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The opposition have worked out that as long as you don't hammer the ball straight at him it'll go in. It doesn't even have to find the corner, just placed far enough away from Forster that he has to move or twist his lumbering frame with a modicum of agility. Then he's screwed. He's not a terrible keeper by any means, but is massively overrated by our supporters. No better than bang average. He has size and presence, but the rest of his skills are nothing special in the slightest. I doubt we'd have done much worse in the last few years with Boruc between the sticks.

Bertrand's taken and scored one for us before, hasn't he?

Tadic looked hesitant and his movements were slow and deliberate. He didn't seem comfortable out there in the heat of battle at all. It probably hurts like hell playing with a smashed nose. It might be the case that he just needs to be kept out of the firing line for a while until he's healed up. From what we've seen of him so far, in the mask, he's nowhere near his usual standards.

Maybe we'll finally be able to play with some freedom without our bras restricting us...

4 goals in our last 8 league games. Only Boro have scored less goals than us this season. Miserable. Dour and predictable football, going nowhere, an abject lack of quality up front. And a manager who continued to play three negative central midfielders for the whole game, in spite of facing 10 men for 70 minutes. Why did he make like for like substitutions when bringing on Tadic and Rodriguez? Was he scared we'd be overrun with an extra attacker on? I suppose we would've taken a point before the game, but there are worryingly few signs of improvement in the team after six months of the Puel revolution.

He also needs a couple of months of physical conditioning after peeing away the last two years of his career dreaming about his future earnings, and eating. A pointless January signing as he won't be properly fit until the last handful of games of the season at best. Can't imagine the club would be so desperate as to take a punt on such an unprofessional waster.

It'll be 0-1, with us never looking like scoring and either Gaston or Chambers scoring with Boro's only shot of the game. That's just how it's going at the moment. The manager doesn't appear to have any answers to address the malaise. We're truly awful going forward, and Boro are very defensive - can only see us drawing another blank. I'd happily be wrong, of course.

Great result and performance to go with it. 5-0 wouldn't have flattered us. Yoshida continuing his claim to being "most improved player". Clasie came to the party. Even Cuco was less inept than usual. I must say, the academy boys were excellent: Reed was tenacious and tidy in midfield, McQueen put in a steady shift on the right wing before looking much more at home on the left, and Sims proved he wasn't a one-game wonder with some lovely touches and movement. Well played.

Best half we've produced in ages. Fast and dynamic on the counter, snappy and tidy in the midfield, compact and organised in defence. Boufal has been outstanding. If we were actually playing with a centre forward who wasn't at all-the-things-wrong-with-Shane-Long level, we might've wrapped this up by now. Claude needs to find more minutes for Harry Reed, moving forward. He always looks like he belongs. Come on, chaps, bring it home.

Boufal looks amazing. Long looks appalling.

Much needed victory - and finally played with a bit of urgency. Should never have been hanging on at the end though. Our profligacy remains a huge issue. Really pleased for Sims. He looked a prospect and a half a couple of years ago but then seemed to lose his way. He has a lovely first touch and quick feet. Lallana-esque, albeit with more pace. The beard is equally crap, mind you. I thought Cedric played fantastically as well. Ward-Prowse and Hojbjerg were decent, Austin actually held the ball up quite well and generally the performance was a promising step in the right direction after a mediocre spell. On the downside, Redmond was poor. Has he just been overplayed? Where has his pace gone? Presumably the same place his touch and decision making are hiding out. I can't help but laugh every time he cuts inside and goes to curl the ball into the far corner with his instep - a la Henry - and every time contrives to cut across the ball and slice it miles wide. It's Redmond's signature move. And I think Van Dijk was lucky for the second home game in a row not to concede a penalty for a needless lunge on Lukaku. He's an immense defender for us, but there's a streak of carelessness about him that comes out at least once a game. Puel's substitutions were a bit detrimental as well. We were well on top, but he sacrificed our shape and counter attacking threat with his changes. Long came on way too late. For ten minutes there our dynamic forward line was a knackered Austin, nominally supported by a left back. Credit to Stekelenberg - or whoever that was impersonating him - for some top banana saves.

I genuinely think we're sleepwalking towards trouble this season. Our attacking play is absolutely insipid - and showing no signs of getting better.

He's not any kind of player anymore...

He's a top ten keeper for a top ten team. No better or worse than that. It's been a common theme of his Saints career that the opposition don't need many shots on target to beat him. He's a good organiser and presence, though, and that shouldn't be discounted among the many clean sheets he's kept where he's had nothing to do. My bugbear with Forster is how poor he is in coming off his line and how many goals seem to be conceded without him so much as bothering to put a dive in. It's probably not the case, but it feels at times like he's only ever going to make saves if the shots are straight at him.

If he needs minutes, he should play for the U23s. It's arrogant to think we're good enough to win games carrying an absolute passenger, which, sadly, Rodriguez is. It's been two and a half years since his knee injury - at what point do the club accept that he's just not able to play at anywhere near the required standard anymore, and merely blocking the path into the squad of a young up-and-comer? I'm gutted for him, but football isn't sentimental - the attacking options in our squad have been compromised by the club's misplaced faith in a player who is barely fit for purpose. We're a forward short. In my humble opinion.

Far better second half once the boys got a little fire in their bellies due to a criminally inept referee. Van Dijk was immense, good performances from McQueen, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Yoshida. Think we're particularly light up front - sadly, Rodriguez is miles short of his pre-injury level; Redmond and Tadic blow very hot and cold. But a win's a win - and it's always a pleasure to watch the classless Italians go home empty handed in a flurry of pouty lips and flappy hands.

Pathetically weak referee. Won't do anything about the wrestling in the box during corners, completely bottled a clear sending off and lost control of Inter's blatant gamesmanship in holding up the penalty as long as possible. And on top of that, it was never a penalty in the first place. Tadic has always been an iffy penalty taker - no idea how he still gets the responsibility. Oh well, hopefully the end of the half will light a fire under the boys and make this a battle.

Romeu's having to shoulder the burden of the entire midfield, in defence and going forward, all on his own. Clasie looks miles out of his depth, Davis is off the pace. We've had a lot of possession, but moved the ball so slowly and predictably, Chelsea have barely broken sweat to deal with us. Whereas, they look faster, sharper and quite likely to score another couple on the break. Not many options on the bench - Puel's got his work cut out turning this around.

Clasie is so poor.

Terrible from Davis and Forster...

The result is all that matters - keeps our decent run of form ticking over. Great goal from Boufal, and although I'm sure he wasn't supposed to play 90 minutes, provided there's no reaction, it should do him good. We're picking up too many injuries at the moment and starting to look very thin. Isgrove isn't even a Championship player, and although Olomola was a willing worker, he didn't look full of quality. Stephens did all right, even if he seemed a bit casual and disengaged at times. Anyway, we're in the hat... Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

Three blanks in our last four games, in spite of creating the majority of chances. The lack of real quality up front is hurting us. Long has reverted to the garbage level he's played most of his career at. Rodriguez is a sad shadow of the player he was two years ago. Austin's not fit enough to complete one let alone three games in a week. It's a shame. Our general play is pretty good. Nice to see Boufal get on. He looked miles off the pace, but at least he's an option now. Hey ho... Sent from my VF-895N using Tapatalk

You could well be right. In which case he missed the dive and therefore must've been a pretty dodgy ref...

Except he let play go on, and West Ham went close from the resulting cross that Forster badly flapped at. Only then did he go back and book Zaza. If the referee saw the dive (as he must've to have booked him), why didn't he whistle then and there, and instead allow West Ham an advantage? Very curious... Along with calling a foul on Fonte for the most obvious block tackle you could ever see, and twice stopping Saints' counter attacks for "head injuries" only after play had gone on for several seconds, I though the referee was pretty average to say the least.

It isn't. Kicking someone in the head whilst executing it, however, is. It wasn't like the defender was ducking down into his foot. On the halfway line, if Naughton went up for a header and Costa challenged with his feet, it'd be a free kick all day long - with potentially further sanction to come (Bruno Alves got a straight red for a head-high challenge on Harry Kane in a recent England game; the referee yesterday even booked a Swansea guy for an accidental clash of heads).