S-Clarke

We still miss Fonte though, more so his leadership. He was on his last legs and needed to be replaced sooner rather than later, but we handled his exit like a bunch of idiots and didn't even bother replacing him. We kind of did this summer with Hoedt, but even this is now all a bit of a mess as we're still down one with VVD. Recruitment has been a big issue here.

To be fair any influence he did have wasn't going to disappear over night. Pretty naff coach by all accounts, should have gone in the summer - our new manager should have been strong enough to say so, but the club wanted to keep the Watsons/Black's around.

I heard that Tadic was 'described' as the cancer of the changing room by a fellow first team player (who is on the fringes). Make of that what you will.

I remember back in the summer Koeman was gone (and Mane etc) we were told by our reliable ITK's (K,billy, GUAN etc) that the entire club is having a change of direction/change of approach, yet it was never eluded to as to what that was. Now we know! In all seriousness, I have a feeling that certain people at the club didn't like the power that Koeman had, so the new approcah after he was 'gone' was to pull the reigns back a bit and allow more input from wider voices at the 'club' on first team affairs - hence why we've hired two realitvley subdued managers. Another telling thing for me was the signing of Redmond without a manager in place, that should have rung alarm bells. We miss a strong leader at the top of it all. I know people talk about modern football being all about the club/not just the manager etc, that's how you're succesfull etc , but I don't really buy that. The manager should be your focal point, everything goes through him and he should be a strong enough character to handle it.

He is the slowest quick player I've ever seen. In the side seemingly for his pace, yet he just slows it all down. Does he actually have pace, or is it just a myth? If he doesn't have pace then he probably shouldn't be a professional footballer as I'm not sure what else he has.

He probably will once he's put in a team with the right players around him. He's better when he's alongside a 'big man' and he can run in behind, we've been trying to play him as our lone striker for the last 18 months hence his low goal return. He's always been a support player, same as Gabbiadani really, but we keep playing them as single strikers and seemingly recking their confidence. Puel was as bad with this one up front fixtation. If you had the right player, fair enough, but we don't.

Stephens was great last season, one of the shining lights. But even he is regressing at the moment. I'd say all of our team are playing below themselves, they're all better than this with a decent structure around them. It's really clear to see a well coached team, but it's also really clear to see one which isn't coached - or one which isn't following the orders - and this is one of them.

To be fair, Puel and MPe have had their leading CB's sold from under them with no replacements inbound (other than dross like Bedranek). I still don't think Yoshida is our biggest issue, I know there are some who seemingly hate the bloke, but there are much bigger issues with our squad than Maya.

*sigh*

We never win with Redmond, our biggest win against Everton came when he was benched. It's either coaching or the fact that he is an absolutley awful player, probably a mixture of both to be honest. He should be nothing more than a squad filler, but the sad fact is that he clearly came in to replace Mane's pace.

The squad we have is so lopsided, we have some good players - undoubtably - but some huge holes right down the spine of the team which haven't been addressed. CB, CM, AMC/ST. All area's which are currently short on quality, pace and power. As people have said, in this league you need pace/strength and power. We don't have any of that in midfield apart from Romeu, and even he looks off it. In attack we simply have nothing, absolutley nothing. We can't mix it as we have no focal point, we can't get in behind as we have no pace, we can't build through the middle as we have no number 10. There are good elements to this squad but some glaring holes that a competent manager should be able to resolve/see. It could be that Les is going to allow MP to re-invest in January to plug those holes, but particulary over the last month or so all I've seen is our current players regress and no genuine attempt to impose any sort of playing style. We really are a bit of a non-team and I'm not sure I'd be happy to have his input in a £60m reinvestment spree.

''Thanks for the oppertunity to Southampton, but I'll have to admit that I'm a little bit out of my depth here. So it's best I leave and allow someone to come in with a bit more clout who can get the best out of what is a very unballanced/confused but ultimatley talented squad.''

Doubt it would make the blind bit of difference to be honest if the 9 in front of him are running around aimlessly.

Pointless keeping him if he's just a toxic waste of space, best to get the $$ in and add some players who want to be here. I don't think we'll replace VVD though, we probably see we've already done that with Hoedt and Bedranek.

We don't give mid-table teams a game anymore, let alone the 'top' sides.

The end is nigh.

Not condoning this at all, fair to get a ban, but where was Vardy's ban after he did worse to VVD?

Your criticism is incredibly OTT.

Gray is everything I/we hoped Redmond would be.

Yoshida isn't one of the world’s best players, but he's certainly not our biggest problem. You're getting carried away and a little hysterical with the 'diabolical' 'not good enough' 'not a component defender' 'he's a disgrace' nonsense. And for what it's worth, De Ridder was ****.

He did inherit an unballacned and broken squad, I'll give you that. It has quality though and should be beating sides like Watford, Huddersfield, Burnley, Leicster at home. It was a horrific performance today, there was nothing good about it. We could have snuck ourselves a win, but we didn't as we were ****. Lack of mobility, lack of pace, lack of a game plan in attacking area's, no one really sure of what they're doing. A disorganised and shambolic mess, which is just a continuation of the last 6 months.

The problem for me is that we used to give these sides a game, fair enough we'd still more often than not come on the wrong side, but we used to be competitive and these 'top 6' sides knew they were in a game with us. These wins are just a doddle to them these days, Chelsea didn't even have to break sweat. Neither will Spurs or Utd. The days of a top side playing poorly and capitilising are seemingly gone, as we simply do not have the quality to do anything in an attacking sense at these places anymore. Incredibly one paced, predicable and dull. We have a confused squad full of the same sort of players, probably too big a squad in all honesty.

I would agree with this.

Yeah, there will always be PR guff. Every business does it, when things turn sour it does look a bit cringe. I think we take it to another level though, we seem incredibly full of ourselves. We strike me as a very arrogant club who have taken their eye off the ball as they believed their own hype after getting 1 transfer window right. Let's be honest, Koemans first window was the birth of all these PR messages.

Looked like a lower league player whose legs had gone.