StMarv

I agree up to a point. IMO he is harshly criticized because he has never lived up to the potential that he showed when he was young. We should just except that he's not going to be 'world class' and except him for what he is. Half the teams in the PL would happily take him, maybe not the big boys, but so what? That doesn't make him cr@p. That doesn't mean he's championship level ffs. He's a solid middle of the road PL midfielder and one of our own. Weve now watched his rise from an 8 year old all the way into the England squad, I for one am happy for the lad.

Adkins, Pochetino, Keoman, Puel, Hodgeson and Southgate. Just some of the blokes who disagree with you, but hey, what do these clueless ****s know right?

Unplayable all game, every game....I appreciate that may have come across as a bit demanding of me. The point I tried and failed to make was that i'd like him to be more consistent. Redmond was often criticized for aborting an attack in favour of retaining possession. Boufal seems the opposite, if nothing is on he tries to push it. Fantastic when it comes off but does lead to problems when it results in lost possession and in the PL that happens more often than not. I'm not saying we should be risk adverse, just that there is a balance to be found and this will be achieved with more game time and experience.

I concede to your point about game time. It is true that due to injury and international commitments Boufal hasn't had a consistent run in the team. Furthermore, Puel seems to play Redmond whatever his form. For the record I haven't written off Boufal, far from it. He has good spells when he's almost unplayable, but i'd like to see these spells last a whole game and not 30 mins here and there. I'd also like to see him release the ball a little earlier. I think with addition of super Gabbs we'll see all the offensive midfielders improve. His movement is a dream and a focal point for incisive passes. They all suffered earlier in the season because the frontline was too static. Looking forward to seeing a front four of Gabbs, Tadic, Redmond, Boufal, but probably will not happen at spurs though.

Good observation, he has been drifting infield earlier. I was interested to hear on his post match interview that he was given more freedom wrt position. The grief he was getting earlier in the season was to be frank shocking. Especially seeing as Boufal seems to get a free pass. As far as I can see Redmond cost less and has more impact. So far i'm disappointed with Boufals output...but I suppose everybody is a sucker for a little trick here and there?

Nothing wrong with singing owts. Its our song and we owned it on sunday. For me though the Gabbiadini song to 7 nation army was f@cking immense and possibly the most emotive thing ive seen saints fans do. I know in recent weeks there has been much discussion about a specific song for the lad but this this was spontaneous and was wrought from pure emotion. Hats off to the first chat who started waving his scarf around his head!

This is a crazy thread. He does whatever Ron tells him to do if he didn’t he wouldn’t get picked. Yes the club are patient with him and rightly so, he’s 21 years old. It’s complete BS to quote his ‘100 games and no progress’ fact. He’s clocked 100 games in the PL because he’s a good young talent and been picked by successive managers. He is judged harshly simply because he hasn’t continued along the exponential progress rate he set as a kid and teenager. Sell him in January? … F***ing mental! Loan him to a championship side?..... Even more F***cking Mental! At 21 he is competing in midfield in the toughest league in the world, against some the best midfielders in the world, and lets not forget he’s one of our own and loves our club. Time is a real gentleman, let’s give him the time he needs!

Getting back to the form of last year. If you don’t concede you always have a chance. Lots of agro aimed at JWP and Davis. These guys are picked because they help us maintain high ball possession, and with it, control of the game. If you have the ball the oppo can’t shoot. Simple as. If I hear one more commentator/pundit say ‘its not about possession, its what you do with it’ one more time, I think I’ll explode. Last years clean sheet record was much praised. It was achieved by a whole team defensive strategy not through the actions of one or two individuals. JWP and Davis are just cogs in the machine. Yes I agree neither of them can shoot, but that’s not there role in the team.

He was arrested last week for punching a woman. The guy has some issues.

All the transfer headlines aside, the fact remains that he has been complete dogsh1t so far this season. Ponderous, out of position, dreadful distribution and outrageously poor shooting. Personally I don’t give a sh1t about player loyalty anymore so aint fussed about his antics, but he is miles away from the first team in my opinion and hopefully ron will not just slot him in for the sake of it.

Regarding ex saints players, the saddest thing I ever saw was Peter Shilton get spat at by kids behind the goal at the Milton end on his return to the Dell with Derby. The second saddest thing I’ve seen was Adam Lallana hang his head whilst getting roundly booed during his substitution last season. Really no need for it. He’s one of the best English attacking midfielders. A graduate of our academy. I’d have him back no problem. Anybody hanging onto to idea of player loyalty is likely to have a serious breakdown over the next few years.

Played in the deeper role against Norwich. Difficult to totally asses his performance due to the oppo and the RC. But had his best game in a saints shirt for some time. He played far more positive (forward) balls. Receiving the ball deep from the back 4 and/or Romeu increased his time on the ball, giving him time to hit more incisive passes. Perhaps this is his prefered position? Can he be the next spider? Undoubtedly a better player than spider was at a comparable age. He’s certainly tidy on the ball and capable of linking defence and attack and can cover the ground. So far he’s just never developed into an effective advanced midfielder, so we all doubt him somewhat. Certainly worth another look at him in that position I think. But long term he needs to hit the steroids and the gym….. And sort out his haircut. For an acceptable DCM style he need not look further than Romeu and classie.

Proper central midfielders haircut to.

Known it was coming but still a tough one to take. I’ve been using him as a midfield role model for my nipper to follow for a few years now. Always impressed at how he managed to be everywhere but you never seemed to see him running. Truly great vision. Wish him all the best, but a new role model is now required…. COYR

If I don’t have to look at that horrific tattoo of a baby Nathanial with a ball at his feet again I’d be quite happy.

Quick feet, oozes skill and tidy around the box. Must say i'm excited to see what this lad can do for us.

Pace, power, precision, aggression, head or foot. Scored against Liverpool, Utd, Chelsea. Scored at Stamford bridge at Old Trafford. If he wasn’t already ours we just wouldnt be able to afford him.

Among other highlights he beat Sterling in a one on one foot race yesterday then calmly laid it back to Forster. We should keep our admiration quite though otherwise that ***t Rodgers will be all over him.

Big G generally needs 8 chances to score. At the start of the season, when he was an unknown entity he would get his 8 chances. Now he doesn’t because he is respected by every oppo manager. What I love about him is that even if he misses a string of chances he doesn’t shy away from the game, he just gets on with it. He requires 2 mediocre defenders to handle him or 1 good one. Allowing others to take advantage of the space. He allows us to play a more direct plan B, without having to bring on a specialised man for the job. He has good feet and an eye for a quick direct pass. In addition, a few weeks back I saw a stat showing that he was covering more KM’s than any other PL striker, tirelessly tracking backwards and forwards. I find it truly astonishing that any Saints fan would criticize him. Yes he needs a rest, but there can’t be too many PL players who have played more minutes than him this season?