NewYorkSaint

I get the outrage, but people are being incredibly unfair. The first half was spectacular for Saints. really terrific football. We were set back by an illegal goal. This is football. crap happens. It feels like mob-rule to pile-in and blame it all on the manager. the same that happened to Puel. Personally, I see lots of signs of the team getting stronger. Thrilled for JWP. He's getting better every game. Long has been superb too the last couple games. We attribute way too much, good and bad, to the manager. Look what happened to our last 'great' manager Koeman. A losing run at a 'better' team. Reverse the order of the halves today, and everyone's feeling a lot better. My vote would be give Pellegrino a few more games. I think we'll turn this round.

The air of negativity around Saints really depresses me. I don't think we're playing badly. Our one-touch passing out of defense is as good as it gets, and there are countless occasions where we've been unlucky in final third. Could easily be 3-0 to us at halftime. Shane Long was level for what was a brilliant strike. And the penalty should have been given. Yes, Davis has mis-passed a few times, but has also won back the ball many times and put in a couple of magical touches. But when everyone's down on the time, all that gets ignored. Boufal, JWP, Romeu, Long all impressive this half. I'm holding for scenario of great cup run plus premier league turn around. A great striker signed this window would help, but I'll be supporting the team regardless.

wow. not just the result. a really impressive performance. playing so coolly out of defense all game. Long's chance prob best of the game. really great.

If one's allowed to put in a positive comment amidst the torrent of criticism here, the team have looked every bit as good as United so far. Boufal/Long/Tadic/JWP promising.

Really too bad about the late goal. Was an impressive performance until then. Context. Their team cost 3x as much as ours, and pays 2x the wages. To see us holding our own for 46 mins was pretty satisfying. We had a bad night mid-week, but I still think we have enough quality to be upper half of table by season's end. the confident one-touch football out of defense is beautiful to watch. We just need more creativity, ruthlessness final third.

Biggest news for me today is that the football was exciting. If you imagine exactly that same performance but, say, Boufal sticks his golden chance, we're probably all oohing and aahing. Really fast exciting build up play, with pretty much everyone contributing. VvD had a fine game, btw. Bertrand spectacular. But overall, the team swagger is impressive and for the most part effective. We're a much better side than Bournemouth, and getting better all the time.

for one mistake, people being pretty negative. we're clearly the better side overall... and to my eyes, the football is pretty exciting. just need 2 goals. they're there. JWP + Austin is great combo. Pied, after dodgy start, was pretty strong, I think.

Boufal is so fun to watch. Doesn't always work, but he's had some delightful touches. VVD also really strong. But we need a second goal.

Bring on VVD and Gabb for Yosh and Redmond.... Saints playing well against a really good team.

Is there a scenario where Dutchman Hoedt help persuade VVD to see sense? I think there might be.

Analysis of penalty strategies suggests that putting the ball down the middle is the best chance of scoring. But if it's 90% that goalkeeper will dive one way or the other, and 50% chance of saving IF he dives the right way, a strike down the center can be nearly 90% scoring frequency vs 75-80% for a side strike. The reason it doesn't happen more often is because strikers get crucified when it doesn't work. (Also a penalty taker can't get known for favouring the centre or the odds shift.) (Lambert's amazingness was he wd almost always score even w the keeper going the right way.) But... I think criticism of Tadic over-done.

Frustrating. Positives: JWP , Boufal, Stephens. Great press at times. Hugely unlucky not to win...

Deserve to be 2-0 up. great pressing by Saints. JWP had a fine half. May need Austin on.

Personally, I think it's worth -- for Saints long-term reputation -- to play hardball here, even if it means VVD spends a few games out of the squad sulking. Our strategy w Schneiderlin ended up effective, even though he was upset for a while. Great test of Pellegrino and the club's leadership. Unless it's really crazy money, they shd not sell. VVD will come round. As soon as he really knows his bluff has been called, he'll buckle down and play.

I truly believe if he improved his English this summer, people could yet take to him. There's a wise football brain in there, but the fact that we fans, and maybe the players too at times, don't get to see it clearly, has not done him any favours. The Echo doesn't help either by transcribing his comments word for word, instead of - like the BBC and ever national newspaper - editing for intent.

The football's often been attractive, and sometimes thrilling... just our usual story this season of not finding the final ruthless shot. We're really not that far away from an amazing team. I think if Puel worked on his English this summer and better communicated what I believe to be an impressive footballing brain, we could end up much happier about him. That, and an effective striker!

Superbly focused defending. Cedric incredibly impressive. US commentators first thought pen, then looked again and agreed Forster got touch. They had the ball, but we had the best chances. Redmond is such an exciting player. The combo w Gab and Tadic really promising. holding out for a spectacular second half team goal!

Fantastic team performance. Really superb. NBC commentators oohing and ahhhing over Saints silky one-touch play. To have 2 top midfield players out and still be able to do that is amazing. Classie and Holberg were strong. Redmond superb. Yoshida and Stephens rock solid. And Forster! Made me v happy to see him at his best. He was extraordinary... My MotM. Puel has to take a lot of credit too. He has Saints playing beautifully. Beautifully! Even when half our team injuredvor suspended. Great great afternoon.

...and now equal on 33% each.

What amazed me re Redmond's second goal was how deceptive he was. Bringing the ball forward in the penalty area, he looked the whole time to be shimmying for a pass to his right. The sudden explosive shot was incredible. It was close to their keeper, but completely surprised him. Glorious goal. Redmond shone all game. He's going to be a huge part of Saints for a while to come.

That was so fun to watch! We def need VvD back or Cacares to lift our defense, but the front half of the team on fire. Rest of the season could yet surprise us. 36 points still to play for. We're 11 points behind Everton in 7th. That's not completely out of reach.

Fantastic first half by Saints. A clear class above Watford. Looking at this, and last Sunday, you could say that the form table for the remaining games could easily have us top 4/5 clubs. We may yet surprise people w our final league position. Stunned at how well Tadic, Redmond, JWP, Davies, Gabb are combining. Really exciting to watch.

The point about the longer contracts we now have is that they vastly increase the club's negotiating power. Any departure is something of a game of chicken. Player: "I've been offered 2x my wages elsewhere. Cash in and let me go." Club: "No, you're worth more to us." Player: "But this is really demotivating for me... do you want that?" Club: "You'll get over it after a few weeks on the bench. We know you don't want to sabotage your career." Now it's true that even with 4 years to run, in an extreme case the player can still go on strike and everyone loses. But it's much more likely, provided the player is convinced the club are serious, that he'll back down and continue w his contract for at least another year. Or try to reach an understanding that IF he stays, and IF his transfer offer exceeds a certain level that the club will let him go. Krueger's comments are an early indication that management are going to take a firmer stance. I see it as hugely positive. It's true that a truly outrageous offer for someone may still get their attention, but I'm hopeful that this time it will indeed be different.

What's up with everyone? We've played some really exciting football. Gabiadini looking incredible add. J-Rod had some stunning moments. Yes, our midfield have been asleep twice for the goals, not shutting down. But that second goal wasn't Forster's fault, i don't think. It took a deflection. It's just one those really unlucky goals. Man up, people!

Stunning performance. Absolutely masterful from Puel. His two subs... including Sims - the audacity! ....combine for the perfect punctuation. Forster! Stephens! Romeo! Yoshida! Heroes all.