Dusic

IMO Tadic has been quite decent of late, considering the quality of the players he is linking up with. As a creative player he is better than anything the other relegation candidates have. We don't have better players than him who aren't playing, despite how much some fans love to slag him off, which is the easy option because of the type of player he is.

We aren't going to be dropping Carrillo. The key is can we get players closer to him without losing total control of the midfield? On the handful of occassions that we have had two strikers this season (for more than 5 or 10mins) we have arguably been worse than with one striker - simply because we lose control in the middle and never have the ball. Hencw why the only teams in the PL who use two strikers are either the very best teams like City and Spurs (if Alli counts as a second striker) or the dross who are happy to have 30% possession and play direct, which isn't Saints' game. The weakest part of our game is that we have no wide players who are a goalthreat, hence why the signing of Walcott, Promes or similar was utterly vital in the cluster**** of a January window.

How many good chances has he made for himself through good movement?

What an absolute **** up this window was. Crazy and if we get relegated its mostly down to this.

Good selection. Boufal has been injured and not exactly setting the world alight either. Redmond at least provides a bit of pace.

Genuinely think Gardos would have been behind some 17 year olds in the preference order. He hasn't played more than a couple of U23 games in a year and is finished at a good level. The incompetence is nothing to do with letting Gardos go, its not replacing VVD.

Yoshida out for 4-5 weeks. Down to Hoedt, Stephens and Bednarek as the only available CBs for a hugely key part of the season. Ludicrous.

Better than the teams around us, but weaker than for four season prior. At one stage under Koeman especially we had 4 or 5 players who we all thought were probably CL quality. We just sold the last one in January. Lots of average players in our squad though, should have a summer clearout.

Or a cup win. But if you had to choose betw...

Bransgrove saying today we are looking at overseas options. Surely an opener!

For the difference he would make, Kane. To watch a player of quality every week, David Silva.

Agree. He has always looked grumpy. Playing well of late and a very key player for us. Brilliant signing overall.

Reece Topley's Dad mentioned that Martin Guptil would be a great signing across all formats. Sounded like a suggestion rather than anything ITK. NZ don't play many tests, but Im not sure if he has been picked up by an IPL team. If not, its a great shout. Hanta havent been doing well in the Caribbean. Think Alsop has about 5 runs in his last 6 innings or something horrendous like that. Definitely need an opener. If we get one then on paper it looks a strong side.

I bet you lads were the ones who thought we got rid of Billy Sharp without giving him a chance? Britt Assombalonga cost £15m so not sure what you really expect us to find in the Championship or L1 that is cheap and anywhere near good enough? To me Carrillo is what I expected from watching a lot of YT videos. Adds a bit of presence and physicality that has already helped at set plays, but is essentially a penalty area striker. I will judge him once we have created a few clear chances for him, the kind Long fluffs on a regular basis before he is clapped off after yet another blank.

He also said before the game that players would only get game time if they had earned it, so Redmond obviously showing a bit more in training. I know there always has to be a scapegoat but the fans have ruined Redmond's confidence to a degree and I think he will want to leave in the summer regardless of what division we are in. Clearly there is talent there, and we don't have a player of his type apart from him, so for me he would be a starter most weeks til the end of the season and hopefully he can find some form.

Austin won't be up to speed much before the end of the season. I wouldn't rely on him.

Ridiculous. Its been the same with McCarthy. Keeper only does so much.

Summer of 2016 was the start, it all derives from there. Poor replacements for Koeman and Mane the biggest factor. Recruitment that summer was not of a team who just finished 6th in PL.

We won't be winning the FA Cup this season with the team we have, so the whole debate is a bit silly. Besides, surely better to win the cup and stay up - its not like its offered as a direct choice. Anyway, I think both full backs should be rested for this one - the backups are a big drop in class so we don't need them picking up an injury. Would play Carrillo to keep him adapting. Couple of bits to note: 1. If either us or Swansea get through then I think our league games gets postponed which would either be good or bad depending on our form in the next couple of league games. 2. Romeu is on 9 yellows I think. One more is a 2 game ban. Ideally if that involved next round of the cup it would be a bonus.

Pellegrino won't be sacked. They have had strong opportunities to do so before now, either before or during the Janaury window. He will stay til the end of the season.

Serious topic. At times this season we have played some nice football. Often not for 90mins and certainly not in regular spells through the season, but at times there has been some good stuff. I was thinking why that is and as a team what is different when we play well to when we are ****e. So, this for me are the signs of us playing well: 1. Full backs get forward and are a key feature of our attacking game. Example: Everton at home and most other games we have been a threat have coincided with Bertrand having good games and linking well with Tadic. IMO this partnership is our best attacking threat. 2. Bossing the centre of midfield. This allows us get the upper hand and enables the full backs to get forward. I think we are better when we have three players in this area. Whenever we have played two strikers we have lost control in this section of the pitch, negating the impact of having a second forward. Lemina's mobility helps us a lot. 3. Being given space to play in. We are much better generally against sides that give us space to play and want to attack themselves. Even Liverpool realised the best way to play against us was get people behind the ball and then counter us, as we are a slow side. Away from home we probably get more space and are more of a threat as a result. 4. Having a physical striker attacking the crosses we put in. Gabbi and Long barely get a look in inside the area because by far our weakest section of the pitch is the area from the D on the edge of the opposition area to just before the halfway line (the width of the penalty area. We have no creative passers or guile in that area and are better in wide areas, so strikers with aerial ability (Austin, Carrillo) will fare better. 5. Better when we have something to gain rather than something to defend. It lifts our tempo a little and guards against becoming too deep. Thoughts?

So today VVD strolled it whilst Hoedt and Stephens were given the runaround. CB is a big weakness for us. Money in the bank, (nor 5 pledges) help a team defend properly. From Fonte and VVD to Hoedt and Stephens is a very accurate summary of whats happened across the squad and management team in the last 18 months. Hoedt was a third choice at Lazio. Stephens a 4th at Saints and now we are reliant upon them in a relegation battle. Unforgiveable mismanagement.

We are so devoid of any pace its astonishing. We play some nice football but too often have to turn back. Pretty much the opposite is true of Liverpool who were lightyears quicker with and without the ball than us. We cannot pick a front three of Tadic, Carrillo and JWP at home. Redmond or Long will have to start to add some mobility. Boufal absolutely ****e in his cameo, quite a regular occurence. Only solace is that we now have 5 winnable games in a row, and loads of ****e teams within a point of us. Need an absolute minmum of 8 points from those.

Swansea have confidence and a goodnrun of fixtures so don't see them dropping. Hopefully WBA get buried and Hudds continue their poor form. I think WBA, Hudds and either Palace or Newcastle, but could easily be us if we don't win 2 of our next 6.

We will definitely be relegated if we don't win at least 3 more.