Cabrone

This is the first season since 2010 when I've felt we've not been moving forward, strange really as we've managed to get to a cup final but it does feel that the club is stagnating. Overall Reed has done a good job but has been lacking this season. He's earnt some time from the fans but he needs to get things back on track, we are wobbling at the moment. Puel should also get some flak, his rotation policy is OTT and the capitulation in the cup was defeatist and put an instant cloud over what was a great 1-0 at Pool. His gut instinct is cautious which sends out negative vibes and leads to heads dropping. In this league if you aren't moving forward you'll get run over. Dump the negativity and put out teams that want to attack, go into your shell and you lose.

Don't know anything about this guy but the club obviously rate him as they've paid a fair amount for him. Boufal + Gabbiadini could be a very interesting setup, shame Charlie's currently injured - he could really have benefitted from these two. All the best Manolo, welcome aboard.

Well that was worth throwing the cup game for. We should be competing for everything, the defeatist mindset is not doing us any favours.

Pathetic team selection, cups are our only chance this season and Puel throws it. Would much rather have gone for it tonight and thrown Swansea game, league is meaningless this season. Puel gives a master class in how to destroy any feel good factor after Wed and badly knocks the confidence of a group of young players. The poor sods who paid to watch this should get a refund. Arse may well have beaten the 1st team but we'll never know now.

Brilliant, now let's get some silverware. The cupboard is not exactly groaning and it's been a poor return for a club that has spent something like 40 of the last 50 years in the top flight. Also lets not forget the FA cup - Arse are beatable and the 5th round beckons. More immediately really hope this is the start of a Shane Long run of goals, this should have don his confidence a lot of good.

Arse next. I want the double.

Not necessarily, players can get injuries that take a while to figure out but eventually keep them out for weeks\months. Not every diagnosis is straightforward I'm afraid. Let's hope he's not injured as we all know how important he is to us but we really won't know either way until we get an announcement. I certainly don't trust the media, they rely on gossip and heresay. They might be right but then they may be just as equally wrong.

We need to score to have a chance so I hope Puel doesn't go into the game with a 0-0 mindset. If he does we'll come unstuck.

Still in the cup and that is what matters most. Form can improve but once you are out of the cup that's it. Regardless of the team's performances we are still in the hunt for one of our best cup years. A draw at Pool gives us a final and a home tie against Arse should be a good game - they won't be too keen on coming here, we've had some good results against them in recent years and the players will be up for it. I don't believe we are a bad team, just need that striker + box to box mid to unlock the rest of the players.

I like Redmond, think he's a decent player. Then again I see him as a winger, whereas others appear to be judging him as a goal scorer. He'll never be a particularly high scoring player but as a disrupter of the opposition defence he's pretty good. If we had someone in the middle who could take their chances better I think we'd all be singing Redmond's praises as a good winger.

That's what we want, some intensity and heart. We all know that we struggle to get goals but that shouldn't stop you from still working hard and pushing forward. I think our lack of cutting edge will do for us if I'm honest but as long as the players give it their all that's all we can ask. We are close to being a very good team, just need that goal scorer. Such a shame Charlie is out, I'd be a lot more confident with him up front. Romeu my MOM, great performance.

Can't believe some of the posters on here, seriously it's a SF. It's not as if we have a cup laden history and we can afford to get blasé - this game is a big deal. The players need to get in Pool's faces across both legs and as long as they give it their all (and at least try to attack) that's OK with me. If we get another ultra defensive loss then I'll be ****ed off, fed up with the defensive tedium.

Well first and foremost we are still in the cup and that is always a good thing, cannot ever understand fans that wish us to exit out of competitions. Secondly our midfield needs a box to box player but I think we all know that. We're 1 player short of a decent midfield IMO. Thirdly how about trying VVD up front for a game? He has a good eye for goal, just look at yesterday, and couldn't do any worse than our current strikers. It's been done before, Chris Sutton and Paul Warhurst spring to mind. Fourth what's with the cup in Norfolk? Don't they like the competition up there?

Buck stops with the manager, we are playing lousy dull football and key players are losing faith. Time to get rid, nothing personal but it's not working. This club needs an injection of energy.

Roberto Martinez, IMO a good manager who like to attack. Didn't click at Everton but seems to be back on track with the Belgian national team.

The manager has to take most of the blame for how we are at the moment, he sets the tone and strategy and we are boring as hell. Yes we lack scoring strikers which may not be Puel's fault but that shouldn't stop us from still being positive and driving forward. We have a manager whose instincts are ultra defensive and who constantly chops and changes the team. It's a recipe for heads to drop and morale to go down. Box to box midfielder + a goal scoring striker are a real need but they aren't cheap and I don't think we'll pay overinflated prices for them, rather we'll muddle through to the end of the season. We should be OK but we are negative and look to be going in the wrong direction - it wouldn't take too much to get into a squeaky bum situation and if we did where would the goals come from? Puel isn't the right fit, we need someone more positive. The football is crushingly boring and a negative air pervades.

Me too, if we had a decent box to box midfielder that would make a huge difference. We have some good defensive midfielders but we play too many. No one is looking to get forward and create thus starving the attack of opportunities. A top drawer striker would be good but I think the problem is more to do with the service and support from midfield.

The guy uninspires me, we needed to go for their throats on Thursday but instead played a timid defensive style. They gained confidence as the game went on and we got suckered, you could feel it coming. We all know that we lack fire power but still, Puel sent that team out to get a 0-0 and it backfired. Far too negative - especially considering that we were in a group with 3 mediocre teams. We ****ed the Europa up the wall and that grates. I don't think he picks and chooses his games well, some matches you can play percentage football, put up a wall and hope to get a point or nick 3 but Thursday was not one of them. 'Just enough' turned out to be not enough. I also disagree that we have a team that is where it should be, no - we are underperforming because we are playing dull defensive football. Pack the mid with defensive players and guess what, no one runs into the box, players like Redmond lose outlets and goals stop. Puel has forgotten that you need to score goals. If he walked I wouldn't be bothered.

Yes, we all know that we don't have much cutting edge but that doesn't excuse the performance last night. It was pathetic. If you go out with a negative mindset, playing purely to avoid conceding then chances are you'll get suckered and guess what happened. We should have been at them from the kick off, pressurizing their defence and forcing mistakes. Had we done that I think through sheer force of will that someone would have eventually scored and they would have crumbled. Even if we had gone out at least we could have held our heads up high. This group had 3 extremely mediocre teams in it but our utter negativity meant that we treated them as if we were playing Barcelona. Puel seems to have a 'just enough' mindset which is wrong, last night was crying out for a full blooded performance but Puel thought we could scrape through with the minimum of effort - didn't quite work out did it. Just want to say about Redmond that the guy has got attacking ability and can cause problems but he needs some kind of support around him, what's the point of playing him if no one is going to make those runs into the box? Maybe if Puel didn't pack the midfield with defensive minded players Redmond would do a lot better. I like him and think he can be a real weapon but not with a manager as negative as ours.

Won at Arse, lost today. I'd have taken that beforehand. I'll swap a mediocre league campaign for a good run in the cups.

Nice one, now let's go and win it. Desperately hoping that Clippety rests the entire Pool team but can't really see it. Yes, they are a good team but so are we when we have our heads screwed on so I think it's going to be tight. That cupboard is looking far too bare, time to get some rewards for the amazing progress this club has made since 2009. Same again in the Europa please, if we take it seriously I can't see why we can't go a long way.

Strongest team, let's go all out for some silverware - the cupboard isn't exactly groaning.

3 away games, no goals, 2 defeats and a draw against 3 teams who I think we could have taken 6 points off. That's what happens when the manager picks negative teams - you get negative performances, hugely frustrating stuff. Sparta were championship standard but we didn't have the guile or desire to put them away. Attack was ponderous and the crossing when it came was poor. Sparta defence had all the time in the world to regroup. Finishing was blunt and midfield seemed to be rigidly stuck in a defensive mindset. Clasie was anonymous, Ward Prowse and Holjberg were ineffective, Long and JRod were blunt, Martina's crossing was poor - TBH the only player that came out of this with any credit was McQueen who continues to look a good left back. This endless passing in non threatening areas is only fine if it has some end product, ours had none. Even Fraser looked wobbly with a few flappy saves. At least we have another chance but if we do end up going through we aren't going to last long if we play away from home like we have in these 3 games. Feel sorry for the fans who have paid out to watch this stuff. Not good enough, not by a long way.

The best CBs I've seen since starting watching Saints are Dave Watson, Mark Wright, Deano, Killer, Toby and VvD. Of those Killer, Toby and VvD are my favourites - Killer was the destroyer, Toby was the reader and VvD is the ball carrier. I've been lucky to see all of them.

Wasn't the greatest performance TBH but we stuck at it and got our rewards. 1 more win should do it. Inter really look quite ordinary, was expecting a lot more from them.