Bournemouth 1-3 Saints - Reaction

Rodriguez looks stronger than ever. He used to be weak in the air, now he has more bulk he's better aerially. He still has a great work rate and pace. These goals have been coming. Just needed a bit of luck in front of goal. He looks as sharp as he ever has now in my view and deserves a run of starts. He's having to be a different type of player with the different system. But genuinely looks as sharp as ever based off the last few appearances he's made.

Especially after his tweet about Koeman

What did Artur say about Koeman?

Much better performance and credit to Davis when he came on as he had a great game.

The first goal came from Bertrand being prepared to take on his man rather than play the safe easy pass sideways or backwards. The second goal came from Davis playing a first time ball FORWARDS and then driving into the box. He doesn't do it enough and it paid dividends. The third a great strike from Jay, if we can keep him fit he has all the attributes to be a brilliant centre forward as he's a decent finisher, has good pace and looks a lot stronger than before his injury. I'm really optimistic about him.

Take players on and look to play incisive passes and we look a much better side than just keeping possession for the sake of it

What did Artur say about Koeman?

This...

Complete legend

It was just nice to see us involved in an entertaining game- really proud of J-Rod today- get him confident and we won't need a striker in January. Boufal looks a real livewire, Davis & Bertrand were fantastic. Cedric seriously needs to sort out his crossing though.

It was just nice to see us involved in an entertaining game- really proud of J-Rod today- get him confident and we won't need a striker in January. Boufal looks a real livewire, Davis & Bertrand were fantastic. Cedric seriously needs to sort out his crossing though.

He needs to take some lessons from Cuco.

There, I said it.

My pleasure

 

Oh, by the way, you might enjoy this one too....

 

[vine]52nTOxUl5Ku[/vine]

 

Great that this time the ball joined him in the back of the net. What a difference it made to his confidence afterwards.

Amazing how one game can change perspectives totally. Two days ago we were desperate to sign at least one striker and most on here were baying for J Rod to be sent on loan. Delighted for him as I am, we still need to replace Austin in January as I still think J Rod is a work in progress. We signed Billy Sharp in the Jan and his goals got us over the line.

Amazing how one game can change perspectives totally. Two days ago we were desperate to sign at least one striker and most on here were baying for J Rod to be sent on loan. Delighted for him as I am, we still need to replace Austin in January as I still think J Rod is a work in progress. We signed Billy Sharp in the Jan and his goals got us over the line.

What line? The line for us this season was Europa and we are out already. League Cup final would be absolutely brilliant but do we need a new striker to beat what is hopefully a weaken Liverpool side over 2 legs?

The league is predictable this year, we will finish somewhere between 7-14th. We will have good days like yesterday, bad days like Palace and horrible days like Hull, but we won't challenge for top 6 and we won't get relegated

This season was about the cups - we have a great chance but not sure we'd buy a new striker just for it? If we were still in Europa I think we would splash cash, but unless we are buying ready for next season no real point imho

We bought Austin last Jan also

Amazing how one game can change perspectives totally. Two days ago we were desperate to sign at least one striker and most on here were baying for J Rod to be sent on loan. Delighted for him as I am, we still need to replace Austin in January as I still think J Rod is a work in progress. We signed Billy Sharp in the Jan and his goals got us over the line.

Sorry, Dunc, I think yesterday's J-Rod goals will be used by the board as an excuse NOT to get the chequebook out next month. We may even get a few "told you so" comments in the press. Only time will tell if it will be justified.

Nah I have more faith in the Board than you. Guy Askham maybe I would have my doubts but I am sure Ms Liebherr would not sell us short. She's come too far and so have we.

JayRod's day yesterday ably supported by Claude's squad selection particularly Steven Davis. I fine mature performance from Ryan Bertrand too.

Sorry, Dunc, I think yesterday's J-Rod goals will be used by the board as an excuse NOT to get the chequebook out next month. We may even get a few "told you so" comments in the press. Only time will tell if it will be justified.

I hope that is not the case. J-Rod had a fine game but we need another striker. We may not see Charlie Austin to late March or early April. There is still a long season ahead.

Amazing how one game can change perspectives totally. Two days ago we were desperate to sign at least one striker and most on here were baying for J Rod to be sent on loan. Delighted for him as I am, we still need to replace Austin in January as I still think J Rod is a work in progress. We signed Billy Sharp in the Jan and his goals got us over the line.

A reasonable post. Provided the board get a good striker in on loan.

Thought Bertrand was outstanding yesterday.

Loved him giving it back to their fans (especially the bit about the size of their stadium) :lol:

Thought Bertrand was outstanding yesterday.

 

Loved him giving it back to their fans (especially the bit about the size of their stadium) :lol:

Yep, he was my MOTM, albeit narrowly over Yoshida, Davis & Rodriguez. He played out of his skin for the entire game and his goal was so important, as until we equalised we had been pretty poor and it looked like being one of those days.

Before the game I said if we don't show any more energy over the course of the game then the rotation policy needs questioning, but we grew stronger as the game went on, and that suggests the selection decisions over the past three games were good ones. I'm sure 7 points from 9 was as good as most people could have hoped for, even though the Boro & Stoke games left a lot to be desired.

I still think there needs to be a little caution with Rodriguez though. Now we will see if it was just a confidence issue holding him back! Having said that, in the first half it was clear that one of our problems in the first half was not getting enough support to him from the central midfield and Davis was a revelation when he came on. If we are indeed in talks with Parejo and/or Grudelj, it would appear Puel also sees this as area for improvement.

So JRod is finished is he?

Puel said he expected we'd have more space in this game, and he was right. I expect Saints still to struggle to break down sides that defend deep. We have done so for the past 4 seasons. Nothing will change. All teams struggle with it, even those with much more quality on the ball than Saints.

Puel said they would be prioritising forward play and finishing in preparation for this match and it looks like they did and it worked.

Puel made another decisive substitution and it worked.

Great win yesterday and pleased for Jay.

However, we still need at least one more striker to cover for Charlie. Two would be better, but at least one.

J Rod now has as many league goals by Xmas as Mané did last season.

J Rod now has as many league goals by Xmas as Mané did last season.

Has he played as many games as Mane had

Has he played as many games as Mane had

9 for J Rod

17 for Mané

Sky did a bit about Bournemouth's transfers. Not one player over £5m in starting eleven. The players listed over £5m totalled near £70m. A lot of money for a small club to be wasting

Typical Sky (lack of) in-depth analysis. Afobe was on the bench and came on 2nd half, Mings has been out for over a year injured, came back for the first time last week, Gradel is injured (hamstring) otherwise would likely be in the team. They have hardly wasted money on these players. Boufal is our record signing but he was not playing for a while after we signed him, was that wasted money. Sky really do talk some ******** at times. Apparently yesterday was our first ever PL win at Boscombe. Well, **** me its only the 2nd time we have ever played there in the PL.

To be fair, Mings probably was a massive waste of money.

Amazing how one game can change perspectives totally. Two days ago we were desperate to sign at least one striker and most on here were baying for J Rod to be sent on loan. Delighted for him as I am, we still need to replace Austin in January as I still think J Rod is a work in progress. We signed Billy Sharp in the Jan and his goals got us over the line.

No they weren't. One or two of our resident idiots, but most, be serious. Surprised at you making comments like this. JRod has looked OK for a couple of games now, back to fitness, just needed another goal to get his confidence back.Earlier in the season he was not fit, he looked to be running in treacle.

No they weren't. One or two of our resident idiots, but most, be serious. Surprised at you making comments like this. JRod has looked OK for a couple of games now, back to fitness, just needed another goal to get his confidence back.Earlier in the season he was not fit, he looked to be running in treacle.

Slight exaggeration maybe but if you checked out the après match Stoke thread there weren't many with a good word. But football is fickle when we win we're up and when we lose we're down.

Typical Sky (lack of) in-depth analysis. Afobe was on the bench and came on 2nd half, Mings has been out for over a year injured, came back for the first time last week, Gradel is injured (hamstring) otherwise would likely be in the team. They have hardly wasted money on these players. Boufal is our record signing but he was not playing for a while after we signed him, was that wasted money. Sky really do talk some ******** at times. Apparently yesterday was our first ever PL win at Boscombe. Well, **** me its only the 2nd time we have ever played there in the PL.

i generally hate Sky. EFL 10 in 10 is a spoof surely? And Mersey Monday - complete with a countdown by the second to kick off. Imagine think what sort of crp their marketing guys reject!

9 for J Rod

17 for Mané

Stupid post.

Rodriguez only has 3 starts and 320 total minutes on the pitch. Appearances are a stupid comparison when almost all Mane's appearances would have been 90 minutes

Slight exaggeration maybe but if you checked out the après match Stoke thread there weren't many with a good word. But football is fickle when we win we're up and when we lose we're down.

From some maybe, but I thought he had a decent game overall at Stoke, just as he has on a few occasions recently. His overall play has been much, much better of late, and it was clear to me that the only thing missing from his game was goals. A few people were having a pop at his misses against Stoke and Boro, but neither of them were the simple tap-ins that people were making out, and the failure to score was more a result of the quality of the supply than J-Rod himself.

I'm dead chuffed for him for yesterday. There have been times where I have found myself questioning if he would ever get back to his pre-ACL injury form, but recently he has been showing a lot of strength, desire and some really nice touches and ball skills. It has been obvious for a little while that he is the more likely answer to our striking problems than Shane 'Forrest Gump' Long and it is very gratifying to see that he has been able to repay the faith that Puel has put in him.

Let's hope this is just the start of a rich vein of form for him.

Slight exaggeration maybe but if you checked out the après match Stoke thread there weren't many with a good word. But football is fickle when we win we're up and when we lose we're down.

What, like this one you mean?

Leicester have got a lot to answer for. We're not a top 6 side, and never will be. 7th is our goal, and as we near half way through the season we're only 2 points shy of that.

 

Sure, our entertainment value is below par at the moment, but one thing is for certain and that is that we aren't going to buy a solution to that in January. There is no club out there just sitting waiting to sell us their top-notch premier league standard striker in January. We have proven premier league strikers, but they are woefully off form at the moment. The answer is to get them scoring again. I have no clue how to do that, but I'm not a top notch football manager earning £3million a year.

 

With a bit of patience we will get past this blockage, and we still have a pretty good shot at Europa League football again next year.

It's been good for me to be reminded how little I know about which players justify a place in the squad and selection for the team. Seeing games on TV or on line and at St Mary's when I can, is far short of what's needed to assess a player's technical ability, form and fitness level. Even if I was at every training session, whereas in fact I'm at none, the fact I'm a fan and I can only have an amateur's opinion. I was one of those behaving as if I know more than I do by suggesting that Shane Long and JRod were no longer worth persevering with and both should be replaced in the January window.

JRod has shown that a quality player can replay the faith shown in him by the manager and the coaches because even when a player has all the skill and fitness needed, he also needs something that coaching can't provide and that is a fair share of luck. Mané needed faith to be shown in him when he was in his goal drought last season. Sunday's goals will have done wonders for Jay's confidence and I can see the same thing happening for Shane as Puel continues to give him opportunities through the rotation policy. It is still the case that, as an amateur, my opinion means nothing but my personal preference has changed and I now hope the club do not use the, often unreliable, January window to add to the squad but that they persevere with JRod, Long, Redmond, Boufal and Tadic up front knowing that Sims and Hesketh are ready as well.

Bertrand and Boufal were running rings around them.

J-Rod looked lively and was good in the second half with a couple of goals to boot! Very relieved he put that goal from 2 yards in - thought he was cursed from that distance!

It's been good for me to be reminded how little I know about which players justify a place in the squad and selection for the team. Seeing games on TV or on line and at St Mary's when I can, is far short of what's needed to assess a player's technical ability, form and fitness level. Even if I was at every training session, whereas in fact I'm at none, the fact I'm a fan and I can only have an amateur's opinion. I was one of those behaving as if I know more than I do by suggesting that Shane Long and JRod were no longer worth persevering with and both should be replaced in the January window.

 

JRod has shown that a quality player can replay the faith shown in him by the manager and the coaches because even when a player has all the skill and fitness needed, he also needs something that coaching can't provide and that is a fair share of luck. Mané needed faith to be shown in him when he was in his goal drought last season. Sunday's goals will have done wonders for Jay's confidence and I can see the same thing happening for Shane as Puel continues to give him opportunities through the rotation policy. It is still the case that, as an amateur, my opinion means nothing but my personal preference has changed and I now hope the club do not use the, often unreliable, January window to add to the squad but that they persevere with JRod, Long, Redmond, Boufal and Tadic up front knowing that Sims and Hesketh are ready as well.

That's a nice post.

To be fair, Mings probably was a massive waste of money.

He might turn out to be (personally think he is, or was, excellent and wish we had re-signed him), but that's not the point is it. Sky trying to say Boscombe have wasted money because none of their expensive signings were in the team yesterday is just plain nonsense when you look behind the stats. In his case the lad got a bad injury on his debut and has been out ever since *****il last week when he made a late sub appearance).

Holjberg was a disgrace in the first half and Reed was off the pace.

The Davis substitution was superb and we looked much better in the midfield once he came on.

I thought Redmond and Boufal looked like they are building quite a good chemistry which bodes well.

Rodriguez by far the biggest positive from the game however, besides the 3 points of course.

What line? The line for us this season was Europa and we are out already. League Cup final would be absolutely brilliant but do we need a new striker to beat what is hopefully a weaken Liverpool side over 2 legs?

 

The league is predictable this year, we will finish somewhere between 7-14th. We will have good days like yesterday, bad days like Palace and horrible days like Hull, but we won't challenge for top 6 and we won't get relegated

 

This season was about the cups - we have a great chance but not sure we'd buy a new striker just for it? If we were still in Europa I think we would splash cash, but unless we are buying ready for next season no real point imho

 

We bought Austin last Jan also

Do you honestly think Liverpool will be that weakened in a Semi-final v the team who held them to a 0-0 draw in the league? I disagree, Liverpool want silverwear and they will want to sweep us aside.

Thought Bertrand was outstanding yesterday.

 

Loved him giving it back to their fans (especially the bit about the size of their stadium) :lol:

On one of their fotums they are calling him a chav

On one of their fotums they are calling him a chav

Don't normally go on other teams' forums but did today. The thread title refers to Bertrand as a chav but the majority (probably) of posts actually say his reaction was fair enough, or just a bit of fun.

Their post-match reaction was also pretty reasonable, nearly everyone having a reasoned discussion about tactics etc. Quite a few people even chimed in with "why are we trying to make them our rivals when they've helped us out over the years?" type comments.

I work near Bournemouth with a couple of their fans, and they have been saying the same thing.

Those with their noses pressed up against the window looking in from the Eastern end of the M27 are a different matter entirely!

Don't normally go on other teams' forums but did today. The thread title refers to Bertrand as a chav but the majority (probably) of posts actually say his reaction was fair enough, or just a bit of fun.

 

Their post-match reaction was also pretty reasonable, nearly everyone having a reasoned discussion about tactics etc. Quite a few people even chimed in with "why are we trying to make them our rivals when they've helped us out over the years?" type comments.

Work with a handful of Bmouth fans and I get the feeling that its only a about a couple of 1000 that hate us a want to start a rivalry (I believe in general it's the younger generation, who obviously weren't there, or don't remember the hard times).

They weren't too happy with Bertrand and his celebration (apparently he was running past the family stand telling them to f*ck off . Not that he's to have known it was the family stand mind).

Shane Longs face was a picture a she congratulated Jay Rod when he came on for him. Teamwork at its best so now for a couple of goals for Shans and he will be back in the groove again.

Work with a handful of Bmouth fans and I get the feeling that its only a about a couple of 1000 that hate us a want to start a rivalry (I believe in general it's the younger generation, who obviously weren't there, or don't remember the hard times).

 

They weren't too happy with Bertrand and his celebration (apparently he was running past the family stand telling them to f*ck off . Not that he's to have known it was the family stand mind).

Any idea why Bertrand was quite riled up?

Any idea why Bertrand was quite riled up?

He had a loan spell there.

In fact - and I could be wrong - Bournemouth might have given him his senior league debut.

He had a loan spell there.

 

In fact - and I could be wrong - Bournemouth might have given him his senior league debut.

More than that though, they were giving him abuse down the left hand side all game for it, including booing him louder than other players.

Also Ibe come on and iirc he was about 11m

He had a loan spell there.

 

In fact - and I could be wrong - Bournemouth might have given him his senior league debut.

More than that though, they were giving him abuse down the left hand side all game for it, including booing him louder than other players.

Yeah I knew about the loan spell which is kind of why I wasn't sure why he was so fired up haha, I assumed he'd be on good terms with their fans. Can't think of many players that get booed by a club they were formerly on loan at! Weird bunch.

Yeah I knew about the loan spell which is kind of why I wasn't sure why he was so fired up haha, I assumed he'd be on good terms with their fans. Can't think of many players that get booed by a club they were formerly on loan at! Weird bunch.

I think they booed when he took a corner in the first 5 minutes. Unfortunately for them, that seemed to get his back up and he was outstanding after that (I guess getting on someone's back can go 1 of two ways. Luckily Lovren & Lallana seem to crumble).

Very good post. A microcosm of what is wrong with this country at the moment; a popularism that embraces the notion that those who don't have the relevant qualifications or experience know better than those that do.

Having watched the utterly dire so-called football match between Everton and Liverpool last night in one of the most ugly displays of brutal physical football I have ever seen I am rather proud of our Saints this morning and beginning to think that we are really rather good. On Sunday's and last night's performances we would have thrashed either of these pathetic excuses for PL football teams. Draw we hope even now we could gate crash the top six, surely it cannot be impossible. Maybe our secret weapon is squad fitness and freshness, even Arsenal looked knackered against Man C and that could be quite telling in the second half of the season. How long before Puel's tactics are copied by others one wonders but we have half a season start. This might turn out to be a rather special season.

I don't blame Liverpool for this abject display, Koeman's charges were simply awful out to stop Liverpool playing at any price using every trick and dirty tactic in the book. For that tackle alone Barkley should have been jailed. Thank goodness they were not fit enough to practice their butchery for two halves and justice was amply served by the late, late winner.

Also Ibe come on and iirc he was about 11m

Closer to £15m, I believe.

Three of the six Sky candidates for goal of the week were from our game. The rest of the Prem must have been really boring last weekend

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/10702611/watch-and-vote-for-your-favourite-premier-league-goal-of-the-week