James

Unreal that Costa didn't get booked for diving. They almost scored when Mason allowed them to play on in that phase instead of awarding us the free kick for the dive which would have been a complete travesty.

Palace were also dreadful when we played them away and Hull couldn't buy a win and they both beat us so not taking anything for granted. Certainly don't expect a 3 or 4 nil as Hull really aren't that bad these days. I expect us to win but I think it'll be close. 2-1 Saints I think.

If it is better for Stephens to gain experience than to play Caceres then why sign or pay him at all? If the logic is that we should be giving youngsters game time then surely Alfie Jones should be the replacement for Jack/Maya if they were to get injured? Unless, of course, the club actually worried we might get relegated when we brought Caceres in?

Thought we gave it a good go but ultimately you can't concede four goals away against the best team in the league and expect to get anything out of the game. An enjoyable enough game but it was, in my eyes, a bit of a procession for Chelsea in the second half but the last minute Bertrand goal gave the game a slightly fairer reflection (albeit at a time when Chelsea had almost completely switched off). I never really thought we were truly in the game as I expected Chelsea to click through the gears and go through us which ultimately they did. Souness made a good point in that we are easy on the eye but ultimately not too hard to play against. We aren't a very physical side and players like Davis and Stephens get outmuscled relatively easily by the top players. I can take losing and especially to a team like Chelsea but I thought that irrespective of how good they were we were pretty poor defensively - every time they came forward I thought that they were going to test us and with Fraser almost incapable of making saves we were always likely to be under a bit of pressure. The first goal especially was far far too easy for me. You can't give good players that much space. No disrespect to Maya and Stephens as I do think they've done a decent job in the circumstances but they just aren't good enough as a pair against top class players like Costa and Hazard (to be fair though, few can stop them when they are in the mood). We played some nice stuff going forward but we just aren't decisive enough and still don't take enough chances even with Gabbiadini. We can't expect him to score every game so we do need the others to chip in a bit more and I think we need to improve our finishing coaching ideally. I think this summer will be a bit of a cross roads for us because, although we as fans have been completely spoiled by our recent successes, it does feel as though we are on the decline. If we want to push on then we can't suffer another season of mass exodus and relatively slim investment - this season has shown how easy it is to get sucked in although thankfully we were never particularly close. We really have paid for a summer of poor business, the delay in getting Gabbi in (would have been excellent had he come in the summer and by all accounts we were in for him then as well) and the failure to replace Fonte once VVD was injured. If the club's ambition is to improve then we need to give Puel the tools he needs to make it work, at the moment he hasn't got them at the back and it really shows. Unfortunately I expect VVD and at least one significant other to leave (probably Cedric) so we'll have another grand redesign on our hands in defence at least.

Another poor performance. So weak in defence. Absolute procession for Chelsea but they are a top side and we are just nowhere near that level unfortunately.

Impossible to say without knowing what our window is going to look like. We could have a completely different team (especially defence) come the first game of next season. Assuming (and a big assumption) we have an ok window - top 8.

In my mind Koeman is the better of the two managers. However, he wouldn't sign a new contract and we had to get rid. I like Puel and I am interested to see what he can do with a full team next year. I fear that he will be totally undermined by another summer of sales and inadequate recruitment but that's another matter. I haven't been totally convinced by his tactics this season as we have played some pretty horrible stuff even with VVD and our top scorer Austin so don't see him as the 'world class manager' that many of the clappers do. I think he's a decent fit for us but I do slightly worry about squad morale as there have been rumblings of bust ups all season and Long's reaction on Saturday wasn't pretty at all.

Not good enough at the moment. Needs a big pre season.

Got to say manager got it wrong today.

Looked like a foul for the goal from where I was sitting but no mention of anything in the commentary.

He has looked ok in flashes. At the right price and with the right training you might be right but I haven't seen enough of him.

Would also take Ben Gibson from Boro but imagine he'll have bigger clubs after him.

I don't think that's right but perhaps one of the resident stattos can confirm.

Pickford and Siggo for me.

Doesn't sound to me as though we'll see Austin again this season.

Ah awesome, thanks.

Would be incredibly disappointing if he went to Everton. Fortunately I can't see them being able to afford him or him wanting to go there.

Great news. Where's that reported or are you ITK? If he's only returned today I'd imagine he will start on the bench on Saturday.

We've played some pretty amazing stuff this year when we've played well (Liverpool at home, United at wembley, Burnley at home to name a few). However, we've played some equally awful games (Palace away, Boro at home, WBA home). We do play with a good style when we play well but I've yet to see us dominate teams in the way that we managed to under Poch. Things are certainly looking positive though provided we get this summer's transfer window right.

I've never denied that, thanks for pointing it out again though. Think I've got the message now (finally).

No Gabbi in the training pictures is a shame. Fingers crossed he's back for Chelsea. Austin must be pretty close too? Must have been out over 4 months now...

No, I've understood it well thanks. Please see my link where it is compared to the injury that he suffered earlier in the season (albeit acknowledged as hopefully not being quite as severe). Thanks for the unnecessarily patronising response though.

I'd normally not respond but given you are such a pedant I will. Where in my post did I use it as a stick to beat the club with? Maybe you should read the whole of my post and try not to infer things that aren't in it. As to where I got the information from - I was merely using the public information available: Gabbiadini: http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/15167119.Saints_hopeful_on_Gabbiadini_injury/ also see Puel's comment after the game: https://southamptonfc.com/news/2017-03-20/claude-puel-manolo-gabbiadini-injury-post-tottenham-southampton ("I think and hope it is not bad") Kane: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/03/14/harry-kane-suffers-ankle-ligament-damage-huge-blow-tottenham/ (as reported at the time and confirmed by Spurs to be ankle ligament damage) And no, I'm not a doctor but I do think that the Spurs medical team have done well to get Kane back on the pitch within a month following an injury they considered to be "similar" to one which kept him out much longer earlier in the season. To reiterate - this is not a comment or slur against our medical staff or their quality.

I'm not drawing any conclusion between the two incidents. Just remarking upon how Spurs are lucky to have a key man back from what is usually perceived as a more serious injury and that it is perhaps unlucky that our key man has missed 3 games with what Puel described as a minor groin strain. Don't make any comment as to the quality of our medical team at all.

Don't really see how its 'bizarre or irrelevant' - just saying that Spurs have done well to get a player back onto the pitch in 3 weeks when the press reports stated he had ankle ligament damage (which on the whole tends to keep players out for significantly longer).