Oldandtired

Very pleased with the win but for me the game just underlined the fact that we must get a halfway decent injury free new striker in January.

Just curious, what's happened to him! Haven't seen him mentioned or anything for awhile now, is he injured, dead,, emigrated, retired, what have you?

It could well be imaginationbut I think the difference was that Bree’s corner was almost driven in rather than lofted, which seem to be the trademark of Mannings corners. They just give the defence time to think about what they’re going do and react, corners don’t seem to have given us the advantages they should have done.

I enjoyed that. I always think that players need game time and remain convinced that the likes of Edozie, Aribo and Mara will provide us with plenty of entertainment if given that. Tbh, without the penalty miss and some top class saves from their keeper it could have been 7, all in all a very satisfying watch.

Point of the game is not to be top of the stats when it comes to number of passes 10 yards either side of the halfway line it's to be top of the stats for banging the bag of wind into that funny little rectangular thing with the net behind it. The current manager does not seem to be able to grasp that and so I fear will condemn us, as has been said above, to become that mediocre championship team at best or even a slide down into the next league below us waving to the neighbours as they pass us on the way up.

Papering over the cracks, which are massive.

GB beaten to his left again, and for me anyway quite a soft one he should have stopped. I really do think he is significantly weaker on that side.

After just watching the latest var fiasco in the Palace v Liverpool game….PL? No thanks.

At the moment i'd rather see Mara come on as sub than Adams who's just not doing it and has not been for a while. He's the one I'd move on.

After the last few weeks when VAR has been the main talking point in a lot of high profile games, well, that is one reason I don’t miss the prem. I honestly think because maybe teams are quite evenly matched, and the pressure not to lose is more intense a lot of the football I’ve watched on tv has been frankly turgid and boring. I’ll admit that for the first time in many years I’m watching live football at St. Mary’s having bought a season ticket (really good value for us old people this season) so perhaps that is a factor but I just find it more exciting, more flowing and veryinvolving in the championship. For or against, good or bad, a goal is a goal, offside is offside, you can celebrate or vent immediately without it being diluted by the interminable wait to see if the player’s big toe was offside. Also, being someone who remembers when a tackle could be full blooded, such a change to see refs seemingly letting perhaps more robust play go unchallenged. Will I celebrate if we go up? Of course, but I will fondly remember the enjoyment I’m getting being in this league.

I, along with others, can andprobably will pontificate on the minutiae of this game. But the bottom line is I enjoyed it and that's what I pay my money for.

Just imagine, we're playing that badly yet still 5th... So according to your assessment of the way we're playing atm if we play even half way decently we should walk this league.

Can’t afford stake, spent it all on a season ticket……😎

It sounds like what you have in common with RM is to be happy with achieving a mid table finish as long as you are top of the number of 5 yard backwards passes table. How can one enjoy the principles etc. when those criteria aren’t delivering consistent enough results. If/ when they do start delivering those results and we are in a better position in the table then I’ll enjoy them…at the moment they are patently not good enough and do not do justice to the talent of the squad.

RM does not have a planB. I wonder if the board have a plan B when we reach the new year and are still wallowing in the depths of the Championship. They have proved they are not dynamic owners, seemingly not doing a lot to arrest the slide into mediocrity. We have a squad that is more than capable of doing well, you can see that in all too rare flashes so far, when they play a more simple, dare I say direct, style of football and yet I feel, as do most I think, we are being hamstrung by RM’s wannabe Barcelona/Man City tactics. Despite what I’ve said above about the squad they are not at that level and neither is the manager. Surely someone at board level must see what is going on and has to turn round to the manager and say it’s not good enough? Still a long way to go but one would hope that it’s not enough to wander through games, a win here and there, draw a few, get slaughtered now and then, finish up 14th and pat ourselves on the back that we made more passes than anyone else in the league? (Unfortunately as I write this I’m reminded that this manager’s previous triumphs were 10th and 15th in this league so as I said before it could be said that he is performing to his level) I’m sorry, but something has to give before we become lost in the dross of the also rans who inhabit the lower echelons of the EFL.

Did not see that coming. I was a bit nervous in the second half when we reverted to type or rather reverted to the type of football that has badly let us down on occasion this season. I thought Bednarek was excellent, perhaps the championship is his level. And I also thought that Stuart Armstrong had a really good solid game although no one else seems to agree as I haven't seen his name mentioned yet. All in all I enjoyed it, and a good solid base to build on. Let's hope RM adds to it from here on in. I also agree that the referee had an off day but for me one thing I enjoy about the championship is quite simply no VAR.

Apparently RM ‘believes the owners understand the situation’. https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/23811065.russell-martin-believes-southampton-bosses-understand-situation/ If they understand that playing this type of football this season will be a write off, and are prepared to accept that, well, words fail me. He must be one smooth talking con man.

If we stick with Martin I'm not even sure that we will be playing in this division next year, and not in a good way. Still I suppose the plus side to that will be a couple of local derbies with the noisy neighbours to look forward to... if of course we're not changing places with them.

This, for me, is it in a nutshell. The players bought in were bought because they had certain strengths, expressing themselves, creative, defensively sound, whatever. It seems to me that this manager has taken all of these strengths, tossed them out of the window and told the players to play in a way that is probably alien to most of them. It’s like telling me, as a right handed person, to do everything with my left hand and do it better than everyone around me. It’s not gonna work. I believe our squad should be strong enough to be up there challenging for the top spots. I also unfortunately believe that I’ve seen enough of this manager and his way of playing to know that’s not going to happen. I would love to be wrong but…..

Thank you for the replies, interesting reading. As I said in the op I don’t really know what the complete answer is, especially in the short term, but just hope that there has got to be something soon…please!

We all have our theories on what is wrong with the club atm, RM out etc but I was wondering what peoples' theories on what can be done to sort it out, preferably by next Saturday? I have to admit I wouldn't have a clue where to start apart from reverting to what old people like myself call 'normal' football,just wondering what others ideas are.

This manager, having previously achieved 15th and tenth in the same division as we are in now, is basically fulfilling his potential and performing at the level he is used to. What I cannot for the life of me understand is how he managed to convince the owners that he could deliver a brand of football which could see us promoted out of this division. The football he insists on is sterile, lacking in guile, imagination, entertainment and end result delivery. I thought, despite the result, it was even worse against Ipswich than it was against Leicester, Ipswich being simply a well organised hard working team that had us in their pockets for most of the night. Tuesday, apart from the usual first 15 minute huff and puff flattering to deceive runaround, was about the worst I’ve seen from a Southampton team in many a year, and yet the manager thinks we’re making progress. Either I need multiple visits to Specsavers or he is an arrogant, deluded twat.

The most one dimensional team set upI’ve seen in a long time. Plan A doesn’t work, on to plan B….oh hang on a mo there is no plan B. Neither Leicester, Sunderland or Ipswich particularly good, just well organised and capable of switching it up when necessary. We are not.

I think I’ve noticed that he seems to be a lot weaker on his left side than his right. Maybe it’s just that where we sit is on his left when at our end, but I am convinced that he lets in more this side than the other. Disclaimer….I am not on medication and only drink tea at St. Mary’s…….

I was going to have a bit of a moan about the team and the manager but after reading this it’s just not important. I really hope you can find peace and solace in memories of the time you spent together.