For the first time in 18 months you feel that Saints can take on one of the big sides and win !

It hasn't been all sweetness and light for Mauricio Pellegrino this season, but in the last three games you can see something there, a sense of confidence is returning and we have looked a little bit more like the Saints of old.

That means we can go into the game against Arsenal with confidence that we can get a result, something that since the departure of Ronald Koeman we have rarely looked like doing against one of the big six clubs in the Premier League at least.

The result at Bournemouth was a little disappointing in that we made an error which cost us a goal and we couldn't finish off the game, but we showed an overall discipline that has been lacking and we have a central midfield that can combat the likes of Arsenal, as we showed at City we can take pressure and keep things tight, players are again doing their jobs.

But these things take time and the manager can't just click his fingers and make everything right, however he seems to have turned a corner, a couple of weeks ago I truly feared for Saints, but now I am looking forward to the weekend and what is a big week ahead of us just before Xmas.

But I think we can be firmly in that top ten by Xmas and have a good foundation for the new year.

Photo: Action Images

A1079 added 08:01 - Dec 5 Talk as they say is cheap. We win one game well, against an abject side on the day. There are some signs of improvement, but lets be honest, that is a slight improvement from a very poor season so far and against largely moderate opposition. We have not yet remotely come close to beating one of the big sides and until we do and until we get more consistency in our results and picking up more wins, then I will believe we can start matching some of the so called "better sides". But until then..........action speaks louder than words.

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MySaintedAunt added 08:15 - Dec 5 @A1079 "We have not yet remotely come close to beating one of the big sides..." Didn't you watch the Man City game? Only poor finishing and bad luck cost us the points. It's the story of our season. The defence is tight, the midfield is solid, we just can't take our chances.
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BaselSaint added 08:35 - Dec 5 Unfortunately certain squad members will most lkely raise their game as see this match as appearing in a bigger shop window - hopefully the positive side for the team is that there will 100% effort from everyone.
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saintwizzler added 08:37 - Dec 5 Hammered a pîss poor Everton team and escaped with a draw at the worst Bournemouth team since they came back to the EPL. He’s saved his job, for now.
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dovif added 10:11 - Dec 5 My saintaunt Did you actually watch the game. If not have a look at the stats and possession and shots on goal. It was poor finishing from city that prevented it from being a 3-1 or 4-1 scoreline
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dovif added 10:14 - Dec 5 My saint aunt 76%possession 26-12 shots 12-2 on target twice the amount of touches. Man city completely dominated
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saintsnutcase added 10:33 - Dec 5 Well I certainly hope you are right Nick. But look g at he fixtures we will do well to get 4-5 points from the next 6 matches. That would leave us played 20, points 20, which isn’t far from the relegation zone. Hopefully we can pick up after that, especially if we sign Walcott!
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larry12 added 10:37 - Dec 5 There are millions of depressed people in the world who could do with an inspirational talk by Nick. He won't change anything but will temporarily make them feel better. Saints are 6 players short of a decent squad. Get shot of that moron Reed and his long contract extension disaster. What a complete and utter nonsense to give Prowse an extension for FIVE years. He gets dragged off the pitch in disgrace at half-time, this week just gone. Reed, for Dog's sake retire, you are an amateur failure!

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larry12 added 10:50 - Dec 5 Walcott is a has-been crock and would perfectly suit Les Reed's mindset, to go with Long, Austin, Forster, Redmond, Taylor, Black, Watson, Jaiidi, Hunter and Dog knows what other crap there is that is infesting Southampton Football Club. Les Reed deserves to be spoken to by THAT drill Sergeant, who would get rid of any last remnants of hair that is left on his thick head.

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MySaintedAunt added 11:15 - Dec 5 @dovif Possession doesn't win matches. We missed three sitters. We came close to beating them.
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highfield49 added 13:13 - Dec 5 So the gist of the negative posts seems to be that if we win the opposition is rubbish, if we lose we're lucky it wasn't by at least four goals and if we draw we should have won because the opposition didn't seem to have as good a team as we have. On top of that Les Reed seems to be at fault for getting the wrong players to sign contracts unless of course it's Lemina, Austin, Boufal, Hojbjerg, Bertrand or anybody else who has had a good game recently. That said I'm optimistic, like Nick, that we've turned the corner from the often dismal displays in recent months and are pretty close to stringing together some decent results. If we don't get some much needed points then of course we go into January amusing ourselves with who should be sold, despite them having virtually no value, and who we should buy, despite them having an inflated price tag and injury issues that render them a complete liability. The reality is that none of us would have a clue how to run the club given the opportunity but we can all argue how to do it from a distance.

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saintmark1976 added 13:43 - Dec 5 " Saints can now take on the big boys !" We will take them on Nick but I doubt that we will get many points if we continue to play the well known serial under achievers J W P, Tadic and Redmond. Hopefully come the end of January they will be gone and replaced by some quality players who can perform regularly at Premiership level.
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NigD added 13:53 - Dec 5 I really wish the negative people who continually post on here with such depressing regularity, would choose something else to follow, that might make them happy. (I doubt it?) Football is not life and death. Enjoy it and suffer it, but stay positive. You would think the management team and certain players had murdered one of their clise family members? Horrible to read and uninspiring for the majority who follow SFC through thick and thin. Discuss, but stop with the nastiness!

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skiptonsaint added 16:00 - Dec 5 I have a funny feeling we will win one of the Chelsea, Spurs or Man Utd away games . Dunno why though
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SanMarco added 16:28 - Dec 5 I log in to TUI to read what fellow supporters THINK and FEEL NigD. Having taken another look at all the posts under this article, with the exception of larry12's rather ripe descriptions, I only see a range of realistic responses to the issue raised in the headline. My response to "Saints Can Now Take On The Big Boys !" is: let's hope so but I will wait until we actually do beat one of them before I get too excited. I agree on 'nastiness' but a pessimistic or negative view is only nasty if it is abusive and I have to say I don't see much that horrifies me on here. Football is indeed 'not life or death' and that means that one shouldn't get upset or unhappy about things posted on here - we are all passionate supporters and within reason should be able to express what we feel. A range of views is what is good about this site - the Echo is of course a different matter.

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SanMarco added 16:29 - Dec 5 I reckon Spurs is the most winnable at the moment skipton...
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pintsizedsaint added 19:24 - Dec 5 Highfield 49 At last a sensible post on here! I've never seen such negativity, it feels like some of those from the Daily Echo boards have found their way here. Brighten up Saints fans, and stop having expectations like we're a top 4 side. We are beginning to play well again and that bodes well. Nobody's getting carried away but equally nobody should be moaning like it's the end of the world.

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DPeps added 20:29 - Dec 5 I’m not generally one for positivity... but weirdly I think we stand a better chance beating the top sides because they’ll play more openly. We’re not good enough to break down solid defences, so have repeatedly struggled against the lesser teams. As a side issue, I hope the board don’t take Austin’s recent good form as an indication that we’re okay up front. Still need a striker, not least of all because Austin will definitely get injured soon

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brownk added 21:17 - Dec 5 I am in total agreement with Highfield49! For god sake .......so many fans would love to be in our position as a club right now. Surely supporting your team is getting behind whoever plays and players don't go out to play deliberately poorly. Suddenly Ward Prowse gets some stick and he was excellent against Everton who with the same team, have just had two convincing wins. Why does Reed get some much stick when he has to work within a budget for players. How can he be criticised when he has just brought Hoedt and Lemina to the club who are potentially outstanding signings. To be fair he has got more signings right that wrong and selling players is life for clubs our size. If you can't saying anything positive the argument you put loses credibility!

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SaintBrock added 21:32 - Dec 5 It's all very well talking up the Saints Nick but this article is just plain daft as A1079 adequately points out. What time did you leave the pub? One swallow, a summer does not make!
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