kitch

He's always come across as a decent bloke, poor season or not.

Yoshida, for one. Could have kept Fonte out of the starting XI at the beginning of the season. Romeu's been awesome Cedric's much more consistent Ward-Prowse more effective He think he's improving a number of players, and he's undoubtedly an intelligent guy who know's what he's talking about. I'm just not convinced the team is 'motivated' as a unit.

He could do much worse than go back to Burnley.

You have to have tables called Lundekvam and Ostenstad. You just have to!

100% this, although I can't see it being a 'big' summer, personally.

I could live with Yoshida and VVD together, as I don't think Yoshida was any worse than Fonte at the beginning of the season. That said, it's still 'settling' as opposed to pushing on for the next big thing. Stephens as 3rd or 4th is fine by me too, but I think Gardos is surplus.

Can't afford his wages. It's quite realistic in some ways....

If Hull go down this season, he's got to be looking for a move, surely? Big, strong, aggressive and can use his feet, which would appeal to Puel. Someone like us would be a natural progression for him, and should (by some twist of fate) we manage to keep VVD, he and this guy lining up would be a decent centre-back pairing. He'd be a long-awaited Fonte replacement, and with Yoshida and Stephens providing decent cover, I think that'd be a good setup. Personally I think the club will stick with Stephens and Yoshi though. They've both done well respectively this season, but personally speaking I think the club need to be aiming slightly higher if they seriously want to push on next season. Anyway, I bought Maguire on FIFA 17 last week, and seeing as I signed Long (FIFA 14), Austin (FIFA 15) and Redmond (FIFA 16) before the club did, I must be an expert at football by now! I also bought Josh King.....

Hard to think you have no real complaints after a defeat, but I'm not really sure I have any. When Chelsea hit the boost button, they're almost unplayable - breathtaking at times. To come away having stuck two past them is something to be proud of. This isn't the Chelsea that were at rock bottom last season, who we tonked 3-1, this is them actually firing on all pots. Puel went for it, and I think most fans would applaud him for that. We know sitting back and being patient isn't working this season, and Chelsea are the masters of doing that anyway, which they did to perfection last night. I think JWP was a bit anonymous, and Davis had a bit of a stinker too, but otherwise we played well. Boufal had a good first half, for my money, and a really hope he starts against Hull (though personally, at the expense of Tadic rather than Redmond, but that's just me). Defenders did what they could, but Chelsea move it around so fast I think even with VVD we'd have been in trouble. My main gripe here is that our midfield don't bully enough. Romeu's the only ball winner we've got, though I think Hojbjerg will come good. Positives to take from it: Boufal's first half; The fact we went and attacked the league leaders, away; The fact we put two past them, and though we lost, we played well. Negatives going forward: Boufal needs to put in more of a shift generally (I noticed JWP was barking at him a lot to mark a man); I have little confidence in FF in goal at the moment; Midfield's a bit too lightweight; Not enough service to Gabbi On to Hull, which is a no-excuses must win IMO.

It's weird, because at the beginning of the season, that was precisely what I thought he was good at. He seemed to have a very astute footballing brain for someone only 21yrs old. Haven't seen him play for a while, but sounds like something's gone belly-up. Possibly the lack of games, which I reckon is also hampering Boufal's progress.

That would just be the best. Thing. Ever.

Fair, but my point was that one 'freak' result (I say freak because Sunderland were as bad as we were good) which would normally probably be a low scoring game. We might have a game in the final part of this season where we win 6-0, and our 'goals for' might then look quite decent, but this wouldn't tell the whole picture and we'd probably still agree that this season we've struggled in front of goal for large periods of it. I'd rather the six goals were spread out across 4-5 games, because then there's more chance of converting them into more than 3 points. My point was that if you removed that result (change it to a 2-0 win or something) then the goals for tally isn't far from this season's, yet this season most people feel we've been wasteful in front of goal. Nobody seems to say that about the 2014 season. I know what I'm getting at, but I'm crap at trying to explain it!

Take the Sunderland game out of it, and 2014/2015 under Koeman's the worst of the lot.

Same here.

Well, I should think not blowing hundreds of thousands on posh cars and mansions, and putting some of it into investment funds or just good old savings accounts might do the trick there. If someone gave me a million tomorrow, I reckon I could make it last a good decade or so, and with the money he's on he could easily have a couple of mil in the bank. Footballers can be so deluded sometimes, it makes your brain hurt.

Sorry mate, what "difficult situation"? You were under a new contract only from the year before, captain of the side and earning a LOT of money for it. Adored by the fans, respected by your peers. What was 'difficult' exactly? You kick a ball around every week, get some ****ing perspective. ****ing tool. Lost a lot of respect for him after watching that.

The Saint who sat in the home stands at Nottarf Krap while they played Morecambe, and waited until the 55th minute to publicly declare his love for all things Southampton FC. Punching & kicking enused, the marshalls rescued him and dragged him out. Apparently, with blood still dripping he continued to sing OWTS until he was outside. Part of me thinks it's a bit like ringing 999 when there's no emergency, and you're just wasting everybody's time. The other part of me thinks he's a fecking legend! And a smaller part of me knows this is probably a repost and has been discussed already on here, but I couldn't see it anywhere. It must be, it's all over social media! Anyone care to own up?

Great performance, proud of the effort they put in. Terrible decision by the linesman, which really cost us the game IMO. So many strong performances, I think it was just a case of being not as tight as we should have been at the back, and if you're going to point the finger you have to suggest that Forster probably should have done a bit more on at least two of those goals. But then, easy for me to say, as I'm not the guy standing on the pitch having balls fired at him. Gabbiadini - awesome, really like him. My wife commented that he seems to keep himself to himself, and she was right yesterday. Wasn't involved in any altercations, no bust ups, no diving, no moaning.....just two decent goals, and one sublime one. Let's push on now, I'd be really happy to finish in the top 9, so for me that's the aim. Lads did well (very well considering the team were sans VVD) and luckily I don't really interact with too many plastic mancs, so I shouldn't have to endure any of the ****e off them today!

I'm sure some of the other players have got that one covered. Pretty sure he hasn't. We've all seen A LOT of him in that Twitter picture in the Juve changing room!

Well, I suppose they are both dashing chaps

Probably Romeu for me too. Good attitude, seems a decent bloke. Good role model for kids. Quite like VVD too. Also like Shane Long, mostly for his workrate. I would have said the same about JRod a couple of years back, but he doesn't seem the same guy now sadly. I also rate Steven Davis, and I really liked Hojbjerg when he arrived. There must have been a reason! My kids on the other hand, all three of them, LOVE Boufal. He's their hero.

I can rest easy, knowing I contributed in some small way!

Ah yes, fair point. Similar type of player, forgot he's yet to come back.

Metaphorical beer. Main advantage - no hangover See what you're saying. It probably wouldn't fix anything with our current plight, but having more competition for starting spots might cause current players to up their game. That was my logic, and that is why I'm not involved in football

Luck doesn't come into it. Luck is just a method humans have devised to decipher past events and their relative desirability. It's man-made, in our minds. I think we should be looking to the future, not the past.