mulletsaint

What we need is one of the proper ITK's to post a made up rumour and see if he bites.

This banner could end up covering the whole of the away support.

Yeah, like we did last year when we then spent the season fighting against relegation. Then there was the shining light of Norwich who bought a load of quality early.

If this truly is the case maybe they're looking at Clyne being able to move across to cover should he get injured. Could be hard to keep both him and Chambers happy otherwise.

I'm not so sure. The club seem intent on ensuring that all of the academy players are coached to play the same system(s) and style of football. This makes sense as it should ensure that transition to the first team should be more seamless. Now whether that playing philosophy will change a bit now Koeman's here I don't know, I'd imagine we'll have less emphasis on the high press, which is one reason I think Tuchel may have been a better fit. However in his first interview Koeman mentioned playing possession football and that requires players of a certain level of intelligence and technical ability, I don't think Fellaini is a good fit for this.

I'm not one to judge on a single game, but I really don't see how he would fit into the 'Southampton Way'. Seems to be best playing off the front man but it's all about bullying and strength, I don't see an awful lot of creativity or hard work. Anyway as others have said, this is probably a red herring due to wages.

I hope to god we don't waste any money on Fellaini.

Deleted. Sorry, my browser hadn't refreshed so I missed everyone else filling you in.

Lol, you really are a comedy genius.

This. Lord knows why Lallana was taken off, we pretty much stopped creating afterwards. And why Ricky didn't get at least 20 minutes in this game I'll never know, especially as Sturridge was having a bit of a stinker. I note the Ian Wright and Hoddle couldn't believe Lallana being subbed either. TBH if I was Adam I'd be hoping Hoddle got another bite of the England cherry, he'd be a shoe in to start.

TBH I thought Welbeck has done well enough for England in the qualifiers and friendlies to deserve to start the first match. On the whole he had a good match against Italy and as a result deserved to start the Uruguay match, it's not rocket science. I'd have loved Lallana to start both matches but unfortunately once Roy had made up his mind to start Sterling, it was always going to be Adam that lost out and TBH Sterling's performance against Italy justified that decision. England and Hodgson made mistakes but starting Welbeck in both matches wasn't one of them in my opinion. My biggest issues were feeling the need to play Rooney no matter how it impacted one the rest of the team, and an almost complete lack of pressing or urgency without the ball.

One thing I can't understand taking so long is Alps blaming his kid for making him look an idiot. Nice attempt mate, unfortunately you've been making yourself look a tit for so long we ain't buyin' it. Annoyed at the fact we seem to have ballsed up what worked in the last match by trying to keep Rooney happy. I'm not a Rooney hater, he puts in so much hard work it's hard to criticise too much, but I just can't help feeling that with him on the pitch some of our other players just don't perform. Two matches running he's tried to take the ball off Barkley while he's on a run. Luckily this week Barkley decided to brush him aside. Thought Henderson had a decent game but Gerrard was poor. Baines didn't justify selection tonight even with the extra protection. TBH much as I think Roy's a decent person, we need a more progressive coach in charge of the national team. I'd start the next match with the following team: Hart Johnson Cahill Jagielka Shaw Henderson Wilshere Lallana Barkley Sterling Sturridge

Could a mod merge this and my thread pls?

Did you actually read my original post? Thought not. I just thought it would be interesting to think how he might utilise our existing players if he wanted to go with a 5-3-2.

I thought at times last season if we'd gone with those three in the middle it would free up Morgan to be more attack minded. Admittedly that would have been in a 4-3-3. Personally I hope we don't change to 5-3-2 but just wondering how we'd line up in that formation.

Evening all I know the season's a long way off and we don't know what the squad will look like come the start, but I thought it might be interesting to think how we might line up for that first match at Anfield. From what others have linked, it would appear that Koeman will look at what the squad's like and choose a formation that suits the players. For that reason I'd say there's a good chance we'll still be playing 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3. But what if he decides to go with 5-3-2? I wonder in this case who the third CB would be, maybe a younger player like Chambers? Would Lallana play as one of the front two or as part of the midfield three? Here's my stab based on the players we have at the mo. Boruc Shaw Lovren Fonte Chambers Clyne Wanyama Cork Schneiderlin Lallana Rodriguez (when fit)

I'm gutted because I won't be able to blag Boxing Day as a footy day. Second season running I'll miss my nearest fixture, as last year it was on the missus' birthday.

Looks like a tough December and January. City away last fixture of the season.

I can see where The9 is coming from, I do think some people are getting carried away with the name, but on the whole he's been successful in his previous jobs and at the end of the day we're Saints not Man U, so it's unlikely we'd have been getting someone like Guardiola.

How much are they paying you? Maybe the players will purely still want to leave to get immediate Champions League football or even just a pay rise. Things don't have to be so black or white. You're like a bleedin' politician. Can't stand them either! I'll admit to being bloody worried when Cortese left and while this appointment goes a long way to easing my fears, the main thing is says to me about the new board is that they're intelligent enough to let Les Reed make the big footballing decisions, and for that I congratulate them and are grateful. I'm sure that if they continue to make such good decisions moving forward, we'll take far more steps forward than we'll take back. That doesn't mean they (or Les) won't make mistakes in the future, after all Cortese made a few, but it definitely gives me more trust in what they're trying to do.

Sure is. Definitely goes a long way towards putting my mind at rest. Hopefully it works out well for him and us. No mention of his brother though?

Good opportunity to get Chemical Brothers blasting over the P.A. as the players come out of the tunnel.

I suspect Wilshere, Milner and Barkley will get on before Lallana or Lambert.

I think he actually says 'played in the Champion's League'. At least when I watched it yesterday I thought that it was as likely Reed meant a manager that had played Champion's league football as one that had managed in it.

Go on show some compassion. He's obviously narked that his only chance of getting to a Saints game this season has gone out of the window.