Saint Pete

Indeed. I can certainly see the appeal of the Championship because it's a whole lot more even, competitive and unpredictable than the premier league. But we were extremely lucky in how we fell on our feet with Markus and Cortese when we went into admin before and the success that followed is why many are quite misty eyed about the prospect of going back down again. There's absolutely no guarantees that the same would happen this time and it's highly unlikely that it would. If relegation happens under the current leadership, it's hard to see anything but a quite lengthy period when things get a lot worse rather than better. Be careful what you wish for!

Much better to start to the half but when you defend like that there's no chance.

We've got a bunch of defenders who seems to think their job is to stand and watch!

Quite like the look of the line up today with the exception of the obvious. However, whatever line up or formation we pick, it's hard to see our current crop of players coping with Hazard and Giroud. Just hope we try to start positively and get some service in to Ings and Gabbi.

Great news if true. Would much rather see Yoshida or Bednarek picked in the league side as Hoedt is absolutely crap at defending. I don't buy all this "he will be good eventually" stuff. To me, he looks like he doesn't have the defensive instincts or attitude to be a success in this league. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

So, it's not relevant that Hughes actually achieved much better league placings than Pulis in nearly all of his seasons at Stoke, contrary to what was said above as if it was fact?

Which it was. Wasn't it headed in from about 1 yard in front of Mccarthy's starting position before the kick? There was also fault elsewhere but he definitely should have come for it and punched it out. He's otherwise been excellent though, so an isolated mistake hopefully.

I don't get your point here - are you now blaming Hughes for our decline since 2015/16? And I can't be bothered to check back on what happened at Fulham and QPR, but Hughes definitely had higher finishes at Stoke than Pulis ever did in the 3 consecutive years when they finished 9th! But don't let the facts get in the way.

Absolutely. But it's far easier to just blame everything on the manager, right? The players need to stand up and take responsibility themselves, not constantly look to the sidelines. But I won't hold my breath on that one. Easier for them to hide behind the manager and let him take any flak. The Brighton game was a classic case. To my mind, Hughes set the team up well and we were totally dominant in the first half. But when Brighton committed more bodies forward and challenged us earlier on the ball, the players once again were found wanting in terms of composure and bottle. I don't see it as a tactical issue personally. There should have been opportunities to play it through Brighton's more intensive pressing, but the players didn't have the bottle to keep playing and resorted to kicking it long and aimlessly so that Brighton could just keep building the pressure. And then the usual defensive frailty. Obviously the coaching team need to help the players address these issues but the players need to take more responsibility, it can't all come from the sidelines. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

I absolutely agree. It is not only a lack of quality of players in terms of skill where we are suffering but also a lack of character. We have lost all of our leaders from the team and replaced them with players who seem to back away when we are challenged in games. Some of the players, particularly the likes of Bertrand and Lemina need to do a lot better in terms of leading the team through difficult spells in games. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

So, what you are saying is when the players do something outstanding it's "lucky" and therefore no credit can be given to the manager. Whereas when they make mistakes and miss or concede goals, that can all be put firmly down to Hughes influence [emoji23] That's nice twisting of the facts to suit your agenda even by saintsweb standards. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

I think you are over estimating the quality of our squad to be honest. We have a lot of bang average players now, and unfortunately many of them go missing when a bit of bottle is required. You mention Zaha and the impact he would have had if he had played - a perfect example of the kind of quality that we don't have any more. Hughes is far from my favourite manager but I honestly don't think we would be better off getting rid of him and chancing our arm on who else the club in its current state can attract. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

I thought his final ball was decent in the first half to be fair. Great ball in for Elyonoussi header which should have been buried. Not so good in second half, but generally I think he's heading in the right direction so you've got to think the end product will come if he continues in this form. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

We are better than we were last season. But there's still a long way to go to rebuild from the disaster that was Pellegrino. Our home form is really concerning and today shows we still have the same demons in terms of lack of composure and a soft centre when the opposition up their game. That's what Hughes needs to find a solution to, but he needs some help from the senior players on the pitch. Nothing to be gained from continually blaming Hughes for everything though. I believe we are better off sticking with him and giving him a sensible period of time to continue the improvement we have seen since he took over. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

I absolutely agree. It's so easy to blame it all on substitutions. The players on the pitch need to show the bottle and composure to see games like that out. It was just typical of our team to concede such a soft goal seconds after going 2 up. Centre backs and keeper should be commanding their area in that situation. And from that moment on we continued to show little or no composure on the ball. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Should have won this comfortably. Why have we not got any players with composure and common sense? For me it's not about managerial tactics, it's about players showing the composure to see a game through and make sensible decisions to see the game through when in a winning position. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

This is where Lemina and Hojbjerg seem to go missing. Maybe Davis a good choice here to get on the ball. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Composure gone at present. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

****e defending. Will we ever learn? Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Don't like the stupid stutter run up. But it went in! Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Need to calm it down and get Redmond back in the game. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Worrying signs here. Need to get back on it. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Would love to see Redmond score tonight. The only thing missing from his performance in first half. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Woah! Get in! Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Well on top so far but need a bit more from the front 2. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk