qwertyell

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

Pretty inept all round. An amateurish shambles in the first half, and then, after we'd looked bright for 15 minutes of the second half, Hughes killed all momentum with his substitutions. We barely touched the ball afterwards. At least Ings got something out of the game: a goal, and Pickford making the first incisions on getting his tramp stamp removed. I really don't know where we are - more worryingly, I don't think Hughes does either. I suspect it's going to be another bleak season of struggle. Not many early promising signs. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Be fair - he did take us from 17th to 17th. It was a statue-worthy achievement that surely no mere human could've pulled off. Those 2 wins in 8 games were fully deserving of a 3 year contract. Probably longer. A lifetime appointment, perhaps. He single handedly SAVED us from finishing in any other position than the one we were already in. (I'd have thanked him for his bare-minimum service and brought in a proper manager in the summer, but the majority view here seems to be that Mark Hughes is pretty much as good as it gets for a club of our standing and ambition. So, I guess we should strap ourselves in and enjoy the ride/death spiral.) Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Not sure he's got the mobility for midfield, from what I've seen. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Hughes has been in charge for 11 games. Hoedt has started and completed 90 minutes in all 11. If that's not the definition of a guaranteed starter, what the hell is? Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

"Guaranteed starters" McCarthy Cedric Bertrand Hoedt Romeu Austin (Based on Hughes's 11 games in charge) Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Gallagher didn't make the final 18, but he was definitely involved with the match day squad - there's pictures of him on their pre-match walkabout. Didn't see Long. I'd find it hard to believe Yoshi would get all Billy big potatoes, but he's the only member of the squad who returned from the WC with an improved reputation (a la Fonte). Does Bednarek, having played all three games at the WC, now think he's a bit more important than the guy who spent three quarters of last season playing for the u23s? Obviously the most believable malcontent would be Cedric, having been mysteriously absent all preseason and one of our few saleable assets. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Charlie "guaranteed goals" Austin has featured in 10 of Hughes's 11 games in charge (7 X starts). Charlie "15-20 goals per season if he can stay fit" Austin has scored one in his last ten games - as a sub. Extremely limited tap in merchants aren't much use in a struggling side that doesn't create many tap ins. He literally contributes nothing else. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

I thought he was excellent - Leicester's best player in the first half. I assume the only reason he was subbed after an hour is because he's way behind in match fitness having joined Leicester a month ago with his knee still in a brace after surgery. He certainly didn't deserve to come off while the appalling Iheanacho played the 90 minutes. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Leicester look very handy. No negative Puel-ball. An equaliser wouldn't be undeserved. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Are we actually spending a club record £20m next summer on a guy with breadstick knees, who will only have one year left on his contract? When we could only sell Clyne to Liverpool for £10m because he only had one year left on his contract? When we could only sell Wanyama for £10m because he only had one year left on his contract? Are we honestly spending full whack on a player who has scored 3 goals in 3 years, going into the final year of his contract? Wow. Just when you think Saints couldn't possibly do worse business, they keep on surprising you. I mean, it's not like I'm paying for it, so I suppose I shouldn't care. But the knock on effect of splurging a huge chunk of next summer's transfer budget on Danny fricking Ings is likely to hamper attempts to strengthen an already weak squad. Wonder if that means our first signing in the Championship could technically be a £20m striker. A sign of intent, I guess... Good luck to Ings. Hope it all works out. I think it's a terrible panic move - Liverpool fans say his pace has been badly affected by his knee injuries, and that was pretty much his main asset. But, hey, it might be a ranging success. Anything's possible, I suppose. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Newcastle predictably couldn't get a work permit for him. Suggests our alleged interest wasn't ever realistic. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Classic FM tactic. But does Reed have Adaptability of >15? Glad we're not running the club like a bunch of virgins playing on their dad's computer. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

It isn't the going rate, that just happens to be his release clause (everyone in Spain has one, some more unreasonably priced than others). As Bilbao know Chelsea are in no position to negotiate due to the urgency of the situation, it's simply a case of paying the full whack or missing out. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Interested to see how things play out this week for a bunch of talented youngsters who CDAJFU but are likely to be frozen out this season at their bigger clubs: Loftus-Cheek, Tammy Abraham, Kurt Zouma, Patrick Roberts. It'd be nice to think we're at least "monitoring" these things... Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk