vectraman

It worked for Wolves yesterday.....who knows? Could be inspired thinking, could be an insipid performance - the joys of being a Saints fan!!

Just got in from the game, disappointed to say the least! We seemed slow all over the pitch tonight, the lack of pace in our side is so clear to see. Lemina - had one of those games where nothing went right for him. The pinnacle of his turdness was a pass in the first half that should have gone wide left to targett, but he under hit it about 20 yards to the right of him. Awful. But players have good and bad games, many of the others didn’t cover themselves in glory either! Vestergaard I thought played well, Romeu too, albeit he looked a yard off the pace throughout the game? Full backs couldn’t get into the game, Valery never went down the outside, always came inside denying us width. Targett just looks slow. Better as a left midfielder that a wing back maybe? Ings didn’t get into it, Redmond had no joy all night either. We didn’t create a decent chance all night other than the scrambled goal, which we did our best to try and miss! Long barely had a touch when he came on, needs to be upfront with another striker, not on his own. Credit to West Ham, they deserved the win. Their quality signing Anderson was a cut above everyone else, and they looked energetic and quick on the counter. Not sure about their first goal - from the family stand it looked hard and straight at the near post - both myself and my lad thought it may have been a suspect keeper moment - not seen a tv replay so may be doing McCarthy a disservice there. Need to recover quickly with City up next, hopefully our performance will be better (even if the outcome isn’t....)

Looking forward to tonight, full house, under the lights, we will beat the “East End geezers” 3-1. I hope!

Thought our pressing and closing down pressured Arsenal nicely. Loved our quicker ball forward, after two years of turgid slow build up play, having real intent in our forward play was fantastic to see. Three quality headed goals, assists for Redmond and Long, a great days Work Saints. Yeah, some dodgy moments at the back, but let’s enjoy the win. At last. Ralph - legendary status awaits!!

Slow? Yes. Disgusting wages? Yes. But average players? No way. If they were average we would be tenth in the league. Most of our squad are mediocre, poor, squad fillers, of below average quality. That’s why we are struggling - poor players, poor recruitment.

The way a team can play can be far better than the sum total of it’s individual players. Burnley last season, Bournemouth this season, Leicester winning the league etc. That’s what the right manager can bring, formation, tactics, system, fitness, belief, confidence etc. We aren’t going to sell ten and bring five in in January - we are fundamentally going to have to turn things around with what we have got here now. I’m sure the club will have faith that he is the right man to do this, and he will find away to get us winning. I Hope!!

Didn’t feel Soulless when we equalised against Man U in the League cup Final.....anything but in fact

1) Get the team fit. It’s abundantly clear that they are not as fit as they could or should be. 2) Find a way of grinding out a win or two - we just can’t hold a lead currently. 3) Find a formation and line up he likes and stick with it. 4) Assuming we stay up (not a given) he needs to sort the wheat from the chaff and try and get the misfits **** of in the summer. We have a big squad of averageness, need a cull of the dead wood - if we can get them shifted. 5) Please get us some home wins!!

Pompey at home. Smash them 6-0. Laugh at them. Makes me happy !!

Well I hoped for 3-2, wrong way around though. Thanks Saints, bottom three now, can’t see us getting out of that bottom trio this year, with our upcoming fixtures. Tough times ahead I fear.

Fulham have been fortunate, scored twice against the run of play. We will Come back and take this 3-2. I hope... Sub Austin for Obe and have a go at them. They are not great at the back and we will know we can get more goals against them. COYS for a stirring second half comeback - you owe it to our noisy fans who have travelled today.

Our defending (or lack of) at the sixth goal is frankly an utter embarrassment. That is under 11's football in the premier league. God.....

Cedric you total plum.

Le Tiss Keegan Mané Van Dijk

Armstrong busy not bust v Burnley!!

Gunn- not seen him play, highly regarded at City, and reports say he’s been good when playing in Carabao cup 7.5/10 Ings - Really looked the part early on, busy, quick, looked an upgrade on all of our current incumbents 8/10 Armstrong - looked bust against Burnley, injured since. Can’t rate him based on 1 game. Vestergaard- tall and imposing, terribly slow. Has looked ok. Hoedt is not his best partner though. 6/10 Elyanoussi - hugely disappointing so far. No goals or assists. Best moments hitting the bar from 2 yards at palace and missing a sitter of a header V Brighton. Also slow. 3/10 So other than Ings, approx £45 million spent on players no better than we already had. Poor when you can’t afford that kind of money on non first team starter shoe ins. We are still a team that desperately lacks creativity and pace. Been like that for 2 seasons now, and our recruitment does not address it. A big squad of mediocrity breaking into averageness.

Entertaining 2-2 draw.

This. Unless we can sell some of our below average squad fillers, I feel there will be little in the way of players in. We are average or below average all over the pitch apart from GK. Depressing.

I watched MOTD last night - at normal speed Hoedt's tackle looked good. On slo mo replay Hoedt didn't touch the ball, just took Giroud's back foot out as he slid through him. So, retrospectively, with the benefits of replays, it should have been a penalty. They didn't show all of the yellow cards on the highlights - like Bertrand's for moving the ball etc.

2-0 saints tonight. I’m looking forward to it. Games under the lights are always somehow more special, more of an occasion. It’s what makes live football so Much better (to me) than watching it on TV. Come on Saints, two wins on the trot !!

Man City away. Just to end our hopes early Ideally the worst team left at home though please mr cup draw gods...

Saints to win this 2-0. We have a decent side out tonight, should be easily enough to see this Brighton side off

Exactly this - as with all jobs, it’s supply and demand. Premier league players? 800chosen from around the world? Doctors, nurses, police, firemen, medics etc? Hundreds of thousands in the UK alone. Lots of people could be trained to be our well respected emergency response professionals. Virtually no one makes it as a premier league player. It’s all about individual skills, excellence, fitness, coordination. Most people couldn’t even get close. Top tennis players, golfers, F1 drivers, film stars, all earn amazing wages because they are top of the tree. The best, in their field. We should say well done, you’ve made it, good luck to you. But people cant, jealousy shines through and it becomes “ too much, unfair, doctors, nurses etc” Because deep down, we all know people who are police, doctors, nurses etc. They do a fab job, but it’s not beyond lots of people. Top level football player, entertainment industry, loads of cash due to its popularity? Name your price. Market forces, supply and demand. That’s life.

I find it interesting that when Saints were in the Europa league it was a curse. A guarantee of a poor season based on playing Thursday nights every week. Every team that’s been in the Europa league has struggled... For Burnley, it was a blessing, an advantage, having played extra games. So what’s it to be?

No chance I would imagine of any future plans/expectations. Being pragmatic, no fan is going to want to hear “consolidating our Premier league status”. For I believe that is the realistic truth. Top 6 will never happen - the amount of money required to overhaul our average squad, and then compete would be impossible for Saints to achieve. FFP would be the obstacle, even if an incredibly wealthy, money no object new owner came in. As things are, we need to be self sufficient. The new owner won’t put money in, so sadly I think staying up is our aim, and not spending money we don’t have. It’d be a boring and soul destroying speech from Kruger methinks.... To a certain extent, I’d think most level headed fans can see this is the future, although we don’t want to admit it! Say we signed a new striker for 25 million, and we finished 12th in the league as opposed to 14th...we’d get 2 million extra prize money for our large outlay. It wouldn’t make financial sense, and I don’t think out new owner is chasing any dreams other than cost neutral survival.... That’s my take on our future anyway...