Lallana's Left Peg

I have no issue with JWP on the right. He's been our best player for over a month and he has the delivery that a striker with the right instincts will feast on. The issue is that the supporting midfielder from the middle three needs to add an extra body in the box for the crosses so the striker isn't marked by three people when the ball comes in. If its one of our attacking midfielders (Boufal) then we need two very mobile players behind him to cover the ground - any two from Lemina, Romeu or Hojbjerg. Davis is well out of form and needs to be dropped so the above is doable if we want to go for it a bit.

If the club are signing a replacement it is a sign they are willing to do business. Unfortunately these things always seem to drag on unless the buyer appears to overpay or the seller desperately needs the money.

Latest club fed Telegraph article acknowledges that Walcott had issues with our precarious league position: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/01/17/southampton-look-conclude-quick-deal-monacos-argentinian-striker/

It was Jordi Amat last year

I doubt any of us know the full story. Here is a list of things I don't think helped though (some of it is speculated on my part): Uncertainty around the takeover An awful record of briefing the press about things we then fail to deliver Appointment of a Manager that simply has not worked out Focus on many things outside the club leaving things inside the club to lose focus and attention Below average recruitment All have contributed towards the state of our club and our on pitch performances. You can probably place blame across many individuals. These things happen, some are more avoidable than others, but what concerns me most is the general lack of action to resolve any of it.

His briefed article on Friday stating that because hes had success before he can't be the reason we aren't doing well now is utter arrogance. Mistakes have been made. I think we'd all accept mistakes can be made and no-one gets everything right. But to refuse to accept you have made a mistake and see the world burn around you is first class idiocy.

Obviously the equaliser should not have stood. But the second half performance was an absolute disgrace, and the lack of reaction from the Manager is every reason why he should go. If you cannot deal when a team changes its tactics then you are in a world of trouble. Watford did nothing special but commit men forward and lump it up to them. When we were crying out for some pace on the break we sat back and saw our team crumble under the pressure and make no mistake, we were lucky not to lose that game. Then to react to the goal but making the double sub with 2 minutes left - absolutely baffling. Mental.

I would imagine, despite Watford not being in the greatest of form, the fact their manager instills confidence in his team and encourages them to express themselves and take risks will mean they will overcome a team scared to death of the football at the moment and one which will not attack with any confidence. However, it'll be the final nail in the coffin for our Manager, albetit far too late as we head for relegation. Looking at the remaining fixture list is absolutely terrifying.

That doesn't matter at all, because the remainder of the money is guaranteed (well, aside from the £5m of add-ons) so we can happily structure deals in the same way and spend more than £17m this window ourselves.

Remember when Les promised us Fonte would be replaced then on transfer deadline day we made a loan move for Jordi Amat

For a 17 year old I think he is brilliant. Plays like a senior pro and made some runs off the ball on Saturday that if he had been found would have put in him great positions. I remember seeing one outside-in run that left Bedernak looking like a lost schoolboy.

Doesn't make sense that we haven't managed to get at least one in yet - if the decision to sell VVD was made around the time of the Huddersfield game and the deal with Liverpool was sorted a few days after, what have the recruitment team been doing in the meantime? Surely one of the reasons to sell VVD was to enable us to make moves ourselves? Or was he sold independent of us having an idea that we could get anyone in?

The interviewer(s) clearly pushed him to give specific answers and he was clearly in no business to give any. If they think the biggest reason the first half of the season has been awful is the 'mood' in the club then that is down to them for keeping VVD then they are mental. And even if they do think that, then they need to be accountable for it and say they got it wrong.

Brilliant player, won't alone solve Liverpool's issues but will go some way to making them better. Obviously there are question marks over his character. Don't imagine it would cross his mind at all but contrast the way he has behaved and the way his new team mate Coutinho has and it speaks volumes.

Don't really know loads about FFP however I do know that £75m in and £80-100k a week off the wage bill doesn't mean we can sign £75m worth of players unless £20m fancy playing for peanuts these days. I'd genuinely settle for a couple of astute £20m signings that make a tangible difference to our team.

A bit torn on this one. On one hand: 1. This is an incredible fee for a club of our size. 2. This is a great opportunity for the club to sort itself out after some less than impressive decisions the last 18 months. Considering our predicament, its lucky as well. Don't mess it up Saints. 3. He wasn't playing like a £75m player at all, though I'd argue him sulking and playing still means hes a better players than his central defensive colleagues this season. On the other hand: 1. We said we wouldn't sell to Liverpool and we are. 2. It's an example of the board standing strong and the player winning. You can't always control how a player reacts of course, but Saints don't look too clever. 3. It's another numbing example of how Saints will never amount to anything big - we had chances to break through and players still wanted to leave. That is perhaps one of the biggest disappointments - we all know the reality of course, but secretly we all hope Saints can push on. A few opportunities the last 4 years have gone because the game simply doesn't allow a club to challenge the established hierarchy.

Free header for the best striker in the league 5 yards out. Players don't like they care, I'm not far off it.

Playing like strangers. Either the players have been coached badly or the players have given up. Either way, grounds for change.

I think we'll play so defensive that we will only lose narrowly, but a loss is the only possible result that will occur. The squad and Manager used to have some ******** and we'd go away to the bigger teams and set-up defensively but show a bit more ambition when we had the ball. These days its not even a free hit against the big teams, its trying to keep the score down and its pathetic.

I don't really know what I'd consider par for this squad or Manager but together they seem like an absolute disaster. A bunch of disinterested players coupled with a Manager who has no ability to impress a tactical blueprint or playing style. The end result is performances like this. It's not like its really bad because we don't compete, its just that it is really really bad because we compete and still churn out muck like this because the players seem confused and seem to just give up and do their own thing. Pathetic from the players and poor from the manager.

This article from the BBC claims Man City have opened talks with us over VVD: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42439000

Lunchtime drinking

There are definitely three teams worse than us in this division, maybe four. The big issues for me are: 1. We have already played many of our 'easier games' (home games against bottom half teams) 2. We don't really look like winning away from home - our counter attack game is crap which means against the better teams we're playing for a 0-0 and against the 'lesser' teams we play like we do at home (which is going so well...). 3. I don't mind rotation but we don't have many players who can step in and play the same role, so with rotation comes a different dynamic and the players have no continuity and it stifles us. We'll be ok but I think this season is a big reality check for many at the club - players and staff alike. I don't know enough about our owner to know how he will behave, but I imagine he is wondering what his £220m is actually doing for him right now. Even if I knew nothing about my investment, if it was my money I'd start to get involved. And that could be dangerous for the club - however they only have themselves to blame.

There is nothing fancy to Leicester - they play quick and they play direct (moving forward, not pumping the ball in the air) and its scary how exposed we look when a team wants to move the ball quickly. We're set-up to block teams out who want to keep possession but Leicester take risks and they are cutting through us with incredible ease. But when we get the ball we want to take three touches when one will do and that just slows things down. This is a lesson in how to play football when away from home. Hope we learn it.

Usually when I see a team and wonder what on earth is going on I'm proved wrong - and I hope I am today, but that team is just really very peculiar. Are we really still in a place where we need to play players out of position