baggytrousers

My vote goes to Roger Schmidt. One of the most exciting coaches in Europe at Leverkusen, is currently available and looks ideally suited to Saints.

And fans like you are treating this 8th place and a cup final as a complete disaster and signs of a poorly run club which is bewildering to the likes of Sunderland fans as stated in the article. To Sunderland fans (and those of many other clubs) our club's level of ambition is far above that of theirs for the last few seasons and they are looking in our direction with envy in their eyes but also as the outstanding example of how a club of our size and resources should be run. Whether Puel should stay or go is another question. Personally I'm sitting at 51% out, 49% in. 8th and a cup final with such a young side is an OK season and clearly many players (Cedric, Puel, KWP, Stephens, Sims, Yoshida, McQueen) have improved a lot under his charge but I'm not convinced by his tactics (variable) and his ability to instill self-belief and motivation in the side.

No. He has been inconsistent but then isn't that to be expected from a player who is actually younger than Jack Stephens ? Incidentally, Hjobjerg is also younger than Stephens (by a couple of years) with Boufal only being four months older than Stephens. It's entirely possible that last summer's purchases were bought to grow into the team rather than being instant like-for-like replacements. We have a lot of promising young players in the squad now whose best football years should be ahead of them.

Have only heard the first part of the end of season round up but have to say I really enjoyed it. Thought it was really well-balanced and struck a nice balance between some of the highs and lows of the season. Did remind us that we have played some very decent football at times this season which a lot of people on here tend to completely dismiss. Quite rightly pointed out our shortcomings at the end of the season and Puel's seeming inability to turn that around. Seemed a very fair analysis of our season. Looking forward to listening to the second part in just a minute. Thanks for that guys and keep up the good work.

Really interesting article from Sunderland fans comparing their situation with ours : http://rokerreport.sbnation.com/2017/5/28/15696706/southampton-a-club-on-the-other-side-of-the-looking-glass This season has been a pretty Meh... season for everyone but we're still a well-run club with a lot of potential upside. Rather be in our shoes than a lot of other clubs.

No doubt you will be giving Les Reed the credit he deserves for his substantial role in the club achieving this historic feat ?

The knee jerk brigade would probably keep at Marco Silva which would be ironic as he is a very negative manager whose primary instinct is to nullify the opposition and try and hit on the counter. After all the endless posts about Puel's boring football to argue the case for a really defensive minded manager would be just what I'd expected from them. Not saying that he won't get results, I think he will but our football will not be entertaining.

And he has reached the ripe old age of 22 so the notion that he is gradually improving is clearly nonsense.

Even Fox News are calling out his lies :

John McCain (senior United States Senator and former Republican Presidential nominee) has just described Trump's administration as being in complete disarray and having "an inability to separate truth from lies" Something tells me that you might just have the same problem.

Fair point and VVD may well go in the summer but then also he may not. Just don't think it's the foregone conclusion that many on here believe it to be and I certainly don't believe that Les is keen to sell him, even for big money, although there is always the possibility that his hand may be forced. As for the player himself, it's a bit of a different situation to Lallana. Nivea Boy had been here since he was a kid and was playing pretty well (but certainly not at VVD's level) so signing a new contract for Saints was a perfectly reasonable step. When the big clubs came sniffing a year later it's understandable that he took his big chance while it was there and went where the money was. Virgil was only one year into a 5 year contract and had already been playing a blinder when he suddenly signs a new 6 year contract effectively binding him to Saints for an additional two years. Given the dearth of quality centre backs around in modern football the big clubs were already getting interested in him when he signed the new contract so why did he do it ? I suspect the answer lies partly in his personal situation but also in the number of other new contracts that have been signed by core players in the last year and that rumoured 'change of direction' from the board last summer. Don't assume that VVD getting sold in the summer is a done deal.

And yet Reed somehow managed to persuade him to sign a new 6 year deal last summer. I know the cynics on here will see that as Les's attempt to simply get a higher fee for him when we sell this summer but I think that management see him as an absolutely vital cog in our team and will do their best to keep hold of him if it's at all possible. An interesting point about that new contract is it's pretty obvious to see what was in it for Saints but the big question is what persuaded Virgil to sign up for 6 years with no release clause. Must have been pretty compelling.

I believe that's why we have medicals. The only desperation I can smell is in your trolling.

OMG - I've just heard from a reliable source that he's seen Les Reed playing bridge with Emile Heskey, Ali Dia and Donald Trump !!! To my mind this represents conclusive proof, if any were needed, that Les is singlehandedly responsible for our terrible record over the last seven years, England losing to Iceland and the Fukashima nuclear disaster. All of this whilst Cortese and Koeman were signing Matt Le Tissier, exposing the Jimmy Saville paedo ring and winning the Nobel Prize for Astrophysics. It makes me MAD !!!!!!

FAKE NEWS http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/kuwait-muslim-ban-denies-donald-trump-fake-news-a7563716.html

Saints 22 shots West Ham 6 and we lose 3-1. Story of our season !!! So many times we have had more shots on goal and on target than the opposition but not got the result. Poor finishing, defensive lapses and pure bad luck have cost us on too many occassions. Very frustrating but far from the picture being painted on here. Certainly not relegation material.

He didn't say that at all. His exact words were "If his recovery goes as well as we hope, Virgil could be back in training in around four to six weeks or so." Puel said that we are unlikely to see VVD playing for two to three months. Don't think the two statements are inconsistent at all.

Most of it agrees with the info I've heard but there are some new details in there I wasn't aware of. Seems to agree with View from the Top's info as well. Obviously doesn't agree with the 'Les and Kat trying to fleece the club for all it's worth' conspiracy theories that are peddled shamelessly on here. Gosh, I really don't know who to believe. Oh hold on a minute .... I actually do.

Haha !! Sorry should have said first major Wembley final.

Great summation of where we are. It's true that we have been inconsistent and it's certainly true that we have suffered from not taking our chances. One thing you neglected to mention is the number of young players who featured last night. Stephens, JWP, Redmond, Hojbjerg and Sims are all 22 or under. There is a lot of scope for improvement and greater consistency moving forward as these and other players (Boufal, McQueen, Targett, Reed, Hesketh, etc.) grow but, as you say, we have to make an effort to keep this squad together come the summer and get some stability.

Superbly put. Agree wholeheartedly with this.

Out of all the non-sensical, negative, ignorant comments you've made in the last six months this one takes the biscuit. Tim Sherwood was the manager who brought an ageing, slow Aston Villa defence to St Marys and instructed them to play a high line against a Saints forward line that included Shane Long and Sadio Mane. Not surprisingly we hit them for six. What an absolute tactical genius !!! Claude Puel on the other hand has taken us through to our first Wembley final since 1979 conceding zero goals on the way, playing Premier League opposition in every round. We have played 270 minutes of football this season against arguably the best attack in the UK and are yet to concede. As a manager Claude Puel has faced Liverpool 5 times in his career and has not lost once. To suggest that Claude Puel is the new Tim Sherwood shows that you know nothing, absolutely nothing, about football. Your post is just the last in a relentlessly negative, populist series of gripes aimed at Puel, Les, Kat and the club trying to convince ordinary fans that all is not well. You're just a pathetic rabble-rouser seeking to exploit and twist any blip in our fortunes for your own agenda. You should really change your user name to Bane. I give the club back to YOU ...... THE PEOPLE !!! How gutted you must be that we won and our performances are garnering praise from all quarters. Your prophesies of doom are looking more hollow by the minute.