or Saturday's game at Everton. Those are normal weekly press conference things. Time for fans questions was short and he should have got as many in as possible. Not sure why other fans criticise the questions. If you went and didn't get a chance to ask then fair enough, but if you didn't go then you can't complain about those that did.