Saint Fan CaM

Weird team selection for a home game...defensive looking so don't expect goals. Oh dear.

Look, Austin is a great guy but his knees are shot and he cannot start a prem game without ‘help’...he simply cannot sustain the tempo etc. The reason he gets sub appearances is because the games naturally slow down in the last 10 minutes anyway. He’ll be gone in January and while I don’t like to see a good guy go, for the clubs sake we need someone of much higher calibre. If Long was not so industrious he’d be gone too I suspect. I’ve been told we’re looking to sign a high ranking playmaker or striker in Jan...being worked on now....might be that Barca lad.

Must win...not because of past effort but because of whats coming. 1-1

I'm still convinced that 50% of our inability to score and to a lesser extent defend, is down to the system imposed by Les across the club when in the 1st team we do not have enough players capable of understanding the system. On a positive note I've heard we're definitely looking at bringing in a new playmaker / striker type in January. Sounded like the club knows exactly who they want (not Theo).

They're starting to look like a half decent side that now know what they're doing. I doubt there's been any change to our goal scoring ability so I'm not too confident of a result. If we score first perhaps 1-0 or 1-1. If they score first 0-2.

How old was Pelle when he arrived? 28 I think.

Echo pretty much all the thoughts on here...total legend...just a pity he didn't resist the call to Pool. Would love to see him back at SMS even just to watch a game in the Directors box...would be a big boost. One thing I thought about his pens...someone had to create all of those...someone had to be mobile in the box to get the pen awarded. Who the heck is doing that now since Mane left? The answer is no-one most of the time...certainly not Redmond.

Very interesting insights Monk. Tell me, is it usual for a Director of Football to appoint his own first team coach to work amongst the Manager and his staff? Just seems a bit strange and divisive to me...makes me wonder how the arrangement plays out with the squad dynamic in general.

No conspiracy...its the "Southampton way" - surely you've not missed the fact that the system employed is installed right the way through the club from kids levels up? Les can't turn away from the project now...he IS the project. The problem is it's been starved of investment in certain areas and/or poor decisions made and not corrected, key building blocks have left the club, managerial appointments messed up, etc. It all made sense and worked lovely up until the point we became a victim of our own success, but then the wheels started to come off. We lost far too many key players and staff in a relatively very short time - team spirit evaporated. I don't pretend to have the answers, but I do feel the malaise is significant and not straightforward now. IMO its not something that will be corrected by playing 4-4-2 or swapping Gabbi for Long as some on here would have you believe. I do honestly think we've not seen the worst of this season yet unless something fundamental changes.

This...absolutely nail on the head, but I think this applies to all our attacking players. How otherwise do you explain the fact that when they 1st started playing for Saints, Redmond, Gabbi, Long, Boufal and even Austin all struck some great goals? Seems to me they've had natural goalscoring ability coached out of them.

Surprised many don't see what's happening here. Why do 2 separate managers suddenly field teams that play identical football with the same results? Why do creative players come to the club and then after scoring a couple of early great inventive goals then seem to lose that ability? Can't be certain of course, but my gut instinct is that Reed insists on a particular style and mandates certain team selections. Black is his crony...the guy that reports back on training sessions...whether the Manager is diverting from "the Southampton way" . Plus as I've said before, our attacking players are not of Prem quality. Needs a massive change to turn it around now.

The story of Southampton FC - pretty build-up...nothing at the end of it. If we get anything from this it will be a miracle...quite literally.

Sweepstake on when the subs appear - I'm going 76mins. Not playing Hoedt alongside VVD was a mistake - Yoshi is starting to make silly mistakes. We flatter to deceive according to the commentator - can't say I disagree. Long just missed another header - not surprising the delivery from Tadic so slow and flat. Nobody is seen running on to the ball.

Yoshi was at fault for their goal - lost his man who scored. Redmond is a liability - get Gabbi on asap. Long may score one day before he retires, but don't put money on it. Positive - Forster is having a good game. This is looking so much like so many other games - lots of possession - predictable play - no goals - lost game. At the moment can't see us getting anything from this one.

Best loss I've seen in a long while - enjoyed the match. Lemina is different class...really a top 4 team player. BUT...as I've said for a long time, our forward line is made up of championship level strikers...just not enough quality. Long, Redmond, Austin, Boufal, David, JWP and to a lesser extent Tadic....all poor.

A good start would be to sort out the away fans taking over the Northam. There are solutions...just takes a bit of brave effort by the club. Once the vocal minority are assembled they need to lead the rest of the stadium by example. Having a bunch of players who look like they give a toss helps a lot too.

Would love to see something click finally for us, but can't see us taking anything away - Utd are just too good at the moment even with Pogba out. Even if we score they will get 3 or 4 for the win. Would be delighted with a draw to be honest.

Because Sammy was around at a time when Saints were playing more attractive football?

Well played for the win and delighted for Davis. Some dodgy moments though that would have been punished by a better team. Lemina was easily MOTM...superb performance.

Our best player...my MOM and new fav.

Joke right? Just in case the OP is serious....no.

We will lose this game 0-2.

A difficult one to predict. Whichever team Manager changes the elements of play that are not working will win, so I suspect that will be Palace as they've made the decision to change the manager although the new appointment could be another mismatch.

Absolutely this. OR there is a significant amount of influence from our Les on the coaching staff. My feeling is that both Puel and MoPe have been instructed to play in a certain way and field certain players, which in turn has shackled our more creative players - hence the goal drought. This all has been underpinned by inconsistent team selections and a lack of cohesion and team spirit. It's going to take a huge sea change to turn things around and just sacking the manager may not be the answer this time. The danger is that MoPe loses the dressing room in the meantime.

We need to make a change to the general pattern of play...every team in the Prem knows EXACTLY how we will set-up the team and play, irrespective of the players on the pitch. It is pointless putting Gabbi up front with Austin - they are too similar in style...i.e. they are both box poachers...NOT ceators. I would play either Redmond or Boufal up front with Gabbi. This then provides an 'extra' place for a midfield provider, but therein lies the problem because JWP and Davis are not good enough. Tadic can do the job, but where - central? Certainly not Long...he is worth nothing more than a bench space to run at tired legs in the last 10 mins. Fact is this squad is not built to deliver the quality of football aspired to...the coaches don't know how to adapt and in doing so they are removing all the maverick/inspirational/creative aspects of our best players (e.g. Gabbi, Boufal and Redmond). In summary it's a deep seated and very difficult problem we're faced with. Personally I fear for our season based on the evidence not of one game but the trend in a number key performance indicators over the last 24 months.