Charlie Wayman

Not so sure about this. The forum over on the other place is equally squalid and illiterate. Sadly many of the worst offenders on here inhabit the other place as well.

This. There is only one stat that matters.

It is no surprise your wife is pulling a face if you prioritise attending a trivial football match over your kid's education. Get a grip man this lad needs all the help he can get to survive in HIS future world.

Said, one assumes, with a very fat tongue in a very bulging cheek ;-)

At least Cuco Martina looked happy in training although Cuco if you're reading this.... lose the facial fungus! No hiding place now. This is your time, seize the hour.

Where's the money hidden, Kat?

Fonte's attitude is the very least of our worries. I doubt you will be thinking about this in two weeks when we get hammered by Arsenal and can't beat Swansea. Perspective Steve, perspective!

In what context? Happy that this squad can progress from where we finished last year or happy that it can just about keep us in the PL for one more season or just happy in a resigned sense that no further improvement will take place today? If we are resigned now to being "we are where we are so make the best of it" then you also have to question the motives of the owner and her future commitment to this club. It would not surprise me at all to see a "For Sale" board outside SMS next spring. (incoming Exocet)

I don't know if you've been watching lately but based on what we have seen so far this season many of us can name 19.

You get a lot of stick for saying these things out loud but many on here probably agree with you but prefer to stay silent and on the safe side of fan opinion. I have never doubted what you say here it IS the Southampton Way!

I can cope with any insult except that... please not that! Sacre Bleu! Hang on a minute, that's not allowed either... Sacre Rouge!

Takes the pressure off Puel for a day or two but papering over the cracks at best. Even if he is a wonderful player Boufal cannot alone transform this team.

You mean t's OK give the big money to people who don't give a monkey's toss about who they are playing for as long as it makes them rich? Something wrong with your thinking here my friend, surely you pay the big money to players who show that they care enough about their team to stay around for 7 or 8 years loyally as the club fights its way from near bankruptcy through all the lower divisions and eventually make it to the promised land of the premier league and European competition without ever thinking about leaving us in the lurch when every other mercenary bugg.er clears off at the drop of a skirt?

Ok I'll bite on this trivia, we heard it clearly in the Itchen not far from where Puel sits. Not only that but towards the end Puel was really angry and told Black and Watson to do one when they were trying to get JWP on. They looked bewildered at the time and clearly the pressure was getting to Puel. FACTS!

Totally agree. I was one o the few hundred who watched our U23's beat Man U on Monday and as far as I could tell, Hunter was not playing a diamond. This leaves me wondering just what The Southampton Way is any more? On a better note Ty Johnson the young winger we picked up from Watford is the real deal so don't be surprised if he gets a first team call before too long... a new Walcott? Could be.

Make sure Les you don't leave the sacking too late. Keep Rodrigues and send Austin out on loan. What tactical genius thinks it a great idea when we are 1-0 down to take off or two best and most creative players and leave our worst player out there? Big shout out for Jay, the one bright spot of a very disappointing and dispiriting day. Not that way, Jose!

Exactly my first thought when the news was announced.

You pillock, Cedric is a fantastic player who will be a stalwart of our team in future. After the Euro 16 no doubt he had lots of decent offers but he prefers to stay here as part of our family unlike may of the recent departees whom you seemed to have admired

Claude Puel was talking about Jerome Pied and suggested his injury might be quite serious, serious enough to consider bringing in another defensive player for cover. A loaned perhaps? This was by far Puel's best press conference so far, his English comprehension and delivery were very much better and he seemed more relaxed and showed a good sense of humour several times. The relentless questioning from the moron that everyone on here is complaining about didn't phase our man at all and I thought he covered all his bases with charm and good humour. His tactical reasoning was excellent and he was able to e plain matters to us very well. Ok. He still hasn't learned that a collective is a team but there you go. Signs are good that he maybe actually very good. Very impressed for once.

Unless it will be part of the Rodrigues deal, they borrow him we borrow Berahino? Why not?

All good stuff and well doe to our super sleuths. On a different note hope some of you were up at SMS last evening to see the kids? Stevens, Reed & Ollie were outstanding and more than ready for the bench, in fact Stevens looks a very good bet indeed should Fonte do a runner. Overall a mighty impressive performance especially in defence and Puel turned up to watch. The kid Johnson looks the real deal as well but Sims & Hesketh were ok but have some way to go before they can challenge for the bench. Does anybody know if fans can watch the U23's at Staplewood or are those games played behind closed doors?

Yes... but if we keep doing the same old things in the same old way inevitably we will come up with the same old results - compare the last two seasons to see the proof of that - so if we want to improve on what was achieved over the last two year's than we have to do something differently. It could be that Puel's new style is in theory a progression over the standard 4-3-3 mix used by Koeman but he has been put in the unenviable position of having to adapt the players he has at his disposal to his way of doing things and that will take time for some and be impossible for others. so we have to be patient and probably this season will disappoint many or indeed most as he rebuilds and remoulds our team. If Puel is hoping to build a Gunners Mark 2 down here few of us would want to condemn him for that although he should note how often Arsenal try and fail to walk the ball into the net and lose from dominant winning positions. In view of all of this and bearing in mind the realities of life in Small 14 club, there is a perfectly plausible and acceptable argument to fans that says let's settle for what we've got as long as it is sustainable in which case why upset the whole bloody apple cart by bringing in a manager with completely different ideas but who will not be given the tools to do the job he wants to do? The answer to that is probably that Reed has become a megalomaniac, losing sight of reality in his own conceit and belief of always getting things right. No doubt if this whole new venture fails it'll be Puel's fault and not his.

What we are seeing is interesting and begins to make sense of what Puel has been trying to explain. Under Koeman we were predominantly a counter-attacking team staying solid at the back, not being overly aggressive in midfield but waiting for openings, then moving forwards quickly using direct balls through the channels to our fast front runners which suited Long and Tadic and Austin. We conserved our energies by sitting back for long periods probing ready for the lightning attacks so gave the appearance of having bags of stamina right through to the end. Under Puel we seem to want to become a set-attacking side that keeps the ball and moves forward aggressively most of the time using fast wing-backs to get in behind and then working the ball into the box, in effect denying the ball to the opponent. This isn't working well at the moment as our players cannot keep up a high tempo attacking pace for most of the match, they have not been used to this, nor do we have tall target men in the centre to cross to so we have to compromise the wing-back runs and try to work the ball through to feet which is evidently bloody difficult in a packed defence. Hence yesterday we saw as the game progressed that we still had plenty of the ball but our pace slowed and our passing accuracy diminished through fatigue. It was unusual in that for large spells we seem to have forced the home side into the counter-attacking role normally used by away sides. It will be interesting to see how this pans out after a dozen matches when we should be much fitter and faster and more confident on the ball but if this analysis is anywhere near realistic we have to be bringing in a couple of taller strikes more suited to the role, as many have observed most of our attackers are relatively short. It's a shame Pellé left us he might have revelled in this new style but it does leave huge question marks over the roles of Austin, Rodrigues and even Shane Long who never seem to be able to get onto the ball, their roles having been usurped by the wing-backs. If Reed agreed to use Puel's system than surely he knows enough about football to have realised that we need different types of players up front to make it work? Otherwise we are as they say in a bug.gers muddle and only 11 days to sort it. As for yesterday, Fonte was miles off the pace was clearly at fault (with Targett) with the first goal and Clasie just wasn't expecting to come on as early as he was asked to do so his lack of touch early on was understandable. Davis seems more and more bewildered by what is expected of him in the new system but he'll adapt as he always does. No panic yet chaps, you may well see us stay the course better next weekend but still don't expect any more than a 1-0 win as it'll be another afternoon of 75%+ possession but inevitable banging our heads on a nine-man brick wall.

You are becoming more than a tad obsessed with this guy aren't you? Whether you like what he says or not he is entitled to state his point of views as indeed you are. My advice is to forget all about this personality stuff and concentrate on the football. Why should the mods see things your way rather than his?

I am not sure you are right about this, there aren't many smiling faces around the place anymore and in the video of Match Day Uncovered (v Watford) the prevailing mood in and around the dressing room seemed to one of abject misery and 'can't get away from this place quickly enough' body language from virtually all our players even the ones who are normally massively up-beat. It all starts at the top and if Puel cannot invigorate and lift his players it does not bode well.