Dusic

Seri is 5'5 but definitely we are seemingly looking at midfielders. Ability to cover ground the key attribute for me. We have never replaced that since Schneiderlin and its Clasie's biggest weakness. Forward wise and probably from a non Saints perspective, but surely Iheanacho will be going somewhere in the summer, even if on loan. Ludicrous for someone of that potential to be a bit part player. He would start for most PL teams and in a whole season would be up amongst the top scorers IMO.

The plan b thing is such a talkSport level complaint. The fact he regularly switches between a back 4 and 5 clearly shows he is tactically flexible. The guy has done a remarkable job with Spurs, certainly compared to what some of the self styled super managers have delivered.

Obviously very important to the club to stay in the top division of PL2 as since the status became uncertain the team has been filled with more and more first team squad members, albeit with little success. Tonight we face Man City with Hassen, McQueen, Gardos, Pied, Targett, Reed, Austin and likely others who have featured in the first team setup this season. Big game. Bit embarassing for the Academy if we get relegated as well as being pretty dire in the U18 league too. Plus knock on impact that our young players and fringe squad members play poorer opposition next season. Hardly good prep for their first team chances.

Seems an odd time for a CEO to leave but he did a solid job steadying the ship. Best visible attribute is that he didn't say much publically but focused on good governance.

Pickford to Everton for £17m in the summer according to Sunderland media. Great signing at that price, will be a top GK for ages. No Forster to Everton now assuming this happens. We had better hope he sorts himself out as he will likely be here next season.

Hard to see it ending well. Would take American owners over Chinese, which says something.

Also said VVD's reps have been talking to other clubs with Saints' approval so there is little point in Puel, Reed, Krueger pretending publically that we are trying to keep him. Interesting it says we have asked about getting Ake or Christiansen permenently as part of the deal and Chelsea just said no, but there is potential for a loan. Surely we have a decent bargaining position but I guess if VVD has decided then in a way, we don't. Chelsea hold the cards if he wants to go there. Anything under a guarenteed £50m is poor.

Unless I am mistaken only one Kolpak player (Abbott) was in the side today, with Roussow and Edwards still injured.

Bit of a shame that everyone is resigned to losing our best player without a fight after less than two seasons and only a few months after signing a long term contract. We will still be fed the "no need to sell players" line but we all know he is going. Not saying we can keep him, just that its so BAU for us to sell so readily that nobody even thinks there is more than a 1% chance he will stay which is a bit demoralising after four summers in a row of this. I hope we do better than we did in hindsight for Mane. Is £50m really enough given the money available to these teams? He is probably the best CB in the league with no real downside or weakness.

Agree that largely its been fantastic, although not in terms of replacing Schneiderlin or Wanyama. Of our central midfield signings in the last 3 years only Romeu has impressed.

It was certainly better to watch, attacking teams with pressing, pace in certain areas, power...just like Spurs are dominating with now, albeit with lower league position due to having inferior players. Puel is taking away the good things we had in place, which Koeman adapted slightly. We are so lacking in any sort of physical power now, a massive reason we struggle to record wins.

Its pretty clear that he is a massive step down from Pochettino and Koeman. Not saying we would have got a Manager as good as either of those again, but for a PL club that finished 6th and has a good reputation, there must have been better candidates than Puel. He has lost what made us good, high tempo, pressing football playing to the strengths of the squad. Im not a major Puel out person, but I don't think he has done much this season to provide any sort of indication that he is capable in the long run of doing anywhere near the sort of job that our last three Managers have done. If he left this summer, very few people would be disappointed and actually it would be quite exciting which is a shame to say. Can you imagine the fans every singing about Puel? That probably speaks volumes.

Martina, Gardos, Gazzaniga, Long, Austin, Rodriguez, Clasie plus those OOC in (Caceres) and end of loan (Hassen). VVD and Bertrand will almost certainly go. Would obviously listen to offers for Forster should they arrive for some reason. Should fight to keep Cedric one more year. Would loan out Targett and Reed for the whole of next season to the Championship and then ultimately decide if they will ever be PL quality, assuming we stay up next season and don't need Championship players.

Spot on.

If it were true then it suggest KL is just looking to get rid of the club and isnt overly bothered who to, which would be a big concern. If these guys are the best thats on offer then thats a worry.

Woeful. Poor season, start of a decline that needs to be arrested in the summer. Team shape all wrong, no pressing, no shape in midfield. I wasn't a Puel out person but he has massively underachieved, no question. Compared to Pochettino and Koeman its hard to really see what he is trying to do with this team.

As anyone will have seen, our home record is very poor. Above the three relegation sides and not much else.

No Bertrand in the training pics. Sore throat maybe from a Claude throttle?

Tough to win with this bowling lineup!

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/news/15250041.Lander_set_for_Saints_takeover_meeting/?ref=rss Lander by far the most advanced deal according to Adam Leitch.

Bif of concern that KL would have even entertained this group really. Crossroads summer on and off the pitch, seems fairly likely that last May was our peak.

Agree with both. The second is a big problem since we lost VVD. Last season we had Fonte, VVD, Wanyama and often Pelle. Now Romeu is the only strong player we have. Need rectifying. Would add a third - severe lack of mobility in the centre of midfield making us easy to counter attack.

Souness nailed it just now: "Southampton are a great watch but they are easy to play against".

Frustrating game because as good as Chelsea were, we threw it away ourselves. We played tidily, passed the ball well and for a 20min spell were the better side. However... Biggest issues: 1. Defence bullied today. Poor defending from set plays, crap clearances and generally always looked like they could run through us. We bring so much pressure on ourselves. 2. So open to being counter attacked due to lack of midfield legs and only one player in the team who tackles. Must address this in the summer. 3. The whole way we play. Its great when we are good, but its probably the toughest way to win points. We have to play really well to win and generally cut teams open to score goals, albeit todays was cheap. We work the ball wide really well but don't have strikers that thrive off aerial crosses. 4. We are probably the nicest team to face. Lots of tidy players, very few powerful players, very few niggly players. Not many who win headers and tackles.

Everton crowned U23 Champions tonight. Hopefully Saints can stay up so our young players play against better players otherwise might need to ship a few more out on loan.