Professor

Maybe Koeman's ambition is to replicate the 6th place that Saints got when he was here so he's hoping to buy as many of the team that did it as possible. Just a bit surprised at the negative posts about Forster as the defence definitely improved after he returned from injury last year, which many people attributed to the back four having more confidence in him than in Stekelenburg. There was also the Arsenal game where he kept them out virtually single-handed. Something has gone wrong but no one seems to know the cause. It doesn't seem possible that he's become a poor keeper for no good reason.

Or if the first goal had not been incorrectly disallowed.

I'd have given Ibrahimovic another three match ban for the blatant cheating in order to get a player sent off by dropping to the ground when he was pushed in the chest by Surman. If the card was just for the push, huge numbers of players should be booked or sent off for pushing each other after incidents. I don't believe the ref would have punished Surman if the cheat hadn't pretended to fall over. It would be worrying if a ref tried to avoid the publicity from dealing with a household name compared to punishing your average player.

Does anyone think Reed might be regretting the signing of Boufal? Taking on an injured player was a risk but since he became fit enough to play, he hasn't had the impact that might have been expected given the substantial fee. Technically a very gifted player but hasn't produced much in terms of output so far. The revelation last night about his attitude problem in the u-23 game was a surprise. Does anyone think the club might try to get their money back? On the other hand, would he now command the same fee?

I can only speak for ourselves but in August, my group all felt he only had one more season in him at best and then didn't perform to expectation anyway. Whether he was losing form due to age, or playing below his ability, either way he had no future here and it looked like he'd gone down the pecking order in the side. As has been said, the fee that was obtained was remarkable for a player with a limited future. As for Fonte having a financial motive to move, with income tax at 45% I'm not sure a 20% pay-rise for a millionaire makes that much difference but perhaps he was looking to extend his career, which I'm not sure SFC were prepared to do. If he did play badly against Chelsea, I take no pleasure in that. He was great for us but sadly all football careers have a limited shelf life.

I can't see our current defence preventing Tottenham from scoring so for me its a question of whether we can score as many or more than they do. I don't rule out the possibility so I think we are in with a chance as we do have match winners in the squad, not just Gabbiadini but also Redmond, Tadic and Boufal. Just wish they didn't have to look over their shoulder and see Jack Stephens where Virgil Van Djik should be. If Puel can become confident in Caceres between now and the Spurs game, that could make the difference but it depends on how the player looks in training.

As people have probably seen, JWP is reported on the OS as saying that the 'system is suiting us' and that the change of system is coming to fruition. Is this the change of system fans were told about at he beginning off the season, or other changes in the system that might have happened more recently? Is Redmond still being used as striker, a role that didn't seem to produce many goals, or is he now being used as a winger again, from where he's just scored his first two goals for a long time. I accept that the position a particular player is in may not be change of system but just a change o personnel with the system staying the same but is it that the 'system' is coming good or that team selection is more stable and that some of the players are performing better. No question that Gabbiadini is performing better in the striker role than the players who were there before him but I don't think anyone would claim that the current CB pairing is better than it was before Christmas. It seems to me that we lost far too many games after Christmas against teams we should have beaten to claim there has been a turn around because of the manager's system. Two wins against bottom of the table sides and a win by the odd goal in 7 against a mid-table side is still sparse evidence. It could be that we have just gained another Lambert and that other players are performing better. If we win or draw against Tottenham, I will feel differently, and to be fair, even if we lose at Tottenham, if that were to down to defensive failures it might still be possible to see that we are playing better, as we did at Wembley despite the result. For me, I'm still unsure about Puel as manager, much as I like what I see of his character, and at present I would rate both of our previous managers above him.

While we were playing twice a week, I've defended Puel over squad rotation and his substitutions but I'm beginning to lose faith in him. Thought today's substitutions were wrong in who he took of and in the timing, just as they were at Wembley. For the defence to let in 3 goals against a mid-table side isn't good enough and just because the forwards scored 4 doesn't mean the failings should be overlooked. Stephens has had his chance with a run of games and doesn't look up to this standard. Since Puel claimed that Caceres was looking good in training, how is it he hasn't been given at least half a game to see how he gets on? Unfortunately, I can't see any club coming in to poach this manager so we are probably stuck with him unless things get really bad. Doesn't mean I'm not grateful for the three points but only improving the GD by 1 feels like a lost opportunity.

I was as grateful as anyone else for the rescue job by Marcus and Cortese but do I wish the same could have been done by English investors? That has to be a 'Yes'. I worry that in the long run the use of what were once English football clubs to create the international football league that the Premier League has become will gradually erode the connection of clubs with their home town area. It would be interesting to know how many of the Saints' fans at Wembley lived or had lived, in Southampton or Hampshire, compared to Man U fans connections to Manchester. Ours a lot more, I think. At one time, that game could have been seen as a contest between Hampshire's best against Lancashire's best but these days it could described as Swiss owners v American owners or Portuguese manager against French manager. There's no going back and I'm sure Ralph Kruger knows that to compete now, the club has to increase its commercial revenue in order to spend more on the team without contravening the FFP rules. I'm told that Brighton & Hove Albion are owned by a Brighton fan. In the past that was common, for example, Jack Hayward at Wolves, Jack Walker at Blackburn, Elton John at Watford and others. But those days have gone and if Brighton get to the Premier League, I wonder how long it will be before their ownership changes. If China is the country where Southampton can raise its commercial income, then Chinese investment makes sense but let's not pretend this is English football.

Liked the comments showing that the present situation isn't good enough, especially like what Old Nick said about there being no apology. Perhaps someone in the know will tell us if officials are even allowed to say sorry. Do we know if there are any sanctions against bad refereeing other than what games they get selected for. If officials did have to make public apologies for obvious, game-changing, errors, maybe that would be a deterrent causing them to take more care. I agree that if this had been the other way around and it had been a United goal that was disallowed, the media would be all over it now.

In January, when his team lost 2-1 at Hull, Jose Mourinho claimed that the real score was 1-1 because he considered one Hull goal to be illegitimate. Legitimacy of goals was, of course, an issue in the EFL final after which Mourinho was reported as saying that the game should have gone into extra time. Although he was saying that a draw would have been a fair result he only talked about it being unfortunate that the 3rd Man U goal came too late in the game for a Southampton reply. What he failed to admit was the real reason there should have been extra time; that Southampton had scored three legitimate goals, with one wrongly disallowed. The issue here isn't about a manager's view but how it is that the officials can make catastrophic errors in a cup final and nothing can be done about it. After teams have fought their way through a knock-out competition it really isn't acceptable for the final outcome to be decided on a linesman's error. In this case, an error magnified by the failure of the referee to see the mistake his assistant had made. Claude Puel has suggested video technology and even though there might be issues about having to pause the game, perhaps that is a worthwhile price to reduce bad decisions. But perhaps the authorities should consider games being replayed where officials have made a game-changing error or failed to spot cheating that changed the outcome of the game. After the EFL final was so comprehensively affected by the incorrect disallowing of a perfectly good goal, we have been told we should just accept it. I'm sure a lot of people feel that's not good enough. We shouldn't have to accept that a whole competition and a club's participation in European competition next season, can be decided by an official's error. It should be possible for something to be done about it.

No doubt in my mind about the mistake by the assistant who possibly couldn't see Gabbiadini and thought it was Bertrand, who was in an offside position, who scored the goal but it's surprising that the Ref didn't see the error and over-rule the assistant. Video technology would change the nature of the game entirely because so many decisions would have to be referred that matches would become very disjointed. The problem we have is that if a decision is found to be wrong after the game, as this one was, it's too late to change the result, so instead the football authorities don't allow officials to admit to the errors. Maybe they are right, because to publicly admit mistakes after the game would inflame the supporters of the wronged team. But do we know whether the officials are taken to task at all for their mistakes, because if they are not, what incentive is there for them to do better next time? It's a cruel game. We know we were the better team and we could easily have won by 2 or 3 clear goals but only the result will appear in the record books. Perhaps the consolation is that it is only a game so does it really matter that much in the great scheme of things? Of course, if you wanted us to play in Europe again next year, it does matter but maybe we will have a better season concentrating on the league and aiming for top 4.

The high level of interest in the CB situation is shown by the number of pages in this thread. The club has found itself in a most unusual situation. After having a settled CB pairing, one of them effectively forced a transfer by deciding not to play for the team any more; then an opponent’s dirty play caused an injury putting the other out of the team for months. For these two events to occur so close together and at a difficult time of the year was extremely unfortunate. There is still one reliable CB in Yoshida but most people would agree that for different reasons, neither Stephens nor Gardos are yet ready to be a confident selection alongside a CB who was himself still third choice, as recently as last season. With this predicament arising during the January transfer window when clubs are known to be reluctant to sell a quality CB, it has been fascinating to see if the club could find a solution. We have the suspense of waiting to see if they have pulled a rabbit out of the hat with the Caceres signing. The pessimists have warned that a player can’t be expected to play at the top level after an enforced year out of the game and others have suggested that Caceres might return just as good a player as he ever was. With the squad in Spain for a week and no opportunity to see how he performs on the pitch, we fans are hardly in a position to have an informed opinion. What we do know is that until this time last year Caceres was a top quality defender who would probably have been out of our reach financially and that he is at an age when CBs are at their peak, expecting several more seasons in the game. What we don’t know is how well he has recovered from the injury that resulted in him being out of contract and we only have his word that he feels very fit. Fortunately, the week in Spain has come at precisely the right moment. The club’s medical and physiotherapy staff can oversee the steps needed to increase the player’s fitness while the manager and the coaches have the opportunity to assess his ability on the field. A week of close contact with the squad will enable him to get to know his teammates more rapidly than if they were here in Southampton. At the end of this, it will be for the manager to decide if Caceres is ready to play a part next Saturday but as fans, we can be sure that Claude Puel has the experience to make that judgement and he will have the information on which to make it. In the meantime, it remains fun to speculate but guesswork won’t affect the facts on the ground.

Cynical sniping at a good player is rather puerile. Injuries aren't self-inflicted and players don't deliberately slow down their recovery. To imply otherwise is rather silly. Boufal took more than one heavy knock during the West Ham game and because of injury, had to be subbed about half way through the second half. Technically gifted players like him are prone to being kicked by opponents who can't handle them and some become frustrated in trying. George Best suffered the same problems over being kicked off the pitch at times but people had more sense than to blame him for being too good a player. And, Yes. I did see George Best play - against Saints.

Have been looking into this and I don't have a lot of confidence in this signing happening, or even if it would strengthen the team. Caceres' current whereabouts is uncertain. If it is true that the death of his brother has caused him to travel back to Uruguay, he could be away for a week or more added to which he would need clearance to enter the UK and a work permit. In the meantime, the story has arisen about former club Barca needing defensive cover for an injury and like SFC, only having the free agent list available. So, even if the Saints' recruitment team do want him, it might not happen soon and it might not happen at all. Then there is the question of how badly SFC want him. Having been out of the game for 12 months must raise serious doubts about how well he could now perform and how long it would take to get him match fit. One person who claims to know about these things has suggested that even if he is over the injury, getting match fit could take as much as six weeks. That seems to remove any prospect of him signing and appearing in the EFL final. What about the alternatives? The current CB pairing is Yoshiba and Stephens. Yoshi has been first choice to partner VVD for most of this season so his place is secure. Together with Stephens the two of them have last week's clean sheet to look back on. As third choice CB, Gardos is back to match fitness and as a former international CB should be as good, if not better than Caceres, to compete for the second spot. It could be argued that without Caceres we are still one CB short from the ideal number of 4 prem quality players in this position, meaning we could have to go to the development squad, or play a full back out of position. IMHO - the club may well try to sign Caceres but if they do, he could be 4th choice and would only get a first team opportunity if circumstances made it necessary.

Perfectly entitled to an opinion but the evidence isn't so strong when you analyse why players and managers left. MoPo went for a 'Big' club, Koeman for 'Big' money; Of the players mentioned, would there really still be place in the team for Lovren, Chambers, Lambert, and Pelle? As for Fonte, he was losing his place, partly through age but probably also affected by his desire to move on before his career ended. Morgan's transfer was disappointment to him, Shaw hasn't done as well as expected although partly due to injury and perhaps a manager who doesn't seem to rate him. Alderweireld wasn't actually contracted to Saints and Mane had made clear his determination to move to a 'Big' club as had Wanyama, Lallana and Clyne. Players are free not to sign contracts if they think they can earn more elsewhere, and that, I'm afraid is the real world ever since Johnny Haynes stopped players being slaves. It is true that Les Reed has failed to turn Southampton into a Liverpool, Tottenham or Manchester United but why don't those who complain, explain how that can be done? After all, it only needs money, as Chelsea and Man City have shown. Tell us what Reed should have done to get our owner to spend her money in the way that Abramovich has done.

Sunderland also had a 4-0 win away from home, last week at Palace while we were losing 3-1 at home to WHU. Anyone who draws conclusions about whether a team is 'good' or 'poor' on the basis of individual results can't have been following football for very long.

Interested to see the discussion but it does show that almost all the positions in anyone's 'best XI' are interchangeable. This could confirm Claude's comment some months ago indicating that he has 'important' players but he doesn't know his 'First XI'.

Hindsight is so wonderful. Must pass the secret onto Les Reed so he can use it. If anyone was clever enough to know that VVD would not only be injured but he'd be out for 2-3 months, why wasn't the club warned?

Seems there are a few people on here who don't understand what it is to be a football club supporter. It means you SUPPORT your club. Sniping and criticising isn't supporting, especially when its by people with no experience of running a professional football club or managing a top level team. Constructive criticism is another matter but anyone doing that needs some experience to base it on. In any case, it's unlikely the club management read this forum to get tips on how to do their jobs. The best thing fans can do is get behind the people running the club and behind the team by making their support clear.

Whether Fonte's sale could have been postponed to the close season, I don't know. I expect the club had to consider whether he would have performed to standard or whether his value would have deteriorated but in letting him go, it seemed reasonable to assume that the coaching team were confident in Stephens and/or Gardos stepping into the gap. But then we heard that attempts were made in the window to bring in a loan CB. That seems to raise a valid question as to whether the sale of Fonte was resisted as strongly as it might have been.

If Fonte no longer wants to play for Southampton it makes sense to get what fee is possible before he leaves for nothing at the end of his contract. Already, he is not the player he was a year ago which may be a combination of age and lack of commitment following the Man U rumour. Players come and go, but Saints go marching on. To me, it feels that it is time for Fonte to go.

First of all, this is a reminder of the barrier in football between players who are good enough to earn a living in the lower leagues and those who can make it at the top level. Dom Gape is reported to be an all-round sportsman of high quality and he has done well during his development in the Academy but like many before him, the coaches must believe that his ability falls short of what is needed to make a premier league player. The club doesn't always get it right and there are some ex-Saints youth players who have gone on to do well elsewhere but even if that doesn't happen for Gape, he is still doing a job that many lads his age can only dream of. We should wish him every success. Secondly, this also shows how well the young players are performing who the coaches rate as good enough to play for the first team. Stephens, Reed and Sims all played with Gape in the development squad and whereas he's had to settle for a football league club, they still have the opportunity to take make their careers at the higher level.

I would expect our club only to sign a player if he is the best available for the right price in a position that needs to be filled. That a player has previously been at this club features no where in that consideration. I find it odd that some fans want to re-sign a player just because he's played here before. As for Schneiderlin, Southampton coached him to international standard and paved the way for him to play for France but he didn't want to play for us in 2014 and when he left in 2015 he was putting money above his future as a footballer. He's 27 now, and almost certainly not the player he was when he was here.

It's been good for me to be reminded how little I know about which players justify a place in the squad and selection for the team. Seeing games on TV or on line and at St Mary's when I can, is far short of what's needed to assess a player's technical ability, form and fitness level. Even if I was at every training session, whereas in fact I'm at none, the fact I'm a fan and I can only have an amateur's opinion. I was one of those behaving as if I know more than I do by suggesting that Shane Long and JRod were no longer worth persevering with and both should be replaced in the January window. JRod has shown that a quality player can replay the faith shown in him by the manager and the coaches because even when a player has all the skill and fitness needed, he also needs something that coaching can't provide and that is a fair share of luck. Mané needed faith to be shown in him when he was in his goal drought last season. Sunday's goals will have done wonders for Jay's confidence and I can see the same thing happening for Shane as Puel continues to give him opportunities through the rotation policy. It is still the case that, as an amateur, my opinion means nothing but my personal preference has changed and I now hope the club do not use the, often unreliable, January window to add to the squad but that they persevere with JRod, Long, Redmond, Boufal and Tadic up front knowing that Sims and Hesketh are ready as well.