austsaint

Head and shoulders the best player on the pitch - strong, skilful and cultured.

He really is; the real bright spot so far - he and Romeu are the right combination. Long hasn't done badly but this game is crying out for Gabbiadini - there has been a bit of service today and Gabbi is the player to take advantage. Hoedt, Davis, Bertrand, Cedric, Romeu all good, but Lemina is a class above.

How ridiculous - class striker gets no service from the likes of Tadic, Redmond etc...and class striker pays the price. I know the Manager has a fairly mediocre squad but Gabbiadini is one of his trump cards - I can't see this ending well.

Thick skinned.

We may disagree about Ward-Prowse, but I like your thinking with this line up. If PEH was training well and confident I'd consider him over Stephens. Against Huddersfield Lemina showed up when played in a more attacking box-to-box role.

Doomsday scenario is we save De Boer's job by conceding a headed Benteke goal or the like. Lemina has to come in; probably VVD as well; Forster should be dropped, he really should.

How are you getting on over in Perth Ginge? No, I like the lad from what you cam make of interviews and the like. It's all about performance on the pitch for me. Did you see the game yesterday? If you did, you would have seen he was completely out of the game, and literally, only had one or two touches. Davis wasn't great either, but he was much more involved. JWP really was a passenger yesterday, and needed replacing - you don't agree?

One of the commentators yesterday when he realised JWP had been subbed off at half time said that he felt sorry for the lad because he always seemed to be the player who made way despite having a wonderful dead ball delivery and being a terrific player. He seemed to completely overlook that the lad had been completely out of the game and apart from a couple of corners and one free kick touched the ball once or twice. That's the befuddlement for me with JWP - he can have the quietest of games yet the same old cliches of world class delivery come trotting out. I do feel he was thrown to the wolves a bit yesterday being played as a central attacking mid - if he had to start why not wide right with Boufal at 10, at least the he could have attempted a cross or two which seems to be one of his few tricks.

I assume that comment is a send up....he touched the ball once in the first half before being substituted.

At the very least get Ward-Prowse out of that central role where the game has passed him by - either Davis or Boufal into the 10 role and Lemina on to partner Romeu and add spark. Awful half of Football.

With 41 minutes gone I've counted one possession for Gabbiadini and one for Ward-Prowse.

All the best to Boufal today; hope he has a blinder. Disappointed about Lemina who must be worse for wear - will be interesting to see how Hoedt gets on.

Yet Tadic, Redmond, Ward-Prowse and these days even Davo routinely, don't change games when they get the chance - and they get plenty of chances! I think that's the point many are making - let's find out if Boufal can take the skills he's shown to a more consistent, impactful level. I don't buy the relationship between impressing on the training pitch necessarily carrying over to match day games. It's time we found out whether he is Gaston mark 2 or not. I think he is considerably better than GR.

Don't agree. Boufal has shown plenty of attributes in limited opportunities. He can pick out a pass or deft touch; has a great shot with either foot and has the ability to run at a defence, beat a man and create space. On the negative side he does try to do too much at times and can drop his head if things get tough. I agree with the others calling for Boufal to get an extended run in the side - either at 10, where I think he is best suited, or wide left/right, in place of either Tadic, Redmond or Ward-Prowse, all of whom have had more opportunity and been forgiven for plenty of mediocrity.

Chez, what you've described here about Clasie could equally apply to another mid-fielder at the Club.

Probably right - however if a couple of our midfielders who are staying (about a decade apart in age difference) had scored similar goals to the couple that Clasie blasted in, we wouldn't have heard the end of it. I thought he was chronically under used; Boufal's Saint's career seems to be meandering in the same direction.

He was pushed by Mata actually - get your facts right.

I'm a fan of Davis, you are right though, his game is just starting to decline. What annoys me about the Verlaine/Sceptical Stan attack on Davis over the past 3 or 4 seasons is it overlooks the quality and cohesion he has brought to the side over a long period. One thing the Club has done well this summer is to bring Lemina in to partner Romeu - what's lacking now, particularly with Davis' game beginning to decline is the absence of a creative, attacking mid-fielder; and that player isn't and never will be JWP.

Lemina was quite impressive. He is the midfielder we have lacked since losing Wanyama and Morgan - and importantly, along with Gabbiadini, Bertrand, Romeu and possibly Hoedt and Boufal represents a bit of quality quality in a squad which is light on in that area.

He really is a great pro. I love his commitment and he really knows how to time a tackle. We see quite a lot of the Japan national team out here and he plays the same way in a very talented line up.

Yep, has to be the team for me - except I'd play Maya instead of Jack.

No mention of JWP's performance tonight. Can someone summarise where he played and how?

Wins a win. We looked better when they had 11 on the pitch.

The goal resulted from the sub JWP allowing Cresswell too much time and space - poor decision by Pellegrino.

Set up Gabbiadini and won the penalty - give it up.