austsaint

So do I. I find both Redmond and Tadic quite hard to like, and definitely not team players.

I think is the way to set up from now on.

Good summary; I was angered by Redmond's "performance" tonight. The Hoj, Romeu, Lemina midfield was excellent and is a formation that could/should be used at home against beatable teams too. Boufal showed in 10 minutes why he should never be passed over in favour of Redmond again - not that Redmond's place in the team is the only one Boufal can take.

What was that all about? Pep should have been thanking him. Redmond completely lost my support tonight - he was the only Saints player who didn't give his all; he jogged around, lost the ball and didn't compete. Such a cruel end to the game where a point would have been a just reward for the performance.

The only mistake he made tonight was leaving Redmond on the pitch. Have you ever seen such a gutless, clumsy, half-hearted performance by a player whose team mates busted a gut around him for 96 minutes?

He has to be credited for the set up and tactics tonight. Apart from Redmond and Long - I'd say this is our best line up, even at home against a weaker side. I love seeing the 3 CB's and Hojbjerg, Lemina and Romeu all included. Add Boufal and Gabbiadini for Long and Redmond and we have a very good line up. Should be 2-0 up, unbelievable misses.

Go back and watch a replay - Bertrand was superb all afternoon, and his link up play with Boufal was top shelf.

Exactly, Boufal should be considered as a starter ahead of several of our regular attacking players, not just at the expense of Redmond. Yes, maybe some of the flicks and tricks are overdone at times, but to use a diving (board) analogy, he often performs a pass or a move with a higher degree of difficulty than most others, and that's more likely to lead to goal opportunities, even if there are some turnovers.

Great reward for long suffering fans. No matter how poor Everton are at the moment, Saints dominated throughout. Hojbjerg so good today and on that performance cannot be dropped. Bertrand and Boufal were a great combination down the left; I thought Boufal deserved the chance to play the full 90 minutes on that performance. Hoedt played well, so did Cedric, and Davis worked hard all day and capped it with a classy goal. Great credit to Austin for the two clinical headers. I still don't think this win should cement MP's position, but it probably buys him more time

Fry, you can be a complex contrarian - but this Gloria Gaynor spoof is a clever work, and fun!

I'd pay part of Ronald's wedge to see that. A very small part mind.

Someone should forward this on to Les, with a cc to Mr Gao. We do have some bang average players though; that's the only part of this alarming season's situation I cannot hold MP responsible for.

#BlackOnTheRack

Add my vote to MP out; I do agree though with those saying there are too many average players, particularly in attack.

Fair comment - compare those three to Long, Tadic and Redmond and one of our problems is clear. Better goalkeeper too.

Why Boufal, who has shown a bit, rather than Redmond, who has been totally anonymous.

Why Boufal, who has shown a bit, rather than Redmond, who has been totally anonymous.

Boufal has shown up both Tadic and Redmond today.

That's a crazy assessment. It didn't happen last year (a loss to Pool) - and even if a loss is expected you don't expect a limp performance like this - with absolutely no threat on the Liverpool goal apart from glimpses through Boufal and Bertrand.

I think we are in a spot of bother. It's a combination of too many mediocre players ie Forster, Ward-Prowse, Long, Austin and Tadic/Redmond....and a Manager who at best, is no better than Claude. Mix that with a questionable Board and Executive and a tough run of games and you would have to be a supreme optimist to think we are not going to be well down the table by Christmas.

One of the most mediocre keepers I've seen, and by comparison, even Kelvin Davis appeals as a better GK. There have been many excuses made for him - injuries, loss of form and confidence - but we have seen enough of him before and after the injury to make a negative judgement. Koeman should take some blame - it was he who proclaimed Forster would be the first choice, banishing Boruc to the bench and virtually giving the big lump an unchallenged place in the team. No outfield player would be able to survive such a prolonged run of mistakes and poor performance without being dropped or replaced.

He could. Was it Koeman or Pochettino who froze him out of things somewhat. It didn't help Cork's chances that Vic and Morgan were here and he was probably a "victim" of the belief that JWP was going to be the next big thing in midfield at the time.

Plenty of persuasive references (for Black) available to the Scottish FA from this forum. We will even waive any compensation fee. Might even pay a portion of his new salary.

This. Although, if Lemina is fit we have the defensive set up to limit damage. Oddly, Mane has missed the majority of his games v Saints, or been below his best - he and Salah are the likely tormentors. Hard to see where our goals are coming from.

Where have you been? Great summary; it,s been so apparent for so long that our defence/defensive midfield is good and our attacking players/strikers mediocre - with the possible exception of Gabbiadini and Boufal. The question I'm not so sure of is whether Pellegrini is a good enough coach/manager to get the team set up and playing better if better attacking players are found! Agree with your sentiment though that Crystal Palace style axing of Managers and Sunderland/Villa before that are slippery side reactions.