Dusic

Is it just me, or does Maya seem to be regressing back to his form from earlier days at Saints? Lately he seems incapable of marking in the box, and has been a lot more sloppy and unsteady in possession than over the last 18months where he had got better. Has a bit of a habit of being nearly there when a team scores against us. He has improved immensely since he signed for us, but I think he is better with a very dominant player next to him, someone who leads the back four, and I'm not sure Hoedt does that (he is still adapting obviously). Playing in a ****e team of course doesn't help, but is he really good enough to be a nailed on PL starter? I'm not convinced.

Overall, on the sort of money Austin takes home he has been a poor signing - he just isn't conditioned to the level required for a PL player hence having so many periods where he isn't selectable. His injury has also disguised what an absolute tosser he was to a.) Needlessly kick a fellow pro in the head, totally unprovoked and b.) Do so when the team was reliant on him, and when after finally getting settled in team he then misses key games. Have never fathomed why Saints fans seem to love him so much, he always comes across as a bit of a **** to me.

Prowsey just on Solent saying we have enough quality in the squad to still aim for Europe. Said the lads will be working hard in training ahead of Man Utd as they are better than they have showed this year.

LOL, Shane Long over Gabbiadini. Long is absolutely woeful, has been for most of his career yet has got worse this last 18 months and still somehow gets starts. Shows the weakness of our squad, that whole selection apart from centre mid. Thats why we are where we are.

Disasterous appointment and one that is going to get us relegated if he stays.

If they stay up they have a decent chance to build a good PL setup. Decent fanbase (more ST holders than us), big catchment area, new training ground, nice location for players to live, momentum... Dembele a few months ago was being linked with the top sides so thst seems a fairly decent price for an experienced 21 year old striker.

Breaking... Celtic accept bid from Brighton for striker Moussa Dembélé. Two clubs have reached agreement on transfer fee of £18 million From Sky. Decent show of ambition for January.

I think we have ****ed the whope VVd scenario up. Absolutely zero benefit of keeping him. Should have either sold in Msy or had the balls go properly haul Liverpool over the coals. Sell him to them now and its just so, so weak. At a time we need to be strong. Which is (yet another reason why) we are likely to be relegated.

Has to be out. He has also been dealt a poor hand by Reed like Puel was, but something needs to change and he isn't the right person.

We have to change something...

Without Cedric and Bertrand our line up looks bloody average.

Sims is a decent prospect but the way some are talking about him its like he is the next Walcott. Personally would be suprised if he is a PL player in 5 years time, and don't think he will make a telling first team impact this season.

You answered it yourself. Besides, we know with the upcoming games thst we will likely be more like 14th to 16th come the end of December. Of course we are currently in a relegation battle.

Based on what?

We don't buy success, we breed it* *Sometimes. And then sell it.

For such a big game you pick your best XI. For me that is: Forster Pied - VVD - Hoedt - Bertrand Lemina - Romeu Tadic - Davis - Boufal Austin

Tadic is pretty much the only creative player we have who produces assists on a semi regular basis. I get the frustration with him but IMO it would be utter madness to sell a proven PL creator in our current position, with no guarentee that a replacement would be as effective, let alone better.

I would say so, yes. Based on: - Only averaging a point per game after half a season - Only winning 4 of 18 games - Only wins coming against the poorest sides during some of their most difficult periods (West Ham - lucky win, Palace, WBA - needed a wonder goal, Everton - played at the perfect time) - Two of the next 3 are very tough so likely to be overtaken by some others - Harder home fixtures in the 2nd half of the season than the first - Supporter apathy and poor home atmosphere compared to some of the other strugglers

1. Sack Pellegrino and hope a new Manager gets more out of the squad 2. Spend in January to improve the team. If we did this, where would you strengthen? Up front is the main one but in quite a few areas it would cost a ****load to get better than what we have (on paper at least) 3. Trust that we have better players than many of the other teams near the bottom and will get enough points to be comfortable without a great deal of change 4. Don't be a wazza, we aren't in a relegation battle because we are 12th in the league - will be fine no matter what 5. I'm buzzing at the thought of relegation because we "get our club back"/some other nonsense about how much fun it is in the Championship (its bloody crap, half empty stadium rubbish unless you win most games like we did last time in which case any league seems great).

Keep because he is miles better than the other defenders we have and we are firmly in a relegation battle.

How Lemina isn't an automatic pick is beyond me.

After this round of matches I think our situation will be highlighted far more by the media, pundits, fans of other teams etc. Til now they just see us in 10th or 11th, but we know that we are bang in trouble.

Will be interesting to see when anyone, player, manager, club actually admits we are in a relegation battle. When we are annoyed that Watford end up losing to Palace it shows where we are...right in the mix. January will be interesting also as the others down there will definitely make moves.

Selling your best player in a relegation battle isn't a sound move.

He is a holding midfielder. Think we can file this under "bull****". We don't need more of those!