Saint Pete

Austin was a good signing at £4m but has done precious little since January to have confidence that he will prove an adequate replacement for the contribution that Pelle has given us in the last 2 seasons. He is also a different kind of player who does not link up the team in the way Pelle showed again that he can still do with Italy. I really hope that Austin and Jay get their fitness back and make a real contribution this season, as that is obviously what the club are relying on. Just think this is a gamble given the extra games we will be involved in. Sorry if that makes me a "melt" to those who can't seem to participate in a reasoned discussion.

Anyone who expresses an opinion different from know-it-all Internet forum posters who can't accept other points of view from their own?

So, cashing in on Pelle with no replacement, and relying on 2 unfit strikers to fill the gap. A bit baffling given that we have more games to play this season. Maybe Koeman had a point in terms of lack of ambition after all then?

Yes, in the sense that it was ultimately his choice. He had an offer of a new contract from Saints and an offer from Everton - whatever his reasons were, it was his choice which one he went with.

Yep. Koeman's account pretty much confirms what I thought was probably going on all along. Koeman was happy to see out the final year and then see what offers came in for him at that point, whereas Saints/Les (quite rightly in my opinion) felt that this would be a difficult situation to manage through the season with a manager who was not prepared to commit beyond the end of the season. In the mean time, Everton's interest firmed up and this offered both sides (Koeman and Saints) a way out. Personally, I don't think either Les or Koeman did anything wrong in this situation.

Joe Allen seems a decent player, but very arguable whether he is any/much better than Clasie or Ward-Prowse. We should be focussing on gettting a different type of midfielder, with the strength and stature to replace Big Vic.

That doesn't make sense. If he had a release clause, all 3 clubs would have known they didn't need to go above it to get him. It would be the player that then decides who gets him, not Norwich.

Wouldn't be surprised if there was something in this one, as sounds more of a "Saints type" of manager than either Pelligrini or Klinsmann. New favourite with the bookies by the end of the day?

Not sure why some are so critical of Wanyama in this - it's our decision whether we accept a bid for him surely? £11m a very good value signing for Spurs if true.

This one was even shorter and to the point!..... http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/01072014-adam-lallana-joins-liverpool-1708952.aspx

Who's blaming the club then? Just questioning whether the club really have a right to be as ****ed off with Koeman as they are making out. I think when push comes to shove the club will prefer this outcome to having Koeman still at the club on countdown to leave at the end of the season.

I tend to agree with this. Koeman's line in public for much of last season was that he was happy to stay - to the end of his contract. He never really seemed that keen to extend his contract further than that, so I'm not sure really why the club are so apparently miffed and surprised that he wasn't prepared to commit when offered the extension (unless of course he was saying something different in private). I think the club (quite rightly) wanted him to commit further than just a year, but he wasn't convinced, and then obviously the big offer from Everton came in. At the end of the day, if Koeman wasn't going to extend, I think the club wanted him out rather than having the uncertainty of a manager on only one year left, and all the speculation that would go with that through the season. So, the Everton offer actually suited us in many ways as it got us out of an awkward spot in deciding whether to dismiss Koeman a year early.

All strikers are hit and miss to some extent - look at Lukaku's performance last night... and he's meant to be worth £65m!! Overall, Pelle's done a great job for Saints in the last 2 years and still looks like he's got at least a couple of good years in him. We should only let him go if we can get an equal or better replacement - and that doesn't mean hoping that Austin and/or Rodriguez get fit!

Interesting read and I'm sure a lot of it has some truth, but struggle to believe how if Koeman is such a **** hated by so many at the club that he managed to coax such a great run of results from the players at the end of the season - W7 D1 L1 in last 9 games!

Don't see where the evidence is for this based on the (very little) we have seen from Austin in a Saints shirt so far.

Whatever happens with the final league position it's great to see us put in such a storming finish to the season - excellent stuff! Last 8 games - W6 D1 L1, including wins against Liverpool Man C and Spurs. Great effort.

Wow, nothing for anyone to moan about in that team. I'm worried

-------------------- Forster ----------------------- ------- Fonte ------- VvD -------- Bertrand ----- Cedric ------------------------------------ Targett ---------- Wanyama ------ Clasie --------------- ---------------------- Davis ----------------------- --------- Mane ------------------- Pelle ----------- Subs: Stek, Yoshida, JWP, Romeu, Tadic, Long, Austin If Davis still not fit, would start with Tadic instead.

Well, on the positive side, we've got a strong looking bench!

Tadic is frustrating at times, but I don't see how you can say he has contributed less than Long. He has regularly created chances and goals since he joined Saints and even in Saturday's game when he didn't play well overall, he still produced one of the only moments of real quality from us in the match with his perfect early ball in to Pelle in the first half - which should have been buried by Pelle. Generally, when he is on song, so are we, so he is much more of a key player than Long.

Yoshida selection possibly to compensate for how small we are in midfield to help with defending set pieces?

Yes, agree with that on what I've seen so far - seems to find it hard to impose himself once the other team get on top. Early days for him though and needs a few more games in his legs before we see the real player I think.

Maybe so, but is it not a concern that we can't hold on to the ball even against a side with so little ammunition? Unfortunately, most sides we play for the rest of the season will be much better and if we play so poorly for half the game, we will get punished - just like against Leicester.

Better opposition would have taken advantage - there's no way we should have allowed them so much time and space.

A win is a win, BUT... That 2nd half performance was terrible, much worse than the Leicester game in my opinion. Difference was Bournemouth didn't have Mahrez and Vardy to take advantage of it. Koeman should be tearing them a new one after that, because if we keep producing that, we will lose a lot of points against better opposition. It's hard to understand how a team can be as dominant as we were in the 1st half and then not be able to string 3 passes together in the 2nd. You have to put it down to complacency, which is not good enough given what happened against Leicester. Some will be critical of Wanyama for his 2nd yellow, but a number of other players were just as at fault for allowing their player to run so far without any sort of challenge - which was typical of us throughout the half.