Fabrice29

Right but it isn't 4 goals in 6.5 games, it's 4 goals this season. Which is pretty bad. Anyway, I like Jay, he's decent and getting better and better over the season and I much prefer him to Long who should be the one to leave IMO if anyone is but lets be real Jay hasn't been good enough this season really. Apart from goals he's offered very little at times and his general all round play has been poor. BUT...when he plays well, we play well and he and we have got better lately. He'll get his chances here the rest of the season and he's got obvious qualities but if we decide not to keep him around for next season then unless he's had a storming end to this season he cant complain. I dont think play central really suits him anyway but he's been poor at times and has struggled to hold the ball up and bring others in. He's got better recently though to be fair. Personally I see him as quite a good option for us, especially his ability to start wide and cut inside. Looks like this new guy is similar from the right as well. I wouldn't be shocked if we start to see movements back towards a slightly wider diamond with these two coming in from the wings and Boufal or Redmond dropped in behind. We certainly have versatility and a bit more dynamism now. However Jay has his Saints future in his hands, he has to perform, and he's just started to do that consistently so hopefully that will continue.

Is he?

I dont think their team in the league cup was stronger to be fair. That's debateable anyway. Point is, we've got 6 games in 3 days, Liverpool and United are the only clubs in a similar position. We've got injuries. We've got a league campaign to get back on track and we're in one final so they're a bigger priority than the FA Cup now, sorry but it is. The team picked was predictable (Apart from Isgrove), we've got to give ourselves the best opportunity for a win on Tuesday and risking the first team when we've got a young squad that needs that could do with the experience is madness.

Sorry but this is ********. Firstly the manager has rotated all season, we're in the middle of 3 games in 6 days and we've got quite a few injuries, what did you expect team selection wise? Isgrove aside the side was fine and predictable. No idea why he's still here, suspect he might not be in the next few days but him and maybe Gardos aside (oh and Lewis), the rest of the team are first team players now but can fully understand why we've not risked Maya and we don't have many other options going forward right now (Issue with the board not team selection). So yes we've got beat but there's logic in the team selection and you should have known that was likely when you bought your ticket if that's an issue for you. It's utter nonsense that they didn't "bother" tonight. We got beat by a better team, get over it, don't go to games against better sides if you don't like it as it's going to happen occasionally. I agree with your last line though, Tuesday is a big game.

You know that's a really **** protest don't you. Someone else just takes your place and nobody notices. Anyway, it's not £300 for one game. It's between £40 and £100 to those who go regularly (yes I know the allocation rules are controversial), like you decided not to.

No.

The fact that Puel had to ask who/what when Jagielka was mentioned to him pretty much relieves all fears I had of him signing.

Whilst I'd love an attacking midfielder, he wouldn't have anyone to play with. The lack of confidence yes, but I think it's a lack of confidence in the strikers personally. We get the ball wide, we don't cross it enough because the players dont have someone like Pelle to hit. The strikers routinely miss chances, good chances, have done all season, at some point the midfielders must get frustrated with that. Don't get me wrong, it's more than just a striker issue but someone to spearhead our attack with a presence, someone to drag defenders away, to occupy defenders, and someone clinical would be a huge asset. Right now the pressure is on the midfield and attacking midfielders to do it all and because they cant they lose confidence and start to play safe as you said. Boufal is a prime example, everytime he plays he's coming deep, getting the ball, looking up and has no option, so tries to beat a man too many. Tadic is a huge chance creator, one of the best in the league, but is getting worse every week becasue he's got no options. Redmond is so frustrating because he's trying too much. Like I said, the games our strikers have actually performed in this season we've won. Get a striker who performs more consistently and we'll win more games. I agree about the lack of imagination in the central midfield though, it's an issue but one in which has been covered up slightly the past couple of years through having good strikers who mask it and going a little long ball last season and by passing them. A really good one would be great but for me a striker is the major issue, right now it's like playing with 10 men (9 tonight I imagine), we really really need a spearhead in the attack.

No but they're hardly an option are they? Everytime the ball goes forward it comes back pretty quickly. I urge you to watch their game closesly. If the defence/midfield try to up the tempo, the ball is lost within 2-3 passes. They are not a threat. We've become easy to defend against because whichever one of those two play it's easy to nullify them. The midfield cant get close enough to them to become a threat because it's not being held up. We try to play our way through defences but it's difficult because defences drop deep knowing how little a threat Long and Rodriguez are. It's no surprise our biggest threat is down the wings from full backs or wingers taking players on because there is nothing threatening or imaginative about our strikers. If teams let the defence and deeper midfielders have the ball, they know they can keep a good shape and block off balls to Long/Rodriguez knowing if it does get to them they've hardly shown anything all season to be worried about. In fact the two times they have been good this season were recently against Bournemouth and Liverpool, not surprisingly two teams who came at us rather than sit back and not surprisingly two games we won. The sideways and backward passing is because they are devoid of options. A winger like Mane would help, someone capable of darting between players quickly and I think we lack something there for sure but ultimately not having a striker capable of bringing others into the game or keeping up with quick tempo is a huge hindrance to us right now.

The really **** front two we have I'd say.

Are Olomola and Barnes fit? Would love to see one of those start upfront tomorrow if it's not going to be Jay, couldn't do any worse than Long.

The only things that's changed is that probably for the first time in 6 years (?) we've made a bad call on recruitment. I can see why we made the call, Austin was set to take over as the main striker, Long had come off his best season and Rodriguez was fully fit and showed in the game before the transfer window closed he was able to score and even got VVD declaring he should be staying. Rodriguez was clearly set to be loaned out (his own words) and that goal changed everything, including getting a new striker I imagine. I'd be intrigued to know what happened to who ever that guy was, was it Heller? Did we annoy him and his people by pulling out and now are looking to explore their options before making a decision on their next move? It's a bad call. That's all. It SHOULD be sorted this month.

I think part of the problem with midfielders not getting in the box and assisting CAN go back to not having a good enough striker. A lot of the problems with us passing sideways etc is because we don't have a striker imposing enough to be able to get in the game. If we had a striker who gets involved in the game it would allow midfielders to get close to him and assists and goals will come. At the moment everytime our players get the ball, we're almost playing with 10 men. Yesterday and the Spurs game are classic examples. I'll take Spurs first. Against Spurs we were under so much pressure, we were absoloutely desperate for our striker to hold up the ball, win free kicks and/or bring others into the game. Everytime we cleared the ball or got hold of it, we'd lose it in 2 passes because Rodriguez was so non existent. He was better Vs Liverpool and got an assist and we created better chances. Yesterday everytime the ball goes to Long, he'd lose it. We're missing Pelle massively, although he wouldn't suit our system now, he would be capable of bringing others into the game and allowing the midfielders to get close to him and beyond. Right now the ball goes forward and before anyone can get up with it, it's back again. Liverpool and Bournemouth have been the two times our striker has actually performed recently (Without Austin) and they meant we got wins. A dynamic powerful striker is a must. It'll relieve pressure on the rest of the team, it'll make us less easy to defend against, it'll allow midfielders to get further up the field and it'll mean in dominant periods of games we can score goals and take games away from teams.

I think it's a good question and like you say it's been obvious for a while now we've needed a striker. I think the gamble was worth taking in the summer window to go with these 3 but it hasn't paid and it has to be addressed now. I think it would have been ideal to have it sorted for January 1st but I think the realistic answer is that strikers are harder to get in January. They're in demand and probably themselves and agents know that clubs will come to them late in January so they might be trying to hold out for a better deal. I don't know of any/many top strikers that have been signed so far in January and the last 10 days is probably where most business for strikers will be done. I think this is especially so for clubs like ourselves who aren't able to attract the players we want straight away like a top club would. We're also not West Ham for example who will literally take anything going at the moment. It's very frustrating as we need one so badly but I'm happy to give the board the benefit of the doubt until the end of the month, at that stage if we dont have one in, I'll be furious.

You said (And yes I've trawled through your posts) that we should spew the game because we have no chance of winning the competition and save ourselves for the Europa league game. I don't believe Puel has ever thought "lets spew this game". Spewing the game doesn't mean prioritising. I know I'd rather have someone rotating the team rather than spewing games. Stop trying to be clever and get yourself out of the hole your overreacting has got yourself in.

But it wouldn't be if you had your way because you wanted us knocked out before this? You don't need to trawl through your posts to know you've posted some utter drivel recently tbf. Any Saints fan wanting Saints to lose any game, whatever competition, shouldn't be turning up when they win and get a better game because of it and should also be ashamed of themselves. You're not a fan if you want us to lose a game. That's literally the essence of being a fan.

Totally agree about the pre match warms up though. The crossing exercise is awful. The rest of the post is bull**** tbf.

Really? For a while? Neither have been proflic in their careers.

Just out of interest which of this squad have scored just fine "for a while" prior to this season?

Fancy him to have a strong end to the season myself. Look forward to reminding you all of that later.

Well no because United quite clearly aren't interested. I'd suggest if people want ITK or correct info and an idea of what's been going on they might want to look back at some of my posts on this situation.

Would it be nice? Really? West Ham are currently being whoring themselves to the world in a proper desperate attempt to get a striker and are being rejected by every single one of them. Infact they've been doing it for well over a year now and they've ended up with some ****ing ****e they're still looking to replace up front as well as a joke reputation. So would it be nice if we did similar? Rather be desperate and quietly looking to get our business done rather than publicly being humiliated and desperate as well.

So far so good?

Where in the league were Villa this time last season? If we're comparing ourselves to Villa might as well do it properly. The board, Reed etc want success so if Black is an issue it will be dealt with. We're 10th in the league and have lost a few games in a row. We've played poorly at times, personally I'll put it down to a lack of a striker which can be resolved this month. Shows you how good we've had it and how far we've come that a few games defeat and people are in meltdown and think somethings wrong. Its a little bit of bad form. Get over yourselves you pathetic bunch of wet wipes. If we don't address the striker issue in January at least, then I think we can start criticising. If we do and it still isn't good enough then I think we can start criticising. Until then grow the **** up and appreciate where we are.

Seriously? And other than a good 6 months at Leeds and Swansea, what have they done to deserve that?