Hodgey

I'm utterly amazed at the confidence on here. There is one extremely lucky win Vs Hammers between us and the relegation zone - which btw was an additional home game the other teams haven't had. Yes our squad shouldn't be in a relegation battle - but they are. Even if they beat Udders (which I think they will just about do) they will lose the next 2 and it's hard to see where the next win comes from with this manager. I hope I'm a Bedwetter and you lot are right but I'd be amazed if we keep MoPe And are not battling relegation.

Apologies if posted elsewhere but Zanka is buying every Udders fan who goes to saints a free beer. It's going to cost him £8k but he is buying legend status for that. This is the togetherness we will be facing on Sat and frankly I could never see any of our players replicating such a gesture. Still hope they lose but Udders are a team to be admired..

He was poor - but no worse than Romeu and Lemina. All 3 looked like they were playing in custard filled wellies. Mind you that is still no excuse for the dreadful defending by our two cbs..

I find it astonishing that people can't spot a goalscorer - this is the kind of nonsense that FIFA and Sky have drummed into people - if you are not quick you can't cut it in the Prem. Utter garbage - football is about reading the game and speed over 5 or 10 yards. biggest change for me has been Bertrand suddenly attacking down the wing - he now knows that if he puts a decent ball in We may score, whereas before you could see his attitude was why bother busting a gut and getting out of position for a cross straight to a centre backs head !!!

We really need a win here. This can be the turning point for MoPe - show us something, even if we draw yet the players give everything and there is some idea of where we are trying to get to - I'll happily give him more time. However any more fair served up so far will be the end if him. Sadly I think no matter what he tries to do now it will be down to player power - if they want him out there will be more half arsed fair. I'd like to see him be bold and drop anyone who isn't 'on the bus' - let's face it we have a bloated squad with few stars so if he's going out he needs to do it his way and make a point.

Didn't see the 1st half but the second was sadly all too familiar - no pace or power in that team. Hojberg and JWP couldn't impose themselves at all, our £12m cb pairing were slow and our keeper looked average at best. Of the kids Tella looked the best but nowhere near 1st team, Hesketh flitted in and out of the game. Their no 10 was the best player on the pitch by far - caused all sorts of problems. On the plus side - we've definately got the teams playing the same style through the levels....

Actually being live on TV is our one saving grace - Brighton/Newcastle = draws, Palace/WBA = Wins.

He has to go as we are rapidly approaching half way and not a single think suggests improvement, yet there are a lot of signs of steadily getting worse. Bus squad is the 8th most expensive in the league - and there is definitely talent there. Nobody believes we can score anymore - fans and players. I don't believe a single player on the pitch today thought we would get anything out of the game when we went 1-0 down, I don't even think Liverpool played that well - they definitely had another gear. And not testing a poor defence and gk is unforgivable. Problem is who do we get in ?, and if we do find someone decent will they be forced to play this style and formation ? Will they have to work with Black and Watson ?. I think some on this board are in denial on a relegation battle - WBA will get rid of Puel and like us actually have some very good players (and willing to spend cash), Palace are improving and have Benteke to return, Everton will turn it around with that squad once they find a semi competent manager. The 3 who have come up look solid enough and all have good managers. So that leaves Swansea who look as poor as us and West Ham who will buy their way out of trouble as they got a free stadium. Worrying times

We need Allardyce in. He's the only one I can see who we know will turn this round and will do things his own way so we can be clear the fault isn't Reed or Black etc. Yes the football isn't great - but come on, it's better than the tripe served up these past 2 seasons - and it produces results. And now please - 2 weeks head start due to international break. Shame really - if they had pulled their finger out and got the Watford manager (or appt him instead of Puel originally) we wouldn't be in this position. Of course the issue will be that Reed will want a yes man...

Coaching is clearly a big part of it. Our biggest success for me was under George Prost who not only coached through some of the biggest talent but set processes in place that lasted for years. I don't know much about our current coaches but like above I'd be amazed if Jaidi is the standard we would ideally want. Interestingly enough another coach - Anthony Limbrick - who was arguably involved in youth development through our most succesfull period (Adkins - Koeman) and was also assistant manager for Engand U17s, is currently doing pretty well at my local club Woking (and their squad has got a lot younger as a result). We seem to be producing identikit small, technically decent players with little in the way of power/pace/mileage which also suggests recruitment criteria is too narrow / wrong.

We went and spent £15m on Gabbiadini because we had established that Long wasn't anywhere near good enough in the same formation we are playing now. Reed, Black and Watson all knew this. Yet here we are again having the same debate. I really worry about MoPe - yes Puel got us into this rut with his negative slow possession game but here we are 8 games in and MoPe has tried nothing new - either personnel or formation up top. Sadly can't see it changing unless he changes formation - which from his interviews he doesn't seem ready to do. We've actually been here before with Koeman but he was good enough to get us out of it by changing formation to stop the rot. Sadly at the moment our fwd is one of the worst in the division, and our attacking support isn't far behind.

Don't think it's the strikers - team clearly being coached to be ultra defensive - we do not commit enough players forewards so never seem to get that 'lucky bounce' but it's simply that we are heavily outnumbered.Can't see us scoring very often but we will get enough 1-0 and 0-0 to be mid table.

Great performance so far - shame Redmond and Tadic haven't been able to do much from a lot of decent positions. Also well done to Davis, yes he has faded a bit but he led from the front and set the pace first 15. Highlights as mentioned Lemina who has been immense and Hoets amazing cross field passing.

Well one things for sure - this seems to have put everyone in a bad mood ! Sounded shocking - I still think we are much better than we are playing but do worry we have a bit of a mental issue now attacking at home. We'll see if it's carried over to our away form on Sat. Think we will win that though - pressure will be on Udders and we may see that a lot of this is mental strength (I don't think any of our attacking players have any mental strength - aside from Austin which must be very concerning for Mo Pe - but let's see if he can turn that around.

Hmm - Lancs making the wicket look a little less difficult. You clearly can make runs on this pitch - we're going to have to learn how quickly if we want to swerve a defeat.

That needs to be a blip - players looked unfit and not bothered. Didn't look like scoring and defensively weak, plus lightweight all over the park. If that is our standard even buying messi won't help. Let's see what they do vs Seville but can't see how anyone saw any positives in any of that.

Interesting that people don't think VVD is worth £75m. The question is what is he worth to us as well as others - in its simplest form - for me keeping VVD means we have a remote chance of relegation. Losing him and failing to replace with a quality cb increases that chance hugely. How much is a Season in the prem worth ? 75m ?. Then think of the reality that a chunk of that 75m would go to Celtic / signing on fees / agents fees and it doesn't seem like such a great deal....we need to keep him and find a replacement over the next year (but actually find someone - not like we did with Wanyana). This also makes the decision to replace Fonte with a rookie from a weak league seem even more of a gamble.....they must have had an inkling this may happen. It's done now - but time to learn from mistakes (anyone remember the Svensson relegation year - if we had replaced him with quality rather than the likes of Davenport we would have stayed up).

For the sake of the final dignity of football he needs to put a transfer request in. Surely he'll be rich enough to forgo the 'loyalty' bonus. Just makes him look shady - I want to leave so won't play but equally want my loyalty bonus, huge new contract, and signing on fee. All that said nothing surprises me in football anymore.

Maybe, but also consider our record with players with soft tissue injuries - jrod was out for over a year, Forster for half a year, McCarthy for a whole season, Taggert best part of a season, Boufal constant niggles. I think the one thing you can say about these injuries is that nothing is certain and rarely quick. VVD has been out what 4-5 months ? - sounds unlikely but surely we can't rule out that he and the club are telling the truth over his match ready condition ?

Fair play to this classy response. Not the right fit for us but I fear that any genuinely quality manager will reject us due to our lack of managerial power. Guess we need someone who just wants to coach...

Lots of people doing false sums here - don't forget the bonus we need to pay VVD as he hasn't put a request in. Also the small matter of the sell on clause (25pc ?) due to Celtic. Then the signing on fee for the 'next VVD' plus agent fee - and suddenly that 50m is a lot smaller.... we should hold out for £70m - no reason why we shouldn't get it given the cash the interested parties have. If fit Sakho seems an obvious choice - then you can also gamble on Semodo and get rid of Gardos.

It's a fair point from Micky and he's probably right - in today's instant gratification FIFA playing world there are inevitably some who will not accept us not constantly winning. But I'd say they are the minority, I think it's entirely because we don't really believe we will win anything (and 40 years of not wining anything backs that up) that people want to be entertained - see us genuinely try and score goals etc. There is actually no reason for example we couldn't be like this years Ajax (they probably won't win anything either - but the fans love the way they play) - let's face it most of that side (and manager) we could have signed. If you are going to be deadly dull you have to at least win games. Also people want hope and vision - even if it turns out to be a false dawn - football is about escapism and entertainment - paying £45 to trudge down to St Marys thinking you are going to be served up tripe (and then constantly getting it) can't be the way forwards. I'm very frustrated with Puel - in some ways I can see what he is trying to do and the football is fantastic up until the final 3rd (he's not a Pulis / Fat Sam), but he just seems so stuck in his ways I really can't see us progressing to get there. Also don't get people who point out that Puel isn't to blame when his players miss - of course he is unless training, mental ability, talent etc are sitting outside his remit (and if so he should state that to get fans off his back). Equally if we thump someone 6-0 he would be to blame for that as well. Finally the most worrying thing for me is Gabbiaddini - a player full of confidence and skill when he came - but his regression and body language over the last month has the alarm bells going (that pen would have been buried when he first arrived).

Pretty worried about some of the stuff I'm reading here. There is no doubt that Adkins, Poch and Kidman all did great jobs - I cannot believe anyone can have a pop at Adkins who in 3 seasons took us from league 1 to safety in the Prem - irrelevant of resources available (yes we spend silly money in lg1 - but to go straight through the champ was incredible - look at the players Rednapp or Burley had and the pigs ear they made of it). Maybe Puel is a victim of comparison to others who have overachieved. But let's not run down the clear success of others. That said in all that time we won nothing of note - I'm sick of our fans pretending we are successful - the trophy cabinet is bare and that is unacceptable. I've supported saints for 35 years and we've won a JPT and a Kassam Cup (on pens) which is utterly pathetic. We can laugh at P*mpey but they have won leagues 2, champs and FA cup in that time. I'm probably getting old and miserable but I would very much like us to win something of note before I die - which also current run rate is unlikely !

It is worrying - so far buying him seems to have p$ssed off Tadic - and what is absolutely clear is you cannot play both of them at the same time. Can't write him off yet as he has never had a run of games where he starts. That said I'm not impressed with his arrogant play when he comes on - reckons himself with very little end product. Hopefully he can become a better player than Tadic and he his successor, worst case is he forced Tadic out and carries on with this show pony nonsence. At the moment he is an expensive flop - which you could argue about Mane in season one. But Mane worked hard and wasn't injury prone (and cost £5m less). I'm hoping if the coaches do spot an incompatability we cut our losses early like Juanmi and don't adamantly think we can succeed like Ramirez, Osvaldo and Mayuka. Good businesses fail quick and cheap !

I don't think he will go to Everton either - but you really can't rule it out. He's guaranteed a 1st team place there, they are a step up from us (no I don't want to accept that either) and they will pay silly money and wages. I actually think he will go to Chelsea as he seems settled in the area and he wouldn't even have to move - worry for me is Chelsea are much smarter on negotiating than Everton so we wouldn't win from that....