Baird of the land

Is Mcqueen injured again? Noticed he wasn't involved at all.

Stek Martina Fonte Van Dijk Targett Romeu Clasie JWP Gaston Tadic Pelle

1st half thought we were good. Van dijkstra had a good chance. 2nd half was very frustrating as we seemed poor with little ambition till after they scored. Got out of jail with mane goal. Sending off unfortunate but having mane rested for next league game might be handy. Gaston was excellent when he came on, hopefully he gets start against villa. Juanmi continues to look off the pace of the premiership.

Why aren't they reviewing Stephens loan at Middlesborough? He's barely played a minute.

My brain has for some reason blocked out that Jason Euell ever played for us.

Crazy to my mind but Hodgson does appear to be pandering to the big clubs & will force Ryan to play 2 games in a handful of days so soon after his return to fitness rather than play Gibbs.

Thank you Chelsea for breaking Davis' duck and giving him his confidence back in front of goal. Hopefully the floodgates will truly open now.

Yeah he seems the standard of a younger Davis to me. As a cheap short term fix i can accept that but as you say we could do with Forster back sooner rather than later.

I can see the logic behind that short term cover approach. That logic does seem to hinge on a high opinion of Gazzaniga developing into a real 2nd choice though. Personally i prefer palace's approach where they signed a good young english keeper in Mccarthy to compete with Hennessy and the experienced Speroni.

Personally hope we steer clear of Austin. If we looking for like for like competition for pelle on the cheap I'd suggest lafferty on loan from Norwich. Obviously if soares carries on struggling right back might be a priority. Redmond is certainly someone I'd like to see at saints. Disappointed all the previous linkage to him when they were in the championship came to nothing. Would cost a fortune in January though. Best wait till the summer when hopefully they will have been relegated.

Strange game, didn't really feel Swansea turned up till late. Didn't understand their ht changes either. Soares was much improved. It was great to see Bertrand back. Davis. & wanyama worked well together.thought steklenberg was worrying in net at times, Romeu was poor when he came on after being good midweek. Overall a very good 3 points. Now got to push on &I get something from Chelsea.

I'd be Surprised if Cedric played against Swansea, considering he was very ropey against a weak MK Dons. Expect it'll probably be Yoshida.

A very satisfactory game to have gone to. Stek: One dodgy moment coming for the ball Cedric: Very poor. Little going forward & looked suspect against very weak opposition. On this evidence you can see why we're playing a makeshift right back instead. Worrying that we've brought in 2 right backs and look like we'll need to buy another one come January to address the obvious weakness in the team. Targett: Decent display by him. Still needs to work on his delivery. Fonte: Grew in confidence as the game went on. Van Dijk: Excellent on ball, excellent reading of the game. Only time he looked troubled was via one route one ball. Romeu: Another one who as the game went on grew in confidence. Nice to see after a very mediocre display against united. Davis: Very good display by davis with the obvious exception of his shooting. Juanmi: Poor display. Explains why he hasn't had a sniff of premiership football so far. Jrod; Absolutely delightful first goal. Mane: Class above everyone else on the pitch. It was criminal he was even playing to be honest. Long: Typical industrious long display, kept working till he got his goals. Subs: Bertrand: Looked good, hopefully back in starting xi at the weekend. Gaston: Great to see him back, some sublime balls through. Would be great if we could keep him fit and get him involved. Yoshida: Tidy but with little to do.

for me make the changes in midfield and up front whilst keeping the defence reasonably settled. Hoping Reed and Juanmi get their chance at long last. Stek Cedric Fonte Van Dijk Targett Reed Romeu Davis Juanmi Jrod Long

After being treated awfully by Saints from the summer to January(no new contract, told to earn one whilst Fonte got one instantly, a mediocre loan midfielder brought in who was clearly meant to supercede him in the pecking order if not for fact that guy threw a mighty strop, I'm not surprised he was not convinced that the management or the board would give him a fair opportunities. So to me its very easy to see why his state of mind regarding a new contract could shift radically in 6 months. Then Swansea came in and sold him on their club.

Yeah made more appearances than Vic too in the 13/14 season. 30 vs 24.

Still annoys how we mismanaged the situation. Treating a high quality english midfielder like a trialist, telling him despite all his excellent performances for us that he had to spend six months proving he was worth a new contract. If we'd treated Fonte(who was out of contract at the same time) like that he would have walked too. He went somewhere he felt he would be more valued, where he still has to fight to guarantee himself a starting position but he feels the manager rates him enough to make it an even fight. Like you i'm hoping Clasie will add the nous we've lost in that position in losing jack and Morgan. Romeu/Vic provide brute force but we really need something more subtle alongside one or the other. Think Cork should be close to england squad, the only equivalent player in his role i see in the squad is Carrick.

Have to say i don't get the Gaston situation. I understand we might have preferred have got him off the wage bill. Surely the most sensible thing is to integrate him into the first team squad till at least christmas. If he gets injured again ok. If he doesn't do well enough to break into match squad fair enough. Surely both those options are better than a massive pay off or a tiny championship loan fee.

Yeah personally think they are too similar & its better to only play one or the other. I'd stick with replacing Jrod with Mane and possibly Targett with Bertrand(if he's fit enough to play)

Frustrating, seemed a lack of urgency to get the win and almost a feeling of settling for a point against a team that looked very mediocre. Suppose its a point.

Got to worry that Koeman thought there was anything positive to take from the performance. On another night we might have sneaked extra time by the strange handball by their player but equally they could have scored 3 rather than 1. Hope Koeman ditches the awful 5-3-2 formation he's used last 2 games. It removes all creativity and reduces us to hoof ball from our own half. Goal was once again suicidal play, this time by Jrod. Worried by our inability to pass forwards. Davis was least bad at this, at least attempting now and then to turn and try an incisive pass. jWp was awful, Romeu had his worst game for saints by a country mile. Badly missing the likes of cork/Morgan. Need Clasie fit to give the midfield some passing mojo. When tadic came on at least there were a couple of moments of creative spark where we tried to do something better. He needs to start against Norwich. Wonder what going out does for the likelihood of signings or sales. Assume nothing good.

Got to blame Koeman completely. Was desperately worried when I saw the lineup to be honest, zero creativity. Why did we spend the entire game hoofing it upfield from utterly appalling positions. I get putting crosses in from advanced positions but his plan for tonight was embarrassing. Worried me for a while that our midfield is scared stiff of turning with the ball, something that Morgan or cork could do in their sleep. Hence its a constant backwards step, Clasie better be very good in defensive mid as otherwise we will churn out the same dross. Desperately disappointed to go out of Europe, even more so as on basis of early season it's going to be a battle to stay clear of relegation rather than a top 10 season.

Wouldn't complain if we signed Townsend. Fits the mold of young, english, talented but needing games and rough edges sanded off. The negatives for me would be question marks over his defensive side especially when Cedric seems defensively fragile too. Also like last year if they are reputedly after one of our stars its likely to block any move even if we are interested.

Really hope Reed is given his chance to impress tomorrow. If we revert to pushing Davis out of position again it'll be very disappointing.

I understand why they are reticent. Without their first choice left back till Jan and with only one other centre back in Jagielka. Then suddenly having to panic and pay through the nose on the eve of the transfer deadline for new ones. Then integrate them in the starting xi immediately. Plus they've got stones on a contract till 2019. Can't see his value suddenly disappearing unless he gets a serious injury.