Saints 1 MIddlesbrough 0 - Post Match

Average with a moment of genius

First half was terrible

Second half was much improved, and we were in complete control.

A shame we didn't get that second goal, although it would help if Rodriguez didn't miss an open goal...

A wins a win a suppose. Better second half.

Well 3 pts is 3 pts. Boufal saved us ass today, outside of that we were pretty pedestrian. Middlesbrough is not a good squad.

Horrible performance, and a very important win. Boro will be gutted at missing out on three of the easiest points they could have won.

COYR

Nice to have a player who can score from outside the box. Not sure Pelle or Mane got many like that.

Good to get the win but was a tough watch at times.

Horror of a first half. Ponderous at best. Much better second half, good 20 minute spell then some old-fashioned hanging-on. Should give some confidence to the team. 3 important points considering recent results and performances.

Only 4 points off 6th place

The real test will be the two away games, we've got to win at least one of them.

"Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, jingle all the away

Oh what fun it is to see Southampton win away"

Level on points with Everton, I'll take that. Not a great game, but on balance a deserved win. JWP is no good, Boufal has skills.

A reaction and a victory, just what we needed....Puel out

Finally a comeback from two terrible matches againts crystal and hapoel, im not saying today we played excellent, but at least we won, important 3pts today. Greetings from argentina, and #WeMarchOn

Will take that all day long. Boufal obviously has the X factor. Redmond actually did well. Rodriguez I think is getting there, a real shame he didn't score that at the end. Regardless of all this I still have little faith in Puel. Just do not rate him.

Up to 10th (joint 8th but behind on GD).

Horrible performance, and a very important win. Boro will be gutted at missing out on three of the easiest points they could have won.

 

COYR

Nothing wrong with that 2nd half performance at all bar the finishing. But hay, act the cu_nt because the truth doesn't suit your agenda.

Boufal feels like Mane did in his first dozen games here. Lots of promise, a lot of frustration too. Give him another dozen games and he could well become one of the premier league's superstars. It wasn't just the goal. He pulled off five or six brilliant turns and dribbles. Just need to cut out some of the mistakes, and we're all going to be a lot happier.

J-Rod's final miss ... such a shame... but the fact that after 90 mins he was still moving like greased lightning to get into that position is at least a glimmer of hope. don't write him off.

Phew! those 3 points feel very very welcome.

Defensively strong but, Boufal aside, really little creativity. Still - 3 points, top half and level with Koeman and still only 4 points of 6th.

Good to see JRod get 90 minutes for first time in 3 years and started to look pretty sharp.

It is hardly entertaining stuff and we drop everyone behind the ball when the opposition gets the ball and then are very pedestrian when we get the ball back.

Really very little to get excited about - I hope it improves as I would rather see attacking, exciting football even if we lose. This safety first approach is dull as f**k.

Saints proving yet again there's a fine margin between success and failure with the risk averse possession tactics that Puel has instilled in the team.

Whether we end up with more successes than failures at the end of the season remains to be seen.

Yes, it can be pretty dull at times but on a day like today it ends up being effective.

3 points in the bag. Top half of the table. Level on points with Koeman's Everton. We now only need 4 points in 5 games to be in the same position as last season after 20 games.

All to play for (apart from the Europa League of course!) and still too early to judge Puel IMO.

We march on...

Poor first half, reasonable second half and one outstanding piece of quality. 3 points welcome and needed, but we really do struggle to create, especially against a disciplined side like boro were. Good substitution, and love that puel plays academy products, but we are getting rather dull under him.

We'll certainly have enough to stay up but if we didn't have Boufal and Van Dijk we'd be in serious trouble as I can't for the life of me see where our goals are going to come from other than the odd set piece and moment of magic from Boufal.

Sadly we have a lot of very limited players in the team (Davis/JWP etc.)

Relief and now 8 points clear of the bottom three.

There is no disguising the need to strengthen. Also, now out of Europe should help to concentrate on the league.

Good to get three points but the concerns remain about the dull and uninspired football and the lack of shots again. The good news is I can't see us getting relegated now unless we go on a horrible run but it would be nice to aim for something bigger.

Up to 10th (joint 8th but behind on GD).

Yeah but problem is we are not scoring goals

Saints proving yet again there's a fine margin between success and failure with the risk averse possession tactics that Puel has instilled in the team.

 

Whether we end up with more successes than failures at the end of the season remains to be seen.

 

Yes, it can be pretty dull at times but on a day like today it ends up being effective.

 

3 points in the bag. Top half of the table. Level on points with Koeman's Everton. We now only need 4 points in 5 games to be in the same position as last season after 20 games.

 

All to play for (apart from the Europa League of course!) and still too early to judge Puel IMO.

 

We march on...

 

Good post.

Nothing wrong with that 2nd half performance at all bar the finishing. But hay, act the cu_nt because the truth doesn't suit your agenda.

Oh it was a shambles, no doubt about that. That doesn't need to be said let's be fair. But a win is a win we will take that all day. But yes, the less said about the entire performance the better.

A moment of sheer class papers over quite a few cracks but the 2nd half performance was so much better. Boufal coming into the 10 role made so much positive difference. Clasie had a really good 2nd half and Martina was our main attacking outlet in the last 30 minutes strange as it seems. J-Rod should have scored a brace; he wasn't bad overall. I thought Fonte had a good game and McQueen had his moments. Such an important win.

Over the moon with result. We needed that desperately.

Intrigued to hear opinions on Jay. Sounded like he ran himself into the ground for us.

Boufal goal showed why we signed him.

Lots and lots of positives to take out of that. We are short of confidence, not playing at individual best levels, but have still dug in and won ugly, produced a moment of class to win the game and kept a clean sheet. Once confidence returns and individual players form improves, we'll be fine.

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Boufal pinging in a world class strike and Boro missing an open goal don't really paper over the cracks in our attacking play that much. That said, when Boufal popped up in the middle second half, it was hard not to imagine how good we could look with a front four of Tadic, Boufal, Redmond - JRod playing in our old 4-2-3-1.

Performance of the season and a huge 3 points

Absolutely delighted

Currently in SE Asia listening to matches. Just 'enjoyed' the boro match, better than previous matches listened to. I'm aware that some people think that we're not progressing but they're wrong. Last season we missed out on Europa L group stage and the League cup semi. This season we have just missed out on the Europa knockout and are in the league cup semis. We are now 10th in the league and are STILL. a club run by professional and honorable people. Finally it is still only football, an entertainment business that has given me more ups than the Star Wars series of films. Yes, I may be a little drunk (cheap Thai rum is to blame) but my original point that has been missed is that Claude Puel has actually done a bloody good job so far. If we keep our current squad for the next few years, we could be building something here. If not, well it's only a silly game. :-)

Up to 10th with games against - Stoke, Bompy, Spuds and WBA.

Could go on a nice little run till the turn of the new year.

Oh Jay Rod.

Positives: 3 points against a team that parked the bus and has only lost away once so far this season. JRod completed his first league 90 mins in 3 years. Improved performance in 2nd half. Boufal's goal was a nice, outside of the box finish. Looked pretty comfortable defending the lead in the last part of the game. Clean sheet. Hopefully Puel can build on this win going forward to the Stoke game and the Christmas schedule.

Negatives: We made a meal of beating a truly awful team with some major injury issues. Looked dreadfully uninspired and frustrated in 1st half. Lots of side to side and back passes. I usually like JWP but he was poor today, almost gift-wrapped a goal for the visitors.

Boufal pinging in a world class strike and Boro missing an open goal don't really paper over the cracks in our attacking play that much. That said, when Boufal popped up in the middle second half, it was hard not to imagine how good we could look with a front four of Tadic, Boufal, Redmond - JRod playing in our old 4-2-3-1.

Good point about the formation - I had written J-Rod off, but he was pretty good today and should have had two against his name. Redmond did well out wide when he came on allowing Boufal to have that freedom in the middle of the park, and Tadic will get better with game time - it's probably our best attacking set-up.

Good point about the formation - I had written J-Rod off, but he was pretty good today and should have had two against his name. Redmond did well out wide when he came on allowing Boufal to have that freedom in the middle of the park, and Tadic will get better with game time - it's probably our best attacking set-up.

J Rod needs a goal to get going again. Austin's injury gives him the chance. His performance today provided hope he will take it.

And yes, I'll mention again I might be a little drunk. ;-)

Take the win any day. But let's be honest. If Boufal didn't conjure up some magic it would have been a draw. I felt Classie did well as did Mc queen. A pretty poor performance but 3 points was needed and that's what we got. Hopefully we can push on now.

Very important to bounce back with a win.

Martina's inability to use his left foot was infuriating

Massive win that papers over the cracks for a few more days. Dreadful first half, better second half but boro offered nothing so it wasn't hard to improve on the first 45.

Take the win any day. But let's be honest. If Boufal didn't conjure up some magic it would have been a draw. I felt Classie did well as did Mc queen. A pretty poor performance but 3 points was needed and that's what we got. Hopefully we can push on now.

I thought that Clasie had a good game as well. McQueen's crossing disappointed me today.

Performance of the season and a huge 3 points

 

Absolutely delighted

Martina's inability to use his left foot was infuriating

Isn't that why he is a good right back as opposed to another position on the left?

Guild of Master Craftsmen LOL

Positives: 3 points against a team that parked the bus and has only lost away once so far this season. JRod completed his first league 90 mins in 3 years. Improved performance in 2nd half. Boufal's goal was a nice, outside of the box finish. Looked pretty comfortable defending the lead in the last part of the game. Clean sheet. Hopefully Puel can build on this win going forward to the Stoke game and the Christmas schedule.

 

Negatives: We made a meal of beating a truly awful team with some major injury issues. Looked dreadfully uninspired and frustrated in 1st half. Lots of side to side and back passes. I usually like JWP but he was poor today, almost gift-wrapped a goal for the visitors.

Add

Positives: Redmond coming on and playing well second half after a shocker against BeerSheva.

Negatives: No goal from a centre forward again when Charlie's not on the pitch.

Add

 

Positives: Redmond coming on and playing well second half after a shocker against BeerSheva.

 

Negatives: No goal from a centre forward again when Charlie's not on the pitch.

Also a positive: Jay playing his 1st 90 minutes in god knows how long.

* Ah! Missed that post above

You all owe me for not listening in/watching. Only way to win

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Well....that papered over the cracks.......again.

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Isn't that why he is a good right back as opposed to another position on the left?

Of course, but there was more than a few times where he was in a great position to cross on his left and instead cut back onto his right by which time the opportunity was gone