Saint Fan CaM

Sounds like a promising development, albeit a bit of an unknown. I do wonder if Mitchell was consulted in the appointment...quite possible ties had not been broken with back room senior management. Bring it on.

Oh dear....Here we Goa again. History repeating itself - poor squad, loads of managerial changes, lots of possession but no results, clueless Chairman. Just need the relegation on the last day to seal it.

This will not be pretty. 0-3.

Utd were dog turd given the value of the squad and so it can be said that we were the better team on the day. Problem as ever is that we miss that extra quality in attack and in the defence. Thought we absolutely bossed midfield - Lemina in particular was really good. Redmond still frustrates...there’s signs of a decent player, but his decision making and final ball are sometimes poor. The CB’s Hughes used are probably the best option we have right now, so I’d keep that....seems to work. Armstrong is finally starting to show some real class...hard working and has a decent shot in him. Hughes will be given more time...probably see what happens in the window and then a couple of games, but I think we could be bottom by 1st January without 3 wins.

Hoedt will play (are they angling to sell him...there’s no other reason I can think of)? And we will lose clearly, but not necessarily because of Hoedt but because we can’t score won’t score. Prediction...0-3. Will Hughes get the push? Nah, this club is going to sleep walk to relegation once again but this time make a success of it.

Yup...got one 50 tickets returned. Not a bad seat either TBF.

Turns out I’ll be in Leicester on business, so wondered if I could get a ticket at the stadium. Anyone know what the chances are?

Utter utter rubbish. Hughes has to go....I’ve had a gutful of this shambles.

Great goal. Assist for Redmond and excellent blocking by Austin.

Poor from Gabbi. Great for Hojberg to get the armband.

Stupid decisions in terms of his contract extension and breaking up the defence that made him look good. Fact is it’s not just about his big frame...it’s about his brain not being agile enough to (a) anticipate and (b) react quickly enough. There are plenty of big keepers in the top flight of football, but the really great ones have more than gristle between their ears and/or have an excellent defence organis3d in front them. Forster had neither.

I can see a 0-2 loss here. They will park the bus then hit us on the break when we’re struggling to get a hold of the game and when we’re desperately looking for an equaliser they’ll nab another. Home crowd goes wild, Raneri is dubbed the Messiah and the Saints march on into the relegation zone. Hughes presser is a sob story that makes it clear that the squad is still unsettled from the Les era and strangely he remains in place for the next home game. Tune in next week for the next thrilling instalment. Jeez I’m bored - there was a time, not so long ago, that I would be looking forward to.a return from an international break. This feels uncannily like the days of Lowe and it’s not pleasant.

You need to look beyond the results....yes they've been even more gash than us, but it's clear they are starting to do the basics much better. Ranieri will get them in a place that will be a big test against our fragile squad and I'm wondering now if we will even manage a draw.

Don’t Fulham are as bad as their league position indicates and they’re getting better. It’s the Saints way to gift them a helping hand, but I think this has draw written all over it. Hughes will not be sacked. I am changing my view now though...he needs to go.

Would be happier seeing Hoedt dropped but something tells me he’s seen as the best option currently. Otherwise that’s pretty much our best line-up currently...which says little about the quality in the squad with Redmond still getting a guaranteed start . I hope Obifemi is on the bench and given a proper chance to shine. Can see us losing this by being bullied..0-1.

I’d like to get some sleep tonight...thanks for introducing that nightmare.

The right decision however there’s such a negative legacy I do wonder whether there’s enough time to turn it around in time. I hope the club REALLY think long and hard about what the replacement looks like. Whoever it is they will need a significant amount of gravitas and respect from within the footballing World. Otherwise it will be seen as the Mickey Mouse, cheapo appointment and one that just re-enforces the poor recruitment decisions we’ve seen.

If Reed appoints Allardyce it will be a clear sign of utter madness. Or that he’s finally lost any resemblance of competence. I just can’t believe the Board would sanction another managerial change let along one involving a merry-go-round fool like BFS. Hughes needs to be held accountable for once. What is needed is a re-think of the attackers in the team...2-3 new names in and 2-3 outgoing in January might be enough.

If Hughes has any sense he will start Obifemi with Ings and have Armstrong and Redmond just ahead of Hojberg and Lemina. Although I think Hoedt is a liability, I’m not sure changing things at the back is necessarily the answer. Starting the youngster might keep the boo boys away until the end at least. This game, like many others, will rely on a consistent team based press - if we stand off, let them play and find our defensive weaknesses, they will win. It’s as simple as that. Oh and I hope Hughes played back to the team the Bertrand pass to Ings which resulted in our pen...it was the best forward move I’ve seen all season and I would be encouraging the entire team to do more of it. Score? 1-1 if we’re lucky.

Sack Kruger, Reed, Hughes and whoever the recruitment guy is. Bring back in Mitchell and Adkins dream team.

Players lazy?!? Rubbish! There are 5-6 players that just do not have Prem quality - it's not them being lazy - they're just not good enough. Hughes can't do much more - he picks from a squad that has been drained of quality and it's not just quality on match day - it's the quality in training listening and retaining the knowledge that the coaching team are trying to get across. What has Redmond contributed? What has Long contributed? What has JWP contributed? Ings is not exactly top quality, but at least he's got a footballing brain and knows how get into scoring positions. I didn't expect us to beat City - I even expected a thrashing - so it's not about this game. It's about the last THREE seasons of decline where we've sacked two managers and the recruitment of players has been shambolic. The blame should lie entirely at the feet of the Board. I would emphasise Les Reed, but I'm not sure he's still holding the reigns now.

Get the frustration, but if anyone here thinks Hughes is nub of the problem, they're wrong IMO. It is about the quality of the players on the pitch. I was saying three seasons ago that Redmond, Long, Austin would get us relegated - add Hoedt and Stephens to the mix and the flake that is JWP - well, I would defy any decent Manager to make the team good enough to get anything from the likes of City.

Perhaps Les is operating within the parameters set by Ralph and yet still trying to maintain ‘the Southampton way’? They do seem to buy players with specific personalities in this regard, leaving behind other seemingly obvious candidates that may be able to play great football, but will never hold a masters degree.

4-0 City. We will be ok until the 37th minute. Lovely.

You know what, I’d like to think this is true but look at the trend in decline. Cortese left, Lallana and Lambert left, the black box chap left (can’t remember name as I type this) and from that point Reed was managing a legacy that he couldn’t sustain. Some may say that’s not his fault, but it is...he oversaw the hiring of replacements that were not of the same order. Why? Because Kruger was told by Kat to reign in the spending while she plotted her escape. The writing has been on the wall for years now and we’re likely to see the result at the end of this season. If we drop out of the Prem I don’t expect a quick return...possibly never.