Supersubpuckett

http://www.griffinpark.org/forums/showthread.php?t=131090 mixed views on him from their forum - talks of a clear out at the top....sounds familiar......but then others think he's decent and is open and honest with the fans.

we have become the saints of the 90s - except they had a bit of character and identity

shearer williams vvd lallana

in ralphs first interview he talked about how we needed to live within our means (or words to that effect) - that tells us all we need to know about the direction of the club from that point. Trouble is it's an ever decreasing circle when all other clubs are investing TV money to grow and improve. In the context of current popular opinion this is a bit left field but I wonder if les has been shafted by ralph as well. The way he has seemingly disappeared whilst ralph steps forward could suggest that les isn't supportive of the way the club is now being run and has been told to tow the line. What if les wanted to get rid of mope much earlier but wasn't allowed to? Puts ralphs interview back in Jan into a very different light.

current first XI suggests our summer recruitment wasn't very well judged - aside from Ings they were either on the bench or not even in the stadium

Player for player we're at least as good as Bournemouth, yet they're outperforming us many times over - the manager is responsible for setting up the team and motivating them to play. At any level of football the manager makes a big difference to what happens on the pitch. Question is how much longer do we accept the 'building the team' argument (as suggested by Ings during his sky interview earlier today) versus the view that hughes is not getting the best out of the squad?

0-4 They're better than us in every position and hazard will have our defence spinning before giroud beats the cb's to every cross

and the former has lead to the latter - thats the irony

I often wonder if Puel was sacked because of poor ST sales in the weeks leading up to the sale and therefore impacting price and negotiating power, rather than because of the poor quality football. As countless commentators said at the time, we looked daft getting rid of a bloke who got us 8th and a cup final (even more so given his success, to date, with leicester). That decision also seems to go against the clubs usual approach which is to be resolute on sticking with what hey believe is the right person or plan and not giving in to fan forum demands. You could add to that hanging on to VVD to maximise value. Saints of previous years would have stuck with Puel, sold VVD, reinvested and then gone from there - #wemarchon as the mountee used to say. The actual result was we ended up with a disgruntled player, possibly the worst manager we've ever had and the start of a seemingly rapid decline whilst I'm sure the board walked away with a rather fat cheque.

This

same rubbish different manager the problem is the quality of our squad i even had a palace supporting mate tell me last night that we don't have any standout players anymore and we're too easy to play

we will get well and truly hammered, anything from 4-0 upwards depending on how bothered they are hoedt and vestergaard play like they've spent the afternoon in an amsterdam cafe

club just can't win with some maybe see it as an opportunity to get cheaper tickets if you know a ST holder, who will get a free burger, in the danger the ground will have more fans in attendance to support the team who might therefore have a better chance of winning

puckett late(ish) winner v norwich '84 wallace bicycle kick v liverpool '84 lambert for his hattrick v notts forest '12 jrod for 3-1 v liverpool '14 gabbi v manu '17

got to the point where I expect us to lose every game, feels like the 90s again 3-0 palace

Anyone who manages people knows that the performance of a team is greatly influenced by the manager. Jose showed this the best in his second spell at chelsea, finishing well outside the top 6 with a title winning squad. Look what Puel did to our 6th place squad or how Poch transformed us when he arrived. Titles are won by high quality teams with high quality managers, where one of the biggest challenges is to turn all those names and egos into a close knit unit who work well together. I reckon any of those mentioned would at least get us into the top 10.

13th ahead of bompey, brighton, wolves, fulham, hudds, watford and cardiff

easy one - attack teams have been happy to push up on us as they know we don't pose much of a threat. with better firepower we would also take the pressure off our defence

Think it might finally be Liverpool's season to win it City, Utd and Chelsea other Top 4 positions Arsenal and Spurs next 2 Bournemouth, Cardiff and Hudds to go down We'll finish 12th to 15th

ordered mine last sunday and it arrived in store yesterday. I would imagine they're making their way through the backlog of orders they know that can fulfill.

two shirts, £48, lovely the club will be mighty p1ssed off at under armour for letting this happen......especially following the kit leak......

no thanks. we don't need another injury prone striker.

Indeed - file wherever you like

Heard it too many times from different places to ignore. His general absence with only the odd appearance in the background makes me think it's true. The way Ralph has stepped in to take on some of his duties and then Les not being the one to welcome new players backs it up even further. My guess is Ralph pinned last seasons **** up on him due to persisting with MP and convincing the club he will come good, diverting the reason for poor morale and performances on VVD and then backing the signing of Carillo. Also heard Hughes wouldn't sign up if Les had anything to do with players and the team. All makes sense to me - seen it loads it the corporate world - but just my view.

Les in on garden leave - he'll be gone soon.