Lallana's Left Peg

I remember the season we went down from the Championship. Just about every single game I saw away from home had us beaten in the first half (usually by a couple of goals, sometimes three) and then Dodd and Gorman would lay into them at HT and they got a reaction and you'd go away thinking there was hope. Then the next game it was the same old rubbish. Then you realised that the team only playing one half a game was not good at all and they weren't good enough. I don't think its quite that bad of course but it's not a good sign.

Conceding a goal from your own corner is U14 stuff. It's atrocious. Our league record away from home this season: L, L, W, D, D, L, L, D, W, L, L , L. That's 9 points from 36. We have not conceded two goals in a league game and got something from it this season. In fact the only time we have done it at all this season was in a cup game (against Norwich). We can't keep the goals out and we can't score many. It's the sign of a poor team unfortunately. We lack luck but we also don't deserve much. I would suggest we are in no danger of going down but we'll be looking over our shoulder well into May. Is that acceptable? I don't know really. Feels like the season really does hinge on the cup final.

Tadic and Boufal make a very brief appearance around 43 seconds. No Jay Rod in video.

I've not seen much of him, have had to go to YouTube to see what he is like. Only thing I can really deduce is that he has a lot of quality in that left foot and seems to have good awareness with his movement and a lot of composure and technique. Hard to know how a player will adapt to another league but he does seem to have some quality.

Having taken the decision to exit this competition the expectation is now that our league form really picks up. If it doesn't then we should be asking questions. If it does then the end justifies the means. Also means we get over two weeks rest before the EFL Cup Final. Man Utd have to play three games in those two weeks off (two in Europa, last one is away on the Wednesday before the final) and an FA Cup game at the weekend inbetween them assuming they qualify tomorrow.

Not seen such an obvious attempt to lose a game from Saints in a long time but not going to get too upset by it. Feel sorry for those who paid money to see Saints though, the team selection is clearly cheating paying punters.

I read something saying that the construction industry in China is very competitive and that by Lander being associated with Saints it will differentiate them from the market (they can also say they can build football facilities endorsed by a Premier League club etc.)

Don't remember feeling this anxious about an injury since Bale ahead of the the second playoff leg against Derby.

Les Reed, January 5th: So there you have it - a condition on him leaving is that the club believe they can replace him. You can interpret that in two ways of course: 1. You can technically argue that if the club felt Stephens could step up or that Gardos was fully fit they are entitled to consider that Fonte is replaced. Of course, that would be a complete horsesh*t move by the club. 2. We will buy / loan a replacement. My expectation is firmly in 2 as anyone who thinks Fonte (even in an average season) can be replaced within would be accepting an inferior player replacing an important one. Over to Les Reed and Ross Wilson...

The value of the Fonte deal is entirely down to how good his replacement is. Sell Fonte for £10m and don't replace him = I'd rather have Fonte. £10m in the bank to a club that is already rich is pointless to me as a supporter. Sell Fonte for £10m and attempt to replace him with a better player by using that money plus some more = good deal for Saints. Sell Fonte for £10m and get in a cheap replacement = I'd rather have Fonte. That said I have no doubts the club have attainable targets. I do wonder about Semedo - Lisbon got dumped out of Europe altogether in the first half of the season so have little to play for really and he does seem attainable to me.

It did but the football was dire. It made us stop conceding goals and we snatched the odd one up front when we had slightly better finishing. Not sure 3-5-2 is the way to go in this case. I'd rather put one of the midfielders further forward in support of the striker and get more men in the box in addition to more of an urgency in our play.

If Fonte signs for either West Ham or West Brom and his deal is similar to his Saints terms (either or existing or offered) I'd love to know the reason he's left. VVD fallout as suggested on here? Has club pushed him out? Has Fonte falled out with Reed? Alot of questions we likely won't know the answer to.

His own form and this statement is not mutually exclusive to be fair. Had he still been playing up front then I would agree he is being played out of position but ever since we went to a 4-3-3 with two wide players he should be in his element. He shows glimpses but his decision making or execution lets him down too much. I don't know if that will change - he still seems like the same Nathan Redmond that frustrated at Norwich 3 years ago to me but I appreciate progress with young players is not always linear. I am desperate for him to play with instinct more and use his pace when he has the ball as much as when he doesn't. There was a break on Saturday in the second half where it was 4 on 3 (Saints had the ball and the man advantage) and Puel was on the sideline screaming at Redmond to move quickly and Redmond slowed things down and played a poor ball behind Tadic's stride which brought things to a halt and Puel went absolutely berserk.

He's mobile enough to make a difference though. So even if if he isn't as powerful as many and that impacts his ability to compete in the air, beat a man and tackle his mobility shouldn't stop him from being able to find space and do something productive with the ball. If I look at the likes of Fabregas and Cazorla they aren't particularly quick or powerful but they are skillful, and because JWP isn't particularly skillful it really impacts what he can do with the ball. So I think it is just as much his skill as it is his physical attributes. I still think he needs an identity as a player. When he plays I am not sure what sort of player he is trying to be (or indeed is). His range of passing seems limited (tactically, self-imposed or just capability) from what I thought it may have been at one time. In the final third he isn't creative enough, and in the other two thirds of the pitch I'm never sure what he is trying to achieve being simply recycling the ball. I have seen him try to pass the ball forwards more this season to be fair, but from memory it has only been really obvious passes rather than anything to break the lines creatively. He goes as the team does. When the team plays well he contributes but never stands out. When the team is struggling he's never someone who has a better game - he always struggles to make an impact. He has loads of experience but that doesn't always mean progress should be linear - though it is getting to crunch time with him I think.

I'm not fussed by the lack of links in the press. I will be bothered if the window closes and we haven't done anything - that will be the first time I question the ambition and / or competency of those running the club on the football side. Every single metric you look at shows we are terrible at finishing and it completely undermines everything else we do. The Manager clearly will not change his approach so we'll be stuck with the same old frustrations until the summer if so.

There is still a lot of talent in that squad, as well as some players with good potential. Who knows if they will fulfil it. Squad needs to be managed better and it needs more quality in the final third.

Anyone see the finishing in the warm-up yesterday? The exercise they do before every game where they all receive a layoff and then try to finish against the sub keeper? Lets just say Tadic aside it was an absolute joke from everyone.

Puel has been dealt a bad hand in terms of goal threat, but he should also be doing better in terms of the things he does to get this team going. Anyone at the game yesterday would have seen the players arguing and gesturing between each other. It wasn't just frustration - they clearly didn't what each other was supposed to be doing and for me that is coaching. Whether you like Puel or not, that is on him. In terms of performances I thought Hojbjerg grew into the game and Tadic was better than others on here said he was but he's working with absolute muck up front and he did his best work with the full backs. Redmond and JWP had games they would rather forget. Redmond awful with the ball and JEP ineffective with and without it. The subs weren't very good and as the game went on we got more disjointed which again for me is a coaching issue - we need to be controlled in the way we do things so if we're pushing for a goal we need to do it in a way that shows everyone knows what they are doing rather than it turn into a sunday league game (which it did). It's pretty embarrassing for one of our tactics to be to shove VVD up front and even more embarrassing that when we do we look better. There were boos at the end and VVD stormed off on his own ahead of everyone else on the pitch. If any of you think all is well in the camp then you are blind.

I think at this stage you have to trust Katharina Liebherr that she has the best intentions and would have sought to do her own due diligence that she is passing the club over to capable guardians. I do not know anything about the prospective owners however *if* they have enough nous and savvy in the Asian market to dramatically increase our commercial revenue then that is a huge plus and can open up a lot of opportunities for us in terms of investment in our team. The concern is everything that comes with change and the suggestion that they are not cash rich themselves.

The Ashley Williams comparison is very good. Nowhere near as good and Swansea still got £12m for him. Can see why Saints think that £13m for Fonte is fair.

I've only seen Sakho play for Liverpool and whilst he is physically imposing and a good athlete I've seen plenty of lapses of concentration which is a concern. He also plays like someone else is controlling his legs at times. He likes the pass the ball forward but that does also lead to mistakes (this is not much of a criticism as that is bound to happen when you pass the ball forwards so much). Only other concern is that he got thrown out of Liverpool's pre-season tour after breaking his fourth rule or something like that. So not sure how he passes our 'character' criteria. I think he would be a good player for us but he doesn't come without his baggage or deficiencies. But then again, if he didn't have them then he wouldn't come to us so swings and roundabouts.

Without wishing to get into this too much the average national wage is nothing to do with how much a footballer should or should not be paid and if you look at the industry then top level footballers are actually underpaid when you look at the income that football has. I suspect your accountant friend is correct when it comes to income but only for the very best footballers. Last year Ronaldo had more income than AC Milan did (for example). For Saints it makes little sense to make Fonte top earner for two more years. However, whilst it would be nice for him to get a good deal for 'services rendered' if a club in China want to chuck £6m a year at him for two seasons you can't blame him for having his head turned.

The thing I that I struggle to understand about this is that if the above is true it suggests the club thinks they can keep VVD for a period beyond this summer which, unless a large number of things drastically change (our form, our ability to spend, bigger clubs form, bigger clubs ability to spend) then I just don't see it. So ditch Fonte to keep VVD happy for 6 months and then he leaves as well? Sounds silly to me. Or maybe VVD would be willing to stay for longer - but given he changed agent a month ago I doubt it.

For the money we have spent and the resources we have at our disposal we should be doing better this season - and that is taking into account player turnover and the new Manager. Of course with change there is risk and it does take time to get things right - but I still think taking that into account this season has not been what would be reasonable to expect under the circumstances. League position is ok (but performances are frustrating), cup performances are ok (semi-final is great but out of Europe in the manner we did is abysmal). Most worryingly I am seeing deterioration in our standard of performances as a team and in individuals so I want to see signs of the Manager and team being able to work it out. There is still alot to play for this season and it could go either way.

Not been very good at it this season then have we. Interesting U23 team. I thought Alfie Jones may have had an outside shot at making the squad for Norwich given his rapid rise to prominence the last 18 months. Given the absentees from that U23 squad then unless they are injured I think the following may well be travelling later today for the game tomorrow: Sims Isgrove Stephens Olomola (although I think I heard he was injured) On Wednesday the U18's have their FA Youth Cup tie against Wigan (at Wigan) - and I would expect to see Parkes, Valery, Vokins, o'Connor, Slattery, Afolabi, Johnson, Rowthorn and Mdlalose all feature in that so if the U18's are playing this weekend I think it will be full of 16 year olds!