Claude Puel was much maligned by Saints supporters last season, but he knew one thing and that was he didn't have defenders who could defend and would allow him to commit players forward.

There aren't many Saints supporters with a good thing to say about Claude Puel, but he did know how to coach and he knew how to get results even if they were at the expense of entertainment, which eventually did for him as a manager at St Mary's.

Saints problems started the moment that Jose Fonte came back to the club after the European Championships with his head either in Manchester or up his own arse depending on what newspaper you read.

These problems were compounded further when Fonte was allowed to go without a replacement being signed and when Virgil Van Dijk got injurd we were in deep trouble with a central defensive partnership that was Championship standard at best.

In fairness to Puel he recognised this and go people behind the ball to make sure that we did not concede too many, but the fans were more interested in entertainement not results.

When Pellegrino arrived he had the same problems as his predecessor a year earlier, he had Van Dijk behaving terribly, yes we had finally signed Fonte's replacement in Wesley Hoedt, but he was once Van Dijk was out the youngest member of the back four, yet expected to be the leader.

Fo the second year running we let a central defender go in January and did not sign a replacement and this will ultimately be the one thing that costs us our Premier League place more than anything else.

Newcastle had our measure, blitzed us fro the kick off and showed that we cannot handle people running at us nor defend from set pieces., the problems I predicted a year ago are still there and now have dragged us down.

West Ham followed Newcastle's lead on Saturday, came out of the blocks quickly and destroyed us by running at us and finding space in the box to get in free shots and headers meaning the game was over for us like at Newcastle way before half time.

We can't say we didn't see it coming, this season has been littered with soft goals conceded from free headers and shots in the box and getting caught on the break, how many times did I point this out before Xmas, yet many just thought that I had something against Yoshida or Stephens, as I said then I have nothing against them apart from the fact they aren't good enough.

So we have been found out badly in our last two league games, both teams knew exactly how to play us and that is now going to be the case for the rest of the season and if two sides who were supposedly in turmoil when we arrived on their doorsteps could rip us apart so easily that does not bode well.

On Saturday I think Mark Hughes got too caught up in this entertainment demand for two up front, for this game he would have been better to play just one up front and concentrate on getting control of the game and then imposing ourselves on it, rather than attacking from the off, hindsight is a wonderful thing, but looking back you have to question why two players who have barely played in the past few months for one reason or another were suddenly going to be the answer.

So now we have to go back to basics for Arsenal, bring in Yoshida for Stephens, set up with a solid three in midfield and two who will work hard down the wings, perhaps start with Sane Long up top to run down the Gunners defence.

The last part of the season should not be about entertainment it should be about work work and more work, it should be about digging in and scraping results.

This season is far from over, we still have a game in hand, it is about being positive and going for it, but it is about getting the best out of the squad we have.

Photo: Action Images

DorsetIan added 14:47 - Apr 3 "Sand dancer" is a new one for me SaintMark1976, but no help at all from Google. As far as I know neither Tadic nor Redmond is from South Shields?!
0

LordDZLucan added 14:50 - Apr 3 Whilst I think our main problem lie in midfield I have to agree with highfield49's comment on the fullbacks. I didn't see either of them go for a 50/50 ball in the whole game. The attitude seemed to be 'I don't want to get hurt because that might remove me from the shop window I.e. the World Cup'. Bertrand has been bailing out of 50/50 tackles all season and Cedric has now started to follow where his captain leads!

8

SanMarco added 15:09 - Apr 3 One crumb of comfort - bar Swansea none of the teams we have left to play have that much to play for. We need at least one 'surprise' result now - given our inability to win the 'must-win' 'six-pointers'. The league table shows we are far from dead and buried. We need to turn a corner very quickly though. Beat Bournemouth + one other win and a couple of draws is not impossible (although it seems like it after Saturday). 36 points may be enough. One good result will make that seem possible, and on the law of averages we must get a bit of luck soon - please...

9

DPeps added 15:41 - Apr 3 You know it's worrying when Yoshida and Long are being called on as our possible saviours
9

DPeps added 15:47 - Apr 3 If by some miracle we do stay up, then some serious questions need to be asked of the transfer policy (when was our last good signing?), some players need to be sold off for parts, and we need to get at least one player in who can lead on the pitch. That'd be a start
10

landsdownsaint added 15:52 - Apr 3 I know Yoshida is better than Stephens & Hoedt! I also know Matt Targett is better player for saints than Bertrand especially at this stage of the season, wasn’t long ago we had a chairman who would’ve known exactly what to do with Van Dyke Bertrand Cedric Forster etc coz they are the problem imho
6

1teeminants added 15:56 - Apr 3 Hoedt, Stephens and Yoshida are nothing special but at least Yoshida will sweat blood for saints unlike the other two. I’d have Pied or Stephens at right back, Yoshida , Sims, Ward Prowess and Romeu in the starting line up. Wasters like Cedric, Lemina, Tadic, Boufal can do one, I’m tired of hearing their bullshit, they’re good players when interested but they think they’re too big for us . We we need grit and determination now. No more passengers.

6

BoondockSaint added 16:03 - Apr 3 NIck we were all worried about you! Hope all is well. "So we have been found out badly in our last two league games..."???? Must be a typo...we have been found out badly our last two SEASONS! We have rarely scored more than one goal since Pelle and Mane left (who Nick said were "easily replaced"). We have signed two low profile (translation: CHEAP) managers both of whom repeatedly swapped out attackers for defenders when Saints scored their usual single goal and benched players who scored. Same set up every game, so the opposition didn't even have to worry about tactics. True, it's not all their fault, since they didn't have much to work with... Which brings us to who's fault is it? According to Nick, his two favourite whipping boys, Fonte and Yoshida-the only two players I can think of who have showed any pride in wearing a Saints shirt-certainly not the bunch who happily congratulated VVD after his Scouse team had kicked their arses all over the pitch! I have been searching all over this article like a "Where's Waldo" crowd scene playing "Where's Les and Ralph?" and can't find any mention of them and their "Five Year Plan". Many were hoping that Austin had a score to settle with Wet Spam, however, we forgot that Arnautovic had a score to settle with Sparky! I had hoped that when it came out that Arnautovic wanted away from Stoke, Saints would try to get him, he had what we needed (and still do) size, speed, scoring touch, and a mean streak. But the Hammers snapped him up for 20 million (possible 25 with add-ons) however, Les decided that was too much and splashed out 17 on Boufal and 20 on Carrillo. Oldeastterrace-I think "black box" must have been Paul Mitchell's code name. LordDZLucan-I am sure you, me, and everyone watching could hear Saints fans everywhere screaming along with us at Lemina to "GET RID OF IT!" as he fiddled around with the ball, just as we all knew they were going to score when he lost it-exact same thing as a couple of weeks ago! I hope we stay up, but to be honest, when you see how other relegation candidates are actually making an effort, our lot don't deserve to play in the Prem, nevermind win an FA Cup. Just start the Under 21 team and hope for the best. Maybe they will put in an effort.

13

Jesus_02 added 16:50 - Apr 3 Thank god we don't still have Cortese in charge... can you imagine how much of situation we would be in without Les's socernomics Nick? Also far less sarcastically... Yoshida and Stephens all day for me... Hoet isn't that bad but we cant have two young lads at centre half and Stephens and Yoshi made as decent a partnership as we can now muster. Les is not as bad as Lowe but his belief that he can make gold from pig iron is almost as strong.

0

davidargyll added 16:53 - Apr 3 Everybody seems to be talking about hopefully staying up. Eh? You are all clearly on another planet...Oh look, there goes a flying pig! Hopefully we will stay up ... in the Championship next season! Ultimately the quality of the PL has moved markedly forward as has the money available from Sky etc so the price of all players (bad as well as good) has gone up with the result that we have got the likes of Carillo who is rubbish but the price tag has led us to believe he is quality. I reckon we will be mid-table at best next season - and yes that is in the Championship. Our only hope next season is bringing through academy players who can really develop and grow with the club. But that is at least a 2 season task if not more.

3

Jack_flash1975 added 17:10 - Apr 3 The team no longer have the physically strong spine and there are too many "fancy dan's" in the same line up. If the team needs a bit of grit or passion then is there nobody in the "world class" academy that can be given the chance like Sims? We need an edge that can only come from doing the basics well and something out of the oridinary that the scouts from other teams are yet to find.

2

saintmark1976 added 17:22 - Apr 3 DorsetIan. A sand dancer is a phrase well known to football fans of advancing years. It's an expression which stems from a music hall act by Wilson Keppel and Betty an example of which can be found on You Tube. Wilson and Keppel dress up as natives of Egypt and dance in the sand. They move about a lot but end up going nowhere. Very appropriate for Tadic and Redmond with the only difference being that Wilson and Keppel didn't moan at each other or fall over on stage. Out of interest I didn't know that it also refers to people from South Shields. Thanks for enlightening me.

2

skiptonsaint added 17:54 - Apr 3 We are now calling for Yoshida and Davis to come in and save us ? Getting pretty desperate, but if they roll their sleeves up and inspire some others maybe we can get some points. Davis has to recover from World Cup sulk quick. On that note, I certainly don’t trust the World Cup lot (Tadic , Cedric and Bertrand) to throw their bodies on the line now after recent displays and that has set the tone for me. Throw in a homesick Gabbi and Lemina who is away with the fairies abit if you look at his social media and we are a mess. 3 managers in and we still can’t get the team winning so For me the main problem is clearly the players we have bought in. In the last 2 seasons since we bought VVD the 7/8 players we have brought in since then would probably all now be sold for less than we bought them for (yes even Lemina who value is plumeting with his mistakes and attitude) and we seem to be getting worse and worse at it (ie Carrillo) Whatever division we are in next year this needs to be sorted as other teams are now clearly better than us at unearthing gems. Ross Wilson ? And I can’t support just buying 24 year olds with potential anymore. We have to mix that up with some older pro purchases who can lead. Can’t see us staying up unless this final cull and bringing in of players who would appear to care and have spirit works ..its below 50 / 50 now and if Tadic etc get a semi final appearance I am gonna struggle to see we have learned anything from this run. We need to get less nice. Time for a proper rebuild

4

1970 added 18:22 - Apr 3 whichever way you look at it the board have to take the blame for this they are below incompetent,for a number of months even a year they have made this situation happen, now we have a load of players promised moves to the top sides but are clearly not good enough, I don't think we have a team amongst our squad that can win any games, the way we have been beaten by spam and Newcastle is embarrassing but the game against Bournemouth is going to be even worse,do you think we're beat Swansea, no, do you think were beat bummuth , no, so were going down which is a complete disgrace after all that bull***t about the Southampton way ,well get Les to tell us what that means, it means relegation and possibly another like sunderland, if we do, all this business with shi**pool for our players why couldn't we negotiate a deal for the defender that palace got Sakko or the loan deal for Sturridge would be better than carillo or any of our cb's but as mentioned the board have left it too late and I'm gutted and very dis-appointed booo

7

helpineedsomebody added 18:33 - Apr 3 it could have been so different RICKIE LAMBERT
0

DorsetIan added 18:42 - Apr 3 Thank you saintmark1976. I can remember seeing clips of Wilson Keppel and Betty on the telly when I was younger. Sort of thing Morecambe and Wise would take off. And makes perfect sense now. Your comment about moaning and falling over made me laugh. Lovely beach at South Shields. Favourite trip out when I lived near Durham. Have to say I never heard that term though. You need to add a comment to one of the many online slang dictionaries, as your definition doesn't get a mention anywhere. :)

1

AmericanSaint added 19:53 - Apr 3 So lots of comments on the board today and many, many valid points. I would like to add my observations: 1. We could not pass the ball to save our lives on Saturday. 2. Lemina should have been changed at half time as he was horrible. 3. I think the biggest problem (besides not scoring goals) is that too many of the first team have the following attitude "It doesn't matter if we get relegated as I am good enough that another PL team or another league top flight team will come get me". The following players are on this list: Lemina, Bertrand, Cedric, Gabs, Tadic 4. I would not play Tadic the rest of the season. 5. I would only use Redmond off the bench. 6. Betrand has been mailing in his performances and should be stripped of his Captain's band. 7. I would start Sims to get him experience and he does not seem to have been bitten with the "scared" bug that many other players have. 8. I hope we dont get relegated but if this is the type of performance we will see, the I suggest that we start playing players who will be at the team next year. Well I will keep cheering and hoping we find some resemblance of a team to give a good fight to the last game. Again I think there is a good chance it comes down to goal differential. COYR 6.

6

Colburn added 19:59 - Apr 3 Some great posts here. Agree with pretty much all of it. Think we have defended with 10 men this season when Tadic has been on the pitch and his goal/assist effort has been lame. Entrusted to be the man to supply, along with the stroppy teenager Redmond, we have failed to create solid chances and put the ball in the net. I don’t think our central defence has been as much as an issue as our failure to score as all teams concede. We lose defensive solidity when Romeu isn’t playing and our full backs have been poor if late. Bertrand cuts a depressed figure and looks tired from too many games. Maybe he should be rested, certainly not the right person to be captain! Cedric isn’t the best defender in the world and his end product going forward isn’t good enough. I’d prefer Pied or Stephens at RB. I didn’t understand starting with Austin on Sat after so long out and agree this was a game to be solid first half and impose ourselves in the second. Burnley do this on the road very effectively as they did at West Ham. Not sure who is best to play next game but I feel that Sims has to be given another go. He’s fearless, hungry and gets stuck in. He also has an end product with 2 feet. Lemina had a bad game on Saturday but the pass which Tasic fired at him was awful and then no one gave him an option, as with one of the Newcastle goals. He has fight so he should stay in the team if we’re to stay up. Arsenal team for me would be McCarthy, Stephens RB, McQueen LB, Yoshi and Hoedt, Romeu, Lemina, JWP, Sims, Long, Gabbiadini. Subs Austin, Bertrand, Davis, Bouffal, Carillo, Hojbjerg, Forster, Pied, Redmond. Arsenal might not be as intense as West Ham. If we fight we might get something from it.

5

allsaint54 added 22:17 - Apr 3 Starting with DT & NR was always going to be a disaster. No wonder defence was under pressure & no service to strikers when you end up with 9 players & a midfield of 2. What these players have to do to get permanently dropped beggars belief. I sincerely hope they've played their last game for the club. Can only assume that most of the team have already agreed contracts with new clubs as they are certainly not putting themselves in the shop window apart from reducing their transfer value.

5

petedoors1 added 09:08 - Apr 4 When are the LES REED OUT banners going to appear at St. Marys? Why would any one sell their best player[Van Dijk] on the 1st of January and not get a replacement by the end of the transfer window? Why when we have had trouble scoring for two seasons did he buy a striker who couldn't score in a Brothel? It looks like they want us to get relegated!!!
6

SanMarco added 12:48 - Apr 4 They were bending over for Liverpool Pete
6

Blogs 31 bloggers

Rochdale Polls