Saint86

Its hard to finish when we will have 1 player in the box. I'll come back to West Brom as an example. When it was 0-0 in their first half, long had the ball in the corner flag. The entire west brom team was in 2 banks across their box, our entire outfield team was in their half.... and we had no players in the west brom box for long to cross to. So after working the ball into the corner flag, and getting himself a crossing opportunity, there was no one challenging in the box, no movement, no runs etc. Totally pointless attacking with that outlook - We just leave ourselves open to soft counter attacks.

**Neil Swarbrick takes Steven Davis' hand. Neil Swarbrick: "Steve, I love you so much, will you marry me?" **Lallana throws himself to the floor in jealousy, desperate for attention **Oriol looks on in concentration, deciding where is best to plant his studs Steven davis: "hang on neil, let me just kick this *****, Nivea Boy, in the face!" **Davis winds up that want of a right foot of his.......

Much better last night. Encouraging! Hard to vote on MOTM, I thought they were all very good. Maybe Tadic had the last impact of any of them but was still good. Sadly I think we needed to get 2 or 3 really. Have to take opportunities like that. Its nicely poised up for Anfield and we have certainly got a real chance. 50/50 I'd say.

Well this is a mature post. So we aren't allowed to be pessimistic about a game then? Or if you ever doubt that saints will win a game you should delete your forum account, tear up your season ticket and never come back. Southampton are not for you.

I'll lowest finish since our first season back in the prem. On the back of 3 consecutive record finishes with a young and developing squad, and on the back of record tv monies for consecutive years, the 6th lowest wage to turnover ratio in the last set of accounts and being top of the net transfer spend for that period. Can't really see any excuse for us to drop to that position in the table whilst playing the dire football we are - a poor year all in all. Fortunately I think we'll match Poch's second season. Simple truth is that we've had 2 of the best managers in england, as well as most of a top 4 team, leave saints in the last few years. And its all because the board's ambition is to sit in mid table and turn a profit.

Nor does it change the fact that when Les Reed speaks to the press about one of our players (in relation to transfer business), said player is invariably sold.

Surely a better comparison of rotation would be number of players used as a league table of every club... Now if you wouldn't mind doing one of those for us

Reed is a lying bar steward.

Have a ticket, but its 5 hours round trip travel and day off work, plus travel etc. Would you guys still go?

Yeah, to a much stronger Norwich. Rofl. Honestly, what a pointless comparison. Why are you defending how terrible we are... we are appalling. And its very worrying because if we have a bad season we cease to become the team striving forward thats a perfect "showcase club"... and instead become an aston villa / swansea / leeds / newcastle - a club that flirted with europe, declined and well... ended up where exactly?!?!?

Honestly. Les Reed and Claude Puel are driving this club into the ground. Its horrendous now. Both need to go ASAP.

So lets go through this; standard patern. A couple of days before the big story breaks informal club sources leak that the player in question has been a bad boy. Then its announced that they're leaving with a nice bit of PR spin. Fans turn on said player and back board and we get another ignominious end to a distinguished saints career and club servant. We've not seen this before have we? Very hard to believe a single thing the club say when it comes to club vs player disputes anymore. There is no smoke without fire and it's simply very unlikely that every single player that leaves saints is a bad bloke who cares nothing for the fans/club/city and only wants to shaft us for money. But then that is what the club want the fans to think.

The last of the Cortese old guard. He wanted a 1 year contract extension. Has been desperate to play in europe and denied the chance; and thats been done for two reasons; unsettle him, and make him marketable. No smoke without fire, not every player is a bad'un, and Fonte has been forced out and is moving for the good of whats left in his career. He even hands in a transfer request (unlike all the others who throw a wobbly, go on strike and our fans demand they be a man about it) - and still the fans turn on him. Unreal. How can people not see the wood for the trees on this.

Long hasn't done anything wrong other than to be mentioned on here in the same sentence as saying its a guess. He has also praised Puel in an interview. When you are going to spread unsettling rumours, try not to do it about loyal players.

Honest question guys. If saints are in this kind of state financially, given the fact we've had a very low wage bill relative to most teams, made transfer profits each window, and had record tv monies coming into the club; then what kind of state are teams like West Ham, Baggies, Everton, Cherries, Palace etc in? I do not understand how we can be so badly off given the money that has been coming into the club?

Exactly. Vs west brom the other day, we had the ball on the by line. all players on the field in the west brom half, they were all within 30yards of their goal bar the striker.... and we had no one in the box. Clueless.

I'm just checking here in the hope that something has changed. Puel is gone, the board have gone, or some sign that we have some actual ambition other than for the owners and board to just make money out of the club. Sadly i've not seen anything to offer excitement.

Basically this. I'm not sure where the problem lies but have also heard that senior players - and with that in mind I can guess that one of the is the club captain. He's had less money to spend that Ronald, but less squad upheaval. The sad truth is that he is either out of his depth, a "yes man" or not being backed by the board in the transfer market. As for the board. We seem to have ditched all our hyperbowl regarding the "southampton way" and have changed tactics and playing style; we're now faced with seemingly needing to buy players to fit a new system (square pegs round holes) etc. This just shows how out of depth the board have been and how complete their failure was this summer. Lost the manger, lost key players coupled with poor replacement business being done, abandoned system and the southampton way in a blind panic etc.) Whatever it is, we are in for a terrible couple of months. We can't score and never look like winning a game. For that reason I voted out. Its more of a general protest, but I can't see anything improving for the club unless something changes - be it at board level or just managerial. Something ain't right at the moment for sure.

I'd bring in the ginger mourinho personally. Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

Where has the money been going? We've probably made a profit comparable to pompey's original debt by now...

That's pretty much spot on. He got very lucky with koeman. But that's it. He's been taking credit for everything since cortese was ousted but in truth we've been starting a downward spiral. Lost poch, a great team of players who were all mates (2014), then again in 2015, then again in 2016. He has destroyed the club's soul and the fans link to the team. Gradually he has undone all of the previous regime's work and it is always the sign on a weak man when they lay all the blame at the feet of his predecessor. Or do people seriously still buy that crap about being hard up and needing the money? Reed and co have been lying to the fans since cortese went. Let's remember the famous Lambert isn't being sold, season ticket renewals close... Lambert is sold. On that note, season ticket renewals are going to be shocking at this rate, the loyal fans are sick to the back teeth of this board and season ticket holders are committed to coming each week whether we're playing well or not... And they just aren't turning up to some games now. The football is terrible, the club have no ambition, we're massively underachieving in the league and out of Europa league; and it's all so Les and co can harvest a bit more cash out of the club every summer. Man/board/philosophy has to go PDFQ. And sadly this philosophy comes from KL, you can't blame her as it's her money and it's a business at the end of the day. But if she doesn't have the gumption to have kept these teams together for top 4 footy then she needs to move us on to someone who will. After all, our ambition let us offer clyne 25k per week to stay....

Thats crap man, we were top 6! Its an easy excuse for the club when really we should be hitting these targets. Mid table is fine as a holding role, as long as they knowledge we are underachieving.

This attitude is what holds us back. "ah we almost made it" but lets be happy as also rans. We have been appalling latley. HBS, Prague, Hull, Palace, stoke especially. No fecking excuse for it. You add those games up and we are higher in the league, within reach of last seasons finish and in the europa league knock outs. We chose to sell our best players and again not reinvest fully. And we have a fan base who again let the board off for under achieving? WTF. There is no excuse for worsening ourselves this season given West Ham and Leicester have completely removed themselves from the picture, united have again been poor. Its almost like our fans have no ambition.

Puel has to go. That or whoever is responsible for recruitment. Lose 4-1 spurs Palace 3-0 0-0 vs 10man stoke Out of the europa league after that ****ing disgrace vs some 3rd rate Israeli team Lost 1-0 to prague lost 2-1 to hull didn't scratch liverpool and spent 90 home minutes clinging to our own goal line Its just appalling, so many dropped points and games where we don't even compete let alone achieve the expected minimum. But don't worry folks. We beat the mighty cherries on one of their off days so we'll be fine.

Exactly, but most of our fans don't want to see it exactly how it is.... As a collective our fanbase actually thinks that every player and manager who has left saints is a bad guy chasing the money... It's never anything saints have done(!) and we're the club where the intensity of this phenomenon (volume and percentage of departing scumbags) is more or less unique...It doesn't happen like this anywhere else in England.... But it's all because of the specific players we hired and developed, not the club. Doesn't say much for our recruitment if all the players end up being money grabbing bar stewards who force a move does it...