Saint Fan CaM

GKs Forster - lower prem to champ McCarthy - lower prem Taylor - unknown Defenders Van Dijk - prem Fonte - lower prem Gardos - champ Yoshida - lower prem Pied - unknown McQueen - lower prem Stephens - champ Bertrand - prem Targett - lower prem Soares - prem Martina - lower prem Midfielders Clasie - lower prem Romeu - prem Ward-Prowse - champ Höjbjerg - champ Davis - prem Reed - lower prem Isgrove - champ Forwards Boufal - prem Sims - lower prem Tadic - prem Redmond - champ Rodríguez - champ Austin - champ Long - champ Above is my view of the level of this squad right now - it's pretty average with some notable exceptions. We've done two things over the last 3 seasons - watered down the quality and watered down the team spirit (i.e. sold or alienated most of the squad that achieved back to back promotions). Add to this a manager who appears to not be inspirational to the squad, a deputy who has previously struggled to find any level of success, both of whom are working a system that does not suit the squad of players at their disposal. The decline will continue unfortunately I suspect unless one or more of these issues is corrected. Add to this the atmosphere at SMS is likely to get worse, meaning the '12th man' effect could diminish. Many I know are disillusioned with the style of play, lack of ambition shown by the Board etc. Overall, it is easy to see how our size club could get sucked into a spiral of decline that leads to relegation - it's happened before and it could happen again.

JWP - what is the point? Hardly in the game unless he has a dead ball to hit. Redmond hitting walls as usual. Long has good work-rate but no finish...again. Rotation will once again deny us 3 points.

I heard sometime ago that Saints were looking to sign a big-name CB - perhaps it was Sakho. I hope so - would be one of the biggest statements of ambition made by the club IMO - a player at a prime age with good background who could prove to VVD that the club means business. Despite Yoshi looking well improved, I do hope we get Sakho.

Really good performance by all, but particularly Romeu who was a rock and Yoshi who seems to be gaining in confidence. Davis as usual, seems to make all the hard stuff seem simple and ran the midfield - if he could shoot consistently he would be an awesome player and not with us probably. The only niggle is the lack of accuracy in our shooting - Redmond in particular needs to be far more clinical - it really does make all the difference at this level. I will be very disappointed in the club if we do not bring in another top class striking option. If we play like that in the 2nd leg at Anfield we will be going to Wembley. Anything less and we will not - simple as.

This is not going to be pretty - fancy an early spate of possession and then 0-2 to Pool, making the return fixture a waste of time and effort. If I'm wrong I'll be a very happy chap, however I can't see this team being dynamic enough to trouble them and even if we do go ahead, we'll try to defend the lead and fail.

Clearly VVD is the only option on the table right now. It might be the best chance of keeping him a bit longer.

Of course you've read it wrong - the bit about the press conferences was contextual. Anyone with half a modicum of intelligence is surely going to be bored stupid by Puel's monotonous drivel and I keep hearing rumours that he's lost the confidence of a number of players. Blacks reputation is hardly Earth-shattering (other than for the wrong reasons) and it would be of little surprise to find the players are totally underwhelmed and lack inspiration. I don't believe our squad is poor in general (yes, we need more striking options) and very much believe the rotation/style of play is being dictated by the management team. Unless they change then it's only going to get worse. The salient facts (9 goals against in 3 lost matches?) is plain to see.

Mainly bowlocks eh? So which part of my post did you not agree with? Let's take a look... * It would be good to have a main striker, but they're hard to come by...well let's see...perhaps if the scouting team and the Board had done a MUCH better job in the summer window, we would have a decent 15 goal/season striker? * The problem is that our talented team is not clicking. Well let's see...yes, I do believe I mentioned Puel's system is not working and rotation is a big part of the problem. * The main issue is confidence - a good couple of results (etc.). The ultimate stupid happy clapper statement. Of course good results breed confidence - derrrr - problem is we're not performing in a manner that inspires the players to deliver good results or even in manner that inspires supporters. In terms of Puel, I don't want to see us sack another Manager in less than one season - awful thing to do. BUT - I can't listen to his interviews anymore - they are boring drivel and I can only assume the players think the same. When you're faced with a tough decision like this, taking the hardest of actions can be the bravest too.

What's all this nonsense about "everything was great until 70 minutes"?!? The game is about winning across 90+ minutes - about setting up a team and tactics that will allow you to score goals to WIN games FFS - not defend 0-0 or even 1-0 if by some miracle you've gone ahead. Puel and his coaching staff need to take a long hard look at themselves - whatever they are doing, it's not working with this set of players. Not only that, but the style of football is dire - we've gone backwards and it's very boring to watch. Teams that win consistently field the strongest side possible continually - only injury should stop a sub-26 year old professional player (an athlete) from playing 3 games in a week. If the players do not believe in the Manager, then all aspects of individual and team performance will suffer. Team spirit must be at a 7 year low in the changing room right now and I strongly suspect that shaves a large % off any chance of winning a game. Lastly, did anyone really expect the wheels would not come off the 'Southampton Way' when Pelle, Mane and Vic were not replaced properly? You could look back and pick almost an entire team that we've sold - top players not replaced. Top managers not replaced. The summer however was the 'straw that broke the donkeys back' - it was obvious to me that Redmond, Austin, Long and even J-Rod were not the forward line that would tear up the Prem and push us onto greater things. We didn't change things around and find ourselves relying on a sub-standard forward line that would probably struggle in the Championship. Romeu and VVD are the only two signings that you could actually say were of the right standard. There needs to be something done Les Reed - the club is really running a thin line now...we've loved the journey so far - we've supported the club so far - but don't try to disguise the fact that we're marching backwards - NOT forwards - as things stand.

Been saying for a little while now that Forsters development was significantly hindered by his recent (knee?) injury. Prior to that he was not great at commanding his box, but most other attributes were reasonably sound. Now most elements of his game are not great - no command of his box still, statue like with no mobility to save and distribution extremely poor (not just his kicking accuracy, but the time it takes for him to move the ball upfield). My view is he's damaged goods, but the club need him in the shop window to be able to sell-him, although it has to be said, there's no talk of any big clubs showing interest in him and there's a reason for that.

JRod appears to have come alive - excellent 2nd goal. Whole team performed well except Redmond who I thought was extremely mediocre throughout - and don't tell me that he assisted JRod's 2nd because he had no idea what part he played and it was just lucky it fell to JRod who had everything to do to score. Nice to see us back into 7th for a little while at least and a good position for the Xmas period. Still hoping we sign a CB and a striker in the Jan window.

You're watching a different game - tell me what Redmond has achieved??? Nothing. And still nothing.

Poor game again from Redmond...just pretty useless as a striker and not much better tracking back. Hojberg has made several mistakes starting with the marking for their goal. As I've said before, if you buy Championship level players (JRod and Redmond) you get that quality. Just not good enough in the final third. Our play is sooo predictable...need to start running at defences rather than the slow build-up we seem to employ in nearly every attack.

I have always believed in a fundamental philosophy of not buying players that have gone down from the Prem to the Chumpionship. Apart from the likelihood that have picked up losing habits and a losers mentality, the simple fact that they've not inspired the team to do better speaks volumes in itself. Redmond is not good enough and represented a step backwards for SFC rather than assisting improvement. I would much rather see Sims get a start than Redmond - at least he seems to get himself into scoring opportunities.

Redmond is a liability in attack - almost pointless. Austin can score, but we don't play in a style that suits him most of the time. Our defence is generally great, but it relies on the three in front the defence being able to stop an attack drilling balls into the 6 yard area - put Forster under any kind of pressure and he's a statue. JWP - I want to like him, but for an attacking midfielder his range of passing and assist rate is L1 standard. When do we ever pose a threat at set-plays? Disappointing performance but mostly hacked off that old errors and squad issues have not been addressed by the club. Lastly we really need a quality Fonte replacement - he is also a liability now and we need better.

Lost the game for us today..up until the howler the crowd were very unsettled but then it all turned sour for us. he's not looking like a top ten keeper to be honest.

Not a great draw to be fair but if we play like we did tonight and the quality of our shots on target go up we can win.

RIP - condolences.

The evidence of an all-round fantastic performance? 0-2 away at Arsenal without all our 1st 11 and a clean sheet. Sensational performances from young Sims, Reed and McQueen given their experience compared to a side that cost much more to assemble. Claude was spot on with his tactics and subs. Hull next please - at home. Guess the press will blame poor Arsenal rather than credit our lads.

Fonte is a great servant to the club and has been a good captain, however his ankles apparently need great care and attention by the backroom staff and he is getting close to his sell-by date. Not only that, but if we have any chance of keeping VVD then it will by giving him the Captaincy and that means retiring Fonte. My understanding is that the club are searching hard for a top CB - whether that is to replace Fonte or to protect for VVD's departure remains to be seen. For our continued success I hope it's the former.

Hojberg is already a better option than JWP, with the only part missing from his game being goal threat. I do believe some consistency in selection and partnering would help him, but at 21 I doubt he could start every game and keep the intensity in his game so he needs to be rested for cup/Europa games perhaps.

Ref shocking. Liverpool messed up their finishing today to give us the point. We were very well drilled in defensive midfield duties so hats off to Davis, Hojburg and Romeu. Our strikers are not up to the job - I think Boufal will get there and will shake things up a bit. But we desperately need to get another Striker in January - not an easy job and should have been addressed.

So is this the start of our famed pre-Xmas slump that we've decided to start slightly early this year? International break probably a good thing to provide a rest, but there's still much to do on the training pitch - particularly when it comes to the last passage of play in front of goal. Our corners are awful - the manner in which the ball is delivered is crying out for players running onto the ball - but they all move too soon and so are almost static when the ball comes to them. Poor technique and coaching surely?

And now Puel takes off Tadic for Buafal - a player who has not found his Prem form yet. We will lose this game.

Absolutely typical - farting around with the ball at 1-0 and let a rubbish team come back into the game.