Neef

Huge overreaction. Ralph has shown plenty of positives - and has won 2 out of 4 games. Plenty has changed in his short time here, and when he move out of this busy Christmas period and he has time to work with the squad, I think we will improve even further. Surviving is the aim for this season, we're not in a position to look beyond that. The biggest concern for me is a trend that we've seen under Hughes and has now continued - we seems to always concede after going ahead. I'm not sure if it's a mentality issue, or a tactical one. But it happened against West Ham, happened again today and happened countless times under the previous manager. Is that where we are lacking leaders?

We looked really tired. Slightly understandable about how that could happen after two intense games and a new training regime etc. Still disappointing, though. I think we sorely miss Bertrand and Cedric. I like Targett but he seems to lack a little confidence, both offensively and defensively. Valery is very promising, but inexperienced, would still like to see him involved. Hoj is the fulcrum of that midfield, keeps the ball, creates space, tactically very astute, and we missed him immensely. Not all doom and gloom though. Despite us conceding two goals, I thought Vestergaard was quality, and it really seems like he may push on now under Ralph. I feel the same about Bednarek, but his inexperience rears its head every now and then.

We miss Hojberg massively. And Bertrand.

Cedric still first choice for me. But I think there will be plenty of opportunities for Valery over this Xmas and New Year period.

Brilliant performance. Nervy to say the least. Ings and Redmond will rightfully be showered with plaudits. But how good was Hojbjerg? Composed, excellent with his retaining off the ball and then releasing. Always looking forward when he could. He was the fulcrum of the team today, and still did all of the running/physical work. Fantastic from the captain today.

That header was beautiful. Great by Redmond too, they've been both fantastic.

Bar the final few games of the season, Tadic had been off the boil for 18 months or so. He had stagnated with us and the time was right for him to move on. I'm happy to see him doing well at Ajax, and if I'm honest, I don't think we would have seen that level of performance here. It also ties into a wider problem of players regressing/stagnating at Saints over the past year and a half. Who has played consistently well for us under Pellegrino & Hughes? McCarthy, that's it? Hoj and Lemina have been okay in fits. Compare that to the tenures of Poch, Koeman and even Puel, where a number of players seemed to thrive under their tutelage. I have no idea how coaching works within a football club, but something seems to be wrong no?

I still think there is a good player in Hoedt. He reminds me of Lovren post and pre playing for us. Concentration is his fundamental flaw at the minute, but that can be ironed out with the right coach. Vestergaard has talent. But if we're going to play a high pressing game, then I think Bedenarek will get the nod as you need mobile CBs to sweep the flanks in that type of system.

Looks like we're going back to the model of talented, youngish coaches who may get snapped up by the bigger boys in a few years time. And truth be told, I'm alright with it. Excited about a new manager for the first time since Adkins. (Poch was great but we had no idea at the time).

I don't dislike any of them. I don't know any of them personally to dislike them.

Puel was fine, that was it. He had a difficult job with European football to play, and I remember him saying that he would have to change our style of play a little to accommodate for all of the extra games. We left him in it by selling almost all of our goals in Mane & Pelle, and then not replacing them adequately. Sold Fonte and then VVD was injured in that same January from memory. Along with the poor transfer strategy, I think sacking him was the start of our decline. I feel like it was the first time the board bowed to pressure from the fans, as opposed to moving off of their own ideals. I feel like the same happened with making Hughes permanent this summer. Logically, it wasn't the right decision to make. But the fans wanted it, and we were wrapped up in the emotion of surviving relegation. We're suffering because of that again. When you try and please everyone, you end up pleasing nobody.

Of course I hope for us to win. But away from home against any of the top 6, you have to be able to defend. Unlikely that we are going to score 3/4 goals so any result depends on us shutting them out.

The issue is way bigger than Cedric. There is a very worrying trend of players stagnating and losing their way when they join the club. The only signing to have considerably improved since joining in the last two years is McCarthy, and he's a GK.

Some good names on there. I'm not sure they'd all join though. I'd like to see a stop gap until the summer (even if that means Allardyce) and then Arteta or somebody of that ilk come in fresh.

I think the big elephant in the room re attracting a good manager is whether the new owners are willing to invest in the club or not. I think that's a major stumbling block in attracting a manager with the reputation of Jardim etc.

I imagine Hughes is safe for now. In Reed's absence, who would appoint a new manager?

The players have ability. McCarthy, Bertrand, Vestergaard, Hoj, Romeu, Lemina, Mo, Ings - even Soares and Armstrong. I think that's why so many of us are disappointed with the state of things. With the players that we have, we should be doing far better than 5 wins in 41 games. Managers have clearly been a problem and the quality of manager has dipped since Pochettino and Koeman. But more than that I think we do lack leaders. Neville was on Sky Sports a few weeks back talking about the amount of leaders the United side's he played in had. If it wasn't Keane, it could have been Irwin or Schlemiel or Staam. Of course we're not at all close to that level. But when you look back at the 15/16 team when we finished 6th there were leaders and strong characters around that squad: Fonte, VVD, Pelle, Kelvin, Bertrand, Forster - even Wanyama, Mane and Tadic seemed to have strong characters. This squad sorely lacks that.

The time was right for Tadic to leave. I don't blame the board or the manager for that one. He clearly had his heart set elsewhere, and truthfully, bar that great run towards the end of the season, he had stagnated here for the past 2 years or so. It was the right move for both parties.

I just hope we don't go 4-4-2 away from home, again, and get carved open.

There's a difference between Puel & Pellegrino/Hughes. Under Puel we were boring but not inept, and the shambolic defending we've seen under the later two was not present under him. When you look at our starting 11 and bench, we should be faring far better. There is quality in that team. We need a manager who is going to get the best out of them. Hughes deserved a shot as he kept us up, but we can't afford to wait as long as we did with Pellegrino. The worry is, are the board capable of selecting/finding/convincing a decent manager to come here?

I can see Howe making a step up from Bournemouth in the next few years. If we're honest with ourselves, at this point in time can we really be considered a step up though? I can see him at Leicester when/if Puel leaves.

Wholeheartedly agree with the defence of Puel. He inherited a very difficult situation. We'd sold our two highest goalscorers without adequate replacement, and then sold Wanyama also. And then factor in European football, it was obvious we were going to struggle to reach the heights of previous years. We'd essentially weakened our team and added more games into the mix, it was a difficult task. Then at the turn of the year we lose both Fonte and VVD. Almost the entire spine of that successful team had been gutted in 6 months. That shouldn't be overlooked when reflecting on his time at the club. I think he should have got another year, but unfortunately the board for the first time succumbed to pressure from the fans. We haven't had a better manager since.

The booing was very disappointing.

At this moment Long seems like a good foil for Ings. I'd love to see Gabbs and Ings together, but for consistency's sake, I hope we line up how we did against Palace.

Say what you want about Cedric, but him and Bertrand need to be the full backs against the pace of Zaha and Townsend. Stephens isn't a RB, he's built like a CB and certainly doesn't have the agility of Cedric (nor should we expect him too). Leaving him 1v1 with either of those two wingers is a decision we'd massively regret.