Professor

Listening to the audio commentary you could hear that a capable manager was making all the difference. Adam and Dave described the change of tactics and substitutions by Hodgson to which Pellegrino had no answer. Already by half-time the outcome was looking very predictable. It's almost too late to save the season because if the board hasn't already realised that a new manager has been needed for months, why should they realise it now?

Anyone sympathetic to this opinion should check on the Fair Play Rules. Limitation on spending is not a matter of choice.

It's surprising there are still fans who think owners can spend anything they like on players as long as they are rich enough. Spending more than you earn, in order to buy success, as done at Chelsea and Man City, was outlawed by 'Financial Fair Play' which why blaming the owners doesn't work. As it happens, NordicSaint hasn't chosen well to illustrate his argument because the total that Saints paid for the players mentioned (even allowing that Ward-Prowse was home-grown), was more than the total paid for the Leicester four. For clubs such as our that cannot spend unlimited sums, even if we do have wealthy owners, the real importance is how well the recruitment department is working finding players such as Vardy for Leicester, who cost them a maximum of £1.7m or Mane and others purchased for far less than their subsequent value.

Has looked a competent CB but is he still the £50m plus player people had come to think he was. Had we sold to Liverpool in the summer you have to wonder if he would be playing better. Could the problem motivation in a poorly performing team, despite him being reported as saying he's now committed to Saints? Problem for the club is that on one hand we have three other decent CBs, two full internationals and one under-21 international, so we could manage without him, but on the other hand, has VVD's value diminished to the point where he's no longer worth selling? I'm inclined to think the club will keep him in the hope that he will again hit the heights if the team around him begins to perform better. It would be shame to let him go for about £15m and then see his value escalate again.

At least one available manager will be going to WBA, possibly Allardyce, but the silver lining is that a Pulis has become available. Also, someone called Pardew apparently wants to return to the Premier League. Oh! and Koeman is a free agent. Seriously, Pellegrino not working out is no reason to think the club doesn’t have a potential target but I hope they don’t waste any more time.

When you are a Saints' fan in the 21st century you have accept that you are not following a club that can expect to win the Premier League or compete in the European Champions' League. That is not to say that by an odd quirk it couldn't happen on an isolated occasion, as shown by Leicester City in the same way that our FA Cup win of 1976 showed that a trophy can be gained against all the odds; but it cannot be expected. By all means, let the Board members hear the voices of the fans when things are not going well but at the same time, remember that this club is limited under Financial Fair Play rules in the resources it can apply to the team. Changing one or more member of the board will make no difference to the rules under which the club must operate. There is little doubt that most fans, myself included, believe that the appointment of Pellegrino has been a failure. That does not mean the Board should have anticipated that failure, any more than they should have anticipated the success of Pochettino, which then caused him to want to move on to higher things. Those who think that a different Director of Football would make a difference have lofty ambitions, but regretfully they are unattainable in the present climate. A huge amount has been achieved here over the last 5 or 6 years which indicates the club has been well run but we are faced with a growing problem on the playing side. We have the squad that we have and cannot suddenly add three or four top quality internationals because the rules would not permit it. The problem does seem to be with Pellegrino and his coaching team so it makes far more sense to encourage the board to do something about that instead of trying to undermine the board itself.

I’m in the Pellegrino Out camp but this is with hindsight. He looked a good prospect who could match what Pochettino had achieved. The usual suspects who like to blame everything on Les Reed ignore the facts as they were known when the appointment was made. It’s too easy to point a finger after seeing how things have worked out. BUT the test for Reed and Ralph is whether they are big enough to acknowledge that their expectations have not been met. They need to do so because waiting until the Championship is looming could be too late.

The result at Liverpool has been predictable for the last few weeks which is why it seemed pointless to lose more time and more points before facing up to reality. If the Board carry on like this until January we will be in, or close to, the bottom three. That might shake them into doing something but why wait until we are nearly over the cliff when you can already see the cliff edge approaching. Pellegrino can't resign for financial reasons, because he'd be breaking his contract and lose so much money. Tthe decision has to be with the club. Let's hope they have the strength of character to admit the appointment was a mistake.

We have the players who could draw or win at Liverpool but I doubt if the team tactics will take advantage of their strengths. For that reason I'm not at all confident of avoiding a defeat.

Seriously doubt a change of style is possible without changing the manager. Pellegrino doesn't need to told that it's results that matter so he must already be setting out with that objective. it hasn't worked despite the string of winnable games. We already have highly regarded players in every position so adding a couple more in January doesn't feel like the magic solution and by February relegation panic could have set in. Not easy for the board to admit they made the wrong appointment but turning things round is more important. Sooner the change is made, the more chance of stopping the rot.

At least one risk of sacking Pellgrino has gone with David Moyes appointed at West Ham.

My humble opinion of course, but a thoroughly pointless thread trying to whip up discontent against the Board member who has overseen our rise from L1. Reed has recruited players and managers who have been good enough to be coveted by others. For a club of our size it's inevitable that some will want to move on and short of bankrupting the club people can't be forced to renew contracts. While we've been sorry that many have used us to further their careers, the club has also benefitted from the profits that have gone back into squad building. WE currently have some exceptionally good players in the squad, many who could easily be playing for top 6 teams. The team appears to be failing because ball possession isn't creating enough scoring chances, chances are not being taken, or a combination of the two. Solving this is a matter for the coaching staff who need to decide whether the problem is with individual players or with overall tactics. One thing is certain, it isn't because the Board are instructing the manager or the players how to do their jobs. If a change of personnel is needed it will be at the coaching level, not at Board level.

Quite right. The two things are unrelated. The failure has been not making clear what it was about Puel's management that meant a change was needed.. He was sacked off a run of bad results, inability to score and boring football but Pellegrino is in the same rut. I'd be quite happy for e relegation avoiding manager like Allardyce because avoiding relegation is what we need to do. I'm convinced he'd do a better job than Pellegrino and wouldn't it make a nice change to have a manager who speaks English.

The team selection this week is difficult to predict with Lemina out and the pressure to start Boufal. Perhaps it’s an opportunity to use Davis in Lemina’s place and have Boufal for Davis. That would be minimal change which seems to be Pellgrino’s way.

Agree. Unlikely one moment of flair will cause a change of strategy. Pellegrino has said you can do things later in the game when opposing players are tiring which can’t do from the start. Best hope for Boufal is he might get on earlier in the second half. Last week’s starting XI made enough chances the odds being that some will start going in. Think we can assume that shooting practice features highly in training.

I don't think the fans would be responsible if there was time-wasting in a match 6 years ago when the managers were Nigel Adkins and Gus Poyet, not that it has any relevance today. As for Brighton fans being the worst in the country, how about Millwall? I'd have thought that Brighton's fans would be polite southerners, just like ours, only supporting a different team.

Lots of successful managers get sacked, even God's right-hand man, Mourinho. It suggests that football isn't at all good at assessing individual management abilities. We've often seen a manager get a promotion and then be sacked the following season, or win a title only to be kicked out of the door when results don't hold up. Ranieri is a prime example. If a manager is kept on after a poor season he's just as capable of turning things around as a new man, as Rafa Benitez seems to be doing at Newcastle. If Koeman wants another job, I'm sure he'll get one after the dust has settled although financially, he probably never needs to work again.

I've got sympathy for Koeman because it's just too easy to blame the coach when a team begins losing. It's a fact that three Prem clubs will be relegated regardless of how good the managers are because there are so many other factors. For example, against Arsenal, Everton were down to 10 men so it shouldn't have been a surprise that they lost, but you can't blame the manager for a player being sent off. Once the media see someone down, in goes the boot, such as a press report criticising Koeman for eating in a restaurant after the Arsenal game. According to the reporter he didn't just walk in but 'strolled in' and instead of a Greasy Spoon, he had the nerve to go somewhere clean, or 'plush', as it was described. What should he have done; gone home for beans on toast? We should beware how facts are slanted to affect opinion. A theme in some of the reports about his time at Everton is a few people questioning his commitment apparently because he might go home after work and sometimes would take a day off in the week. If similar comments had been made when he was at Southampton they'd have been against the background of a successful team which would have made all the difference. He's entitled to work less than 24/7 and to see each job as a step up the ladder to a national coach or a champions' League club. Progression is what most people look for in their careers but it doesn't go down well with football fans. We have a lifetime commitment to our club and quite irrationally, we expect the manager and the players to feel the same. We had our best recent seasons under Koeman which gave most of us a lot of fun and for that I think he still deserves our appreciation.

Sorry to see some people being vindictive to a manager who did a good job for us. It’s another example of the desperation in the Premier League because he didn’t go from being a good manager to a bad one in 18 months. It was money that turned his head and caused him to put a spin on his reason for going but there are few on here who would have turned down the offer he was made. It does seem that poor transfers are at the root of Everton’s problems but he won’t have been solely responsible for recruitment. Although we’d probably be better off if he’d stayed he is history now and there’s no place for him here now or in the future.

Brighton? No worries. Hardly matters what team we put out. We will walk this one.

Must just add another voice expressing distaste at Boufal’s behaviour after scoring. I’d pick him next week for the benefit of the team but with a warning about public disrespect and that a repeat would result in a fine.

Agree completely that the thigh grab was a penalty but can understand that the ref didn’t see it. What annoyed me was the MOTD commentator saying “no penalty” when the camera clearly showed the offence and the studio puppets failing to mention it either.

Absolutely. For those who want to see the team packed with strikers from the kick-off. Pelligrino has made the point that you can use subs to play differently as the opposition tires through the game.

Are people really serious that we should change the manager after 8 games because if that didn't make the players perform better we could finish up with 4 managers in the season.

Not sure what the Manager Out crew think a new manager could do that the current manager can't. If it's selection, tactics or match preparation that needs to change, Pellegrino could do that as well as anyone else. A new manager would come with his own weaknesses, for instance Sam Allardyce and Gordon Strachan are available but what makes anyone think someone like them would be any better. Pellegrino did make changes today, with two strikers, but the midfield didn't get the crosses into them. That's down to the players, not the manager.