Manuel Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 We were competitive and at times the better team, but we don't put away what we create. Bad run of form now. I still think there's a hope we could come good with Puel if we invest in the window but we can't leave it like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamplemousse Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 We were competitive and at times the better team, but we don't put away what we create. Bad run of form now. I still think there's a hope we could come good with Puel if we invest in the window but we can't leave it like this. This is pretty much my position. If we don't sign anyone, the fans should protest at the board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Marco 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. Was that the Arsenal reserves game? The Burnley who have only got 1 away point all season? The West Ham who scored only 9 goals at home all season? And so on. Shows how far we have fallen if they are the games you have picked to show how good we are playing. By this time last season (I know you love saying that one) we had destroyed Arsenal away in the league, beat Chelsea away 1-3 and drew at Anfield etc... Hardly the same kind of results... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger 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. By which time the transfer window will conveniently be closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger 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 Dave Jones I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypochondriac Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 This is pretty much my position. If we don't sign anyone, the fans should protest at the board. Do you not see a problem with how we are set up tactically for most games? Playing not to lose or to contain a leaf all the time is maddening and not what the majority of fans want to see imo. I think that our poor performances this year have been due to poor recruitment in the summer but I also believe we are not getting the most out of our players and we play a poor system which is down to puel. Koeman was much better tactically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beowulf Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?56853-We-will-struggle-this-season I haven't changed my mind,have a look at some of the comments. They make interesting reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ART Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Why the hell didn't Puel bring on Bertrand? With McQueen and Bertrand we could of got balls up to Rodriguez. At worse the defence would have ekept Everton out a d we might have managed a 0-0 draw. Lost all belief in Puel and so have our players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez 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. Arsenals third team, burnley get that pen it could have been a different story, Bournemouth had a bad day and West Ham were all over the place back then. Ok, so I haven't acknowledged what we did in those games, but those wins don't convince me we are a decent side underperforming. I think we are an average side now playing without confidence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuncanRG 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. What part of improvement for six consecutive seasons doesn't constitute progress? We may not push on again this year (though I said the same this time last year) but laying into the people who have carried our club from League One to Europe is utter, utter madness. It drives me mad, this. Get angry about the signings, criticise the manager, even call for his head if you think the time's right. But what do the owners of a football club have to do to win people's respect? What more could they have done over the past seven years to prove that, even if things go wrong sometimes, they know what they're doing? The remarkable success they've delivered has given some of our fans a noxious sense of entitlement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vancouver Saint Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Agreed. I have to wake up early here in Vancouver to watch the games - I've always been excited to watch the team I've followed for nearly 50 years but my expectations now are very low - hard to drag my carcass out of bed knowing we're heading for another boring, predictable sideways shuffle. Predicted a 0-2 or 0-3 result and was right, although in fairness we had the edge on a poor Everton until the Valencia substitution. What worries me is I have zero belief we are going to score a goal. We just don't score goals any more. And in a game where it's all about scoring goals that is THE problem. Forget about defensive records, poor form, injury, diamonds, squad rotation whatever...we don't score goals because we haven't made it a priority. I am not for over-reacting and think, in general, Managers aren't given enough time to prove themselves but if it's true Puel thinks we have enough attacking threat and doesn't plan to invest in January (I read the article) he's not the right man for us. Never had such little interest in Saints which I blame to a dullard of a manager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamplemousse Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Arsenals third team, burnley get that pen it could have been a different story, Bournemouth had a bad day and West Ham were all over the place back then. Ok, so I haven't acknowledged what we did in those games, but those wins don't convince me we are a decent side underperforming. I think we are an average side now playing without confidence. The last part is true. I think Puel has done well so far but the board need to back him in the transfer window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donatello Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 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. That we've failed to fully reinvest transfer proceeds and add like the rest of the league is another matter. That's where I would agree....there has been a downgrade in central midfield overall....but that problem is then exacerbated to some extent by playing 3CMs (only one of whom I'd regard as a solid top half player). Of course you could argue that an extra CM is an attempt to offset the drop in quality, but it's patently not working. As for RB, I think Cedric's been far improved this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalek2003 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. I totally agree. In a way last seasons high league finish allowed complacency to set in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitey Grandad Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 It wouldn't matter who we signed if they're under strict instructions never to get into the opposition's penalty area. Against WBA I lost count of the times that the ball was put into the box against seven defenders (plus goalkeeper) and there was no Saints' player anywhere near them. I've watched a few games over the last couple of days and in a typical attack there are usually three or four in the opponents' box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Garrett Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Best investment we could make would be paying up Puel's contract. Hopefully he'll headbutt Fonte in training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintCox Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Didn't watch it but having read the posts here it sound as though we played sleep inducing football again hoping to sneak a 1-0. Problem is we have no ability to get a goal once we conceed as we have no ability to adjust, much like the Spurs game. Re Puel out, I think it is the insipid performances that are a worry rather than where we are in the league. It is simple money is starting to break the league into 6 teams who have commercial revenue, gate receipts, etc and can pay huge wages. Those 4 teams who struggle having either come up or spent years in decline and the rest. Every other team will go through poor spells and can only hope that they do not get drawn into a relegation battle. We are simply mid table mediocrity and we need to start another 5 year plan building a team from youth. This will not sit well with VVD, Fonte, Betrand, Forster as that would be building during the potentially best/final years of their careers. This is potentially the problem in the squad right now. Can Puel build for 5years is really the question to ask. Not where we finish his season so long as we are not dragged into relegation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 It wouldn't matter who we signed if they're under strict instructions never to get into the opposition's penalty area. Against WBA I lost count of the times that the ball was put into the box against seven defenders (plus goalkeeper) and there was no Saints' player anywhere near them. I've watched a few games over the last couple of days and in a typical attack there are usually three or four in the opponents' box. This is the most concerning thing. See the Blackmore question on this and Puel responded that he was happy that the rest of the team had kept their shape to prevent a counter attack. It's "play not to lose football". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 This is the most concerning thing. See the Blackmore question on this and Puel responded that he was happy that the rest of the team had kept their shape to prevent a counter attack. It's "play not to lose football". Wouldn't be so bad if it actually worked Claude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Give it to Ron Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 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. Well the first few games he was tremendous for me, we then went into rotation and shifted him to the right at times and he is struggling now. I believe if we sat him in the middle with Romeu in a 4-2-3-1 he would be fine. Not entirely Claudes fault but I also worry what his backroom team do. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shroppie Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 This isn't a bad team. We played well for 70+ minutes. But there's no spirit or drive when things go wrong. A striker or strong/creative midfielder would be good in the window, but idoubt anyone better than we've got will be available at a sensible price. The young prospects - McQueen, Sims, Stephens, Reed to name a few, will be better than buying. But I'd love a manager with an ounce of charisma. Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteCampbell Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Criminal not to start Bertrand. Tadic was poor, JRod wasn't great. I actually thought a few of our players had a good game- Redmond and Ward-Prowse included. But the problem for me is no longer singling out individuals anyway, Puel is surely under alot of pressure because his style of football just isn't working at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beowulf Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Didn't watch it but having read the posts here it sound as though we played sleep inducing football again hoping to sneak a 1-0. Problem is we have no ability to get a goal once we conceed as we have no ability to adjust, much like the Spurs game. Re Puel out, I think it is the insipid performances that are a worry rather than where we are in the league. It is simple money is starting to break the league into 6 teams who have commercial revenue, gate receipts, etc and can pay huge wages. Those 4 teams who struggle having either come up or spent years in decline and the rest. Every other team will go through poor spells and can only hope that they do not get drawn into a relegation battle. We are simply mid table mediocrity and we need to start another 5 year plan building a team from youth. This will not sit well with VVD, Fonte, Betrand, Forster as that would be building during the potentially best/final years of their careers. This is potentially the problem in the squad right now. Can Puel build for 5years is really the question to ask. Not where we finish his season so long as we are not dragged into relegation. We are not 'mid table mediocrity' take the mid table out and you may be right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteCampbell Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Yeh agreed about the lack of charisma, I'm over it, it inspires nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donatello Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Criminal not to start Bertrand. Tadic was poor, JRod wasn't great. I actually thought a few of our players had a good game- Redmond and Ward-Prowse included. But the problem for me is no longer singling out individuals anyway, Puel is surely under alot of pressure because his style of football just isn't working at the moment. Bertrand had an injury to his heel and thus couldn't play, according to Adam Blackmore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteCampbell Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Bertrand had an injury to his heel and thus couldn't play, according to Adam Blackmore. ah ok thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Bertrand had an injury to his heel and thus couldn't play, according to Adam Blackmore. Why was he on the bench at all them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Wouldn't be so bad if it actually worked Claude. Agreed. Now that our defence is looking a little shaky it won't yield any points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northam soul Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Puel saying it's impossible to win due to the fixture schedule. Well the schedule wasn't ideal but that is ridiculous, it's impossible to win if you show no attacking ambition and continue with this I don't know my best side routine. From the next match play the best eleven and stick with it, hopefully the club also gets its cheque book out to assist you with this task. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donatello Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Why was he on the bench at all them? Beats me. People are asking Blackmore, but he hasn't responded yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toomer Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 And what load of bowlocks did he come out with in his post match interview that's if could be understood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Puel saying it's impossible to win due to the fixture schedule. Well the schedule wasn't ideal but that is ridiculous, it's impossible to win if you show no attacking ambition and continue with this I don't know my best side routine. From the next match play the best eleven and stick with it, hopefully the club also gets its cheque book out to assist you with this task. If it's impossible to win then why bother turning up at all? Hopefully it's just lost in translation but not a particularly inspiring or competitive attitude there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaSaint Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Puel's style reminds me of my youth - loads of passes but seldom any penetration. It's very telling that our best moment was the chance that J-Rod created for himself. The team - the whole club - looks as flat as a pancake, and Puel is a million miles away from being an inspirational figure. It isn't that we've lost three in a row - that happens. What's infuriating and worrying is the fact that we've produced three tame surrenders in three matches. It almost looks as though we have a number of players who'd rather be playing somewhere else and for someone else. I'm not the knee-jerk sort but Puel's pussy football and his addiction to rotation for rotation's sake are really starting to p*ss me off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Claude would not answer if he was under pressure due to the results Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 We are simply mid table mediocrity and we need to start another 5 year plan building a team from youth. This will not sit well with VVD, Fonte, Betrand, Forster as that would be building during the potentially best/final years of their careers ntially Get the youth in seems to be the defacto save all method fans turn to when things are going badly. It's bull****. Improving the side is the way forward, not making it younger. Better is better, younger is younger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unbelievable Jeff Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 We desperately need some new faces into the squad, and selling VVD may be the only way to do this, which obviously would be a shame, but if we got £60m for him then we'd have to let him go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint-Fred Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Really, really, really poor period. I'm still confused as to how we played as well as we did at Bournemouth, that seemingly looks like the odd one out as we've reverted to type since. The worry is that we play this passive protective game in order to remain compact, but we're now starting to ship goals at an alarming rate as well as still not scoring any. We've got too many players out of form right now. Redmond looks shot, the manager scored a complete OG with him at the start of the season. Romeu looks absolutely dead on his feet (no surprise there). I must admit, in previous season we've had spells like this (this time last year was just as bad) but I've always looked at the manager/coaching staff and have felt that they won't let this dip any further, you always felt that. I just don't get that same feeling now, I cannot see where the inspiration is going to come from. Of course we were going to have a season like this eventually, we've had improved finishes for years - it was going to end at some point, but it seems to be ending in very limp fashion. I've never been so bored watching us and I've never been less interested in listening to our managers post or pre-match stuff, I cannot bring myself to listen to him. As a club we don't panic or react based on a few results, so I don't expect Claude to be going anytime soon - but he needs a good January and we're dying for someone to come in and light up our season as it's really never got going. To be fair the first half at Bournemouth was poor as well. We struggled to it two passes together and so do they. Our fans even cheered PEH when he passed to his own player in the second half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Fan CaM Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 What's all this nonsense about "everything was great until 70 minutes"?!? The game is about winning across 90+ minutes - about setting up a team and tactics that will allow you to score goals to WIN games FFS - not defend 0-0 or even 1-0 if by some miracle you've gone ahead. Puel and his coaching staff need to take a long hard look at themselves - whatever they are doing, it's not working with this set of players. Not only that, but the style of football is dire - we've gone backwards and it's very boring to watch. Teams that win consistently field the strongest side possible continually - only injury should stop a sub-26 year old professional player (an athlete) from playing 3 games in a week. If the players do not believe in the Manager, then all aspects of individual and team performance will suffer. Team spirit must be at a 7 year low in the changing room right now and I strongly suspect that shaves a large % off any chance of winning a game. Lastly, did anyone really expect the wheels would not come off the 'Southampton Way' when Pelle, Mane and Vic were not replaced properly? You could look back and pick almost an entire team that we've sold - top players not replaced. Top managers not replaced. The summer however was the 'straw that broke the donkeys back' - it was obvious to me that Redmond, Austin, Long and even J-Rod were not the forward line that would tear up the Prem and push us onto greater things. We didn't change things around and find ourselves relying on a sub-standard forward line that would probably struggle in the Championship. Romeu and VVD are the only two signings that you could actually say were of the right standard. There needs to be something done Les Reed - the club is really running a thin line now...we've loved the journey so far - we've supported the club so far - but don't try to disguise the fact that we're marching backwards - NOT forwards - as things stand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamplemousse Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 We desperately need some new faces into the squad, and selling VVD may be the only way to do this, which obviously would be a shame, but if we got £60m for him then we'd have to let him go. Selling him would be disastrous. There is money available - nobody needs to be sold at all in January. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenridge Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 And what load of bowlocks did he come out with in his post match interview that's if could be understood. He said there are lots of interesting possibilities. I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobes8 Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 To keep saying we played well for 75 mins is tyro league under 11's talk. Sorry but Napoleon did pretty well at Waterloo to a point and then look what happened. Must be a French thing. It's really boring football we are offering up!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 our very own Matt Le God is sat on twitter telling everyone that we are doing really well at the moment etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldsaint 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. We had a better strike force last year unles there are changes we will not finish in the top half this year Could you see us winning today ( thats the problem ) I think the players played very wel,l but once we loss a goal there is no way back into the game for us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unbelievable Jeff Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 our very own Matt Le God is sat on twitter telling everyone that we are doing really well at the moment etc That's wrong - we're not doing well. But I also don't think this is all down to the manager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Appy Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 our very own Matt Le God is sat on twitter telling everyone that we are doing really well at the moment etc Blokes a clown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Bertrand was ill....not suffering from a bad heel. lost in translation a little either way, he could not play Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unbelievable Jeff Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Selling him would be disastrous. There is money available - nobody needs to be sold at all in January. It all depends how much money we need... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_Tony Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 Awful. Les Reed is to blame as much as Puel. What a great few years it has been but the wheels have well and truly fallen off. Not sure where we go from here. Puel needs to go, but if Reed is still here and we don't spend then very little will change. Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 It almost looks as though we have a number of players who'd rather be playing somewhere else and for someone else. . May ask which? I am never good at spotting players that are 'not interested'. Having said that when long mis controlled a throw in near the end I didn't just put it down to him being a very average player with a poor first touch, it actually looked like he didn't really give a **** as we were two or three down and the game was lost and he'd not been haven playing time so was annoyed. I'm probably reading into it too much, or was mistaken, but thought I'd mention it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalek2003 Posted 2 January, 2017 Share Posted 2 January, 2017 What's all this nonsense about "everything was great until 70 minutes"?!? The game is about winning across 90+ minutes - about setting up a team and tactics that will allow you to score goals to WIN games FFS - not defend 0-0 or even 1-0 if by some miracle you've gone ahead. Puel and his coaching staff need to take a long hard look at themselves - whatever they are doing, it's not working with this set of players. Not only that, but the style of football is dire - we've gone backwards and it's very boring to watch. Teams that win consistently field the strongest side possible continually - only injury should stop a sub-26 year old professional player (an athlete) from playing 3 games in a week. If the players do not believe in the Manager, then all aspects of individual and team performance will suffer. Team spirit must be at a 7 year low in the changing room right now and I strongly suspect that shaves a large % off any chance of winning a game. Lastly, did anyone really expect the wheels would not come off the 'Southampton Way' when Pelle, Mane and Vic were not replaced properly? You could look back and pick almost an entire team that we've sold - top players not replaced. Top managers not replaced. The summer however was the 'straw that broke the donkeys back' - it was obvious to me that Redmond, Austin, Long and even J-Rod were not the forward line that would tear up the Prem and push us onto greater things. We didn't change things around and find ourselves relying on a sub-standard forward line that would probably struggle in the Championship. Romeu and VVD are the only two signings that you could actually say were of the right standard. There needs to be something done Les Reed - the club is really running a thin line now...we've loved the journey so far - we've supported the club so far - but don't try to disguise the fact that we're marching backwards - NOT forwards - as things stand. Post of the week !!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now