sadoldgit

Never in doubt! Thankfully we didnt need a point to stay up. How cruel would it be to go down to a 94th minute goal? It has been a strange old season. For much of it, it seemed as if everyone outside the top six was in a relegation battle. This time last year who'd have thought that Mark Hughes would be our saviour and that he would be the fans pick for the next three seasons? Fair play to him for the job he has done but it also showed that the squad was underperforming badly and by sticking to some basics he was able to get the results we needed to stay up. Puel has proved that, despite his critics, he is a capable mid table manager and he can send teams out to score goals. Despite finishing second, Manchester United are no longer the force they once were and look like being overtaken by Liverpool next season. Odd to see WBA, Stoke and Swansea all go down together and it just goes to show that, outside of the top six, no one is safe. I can see the same happening next year and the Board will need to recruit carefully in the summer if we want to stay out of this bun fight next season. As for Hughes, is he the best option for us going forward? I would like to see the Board look at a variety of options before handing him a new contract but it looks like he has probably done enough to get the gig. It reminds me of the debate when Pearson was in the same position, kept us up but was dispensed with. Based on recent years,Hughes would be a most un-Saints like appointment. But maybe the Board and the new owners will have been shaken by this season and will go for a safe pair of hands during a rebuilding period? We probably wont do any better under Sparky than mid table but for clubs like us, that is not the end of the world. And now to Dalek, who is no doubt nursing a sore head after celebrating his annual prediction that has, finally, come right - if nothing else proving the obvious statements that even a stopped clock is right twice a day and that if something can possibly happen, then it probably will. So then, on to the close season and, maybe, a clearer insight as to what the new owners have planned for us. Never a dull moment being a Saints fan! Onwards and upwards (hopefully).

Can we have a poll on how long it will be before those calling for him to have the job next season want him out if his win ratio stays the same please?

So Hughes has never finished above 9th. Puel finished 8th last season and will finish 9th this season. If not a World Class manager, he would seem to be on par with Sparky.

Exactly. I expect a lot has been said behind closed doors that won't reach the light of day. The important thing is not playing the blame game but making sure that the same mistakes are not made again. I dont know how close we came to signing Wimmer, but look how poor that signing turned out to be for Hughes. Who knows, perhaps Reed decided against him and got that one right? Still, instead of being chuffed that we are staying up focussing on the positives rather than the negatives and looking forward to another campaign in the top flight, let's just get the pitch forks out again. I wonder if anyone on their deathbeds wishes they spent more of their lives slagging off Board members, managers or players of football clubs on internet football forums?

How do we know that it was from the club? There was no direct quote. Perhaps it was just the reporter's take on things? As for Nelly Gao being the new figure head, why is that such a problem? There has been nothing but moaning about the lack of appearances from her father this season. Maybe we will see more of the owners in future, but as her family own the club why is it a problem if she becomes the public face of it? We have (in all likelihood) just secured another season in the premiership and there is still a need to find things to moan about Be happy FFS, even if it is only until the transfer activity does or doesnt kick in again!

The very first thing I would do is sort out the managerial situation. Hughes must be a contender but there will be others out there who could give us an edge rather than being a comfortable mid table team and we should appoint the best person for the job. If it is thought that is Hughes, so be it but if Fulham dont make it up, who wouldnt fancy Jokanovic here? I would keep Hoedt but we need a strong, decent CB to play alongside him/Stephens. Actually I would like 2 new CBs with Hoedt and Stephens as back ups but with rebuilding needed elsewhere that may be fanciful. As ever, it looks as though we are in for an interesting summer!

Fair play to the man. He was brought in to do a job and, baring any major catastrophes on Sunday, he has done it - although with only 2 wins and cutting it fine. But if Hughes had been suggested as the manager to follow Puel at this time last season there would have been a meltdown. Hughes was a pragmatic appointment at the time but is a competent mid table manager at best. If people want mid table mediocrity then fine. If there is still an appetite for being best of the rest then we could do better. Having "big balls" will only get you so far and I can see why some have been carried away with his brand of management after the likes of Puel and Pellegrino, but it is all about putting squads together and winning football matches. Do we want to be the next Stoke? Perhaps, given there are still some on here wanting to be the next Everton. So then, for those who had us relegated at Christmas, oh ye of little faith, but you can get your kicks now by calling for the Board to be removed in the summer and asking endless questions about why the new owner actually bought us.

Seriously Mystic Meg, give it a rest.

What is going on there? Either Donald has played a blinder or Wrong-un is selling us a pup, but either way, this seems really strange.

Okay, Whelk, what exactly is wrong with a "righteous crusade against innocent people being slaughtered?" Are you telling me that these maladjusted young men using any pretence from lack of sexual interest from females to an interpretation of religious text to kill and maim don't bother you too? It is a very sad world when empathy is derided. To bring it back to a debate instead of a swinging **** competition, what do you think that can be done to identify these people at an early stage in their development and how do we treat them before they get to the point where they take these kind of actions? You had a dig about talking, but surely some kind of therapy before they reach a point of no return would help? What do you think? Or would you just rather they just act on their impulses?

I don’t know Shurlock, but do you think we should invite Whelk?

Apparently so, old boy.

Firstly, what "gang" are you alluding to Whelk. I am not in any gang and was simply responding to another poster. How does that makes us a "gang." As for the debate, perhaps you would like to join it rather than take a rather silly pop at me? Hypo displays an alt right avatar. He constantly defends the likes of Jacob Rees-Mogg, Boris Johnson and Katie Hopkins and his view of women's equality belongs in the Victorian era. He also came out with the classic line "Socialism is dangerous" yet you see fit to defend him? Like many, this whole Incel thing is new to me, but clearly not to those who subscribe to these strange views. Perhaps we can have your view on the New Misogyny and the rights and wrongs of ploughing into people in a van just because women aren't cueing up to have sex with you? As for your jibe at liberals, as I have said before, the world would be a much safer and better place if more people were of a liberal disposition rather than subscribing to the more extreme viewpoints, but you carry on defending the likes of hypo if that is your thing. Perhaps you should change your avatar to Pepe the Frog too?

Tailor made for our alt right friend. As soon as I read about Incel I immediately thought of hypo, and here he is, all over it like a rash.

Just what we need. Another bunch of deluded psychos killing people because of their own pathetic inadequacies.

We used to talk about being the Best Of The Rest. This season The Rest have been pretty awful.

That's the spirit! People pay a fortune for a seat then complain when people sit? As a codger myself I dont see the problem in watching a football match sitting down. Isnt that what you are supposed to do in an all seater stadia? It was brought in as a safety measure. If you stand up and you are pushed over a seat you can do yourself a great deal of damage so what is supposed to make you safer doesnt if people insist on standing.

Yes we did.

After their first goal I thought we looked like a decent team. Cant really fault the second half performance. The difference is that they had Giroud (and what a quality finish that was) and we have Long. I dont understand how people are saying that we were ****e. We also don't have much luck.

Is this another case of Jack Cork Syndrome where a player instantly becomes better the moment we loan him out or sell him on?

It is one thing heading the ball, it is another to head the ball before the person he is supposed to be marking.

One of the all time great managers. I don’t know what the Arsenal fans are complaining about. Most fans would give anything for a 22 year period like that. As we have found to our cost, changing a manager doesn’t always bring better fortunes. I would love him to finish career with us.

None of them have said anything to the press for ages. Are you saying that they left months ago?

I am not defending the Board, but we need to remember that it was the Board that also oversaw the "fabulous well designed project." Whether the owner will keep faith with the Board or make a cull, time will tell. But as a previous poster has said, managers fail all the time and the people who appointed them really get sacked themselves. It depends how much faith Mr Gao has in his Board members.

I am old enough to remember Charles Manson and his "family" and the Sharon Tate and LaBianca murders. Same sort of thing. He was a charismatic person who prayed on the weak willed and vulnerable and got them to do his bidding. I dont believe that religion (of any kind) is to blame per se. There are some though who use religion to manipulate those who are easily led.