Baird of the land

Being bossed at home by Hull, ohh how wonderful. Changes at half time needed.

Would really like to see some clinicalness from Saints, by putting hull comfortably to the sword. If we can't beat Hull at home you'd really have to wonder how poor our final league position will end up being.

Starting to get rather fed up of Puel, the positives such as the opportunities given to youngsters are being overweighed by his sheer tactical ineptitude. The set up yesterday was only ever going to lead to one outcome and that was defeat. I couldn't care less about how gallant we were in defeat, what i want is a manager who has a plan to get results against the top teams & not one who expresses how satisfied he is at getting beaten. Amazed it took them so long to sub Boufal too, he appeared to be a complete passenger for quite a time before he finally demanded they sub him. A league cup run doesn't mask how desperately poor we've been in the league as far as i'm concerned. Very worried some of our better players are going to be looking at the current set up and thinking it is going nowhere fast.

At least he competed for it unlike the saints players who wandered away from their men, acting as if their job of marking was over because the initial header from the corner had been won.

Predictable from Saints, zero concentration shown at a key moment.

It'll be interesting to see how we'll approach it. Poch attempted to mirror up formation wise with Chelsea at the weekend While it failed in the end it certainly caused Chelsea problems. Could we try something similar with Bertrand at the back and mcqueen at wing back. I'd really love us to give Chelsea a bloody nose but have feeling it will be a repeat of all the other limp league displays against the top 5/6 this season.

Not a fan of the way Puel set the team up today. At home we should have been more adventurous imo especially given city's defensive vulnerabilities. Really got to do much better against the top teams, this season in the league we've been pretty abject. The long thing seemed bizarre. Hojberg was poor and was amazed he both started and finished the game given how well clasie played last time out.

If Tadic and JWp are luxury players, then Boufal is a super luxury player.

Yeah don't get the fuss about Traore.

Bring back Cork of course. Perfect foil for Romeu imo. Sigurdsson, though of course i assume there will be a fight over him.

Got to say the best football I've seen us play is under potch. Remember going to Fulham and lallana, lambert and jrod tore them to shreds. There were certainly many positives from wba win but certainly wouldn't go along with hyperbole making it out to be some sort of perfection.

I can see the logic. Everton will need a reserve right back for a period till Coleman is back, Martina is a cheap free agent, seems to be popular in the dressing room and under koeman at Saints he performed solidly if unspectacularly apart from the arsenal goal.

Is hesketh still injured?

Typical attitude of refusing to accept when a saints player does well. Long played a very important part in the goal and there was nothing lucky about it. i fully accept long should be doing better when he carves out chances but that all the good play he's been part of these last 2 games. Clearly gabbi has s first choice but long still showing the value he has in a squad setup. Nice to see us win away against a solid team. Some lovely play and gritty defending. Good to see Forster recapturing some form. Centre back pairing excellent today. Unless there's an injury seems unlikely careers will play for saints. Great display by clasie, reminded me of how well he played in first leg against Liverpool.

Weakest bench I've seen for some time. Here's hoping starting xi play as well as they did vs palace. Good to have Bertrand back at least. Less confident than I was before palace game. I'll optimistically go for a score draw. Shane long to finally bang one in against his old club.

Going to be a big game, at least a draw needed to keep WBA in catching distance. Definitely stick with the same attacking trio of long, Redmond and tadic as far as i'm concerned. Midfield is obviously going to need changes especially if Davis is out. You'd think it would be Hojberg and Clasie based on recent benches rather than Reed. Bertrand back in at the back if he's fit but otherwise keep the defence.

Agree long had a lot to do with how good we were going forward today. He's not a great finisher and he's clearly having an extra frustrating season in front of goal. Even when he hit it sweetly tonight Hennessy pulled off a good save. I'd be nervous about rushing gabbi back and then finding him pull up once more.

Was confident of the win beforehand but there were moments of doubt when we couldn't convert our undoubted superiority. Thought the attacking 3 were excellent. Long's movement was fantastic, desperately unlucky not to get at least one. Tadic some superb through balls, redmond incisive running. Defensively there were a few moments of jitters. Hope davis' isn't injured & should silence the silly relegation talk again.

Glad to see Long start. Hope Bertrand is just a knock but been impressed by mcqueen this season as deputy. Interesting to see Hojberg is seriously out of favour. Really hope its just first season issues with him. Feel oddly confident given the gloom on here. Expecting a reaction against a Palace side with a weakened backline.

Interesting to see what changes are made after the disappointing display against Bournemouth. Wonder with benteke might cacares get the nod for his debut. If gabbi isn't fit I'd prefer to see long get the start personally.

I think finishing above stoke is going to be a struggle let alone catching the likes of wba or Everton based on that performance. Positives were a clean sheet for the defence and the fact after missed a penalty that never should of been given. Let's hope gabbiadini comes back quickly if that's what we are like as an attacking force without him. Never a fan of sacrifing shape to throw on extra attacking players, especially one as out of form as boufal. Draw was a fair result as neither team deserved to score.

Thought he was good in 2nd half today barring the bizarre backpass with a minute to go. First half he was poor but then he wasn't the only one.

decent performance against a good team especially in the 2nd half. If the officiating had of been fair we might even have got the draw because if Alli's is a penalty then so is Tadic's at the end of the first half. Boufal was utterly horrendous. The only time he didn't foul or give the ball away was when he blasted wide. Taking off tadic who was playing well to bring on him who did nothing hurt us when we needed a sub to make an impact.

Well that hasn't gone well. 2 down and one injury. Spurs have played well but its very hard to play against 12 and half men(ref and lino) How is tadic incident not a penalty but the Alli one is? Typical biased refeering, scared of making decisions against teams in race for top positions. It would look even worse if tadic had of tucked away that sitter when the lino called a ball that went nowhere near the byline as out.

Magnificent performance just so gutting to lose after having one incorrectly ruled out and then coming from 2 nil down. 3 rd goal was particularly galling as in came from our own corner once again. Thought gabbiadini was excellent but looked tired and long was a millimetre from getting the winner. Forster continues to have a poor season.