James Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 We matched them, or were better, for 60 mins. Then retreated. After we went behind, no conviction, no determination. First Saints game I've left early for 10 years. The team is not bad. The manager is now questionable. Confidence is rock bottom. Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk Ah the old retreat tactic. Worked brilliantly against Spurs too didn't it? Very poor game management. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shance Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 All this 'we were playing fine until we conceded' is ******** as well. I lost count the amount of times we gave the ball away under no pressure. Poor first touches? I lost count of them and when is a ****ing midfielder going to break forward from midfield and link up with the attack? We have become predictable and very very easy to defend against. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Duckhunter Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Who was the last Saints manager to win at Everton Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintant Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 This time last year the performance at Norwich was far far worse than today. For 70 mins we were OK. Lukaku then started to get it into feet & bully our centre halves. Swap him over with JRod and we'd have won. Personally I didn't think it was too bad until that point. Fonte & Yoshida clearly at fault for 2 and 3 goals. Score line flattered them , but that's the way it goes when you're on a poor run. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk What a load of rubbish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamplemousse Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Hugely frustrating yet again. It was a textbook away performance for the first 70 minutes then... bang... all the decent work goes to waste. We're still on par with last season but.... The last five league games this season: W1 D1 L3 (4 points) The last five league games this time last season: W1 D0 L4 (3 points) The next five league games last season: W4 D1 L0 (13 points) Are we about to turn the same corner or stumble along on the same path? Our next 5 league games: Burnley (A) Leicester (H) Swansea (A) West Ham (H) Sunderland (A) A pivotal 5 - 6 weeks beckons... Leicester and West Ham are must wins, and we should beat Swansea. Anything less than 10 points would be very disappointing. Hopefully the board get their fingers out and back Puel in the transfer window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Hugely frustrating yet again. It was a textbook away performance for the first 70 minutes then... bang... all the decent work goes to waste. We're still on par with last season but.... The last five league games this season: W1 D1 L3 (4 points) The last five league games this time last season: W1 D0 L4 (3 points) The next five league games last season: W4 D1 L0 (13 points) Are we about to turn the same corner or stumble along on the same path? Our next 5 league games: Burnley (A) Leicester (H) Swansea (A) West Ham (H) Sunderland (A) A pivotal 5 - 6 weeks beckons... Difference is that under Koeman we had produced good results and good football the season before when we came close to CL qualification. Puel has yet to show anything that makes me think we are capable of replicating a similar run of results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkeith Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Before the first goal they kept getting Coleman in space. Japanese or red,on needed to start marking him, or the coaches needed to bring on a sub who could. Stephens looked ok, so sell cup and put the money towards a man sized box to box midfielder. until valencia came on, we were the best team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenridge Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Exactly. We need to be asking questions of the entire recruitment department. And they need to back the manager in this transfer window, not hang him out to dry for the rest of the season. Puel said at the start of the season he was happy with his squad and didn't see the need for additions. Since then we've only lost Austin for any length of time and this has exposed an already weak attacking set of options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Leicester and West Ham are must wins, and we should beat Swansea. Anything less than 10 points would be very disappointing. Hopefully the board get their fingers out and back Puel in the transfer window. If we get less than 10 will you still continue to defend the manager? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Wanyama replaced by Rom. Mane replaced by Boufal. Pelle replaced by Austin. I'm not defending the sales/Reed, but the replacement of Pelle is the only one which I'd be unhappy about. The board, Puel, and the players all share an element of responsibility...but no one other than Puel can be held responsible for playing players who are totally unsuited to his 4-3-3 system. He needs to recognise the players A) aren't suited, or B) aren't good enough for said system, and adapt accordingly. You can't continually persist with something that is failing. Very blinkered, I'm afraid. The poor recruitment goes back further than that. The summer before last was equally patchy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALWAYS_SFC Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 What a load of rubbish. Or you don`t agree, you should put your rage away for a minute and think.... he is correct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 All this 'we were playing fine until we conceded' is ******** as well. I lost count the amount of times we gave the ball away under no pressure. Poor first touches? I lost count of them and when is a ****ing midfielder going to break forward from midfield and link up with the attack? We have become predictable and very very easy to defend against. Agreed, as per usual it was all too passive up to 70mins. Everton were dire and the fans were getting on their backs, if we showed an ounce of ambition and pined them in we'd have got a good away win today. They were there for the taking. We didn't show the ambiton and we were clearly happy with a 0-0. All it then takes is 1 mistake and it's 1-0, then the entire midset has to switch to attack. Not possible that late in the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
washsaint Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Players confidence look completely shot.....also tired minds and legs (disgraceful fixture list for us). That being said, Puel's tactics of defending deep, being totally defensive minded and having 2 utterly useless 'attackers' in Redmond and Tadic mean we will struggle for the rest of the season. It has been an utter borefest for most of this season andfor me, playing for a 0-0 at home to Hapoel was when I started losing patience with Puel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Give it to Ron Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Exactly. We need to be asking questions of the entire recruitment department. And they need to back the manager in this transfer window, not hang him out to dry for the rest of the season. Do you think he will get what's required in January? Who has improved under him? Even if we sign good players do you believe Claude will get the best out of them? I look at Hojberg and worry how much he has got worse since the season has gone on. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfc1976 Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Puel compliments the outlook of the board completely - devoid of inspiration and without spirit. A spineless insipid celebration of mediocracy, packaged up and sold as progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suewhistle Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Until the goal I thought Everton looked as bad as us, we'd plenty of decent moves and I was reasonably happy with our perfomance, but what manager plans for his two experienced centre-backs to make such stupid mistakes, or even to lose a player at the beginning due to the crap infrastructure and organisation of the home club. That team has no spark to it beyond Boufal and right at the end JRod's pathetic toe from the latter's set up sums up the whole situation. Criticise by all means, but choose your targets carefully. Calling for the manager's head is the knee-jerk reaction in these situations. To look on the bright side and clutching at straws a bit at least it shows we'd better not sell our best centre-back in a hurry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoateallthepies Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Exactly. We need to be asking questions of the entire recruitment department. And they need to back the manager in this transfer window, not hang him out to dry for the rest of the season. They didn't back him in the summer. Why would they back him now in a frantic transfer window when you usually have to pay well over the odds for anyone decent; and that isn't the 'Southampton way' apparently. I admire your optimism but I think you are going to be very disappointed. Puel has what he has and if he can't make it work then he will pay the price whether you think that is fair or not. Players never take the blame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rory Peepa Posted 2 January, 2017 Author Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Hugely frustrating yet again. It was a textbook away performance for the first 70 minutes then... bang... all the decent work goes to waste. We're still on par with last season but.... The last five league games this season: W1 D1 L3 (4 points) The last five league games this time last season: W1 D0 L4 (3 points) The next five league games last season: W4 D1 L0 (13 points) Are we about to turn the same corner or stumble along on the same path? Our next 5 league games: Burnley (A) Leicester (H) Swansea (A) West Ham (H) Sunderland (A) A pivotal 5 - 6 weeks beckons... Yes those are very friendly fixtures. I'd take 8 points from those they way we're playing. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintadam Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Cant believe there are still people defending Puel. I think he has had a his chance by now. His style and philosophy have not worked on the pitch. Its not just the results thats going south also the performances has been so so poor as well. Puel OUT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypochondriac Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 It seems to me that some saints fans are very happy with mediocrity. I think this is because if they called for a change they would also have to admit that our saints project has derailed slightly abd that actually we are just as liable to feck up as any other club. We are in no way superior to the likes of Stoke, West Brom or palace and our tactics in the transfer windows have finally caught up with us. Changes needed please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Johnson Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 We looked OK for 80 minutes until we conceded then we go to pieces, we looked soft and low on confidence!! we are also too pedestrian going forward and we didn't look like scoring but we restricted them to very few opportunities until their first goal. With the fixture congestion now over we need to play our best team consistently as our best attacking threat is when we have our best full backs playing, they make the pitch wider and stretch defences, Stephens and McQueen were completely ineffective in that regard today. I thought JWP played well, I think he's now in our best 3 midfielders alongside Davies and Romeu. We were indifferent for periods last season and finished strong, we have 4-5 winnable games in a row in the league a decent return from those games and we will be back in the fight for 7th, a bad return from the next 5 league games and those fans calling for puel head will be allot more vocal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamplemousse Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 If we get less than 10 will you still continue to defend the manager? We'll see what business we do in January. It should be obvious to everyone at the club that we are a couple of signings light and we know the money is available. If the right additions are made and we are still playing poorly, the manager's position should be under threat. If we don't make any signings then I will firmly point the finger at Les Reed and the recruitment department. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrian lord Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 ...for me, playing for a 0-0 at home to Hapoel was when I started losing patience with Puel. Quite. Then we knew what he was all about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 We'll see what business we do in January. It should be obvious to everyone at the club that we are a couple of signings light and we know the money is available to do so. If the right additions are made and we are still playing poorly, the manager's position should be under threat. If we don't make any signings then I will firmly point the finger at Les Reed and the recruitment department. Puel has said he's happy with the squad. If that is true he should be judged with the players he is apparently happy with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donatello Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Very blinkered, I'm afraid. The poor recruitment goes back further than that. The summer before last was equally patchy. Patchy, but far from attrocious. The squad is better than current performances. Or it could be, at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DT Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 We need to act swiftly and recognise that Puel is not the one. But we won't. We'll try to edge past January because a new manager would mean spending. Useless tactics, awful selections, but most of all, such dreariness mirroring his own personality. You can tell the players don't like it or him, and it is time to face up to that. Losing is acceptable if we give it a real go. Struggling to think of when we last did that. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffnut Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Can't score and now can't defend, we will get very little out of the next 5 league games. This really does feel like the bad old times when we were relegated last time, very depressing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr X Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Puel has said he's happy with the squad. If that is true he should be judged with the players he is apparently happy with. he also said no need to buy in january............ worrying times Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 (edited) Do you think he will get what's required in January? Who has improved under him? Even if we sign good players do you believe Claude will get the best out of them? I look at Hojberg and worry how much he has got worse since the season has gone on. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Are you saying Hojbjerg's form is down to Puel? From my perspective, too many people were quick to crown him a world beater on the basis of a couple of promising performances. That's no baseline against which to assess his 'level'. He's largely flattered to deceive, granted the constant rotation doesn't help. Ultimately he's a young player with limited experience coming to a new country. Hopefully he'll flourish over time and deliver on his promise but we knew the risks involved and that it might take him time to adapt. Caveat emptor. Edited 2 January, 2017 by shurlock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Appy Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Season ticket renewal uptake will be interesting if Puel is still here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whelk Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 It seems to me that some saints fans are very happy with mediocrity. I think this is because if they called for a change they would also have to admit that our saints project has derailed slightly abd that actually we are just as liable to feck up as any other club. We are in no way superior to the likes of Stoke, West Brom or palace and our tactics in the transfer windows have finally caught up with us. Changes needed please. The counter argument of course to the 'happy to accept mediocrity' is the naive attitude of change it now cos bound to be better. So many examples of clubs going in free fall - Swansea being a recent one. And I am as depressed as fck with that display. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whelk Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 And at least there can be no excuse for delusion with the transfer window now open Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 he also said no need to buy in january............ worrying times He didn't say that at all. He said January is a difficult time to buy, different thing all together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitzhugh Fella Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 The depressing thing is, this was so predictable and we are all repeating ourselves over and over. The fans can see what's wrong but Puel and the Board have got their fingers in their ears. The lack of goals was always going to be a problem last September and since then we have lost our one striker who can find the net and yet Puel and the Board have not began to address the problem, or at least that is how it is beginning to look. Personally I don't think Puel should be sacked, there is no one obvious to replace him and the upheaval would be destabilising but players should have already been targeted to bring in. My worry is they have not intended to spend in January and there may well be a panic buy now. The Board are more to blame imo. Cheap skating hoping the Chinese will buy seems the name of the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrian lord Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 I think Reed will allow the guillotine to drop after the Swansea fixture if no improvement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalek2003 Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 1. We have lost Wanyama, Mane and Pelle and have not replaced them or replaced them with inferior players. 2. We took a gamble on Jay Rod and it has not worked. 3. We took a massive gamble on Charlie Austin staying fit - it has not worked. 4. We too a gamble on Puel - who plays a tactical game that may work in France but not in English football. In all, I think The Board and Les Reed have been guilt of gross complacency and now we are in trouble. If we do NOT get in a few really good players in January we could well be fighting to stay up. I would take 17th now ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toomer Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 With the style and standard of play who is going to want to come to Southampton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eling-saint Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Absolute sh*te. This Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guan 2.0 Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 We were in the match until the Valencia sub, which we failed to match or disrupt. Only one winner if you fail to recognise a changed rhythm. Hope my pre match bet tip brought some consolation to peeps on here at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doggface Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Another awful 2nd half, no faith in this regime. Puel out. Recruitment has been poor without a doubt. Last January we had wanyama and Romeu. We also had Pelle & Austin and we all know Austin has some historic injury issues. Boufal has great potential but Mane was on fire and fit. those are huge misses. i feel the club is at a crossroads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badgerx16 Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 I deliberately ignored all of this afternoon's football. It seems I made the right decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Marco Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Difference is that under Koeman we had produced good results and good football the season before when we came close to CL qualification. Puel has yet to show anything that makes me think we are capable of replicating a similar run of results. Exactly and its a point that will be lost on people. The key to us being where we were in the league was our defence. That has now fallen apart. Conceded 9 goals in 3 games. Prior to that we had let in only 16 for the entire season. Our attacking play has been poor all season. I have seen nothing from Puel and Black to suggest they can get us going on a winning run. I could be wrong but I think we have only won two PL games back to back once this season. 7 points from the last 21 on offer is very poor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatlesaint Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 No confidence in the manager No confidence in the assistant manager, Black has been total **** wherever he has been No confidence that anyone decent, if at all, will be bought in during January No confidence that the players have any belief in the manager, and if they haven't we are screwed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenridge Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 I think Reed will allow the guillotine to drop after the Swansea fixture if no improvement. Les will certainly make sure he he is not held responsible so Claude will be the fall guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Having watched it on Streaming I felt it was an even game until the 75th minute. We had good chances to score. We just lost our composure in the last 10 minutes. .pretty accurate, but we don't create enough chances in games, and when going behind we get very desperate and leave huge gaps that get exposed. In my eyes we have too many very average players. This side feels like the side we would have when our top talent moved on. It feels like an old school saints season... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamplemousse Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 We have played well this season - Arsenal away in the cup, Burnley at home, Bournemouth away, West Ham away - so we can play well when we want to. I think the schedule has had a massive impact on us and we lack the required depth in quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icehagman Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Weren't people calling for Koeman's head at this time last season? If we can finish top half that's a respectable season this year. It surely would be, but that is not very likely. Last year we had class players that could turn things around. Now our only high class player is a Van Dijk and it is very doubtful he´s still with us when january ends. i think we are heading for a relegation battle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypochondriac Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 The counter argument of course to the 'happy to accept mediocrity' is the naive attitude of change it now cos bound to be better. So many examples of clubs going in free fall - Swansea being a recent one. And I am as depressed as fck with that display. That's true but I can count om one hand the amount of times I have been pleased with a performance this season. I'm not sure how long we can continue with that even if the results get slightly better x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Garrett Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Just watching the goals back now... 1st - Our entire defence ball-watching and 3 Everton players left unmarked in the area. 2nd - Ridiculous challenge from Yoshida, was only ever going to go one way and we have a keeper that doesn't save penalties 3rd - Fonte switched off and allowed himself to be dispossessed when Everton had numbers forward. Good finish, but anything at Forster's near post seems to go in. Can anybody please exlpain to me how this is the manager's fault? The shape and tactics were OK today, what was lacking was any quality going forward to punish Everton when they looked vulnerable. Redmond is a total waste of space and can't score/create a single thing. Tadic has quality but is badly out of form right now Rodriguez didn't get much service and nearly scored a brillianbt indiviudal goal in the first half, but that was the extent of our goal threat. JWP and Clasie never offer anything in terms of attack Boufal only had 20 minutes and didn't get any decent service Long has the ball skills of a pub league player and is only effective when the opposition is playing a high defensive line, which Everton weren't all game, let alone after going ahead. Changes needed in the playing staff, but to sack the manager now would be a wrong move IMO. I think a new manager would get so much more from the squad we already have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 (edited) Patchy, but far from attrocious. The squad is better than current performances. Or it could be, at least. VVD apart, we failed to addres the heart of midfield (Clasie for Schneidelin) and from having arguably the best fullback combo in the country, the right back position has become a running dilemma. We also struggled to strengthen up top (Juanmi), though arguably the problem goes further back. That we've failed to fully reinvest transfer proceeds and add like the rest of the league is another matter. Edited 2 January, 2017 by shurlock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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