Leslie Charteris

OK, which one of you posted this on the BBC text feed? "Just a few years ago Saints were an exciting attacking football team. Not scared to have a go at any team home or away. Now it is a team full of players that are cowards and not fit to wear the shirt. Mark Hughes is only taking us down, probably ending back up in League One." Anonymous

From the Guardian match report: "Virgil van Dijk was on hand to cut out the danger" "The visitors paid a heavy price for their absence of that sort of authority at the heart of their defence." ...our defence is not very good "...Matip towered above Jannik Vestergaard to head his first Anfield goal" ...we have a tall CB who can't jump. "Southampton did not play particularly badly" ...we are a million miles from the top six.

In the Guardian this morning: "In games where Southampton have set up to attack, such as their win at Crystal Palace, they have looked encouraging, good even. But they simply do not seem to have the personnel or tactical nous to park the bus. Which brings us to Saints’ trip to Anfield this weekend. What will Hughes do? Try and go toe-to-toe with Salah and co, or defend deep and sleepwalk their way to a 3-0 defeat?" I'm anticipating a 3-0 defeat as we certainly lack defensive ability and tactical nous can't be nurtured in a week.

An interesting article about the situation... http://news.coral.co.uk/football/jannik-vestergaard-southampton.html

Boufal is injured I hear... Sparky hurt his feelings!

McCarthy

I always thought he was quite sparky, perhaps less so today, given the weather...

I know but the sentiment remains...

I know, but the sentiment remains...

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein

From the BBC text feed: "Southampton have put in no sort of response to going behind. Instead, they are having to repel wave after wave of Newcastle attacks. Rafael Benitez is a happy home manager. He gives a little nod, like an evil overload giving the OK for a hit." Oh for an evil overlord...

#metoo (is that the right hashtag? I'm not much good with this social media stuff)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/02/12/oriol-romeu-says-players-responsible-southamptons-struggles/ So there you have it - from the horse's mouth, the players are to blame!

From The Guardian: "There is a time and place for stability and Southampton right now is not it. Saints are the only club in the bottom half, apart from the promoted trio, who have not changed their manager since the start of the season and nor have they altered much else despite their chronic dreariness. Mauricio Pellegrino has persisted with pretty much the same blunt tactics and the club did little to improve his squad during the transfer window. In fairness, their only new signing, Guido Carrillo, might just give Southampton the forward fulcrum that they have lacked since the departure of Graziano Pellè in 2016. For too long Southampton’s attack has lacked variety and sharpness. If Pellegrino figures out how to address those failings at last and can also inspire more moxie from his team, then they may begin their climb towards safety by winning at West Brom on Saturday. But Alan Pardew’s side, for whom Daniel Sturridge could make his first start, look the more likely victors. They could push Southampton to the bottom and Pellegrino towards the exit. PD" A pretty fair assessment.

Sucks!

At the moment,we're not that good...

I think a lot of that makes sense, but... Pellegrino does seem to be their favourite lapdog

I would guess you are close to the truth here as there are absolutely no signs of a Man City type investment, in fact no signs of any investment at all. (Here's an interesting read about that: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/dec/15/manchester-city-football-group-ferran-soriano ) So mid-table meandering is a likely future for us under Gao.

He redefined "utility player".

Don't want to say I told you so, but...

Beware the Dark Forces...

Maybe but you underestimate the power of AI at your peril.

Really? If AI can be used to influence election results it would not be difficult to use AI to pick a team.

How about this for a scenario: Saints were ahead of the game with the "Black Box". Using advanced statistical analyses we unearthed some hidden gems who shone for us and were moved on for good money. This became the fabled "Southampton Way". As time passed, other teams caught up and there is now rather less raw material to discover. The Black Box was upgraded with some nifty AI to asses the opposition and determine team selection and tactics with limited input from the "manager". Control-freak Les's dream situation. Koeman comes in and puts up with this up to a point but argues about stuff and does his own thing on occasion. This would explain the team's up and down form under him and his falling out with the board and subsequent exit. Puel was appointed because he was more compliant but tweaked things enough to bring cup success and eighth place. He then asked for greater input and got sacked. The board now needed a credible patsy and appointed Pellegrino. He is told that he is responsible for fitness and training but for everything else he must obey the machine. So no backroom changes and the only thing he has any real control over is telling the linesman when we are making our substitutions. The trouble is many of the players may tick the right boxes statistically (e.g. Fraser Forster was until very recently the fourth best Premier League goalie by stats) but they are either not good enough or round pegs in square holes. So the powers that be now face a real challenge to avoid disaster. They must accept the The Black Box is nowhere near perfect and is only a tool to put at the disposal of the manager. Then they must appoint a real leader who thinks for himself can get the best out of a half-decent squad and score some goals. The question is who? I am not optimistic.

Any mileage in this? http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/luke-shaw-eyes-southampton-return-11457502