saintsmike25

Should have won that, we started off badly but looked the better side for 70% of that match. Some good performances, we made lots of chances in the second half, Redmond and Holjberg looked fantastic at times. JWP poor, Long did well to win the red card but he had one of those days where he was a bit off his game, Tadic was bright at times. Targett had a mixed game. Watford defended well.

Just appear to be lacking fluency, Shane Long has been ineffectual today, Tadic has been bright in places and Redmond is looking to make things happen. What is worrying is JWP/Davis and Romieu - between those three they got outmuscled very badly in the midfield, we need our new signing on instead of JWP - especially if Tadic is now on set-piece duty. Redmond is far too central at times, also Targett needs to work on his final ball it's always too low with no speed, needs to start whipping it. I think we'll equalise but this might be an issue this season until we have a new goalscorer that we'll dominate some games and struggle once teams set out a defensive stance.

Dunno why the overreaction, he's 32 and it's his last chance at angling for a big move of course he'll say a come-and-get-me plea despite being captain and happy here. Afterall if he could add another trophy to the European Cup it would be a good achievement. I don't think a big club will buy him because he's 32, so not worth a punt on.

Hm, not a fan of this shape. Hopefully this improves but it's not suited to our personnel.

We're looking toothless in the final third so far, just lacking any real zip. I guess Redmond upfront isn't a wise idea so far, he's much more effective from wide positions. Targett was injured early on, McQueen isn't suited for LB he gets done for pace and positioning isn't good. It'll get better but players trying to adapt to this shape.

Not too surprised, I expected him to go and be off. Yes he's protected the defence well but last season he was one of our weaker performers and lost his discipline and motivation. I hope now that Mane can also go and we get a huge fee for him and whoever else wants to leave and start a fresh. We will be signing some very good players to replace those who are and will leave, we might not finish in the top ten this season as it will be about rebuilding, and from what I hear buying some quality British young talent, like Redmond and also giving more chances to those who have come up through the system. I expect Harrison Reed to make his mark in the team now as the "ready made replacement" without spending £££.

OH, EDIT i thought this was for the LAST five seasons, but it's 15 I'll change my list Best: Lambert, Niemi, Morgan, Michael Svensson, VVD Worst - In terms of ability and wasted potential, Delgado, Osvaldo, Mikael Nilson, Olivier Bernard and Gaston Ramirez (talented, but ultimately wasn't the right fit here)

Best: Morgan, Lambert, Fraser Forster, Mane, VVD Worst: Osvaldo, Ramirez, Forren, Tadanari Lee, Mayuka,

MOTD commentators pointing out Tadic's excellent performance, more of us should appreciate when he plays well because he is one of our most talented players and has no doubt created the vast majority of our chances when he plays.

Tadic had an excellent game, yet people on here constantly slagging him off. He's not perfect and will make the wrong decision at times, but today he created, took shots, passed well and gave Everton headaches and was a joy to watch.

We have played excellently just sadly one lapse and we can't put our chances away. Other than that the performance levels are excellent. Stupid meltdown on here.

De Ja Vu

The player we miss today and could do with is Tadic. Mane's pace isn't going to work as he's clearly off-colour, we need more incision and precision and need to do more to peg Bournemouth back, last time out that's how we beat them. Long and Austin have both been ineffectual, but have had little or no service. Bournemouth have been very good, clearly treating this as a derby and rightly so, Josh King has been excellent as has Matt Ritchie and Charlie Daniels and Max Gradel, Bertrand/Cedric have been pegged back for the most part and Romeu/JWP have struggled to get to grips with the game, Fonte has had a bit of a shocker, Van Dijk has been excellent. As much as Bournemouth dominated they had only two shots on target, but that was as poor as I've seen us. We need to simply play Bournemouth at their game and start being first to the ball and using it more effectivily. Koeman made a good change by taking off Yoshida who was off the pace, and bringing on Davis, but what we need is Mane to start showing us the player that we all know is there.

Where we are losing this game is in the midfield. We aren't winning enough challenges or closing down Bournemouth to an acceptable degree, Mane also isn't providing a decent outlet today and has lost the ball. While JWP has looked weak.

Don't blame Forster, it was clearly a dumb mistake by Fonte, he got caught by Josh King and gave away a silly foul.

Stupid change to keep Pelle on and sub off our most dangerous player! Jesus..

Saw that coming he was later than South West Trains on a Monday morning. Stupid stupid stupid. Take off Pelle put on Romau and just contain and break.

Pelle is having a shocker, Clasie is excellent today as is Yoshida and VVD.

Think Long is injured..

Then Romau hits a world class ball and Long does that... ah frustration.

This is a much harder game than the home one. We are struggling to get in behind, bit worried about Romau who seems a bit off the pace at times. Mane is not at his best and has given away possession early a few times. Tadic looks keen and is working hard. We just need to go in at HT without conceding and then catch them on the break.

It's good business if we sign a proven PL goalscorer like Austin for 4 million and we get a bid from Juve for Pelle for around 10-15 million, Pelle is an Italian international, and although proven at this level he's older than Austin and somewhat more inconsistent. We're always going to be a club who is looking at the business side of deals, and this would make perfect sense. The ball is in Pelle's court, does he stay and fight for his place against Austin/Shane Long and possibly Jay Rod if he's back, or does he go back to his roots and go back to Italy with a point to prove. I'd say the latter. Welcome to the club Charlie, it'll nice to see you score for us instead of against us. Also Austin is in the RL mould, a complete striker with excellent technique, good in the air and a knack of scoring important goals from anywhere. He's the long awaited replacement we've wanted since RK moved.

It means that Pelle might be off. Goes with what I've heard.

There is some truth to this. He wants to stay at Southampton, but heard from a decent source that knows him well that he's pondering Juve, depends on the club really this transfer window. There are rumours that during his so-called "injury lay-off" he was in Turin for talks with Juventus. Wait and see folks.

Such negative comments before the game about the set-up. But tonight each player has done his job well, stand out performers are Romau/Targett and Long for his hard work. When we play like this we are a force. We have a very good side when we're on our game, we just need to start showing this more regularly.