Bewildered

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/southampton-sale-approved-mbh56lw2x Announcement next week according to the bit of this Times article that can be read without a subscription

His poor finishing and inconsistency will always mean we won't get a huge offer for him. A club in our position is his level.

No happy ending for leicester if they hire avram grant

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/01/31/deadline-day-premier-league-transfer-news-rumours-live/ Jeremy Wilson reiterating that we are hopeful of making 3 signings todaay, also says Puel wants to keep Rodriguez.

http://gianlucadimarzio.com/it/calciomercato-napoli-southampton-non-ce-accordo-per-gabbiadini-le-ultime No agreement according to DiMarzio and no sign it has gotten any closer.

From the guy who was covering saints match for Solent today in Adam Blackmore's absence.

Yes, board needs to give him proper backing in the transfer market this month. If he has their full confidence, that is.

Heaton did everything right, Forster did nearly everything wrong. Never should have been beaten like that from a FK. We definitely need a quality striker though. Long and Rodriguez are not good enough in the areas that matter.

Seems like Peach (and I assume other club friendly journalists) know more about this potential takeover/investment/whatever than they have been letting on. Also seems more than coincidence that the Echo publishes a piece, albeit more speculative and seemingly intended to remind readers on the takeover the same day their chief football reporter gets an audience with Les Reed...

https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://www.spazionapoli.it/2017/01/02/sportitalia-gabbiadini-andra-via-allestero-wolfsburg-southampton-le-cifre/&prev=search Saints and Wolfsburg the two teams with the best chance of signing Gabbiadini according to reports in Italy.

Just typical of the season really, negative football under the guise of posession for posession's sake and short passes that go nowhere. Cross after cross with only one man to aim for because the wide player on the other side and the central midfielders never make runs into the box. You can blame the players if they try to do that and do it badly, but when they never do it even when we are chasing the game you have to look at he tactics. We could sign anyone to play up front, but the current team approach to attacking would mean their impact would be minimal.

Puel wants to play possession football with players who are not able to do it effectively, so we see turgid, slow play that makes it too easy for the other team. No surprise many of our better performances were against teams that we can't do that to and have to play on the counter.

Doesn't matter who is in the box if the majority of attempts at a final ball is either rubbish or delivered so late the opposition defence has reorganised and loaded the box. To answer the question at hand, either Rodriguez or Long.

Possession football with no pace in ball movement makes for an easy afternoon of defending.

A striker and a CB would be my choice if we make moves in January. Austin has done well, but his fitness makes starting all the games unlikely. Rodriguez has yet to show his old self, and Long's goal-scoring form has disappeared. We only need a CB for cover but that may change if, like McQueen has done at LB, Stephens or whoever is given a chance and proves himself.

A striker and a CB would be my choice if we make moves in January. Austin has done well, but his fitness makes starting all the games unlikely. Rodriguez has yet to show his old self, and Long's goal-scoring form has disappeared. We only need a CB for cover but that may change if, like McQueen has done at LB, Stephens or whoever is given a chance and proves himself.

Disappointing as we had enough chances we would have humiliated them with better finishing.

Improved when Tadic came on, but still uninspiring stuff. Long, JWP, Martina have been particularly dire

Bit worrying that we are being so wasteful when Palace the likes of Benteke to come on. Hesketh playing very well, as are Austin, Martina and Long (finishing notwithstanding)

The refereeing at the end was diabolical, but doesn't excuse the fact that Shane Long had at least two clear chances to give us the lead in the second half and he made a total mess of them. Finishing from the side needs to improve fast.

https://www.whoscored.com/Regions/252/Tournaments/2/Seasons/6335/Stages/13796/TeamStatistics/England-Premier-League-2016-2017 offensive stats, last season in brackets. 2nd for shots per game, (8th) 8th for shots on target (9th) tied 15th for dribbles (20th) 3rd for crosses per game (2nd) t-4th for through balls per game (t9th) 16th for long balls (13th) 4th for short passes (11th) General 3rd for possession (11th) 4th for pass completion (11th) 20th for aerials won (1st) Defensive 13th for succesful tackles (9th) 7th for interceptions (6th) tied 16th for fouls (7th) tied 5th for offsides won (2nd) 2nd fewest shots conceded per game (7th) Biggest discrepancy so far this season is how bad we are in the air, suggests we are lightweight which has been apparent during games so far.

There going to be any excitement/exasperation tomorrow? Or is it going to be a non event for us?

GK took the deciding penalty and missed.

Adam Blackmore said he was going up there, but only to provide updates rather than full commentary.

https://www.whoscored.com/Regions/108/Tournaments/5/Seasons/5970/Stages/12770/PlayerStatistics/Italy-Serie-A-2015-2016 11 assists in 33 games for a side that didn't score that many goals last season. Only Pjanic and Pogba got more with 12 a piece.