You reap what you sow.......

[aintforever]

Has anyone claimed that? Of course not, you just made it up.

 

 

 

 

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What does "reap what you sow" supposed to mean then numbnuts?

[sammysaint]

Puel fell out with players as well which led to his sacking.

 

MP throws on 2 strikers when we need a goal, Puel would never do that, its clearly the players and the fact people are quick to overate them.

 

Tadic, JWP, Boufal and Redmond are so inconsistent, players like McQueen is not good enough and somehow makes the bench, Stephens is decent but if you wanna finish top half not sure he's a regular starter for a team wanting 8th or 9th place, Forster has been awful at times and again overrated and inconsistent.

 

Next week we need to change formation and players and I would review MP after 10-12 games not 5.

[Mr X]

Les reeds interview questions

 

1) are you cheap?

2) are you going to do as I say not as I do, & let me retain full control?

3) are you unemployed? That's always a good point for me

 

If yes your hired! [emoji6]

 

 

 

 

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[Batman]

Puel was was crap, looks like MP is at best...equally crap

 

not cool for Reed...Got lucky with ronald

 

Pellegrino looks like a terrible appointment

[Heisenberg]

Remember the epic tug of war we had with Palace.

 

Pellegrino vs Frank de Boer.....

 

Did we ever establish who was Reed's no.1 choice?

[benjii]

In fairness, we were unlikely to be able to replace Mane. He's comfortably Liverpool's best player and one of the top 10 players in the league.

 

Our current problem is a lack of identity. If you accept that there will be times when we simply won't have the players to compete with the best then at least we can bring a style of play that might trouble them. Unfortunately we currently have a relatively mediocre set of players but a pretty aimless style of play.

[View From The Top]

What's our style?

 

We don't keep possession, we don't press, we don't go long. Our style seems to be short, sideways balls before going into a congested mess.

 

That's my major gripe.

 

MP seems to have no plan & no style of play. It's way worse than anything last season (bar the fast 3/4 home games).

 

We've appointed a sh_it version of Puel.

[Eggy]

There is something majorly wrong at our club. Cheap managers, players being played out of position, lack of passion, whinging players. I hate to say it, but i honestly think a spell back in the championship would do us the world of good. Clear the money sapping players out and restart/rebuild like the last time we were down that way.

[John B]

Puel was was crap, looks like MP is at best...equally crap

 

not cool for Reed...Got lucky with ronald

 

Pellegrino looks like a terrible appointment

 

You seem to be a particularly crap supporter and slightly deluded.

 

Did you really expect that getting in another manager would suddenly make the team a lot better.

 

It was always likely that we were going to get worse as our really good players left and we had no top class players migrating from the academy.

 

Just man up and accept the bad times .

 

I have supported the Saints probably longer than you have been alive and during that time there have been more lows than highs but that is football but I agree this squad is probably the worst one ever because it has no outstanding match winners like Paine Channon Shearer MLT Lallana Lambert Pelle or Mane but it does have some decent defenders.

 

Most of the match winners were homegrown or picked up cheaply

[aintforever]

There is something majorly wrong at our club. Cheap managers, players being played out of position, lack of passion, whinging players. I hate to say it, but i honestly think a spell back in the championship would do us the world of good. Clear the money sapping players out and restart/rebuild like the last time we were down that way.

 

Yeah good idea, half the squad on massive 5 year contracts and an owner who had to borrow the money to buy the club - what could possibly go wrong if we get relegated?!

[SKD]

Remember the epic tug of war we had with Palace.

 

Pellegrino vs Frank de Boer.....

 

Did we ever establish who was Reed's no.1 choice?

 

It was neither. His first choice was Tuchel, he turned us down and if I'm honest I don't blame him.

 

You can't blame Reed to sacking Puel, it was the right thing to do.

 

What you can blame him for is a clear lack of creativity brought in the market and Puels replacement, if he carrys on like this.

[Roo1976]

Really on what evidence? we managed a cup final and 8th last season people said we were capable of more. We changed manager and so far we out of the cup and on the level performance we've managed so far 8th would be a miracle people need to realise the squad is not a good as it use to be.

 

but people dont seem to realise just how many points we were off Everton in &th..................and were ponderous and lacking any leaders on the pitch.

[CB Fry]

There is something majorly wrong at our club. Cheap managers, players being played out of position, lack of passion, whinging players. I hate to say it, but i honestly think a spell back in the championship would do us the world of good. Clear the money sapping players out and restart/rebuild like the last time we were down that way.

How on earth would that do us "the world of good" you effing mentalist?

 

Why can't we just, say, change the manager if required, sign some different players, change things up in the division we're in?

 

Current clubs being done the "world of good" by a "restart/rebuild" in the Championship:

 

Sunderland

Aston Villa

Norwich

Fulham

Hull City

QPR

Derby

Forest

Ipswich

 

And so on and on.

[doddisalegend]

but people dont seem to realise just how many points we were off Everton in &th..................and were ponderous and lacking any leaders on the pitch.

 

 

And now we aren't? We changed manager but the results and style is the same the squad is poor I think in time people will realise Puel did a decent job getting 8th and a cup final with this squad. I'm not convinced MoPe is going to do any better even given he has had better support in the transfer market and no Europe to deal with.

[OldNick]

It was neither. His first choice was Tuchel, he turned us down and if I'm honest I don't blame him.

 

You can't blame Reed to sacking Puel, it was the right thing to do.

 

What you can blame him for is a clear lack of creativity brought in the market and Puels replacement, if he carrys on like this.

the right thing to do was replace the 2 forwards that had been sold at the start of last season, so Puel had a chance.

[Saint86]

This I agree with, sorry before it sounded like you were already turning completely on the manage and players. For me, the squad has been undermined for 2-3years now. The managers don't get much say on transfers, and it's fairly clear that the wheels are coming off. The only thing that saves us is how good the managers can be, because they don't have anything particularly excellent to work with.

[Badger]

Sacking Puel wasn't necessarily the wrong decision, although question remains over the selection of his successor.

 

At the time my view was that we should only get rid if we had someone better lined up (almost signed, sealed and to be delivered the next day) such as Tuchel. Don't blame him for giving us a wide berth, but in his absence it appears Les did what Les does best, dither and scrape around for who might be available after giving the previous one the boot, and hope we all acclaim it as an amazing bit of recruitment.

[Cabrone]

Personally I don't think we have as bad a set of players as many on here think we do. However we do have a manager who hasn't figured out how to play them and has also inherited a confidence issue. I hope he doesn't stubbornly stick to 1 up front because IMO the goal drought will continue, we'll be in big trouble by Xmas and he'll probably get the push.

 

Everything must be focussed on scoring, I'll take shipping a few as long as we can get the goals flowing. We have (IMO) a potential international striker in Gabbi and a potential match winner (almost 20 goals for QPR) in Charlie so play them, not for a few minutes at the end of the game but for 6+ matches. They can't get match fit and figure each other out unless you play them. The mid needs to be set up to the forwards' strengths, drop the underperformers and use Tadic (in his correct position!!)\Long on the flanks to provide power, pace and guile. Plenty of service into the box and crosses.

 

Also dump the prima donnas, no one is too big a 'name' to drop. Bring in hungry players and send a message to the underperformers.

 

Trouble is does this manager have the balls and imagination to rip up this failied setup?

[Saint-Fred]

And now we aren't? We changed manager but the results and style is the same the squad is poor I think in time people will realise Puel did a decent job getting 8th and a cup final with this squad. I'm not convinced MoPe is going to do any better even given he has had better support in the transfer market and no Europe to deal with.

 

If he scrambles to 44 points he has matched Puel. Only 39 to go!

[Lord Duckhunter]

If he scrambles to 44 points he has matched Puel. Only 39 to go!

 

Pony

 

If he gets 45 points & relegated, that's better than 8th in your deluded eyes.

 

We were the 8th best side in the 2016/17 season if we finish lower in the 2017/18 season he's done worse. The way he matches Puel is 8th & a cup final.

 

 

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[Heisenberg]

If he scrambles to 44 points he has matched Puel. Only 39 to go!

 

Didnt we finish with 46 points? Think 44 points had you finishing 14th last season - it was that tight.

 

Agreed though +46 points and +41 goals and hes done one up on Puel. Only needs a single win over the top 6 teams too as Puel failed there miserably.

 

If Puel had stayed this season a relegation battle was almost guaranteed.

 

Club definitely made the right choice to dump him, sadly not sure Pellegrino was the right choice to move us forward.

[tajjuk]

Pony

 

If he gets 45 points & relegated, that's better than 8th in your deluded eyes.

 

We were the 8th best side in the 2016/17 season if we finish lower in the 2017/18 season he's done worse. The way he matches Puel is 8th & a cup final.

 

 

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Bull, if he gets more points and goals than Puel, especially if we are more entertaining than he's already done better than Puel. Anything higher than 17th to 7th really doesn't matter at all because it gets you very little bar a few million.

[Pedro]

We've got no goal scoring midfielders, no centre backs getting the odd goal from a corner/free kick, no pacy forwards and poor old Gabby not getting a decent ball all game. I think the stats on Sky just now said we have had 11 shots so far. So disappointed with Redmond, JWP, Boufal etc. maybe we thought a manager with a latin name with Maurico as his first name will emulate Poch.

[Lord Duckhunter]

Bull, if he gets more points and goals than Puel, especially if we are more entertaining than he's already done better than Puel .

 

So if we go down on 45 points whilst playing swashbuckling football, he'd have done better than Puel?

 

 

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[Saint-Fred]

Didnt we finish with 46 points? Think 44 points had you finishing 14th last season - it was that tight.

 

Agreed though +46 points and +41 goals and hes done one up on Puel. Only needs a single win over the top 6 teams too as Puel failed there miserably.

 

If Puel had stayed this season a relegation battle was almost guaranteed.

 

Club definitely made the right choice to dump him, sadly not sure Pellegrino was the right choice to move us forward.

 

Lol you are right..46 points..with 5 points from 4 games...MP may struggle to match it!

[Saint-Fred]

Pony

 

If he gets 45 points & relegated, that's better than 8th in your deluded eyes.

 

We were the 8th best side in the 2016/17 season if we finish lower in the 2017/18 season he's done worse. The way he matches Puel is 8th & a cup final.

 

 

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Lol so Puels 46 points and 8th with a cup final makes him a better manager than Poch who got 8th with 56 points and no cup final.

 

I am afraid it's you who is deluded mate.

[doddisalegend]

Bull, if he gets more points and goals than Puel, especially if we are more entertaining than he's already done better than Puel. Anything higher than 17th to 7th really doesn't matter at all because it gets you very little bar a few million.

 

Little of evidence that is going to happen, so far, in fact MoPe is making Puel look like the Great Entertainer. The only entertaining game, in league or cup, this season has been WH and that owed more to the ref and Wham players brain farts than it did to saints.

[Saint-Fred]

Didnt we finish with 46 points? Think 44 points had you finishing 14th last season - it was that tight.

 

Agreed though +46 points and +41 goals and hes done one up on Puel. Only needs a single win over the top 6 teams too as Puel failed there miserably.

 

If Puel had stayed this season a relegation battle was almost guaranteed.

 

Club definitely made the right choice to dump him, sadly not sure Pellegrino was the right choice to move us forward.

 

There is a reason that Jose, Pep, Conte, Poch etc get paid what they do. The manager is key to getting the best out of he players.They also don't grow on trees.

When we offered RK a fortune to stay I thought we might be in the market for better managers but I wonder if any would actually come to us?

Tuchel was reported as turning us down and I am not sure De Bore looks like he will pull up trees.

I am not sure whether we would want many of the other managers from those around us..Pulis anyone?

MP has to be given a chance, booing won't help the situation.

 

If he leaves I am not sure who people are hoping we would get in? Although BFS is available! :-)

[Pamplemousse]

Lol so Puels 46 points and 8th with a cup final makes him a better manager than Poch who got 8th with 56 points and no cup final.

 

I am afraid it's you who is deluded mate.

 

Where on earth did he say that Poch was a better manager?

 

You need to learn to read.

[Lord Duckhunter]

Lol so Puels 46 points and 8th with a cup final makes him a better manager than Poch who got 8th with 56 points and no cup final.

 

I am afraid it's you who is deluded mate.

 

Where have I said that Puel was a better manager. All I've ever said it that 8th & a cup final doesn't deserve the sack. And that the new manger should be judged against that achievement. As we're seeing, take Mane, Pelle & Big Vic out of Koemans side and we're bang average. To get a bang average squad to 8th is a ****ing decent performance, especially in your first season in British football. I don't think Koeman could do it, but we'll never know. It certainly doesn't look like the new bloke can, but it's early days. Maybe the hipsters fav Silva can, because Watford are pretty average as well. Of course if Silva gets Watford to 8th & a final, it'll be all "why didn't we get him" on here.

 

 

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Edited 10 September, 2017 by Lord Duckhunter

[Saint-Fred]

Where on earth did he say that Poch was a better manager?

 

You need to learn to read.

 

He said that to match Puel MP needs to finish 8th otherwise he has failed. Apparently points are irrelevant.

Therefore as Puel achieved more than Poch it must surely follow (using his arguments) that according to him Puel is better as he achieved the same position and a cup final.

[Saint-Fred]

Where have I said that Puel was a better manager. All I've ever said it that 8th & a cup final doesn't deserve the sack. And that the new manger should be judged against that achievement. As we're seeing, take Mane, Pelle & Big Vic out of Koemans side and we're bang average. To get a bang average squad to 8th is a ****ing decent performance, especially in your first season in British football. I don't think Koeman could do it, but we'll never know. It certainly doesn't look like the new bloke can, but it's early days. Maybe the hipsters fav Silva can, because Watford are pretty average as well. Of course if Silva gets Watford to 8th & a final, it'll be all "why didn't we get him" on here.

 

 

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Hold on..why isn't Puel better? He got to 8th and a cup final. Poch only got to 8th no cup final.

Who is the better manager then?

[Lord Duckhunter]

Hold on..why isn't Puel better? He got to 8th and a cup final. Poch only got to 8th no cup final.

Who is the better manager then?

 

Both did a bloody good job, considering they were new to English football. Poch has gone on to prove what a good manger he is, whereas Puel got the sack.

 

 

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[Forester]

Hold on..why isn't Puel better? He got to 8th and a cup final. Poch only got to 8th no cup final.

Who is the better manager then?

Saint Fred can you please engage with the obvious point that Puel also faced six games in Europe and an unblemished run all the way to Wembley where we were, in the day, hugely unlucky not to win. So he had a dozen games more than Poch or Pellegrino will face.

 

As I have said separately, given no league cup or European football, a significant uplift is expected by MP who now, following the Wolves debacle, has total focus throughout the week on coaching with no distractions. And a fully fit squad with three more additions than Puel had.

 

Only the most biased judge would not expect an uplift with that hugely helpful backdrop....let's see what MP is made of.

[Saint-Fred]

Saint Fred can you please engage with the obvious point that Puel also faced six games in Europe and an unblemished run all the way to Wembley where we were, in the day, hugely unlucky not to win. So he had a dozen games more than Poch or Pellegrino will face.

 

As I have said separately, given no league cup or European football, a significant uplift is expected by MP who now, following the Wolves debacle, has total focus throughout the week on coaching with no distractions. And a fully fit squad with three more additions than Puel had.

 

Only the most biased judge would not expect an uplift with that hugely helpful backdrop....let's see what MP is made of.

 

Lol even after he has left he still divides the fan base...that's Puels legacy!

 

MP might be absolutely rubbish for all we know...that doesn't make Puel any good though...that's the point.

 

The debate about Europe etc etc has been had over and over again..fact is he divided the fan base, alienated players and played the most boring football I have ever seen at st Mary's over a consistent period of time....

Not sure there is any point going over and over it yet The duck hunter keeps raising his name over and over and over and over and over....he needs to get over it..Puel is history.

[Saint-Fred]

Both did a bloody good job, considering they were new to English football. Poch has gone on to prove what a good manger he is, whereas Puel got the sack.

 

 

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And Reed deserves a lot of credit for making that decision!

[stevegrant]

Personally I don't think we have as bad a set of players as many on here think we do. However we do have a manager who hasn't figured out how to play them and has also inherited a confidence issue. I hope he doesn't stubbornly stick to 1 up front because IMO the goal drought will continue, we'll be in big trouble by Xmas and he'll probably get the push.

 

Everything must be focussed on scoring, I'll take shipping a few as long as we can get the goals flowing. We have (IMO) a potential international striker in Gabbi and a potential match winner (almost 20 goals for QPR) in Charlie so play them, not for a few minutes at the end of the game but for 6+ matches. They can't get match fit and figure each other out unless you play them. The mid needs to be set up to the forwards' strengths, drop the underperformers and use Tadic (in his correct position!!)\Long on the flanks to provide power, pace and guile. Plenty of service into the box and crosses.

 

Also dump the prima donnas, no one is too big a 'name' to drop. Bring in hungry players and send a message to the underperformers.

 

Trouble is does this manager have the balls and imagination to rip up this failied setup?

I agree that the squad of players, on an individual basis, is good enough. However, as a collective, there are some key attributes that we are sorely lacking. Most of them are athletic attributes rather than technical ones - on a technical level, I think we're pretty good.

 

The only position where we are genuinely weak, IMO, is goalkeeper. Forster hasn't been of the required standard for a year now, and for him to have been rewarded in the summer with a contract extension (when he already had 4 years remaining on his existing deal anyway) sends out the wrong message that we will still reward failure. It's a shame that the money went mental in the summer, as Pickford would have been a good (albeit not infallible, as his mistake for Spurs' first goal yesterday shows) young acquisition. Forster has had no genuine competition for his place in the team since he joined the club. That is not a healthy situation.

 

Defensively, I think we're fine. We have two international full-backs who, when they're on their game (Bertrand has been hit-and-miss for a while), are among the best in the league and suit the system we've played over the last 4-5 years very well. We'd have to pay big money to find better replacements for them. In the middle, assuming van Dijk gets his head straight and decides he's going to play football, we've got one of the best centre backs in the league. Hoedt has only played one game, looked alright yesterday, but can't really judge this early. Yoshida and Stephens are not of the same level as van Dijk, but have proven themselves largely dependable.

 

Midfield is where it starts to get a bit sticky. As I said above, individually, we have plenty of good players, but for whatever reason they just don't quite work together at the moment. For me, the main reason for that is that we don't have enough variety. When we had a front three of Pellè, Mané and Tadić, we ticked all bases - Pellè had strength and aerial ability, so if we needed to go long, we could do, if we wanted to put loads of crosses into the box, he'd get on the end of them; Mané had pace, a fair bit of strength, plus an unpredictable streak, which meant that defenders were always kept on their toes; Tadić had a great understanding with both of them, and could predict with a fair degree of certainty that one or both would make the run that would take advantage of the gap he could see and play the ball through. Without Pellè and Mané, we've lost so much creativity and variety. Tadić only really has Gabbiadini to look for, and while his movement is good, it's easy for defenders to track one runner as opposed to two or three. The midfielders we have just don't provide the forward movement to fill that hole.

 

Redmond is good on his day, but those are still frustratingly inconsistent, Boufal has all the talent but a distinct lack of decision-making awareness, and the pair of them plus Tadić are now guilty of slowing the play down when in attacking positions waiting for more support, only for that support never to materialise. Up front, Gabbiadini and Austin will score goals with the right service - they need pace around them in order to get that service. At the moment, whoever is playing up front for us gets left far too isolated because the midfield doesn't get close enough to provide any support.

 

There is a lack of pace throughout the side. Our full-backs are reasonably quick, but don't make the run beyond the opposing full-back often enough to take advantage of it. Hopefully Lemina offers us a bit of speed and strength through the middle, because while Romeu is reasonably strong, he's not very quick, and tends to render his skills less valuable in the second half of games with all the bookings he collects. As much as he deserved his Player of the Year award last season, Romeu's not as good at the physical stuff as Wanyama was (when he could be bothered), and he's not as intelligent on or off the ball as Schneiderlin was. If the club expected him to fulfil both roles simultaneously, they got it wrong.

[Saint_clark]

It's a shame we'll never know what Puel could have done with a second season. I said at the end of last year that I would have given him till January this season to see how his team and style developed, but that I would understand if the board sacked him...I still understand why but I can't help wondering if we made the wrong decision.

[CityRanger]

"When we had a front three of Pellè, Mané and Tadić, we ticked all bases"

 

Same as Ricky/JRod/Lallana. Power/pace/guile up front. Our winning formula.

We're completely missing the Ricky/Pelle figure now and the current pace/guile players are not as good as the ones we've sold.

[Dark Munster]

I agree that the squad of players, on an individual basis, is good enough. However, as a collective, there are some key attributes that we are sorely lacking. Most of them are athletic attributes rather than technical ones - on a technical level, I think we're pretty good.

 

The only position where we are genuinely weak, IMO, is goalkeeper. Forster hasn't been of the required standard for a year now, and for him to have been rewarded in the summer with a contract extension (when he already had 4 years remaining on his existing deal anyway) sends out the wrong message that we will still reward failure. It's a shame that the money went mental in the summer, as Pickford would have been a good (albeit not infallible, as his mistake for Spurs' first goal yesterday shows) young acquisition. Forster has had no genuine competition for his place in the team since he joined the club. That is not a healthy situation.

 

Defensively, I think we're fine. We have two international full-backs who, when they're on their game (Bertrand has been hit-and-miss for a while), are among the best in the league and suit the system we've played over the last 4-5 years very well. We'd have to pay big money to find better replacements for them. In the middle, assuming van Dijk gets his head straight and decides he's going to play football, we've got one of the best centre backs in the league. Hoedt has only played one game, looked alright yesterday, but can't really judge this early. Yoshida and Stephens are not of the same level as van Dijk, but have proven themselves largely dependable.

 

Midfield is where it starts to get a bit sticky. As I said above, individually, we have plenty of good players, but for whatever reason they just don't quite work together at the moment. For me, the main reason for that is that we don't have enough variety. When we had a front three of Pellè, Mané and Tadić, we ticked all bases - Pellè had strength and aerial ability, so if we needed to go long, we could do, if we wanted to put loads of crosses into the box, he'd get on the end of them; Mané had pace, a fair bit of strength, plus an unpredictable streak, which meant that defenders were always kept on their toes; Tadić had a great understanding with both of them, and could predict with a fair degree of certainty that one or both would make the run that would take advantage of the gap he could see and play the ball through. Without Pellè and Mané, we've lost so much creativity and variety. Tadić only really has Gabbiadini to look for, and while his movement is good, it's easy for defenders to track one runner as opposed to two or three. The midfielders we have just don't provide the forward movement to fill that hole.

 

Redmond is good on his day, but those are still frustratingly inconsistent, Boufal has all the talent but a distinct lack of decision-making awareness, and the pair of them plus Tadić are now guilty of slowing the play down when in attacking positions waiting for more support, only for that support never to materialise. Up front, Gabbiadini and Austin will score goals with the right service - they need pace around them in order to get that service. At the moment, whoever is playing up front for us gets left far too isolated because the midfield doesn't get close enough to provide any support.

 

There is a lack of pace throughout the side. Our full-backs are reasonably quick, but don't make the run beyond the opposing full-back often enough to take advantage of it. Hopefully Lemina offers us a bit of speed and strength through the middle, because while Romeu is reasonably strong, he's not very quick, and tends to render his skills less valuable in the second half of games with all the bookings he collects. As much as he deserved his Player of the Year award last season, Romeu's not as good at the physical stuff as Wanyama was (when he could be bothered), and he's not as intelligent on or off the ball as Schneiderlin was. If the club expected him to fulfil both roles simultaneously, they got it wrong.

Good summary.

[niceandfriendly]

Puel did a bloody good job

 

So it's true that ex-managers do still post on here. Bonjour Claude

 

That explains those on here who still defend JWP too. They're his family or school mates. Totally fair enough if you're related to Puel or Prowse that you'd want to stick up for them, that's called being a good friend and protecting your loved ones. But don't expect those of us who have no dog in the fight to say nice things about your boys when it's blatantly true that they did/are doing a horrific job at Southampton Football Club.

 

Just try not to take it personally, and hats off to you for defending the indefensible.

Edited 11 September, 2017 by niceandfriendly

[Fitzhugh Fella]

Good summary.

 

Yes Steve hit a lot of nails in that summary but I would point out that Lemina does not provide any pace. In fact at Huddersfield he looked very lacking in that department.

[SuperSAINT]

I agree that the squad of players, on an individual basis, is good enough. However, as a collective, there are some key attributes that we are sorely lacking. Most of them are athletic attributes rather than technical ones - on a technical level, I think we're pretty good.

 

The only position where we are genuinely weak, IMO, is goalkeeper. Forster hasn't been of the required standard for a year now, and for him to have been rewarded in the summer with a contract extension (when he already had 4 years remaining on his existing deal anyway) sends out the wrong message that we will still reward failure. It's a shame that the money went mental in the summer, as Pickford would have been a good (albeit not infallible, as his mistake for Spurs' first goal yesterday shows) young acquisition. Forster has had no genuine competition for his place in the team since he joined the club. That is not a healthy situation.

 

Defensively, I think we're fine. We have two international full-backs who, when they're on their game (Bertrand has been hit-and-miss for a while), are among the best in the league and suit the system we've played over the last 4-5 years very well. We'd have to pay big money to find better replacements for them. In the middle, assuming van Dijk gets his head straight and decides he's going to play football, we've got one of the best centre backs in the league. Hoedt has only played one game, looked alright yesterday, but can't really judge this early. Yoshida and Stephens are not of the same level as van Dijk, but have proven themselves largely dependable.

 

Midfield is where it starts to get a bit sticky. As I said above, individually, we have plenty of good players, but for whatever reason they just don't quite work together at the moment. For me, the main reason for that is that we don't have enough variety. When we had a front three of Pellè, Mané and Tadić, we ticked all bases - Pellè had strength and aerial ability, so if we needed to go long, we could do, if we wanted to put loads of crosses into the box, he'd get on the end of them; Mané had pace, a fair bit of strength, plus an unpredictable streak, which meant that defenders were always kept on their toes; Tadić had a great understanding with both of them, and could predict with a fair degree of certainty that one or both would make the run that would take advantage of the gap he could see and play the ball through. Without Pellè and Mané, we've lost so much creativity and variety. Tadić only really has Gabbiadini to look for, and while his movement is good, it's easy for defenders to track one runner as opposed to two or three. The midfielders we have just don't provide the forward movement to fill that hole.

 

Redmond is good on his day, but those are still frustratingly inconsistent, Boufal has all the talent but a distinct lack of decision-making awareness, and the pair of them plus Tadić are now guilty of slowing the play down when in attacking positions waiting for more support, only for that support never to materialise. Up front, Gabbiadini and Austin will score goals with the right service - they need pace around them in order to get that service. At the moment, whoever is playing up front for us gets left far too isolated because the midfield doesn't get close enough to provide any support.

 

There is a lack of pace throughout the side. Our full-backs are reasonably quick, but don't make the run beyond the opposing full-back often enough to take advantage of it. Hopefully Lemina offers us a bit of speed and strength through the middle, because while Romeu is reasonably strong, he's not very quick, and tends to render his skills less valuable in the second half of games with all the bookings he collects. As much as he deserved his Player of the Year award last season, Romeu's not as good at the physical stuff as Wanyama was (when he could be bothered), and he's not as intelligent on or off the ball as Schneiderlin was. If the club expected him to fulfil both roles simultaneously, they got it wrong.

 

Great summing up of our situation.

 

The crux of it is that our recruitment has let us down.

[Roo1976]

And now we aren't? We changed manager but the results and style is the same the squad is poor I think in time people will realise Puel did a decent job getting 8th and a cup final with this squad. I'm not convinced MoPe is going to do any better even given he has had better support in the transfer market and no Europe to deal with.

 

Hey im as passionate a Saints fan as you get.Being a fan since 1965 when my uncles took me Saints one week Basingstoke the next thats how it was im not convinced with the depth of our squad either. We needed to hit the ground running and as yet ive not seen anything that suggests we have a new manager and a new sense of being any different than what passed as football last season. Our run in this season is very very tough and if were in the mire with 6-7 games left then its squeeky bum time .We now have to hope Januarys transferes are what we need .Lets face it VVD is off to play champions league football with who ever and then the big question lies will we still have the same desire to win.

[mrfahaji]

I am not turning on the manager. Yet. But I am holding him accountable for one of the worst Saints performances I have seen since Branfoot days in terms of playing style. Much of today was aimlessly hoofing the ball forward and surrendering possession.

 

I have much bigger concerns though having been at all five games so far, and having been at something like forty games last season. There was a pattern and purpose to Puel. Frequently dull at home, but not always. Generally good away. So far this season we have won one game of the five against ten men through a stoppage time penalty. We were outplayed in second half by 10 man Wet Spam, outplayed by Wolves reserves, outplayed first half by Udders and bullied all game today. We are yet to face anyone who finished below us, and have used up three home games already.

 

I can see no pattern or plan, lower levels of workrate and a disturbing inability to change anything. I have supported every manager since and including Pardew and if you check my posts history you will see I am usually a "happy clapper". But this is truly dire to watch, and we are in a relation battle unless there are fundamental changes to the way we are approaching games.

 

The manager has been brought in on big money, we have paid compensation to get rid of a manager who took us to Wembley unbeaten and finished eight with approximately a dozen more games to play than MP has to face now. He now has week in week out uninterrupted coaching time. Let's see what he is made of.

 

Funny you say this, I commented on Saturday that it was the worst home Premier League performance I recall seeing since 0-2 at home to Arsenal under Stuart Gray. I figured I was probably forgetting quite a lot of other terrible matches, and ultimately Arsenal were quite good back then, but it still says something.

[stevegrant]

Yes Steve hit a lot of nails in that summary but I would point out that Lemina does not provide any pace. In fact at Huddersfield he looked very lacking in that department.

I'm generally reluctant to rely on the strength of one game to form an opinion one way or the other - Huddersfield did a LOT of running in the first hour of the game at their place, so perhaps them getting past him was a fitness/energy thing rather than an actual lack of pace. He certainly got past West Ham's midfield well enough on his debut, but their midfield looks even more pedestrian than ours...

[SKD]

Both did a bloody good job, considering they were new to English football. Poch has gone on to prove what a good manger he is, whereas Puel got the sack.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

You seem to continue to ignore the fact that he lost the dressing room.

 

I don't think anyone believes he was sacked on the basis of finishing 8th, that by itself represents a good season. However, the players didn't want to play for him. The board wanted him to change tactics and we were pretty much in free fall since the cup final.

 

Puel had to go. I've no doubt we would be in the same position as we are if he had stayed.

 

If we have a poor season this year, that is down to Reed not appointing the right man (personally I think we should have gone for Silva and Saturday demonstrated to me why) and Wilson not signing the right players. IMO of course.

[doddisalegend]

You seem to continue to ignore the fact that he lost the dressing room.

 

I don't think anyone believes he was sacked on the basis of finishing 8th, that by itself represents a good season. However, the players didn't want to play for him. The board wanted him to change tactics and we were pretty much in free fall since the cup final.

 

Puel had to go. I've no doubt we would be in the same position as we are if he had stayed.

 

If we have a poor season this year, that is down to Reed not appointing the right man (personally I think we should have gone for Silva and Saturday demonstrated to me why) and Wilson not signing the right players. IMO of course.

 

So what is the players excuse this season? Has MoPe lost the dressing room already? the players got given a new manager yet they actually seem to be worse this season than last.

[Heisenberg]

Could take a while for the damage Puel done to be squeezed out of the club and players.

 

Still feels like the hangover from the failed Puel era is affecting the club, players and fans.

 

Could take months

[Ultimatt]

You seem to continue to ignore the fact that he lost the dressing room.

 

How much of that was down to Fonte acting like a prat from day one? Fonte had a whole lot of sway in that dressing room and Puel had to deal with his childish behaviour through no fault of his own.