NewYorkSaint

I do think the best thing our owner could do is replace Krueger and Reed with more astute leadership. without that, a replacement of Hughes really won't make much difference. The big decisions have not been made at manager level. We seem to have screwed up what we had going on in youth development... and the black box has turned out buggy as hell.

Can someone explain to me why Bertrand always takes throw ins. He seems terrible at it. Waits forever with players wide open. Then tries a long hail mary where we lose possession half the time. I don't get it. Objective number 1 off a throw in is just to maintain possession, surely?

Bright side: several thrilling, fast moves out of defense. Ping, ping, genius ping. We just need some of that in their penalty area.

8-0 to the northerners. i remember it well. And the way the usually hum-drum BBC announced it. "Leeds...EIGHT. Southampton... Nil. This is good. Set expectations really low, and we might end up excited by a triumphant 4-1 only loss, with all the goals coming from ex-saints, including a VvD own goal. I'm looking forward.

Yup, the determination and skill in our pressing game is killing 'em. they're completely unable to keep the ball. Lemina, Hoj, winning the ball time and again. Exciting to see. would love, love, love to see another couple goals our way. there's a chance here to not only go top 10 but regain the mentality of 3+ years ago, when we knew we were near as damn it up there w the top 6.

This. Impressed by Hoedt. And for all the criticism of Long, you can see Hughes' thinking. He's using him not as striker but as a reliable outlet. Lemina doing a wonderful job turning the ball over. In general, we look more determined, more competent in the 50-50s. That augurs well. We deserve to be ahead. I'm sure we'll Austin before the 70th min...

I truly believe people are being needlessly panicky here. It's football we're talking about. That's a game where losing does NOT necessarily mean you were the worse side. It does NOT predict what will happen in the season ahead. We're only three games in. My own belief is that we've already seen more exciting play, more promising signs than in either of the two previous seasons. Unless we talk ourselves into despair there's no reason we won't have a good year ahead. Many of the same people wetting themselves today are the same people who have been spitting venom at Redmond most of the last two years. Guess what? They're going to turn out to be wrong about him. (not that the venom didn't shake his confidence and delay his return to form.) And I think they'll turn out to be wrong about the team overall. I think we have a really strong squad with competition in every position. Yes, Hoj blew it today. I hope he and the team learn from it. But it's really crazy to be writing off this team. Replay that game 10 times, even with the sending off at the same moment, and I don't think you see another Leicester win. Unlike prior seasons, there wasn't a single moment of that that I was bored. We moved the ball really well. We have several genuinely exciting players. I'm as ****ed off as everyone with the result today. But taking the game as a whole, I draw really different conclusions. Fans turning on the team so early are really not helping.

Great play by Saints. Super-sharp passing. Redmond!!!!! The most exciting I've seen him. really promising for the future. Lemon, Mo, Hoj, SHANE LONG, everyone looking good. Just not the run of the ball. Yet. we are by far the better team. think about that.

+ Redmond... showing great promise + Lemina.... good game Not the win we wanted, BUT we drew against the doggedly-defensive side that finished 7th last year and beat Chelsea away in their opening game then. We have the elements to construct both a more robust defense and an exciting attack. I'm not unhappy.

Promising signs as the half wore on. Vesterguard strong. Lemina dynamic. Redmond showing some thrilling touches. Armstrong an exciting add to the team. McCarthy huge. (last year we'd have been at least a goal down.) Think we need Hojbjerg or JWP on. Like others, I'd prefer 4 at the back and extra midfielder.

Bookies have moved Saints out to at least 100-1 for relegation now... Ain't going to happen. Epic, epic day.

That fact may be best chance for us to win. They may pull back last 15 mins. Then we go take 'em.

Not sure my heart can take much more. NBC commentators saying despite less possession Southampton have had better chances. Charlie Austin is looking dangerous. Tadic too. Hope Redmond can find his Everton form second half.

Here’s the good news. I don’t think there are any gods. And if there are, I truly don’t believe they have a plan re which team is relegated in some strange sport played by weird apes on an obscure planet. So we just man up, channel the anger and disappointment into laser determination, and dazzle the crap out of Swansea on Tues. what the last few weeks have shown is that WE ARE BETTER than Swansea. So let’s just go there and prove that. There’s massive luck at work n any game of football. But today our chances of avoiding relegation improved.

Epic half in Southampton's story coming up. Let's write some history.

that was so fricking sweet.... And dare I say, the controversial selection of Lemina is working out beautifully so far. he's storming it. that was a fantastic run and pass.

starting to look a lot better. bertrand and tadic at the heart of most of it.

Enough signs today to suggest what might have been for our season. When Tadic, Redmond, Lemina, Austin do what they CAN do, we're a wonderful attacking side. Now we need them to find that magic for 4 games that will determine our future.

I see a lot of spirit in the side. they're understandably under-confident. Hojbjerg, Yoshida, Bednarek wonderful. wd like to see JWP on. set piece prob our best chance, plus his commitment not to be under-estimated.

Random thought. our best performances this season have happened w JWP on the pitch. be brings a lot of energy, and much better delivery from corners... I wd bring on boufal and JWP.

The betting markets think we have a 25% chance of relegation. Definitely a worrying situation. But they believe -- and I agree -- that it's still quite unlikely we go down. Even on today's disappointing performance, we're a much much better team than Brighton. Carrillo looks really promising and JWP is playing better than I've ever seen him. Boufal, Holberg are exciting. I'm holding onto the belief that we're on the verge of a spectacular comeback. I just don't know whether with MP or someone else.

Need Boufal and Carrillo on.

Well. JWP is looking fantastic. We need another striker.

If all you'd seen of the premier league was that half, you'd say the two teams had about the same potential. I really think the negativity around the team and MP is over-done. Every time we come out we look really confident on the ball, and usually the players have seemed fully committed. If we'd had exactly the same season, but three pieces of bad luck reversed had brought us another 5-6 points, we'd all be thinking this is a decent work in progress. JWP's progress really great to see. One lethal striker and this is an amazing team. Fingers crossed we can keep Kane out second half and knock one in.

Capitulation? Or an impressive Watford comeback. There are two teams in it. We're about the same level. We're playing away from home. I saw a lot of determined defending, and that could have been the end result were it not for the illegal goal. then the narrative would have been, a superb, professionally earned away point.