qwertyell

It's a clean sheet and a point - better than leaving another weekend empty handed. Another chapter in Stephens' curate's egg of a career. I think he's played in most of our best defensive performances in the last 18 months - and our worst. Perhaps it doesn't all come down to one man. Anyway, he was solid, calm, very good. Hoedt wasn't bad either. We weren't much cop on the ball, but still managed to foul up a couple of scrappy chances, which could've made the day a sight better. Austin was, unsurprisingly, a wheezing carthorse up front, but I am a little worried about Ings' mobility. Pre back-to-back knee operations, his game was all about pace in behind, but his movement looks quite laboured to me. Where are the goals coming from? Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Very low quality game, but we've looked fairly untroubled - not that we've troubled Bournemouth going the other way. Think we can nick this. 'Mouth have got their traditional south coast derby jitters again. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Not at all. He's decent with his feet, but he's not much of a keeper. Poor handling and gets beaten by so many shots that are nowhere near the corners of the net because he's short with no great spring. Sadly, his current rivals for the number one spot are all quite poor on the ball and Southgate doesn't appear to be prepared to compromise on the need for his keeper to be an auxiliary outfielder. But, hey, it was still a good win for England. Joe Gomez is a real star in the making. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

13 points from 18 games. 3 wins. How long is long enough to know that a manager's not going to turn things around? We've got plenty of problems at the recruitment and board level, but there's precious little sign of the management and coaching rising above the malaise and dragging the team forward. Who could have imagined the reign of Mark Hughes would be so grim and helpless...? Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

1-0 drubbing so far. Chelsea should've had two penalties and look like they've got two or three more gears up their sleeve if required. Ings absolutely Shlonging a sitter from our only attack was a killer. But while it's still only one, there's always a chance we can nick something from this. The gulf in class is pretty grim, though. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Inexplicably vacated his position to engage Barkley in midfield. Poor decision. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

But some managers are able to do a bit more with an average squad than simply live down to expectations with a shrug. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Stoke shipping seven at Man City last season didn't seem to help Hughes figure out that his defence needed a rethink. Maybe he's just not a very good manager. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

I imagine there were higher quality games played this weekend in league two. Hoof! Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

11 more minutes of valuable game time... Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Tottenham again can't cope with the high press - Poch's own tactical quirk being used against him, and better. Spurs desperately needed to freshen up their midfield in the summer. They've got no mobility at all. Dembele's legs have gone, Dier's a carthorse. Even their full backs - once a vital attacking weapon in their armoury - have slowed and can't move the ball forwards under pressure. Very ordinary. I think they'll finish fifth this season. That being said, Liverpool looked scary and I'm not looking forward to our team of plodders trying to keep pace with them. Could be ugly. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Peak Shearer over Harry Kane any day of the week. In today's market, he'd be worth more. I think people underestimate how immense he was for a time, before injuries slowed him down. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Neil Madison shinned a half volley goalwards from around the penalty spot against Sheffield United. I was perfectly positioned in line to see it was a goal from the moment the ball sliced off his sock. Instinctively, I rushed to exclaim this incoming goal while the ball was en route, only to choke on a recently gorged mouthful of hamburger and spend the ensuing celebrations being horribly sick. I think it was Brantfoot era and we all protested the useless donkey after the game. Even those of us with puke on our shoes. Good times. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Next to "defender"? Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

I'm sure there's an element of that. Burnley - and in particular Dyche's - whole schtick has been the chippy underdogs, fighting against an imagined footballing world that is against them because they're not rich/fashionable/pretty/foreign enough. They're succeeding against huge odds stacked against them, hugely motivated by the desire to prove every imagined detractor wrong. When you finish seventh and qualify for Europe, and people start complimenting you, it's a bit hard to keep up that mentality and image. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

They'll be okay now they're out of Europe. They just didn't have the squad to cope with the extra workload. It happens to most of the smaller teams who qualify for Europe for the first time. They'll grind out a couple of hideously ugly results and be away. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Well done. Wasn't pretty, felt like a late-season six-pointer, but we dug it out. I think most us have felt that Lemina and Hojbjerg should work as a partnership - mobile, lots of energy, defend and break - but for whatever reason it's never quite clicked. It certainly did today - aside from the three points, that was the major positive moving forwards, I thought. Credit to McCarthy for some decent saves, though he had two air punches at crosses that Benteke failed to capitalise on, so it wasn't a perfect day at the office. Didn't think much of Austin's 30 minutes off the bench. Even discounting the fluffed penalty, he contributed nothing. But that's a problem for another day. Today we won a game. And it's nice and sunny. Good times. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Talk all you like about our centre back options - we've got no-one nearly as bad as Martin Kelly. How he still gets a gig as a PL football is one of life's great mysteries. Let's not sit on this and try and keep what we have - go get a second and kill it off. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Low quality game between pretty poor sides, but we've certainly been the better team - albeit with no cutting edge. Palace with Zaha look potentially top 10, but without him they're potentially relegation fodder. It's amazing just how dependant they are on one player. This one feels like a scrappy 1-0 either way. Let's hope it's to the team in, erm, yellow, blue, red and black (kit looks rubbish). Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

This is the same manager who watched his England side get outplayed for 70 minutes against Croatia after they made a tactical switch and swamped the midfield 5 vs 3, and turned to his trusted allies on the bench and said: "Welp, I'm all out of ideas. Plan A has fallen. We've lost the midfield. It's only a matter of time before we go under... But maybe if we do nothing and wish really hard it'll all just work itself out somehow... Yeah. Come on everyone, join hands. Sing along. You know the tune. It's coming home... That's some damned good managering, Gazza. Nailed it. Hey, how's my waistcoat looking?" I think England are in for a rude awakening long-term under Southgate's watch. They fluked their way to a world cup semi playing John Beck era set-piece dependant football, utterly inflexible tactically if their opponents were remotely competent. He's a jolly nice guy, but not much of a manager, IMO. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

I think Flannigan can be a very decent lower league footballer - if only his knees hold out. Hesketh is 22 going on 12. Smaller players than him have succeeded, but he seems seriously hampered by his lack of physicality - at least in the games I've seen. It's a great pity as he's got an eye for a pass. Hopefully a season of men's football can bring him on. Good luck to the pair of them. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

The sad thing is, I thought Leicester were terrible on the day - and we still couldn't win. 11 games (2 wins, 9 points) into the reign of the mighty Mark Hughes, he hasn't got a clue of his best team or the right tactical approach for our resources. The omens aren't great. When you've got no injuries, have spent £50m on the squad in the summer, and three games into the season Shane Long's starting, you know things are looking seriously bleak. Hojbjerg's blatant dive should be rightfully condemned by the manager (though history suggests he'll blame the officials as usual). A rotten day at the office. Again. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Probably should be leading, but no cutting edge up front as per usual. Worth noting that three games into the season, with a full, expensively assembled squad to choose from, a side whom many of our supporters think is easily top ten and the people who run our club talk up as European contenders, is starting Shane Long. On purpose. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

He's played Hoedt in all 13 games he's been in charge. First name on the team sheet. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

After a full preseason (and before that a 10 game try before you buy period), 2 games into this season he's already tried 4 different formations. Kind of suggests he hasn't got a clue what players he's got or a particular plan in mind to build our season upon, which is extremely worrying. Some might say unprofessional. Even the very best managers - of which Mark Hughes is certainly not - can't wing it week in week out. I've never been convinced he was particularly good and I've seen nothing in his time with us to suggest otherwise. What I am sure of is that he's got no history of bringing young players through - so we've seemingly abandoned the "Southampton Way" to accommodate him, just like we've abandoned the style of football preached at all levels of the club for the first team. For Mark Hughes. Not Pep Guardiola. Hell, the club even grumbled when Koeman - the best manager we've ever had in the Premier League - dabbled with three at the back and was dismissive of our youth players. But for the mighty Mark Hughes, we're happy to throw away all our previously held principles. In Hughes we trust. For some reason. It's weird. You'll struggle to find supporters of any club who rate him as a manager - certainly not those who've had the pleasure of seeing him manage their clubs. Yet here he is, guiding us... somewhere probably bleak. A three year contract for taking us from 17th to 17th on the back of 2 unconvincing wins in 8 seems as generous an offer as Forster's five year extension for becoming unselectable. Obviously, I hope to be proven spectacularly wrong as he leads us to a solid season of promising progress. But I'm not betting the house on it. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk