mrfahaji

Not sure about 'definite' penalty, but can't help think if it was at the other end it would be given. I think the ref has been fairly lenient with some of our challenges so far. Oh what a jammy goal. FFS.

True, but Vestergaard shouldn't be playing against Man City anyway.

Was going to say that Hojbjerg has been our best player, and then he does THAT! Did well to hit it so early after the little touch to create space. Woo!

Romeu didn't track back because he was tired. Lemina (who was starting his first game in a while after being injured) didn't track back because he's lazy.

Boufal? Can he be recalled? Cue the "disgrace of a man" and "awful player" etc comments, but if we don't have much/any money to spend in January and we already have a player who fits that description on our books, would we be better off using him and spending the money in a different area (e.g. right back or centre back)?

I must say he didn't stand out as being as terrible as everyone is making out. But admittedly I did turn it off in rage when they scored their second, so I'm only going on the first hour... Perfect example would be when Valery (who was pretty hopeless) had the ball in the final third, had chance to play inside to Romeu, hesitated, lost the chance and eventually plays a 2-yard pass to Lemina. Lemina then tries to take someone on and loses it and West Ham break. No doubt everyone was criticising him for losing the ball but Valery gave it to him in a difficult position and he didn't have many options.

Have a feeling one time was against West Ham (away). Maybe West Ham amd Newcastle?

I really wouldn't say we were "hanging on". Second best perhaps but not exactly desperate.

Wonder whether West Ham have made a plan for Redmond after his recent good form and seemingly being the key to our attacking play. He hasn't done much today, and they've been straight into him most of the times he's got it. Neither he nor Ings are having much of a sniff. Targett and Valery worry me. I think Targett can be good, but lacks pace and is prone to errors. Valery just looks a bit weak all round. Lemina lost it at the end to allow West Ham to break but Valery should have given the ball to Romeu earlier and instead gives it to Lemina when he's got nowhere to go. Although West Ham have had more of the ball I don't think it has been one way traffic. It's been end to end a fair bit, the difference is we seem to lose it quicker than they do.

Yep, I think you can both be right in this case. Overall I think Romeu has been good but there have definitely been a couple of instances - including the Perez chance - where he has to work harder to get back into the box.

Maybe statistically but I’m sure a lot of people would have United as a “bogey” team on that basis.

Yep, although one of his criticisms was that he wasn’t angry enough following a defeat and just wanted to move on to the next game. Can imagine that’s a scenario where you can’t win as a manager - some players would surely argue its better to stay positive and not dwell on things which will deplete a squad already low on confidence even more.

Yeah I think unsighted was the bigger problem. I’m not sure he even realised Billing had shot, because he was still trying to look round Bednarek after the ball had left his boot.

He’s been good today but wasted a couple of opportunities

Been showing signs of tiring since third goal - lots of hopeful boots forward. Rather that than playing about with it and losing it like we used to do but there have been opportunities to be a bit more controlled.

Just after he had messed up one chance too, so pleased for him! I think Redmond was trying to pick out Lemina... that was defending we’re used to seeing though!

Co-commentator (Higginbotham?) said we were lucky to be 2 up. I thought we were much the better side. Not necessarily in possession, but we seemed to be first to every loose ball, including the one that immediately led to the penalty. Good signs!

Given that K Billy says Gabbi is likely going in January and he's not in the squad, perhaps we can infer the same about Hoedt and perhaps Elyounoussi. JWP might just not have made the cut - if you have Lemina on the bench why would you also have JWP? Cedric is interesting but could still be recovering from injury. Lemina's presence on the bench makes me think he is part of the plans but Hasenhuttl doesn't want to disrupt the side that beat Arsenal.

Because we (as in, the whole country, not specifically Saints fans) never hear the end of anything Liverpool do, even when they're not winning.

I'd say this will be down as a 'must win' game - for them. After Cardiff it looked like one for us too, but the Arsenal result means that the important thing is not to lose this one. That being said, if you're going to pick up 3 points away from home then this is certainly one of the better places to do it, so fingers crossed.

Ha, didn't realise that was the match today - ignorance is bliss in that regard - I think you speak for everyone!

I think I would prefer anyone to win the league over Liverpool. Spurs debatable. I detest City but they're such a hollow club that I feel a bit nonchalant about their success (though still hope they don't win the CL, ever).

Deleted comment because I realised that there's better things to do in life than get angry as a result of reading a forum post.

Anyone watched/watching this on Netflix? First impression may suggest not Saints related, but a number of things have stood out while watching it: - the new manager 'bounce'. When Coleman joins you can see everyone in the club getting a lift, after one win all the supporters hailing him as a revelation etc. - fans telling the owner he is ruining the club because he's decided not to invest any more of his own money, even though Sunderland had been reliant on his funds for the past god knows how many seasons - fans claiming players aren't trying or don't care when it's much more about confidence/belief - players reluctant to join, either on loan or permanently because of their league position - fans saying things like "this group of players should be doing much better, we have one of the best teams on paper" Sound familiar? Entering this new period with Hasenhuttl and without Les Reed I'm optimistic, but this series shows that it's rarely a case of things being glaringly wrong in any one area of the club, but rather subtle deficiencies either on the field or off it (opr both).

Fair enough. As someone who doesn't drink before or during games that's something that I can't relate to (I can imagine though). I'm sure there are plenty of situations where if someone genuinely lost their balance and tumbled into me I wouldn't be p1ssed off with them - in fact I think it HAS happened to me a few times in the past without any problem - but in the recent occasions it has happened it just so happens to have been the guys who have been behaving in such a way that they are clearly twits with a bit of a 'look at me' complex.