The Kraken

I don't think the players don't believe in him. But, sadly, it looks like he's been blinded by the lights of the Premier League a little bit. I can't and won't question his tactical ability as I've seen him change many a game before with the introduction of subs or changing formation. But he's just not getting it right this season.

Totally. Skipper should be Davis, Fonte or Lambert IMO.

Nope, sorry, can't agree with that for a minuute. Puncheon wasn't underperforming, if anything (particularly first half) he had the beating of Riise and even in the second half was a decent attacking outlet, though I felt he made the wrong choice too many times and became a little predictable. That said I thought he was more productive than Lallana on the other side; he seemed to completely neglect the defensive side of his job for the last 10 or 15 minutes, leaving Fox horribly exposed at times. As for "salvaging a point" we were 1-0 up when he made the subs.

Yes, because Fulham didn't have any players out either, did they?

Indeed. That said, I don't think you accusing people of talking rubbish and nonsense does you too many favours.

Not really, compared to Lambert he was. Against Hangelande, Rodriguez got utterly bullied. Lambert gave Hangelande something to think about, won his share of headers and generally held the ball up much better than Rodriguez could.

Personally I think a good move (given that Chaplow had already replaced Puncheon) would have been to put Mayuka on. That would genuinely have given us some pace and options in behind, whether with Rodriguez or Lambert. Both our goals were from set pieces, in the second half especially we didn't force their keeper into anything of real note and didn't create a great deal.

I genuinely must have been watching an entirely different game to you. In the second half especially I simply cannot recall when Rodriguez got in behind their defence. As for it being "foolish" to take him off, I couldn't disagree more.

True enough, but unfortunately there's no room for sentiment in football. Especially at this level. If Clyne is back then Jos will be back to the bench.

Not a lot you can say to that. Sadly entirely true, and simply not good enough from a Premier League defender.

I've missed it, but what was wrong with Clyne? The first I knew he wasn't playing was when the players came out of the tunnel.

No need to apologise, its your opinion, I just disagree with it. Neither Rodriguez or Lambert played great but i thought Lambert gave us more up front in terms of hold up and bringing other players into it.

At one point, probably midway through the first half, one of the lads I was with asked: "who do you reckon is Saints' quickest player on the pitch right now?". It was a pretty tough question to answer! i think I went with Yoshida, but there was no stand out candidate. Our wingers, Puncheon and Lallana, rely on skill and trickery rather than outright pace, and cut in most times they attack. JRod and Lambert are similar types of player and we didn't ever really seem to have a threat of catching Fulham out with a ball over the top or into the channels, as they did with us. So no, I completely disagree that Guly was an obvious choice instead of Mayuka; especially just for set pieces as you're suggesting. I didn't particularly think Rodriguez (or Lambert for that matter) needed that much energy for the way we were playing in the second half. Rickie was being used as a general target up front, neither he or Rodriguez were really working the channels and running their socks off. Even Guly for Puncheon would IMO have been a better option than Chaplow; Chappers gave us nothing at all going forwards and, with a 442 formation, that played right into Fulham's hands as they could just tell Riise to bomb on forwards.

Its not fact at all, its your opinion.

I'd have had Mayuka for Puncheon. Chaplow did ok but did nothing going forwards, Puncheon at least looked like he was capable of creating something and putting their defence on the back foot. Riise is pretty poor defensively and we could have exploited that; as it was we played into his hands. Guly played very well when he came on, but I'd have taken JRod off instead. Lambert wasn't great at all but he held it up well and gave Haangeland something to think about. Against JRod, Haangeland was just an utter beast and it was totally one sided.

Totally agree. That Mayuka didn't come on for Puncheon was quite odd. That he didn't come on for JRod was a poor decision IMO; even Guly for JRod would have made more sense than hauling Lambert off.

Did you really think so? I (and everyone I was with) thought he was poor.

I must have been watching a different game; I thought Guly was very good when he came on. But yes; I'm really starting to wonder what on earth we've got for £7M in Rodriguez, I thought he was very poor today.

Was he really that much off match fitness that he couldn't have managed 25 minutes? Because, if so, he really shouldn't be on the bench. Chaplow for Puncheon played right into Fulham's hands. Riise looked ok going forwards and poor in defence; when Puncheon attacked it looked like he'd get something every time. Putting Chaplow on completely stopped that supply line and massively curtailed our attacking options.

Disagree. Lambert had a fairly off day but he at least created chances and looked like he could hold it up and cause problems. He was the only player we had who looked like he could hold his own against haangeland, who was immense against JRod and gave him absolutely nothing.

If Mayuka can't get a game then Billy Sharp isn't going to either.

F*cking hell Frank. Your idea gets worse and worse the more you try to flog it. You mention 8,000 cheaper tickets, and then completely ignore the 8,000 more expensive tickets that it would need to offset that. So for every 8,000 tickets sold at £300 you expect another 8,000 tickets to be sold at £1,500. You're living in a dream world. Your finanicial model make no sense, other than in your head.

Pompey's superfan representing them well yet again. Apologies for the offensive picture. I feel sick.

Why are you getting so upset that someone has created a thread that you're apparently not interested in (so disinterested in fact that you've used up all 3 of your daily posts to tell everyone how much you don't care about it and how boring it is).

Turkish, I think you should stop ever mentioning that St. Mary's hasn't sold out this season. Just pretend it's not happening. There's quite clearly a lot of hyper-sensitive people on here and they obviously don't like hearing that we're not selling all our seats. Lots of people are getting very upset about that. Of course, if/when we do actually sell out, then it's fine for you to mention that we have done so. That's entirely diffferent news and you're very welcome to start threads on it if and when that happens, so that everyone can join in with the collective back-slapping.