Chalkboy

Must admit, my head is leaning towards this opinion too, but I hate to admit it. But, and it's a big but, let's see how Poch deals with losing his best players to other clubs. (Then there's losing them to injury too.) Let's see how well he does bringing in replacements for Kane, Erikssen, Lloris, Toby, Vertonghen for instance. Then we'll see what he's made of. Ron has had to deal with a hell of a lot more than Poch.

Absolutely - the training methods have changed since Ron took over from Poch, as you say, the players have confirmed this, and we can see it too. I was under the impression that Always-SFC was asking if I thought Ron's training methods have changed since last season.

This is spot on!!! But................... Summer of 2014 was so fookin traumatic (it brought me to this forum to seek solace it was that bad) I still can't figure why we couldn't say "no", to at least some of them. Lallana, Shaw and Chambers - did we have to sell them all in one Summer? Where were our balls and authority?

I haven't the faintest clue if methods have changed. Do any of us? Do you? Maybe Sergei Gotsmanov is right - a 4 year deal for RK will make everything fantastic, but equally, without knowing what's behind the scenes he could be wrong. That's all I'm saying. What do you think?

My opinion on Gary Monk is nothing to do with being an ex-Saint, I thought he had Swansea playing good, dynamic football. Sure - things turned sour, just as they did for Mourinho (with an immense team) and, dare I say it, Ron too. If Monk had been she-ite I wouldn't give him a thought. I agree with you on Eddie Howe.

You might be right - but, what about if the players have lost faith in Ron, or don't like his tactics or training methods?

Isn't he available at the moment because nobody has been sacked just yet? Or he's not interested? Personally thought he had Swansea playing good football. If someone gets the sack does that mean we cross them off our list? Swansea was his first managerial position.

When we brought him in I thought the thinking behind his appointment was that at Feyenoord he was used to losing his best players, bringing through the academy players and not having much money to spend. Very similar to us. When he took the job on he knew what would likely happen with players leaving, and also the way the club recruits and spends. He has said this himself hasn't he? Whether the board have backed him or not, it's up to him to get the best out what he has at his disposal - I don't expect miracles, but I don't think he's achieving this. I think we have some pretty good players - there are periods of play when we see this. Personally I don't think we are quick enough, or slick enough with our play, don't press enough and don't seem to be as fit as we should be, and the substitutions are questionable. Would we say that player for player we have a better squad than Bournemouth? I would, yet they play far more intensive football. That's down to the coach. Anyway, I know I'll get scorn heaped upon me for suggesting this, but if Ron did go I'd get Gary Monk in. I liked how he had Swansea playing (I know it wasn't going so well in the end, but at start of the season they looked like a real handful) I think he'd be a project manager, would be better acquainted with players from the lower leagues and Championship (rather than cheap foreign players who may need time to adjust) and we wouldn't be looking over our shoulder constantly wondering if he's going to go to Barca or wherever. He might even put some faith in our "legendary" academy I'll keep still while you stone me

With Cuco I don't think it helped that our purchase of him was seen as a bit of a joke by Dutch fans, so there is a negative perception of him from the start. So far today he's been alright. Yes he may have been sh*t against West Ham, but not many covered themselves in glory that second half. I'm not saying he's great, but he's having a go.

Could have been 3-3 by now if everyone had taken their chances.

Take our chances...........ffs!!!!

Phookin' hell that was a close one

This one is working for me; http://www.feed4u.net/watch/1396554/1/Norwich-City-vs-Southampton-FC.html

Thanks Badger, appreciate the reply. Good to hear Cuco stepped up and delivered. Tonight I raise a drink to Cuco. My beer tastes so much better! Cheers everyone!! : D

Haven't seen a single second of the match so can't comment on anyone. just overjoyed at the result. Would like to know how Cuco performed throughout. Did he get forward much? What about defending? Ball distribution? What a result!!!!! Dull Boxing Day gathering just got interesting!!!!

Can't believe I'm missing this due to Boxing Day responsibilities and late kick-off. Positivity at last. What a beautiful feeling : ))))

Dear Santa...please fill my pillowcase with 9 points from the next three games. Sorry if that's being greedy. Peace and good will to all on here, be they humbugists, hypocrites, or happyclappers. Off to bed for a mid-morning kip. zzzzzzzz

Hazelnut

That video about how we do things behind the scenes - the Black Box and Paul Mitchell was another "oops" moment for me. Within a couple of weeks he'd s*dded off to Spurs!

"I know what you did last Summer" - a story of obsession and stalking. Brendan Rogers' insane fixation with Southampton players leads to his eventual demise. A true story.

I was told he spent a lot of time frequenting a nightclub with his mates. Too much time. Also that the loan stories were true. Whether the nightime socialising has meant he has got into trouble with the club and therefore been dropped, who knows. It might be the other way round - that after realising Ron didn't rate him and his pathway was blocked that he's gone off the rails. Maybe a mixture of all of it. I rated him last season, wasn't he part of the team that did Everton with no Morgan or Vic? Les Reed thought he was the next great thing from the academy. By all accounts now he's gone backwards.

Seems we have a lot of players "out of sorts" - VVD, Fonte, Bertrand, Pelle, Tadic, Wanyama - all major players. Is it fair to add Mane to that list as well, and Davis? The question is why are they "out of sorts"? What's happened? Why are they playing without confidence? Chelsea's players have been out of sorts too - a team chock full of quality. Swansea, looked great last season, and at the beginning of this season looked like they were going to be a real threat - look at them now, another team with "out of sorts" players performing well below what they are capable of - just like us.

I admire your positivity, but anything is possible based upon our current form - can't defend, can't score. Luckily Villa and Sunderland are bad but I've seen Sunderland manage to escape before and Villa could start to put some results together. Either way, there is still a third space for someone to go down, we shouldn't take anything for granted. Hopefully all this relegation talk will be behind us after getting results against Arsenal and West Ham. Fingers crossed! Well you've got to try and be positive.

IMO if we fail to pick up points against Arsenal and West Ham, then the crunch games for Ron will be Norwich and Watford (with FA Cup in-between) poor displays there and he's in trouble.

Jeezus man, I'm trying to be positive!!! Allow me that! I've been negative for weeks. It's no bloody fun Anyway, I just have a feeling we might get something out of it............. Pathetic isn't it?