Charlie Wayman

BOG Off!

What a strange thing to say unless you are being ironic. West Ham haven't played yet? Otherwise we must assume you are not a Saints supporter and have just come on here to stir the ****! Go away!

Great first performance from Pellegrino's men. Work in progress whilst he settles in the new players and gets everyone up to match fitness. Cautious team selection but predictable as Pellegrino seems to be a manager who does things incrementally, small changes at a time step-by-step but expect this team to be changed for next weekend. The Redmond/Boufal position is up for grabs in my book neither having the complete edge over the other. Also it'll likely be two from three with Davis, W-P and Lemina. Goals will come, the lads looked over-anxious about scoring maybe trying too hard after maybe too much focus on it in training but at least they are shooting first time from good positions more often than they ever did under Puel. Promises to be a great season. Who impressed me most yesterday? Probably Tadic who worked hard all afternoon, looked really committed again and didn't fade out of the game in the last 25 minutes. Not saying he was our MotM, just that he seemed to be back to his best and very settled. Obviously loves working with the new manager. Hope Bertie is not sidelined after having his foot done in yesterday, bit concerned that it looked to me very much like the VvD injury incident last season. On this showing we could do very well indeed so fingers crossed, stay calm, be positive and hold onto your seats.

What? I preferred his version. At least he had the icus elf not been English.

Yes but also some well reasoned arguments and not a little constructive understanding of our position. Not quite sure what upset you so much, they are under no illusions about why things are as they are

How does this work? If we decide either or both are surplus to requirements what happens next as presumably they are under contract and we cannot breach contracts either after all the vD politicking? Does that mean we cannot put them up for sale unless they agree? Or do we just pay off their contracts in full and they are free agents? what if no clubs come in for them does that mean we must keep them? Answers please from those who know how these things work...

Whoever you are, sorry old chap but most everything you post is utter tosh!

Yes but its not rocket science to suggest that the team we saw last Saturday is the one most likely. On a personal level, I'd start Boufal over Redmond who was woefully unfit at the weekend The enigma that is James! Everyone says he isn't any good as a DMF, he isn't any good as a AMF and he's not a No 10. Week after week, manager after manager he gets a start but apart from a few corner kicks what is he any good at? Perhaps he can walk on water?

What rumblings? You just made that up!

Great to see that Les has pulled out all the stops to get this one done quickly then.

He got a right old rollicking from Romeu yesterday for not tracking back and leaving a hole in midfield for Sevilla to exploit. On the other hand the way we were set up yesterday with no space between the back lines and sitting deep there was far too much of a gap up to the strikers. If wingers have to track back that far to help defend how the hell then are they supposed to change gear and get fast forward again to be effective in attack especially in the early stages of the season? I agree about Redmond's attitude, it's been apparent for ages at Norwich and when he arrived here. It used to drive me mad last season when even during warm-ups was always half-hearted about doing the routines properly and fully and generally larking about and treating the whole thing as a bit of a joke when surely as a professional the guy should be 100% focused and deadly serious. Austin is a bit the same way in that respect and its likely their childish attitudes have an impact on their pitch performances.

Yes he was to a certain extent but he takes quite a bit of flak quite unfairly especially in the stadium. There are factions in the crowd who never see any good in a player once they've got him in their sights. Poor old Maya is another and of course everyone's bête noir Forster. Let's face it these guys are not match fit yet either physically or mentally, it's a fast game and needs 100% concentration and that must be hard to get going after a long summer break. Even a stalwart like Ryan Bertrand made a few howlers yesterday and poor old James just couldn't get anything right apart from the odd corner.

Nothing in there that we do not know already. Wonderful how valuable hindsight can be!

Much improved and a few excellent individual performances Romeu of course, Stephens and the new lad Flannagan at right back looks a real find. Cedric bang on his game form the get-go and few sub-par although Redmond more or less made sure he wouldn't be starting next week! Once Boufal settled in as sub and git over his contretemps with Romeu he looked a real threat. Defensive organisation looked much better but they do sit quite deep so any mistake (and there were one or two) will give Forster little chance. I'd love to see Steve Davis playing the advanced AMF role (he's much better than JWP) and a new DMF to help Romeu and we could be in for a season. Yep, still only a friendly but looks good preparation for next week, on this showing we can get a result.

Not really because you are not looking at events on the same timeline. Had we been ablate look back at our reactions when the last ten players sold were first signed nobody had heard of any of them. WE turned them into saleable assets and there's every chance we might do so again with our latest lot. There is now unfortunately no way we can do a meaningful comparison between the value of the ten newest signings and those who have been sold when they were our newest signings (or academy products). So yes, it is easy to say "Oh my gosh!" but let's wait and look back in 5 years time.

One of the strangest matches I've seen at The Dell or ST Mary's over decades. Admittedly it was horrible day and what amazed me was how many actually turned top on the night. Even so there were many empty spaces and depending upon who you believe only about 60% of the sold tickets turned up. Having said that there was no atmosphere at all, the place was literarily like a morgue. The game duly matched the atmosphere, there was a laissez faire attitude amongst many of the players that at this stage of preparation was disturbing. Several were still on the beach and more than a few were carrying some extra beef. Surely they should be fit by now. Generally one couldn't help thinking that many of the players might have hoped the game would be called off because of the weather and without naming names it was pretty obvious a few of them didn't fancy playing at all - millions a year and they don't want to get wet? Therein lies the performance. There is no other word for it Saints were abysmal from beginning to end. There are no positives to be taken from this at all, a waste of time for fans who turned out and a waste of time as a tactical or intensity exercise. If this is where we are and Saturday may or may not confirm it, then it is not a question of us being in trouble this season more that we might be facing a fight for survival. Many on here say it was a wake-up call - to whom 'though? Any new signings will take weeks to come on-stream and be effective. These are the players that Pellegrino has to work with through the first two months of relatively kind fixtures. Last night there was little evidence of him being able to intervene and change things and the subs achieved little more than giving everyone a game - presumably on the basis that in the two matches being taken together they'll all get about 90 mins under their belts. Which then leaves a big question mark over settling the best eleven and working up their intensity and tactics before Swansea? There are no more games after this! On paper we have four very winnable games in August based on where everything left off in May. On the evidence of last night's performances both collectively and individually and probably in the minds of the majority who made the effort to go to SMS last night, what might have been regarded from the comfort of an armchair as a relatively straight forward task of collecting up to 12 points may suddenly have become an insurmountable mountain. The players are just not not ready for the fight and alarm bells must surely be ringing upstairs. What on earth has been going on in the club for the last four or five weeks apart from obsessing over van Dyke?

Provided that they can get £196 million quid for him then.... ?

Absolutely and the van Dyke situation has arisen entirely because of what has gone before last season and the season before. Let's face it everyone in football knows Les Reed and how to play him, he says one thing but "wink, wink, nudge, nudge we know old Les will bottle it and cave in". This is why as a fanbase we must stand united in our determination that van Dyke must not be sold in any circumstances at any price this year. As I've suggested before we fans must not "give permission" to Reed to sell the player by effectively growing tired of the saga and chorusing the "get rid at any price" line. At the moment 'poor' old Les is on hook but we fans MUST ABSOLUTELY NOT be his let-out clause. If we stand firm he'll have little option but to stand firm over this matter.

Er! No! Not heard mention of any other PL club showing any interest. If he was rated the bigger boys would be sniffing around by now. 'Fraid you 'pony' is a one trick Pony.

There has been no hint of Yoshi wanting to leave or being ushered out the door. Far from it he is one of our most loyal and committed players and will likely see out his career here before joining the coaching staff.

Cedric is one of our greatest assets, good player, highly intelligent and oozes loyalty. He is everything a role model should be and let's look forward to watching one of the finest right backs in world football. If your kids want a name on their shirts Cedric it must be. Well said that man, great interview and welcome home!

13th

Which seems to suggest that the long awaited Lander deal is already dead in the water.

Great tactic mate ainnit when you're too thick to have your own opinion to try to be a smart Rrse with other people's? Must make you feel proper superior.

In reality we were slightly less of a shambles than ASSE and the score line flattered us. Some of our passing and ball control was beyond woeful and at no stage did we look like taking control and putting our stamp on the match. Not many positives to be taken from this and a lot needs to improve in the Tuesday and Saturday kick-abouts to give us any confidence about the new season. In fairness 'though it is unreasonable to expect a novice manager new to the PL to have achieved a miracle overnight especially as he has not yet even met all of his players..