Saint Pete

Still way too much emphasis on the decision not to bend over and let Van Dijk leave in the summer. You do get the feeling that Ralph is lining us up for lots of further sales where the club will say "we are just getting back to the successful Southampton way". I get that Van Dijk's strop can't have helped MP with the morale of the team when he took over, but there are many other reasons and mistakes over the last couple of years that you still feel the management are sweeping under the carpet. I don't think the answer to all our problems is "let's sell any player who expresses an interest in leaving" irrespective of what that will do to the quality of the team. I would have liked to have heard more acceptance that the recruitment side has not been good enough lately and that we have failed to replace players with good enough quality in certain areas. He doesn't need to name names but that would have given me more confidence that the club know they need to strengthen to bring us back up to the level that we were at. We can't just expect Hughes to do it all without the support he needs in getting the right players into the squad. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

I agree, but suspect it's not as black and white as that. I can't believe Hughes would be saying he wants to run everything, probably just that he wants to be fully involved in decisions on signings, targets etc? Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

In a team that is functioning properly and using him in the right way, I think Tadic will always create chances. So there's no way we should be selling him. What we need is more players in the attacking third who are capable of converting the chances he creates. So would much rather we move on the likes of Redmond and Boufal, who produce far less end product than Dusan. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Have you been watching the last 6 games? Surely you must acknowledge that there has been a marked improvement in performance? He’s only been in charge for 8 league games and 3 of those were against Chelsea, Arsenal and City. Put in that context, the results he has achieved have been very good and just as importantly he seems to have the backing of the players, something the last 2 managers never seemed to achieve. I personally think it’s very unlikely we will be able to attract a manager with a much better record than Hughes at the moment, and I certainly don’t trust Les and co to unearth any gems if we go into another lengthy round of “due diligence” on other available candidates. Any talk of the likes of Tuchel or Ancelotti, etc is absolute pie in the sky. So let’s get on with appointing Hughes, so that everyone can work towards improving the squad, which should be what we are focused on this summer.

We did at Swansea. For this season, that's all that matters. We will only stop making those errors when we get better defenders in. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

What do you expect within 8 games? He's done more than enough to justify getting the job permanently. There is important work to do on the squad, appoint Hughes now so we can get on with it. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Oh well. Pity that, poor goal to concede, but doesn't matter [emoji3] Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Set piece, come on. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Great stuff Tadic, unlucky. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

I think it will be their strongest available 11 or very close. Pep will want to be seen to respect the competition and he has said he wants to get the 100 points. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

If we do let Austin go, we need to bring someone in who we can rely on for goals at premier league level. Sorry, but there is nothing to suggest Gallagher is that man. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Player - McCarthy Goal - Tadic Helmet - Boufal Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

A 10 goal swing is unlikely, but it's complacent to think that it's impossible, particularly in these circumstances. We are up against the best team in the land who have scored over 100 goals this season, scoring 5 goals or above on a number of occasions. Swansea are up against the worst team in the league, freshly relegated, making them quite likely to fold if Swansea can get in front early. When Huddersfield were still in the mix, it felt more comfortable as Swansea would have gone into their game thinking any win may be enough. They now know they have to attack from the start, looking for goals. So I hope that Hughes has already drummed any thoughts that it is "job done" out of the players, and they are approaching this game in the same 100% committed way they have the last 3 games. I think we need to approach like a normal game, looking to play a strategy to get points, rather than thinking that a 2 or 3 goal defeat is OK, which is likely to lead to an edgy afternoon if Swansea start building a lead in their game! Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Goals scored, which we are also ahead on. So they effectively need a 10 goal swing. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

But don't get sent off in the first 5 minutes FFS!! Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

I would certainly rather Gabbi stayed than Boufal or Carrillo! But others have said, suspect if he and the wife are not happy here off the pitch, it's probably best he moves on.

Indeed. Quite unbelievable that they are slapping themselves on the back for the wonderful transfer business they have done after the terrible season we have had! Bednarek has done OK (can't fault his effort and application) but not sure I'm ready to think he is someone we should be relying on at Prem level. And as for Hoedt

I don't agree that Hughes has made us "far more defensive" than the previous 2 managers. He has certainly set the team up better defensively than Pellegrino in the last few games by using the 3 at the back, but I disagree that our overall approach has been defensive. Under Pellegrino, whatever formation we were playing, caution was drummed into the players so much that many of them appeared to have forgotten the objective of scoring goals altogether! At least a couple of players were quoted as saying or hinting that they were being held back from attacking by MP for fear of conceding. My impression since Hughes has taken over is that he has strived to put us back in a more attacking mindset and focused on trying to score, and that has helped the likes of Tadic, Redmond and Long I think.

Great (and sensible) news if true. Get him signed up as soon as poss after Sunday so he can start working with the club on squad matters.

No thanks. In my opinion, the last few months already provides enough "due diligence" that Hughes can do the job and take us forward from here. Do you really want Les/Ralph to go into weeks/months of farting around pretending we have a chance of getting someone like Tuchel/Emery whilst Hughes buggers off and then we end up with some no mark who wants to park the bus in every game again (but who "fits the club philosophy perfectly?"). I would much rather we get Hughes signed up with no messing about (assuming he wants it) and get straight on with the important job of strengthening the squad after the damage that has been done in previous windows.

"Any half decent manager"? In my opinion this is the kind of complacent, believe our own hype Les Reed thinking that got us into this mess. Mark Hughes is a manager with a much better than average record as a premier league manager. Yes, he messed up in the end at Stoke, but that can happen for many reasons. He clearly tried to change the playing style at Stoke and bring in better quality players, it worked for a while but the recruitment went bad and affected team spirit. At Saints, he has only been here a short while, but it shouldn't be underestimated the task he has faced in reversing the damage that has been done to confidence and spirit here. I think if the last couple of years should have taught the club anything, it's that they should be pretty glad to have a manager with the qualities of Mark Hughes. Sign him up! Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Great to see his emotion after the final whistle today, he has really put heart and soul into these last couple of months. He wouldn't have been first choice for many Saints fans had we not been desparate, but I think the timing is right for him to make a real impression at the club. It's clear for all to say that he has made a great impact with the players, at least those that matter. The club should act quickly to get him signed up, as we shouldn't automatically assume that he won't have potential other offers if we do our usual dithering thing! Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Fantastic to see the emotion from Hughes at the end. Full credit to him, he is known as being dour, but there is no question he and his coaching team have produced 100% more passion from these players than what went before. From the moment he has come in, his common sense and determination to win have shone through, and I would be saying he should get the job even if we had lost today. Having said all that, job is not done yet, I refuse to accept we can't possibly mess it up until it's mathematically done, this is Saints after all! But I trust Hughes & co to get the players down to earth and ready to go again for the last game. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Most impressive thing for me is him coming for crosses and getting good punches to them. That has made a huge difference, especially with defenders who are not dominant in the air, despite their size. Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

I think this can be seen as a positive, because I’m never comfortable with us playing tactically thinking that a draw may be enough for us, especially not with our current defence! At least now it should be clear in everyone’s minds that we are going for the win, end of. It’s Swansea who will have more of a dilemma as to how positive they should be. One thing I really do hope is that we learn from yesterday that if we get in front, we need to push again for the second goal. One goal in front going into the last few minutes will always leave yourself open to one individual error or balls up from officials or unlucky deflection (or all 3!) costing you. We don’t have the mental or defensive strength at the moment to see games out in these circumstances so we need to make sure we take advantage of our superiority in games and get more than 1 ahead.