saintant

Just seen the goals. Why on earth didn't Steklenberg just tip that over for a corner? Absolute madness to push it out.

My advice is for people to seriously lower their expectations of this team because then you are not so gutted when they lose as they inevitably will more often than not. I'm afraid this squad of players is no where near good enough and will be the underdogs in most games from now until the end of the season. There is no magic formula - the players we have are simply not good enough and the danger is that we will slide headlong into relegation. We are in freefall and only some astute business in the January window will arrest that in my opinion.

Those two tackles looked to me like the action of a player who wants to get out of playing in our next game so he is not cup-tied.

Disappointing result after taking the lead. However, if you'd offered me three points from the two Xmas games and an improvement of three on our goal difference I'd have snatched your hand off.

We have stopped doing what all good footballing teams do and that is playing between the lines. To compound matters we then allow our opponents to do exactly that because our midfield is generally too far away from our back four and too immobile. Klopp spotted this and once Liverpool started to get players in between our lines we were in big trouble and the result was devastating. They simply cut though us like a knife through butter. Unfortunately Morgan helped by Victor formed a very effective shield in front of our back four and made it difficult for opponents to play between the lines. Now, with Morgan gone any opposition manager worth his salt will spot and expose this huge weakness.

VVD has settled in very quickly and is turning in some quality performances. I would like to see him bring the ball out of defence more like he did for Celtic. It can be risky but if he chooses the right moments this could provide a great attacking option and help cause a bit of panic in opposition defences. Others can drop in to cover when they see him make a forward burst. He's so good on the ball that I think we are not utilising all his talents yet and would like to see him marauding forward particularly during home games.

We really must learn to react when teams clearly change their strategy at half time and that is the job of the manager and coaching staff. Bournemouth stuck two wide men right on the touchlines and then squeezed and pressed us hard through the centre. Result, we panicked in possession, missplaced passes and generally played hoofball to nobody in particular. When they had the ball we failed to press or mark tightly so they were able to play between the lines at will. It surely can't be that difficult to counteract a tactical change and make one of your own. Having said that we played tremendously in the first half and scored a couple of quality goals. We just need to expect these tactical changes and have a plan B or this will carry on happening. Sort it out Ronald.

With all this talk of Romeu and his bookings it would be nice to see JWP pick up a few cards. Unlikely though as he never gets close enough to an opponent to put in a tackle.

Currently we have a team that does everything far too slowly with players who take the less brave option of a short sideways or backward pass. As a result it is very easy for opponents to organise defensively and prevent us creating many clear cut chances. I'd say we put far too much emphasis on possession football and the way we play it does not hurt the opposition as they are happy for us to have the ball so long as we are not creating chances. Having watched both Leicester and West Ham this weekend I enjoy the way they play. Both sides have plenty of pace and skill and don't tend to make a lot of pointless passes that get nowhere. They attack quickly and in numbers which seems to allow them to make many chances. I'm afraid we are beginning to look very sterile and predictable making us boring to watch. I accept that we have had a few injuries but would like to see us adopt a much more attacking style with greater tempo right from the first minute.

JWP only ok against 10 men when he is given time and space.

Need Mane and Romeu on at half time.

Absolute madness to drop Romeu who was our best player against Norwich. Don't understand this at all.

Virgil looks almost too good to be playing centre back. With his skill he would be very comfortable in midfield and it will be interesting to see if we use him in other positions. I hope he is given licence to keep making runs forward like he was doing for Celtic as that should free up space and help us launch attacks. He's got goals in him too so certainly a very exciting signing. Well done to the club in getting this one over the line.

No pace and no power - two of the key ingredients to compete in the Premiership.

If Wanyama has indeed stated that he doesn't want to play presumably he has volunteered to forego his hefty pay packet this week. I sincerely hope the club will fine him at least one week's wages. This sort of attitude does untold damage to the morale of the whole team and should not be tolerated. If you don't want to play don't expect to be paid.

Baffled, why would anyone pick JWP? Might as well start with ten men.

I can't for the life of me work out where all this 'future England captain' and all the hype surrounding JWP came from. I've been a Saints fan for years and all the really great players showed from their very first games that they had something a bit special. The likes of Mick Channon, Steve Moran, Steve Williams, Le Tiss, Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott and Oxlade Chamberlain all demonstrated tremendous natural talent as soon as you first saw them play. What has anybody seen JWP do on a football pitch that makes them think he is anything other than a plodder who belongs in the lower divisions? Sorry but I just don't get it.

Is Man City's 20 million offer for the future England skipper still on the table?

How is England's future captain doing? I imagine he must be dictating the game at this level lol.

It seems we've finally learned our lesson. Build a side full of crap players and none of the big boys will want to lure them away. Simple.

Probably a blessing in disguise if we go out at this stage. Let's face it last season's team might have had a chance of going quite far in this competition. However, the team now is looking extremely weak and has virtually no chance of progressing to the latter stages. Better to go out now as we will need to fully concentrate on maintaining our position in the Prem without the distraction of these Thursday games which totally disrupt the training regime and build up for weekend matches.

Congratulations to Bournemouth and they certainly deserved it for their performances over the year. I think they could surprise a few people next season as their style of football should be well suited to the Premier League - they press high, have bags of skill and plenty of pace and good movement. With one or two signings they have every chance of having a reasonable first season in the top division. Plus they have Eddie Howe in charge, a guy who quietly goes about his business but has proved to be a top class coach. Our games against them will be interesting that's for sure.

Yes and that would increase to at least 13 if Bournemouth win their two home games.

If Watford fail to win at Forest tomorrow Bournemouth can virtually guarantee an automatic promotion spot by winning their next two games both of which are at home to Sheff Wed and Bolton because Boro and Norwich play one another this Friday.

Strange decision to start with Elia and JWP and leave out Mane and Tadic.