SaveloyMush

Outcome-based = winning a fucking football match! That quote is almost Pellegrino-esque in its fuckwittery. Well, der...

I reckon that was a very creditable performance, against perhaps the best club side in the world. Sure, there were some brain farts, but the use of players out of position was pretty inspired, given the injury list.

Masochist! And I say that as someone who respected Puel for what he tried to achieve (and who went all the way to Israel for that turgid performance).

Lumping it forward needs lumps as forwards to win the ball. Maybe Vestergaard could lump it up front, run really, really fast and win the ball in the opposition's box? More seriously, I do think that, during the dying embers of a losing game, going route one is infinitely preferable to tippy-tappy-toe in the 94th minute.

Exactly indeed. Puel was (and is) a pragmatist; as such he got a tune out of a mediocre squad of players at Southampton. Moving to Leicester was a mistake for him, as they had a squad capable of a more swashbuckling football and their fans and board (rightly) expected to see a style of play more befitting the qualities of that squad. Bielsa is perhaps the ultimate proponent of swashbuckling-and-to-hell-with-the-consequences football. It looks like he has got away with it, at least for this season (and let's not dwell on last night's game...). Is Ralph's style of football entertaining? When everyone is firing on all cylinders, certainly, although the opposition has largely worked out how to nullify his tactics. Otherwise, I would contend not. What is more important - entertainment or results? For the ever-fickle football fan, that is the unanswerable question.

Note that Liverpool under Klopp, who shares the same philosophy as Hasenhuttl, are having a season at least as disastrous (by their standards) as Southampton. This suggests that the rigid, Teutonic, approach to management doesn't work when opposing teams have worked out how to counter that philosophy. Contrast with Guardiola, who mixes up his tactics constantly and is now running away with the Premier League again, despite suffering with injuries to key players too.

I don't care what the formation might have been, the philosophy certainly changed. Less exhausting pressing (perhaps the reason for Ings' anonymity - except at the wrong end! Also note the team didn't wilt after 60 minutes); far less faffing about at the back and recycling between midfield and defence; far more incisive, forward-thinking play, combined with a greater fluidity of positions. All of this whilst holding out a physical, talented team - it was like men against (brave) boys at times. Djenepo was like 2 players out there today (and Kante like his usual 3).

From top of the league to bottom of the form table, with a record number of consecutive defeats, in 3 months - the very definition of consistent!

Alonso is going to have a field-day.

And therein lies the problem. The Saints playbook must be a single side of A4!

In the last few minutes, Vestergaard rumbled half-heartedly up front, but clearly didn't look comfortable about doing so. The manager should have told him to get up there and stay there until he scored, as Koeman did with VvD.

Hopefully all in the FA Cup!

I was about to post the same about JWP. In addition, he looks knackered, physically and mentally, with lots of stray passes today. Hardly surprising, given the amount of game-time he has faced and the sheer level of effort he puts into every shift. The only player with real steel is Romeu, in my book. Sadly,he was blunted by the early yellow card today, having to pull out of a number of challenges. I am sure he would have liked to have left his mark on Traore in the second half.

MLG note: Today is Friday. Tomorrow is Saturday. This game is being played on Sunday.

MOTM was Jon Moss - so good to see a game flow like that. No bias or pedantry.

It's a tricky one, because the anti-Ralph is Mourinho - and who wants that? The Special One does know how to shut down a game when his side takes a lead though, something that Ralph appears not to be able to do; no team can sustain an aggressive pressing game for 90 minutes, yet Ralph seems to insist that Saints must. In the same vein, playing tippy-tappy out-from-the-back football when 2-1 down in the 94th minute is just obtuse.

I can't align Ralph's desire for a small squad with a style of play almost guaranteed to see injured and/or knackered players. The inability to shut up shop when having a bad day is also a concern. Everyone needs a Plan B, as Mike Tyson almost said. Ralph is clearly a fantastic, passionate but perhaps fair-weather manager. The Germanic reputation for inflexibility (I know he is Austrian) may be to blame here - he is not the only manager in the top leagues to suffer this trait.

I didn't say that I thought he would be a good option - quite the opposite!

I am surprised Rose's name hasn't come up more frequently, although I am not sure he passes the attitude test.

Redmond utter fucking gash, as usual. Fuck him off to Eastleigh.

Anyone else struggling with Now TV being absolutely shite, again!

Does Allardyce even play with a midfield?

I agree, I was being a little facetious. Nevertheless, I don't think we will see another Neymar-esque £200m transfer for a very long time.

That rather puts some of the estimates on here of Ings' value at £60-70m in perspective!

Diallo in front of Valery on the right? Armstrong is a fantastic player and incredibly important to Saints' positive play, but he looks knackered!