HOME TO MAN CITY

Any chance Saints can make it 3 wins in a row??

well at least in with a chance their defence is not great so we will get some chances, will have to take them. I am going to sit on the fence and go for a draw but think should be a good game, we might miss Romeau though in midfield, cannot afford to allow Silva the freedom of the park

Poor result and poor performance. Puel never learns, don't give them all the space to play in and midfield crucial battle so without Romeau he drops Classie our only other strong midfield player and he drops him after a good game at WBA. Hojberg was a liability in midfield all game, poor first touch and gave the ball away so many times. Then he subs Gabbadini and while he didn't look fully fit he is our best chance at a goal, he then brings on Boufal so again we have Boufal, Tadic on the pitch together with Redmond and Hojberg so no wonder City just broke through us straight down the middle.

Result at WBA masks a manager who is either Wengers missing half brother or his love child. does not believe in battling in the midfield to win the ball first, once you have the ball you can hurt the opposition. We are so slow going forward, play the ball back or sideways most of the time which means opposition have all the time to get back. The few times we did threaten was when we actually broke and played the ball forward quickly. City looked good but not that good and we didn't put them under any pressure. Puel simply doesn't get the Premiership, never will in my opinion and we are going to be mid table, at best with him in charge

Forster 6 did okay most of the time, thought he should have done better for the first goal.
Cedric 7 still one of our best defenders, got forward well, harshly booked by Swarbrick who lived up to his reputation of favouring northern teams.
Yoshida 7 did his best and some good interceptions
Stephens 6 quite solid but still needs to be more aggressive
Bertrand 6 when he did get forward was good but rarely did so.
Ward Prowse 5 played out wide right no idea why and was rarely in the game, should have gone into middle and Hojberg taken off.
Hojberg 4 just gives the ball away far to much, if played he has to be further forward where his mistakes are less costly, in a 442 he might be okay
Davis 6 did some good interceptions but doesn't seem to have the energy anymore for 90 minutes
Tadic 5 missed a sitter at 0-0, poor game, clearly he won the "heart to heart" with Puel, not been subbed since yet was poor.
Gabbadini 6 looked rusty but service was rubbish
Redmond 6 did some good stuff but doesn't work hard enough and forever arguing with Bertrand

Subs
Boufal 6 should never be in same team as Tadic simply cannot afford two players who cannot defend
Long 6 lasted about 15 minutes, fouled before their second goal, nothing given and went off injured after words with Puel
JRod 5 came on for Long, if he had brought on Classie we might at least have not conceded again.

Swapped seat for my son and his mate so in Kingsland near halfway line. No atmosphere but a good view of the game and saw close up just how poor some of our players are, Hojberg in particular

Thanks Matty. Watched from my armchair.....and it looked like Saints didn't have a clue.

A bit concerned about Puel's relationship with some of the players..... Tadic.... Long and a few others.

Mike

The problem is I don't think they respect him, and that includes several I think. Tadic had his "talk" to clear the air and clearly won in played ever since and not subbed, even when poor. His tactics are negative and his after match interviews on Solent are painful, so what he is like on training ground no idea.

The real problem for me though is Black, He has not been popular anywhere he has been, poor track record and he is the one several players detest.