whoateallthepies

Pleased other people can play spot the difference. No comparison to last season - 6 regular games, 4 against strong opposition, Thursday/Sunday - and we will get injuries given that much pressure on the body. Clubs that we need to take points from to guarantee we stay up won't have these challenges. Will be amazed if PL form isn't badly hit and the squad turns out to be really thin; but I'll wait until December before admitting I was right/wrong to be concerned.

That last point is the key. Europa means 6 extra matches minimum; and that's 6 x we have to play PL matches close to the Thursday with little time to recover. That has huge implications for a squad entering a full on European competition. Injuries already to Bertrand and Romeu and there will be more as the season progresses. Throw in the odd suspension and lack of activity in the transfer market and the board are asking way too much. I truly hope they have hit on some genius plan that nobody in the game has ever figured out - but forgive me for fearing the worst.

This Expect us to get caned by ManUre and the Arse (which is a shame because for the past two seasons I was confident we could beat anyone home or away on our day). Surely it's the Sunderland and Swansea home games that we judge things on? 4 or 6 points from those and we should be in for an ok season. Anything less and the Puel appointment/tight purse strings strategy starts to look like the naive thinking some of us fear it to be. I've never been overly bothered losing to the usual suspects; it's how the manager/team respond to those results against the 'lesser' sides that I judge our capability on.

Ironic that, considering they run the club like a charity. Risk takers they are not and that = mediocrity in the longer term. Like it or not, football is all about the money and by that I mean spending the stuff. If they want to try and buck the trend and be frugal, fine. Do it at another club. Time to spend big or move on.

We can afford £100m. Amazes me that despite the huge sums of money we have earnt over the past three years we have a board that is totally incapable of grasping the scale of the game they are in. They are totally risk averse and that is always a sure sign of people who are out of their depth. Caution, tight purses and fear never result in significant success. If you believe that being eternally careful is the way to run a business, go and run a charity organisation, not a PL football club. Past seasons have shown that smaller teams being in the Europa League stretches the squad and makes it very difficult to maintain a strong league showing. We need significant investment in players, not a load of back-slapping, self-congratulatory egos, supported by a 'let's just be happy with where we are' attitude. If they aren't prepared to give Koeman the big bucks you can be certain they 'aint given it to the new boy. We must be one of the few clubs in the history of this great sport who have to put up with significantly wealthy backers combined with the type of spend averse thinking only witnessed by a Scot reaching the bar first. Time for the board to stop acting like a club that only offers a stepping stone for all and sundry and behaving as if they want success for us.

Guessed you would say that.

Agree with you - the problem is I don't believe they will invest in January. I know this will be seen as controversial; but how is the current board different to Lowe and cronies in terms of player activity. Both flogged our best players and replaced them with cheaper, less effective alternatives (or were profligate with money e.g. Delgado and Osvaldo). My key concern is that some fans have been blinded by the initial work ML put in place for too long now. I believe things would have been better had he lived but I am no longer convinced the current board are applying his vision - rather, it is now a bunch of the usual chancer's who are lining their own pockets and frankly don't give a toss about the club. Suspect RK will take the hit for this poor season even if he keeps us up; but not sure that is the answer. The board need to start earning their salaries and invest in the squad again; but I'm not holding my breath.

Yes, because should we end up fighting relegation we'll all be thankful for accurate reviews of defeats. Contemplate 7 defeats out of 9 games. If you don't think that is worthy of concern then all credit to your monumental powers of optimism. Personally I prefer to recognise a problem when it is in front of me because then I find it so much easier to deal with it. My worry is that the board appear (no proof) to be ignoring the signs of decay and settling for mediocre at best. Let's hope they don't see 7 defeats out of 9 as acceptable.

Yup, farewell to the most overrated manager in Premier League Land. Tried to strip us bear because he had no idea how to develop younger players himself. He will be lucky to land a job at Halifax. Probably run off to hide abroad a la Moyes (whom I have some respect for).

When Lowe was in charge he claimed that the train company/council told him they would fund the development of a new station at St.Mary's. Once they saw the full cost they then offered to pay part of the money with the club having to raise the rest. According to Lowe this was still too much for them to invest. He didn't state the full costs but suggested it was in the 10million + bracket (something to do with changing the lines - it looks simple but apparently is far from it) so this will never get done unless we do actually have a billionaire who is happy to throw money around.

Agree. Footballers aren't employed for their intellect or communication skills. Not his fault he was badly advised by an idiot of an agent. If you want to vent; find out who is agent is and troll him relentlessly on Twitter

Personally I would be concerned. Losing becomes a habit in the same way that winning does. We had what looked on paper like a relatively smooth opening four matches, all of which we would have expected to win with last seasons team. Lose, maybe even draw, and the mood will be low going in to the break. Many teams are showing some form already with unexpected wins against "better" teams. This season already has a similar feel for me to the ones where we were perennial relegation fodder. Maybe with Bertrand and Clasie in the side, things will pick up. Let's just hope that too much damage has not already been inflicted by then. Having said all that, we'll probably go and stuff Norwich tomorrow and I'll look a right numpty.

Anyone who's expectation is that Saints stay up this season will (probably) be happy come May. If you're expecting anything more, you'll probably have burst a blood vessel by October. Enjoy either way.

I ref U12 games and you see mistimed tackles like this on a regular basis. You would end up 2 v 2 if you kept giving reds for this. Eyes on the ball, one foot planted, slightly mistimed. Looks like Bertrand is actually starting to lean away as he anticipates the Swansea player is coming in recklessly; Barrow's body shape is all wrong for a challenge; he's just flying in. It's correct to say that getting the ball first is not mitigation under the purity of the rules; however, refs usually allow for some leeway when that happens (maybe they shouldn't but they do) and there is little evidence of intent. Surprised the guy was stretchered off? Looks as if Bertrand catches his shin pad! Not sure what angle the ref saw it from and that may have dictated his decision for a red, but yellow at worst for me. Worth appealing. Wenger always does even when the oppo player is cut in half

Of course the fans need to get behind the team, especially if that first win continues to prove elusive. The longer it remains so, the more the confidence will drain from the players. The more the confidence drains away, the harder it becomes to achieve the vital win. That's when the support from the fans is crucial. Especially as the current board will walk away at the first sign of trouble (just my opinion).

It is a long hard season and confidence will play a big part for a rebuilt team. We need an early win. Anything else and the confidence in each other and the manager could be tested. This plus losing any more players and things can change very quickly. WBA comes at a good time and should give us that boost in confidence.

It is a long hard season and confidence will play a big part for a rebuilt team. We need an early win. Anything else and the confidence in each other and the manager could be tested. This plus losing any more players and things can change very quickly. WBA comes at a good time and should give us that boost in confidence.

It's too late to start saying 'no' now! This is only a problem if you believe the board care about who goes and who stays. Top players replaced by loans and interest in crap players from Norwich...Go figure which it might be.

Do you have a colour TV yet? Or is your entire view of the world still black and white?

Football, like life, is all about ambition. If someone's ambition in life is to leave school at 16, get a low paid job, hire a cheap flat and own a cheap car, good for them. People like Cortese don't subscribe to that attitude and some Saints fans don't either. If you want to believe we were never going to reach the CL that's your position on life/football and you are welcome to it. Some of us know that ambition and drive and belief are the life blood of success. Just ask any Olympic gold medal winner, anyone who summits Everest, anyone like Richard Branson. Not the "we were never going to achieve that" losers attitude for them. You receive back what you put in. The current board are receiving lots of money because they are putting in place a scaled down policy, lacking in ambition. Good luck to them. To put it bluntly, they are scared. Scared of where going that extra mile might have taken them, scared that it just might have failed. Easier and safer to aim for mediocrity in life and flog the family silver while you're at it. It's their club and they are entitled to do with it as they please. Cortese however, subscribed to a different ethos. People like that are rarely popular but then again they don't give a s**t whether they are popular or not. They are there to succeed. ML saw that in him, that's why he gave him the job. So now are back to being a club run by people who have no knowledge of football and little ambition. Ring any bells? Cheap flat and cheap car here we come. It's a life of sorts.

He won't have final say on who stays and who goes and you can't keep players that want to move on. Don't believe for a moment that clubs aren't capable of promising the new manager everything and then going back on it all once they are in....they aren't going to attract a decent manager by telling him they plan to flog our best players and give him peanuts to replace them...

His knowledge of hockey will really come in handy now. So glad he is here. This is asset stripping! That is why he is here...to maximise a quick profit, sell us to some chancer on the cheap (Rupert Lowe anyone?)and bail out with a few quid in his back pocket. There was always this chance once ML passed away. Saints were his vision alone and that vision largely died with him. Be thankful for the season we just had and remember it fondly. We won't be back in the top half again anytime soon. I don't want it this way but that's life. The sooner fans get used to the idea we will be scrapping to stay up with a low quality side the better. As it always was. Mayuka wants to come back and I for one am prepared to bet the board are ignorant enough to see him as a cheap replacement for Rickie. Hey ho.

Spilled two easy saves midway through the first half; one of which missed the post by a whisker. Caught a couple of crosses ok. One very good save from a close range header and not at fault for the goals but might have got a more firm hand on the first to prevent it going past him. Wasn't a great performance, wasn't a terrible performance but there is clearly a confidence issue. We need a new keeper IMO.

This is a wind up right? You're not really this mental? Real world? Cos you live in it big stylee.

Even if he did, not sure how much a new manager can change this sorry situation. The squad lacks PL experience, the players don't look physically strong enough, we lack a leader on the pitch (sorry, but AL is not the right choice for skipper), we lack an aggressive, ball winning, level headed midfielder, confidence is low, defence is not good enough for this level. Do we really believe a new manager can turn this all round, even with a January transfer window? I would like to think so and yes, I do think NA should go; but this is a poor squad by PL standards and there in no MLT around to bail us out with a 25 yarder. Really fear for us now. NC has always maintained he is building for the future. That'll be a long term future in the Championship then. Love the Saints always but this is truly painful to watch.