Vancouver Saint

For which team?

Good one! For my prediction, don't know how many goals Liverpool are going to score but we are going to get nil.

Belated ditto. Understand the frustration - I watched it too - but seriously, the difference was they have a goalkeeper who stops shots on target and we don't. Forster HAS to be dropped. It's laughable we can't get a better 'keeper than him. I watch Vancouver Whitecaps and either of their two goalies are a country mile better than Forster (Saints should sign Stefan Marinovic the Whitecaps and NZ international goalkeeper - you saw it here first). We missed Lamina big time. We need to play a proper two up front with someone close to Gabbiadini in the No.10 role - Gabbi is not a hold it up striker or a 'knock it on' guy either...he makes great runs and has quick feet in the box when he has the ball at his feet. We do not have a lone striker in the squad so why play that way? I am unconvinced that MP2 has the nous / balls / steel to drop Forster, play a shape that plays to each player's strength and get the best out of under-performers (VVD, Bertrand, Cedric, Tadic, JWP, now even Romeu). That said, Forster alone has cost us 6 or 7 points IMO and if we had that we'd be in sixth spot with everyone cheering for European football instead of doom and gloom relegation. So it's too early to pull the plug on him. There are still winnable games before the Christmas top 5 terror...let's see if he can step up That said, Liverpool away next game, is not what we'd be wishing for...

This. Didn't see the game today but sounds like we were a few minutes away from a draw that would have limited the negative reactions here. Second half v Man Utd we looked like a proper team - Lemina outstanding. Romeu is quality. VVD too with his head in the right place...so we are a confident striker or two away from finding our mojo. Austin is not it IMO - looks overweight and a yard or two off the pace - has done for a while. Long is a provider not a scorer. Gabbiadini is our only true striker...give him a run with creative playmakers behind him...Tadic and Boufal, Redmond on a good day. Part of the issue is none of our midfielders are goal-scorers...their default mode is pass / walk the ball into the net before shooting - that is coaching and has to change.

LOL 4.30am wakeup next Saturday after that woeful display is a real test of my sad obsession with the Saints...Palace away...after their terrible start and managerial questions already...a huge game so early in the season. I just know if I don't we'll win 3-0 away...perhaps I'll just PVR it for everyone's sake! Interesting that both Silva and de Boer were names to replace Puel... one we didn't consider, the other who didn't consider us...how wrong can we get it!

Quite...I wonder if he's ever been to Canada? I must confess though, that looking forward to our games and getting up early to watch that desperately dire performance has got me saying 'get a life'! Vancouver Whitecaps would give Saints a beating based on that crap (BTW Saints scouts on here go get the 16 year-old Whitecaps forward phenom Alphonso Davies...Man Utd scouts already sniffing) It's official - we're ****e. Am more nervous than excited for the season now.

1. Demonstrate you want to wear the shirt again (say sorry and mean it) 2. Prove you're worthy of wearing the shirt (be fit / ready to give 100% / merit denying somebody else the privilege) 3. Prove you're worthy of earning the Captain's armband again (this will take time IMO) 4. Have a serious think about the relationship with your agent...how did his advice work out for you? ...then, we learn to forgive and move on...wouldn't take more than three good games

Absolutely Forester. Agreed. But let's not forget it's a mutual benefit; the Club has been good to the Leihber family too. Cortese was the smart guy to put the club in front of ML and point out that the 15th largest brand franchise in UK soccer was languishing at the bottom of the third tier. Buy low, sell high. He should share in some of Kat's spoils.

I'm happy with this appointment. Tucherwassisname forgotten already.

This. PR machine picks its words carefully...'search for new Management Team' more than suggests Black is out too. I hope they are doing this in the proper order and have lined up Tuchel to take over an empty desk tomorrow. Message is clear - Southampton have ambition, we need to play with panache as well as being seen to be moving forward. We will never know if Puel would have learned from his first season...took Ferguson a bad first season at United before he got it right... Les Reed must take some responsibility for a failed hire...and that will hopefully put even more pressure to break the bank to get a high profile manager like Tuchel.

Thanks Dark Munster! Don't know how you know the Canucks, but if you follow hockey our Canucks make Saints performance this season look totally stellar...from Presidents trophy winners twice in a row to second bottom in the league this year...and can't even win the lottery to get first pick for best players next year!

Not sure you're serious, but I know some are. As a lifelong Saints fan I'm saddened by the Club's Management leaving Puel hanging on a thread until the season is over. Certainly less than the vote of confidence I'd expect if I'd made sacrifices to join the club. Despite some pretty bad luck with injuries to key players and terrible scheduling (surprised no-one has commented on this - our Christmas schedule and delayed 'catch-up' games have done us no favours) we're in 8th place and should stay there. If we learned how to score penalties again (got to be some coaching focus on that) we'd already have 8th place secured. Sure, I have questions about the style of football we play. It's frustratingly boring and turgid at times. Four 0-0's in a row at home is not acceptable. Lowest goal tally, home points etc. But then we've also seen some terrific games that give you pause for thought that we can actually play attractive attacking football - the League Cup Final being top of mind. You can't lose your best player and your top scorer and not expect to have some difficulties. I've not heard him use this as an excuse ever - he's got on with what he's got. Puel deserves an opportunity to learn the PL for a season (Man Utd did it with...who was it...oh yes, Alex Ferguson...he did okay in the end). He needs a clear brief; we are an attacking team...style is just as important as points, it's not one or the other. I suspect the cageiness from Ralph and Les is because Puel himself hasn't decided if he likes it here or not - I wouldn't blame him for thinking he was sold a pup (we're not a selling club any more - ha ha) and that he's got a whingeing bunch of ingrates in the stands.

Did I read hasn't played since last February...recovering from Achilles tendon injury. I'm not a doctor but my mate ruptured his achilles tendon and it's just about stopped him playing any sport...complete lack of movement despite top surgeons etc. Why we would pay silly money for this guy and let Sakho (widely regarded by Liverpool fans as their best defender) go to Palace beggars belief. You can smell the desperation.

Let's just focus on the goalkeeper issue. Fraser Foster has gone from hero to zero fast.. how can the FF we have now be the same person who was MOTM at that away game against Arsenal (seems an age ago)? Some Canadian perspective here...hockey (ice hockey) is the national sport here...my youngest son plays at a decent level...not all positions are equal - the goalkeeper is key...a hot goalkeeper can keep even a terrible team in the game wheras a poor one can make even the best team lose. One of the most important stats for goalies is number of shots saved against shots faced (they only count shots on net)...so a hot goalie will save 35 or 40 shots on target before letting a goal in. If a goalie lets say 3 goals in on 7 or 8 shots they get pulled in the game and replaced by the reserve keeper. Bigger nets, fewer shots yes yes but concept is valid. On Fosters current form, I reckon he lets in 1 in every 2 shots on target. He is TERRIBLE. Honestly, I can pick the ball out of the net as well as he does. Yesterday I blame him for the second and third goals. Second goal he is so slow to move...it's eminently saveable from 25 yards or more...he does the standard late dive and flap (like he did for the Swansea second goal the game before). Third goal he doesn't set the wall or bother attempting to move a muscle for a shot on target. If he'd stopped these it'd have been 1-1 at Swansea and 1-1 yesterday...not great results but not six losses out of seven. Point? The goalkeeper is a disproportionately important position. When they play well they lift the whole team. When they let crap goals in at terrible times they can deflate the whole team. Foster needs to be dropped now and rebuilt. We have over-relied on him being the goalkeeping answer after Davis. We cannot do worse than throwing Moussa in at the deep end. Moussa doesn't sound like the answer to me, hope I'm wrong. I think there is a deeper-rooted goalkeeping issue at the club...the fact we have no proven decent alternative knowing McCarthy is a long-term injury...and we've turned a good goalie into the worst in the PL at the moment IMO.

Yes, agreed - he deserves our thanks not our abuse. Money is not a motivator - especially when these guys have it overflowing out of their bank accounts. They leave because they either don't feel valued (highly probable given the ruthless nature of football and at 33 you're on the way down) i.e. he wasn't given the contract extension he thought he deserved in the summer post Euros (again, probably true...it's not the money but the time extension and captaincy guarantee he'd have been looking for then that my guess wasn't forthcoming then). Or they leave for personal reasons (wife wants to go back to Portugal) or to fulfil a bigger ambition (last chance to play at a big named club like ManUre). Remember the club spin the publicity wheel all the time...most players do it once every three or four years. I suspect his new agent hasn't helped - the agents interest is to get a turn on a deal, not to keep him put. Fonte has been good for the club and the club has been good for Fonte for seven years. Shame if that gets lost in a spat at the end.

Agreed. I have to wake up early here in Vancouver to watch the games - I've always been excited to watch the team I've followed for nearly 50 years but my expectations now are very low - hard to drag my carcass out of bed knowing we're heading for another boring, predictable sideways shuffle. Predicted a 0-2 or 0-3 result and was right, although in fairness we had the edge on a poor Everton until the Valencia substitution. What worries me is I have zero belief we are going to score a goal. We just don't score goals any more. And in a game where it's all about scoring goals that is THE problem. Forget about defensive records, poor form, injury, diamonds, squad rotation whatever...we don't score goals because we haven't made it a priority. I am not for over-reacting and think, in general, Managers aren't given enough time to prove themselves but if it's true Puel thinks we have enough attacking threat and doesn't plan to invest in January (I read the article) he's not the right man for us.

This. What was our half-time talk?...have some more Benzadril, move slow, be predictable, don't bother taking shots...oh and take crap corners! Wrong team selection strategy. We play B-team against supposed lower opposition. We've proven our A-team can't match the top six and our B-team isn't good enough against the rest...so why not try playing our A-team against lower opposition? Hope that wasn't Virgil's last game for us. That sending off will have him not playing for us at just the wrong time. Jeez. What a terrible game.

Great Boufal goal worthy of winning a dullish match between two defensive teams. Did what was required in second half. Happy to see Puel animated on the touchline after we scored. Think he gets way too much stick for his demeanour (yes I'd like to see him smile more but let's be fair, how many of us here are miserable gits too!) And fickle. Puel was a Yoshida header away from being a genius...Europa League knockouts, EFL semi and top half of the league...with a team devoid of striking options. I think he's smart enough to know this is a game about GOALS. We need to be able to score them. Second lowest goalscorers in the Premier League starting today. Not just a striker but midfielders who can score. Would much rather be conceding a couple knowing we're likely to score two or three ourselves. This January window will define us...Puel needs to be given the chance to protect and invest. If we keep VVD, and bring in one or two proven goal scorers we could beat anyone and be entertaining.

Was it just me or did others just get the feeling that ball was going to find a way into our net whatever? We were the better footballing team by a margin. I'm normally angry but just had a feeling about this game even before that ridiculous first goal. Positive? - nobody upstairs can possibly deny that we need to buy some proven goal scorers in January - and I mean more than one.

Agree. Except for Redmond comment - was I watching a different game? - thought he was one of our best players...great speed and movement...and actually has great touch/ball-control...thought he Romeu and Hoijbjerg had outstanding games...Cedric poor, Tadic good at the beginning then did his disappearing trick. Think we should be able to make top 10, just - and if we play like that we have no fear of relegation. I did miss our more energetic high-press...felt we stood off them and invited pressure way too much...we all know how that works for us. And yes we need a clinical striker as the BBC survey highlights. Spurs fans happiest with their squad - not surprised. http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/37317980

Black hat: We're a couple of injuries away from a serious hole at CB and DM White hat: We're not injured yet. We kept some key players, equivalent to major new signings IMO (VVD and Tadic especially). We made some astute purchases without breaking the bank...all outfielders have creative flair. We have kept our powder dry if we need to invest more in January. We have ridden out another turbulent summer bringing in a promising new manager who deserves far more time than it would appear most people on this site are willing to give him. I can't help but feel that if we were sitting on 4 or 5 points now instead of 2 (and let's face it, we easily could have been - we were easily better than Watford, played ok against ManUre and should have beaten Sunderland) we'd be more positive as a group.

So fair to say the general mood is we could have done better this window/expected more...we're left light for cover at DM, CB, RB and STR. RB is forgivable - Pied injury unfortunate. The rest predictable and we've had time to fix (there's still a couple of hours left...we live in hope). Assuming no more action for us, I'd like to know your thoughts: what teams have done the best transfer business this window (not just last day)...and what teams have done the worst? A useful ndicator of where we stand relative to our competition

Exactement!

Just a dumb observation but we don't have much size / force in our midfield and attack...we were top scorers from headed goals last season - I don't see that happening again. We can cross the ball into the area but am not convinced Long/Austin/J-Rod are going to get their head to the ball first like Pelle did. So I would have gone for a low cost impact substitute striker who can steal a goal from long balls pumped into the area when we need to go direct. And I'm surprised we haven't made an all-out assault to get Schneiderlin back...he's third choice now at Manure...would be top of the list with us

Agreed. Diamond is a convenient excuse. Obviously would hope for more than two points from three games but it's early days. Give Puel 10 games then we'll know what we've got.