Nathan Redmond will be banned for the visit of West Bromwich Albion to St Mary's after being sent off against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday.

Nathan Redmond will serve a one match ban after Saints decided not to appeal his red card from Wednesday evening, although some fans will see this as a positive thing, I am not one of them.

Redmond has become the whipping boy recently and many seem to be too quick to blame him for everything they see going wrong at Saints at the moment, although if going wrong is 8th in the league and a League Cup semi final then I wish we had got it wrong a lot more over the years.

Redmond is not to blame for any of this or indeed the awful form that some think he is in, he is a player stuck in the middle of a situation not of his making, he arrived at the club in a deal struck when Ronald Koeman was still at the club, a manager who wanted a winger.

Before he could even officially put pen to paper Koeman was gone and not long after he had signed Claude Puel was announced as the new manager, a man who does not use wingers.

That left Redmond a little out on a limb and the club not wishing to be left with egg on their face have persevered with trying to use him as a striker.

This has had mixed results but they have not been as a bad as some would have you believe and Redmond has created a fair few chances, think the final minute of the Boro game when he won the ball and put in a peach of a cross that J Rod sliding in could not force home, or the 3rd goal at Bournemouth where his persistence meant the ball could not be cleared and J Rod fired home, it is not his fault that they have not always been converted.

He has had to do this with a vocal minority on his back, to his credit he has never hid nor given up trying, it is not his fault he finds himself in this situation.

So if you find it a cause for celebration that he is suspended then I find it very strange, we are all meant to be supporters of Southampton Football Club and when they are playing we should be behind every player whatever our views on them.

In truth Redmond's suspension will not be too much of an issue, with three games to be played in the space of six days, it helps Claude Puel decide who will play and when.

I am not gong to completely defend Redmond, his form has not been brilliant, but if the fans get off his back, perhaps he will find that form and help the team to stay in the top 8 and even get to Wembley.

Photo: Action Images

AmericanSaint added 10:46 - Dec 30 nick - you make a fair point about Redmond coming into a strange situation. However, I do not understand why he is chosen over Tadic, who has proven again and again to be a play maker. I can see Redmond coming in as a sub, when you want to stretch the defense or need to go right at it. Maybe Puel will see this over the next few games. Tadic and Buofal I think will make a great pair to set up the forwards and more chances to score will come of this pairing.

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corkcitysaint added 11:26 - Dec 30 To be fair to Redmond, I thought he had a very good pre-season. However, I don't think he's found his place or role in the side since the first few games in the league. To me, he is not a striker. He doesn't seem to have that natural instinct. He seems to be most effective when he is out on the left and cuts in on his right. But this doesn't seem to happen enough. Overall, I think he looks lost. A man without a defined role. I would like to see how it would work with him as a winger as part of a 4-4-2 formation with Long & Jrod upfront. I can't see that happening though.

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1962saint added 11:43 - Dec 30 Although Redmond has been disappointing on the goal scoring front, along with the rest of the team, he has impressed me with his work rate tracking back to help out in his defensive duties. Unfortunately this resulted in giving away the penalty. His ban of one game is not a problem when looking at the fixtures coming up with 2 more league games in 3 days, the FA Cup and 2 legged semi final. Rotating and resting players will be essential.

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SaintNick added 12:31 - Dec 30 In recent weeks I think Redmond has been preferred over Tadic due to Tadic recovering from an injury, also Tadic hasnt really impressed in his games since returning from his month on the sidelines, I think that is the reason
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bstokesaint added 13:00 - Dec 30 It's a strange decision for me that the club hasn't tried to overturn the red card. So SFC are happy that the team conceded a penalty, were reduced to 10 men on the day and now have a player banned? What was the point of the PL making such a big fuss of the new ruling where this situation would no longer occur as it was considered to be too much punishment for a single offence where a penalty or a red card/ban would suffice? What a joke. As for Redmond, I think the stick he gets from some quarters is largely unjustified. I totally agree he looks lost at times, but this is not exactly his fault when he's not really given a defined role, or a role he's used to playing. What I like about him, as others have said, is that at least he's trying. He always wants the ball and some goals have resulted from this. If he was shying away then I could understand fans' getting frustrated with a lack of effort. I think it's fair to say that both Pelle and Mane have been the whipping boys within the past year, so players can turn it around. It's got to be easier though when you're own supporters aren't jeering you.

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highfield49 added 13:10 - Dec 30 On the other hand deciding not to appeal the booking exonerates a bad decision by a biased referee. Strange how a referee can give a red card for a fairly insignificant foul outside of the penalty area and fail to see a Spurs defender hit JayRod in the face. I presume that if JayRod had gone down injured he would have been booked or sent off for simulation?. I can only hope that the club made their feelings known to the referee after the match.

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SanMarco added 13:14 - Dec 30 I think that Redmond is a decent enough player as a second choice winger but, however hard he works, he is not going to be good enough for a team chasing the top six. I don't blame him for anything and think it is stupid that he is getting 'stick'. Some people seem to need a scapegoat if things aren't going as well as they would like. For the last 7 years we have had a better finishing position than the year before. It aint gonna happen this year and we need to look to the future rather than having a go at our own players. That future in the immediate-term is the Jan transfer window. I suspect the simple answer to the non-appeal question is that they knew it would fail. PS anyway read the Guardian guide to the transfer window - it is flogging 75% of our first choice back four to Man City...

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the_saint added 14:06 - Dec 30 Redmond is a good championship player and that's all,but I cannot understand people getting on his back he is not the only player struggling, the manager sets up the team and how he wants them to play so maybe just maybe it's puel and not Redmond that should get the flack
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the_saint added 14:12 - Dec 30 Mike dean has reffed three Spurs games this season sending off an opposing player each time and awarded two penaltys for them and in the last 7 he has reffed sent off a staggering 5 with 3 penalties all in Spurs favour and if you have not seen the two clips of footage yet of him what looks like celebrating in one and urging them on in the other then watch it. This really should be an embarrassment for the premier league.

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the_saint added 14:12 - Dec 30 Mike dean has reffed three Spurs games this season sending off an opposing player each time and awarded two penaltys for them and in the last 7 he has reffed sent off a staggering 5 with 3 penalties all in Spurs favour and if you have not seen the two clips of footage yet of him what looks like celebrating in one and urging them on in the other then watch it. This really should be an embarrassment for the premier league.

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BarnetSaint added 16:29 - Dec 30 Its counterproductive and wrong to get on redmonds back ( and Forster for that matter) the plain truth imo is that he just isn't good enough for a team aspiring for a top eight finish. Watch him during games as he berates himself time and time again. Pure frustration at his own lack of skill and ability. And that thierry henrie comparison didn't help either! Tadic is patchy but his assists are numerous compared to NR.

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Lazz added 17:47 - Dec 30 Dean should be fined and suspended
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the_saint added 18:04 - Dec 30 Sorry got the 5 and 3 around the wrong way still cannot believe the PL can't see something fishy going on hopefully there is no third party bets going on there
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the_saint added 18:05 - Dec 30 But I'm going to chuck a few quid on next time he refs them
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halftimeorange added 19:04 - Dec 30 The above article is, in my opinion, far too generous to Mr Redmond. It's simple, he was identified by Saints as Premiership quality and purchased accordingly. It matters not one hoot whether Koeman or Puel is the manager, Nathan hasn't shown more than fleeting glimpses of why he should warrant a starting slot in the team and he is a great disappointment to many of us fans. I don't boo Saints players but I certainly groan and watching Redmond has made me groan more often than not. Frankly, I don't think he's good enough. We have a squad which is a mix of exceptional (Van Dijk), very good (Romeu, Bertrand, Fonte, Cedric, Tadic), good (Forster, Austin, Yoshida, Clasie, Rodriguez, Long, Hobjberg), promising (Boufal, McQueen, JWP, Reed, Targett, Sims) and the rest are average. The good and promising show flashes of brilliance although some dip in and out of form. Is Nathan Redmond any better than Billy Sharp, who didn't really get a chance? I don't think he is and it's some time since he showed promise at Norwich. Sometimes players drift backwards - JWP is on the cusp of doing that. It's not Redmond's fault but his absence won't bring any major detriment to our next performance or, in fact, if he didn't play again this season. I'm sure that playing McQueen or Targett in front of Bertrand would provide much better service to Rodriguez and Austin and far better ball retention.

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luffy22 added 19:16 - Dec 30 Your right about Redmond and its not his fault. But the problem is he is just not good enough at the moment, you talk about the Bournemouth goal, he got hit in the face by the football, after chasing down yet another bad touch, I could have done that and I'm not a even an amateur player left a lone a professional one. People talk about him beating defenders in fact he runs at them but rarely gets passed them, often giving up and passing the ball backwards, in the last Europa game he managed to get past his man twice for all the ball he had. You can see his team mate never run for the cross when he trying to beat someone as their is little point, thats why JRod is always behind, its a surprise to him to see the ball coming into the box. Someone said he is a good (old) second division player, I'd agree with that. But I think the perfect way to treat him now is to put him in the reserves for the next 18 months and let him learn and bring him into the first team when ready, he's a young lad who's been pushed into the first team too soon, we have other lads his age in the reserves, it won't be a step backwards, it will be to learn. He has plenty of years ahead to play for us when he's up to it. Its amazing were in a semi-final, but lets get realistic here, home and away to Liverpool, who if they play their first team will be better then the Spuds, Yes Bournemouth managed a great result, but they wouldn't manage that over two legs in a cup match. Liverpool won't be chasing the game and let us score four goals. I'm going to go and cheer the lads on, but I won't be upset about losing, it would have been a valiant effort with Pual somehow trying and get through with two 0-0 results. People also need to chill out about a top half finish, its another year of transition, so anything in the top 15 should be celebrated. were in the second group in our division which is everyone except for about 4 teams.

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deanosfc8 added 19:19 - Dec 30 Why do people call it the Premiership!! its the Premier League. Jeez people sort it out!
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