Verbal Kint

I'd have liked to see a fully fit Rodriguez getting a run as the lone centre forward, but we've never had the chance

Agree with this. Maybe it's time to give JWP a couple of games on the right. The only thing he can do is cross the ball well, so maybe he'd be better out wide? Incredibly slow and will never beat a man, but might be worth a try. Wanyama should be dropped and Romeu given a few games to make an impression

Really think people are reacting to the scoreline rather than the performance. We've created loads of very good chances and dominated the game, we just haven't put them away. And that is compounded when we defend a corner as badly as that one

Exactly. Very good chances and failed to even work the keeper. Pathetic finishing

You won't create many better chances either. Absolute sitters

I think he should get more opportunities, but nobody can say we have had problems creating today. 5 or 6 absolute sitters missed. Can't afford to miss so many chances

Completely disagree. "Propaganda" possession football is the dullest to watch by far. Much rather watch teams that play with some tempo than a team that has 65% possession and 2 or 3 shots on target all game. Like us

The real point for me is that we've now got a few clubs of similar size to us (Palace, Stoke, Leicester) who appear to be prepared to pay much bigger wages. The Palace chairman confirmed recently that their wage bill has gone from 53 million up to 70 million this season, Leicester are prepared to offer 90k a week wages and Stoke are paying Shaqiri a fortune as well. I don't see them complaining about FFP restrictions like we do...

It has to be acknowledged though that this is a problem throughout the league, not just with us. Everton, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, City, United, S'land, Stoke, Villa etc. Atmospheres at all those grounds is abysmal for 99% of games. Football clubs are doing everything they can to drive away the very people that create the atmosphere. High ticket prices, bubble trips, antisocial kick off times, over zealous stewarding. The fewer ****ed up lads there are at games, the easier it is for them to police. Regarding Saints specifically, the days of us singing for current players should be over. We all know they don't give a **** about SFC, so the focus should be on songs about the club or on former legends, not on singing about the "mighty Kenyan" who would do anything he could to get a move away

Be completely honest, who do you think is more committed, as a point of principle, to bringing through young players and giving them their chance, Koeman or MP?

Probably someone we've never heard of, and I don't mind that. Just someone young and energetic who sees his job on the training pitch and not in the boardroom, and will get us playing with some tempo. The football under Koeman and MP at times has been so slow it could put you to sleep.

Agreed with both of those, particularly dropping Wanyama

Why would he want to join us? We can't offer him anything he doesn't already have

What nonsense. Can play at RB but not on the right side of the central defence? Utter rubbish. He was played because presumably we anticipated Benteke playing and wanted the physicality of Caulker over Yoshida

We won't miss a midfielder that can't pass forwards and whose second touch is a tackle

Didn't he blood Chambers? If I'm being honest I think if MP had still been here we would have seen a lot more of Reed and probably Gallagher as well. Not saying that's necessarily a good thing as they may not be good enough but I don't think Koeman is as committed as MP to giving young players opportunities

Forever a rat. Enjoy the £££

Agree with everything apart from us playing great attacking football under MP. That simply isn't true. We were good to watch when we didn't have the ball, but with it we played slow possession football and had many many games where we were toothless in the final third

Have another look at the defending for those goals and reevaluate that. The defending for every goal (except the third, which was a bit unlucky) was appalling

Including Koeman. Does anyone have a clue what formation we were playing in that second half or who was playing where? When Fonte isn't on the pitch you see the true character of this team, including a manager who laughs when shaking hands after his team have conceded 6

Pretty sure it was written in the context of 'if we're at our best' which we clearly aren't. The worst performance I can remember from us in a long time

I think he will. I get the impression that's why Koeman openly said Caulker will start, I.e. He's fourth choice CB but Fonte is injured and we need Yoshida at RB. Hope I'm wrong obviously

I thought the whole point of having a transfer committee was to avoid signings like this. It doesn't matter how much he earns, he goes into the same bracket as Gaston and Osvaldo as signings made without being approved or suggested by the scouting teams

I think he was quite picky last summer in who he was prepared to join. He didn't want to go to a club that would potentially be in a relegation battle and yet he didn't want to sit on the bench somewhere. That leaves very few clubs that would have been possible for him. I'd be very surprised if he left in January, he only has to wait 6 months and that 8 million that would go to QPR in January will be going into his bank account in July (or at least a considerable chunk of it)

Stoke (wollscheid/muniesa) West Ham (Ogbonna/Collins) Everton (Funes Mori) I could make cases for others but they wouldn't be as clear cut as the ones above