up and away

Many fail to realise what a monster Bale is physically. skill wise you are looking at the top and the price difference between the two will be £20M-£30M. If Bale wants to play defensively he has all the attributes to carry that off at walking pace.

As much as I thought we were bad throughout against Liverpool, team and management, we were absolutely spot on with the resources we had against Reading. Because of the way we set up we never had total control of the midfield early on but we kept them contained such their threat was minimal. This was the type of game I felt we had to plug away with what we had on the field and nick a goal and hold it for the 3 points. I thought we did that when Puncheon scored only for the ref to disallow it. Did Federici not just push Yoshida into the back of his defender causing the foul? looks very much so from the clip I have just seen? Looking back on our last game at St Mary's against Reading showed how much we have improved and mainly down to the full backs, exceptional. Roberts tried to bully Shaw but he was having none of it, too much football for the thug. He really is the real deal but Clyne is such a good player as well that we are now so lucky to have this dual threats at full back. Sad to see Lallana go off in the manner he did but the performance continued seamlessly. Guly looked exactly the answer to what we had been looking for and would like to see more of that form. Kelvin did nothing wrong but if Boruc is going, I'd like to see Freidel in goal. This was a vital game which leads us directly onto our next important game, Sunderland. Such that the Liverpool result may even be looked upon as acceptable with the right outcome.

Looking back upon his in a couple of weeks time and you could well be right. Liverpool were at their weakest but if you go there with such a sycophantic attitude, you deserve what you get. Anyone who has the slightest doubts about who is running the dressing room just needs to hear the same message coming from all angles, players and management. Then to just capitulate at 1-0 down was unacceptable. Just hope there's no more boyhood clubs left in the Premier or managers to get star struck over. I can envisage exactly how both teams will be at St Mary's and it's not going to be pretty or different. Reading hold us at the back and counter attack in 2-3's against any weakness. Sunderland less adventurous but none the less effective but it will come down to how much stamina they have left in the tank. The Reading game is absolutely vital and will have a huge say in what we do against Sunderland. Against Liverpool we ran out of legs in the second half, as did Liverpool. If we don't up our efforts from that game we are done for with Ramirez not being able to put in a full shift. I doubt we will be getting in reinforcements to well into January to influence what ever position we are in, so these games are going to be decisive.

Maybe, but I doubt it. One of the main stumbling blocks for Saints being able to conclude a deal was because of the lack of trust by the South Americans on money being released through / by football governing bodies. I imagine the deal to be very simple where payment cannot be stopped after a certain period of time with the money already held in an escrow account for some where around £3M. There's a lot of corruption in SA football within the clubs and the authorities, so it's no surprise they would not want any interference. The construction coincidence would be in line with when they got a good look at the footings in my book, but just speculation. As for tax efficiency, you would be far better to be in debt to the same tune with an extra decent player on the field than having to rebuild the training ground. One thing this does give us a clue about is the extent of the financial back up behind us, definitely not unlimited. I doubt many have added the loan on to Ramirez transfer fee, but that surely must be coming!

No one was saying to spend fortunes unless the need was there, this is your own invention. That was perfectly obvious from Corteses original statement where demand will create the need. Now as pitch performances is going to influence this area heavily, it should come as no surprise that we don't need extra seats. Just look at Sunderland in their horrendous Premier year compared by a less than stellar season so far. Cortese was looking at building the financial base of the club to the next level as per Newcastle, Spurs etc. But for that to happen you need the drive from the team which clearly is not there at present. Put in just Norwich type results against us at this moment and we will have the CL idiots out in force. instead of these individual agendas.

I am not sure we need to buy another striker, it's just what I believe the club is looking at. Other than that, I completely agree with your view. You look at certain teams and formations and you can easily see Ricky as the way to go, against other teams I would say the exact opposite and in general it has not been that difficult to predict. We have a big problem with balance because if we are to find a way through the Norwich's of this division, the likes of Ricky, Lallana, Puncheon need that something extra. You could sub Mayuka for any of those but the midfield would suffer for either of Lallana or Puncheon. I would definitely find out what Mayuka could do by replacing those front players at a time so I can get some understanding of what works and whet we need in the market. Remember Puncheon is not that much different to when he was at QPR or Blackpool in the Premier, with the exception he is now putting in a shift which helps defensively. I saw too many Saints players flat on their feet against Liverpool and with two very important games coming up we cannot afford to be jaded. I feel uncomfortable when Adkins tells me they have been flying in training only to find out that was where the performance was left. We lost the midfield at Anfield because they stuck an extra man in there and we could not respond with our set up. Of the three games coming up I felt the Liverpool result was the least important, it's just what hang over it causes.

There were some comments attributed to the coaching staff that for the WBA game, Adkins was going to use players that have delivered for him in a simple set up to control the midfield and get back to some form of base. Fair enough and at least he no longer looked like a rabbit in the head lights and was capable of engaging what was going on the pitch. In the past Adkins has been guilty of blinking before the opposition and throwing extra men forward, but just leaving more holes than creating any more. As Liverpool showed and we nearly did against Norwich, that argument has validity. The flip side of this when you continue with the formation to the bell is that it tends to make the team look toothless against any half decent defensive set up. Get any team come and play more open and we can open the up, but we need far more pace and skill to do it on our own. The cause of the problem is Ricky, he just does not have the pace and requires far more support to score as with the less talented Rasiak. That does not mean Ricky is of no value as we all have seen when he does have the space and support and contributes to the goal tally. The Liverpool game showed you all you needed to know, did their homework and having that extra man in midfield took control from us at the expense of weakening their own attack (familiar scenario). With our specific problems we have had in getting a team to work we did not have the luxury of pushing an extra body alongside of Ricky, all were needed to try and wrest control. The only player that was readily changeable was Ricky himself, but then who do you bring on? Since I first saw Mayuka play I thought he could well be the answer, certainly has the pace and I have seen him drag the pacey ball out of the air with his feet to be suitably gob smacked. The penalty he earned against Villa requires slo-mo to really see how quick he is and the eye of a predator on goal. He's not that short and can certainly head the ball. The fact he's off to the African Cup does himself no favours along with the fact when tried as a lone striker it never worked out, but even Drogba would have had problems with that supply line. The biggest problem I feel with Mayuka would be not working with Ricky but on his own I can easily see him keeping Ricky out of the team. The coaching staff see him play all the time and should be able to judge if he's good enough, for £3M how much can we be expecting? The coaching staff are far better positioned to make an informed decision but we have all seen these young African lads rise so high on a match day pitch you wonder if this is possible. I still believe Saints are in the market for that forward with pace and then we may see the way forward but I still don't see it as a partner to Ricky.

I think this type of result is going to happen when we meet a side set up for the counter attack with a basis of defence at the back. This is what happens when you do not have the pace or skill to get through a team enough to force openings. I was particularly happy to see we never threw away the midfield to get a a more attacking option on the field and accepted what would be, would be.

We looked absolutely terrible, the slo mo of a train wreck from a time gone by. I have little doubts this was down to no one realising what was needed to compete in the Premier and the shock was too great too handle. This was Adkins fault compounded by his ability to drag so many sorry arses into the Premier. Accepting it's his fault and wanting him gone are two different things, especially as he's just performed a modern day miracle to land himself in the sheite. I'm happy to leave the changes to others with more information to make that decision but I don't understand the numpties telling us about the back stabbing when the opposite has been true. Trying to get some sort of platform from this train wreck has been Adkins biggest problem but it looks as he is about there now but with very little room for balance. When we have control of the midfield we look a different side but that comes at the expense of loading the midfield with just one player left to provide the attacking balance. Any team that makes a success of this generally has pace to balance but we have not done too bad. Still looks like we are searching for that player but after our experience with JRod, that answer may well come from Italy rather than Blackpool. The team we put out against Newcastle never looked balanced but good enough to get through the first half without shooting ourselves in the foot. What did surprise me was how effective we were but on reflection of Pardew should not have been surprised. Ricky was ambling around picking up the bits and pieces with Lallana making the crashing runs to create an opening and add to the attacking mass. It was then pretty easy to see where our attacking treat would come from and knowing Pardew would not do anything tactical about the position. We tried the same approach against Wigan but they were wise to us, inviting us on and ability to defend and break on the counter with no real pace or skill to threaten them. Everton identified Clynes pace and that got snaffled but I thought the WBA game was a tactical classic. Just feed us enough space that we over load ourselves then go out hunting our weak defensive areas in numbers to force the opening. We will not be able to put that same team out against different opposition and expect the same result, against the likes of Sunderland you can easily see that going the other way. We will need pace at some point but we have managed to get this close to the window with the opportunity to set things right. It's going to be interesting to see how we get on against Norwich and Liverpool, followed by 3 big games. I don't believe you can describe our formation as anything other than 451, morphing into space left by the opposition when we attack.

It's never that straight forward as demonstrated by the expert analysis on the TV of another game. Everyone in clear agreement that there was no penalty because there was no physical contact. All well and good until you account for the fact that if the player does not deliberately jump out of the way, both his feet get taken out and it's a stone wall penalty.

The full backs were excellent against QPR. More improvement came from Shaw but was required to be an effective part of the team. I am absolutely delighted with Clyne but have said from the start he has to remember the day job before he gets too carried away with his adventures. But equally you need the threat to keep the opposition worried and Clyne has done that well. He has the ability to get back and catch a player with a good tackle, one of the few successes of this transfer window so far. Clyne is a threat but the end product needs refinement, especially between him and Puncheon. They should be creating far better opportunities than they have but nothing to stop them. Clyne has to get that balance right between defend and attack but I always feel this should leave a view that bias is on the attack. The improvement on the attack will come from how well Puncheon adds to the situation. WE have stolen a real star of the future in Clyne, lots of polishing and training required but can't see anything beyond him.

Both the Manchester clubs, ManU especially, you have not forgotten so soon? As I said, it's a differenent matter if the referee looks up and finds both of you going in turns at each other. Who do you find at fault with two fish wives fighting! best not too even come up with a winner.

Ricky is winning a lot more free kicks in the Premier than he ever did previously. Saints are very effective in how they go about winning free kicks and tackles now adays, one of the best going. If the referee looks up and sees Ricky backing in to the defender one minute, then having him come over the his back the next minute it should come as no surprise that the referee does not ping it. As far as he knows both players are at it and best to let anything go unless forced into a decision. If all the referee sees is one player continually shirt pulling they will give penalties because they are far more certain where the blame lies. I like the way we steal the ball from the oppsition by just poking the ball through the legs onto one of our own players, no drama and so effective.When the referees and linesmen come to the club in pre-season they explain this to all the players and coaching staff, nice to see we have taken such things on board to give us an edge.

All our forwards played well on Saturday but was not totally impressed with Ricky. Some of his positioning was begging the question where is the centre forward and the stagnant delays upon receiving the ball doe not help. He's still not jumping properly but can do a job because of his aerial threat. JRod has had enough chances and will just have to feed off the scraps until he becomes a must have. If Mayuka could do the business then it's definitely time for Ricky to make way but none of the coaching staff see that. The trouble is that without Lambert we have no real aerial threat, hence why he is played more that JRod who Adkins has been desperate to fit into the first 11. I still believe we need someone to replace Ricky but he's not in the squad at present.

No negatives after such a great performance, that can wait until it's required. No exceptions, the whole team did a job with Cork showing us where our Samba football went. Using that as a platform, we can now compete in this division and rather us have to worry about the opposition all the time, the shoe is on the other foot for the moment. Don't get me wrong, QPR are not the strongest out there but we have already played worse. Just a pity we waited until now to show what we could do. Special praise to the full backs who got the combination of attack and defend off to a good balance. Shaw just does not have it in him to do more than he is doing now, just such a young age we are going to have to give him a months break to get the best from him. The c/b's played well mainly because the backs were doing their job and the midfield covered. The forwards all created enough space for each other by combining the pass and move. And just wait until we get a fit Ramirez on that pitch!

At the start of last season I did not know how good the football we were playing or Cork's contribution, The samba football continued for a good while but Corks form wavered with the work load he had to do. I said at the start of this season we would have to find that form to stand a chance of staying up. Well Cork is that missing link that gets all the other pieces to tick and elevates the team to something that can compete in the Premier. When you get a sufficient volume of players passing and moving the ball as we did, you get opposition players just looking at each other with no effective strategy. Cork cannot achieve this without the help of others but he is without doubt the catalyst for what happened. Got to be very careful to factor in how bad QPR were but at least we have a foundation now upon which we can load with hope. Stuart Pearce, how did you mess up our start to this season so easily. Take that 21 side and go compare how many will fit up your arse.

No player has the right to a place given our results, but what will work is another matter. Ramirez is going to be tired after the midweek which is a disappointment. I concede that either Puncheon, Lallana or Davis can come into that midfield and possibly do a job. I would never start Ricky upfront on is own, seen that come apart and isolated too many times. Let Mayuka do that job and drop Ricky back into midfield, which we can afford with Davis in the midfield. The trouble with using Ricky in midfield or on his own up front because if it does not nor out it means an early change and no Ricky to come on at a later point when he could do something. I would prefer to see this but who knows what will work. -------------Ramirez ----Davis------------Lallana --------------Mayuka If we are in there in the last 15 minutes without giving the game away then I'll take that with the option of subs to go either way. From the little I have seen Mayuka I firmly believe he can do a job for us but the coaching side don't appear to have that opinion. He played alone upfront against Leeds but had no help what ever, so nothing add or detracted from the options.

The only reality I have seen is that many at least realise that Ramirez is the vital ingredient but many still don't realise how much he has to raise his game to drag this lot of sorry arses into contention. Adkins gave up the fight against WBA to minimise the pain, just now picking his best players and trying to get that into some form of effective shape. Their game plan was so basic even simple cell organisms should have seen through it, yet we could not get enough. WBA played a 451 at home against us, gave us all the space against a defensive set up and just picked us off on the counter. If they wanted to up things they just targeted the obvious areas of weakness and pressurised in numbers for everything to open up before them. Swansea's open style of play was the easiest we have had to deal with, yet they no longer have the edge they once did. In taking that space away from us we ended up defending in a more conservative though hardly pulling them apart up front. We have so many broken ends exposed throughout the pitch that even small individual errors will get magnified and punished. Most can see that extra man is vitally required in midfield to hold everything together, not everyone can see that it still requires to be compact for it to work successfully. Just give our midfield the space and they will open themselves up to take it all on and still trying to work out why they have lost control. The answer seems simple enough, just bring the back 4 up such you don't have these spaces for the opposition to work on, only to find that you have now exposed all our back four for easy pickings again. Throwing that extra player into midfield has an immediate effect upon the attack where it becomes isolated and easily marshalled. Ricky may well be our best forward but he is about the worst in this role. We need a lone striker with pace who can generate his chances alone and the best we come near here is Mayuka. What we have to do is give ourselves a chance in the last 15 minutes of the game to effect the outcome which cannot happen if the game is all ready over. Don't always be first to blink as the opposition will be more ****ed off with a draw than ourselves. We have such a mediocre set of players that we are always going to be found wanting lining up against every team man for man. We have to play smart just to eke out draws, let alone wins. I expect QPR at home to set up defensively with a 451 against us and invite us on. If we continue as we have been set up wise and players, I fully expect them to have an easy victory. Unless we do something different the results will not change and there are no guarantees things will change. At least we will know we have left no stone unturned to find the answer.

Could not of expressed most of that better with the exception that we should have worked their back four more. Generally that turns out to mean we commit too much in the final third and leave ourselves exposed at the other end. I was happy with the balance we created today as it could have done a job for us. We have to remember we are a mediocre side that can get something out of games if we work hard, intelligently and are aware of our limitations. Against better teams than Swansea I feel we have to change even further and I can't see any way out of playing on the counter with pace. That would mean no Ricky but we have to tailor our cloth accordingly.

No we are not good enough no matter how pleasing on the eye the game looked. Making just that one fatal defensive mistake is not good enough when you only have the capability to score a single goal. We improved today but it's hard to say against such opposition how much because Swansea were poor. You can't do much about individual errors such as that which cost us 3 points but I would have thought every player would have the key words tattooed upon their chest and underlined afer all we have been through. We are not creating many good chances but that is what we have to accept with a style of play that has to support the defence and attack. I find it difficult to understand the pace of Mayuka not being on the pitch but the team and manager delivered the sort of performance that is required to solve our problems. Shaw was tired when he came off but I hope this has not set back future good performances as just not comfortable with Fox.

There are no easy answers here and I have only a minimal idea of how much more we can afford this season. Adkins did such an exceptional job for us last season I have no worries should we decide to stick with him and that's with the belief that he is presently out of his depth and these are his failings. But I am looking more at the big picture where we eventually get things right and we are not far off. My pique of frustration has long gone when all this became so obvious.

I can readily accept where you are heading here but we don't have Molumbu. We have to solve these problems by the players we have until such a point too much damage is done. And it's going to take more than the one Molumbu. That's just to get us back near parity and a bit more is required if WBA put their back into it. You only have to go back and look over the last two months of last season and you will readily see what is happening now. Players regularly making errors that today in the Premier are really costing us, but the root cause was always there. The tactics go awry in the Championship and we can still stumble through to some form of lack lustre result, not any longer. I saw the forwards get bogged down because there was no injection of pace to solve the issue or to play on the counter, again no difference. We are not going to get out of this mess or be able to hold off until January the way we are going. We have to come up with a method of minimising the effect of our errors, because they will not be going away. I thought WBA really never had to get out of the blocks to deal with us, similar to Spurs. Spurs were very jaded from their European jaunts and we made things very easy for them, though they soon had a shock when they had to get back to winning football games. Just look at all the lower teams after they played us and not a lot to indicate a team at the top of their form.

I agree with a lot in what you say, we did look a lot better in this game than in most other games this season. I then watched the game another couple of times to see why it was still a relatively easy game for WBA and it was more a case of them letting us have the ball in safe areas rather than us forcing the issue. It was not their defence who came under too much pressure but ours. Just like with Wigan, Everton and WBA, the opposition just committed that little bit more for the loose ball after we lost our shape and the result was so simple. When we are given / have space we either stretch the team out too far or try bringing the defence up to compress the play. The trouble is this defence looks so nervous when it presses up it is just a matter of time before one of their forwards takes advantage. We can keep going down this line looking better but it is just going to provide the same results. I feel our only solution to our particular problem is to set up for the counter and break into their box with numbers at restricted intervals. Hoping to get something from the break or a set piece. I have already accepted what will be will be for this season, happy in the knowledge that will not be the last of us. What happens in between will still be interesting though not necessarily enjoyable.

Everything about Southampton this season can be encapsulated in the WBA game. WBA at home lined up with a 451 formation, invited us on to them and just fed off the scraps. This from an in form mid table team against the poorest team in the premier. So simple, yet so effective it even brought sympathy for us from the rest of football. When things started to slow down for WBA they just gave us a little more space and upped the competition for the loose ball. Why were we not the side that played the 451 and why did we not try to bring WBA onto a defence and midfield set up to defend? All we did is took space given to us and opened up our own midfield, leaving the defence exposed. Any team set up defensively with half a plan has already beaten us, whether its Wigan to WBA. If our defence was set up with the midfield and denied the opposition space we would have a far better options on the attack as it would force the opposition out. Our attack was easily neutered against what best could be called an adequate Premier defence, we never put a dent in them. We just don't have the players to play against such a basic system and come away with anything. Even when we were given the slightest of openings our lack of pace made exploiting that a non event. We need to line up with a 451, loading the midfield with an extra man and a single, pacey attacker. Pick the best of what's left to compliment the lone striker. And if the opposition generously give you the midfield, you don't need to accept it! Let them force the issue and create the holes in their midfield to expose their defence. In my view Adkins gave in before the kick off for the first time this season. Getting confused with everything that has gone before, he decided to just pick what he though were our best players, irrespective of the problems this gives to the team. He certainly seemed to ride the pressure a lot better with this attitude although being no kind of overall answer. I am a very big fan of Adkins and can see scenarios where I would not mind him still at the club if we were relegated. When you look at the job he did at the end of last season with a poorly performing team, it was really exceptional. But if I feel he is now taking the easy route just to lessen his head aches, I don't feel that is good for the long run. Again what sort of mental impact will this leave on Adkins after a full season? I don't believe we are going to see the same manager what ever happens.

We have recognise that we are a poor side that will leak goals. If Ramirez is playing, we at least have some form of chance. -----------Gazzaniga------------ Clyne---Fonte---Yoshida---ABFox Cork---Morgan--Ramirez--Davis--Lallana ---------------Mayuka--------------- I don't see much in the goalies, but Gazzaniga could easily put Mayuka in on goal. Over loading the midfield should give us some control and defensive ability but expect a lot from Lallana, Ramirez and Mayuka to do something at the other end. Even if this was employed and was hanging on, I would fully expect Adkins to blink first and open us up by committing further forward. I expect the effect of having Ramirez back will be such that Adkins believes we can take it to teams. We can''t, just not good enough even with Ramirez and it will be the same old story.