SaltashSaint

After the last two abysmal appointments, what is wrong with giving a 'lesser known' manager a chance? Maybe Dean Smith at Brentford, Lee Johnson at Bristol City, Slaviša Jokanović at Fulham? I would even take Giggs right now as at least we know he is likely to play an expansive / attacking style of football. He may even help with attracting some better quality players? I am fed up with the same names always being bandied about. If it would help, how about appointing Adkins as Director of Football (or something similar) to help the new guy settle in? IMO, there is no way that Rodgers, Tuchel, Ancelotti, etc. would want to come to Saints. Ancelotti has already stated that he will only move to one of the 'top six' clubs.

No thanks.

My point is, the whole team has been ****e for months now - not just FF. It seems as though all the confidence has been zapped from all the players. We have played slow and uninspiring football for months now. The team changes week to week and it is clear to anyone that the manager has little clue as to what is his best team and style of play. Changing the centre backs doesn't help, especially when Yoshida has been one shining light this season in an otherwise pile of ****e.

It wasn't an easy save. Should he have done better? Probably yes. But if the cross had been prevented in the first place (which it should have been), we wouldn't be having this discussion. The whole team has been ****e today - as per the majority of the season. It just seems FF is the easy scapegoat every week. We create bugger all and we rarely look like scoring. Maybe if the midfielders and forwards did their job, then the pressure on FF might not be so huge.

In that case, did Oriel fail spectacularly to clear the ball (passing it to a Brighton player) and did Cedric fail spectacularly to challenge for the ball?

Quite clearly, there's a point. I am trying to highlight the fact that every player on the pitch contributes to us winning, drawing or losing.

That is the usual dross served up on here every time we concede a goal and shows a total lack of understanding of the game. Oriel should have cleared the ball firstly, the cross should have been prevented secondly, the marking was ****e thirdly. Should Forster's positioning have been better? Definitely. Did he fail spectacularly? Not at all. Maybe if we could pass quicker, create some decent chances and score a few more goals, we wouldn't be focusing on the keeper all the time. But I suppose that is Forster's fault as well?!

I love the way when we concede, it is all Forster's fault. It had nothing to do with Oriel's ****e clearance and us leaving Cedric to mark Murray did it?! FFS!

Boufal has always made an impression coming off the bench. It is his ability to do it over the duration of a game which is questionable. I'd like to see him given a free role in the number 10 position so there is no pressure on him to defend and he can do 'his thing' in the most dangerous areas.

Great work by Long to win that penalty. His dive was perfectly timed.

Nowhere near generous enough. We don't like scoring again, yet alone twice. EDIT Gabbi scores pen - get on it!

The first goal was VVD's fault for a ****e pass to a Newcastle player and a failure to close down the shot. The second goal was Romeu's fault for not tracking back. FF should have probably done better, but the keeper can't be blamed for every goal he concedes! Maybe if we had a few shots at goal, then we may test the opposition's keeper.

Wonderful pass from Redmond, great finish.

With that formation and the personnel in centre midfield, we are not going to have many shots at goal. Playing two upfront, which is a mistake in my opinion, means you need both Tadic and Redmond to stay out wide and whip the crosses in for the front two. We haven't done that unfortunately, and we haven't tested their keeper once. We need a genuine attacking midfielder who isn't afraid to shoot.

The ridiculous thing is that we have two up front, yet we just aren't putting the ball in the box. Gabbi has done absolutely nothing all game.

I just wish we would try something different in a bid to get the best out of the players. I would go with a team of: Forster Stephens VVD Hoedt Cedric Bertrand Romeu Lemina Tadic Long Gabbiadini This would give VVD the freedom to play with the ball out of defence (as he did at Celtic), hopefully make the most of our full-backs, allow Tadic to have the maximum impact, and give us both pace and flair up front. Long can work his way back when needed and we will hopefully see Lemina in a more attacking role too. Of course, it may not work, but can we at least try something new - please!

Soares you ****!

I am not a fan of Boufal, but he has made a huge impression since coming on.

Too many passes all over the pitch. We look pretty to watch, but we just aren't clinical. Long has made five decent runs now and we haven't even tried to find him.

Where the hell was the marking?!

FFS!

Great save by FF. Cue the ridiculous "he should have held it" comments!

Decent enough performance, but we can't shoot for toffee. Missed some decent chances and if you don't score, you ain't going to get much from any game, let alone against Man Ure. Bringing on Virgil with 10 minutes to go would have made it interesting too, what with his aerial presence in an attacking sense. Encouraging signs though.

I am not talking about speed over a set distance. I mean quicker in terms of when running with the ball, in an advanced position. Tadic and JWP are normally nowhere near the penalty box, and Long is hopefully already in the area. My point is our midfield are slow to join in with the attacks and we certainly don't have a number 10 who is busting his gut to make it into the penalty box.

He doesn't normally run at people because there's no-one in the middle to aim at. The trouble is that Redmond is way quicker than any of his team-mates and the striker (Long / Gabbi) has minimal support and is the only person to aim at.