AWAY TO PALACE.....

Can Saints get another 3 points and cement their position in the top half of the table?

Thought Pardew would have been gone by Saturday,  if good or bad will they want to battle for him? They look good going forward but plumping for a 1-1 draw again. Going to game so report on Sunday

Well think that is me done for away games for a while, Puel has managed to make us consistently inconsistent and fed up watching poor performances and his tactics when away from home.

Palace were poor and doubt we would have lost if Forster had not made a huge error, miskicking a pass back and giving Benteke an open goal al la Boruc. Until then Palace had looked unlikely to score their only threat Zaha diving winning a free kick and no matter where humping the ball into the box. Still no Davies sticking with Ward Prowse, Hojberg and Romeau in midfield , Redmond, Boufal and Austin up front. Hojberg was fine going forward but 3 time in first 15 minutes gave the ball away in dangerous positions. Redmond again remains a mystery, how he is always picked! Ineffective totally first half, always facing the wrong way and no defensive sense. Boufal showed some flashes but needs to do the simple things, if you beat your man then pass or cross not try to beat everyone, though at least he has some creativity, If Swarbrick (ref) had given Boufal same treatment as Zaha we would have won far more free kicks, Swarbrick was awful and not for the first time seemed to have it in for saints. We had a few attacks down left side but couldn't see much due to the awful ground, cannot call it a stadium, Clubs should be forced if earning the Sky money to improve facilities for fans, especially away fans. The Palace ground is pretty awful and most championship sides have better grounds.

After the fiasco of Forster gifting a goal you could see the whole team in shock and second goal was no surprise just after, corner given away by Fonte that could have been cleared no challenge, Forster saved a header but palmed into path of palace player for easy goal, don't think we had anyone on the line. A top keeper would have done a better job getting the first header away from danger, or come and punched clear. Hojberg had a good chance at end of half but volleyed wide.

Second half pretty much one way traffic but saints wasted chances, if they had scored one no doubt would have had more. Fonte missed a sitter shooting wide, Boufal volleyed high over when had time to bring down, Simms shot side, penalty melee saw a shot blocked by palace hand, def penalty but not for our mate, Austin had a header should have done better and so it went on. Puel took of Hojberg and replaced with Simms. Simms coming on made sense but took off one of only 3 midfield players, yet left Redmond and Boufal on. Then with about 20 minutes left brought on Long, at last, but amazingly took off Austin, our top goal scorer when 2 goals down also subbed Boufal for MacQueen. We did have Davies and Classie on the bench but not used. Long had a header just wide and lots of pressure. Didnt see their third goal as left for early train, going up took 3 hours, train over an hour late, no seats (from Southampton) didn't stop at Clapham due to problems there so had to go to Waterloo and then back to Clapham so all in all a pretty miserable day.

Forster 2 terrible for goal, hopeless distribution and we have the former England coach? Needs to buck his ideas up, mostly mental with him but will be out of England squad on this form
Cedric 8 our main threat going forward, shame he had no support
Fonte 5 poor game, didn't lead and sloppy passes, missed a guilt edge chance
Virgil 6 did okay but not good by his standards
Bertrand 6 okay reasonably solid at the back end ball when attacking not great.
Hojberg 6 again a mix, very good going forward but to many misplaced passes
Romeu 8 he should be our captain, gets through immense amount of tackles, pair him with Classie and Davies and we might win away from home
Ward Prowse 6 tried hard but poor final ball and again missed a good chance
Boufal 6 frustrating some clever touches and looks talented but wastes the opportunities he creates.
Austin 6 didn't do a lot but service wasn't great
Redmond 4 again how he is picked week in week out beyond me, cant be good for him either as well as the fans.

Subs
Simms 7 brought some energy, couple of wrong options on his passes but looks better than Redmond already
Long 6 had one decent attempt then that was it
McQueen 6 not much time to do much.

Re Swarbrick 4 conned by Saha, got in the way several times when we tried to play through the middle, gave us nothing all day.

Puel 4 tactically naïve away from home, subs are a mystery what he is doing, get back Sammy Lee and get rid of Black, who saints should have fired as it certainly wasn't professional what he did, the tape should have been enough and so much for Ralph's view we will be whiter than white and set standards

Thanks for the report Matty.

"so all in all a pretty miserable day." - it sounds like it was indeed.

Thanks again Matty. Sometimes I'm glad I'm too far away to get to games......

We seem to be missing a few of our decent players for one reason or another. Don't understand why Davies wasn't playing..... is Tadic still injured?......I think Simms has shown enough to merit a more major part. Oh and I'm sure Puel would never have favourites.......apart from Redmond that is.

Tadic is still not fit had operation on his nose has had a mask made but Puel said something about not fully training. I would imagine he is a bit hesitant not the bravest guy normally but they do miss his creativity.

I have no idea why Davies has not featured, Hojberg had a moan after Liverpool about wanting to play more games and then plays next 3 so much for rotation and as for Redmond becoming a bit of a joke with the fans