Charlie Wayman

How the hell did we throw that away. Charlie Austin should be shot for all the chances he had and couldn't convert. Only one team in it and they lost? This must be some horrible sort of nightmare.

He might have improved a bit since then ;-) Don't rule out three at the back in a 3-4-3

You really do have a downer on this lad don't you? Every one of our players has a stinker every third game or so and if you like to be realistic about our other midfielders. Prowse can't tackle to save his life and Holberg hits about 4 out of every 10 passes wildly. Clasie can tackle, and can hit accurate passes. He lacks stamina and maybe his effectiveness becomes less as the game moves on but there are plenty in that category including Tadic, Redmond and Austin that you seem to ignore, which is a main reason we find it so difficult to score from open play. May I respectfully suggest you stop demonising Clasie and study what he actually does during a match and then maybe you will understand why Puel and quite a few others on this forum do not agree with you and find your eternal carping about him irksome and mindless.

This is what happens when they ban alcohol, lots of noise from the fans and no queues in the Bog and great to have dry feet for once, what's not to like. The footie? Oh, we won that as well. Captain Marvel at it again, move over Fonte! Good to hear a bit of vocal supporting Yoshi, what a star that man is never complaining just doing what he is asked to do and doing it very well indeed. Loads of clubs would love to have him that's for sure. Can Bertie play right back and pair him with Super Sam on Sunday?

Be nice to have a decent stir fry before a match instead of crappy hot dogs. Surely all we cynics cannot have been right in the summer?

Neither Clasie or Hojberg are world class midfielders which is why they are playing for Saints and not Real Madrid. They both have good games and bad games as you would expect but a section of our so-called fans never have a good word to say about the Dutch lad whereas to them Hojberg can do no wrong. Very strange that Puel seems not to agree with them isn't it. In football people see only what they want to see.

Yep, noticed that as mentioned earlier. Also not all seemed well down there on the front bench. Dave Watson seemed to be ignored by Puel & Black, Dave is usually very active in the technical area but didn't show much at all yesterday whilst SG seemed to be calling the shots on subs as well. It was much the same the other night against the Wearsiders. Hope that's not trouble brewing.

Our lack of quality in depth is beginning to show but so to is the toll of three games every week which has defeated far better teams than us over the years. This has been the main reason for calls for a 16 club Premier League over the years so that our top clubs can compete competitions without being also-rans. Injuries are inevitable but it is difficult for any club let alone Saints to buy top quality players just to sit on the bench to cover injuries and the like. The challenge of course is not to spot our deficiencies - any old fool can do that - but to put them right and that is not easy at all. Puel only has the cards dealt him in his hands and can't work miracles with them. Maybe we'll see some Puel inspired moves in and out in January so that he has a few more players of his own choosing and style at his disposal.

Chelsea came with a game plan and executed it perfectly, get the early goal and then play nine behind the ball, absorb Saints attacks and hit us on the break for the second. We were second best today and never looked like breaking them down. Hands up, we were well beaten. I thought we looked jaded today as well, even during the warm up there was no zip and sharpness that usually tells you that we're up for it. We seemed not to be today. Puel was not really being honest with himself in the video interview, guess he hates losing but needs to be realistic, Chelsea have much better players than us with far more control and authority in possession. A wake up call to the whole Club really, we are good but not THAT good.

Is it too much to hope that we can get Morgan back in on loan in January from ManUre where he is ageing rapidly and going nowhere career-wise, what with our new French connection. I'm sure Puel will know him, maybe even discovered him and how about Eden Hazard as a long shot transfer target Monsieur since he was one of your lads.

Wanyama was never asked to play for Chelsea. Romeu looks to be rather special if he stays fit we have pulled off a massive coup... and... and he gives every impression of liking it at our Club, seems to be becoming the life and should of our party. Get him on a ten year contract Les! What a change from The Incredible Sulk.

Real dilemma for Puel, if he starts Bertrand he will have to allow for the possibility of him breaking down and McQueen coming on as sub yet ideally as he is allowed only three subs, he'll not want to waste one sub on a full back. Normally he would want to sub 2 strikers and a mid-fielder or two midfielders and a striker depending upon how the match is going. Don't be surprised if he feels it's a gamble not worth taking. Almost certainly he'll want to use Boufal and Hojberg (you know who I mean) at some stage in the second half and Rodrigues's pace up front. There's the dilemma, which option will he have to ditch if a plan A with Ryan fails. This one gives me a good feeling and sense we might even win at a canter... 3-1 for me.

Totally agree, very odd team selection for a man who claimed that the EFL Cup was important to him? What a squalid, bad tempered affair this turned out to be and it even Puel was moaning all night. Yoshi outstanding and a mature performance from Sam McQueen who looked every inch a regular PL footballer, his calmness and authority were unbelievable from a guy who has made only two starts - it seems we have ourselves a star in the making and on this showing will push Targets into third choice. Felt sorry for Stephens to be asked to play his first team debut in an unfamiliar position. He looked unsettled all night. Isgrove blew what may prove to have been his last chance. Pretty sure Rodrigues had concussion from his earlier head clash from reactions of medics on the touchline in front of me.

Strange thought to be having first thing in the morning, one can only wonder how empty your life is ;-) Who bothers to sing or chant anything except OWTS and "The referee's a tanker!" anyway.

Not sure that is entirely true as the top 8 right now are the usual top 8 suspects. Class shows even early on. Inconsistency plagued us under Koeman, good streaks followed by bad streaks but he usually managed to turn things around and it ended well. Everton will be there or thereabouts all season and a thorn in our sides.

Will be sad if fans don't bother to turn up this evening, Jose has sent out a rallying call so don't let our lads down people. 20k+ essential to show we care especially as 7K went to Milan the other night. No excuses acceptable!

Not sure the youngsters will have learned much from that one-sided encounter. Too many of our regular lads out on loan so club needs to sort out it's priorities, is this competition important to us or is it just a stepping stone for the better lads to gain match experience? Not much quality on show tonight in red & white, sadly.

There's always one berk on here having a go at one player or another

I am not the only one probably but have been actively lobbying the club to telecast the U23 games on the OS for free. Looks like they're listening. We know who's playing on Wednesday by tonight's absences. It still looks like a very strong side and hopefully the kids will take over from where the seniors left off. Keep your eyes on Johnson, he is a real prospect and the best forward from the Academy since Theo Walcott by a mile and he is only 17.

Agree, Clasie has some very blinkered critics on here who will never see good in him. Tis the same for Yoshi. Saints fans? Clasie played really well today until he picked up that yellow - which was grossly unfair in close up - after which, understandably he had to show a degree of restraint that affected his natural game. Pretty sure that's why Claude took him off. Still he has rested so should be good for the EFL Cup game along with JWP and Pierre. People should study his interception tackles and pass ratios before criticising him, he rarely misplaces either. Get off his back.

Agree, Clasie has some very blinkered critics on here who will never see good in him. Tis the same for Yoshi. Saints fans? Clasie played really well today until he picked up that yellow - which was grossly unfair in close up - after which, understandably he had to show a degree of restraint that affected his natural game. Pretty sure that's why Claude took him off. Still he has rested so should be good for the EFL Cup game along with JWP and Pierre. People should study his interception tackles and pass ratios before criticising him, he rarely misplaces either. Get off his back.

This was a hard watch especially with the live stream breaking up alot today. Romeu continues to amaze us, where does he find the energy to play at this tempo three days a week with another 3 games to come in the next week. Fatigue was inevitable for many of our players and after 65mins it was pretty much all one way but superb organisation and discipline ensured we saw it through to the end. We maybe didn't deserve to win, nor did we deserve to lose, how many of us were dreading an 'Arsenal' moment from Jose when the 5 mins board went up? Sam McQueen deserves plaudits for keeping us afloat through this most difficult of periods with 4 full backs crocked. Martina is surely working his way to becoming automatic first choice. neither got down the flanks much today but that must have been the game plan bearing in mind how much football they have played lately. Great point, superb opportunist goal from Redmond - onwards and upwards lads COYR

This was a hard watch especially with the live stream breaking up alot today. Romeu continues to amaze us, where does he find the energy to play at this tempo three days a week with another 3 games to come in the next week. Fatigue was inevitable for many of our players and after 65mins it was pretty much all one way but superb organisation and discipline ensured we saw it through to the end. We maybe didn't deserve to win, nor did we deserve to lose, how many of us were dreading an 'Arsenal' moment from Jose when the 5 mins board went up? Sam McQueen deserves plaudits for keeping us afloat through this most difficult of periods with 4 full backs crocked. Martina is surely working his way to becoming automatic first choice. neither got down the flanks much today but that must have been the game plan bearing in mind how much football they have played lately. Great point, superb opportunist goal from Redmond - onwards and upwards lads COYR

...and whilst you waste your time and ours condemning other posters, maybe it's time you stood back and looked at your own motives. Do you really think that the rest of the posters on this website are in the least bit interested in your narrow and bigoted views of other people when most com eon here to share thoughts on matter football and Saints matters in particular. No offence meant.

We never looked like scoring last night and not for the first time this season. As many have observed before you need to score to win even if you let nothing in. 38, 0-0 draws and always being the dominant team means zilch and isn't going to deliver many prizes. I don't get how JWP can spend all evening lofting Hollywood passes across the pitch to feet, dropping corners precisely onto people's heads yet can't hit the goal from 15 yards out when unmarked. Just pass the effing thing into the top corner of the net instead of trying to leather it out of the stadium. The lad panics under pressure, all there is to it. Mind you VVD wasn't much better was he. I hope we play Boufal-Redmond-Tadic up front on Sunday, right now neither Charlie or Jay deserve to start, Jay is getting better but it will take time whereas Charlie is a poacher in the Jimmy Greaves style (we called them 'goal-hangers' in my day) and we need a striker with more flair and drive; on Sunday's showing Redmond might just be coming good in that role. It's not the end of the world today although it must feel like it for the 7k stalwarts that blew their earnings on their "trip of a lifetime". Hope they get back in time for Sunday lunchtime at Manchester despite the best (or lack of - in fact) efforts of our Italian cousins.