S-Clarke

I thought this would be the season that Tella explodes onto the scene, but it just hasn't happened. We can't really be sure as to why, things go on behind the scenes that none of us are really ever privy to. I imagine he'll play mid-week though, so that is his chance to stake his claim for a regular place in the 11. He really should be ahead of Theo though, who should have retired at the end of last season. Theo is nothing more than a PR job by the club, but let's not ensure that comes as a risk to actual footballers like Tella.

I agree with a lot of what you say. The problems are deeper than just the tactics the manager selects, there are a lot of other reasons as to why we sit here today and every season over the last 5, let's be honest. I don't agree that McCarthy is a big mistake though, what awful performance has he put in this season that justifies him being dropped? I think everyone agrees that we need a new goalie as a long-term investment, but in the here and now McCarthy is the least of our worries in my opinion. Our problems this season will primarily come down to a lack of goals, that's all. Ings kept our heads above water, without him we will be paddling to death to stay above it until May I imagine. We needed someone like Daka to come in and replace Ings, we couldn't really afford to go with a gamble from the Championship....but sadly our position means that's all we can really do.

I think he's one of the, if not the most, mentally fragile player we have. The one player you could guarantee will shrink when the going gets tough. If you enjoy what Redmond brings on the pitch then you must have a very low bar!

I think that's a very fair, considered and non-knee jerk post. I'll be concerned when our approach doesn't create chances, but in our last two games we should have scored a min of 3 goals in each game with the opportunities we had. So the approach worked in that sense, we're getting into the right positions but the players the opportunities are falling to are just low down in the quality stakes (or inexperienced), so individually they all need multiple chances to score. In the grand scheme of things, after the start and the teams we've faced, to still have a pretty neutral GD and 8 points isn't cause for flattening the place and starting again.

Brighton are getting absolutely destroyed. This game could be anything.

Exactly how I saw it. Definitely wasn't a 'bad' performance, just a wasted opportunity more than anything. I thought we looked better than Burnley for most of the game.

I thought that was actually a decent game to watch, neither side had any control of it at any point though...that was the prob. We had a very, very strong spell from around 30ish min onwards. Awful miss by both Theo and Redmond, you'd say he'd never miss it again 99 times out of 100...but he probably would to be fair. Broja was a handful, very tidy finish for the goal - tight angle that, don't have anyone else who can finish that clinically. Midfield were ok, Diallo was decent and mobile but I felt we struggle to gain any real control. Best player on the pitch was Livramento, no one close. Perruad, still growing into the league I guess...but nothing special to his game is showing to me thus far. Theo...one fo the worst signings we've ever made in the PL. Pointless waste of time. Nothing more than a fanboy signing, he might as well just retire and become an ambassador for the club or something. Frustrations from the window for me - needed a better number 10. Needed to use the Vestergaard sale to upgrade on Bednarek, as he's struggling to recover from that last 9-0 if I'm honest. Incapable of defending, always wrong side, always shrugged off the ball. Needs to sort himself out. Frustrating overall, but I thought we played well at points and had the better chances in my eyes. This season is nothing more than a bottom half struggle, I'd be surprised to see anything else.

I dunno, when they have players like Cantwell, Aarons, Rasicha, Pukki, Kabak, Gilmour in and around their 11 I think they've got as much as Burnley quality wise. (Although Cantwell is out atm) This is all on the manager and tactics in my opinion. They don't even make an effort to close down off the ball, it's all so, so, so easy. Can't wait to see how much we make a meal of this game in a few weeks!

Norwich already 3-0 down, not even HT yet. They just look totally and utterly out of their depth in every part of their game, every week. I don't know if that's down to the player quality, or the coaching? When you look at them on paper they don't have 'bad' players, they should be at least competing, so for them to be so out of their depth every week must be somewhat down to the tactical approach they employ. I'm not even sure what it is tbh.

What has his record since he left us got to do with anything? Why bring that up? ''Oh, he's failed in recent years - see, he wasn't any good really' - He was actually one of our most successful managers, that's all that matters isn't it? I appreciate some of the longer-serving fans will have experienced success in prior years, through the 60's, 70's, 80's etc, but for us 'young'un's' the years under Adkins were as good as it's ever been in terms of the atmosphere, the records being broken, the confidence from the fan base, the connection with the entire squad. I'm sure when I'm old enough to reminisce with my grandkids that era will always be high up on any story's I re-tell.

But because he struggled a bit at PL level doesn't mean that his achievements with us should be nullified in any way. Leicester spent tons more than we did and they had a name in charge (Sven), they were spending £5m on single players at the time. Did they get promotion with Sven? nope. So the positivity is based on reality, not emotion. I find it incredible that fans of this club are even having this debate to be honest, surely it's a no-brainer.

Anyone who uses the words Adkins and failed in the same sentence has some sort of agenda against him. Maybe he wasn't the big name they wanted at the time, but you know what...so what? He did more than was expected in a short space of time. As has been proven many a time in these lower leagues, a good squad doesn't always equal success. Many clubs have spent fortunes on players but have struggled to get over the line, but Adkins developed a team and took players like Morgan, Cork, Lallana, Fonte etc onto new levels when he was here. It was a great mix of players and one of the best 'teams' we've ever had, but to not give the manager credit for moulding that is a bit ridiculous. No one expected promotion from the Championship, no one. We were hoping for a top 10 finish, maybe a flirt with the playoffs. I don't think we dropped out of the top 2 all season, what an effort. Personally I couldn't give a flaming shit that we didn't win the league in either years, the 'win' was the fact that we ended up in the premier league in Adkins first two seasons - we started in the bottom 6 of L1. He deserves so much respect, he helped orchestrate one of the most enjoyable times I've ever had as a saints fan and I'll always be truly grateful for that.

I think he bought it, but the Liverpool player made contact. They don't usually get overturned to be fair, so I didn't expect him to reverse it. The Madrid player made the most of it, but Jota was a bit clumsy was my view.

Great game this Liverpool one, but it's a pretty poor show by the ref and the use of VAR in this one. Atletico Madrid fans are going to want his head!

A pre-assist, i guess you could say. But you kinda need more from him than just single moments like that, he needs to be involved in the game more. Be more of a threat himself. It was a good ball though, granted. I just find myself feeling like I need more every time I watch him play.

I wouldn't drop either Moi or Redmond, they did their jobs today and don't deserve dropping. Moussa could be for the chop - maybe Tella or Armstrong taking his place. I can't imagine there will be too many changes, but Burnley will offer a threat. They've not won yet this season and they are capable with the way they play to ruffle us up. Good test for Salisu this one, he's started the season well but Burnley is as 'shit house' a test as you'll get in England at CB.

Second year loan is a good shout, that happens quite often to Chelsea kids. This is a good place for him to establish himself for a couple of years. (as long as we stay up of course!)

Salisu was excellent, but he didn't have a great deal to defend against if we're honest. Generally speaking though Salisu has started the season as well as anyone. I was more impressed with Diallo on the day though who seems to have got stronger, gives us a much more dynamism midfield when he plays due to his turn of pace.

Exactly this, it was very much our regular formation - but Redmond did drop deeper than Broja and like you said had a free role to drift around, but primarily he was central with Moussa and Ely on the other sides.

Going to be a top player this kid.

That was as comfortable as you'll get in the premier league, very dominant from the first minute. I had horrible feelings of us hanging on in the final 10 mins, but Leeds couldn't muster anything. I won't get ''too' carried away because I don't think we'll face as toothless a team again this year, they had nothing about them. It shows what happens when you remove the 4 or 5 PL quality players out of a side, they were well short. But we still had to compete with what was in front of us and we put them to the sword, albeit with our usual wasteful approach. I can see why he chose Redmond, and his selection was justified as he did well I thought. He didn't play directly up front, but he dropped in behind Broja and occasionally drifted to the flanks - but in the main he was the 'number 10' just in behind and he's not too bad in that position. Moussa was Moussa, still fairly wasteful and erratic on the ball. Didn't do anything of note. Elyonoussi 'should' have scored, no doubts. But he had a busy game, direct against Dallas and came inside quite often which dragged a few of their players out of position in order to open more space for Redmond etc. Broja is a proper centre forward, he carries a threat in all aspects of the game. He's a threat from set pieces, he's a threat on the break as he's so quick and he's a threat in the build up as he's strong with a good touch to bring others in. Big fan of his, think he's got a big future in European football. The win is a relief though, we needed that. As others have already alluded two, our season starts from today and the next few fixtures will provide us more points if we play that way. (I do still worry about the number of chances we need to score though)

He wasn't with them in pre-season, he only had a 6 month contract and then joined up with England in the summer. I 'think' he's back with them now on some sort of deal, but he certainly wasn't there during pre-season as I remember the panic articles from Georgie's about his unavailability.

I don't think we're alone in terms of haemorrhaging money though, I think most PL clubs did over the last 2 years. What amplified our situation were the huge contracts in the years before that for the failures like Hoedt, Lemina, Boufal etc etc. And then having to make a loss on every single one of them. Mr Transfer Deadline day - ''So where did the money from the VVD sale go? they've raised so much!'' - We did invest it, and heavily on record transfers etc. But sadly on a load of of absolute shit, basically. And that shit was so shit that we had to lose more money to get rid of them. Without an owner who is engaged or interested we can't really move forward in any way, we're stuck in this constant battle of trying to find player x who can be sold for £xxxxx so we can buy cover at LB. Inevitably that will lead to relegation, no matter who is in charge of the first team. Just got to hope an ownership change can happen sooner rather than later, as I don't think we can limp along for much longer.

Newcastle last year, they kept Bruce but brought in Graeme Jones to the coaching staff - and their results and performances took an uptick. The impact Jones made was actually discussed on MNF at one point I don't think Saint Fan CAM is looking for a replacement for Kitzbichler (or anyone really) and I don't think people are dismissing his role, I just think we could do with some additional strength and experience in the background which isn't Kelvin Davis or Craig Fleming etc. Kelvin and Craig should focus on the U21's and earn their experience there (and that level needs help...). They were pretty much thrust straight into senior football coaching with no experience.

Sorry egg, I can't agree with that at all. I don't understand how people can be ok with him. Don't be fooled into thinking he's appointed anyone, he has advisors in this country who he tells to go and do whatever. Semmens himself has said that he's managing the takeover enquiries, he manages the day to day, he appoints the managers, he appoints people like Crocker etc. There's zero involvement from Gao and he has no say in the day-to-day running of the football club. Out of choice, I might add - he's not interested. For me, that's bad. Not just in a financial sense but because there's no shared interest top down, all this creates is a situation where a club is in limbo without any clear objectives from above. We're in a situation whereby we're just being kept 'ticking over' by business people on this side of the pond, who aren't themselves the people who should be setting the goals or plans. There's nothing positive about the Gao reign. The longer he stays the more damage that is being done.