Saint Fan CaM

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£10 anyone?

I have a spare coach seat ticket on coach 46 for sale for £20 (face value £23) - coach departs SMS at 10.30am. I'm now travelling with a friend on another coach so don't need this seat. Let me know asap - I will deliver it to anywhere in Southampton area on Saturday or we can arrange to meet at Ted's statue on Sunday AM (about 9.30am). Ta - Dave

Will there be a coach thread or is that here too? Anyone from here going up on coach 46?

I understand the point you (and others) are making, however it's not as simplistic as saying the defence were OK-ish. There are other factors - for example, the midfield was quite often found missing, too busy passing sideways or backwards...the fact we were not looking likely to score any time soon...and there were some signs that teams in the bottom 6 were starting to get a run of wins being strung together. Couple that with an increasing fear that Puel and Black's coaching and tactics were not fit for purpose. Let's be clear - I was not trying to state I personally thought we would go down. Just that there is always a chance and it was arrogant based on a number of factors to think that we definitely would not. Based on past posts here, my impression has been that being overly confident was something reserved for fans of 'arrogant other clubs' and something we as Saints would not succumb to.

indeed...lol

Of course there was a chance - crass arrogance to suggest otherwise based on the previous 6 games. And from that I don't mean the results necessarily, but the manner of the defeats. Did you watch the games - were you impressed?

Delighted to have been proved wrong. I think Gabba is showing himself to be the real deal and Stephens is growing into a very capable and comfortable CB. However, before we all get too excited, let's remember who we just played off the park. Yes, Sunderland - a team that has looked very poor at times, so let's be realistic but also content that on that performance there's little chance of us going down.

Class from Gabba - looks like he's got the striker instincts we've been missing. By the way, commentators and on here talking about the first coming off his arm, but nothing about the defenders arms all over him which should have been a pen.

McCarthy Cedric VVD Stephens Bertrand Romeu Davis Tadic Boufal Gabbiadini Sims There are other players that could easily be substituted into the front line - Redmond, Long, JRod, Austin - however they are either too Championship level or too brittle.

Completely agree with this - Gallagher is scoring for a good reason - he's found his level. However, there's a good reason for sending him out on loan to provide him with match-time to hone skills - he's done that well...served the apprenticeship...so he deserves a chance back at Saints. If he's found wanting however, then we can sell or loan again - it's a win-win.

Yep fantastic...Boufal will be sure to bag a goal or two for us....oh.

Got no confidence that Puel and Black know how to win against this type of team. 2-0 Sunderland.

Have been waiting for a freaking age and I logged in at 8am this morning.

Marco Silva with Nigel Adkins as his deputy. Would be an awesome combo.

Not a good display, with only Gabbiadini looking a positive. I do not blame the players for this however. Puel and Black are to blame for not getting the best out of a largely gifted group of players - the coaching and method is just not good enough and they are dragging us down. I also hold Reed accountable for allowing the CB situation to have developed into a shambles - Stephens and Yoshida as a pairing provide us with almost L1 levels of ineptitude. If we win the cup it will be a miracle. Something significant needs to change to ensure we're not dragged into a relegation tussle...6 defeats in 7 should be a clear indication that the management of the team is not up to the job.

What a pathetic thing for anyone vaguely interested in competitive sport to say. We have as much right to expect our team to compete at the highest level as any other football supporter. Does a track athlete start his/her training thinking "you know what, I don't have a right to win this race, but I'll try anyway"?!? Throughout you HAVE to believe you have the right to be with the best or whats the point competing at all? It has nothing to do with what resources may or may not be at your disposal. Why are we so special? Easy - we are Southampton. And if you don't believe THAT then you should perhaps question what kind of supporter you are.

Top post...sums things up nicely.

Crazy to think that any team in the Prem right now could not hurt us - overall we have a very average Championship level central defensive pairing in front of a 6'7" statue. The only saving grace is Romeu but if he gets drawn away to compensate for Clasie/Hojberg we will be hugely exposed. Watch the crosses reign in from Snodgrass, watch Carroll fall over at every touch, watch Snodgrass score from the deadball - that'll be their game plan. I hope Buefal and Gabba play - we might see something different to the dross we've been dished up. 0-2 loss is what I'm thinking. Thanks for nothing Les.

Well 85% of £235m is about £200m which has been touted as the stake, so there's your evaluation roughly if the rumours of Kat holding 15% are true. I would say that's a realistic sale figure but perhaps a little low?

Guys, at £200m I would imagine Lander are taking a major stake in the club. What remaining control Kat and the current Board retain remains to be seen - hopefully she has ensured that legally the club still has the strong backing set-up by Marcus as I do not have a lot of confidence in any Chinese investment. It seems like a significant step outside the comfort zone we have enjoyed for the last 5 years.

Hands up - I was one of the many who thought this to be a step too far for our depleted squad, but I was wrong. Puel put together a game plan that was simply masterful. Romeu was without doubt IMO the MOTM - just bossed everything in front defence. JWP in the last two games has somehow managed to find the extra something that has been missing in his game - hopefully he knows what that spark is. Josh Sims - he is turning out to be the real deal - not only pace but intelligence too - watch how he travels in front the retreating player before laying off the ball to Long for example. Stephens and Yoshi did a great job, although we did get lucky on a few occasions. Cedric and Bertrand were absolutely superb in defence and attack I thought. Fair play to Redmond who dominated the left side and gave them some real problems. The only two players who looked off were Tadic and J-Rod - both looked tired and not sharp at all. J-Rod doesn't seem able to anticipate ball delivery into the box now like he once did. Anyway - onto Wembley - I will be wearing my yellow 1976 commemorative shirt whatever happens. Happy days.

Sign Sakho FFS. Will know it's gone to rat-sh1t if we don't replace Fonte AND sign a decent striker.

Can't say I'm looking forward to the game much - I want to but the boring rubbish served up cold by Puel is just ******* driving me mad. Leicester will be parking the bus and trying to get something on the break - once they score we'll be stuffed. 0-0 if we're lucky otherwise 0-2 or 1-2. Yes it's a wholly negative view - seemed only a short time ago I went to a game thinking we could beat anyone on our day - now it's the complete opposite.

I've been told by someone who would know that he came back from the Europe with a big attitude and demands. Trouble is his ankles apparently need constant care by the club medics to keep him going and when you look at his performances of the last 18 months (ish), you can see he gets in trouble turning on a tight radius - hence his tendency to shirt-pull. I was also told that we were looking at signing a top name CB, but the inference was to replace VVD not Fonte. I think Les and Puel are thinking good riddance, however now we're into a whole different era of player with the last of the old guard gone. Expect to see more mercenary style performances from players who have little connection to the club or it's history - even it's recent glorious history. Times'a'changing.