Hodgey

Coaching is clearly a big part of it. Our biggest success for me was under George Prost who not only coached through some of the biggest talent but set processes in place that lasted for years. I don't know much about our current coaches but like above I'd be amazed if Jaidi is the standard we would ideally want. Interestingly enough another coach - Anthony Limbrick - who was arguably involved in youth development through our most succesfull period (Adkins - Koeman) and was also assistant manager for Engand U17s, is currently doing pretty well at my local club Woking (and their squad has got a lot younger as a result). We seem to be producing identikit small, technically decent players with little in the way of power/pace/mileage which also suggests recruitment criteria is too narrow / wrong.

We went and spent £15m on Gabbiadini because we had established that Long wasn't anywhere near good enough in the same formation we are playing now. Reed, Black and Watson all knew this. Yet here we are again having the same debate. I really worry about MoPe - yes Puel got us into this rut with his negative slow possession game but here we are 8 games in and MoPe has tried nothing new - either personnel or formation up top. Sadly can't see it changing unless he changes formation - which from his interviews he doesn't seem ready to do. We've actually been here before with Koeman but he was good enough to get us out of it by changing formation to stop the rot. Sadly at the moment our fwd is one of the worst in the division, and our attacking support isn't far behind.

Don't think it's the strikers - team clearly being coached to be ultra defensive - we do not commit enough players forewards so never seem to get that 'lucky bounce' but it's simply that we are heavily outnumbered.Can't see us scoring very often but we will get enough 1-0 and 0-0 to be mid table.

Great performance so far - shame Redmond and Tadic haven't been able to do much from a lot of decent positions. Also well done to Davis, yes he has faded a bit but he led from the front and set the pace first 15. Highlights as mentioned Lemina who has been immense and Hoets amazing cross field passing.

Well one things for sure - this seems to have put everyone in a bad mood ! Sounded shocking - I still think we are much better than we are playing but do worry we have a bit of a mental issue now attacking at home. We'll see if it's carried over to our away form on Sat. Think we will win that though - pressure will be on Udders and we may see that a lot of this is mental strength (I don't think any of our attacking players have any mental strength - aside from Austin which must be very concerning for Mo Pe - but let's see if he can turn that around.

Hmm - Lancs making the wicket look a little less difficult. You clearly can make runs on this pitch - we're going to have to learn how quickly if we want to swerve a defeat.

That needs to be a blip - players looked unfit and not bothered. Didn't look like scoring and defensively weak, plus lightweight all over the park. If that is our standard even buying messi won't help. Let's see what they do vs Seville but can't see how anyone saw any positives in any of that.

Interesting that people don't think VVD is worth £75m. The question is what is he worth to us as well as others - in its simplest form - for me keeping VVD means we have a remote chance of relegation. Losing him and failing to replace with a quality cb increases that chance hugely. How much is a Season in the prem worth ? 75m ?. Then think of the reality that a chunk of that 75m would go to Celtic / signing on fees / agents fees and it doesn't seem like such a great deal....we need to keep him and find a replacement over the next year (but actually find someone - not like we did with Wanyana). This also makes the decision to replace Fonte with a rookie from a weak league seem even more of a gamble.....they must have had an inkling this may happen. It's done now - but time to learn from mistakes (anyone remember the Svensson relegation year - if we had replaced him with quality rather than the likes of Davenport we would have stayed up).

For the sake of the final dignity of football he needs to put a transfer request in. Surely he'll be rich enough to forgo the 'loyalty' bonus. Just makes him look shady - I want to leave so won't play but equally want my loyalty bonus, huge new contract, and signing on fee. All that said nothing surprises me in football anymore.

Maybe, but also consider our record with players with soft tissue injuries - jrod was out for over a year, Forster for half a year, McCarthy for a whole season, Taggert best part of a season, Boufal constant niggles. I think the one thing you can say about these injuries is that nothing is certain and rarely quick. VVD has been out what 4-5 months ? - sounds unlikely but surely we can't rule out that he and the club are telling the truth over his match ready condition ?

Fair play to this classy response. Not the right fit for us but I fear that any genuinely quality manager will reject us due to our lack of managerial power. Guess we need someone who just wants to coach...

Lots of people doing false sums here - don't forget the bonus we need to pay VVD as he hasn't put a request in. Also the small matter of the sell on clause (25pc ?) due to Celtic. Then the signing on fee for the 'next VVD' plus agent fee - and suddenly that 50m is a lot smaller.... we should hold out for £70m - no reason why we shouldn't get it given the cash the interested parties have. If fit Sakho seems an obvious choice - then you can also gamble on Semodo and get rid of Gardos.

It's a fair point from Micky and he's probably right - in today's instant gratification FIFA playing world there are inevitably some who will not accept us not constantly winning. But I'd say they are the minority, I think it's entirely because we don't really believe we will win anything (and 40 years of not wining anything backs that up) that people want to be entertained - see us genuinely try and score goals etc. There is actually no reason for example we couldn't be like this years Ajax (they probably won't win anything either - but the fans love the way they play) - let's face it most of that side (and manager) we could have signed. If you are going to be deadly dull you have to at least win games. Also people want hope and vision - even if it turns out to be a false dawn - football is about escapism and entertainment - paying £45 to trudge down to St Marys thinking you are going to be served up tripe (and then constantly getting it) can't be the way forwards. I'm very frustrated with Puel - in some ways I can see what he is trying to do and the football is fantastic up until the final 3rd (he's not a Pulis / Fat Sam), but he just seems so stuck in his ways I really can't see us progressing to get there. Also don't get people who point out that Puel isn't to blame when his players miss - of course he is unless training, mental ability, talent etc are sitting outside his remit (and if so he should state that to get fans off his back). Equally if we thump someone 6-0 he would be to blame for that as well. Finally the most worrying thing for me is Gabbiaddini - a player full of confidence and skill when he came - but his regression and body language over the last month has the alarm bells going (that pen would have been buried when he first arrived).

Pretty worried about some of the stuff I'm reading here. There is no doubt that Adkins, Poch and Kidman all did great jobs - I cannot believe anyone can have a pop at Adkins who in 3 seasons took us from league 1 to safety in the Prem - irrelevant of resources available (yes we spend silly money in lg1 - but to go straight through the champ was incredible - look at the players Rednapp or Burley had and the pigs ear they made of it). Maybe Puel is a victim of comparison to others who have overachieved. But let's not run down the clear success of others. That said in all that time we won nothing of note - I'm sick of our fans pretending we are successful - the trophy cabinet is bare and that is unacceptable. I've supported saints for 35 years and we've won a JPT and a Kassam Cup (on pens) which is utterly pathetic. We can laugh at P*mpey but they have won leagues 2, champs and FA cup in that time. I'm probably getting old and miserable but I would very much like us to win something of note before I die - which also current run rate is unlikely !

It is worrying - so far buying him seems to have p$ssed off Tadic - and what is absolutely clear is you cannot play both of them at the same time. Can't write him off yet as he has never had a run of games where he starts. That said I'm not impressed with his arrogant play when he comes on - reckons himself with very little end product. Hopefully he can become a better player than Tadic and he his successor, worst case is he forced Tadic out and carries on with this show pony nonsence. At the moment he is an expensive flop - which you could argue about Mane in season one. But Mane worked hard and wasn't injury prone (and cost £5m less). I'm hoping if the coaches do spot an incompatability we cut our losses early like Juanmi and don't adamantly think we can succeed like Ramirez, Osvaldo and Mayuka. Good businesses fail quick and cheap !

I don't think he will go to Everton either - but you really can't rule it out. He's guaranteed a 1st team place there, they are a step up from us (no I don't want to accept that either) and they will pay silly money and wages. I actually think he will go to Chelsea as he seems settled in the area and he wouldn't even have to move - worry for me is Chelsea are much smarter on negotiating than Everton so we wouldn't win from that....

think we may have repeated the boric / Forster issue this season. For me Tadic is miles better than Boufal at the moment and his rant was right (and backed up by stats). Not sure where we go from here next season - id love to give Boufal more time but if that means Tadic leaves I'm not so sure..

Sorry Doddis + Cellone . Didn't notice that we were paying absolutely nothing for him (signing on fee, weekly wages etc) and this was all pre-planned by our outstanding strategy - I take it all back - Les is a genius. On a serious note hopefully we get a few games out of him, he stays injury free, and is committed to the club whilst he is here.

Panic buy - expensive lesson learned. At least we haven't committed and can redress the issue in the next window.

He can beat a man for fun - problem is he can't seem to release a pass or get away from the player after. So they get back and he has to beat them again until they muscle him off the ball. As someone already said - whilst his control and skill is up there with the Hazards and Sanchez - he doesn't have their strength, nor pace. If he is going to make it then he needs to get stronger and pass earlier. Promising though - I'd like to see more desire from him to change a game as he can do it, not sure mentally he is there (or will ever be). Worrying injury record as well.

I'm not too bothered about this. Players from the Italian league do not seem to suit the Prem. He seems to be more of an att mid when we need a striker, and he doesn't appear particularly match fit. At that price we should be walking away and looking elsewhere.

Regarding pens - really ?, are you confident when Tadic steps up to take one then ? - we had a very worrying period post Lambert when our pen taking was frankly poor, Austin has solved that so it's a definate bonus and counts. SFC think you have been quite kind with a few of those, and harsh on a few others - I'd go based on this season.. GKs Forster - lower prem McCarthy - championship Taylor - Div 1 (from recent career) Defenders Van Dijk - Top prem Fonte - Mid prem Gardos - champ Yoshida - lower prem Pied - unknown McQueen - lower prem Stephens - champ Bertrand - top prem Targett - championship Soares - mid prem Martina - championship Midfielders Clasie - lower prem Romeu - mid prem Ward-Prowse - champ Höjbjerg - champ Davis - mid prem Reed - champ Isgrove - div 1 Forwards Boufal - lower prem Sims - championship Tadic - lower prem Redmond - lower prem Rodríguez - champ Austin - mid prem Long - champ That said I think there is potential for the following to rise above their current rankings: Redmond, Hojberg, McQueen, Sims, Soares, McCarthy, J-Rod, Forster

This will be a very tough game - player for player we are very evenly matched so this will come down to tactics and home advantage. Both teams very strong defensively and both have players who on their day are match winners (rondon/chadli/Phillips jrod/Boufal/tadic). Ironically I think this may come down to set pieces with both sets of centre halves perhaps the biggest threat. Heart says 1-0 but head 1-1. Confident we will get something (and we need to as I can't see us getting anything at Everton).

In - and re-look at the end of the season. Football is about entertainment and winning, we are definitely going backwards for the first, and jury is out for the second. Then again - how many players has he signed ? - clearly Boufal is one of his and you could argue that the jury is out on him - but Redmond / Hojberg etc... Still don't understand why we have brought in a coach who is clearly a different style than what has brought us so much success since Atkins appointment. I also really hope he isn't being told to play youth products unless he really believes they are good enough (why else would you play JWP against those brutes today when you already have a midfield of Redmond/Boufal/Davis ?)

I'll say it if nobody else will - he's been incredibly lucky and is a very average footballer. Great that he has invested it wisely but if the premier league had any ounce of quality required rather that athleticism and average skill he may not live that lifestyle. I. bet MLG must curse not being born 10yrs later. And before you all start I like shlong - but he isn't exactly a brilliant footballer is he ?. Fair play fella and good you have your head screwed on.