Saint Fen

Dean Smith for me. Always plays good football with unfancied clubs like Brentford and Walsall and has them punching above their weight. The problem is he is not a name people recongise.

Totally agree.

Right read the first paragraph and if I’m to be a critic it seems a bit Puel loving, my opinion is he should never been appointed and he should have been sacked however Pellegrino is definitely as bad a replacement we could have asked for. From the off we needed a positive attacking manager. Hughes is not it either. Get Adkins back

As much as we are down, is there any need for this thread? Actually why am I commenting? Wolves away is what I’m looking forward too

Poor atmosphere but poor negative play from the start. What is wrong with attacking teams? Since Koeman has left when have we attcked a team? Another shocking performance and an absolute waste of money.

Very true who we recruit in the key area such as Chairman, Director of Football and Cheif Scout is key. Since Ronald left the recruiting has been awful hence we are in a mess with a poor squad of players. No doubt Les Reed is to blame his decisions the last 2 years has been poor along with Ralph’s. Ralphs interview which was truely shocking and we have been sleep walking into relegation with everybody realising it apart from the people who make key decisions. Let’s hope Goa can find the right people to improve the club going forward but it looks like it is all far too late for our premiership status.

I don’t think Hughes is the right man to take us forward. Given us more of a chance of staying up than Pellegrino however we are doomed. The club need a major clear out from Reed, Kruger, Wilson etc but I doubt it will happen.

Hasn’t offered anything to make me think he can score goals or is worth £15m. Looks a poor expensive signing and hasn’t looked liked scoring in any game so far. No pace and hasn’t won much in the air. Don’t know what he offers the team.

Agree with all this apart from personality transplant (however I'm not saying he's not dull to listen to) which is harsh. Can't believe some people still back him. Sign defenders and problems are sorted. No it will be the same crap negative football. We have not scored many goals because we don't attack teams. This is not a knee jerk reaction he has had 35 ish games and has changed an entertaining high pressing side into a negative defensive side. He's got his ideas across and it has led to a season where the style of football is boring and predictable. Yes he has reached the league cup final but Europe was poor, FA Cup embarrassing and the fact he said he'll do it again. That has destroyed confidence and the league form is woeful. With the exception of the League Cup there is no achievements.

Spot on.

Yep sounds like Koeman. Puel is stuck in his ways, rumours of player discontent, rotation policy which has only worked in the league cup and poor boring negative football.

Let's hope he doesn't get too long. The football has been negative and yes although he has got us to a cup final the Europa League Campaign was poor, the FA Cup was poor and has seemed to have shattered confidence with his constant rotation especially the Arsenal game. I bet he has no idea what our best 11 is and we are 35 games + into the season. Long scores and is rotated and so is Rodriguez. The midfield is constantly changing and you need to form combinations. One thing making an appointment that is a mistake and the quickest way to recover is to rectify it.

Totally agree. The football has been ****e and he has to go now as results have gone down hill too.

Totally agree about not having a right to finish above West Brom or Stoke but I was trying to show how far we have dropped the last 9 months.

Fair point. I just don't find the style of play attractive to watch. Do you think West Brom, Burnley and Stoke should finish above us. Of course I don't expect to finish top 6 but top 10 is realistic. To get through the Europa league group is realistic and not be stuffed 5-0 in the FA Cup. Yes he has done well against Arsenal and Liverpool in the league cup. We have gone backwards of due to the players we lost and manager.

Spot on the rotation paid off against Swansea didn't it. Puel has really messed up generally, we are dropping down the league, out of Europe at the first hurdle and out of the FA Cup embarrassingly. He's only preformed in the league cup on the latter rounds against Arsenal and Liverpool because our new be hard to break down and get a goal to win 1-0 is suited against these. Puel has to go. We are going backwards although as mentioned elsewhere the recruitment hasn't helped but we are still under achieving in every area apart from the league cup.

Spot on. Reed has done a decent job until now. How could he keep Mane, Big Vic, Lallana, Morgan, Clyne, Chambers, Shaw, Lambert, Lovern, Toby, Koeman and Poch (I've probably missed some!). These people are not fans of the club and jump for bigger wages or because clubs like Arsenal, Liverpool and Man Utd are more likely to be challenging on a consistent basis for honours. Which one of these players or managers wanted to stay? People need to be realistic. We have replacement each one very well until the summer. Puel is the wrong choice. He only ticks the box on youth development. The football is ****e, we will drop down the league but won't go down. The club needs to take a long hard look at the recruitment the past year and realise it hasn't been good enough. We are being overtaken by the West Brom's etc. Reed needs to put the manager right asap and this summer is massive for him. He needs to stop talking publicly about ambition and statements which he can't keep to. For example not selling Fonte till we find a replacement. Also we need to stop relying on young players to come through who ain't good enough. Reed, Stephens etc need to be out on loan playing games. Look at Lallana, Lambert, Fonte, Morgan etc they have all played 100+ league games before making an impact in the premiership. I am worried for the future. The league cup will mask everyone's view of the manager.

Will be very expensive and not that great. We will pay £25m plus for an inconsistent goal scorer. Can't see it happening. He isn't an answer to our problems. The tactics are!

No excuses for me. Poor selection. We are not going to qualify for Europe on the league why not try and win both cups? Imagine what a legend Puel would be? Personally I think he isn't cut out for it. League Cup is fantastic but everything else has been unconvincing.

He does need to leave. I'm not too sure on Reed either. He at least needs to go away and get some game time on loan.

Not fused either way. Very good player for us but does leave a bitter taste leaving for West Ham. What's the point?

Meant to read not scored in 8 of 21 which is shocking!

My key issue is the style of play. Results haven't helped but it's just not entertaining to watch. I fear we will drop down the table but will be saved because there are 3 worse sides than us. We have gone backwards partly due to selling our best players and not replacing them but also due to a change in style which is negative and defensive and doesn't commit too many players forward. Our midfielders don't contribute goals and our strikers aren't scoring. We have scored in 8 of 21 league games which is shocking. Sunderland, Hull and Swansea who are all really poor have scored more goals than us. I have seen stats about shots on goal but most of ours are from distance and poor efforts. How many times has the other keeper been man of the match (probably Burnley twice). Puel has to go. I see people saying give him the start of next season. How many supporters find us an entertaining team to watch? Where do people think we will finish?

Agree but we don't get forward to support. How isolated would Pelle look in this team. Rodriguez chases everything down but has no chance as he is usually surrounded by defenders. Look at the Tottenham game after 20 minutes. We have a goal scorer who is injury prone but was always isolated when playing and drifting too deep and wide.

For me Puel has to go. We are poor this season, thankfully there are plenty of others which are quite poor which should save us. We have gone backwards this season, partly because we sold key attacking players and not replaced them sufficiently (admittedly Mane is a one off). Plus we have a manager with really poor defensive tactics. We have moved away from what has worked high pressing attacking football into a new defensive tactic which doesn't commit too many players forward. Our midfielders do not get forward at all, the scoring record in the league this season of Davis, Ward-Prowse, Claise and Hjoberg is zero (I think). Only Middlesborough have scored fewer goals. We haven't scored in a 3rd of our league games. The difference in the Liverpool game was we committed players forward which we will not do in the 2nd leg and I can see it being the same as Hapoel Be'er Sheva game. I believe we will finish in the bottom 5 if we continue with the same manager and tactics. Something has to change. Manager or Tactics and I believe the tactics won't change unless the manager does. As I fan I want to be proud and entertained by a good footballing side which I can probably count on one hand how many times I have seen that this season. Who would replace Puel? Stam at Reading (think he spent some time with us under Koeman) or Klopps former Assistant at Huddersfield. Just want someone to continue what we had been building with the high pressing attacking football and not destroying it as Puel is.