Ryan Bertrand has admitted that Mauricio Pellegrino had a clear the air meeting in which he told the squad that it was going to be a back to basics approach.

Ryan Bertrand has spoken of how the team’s meetings during the week were alll about pulling together as a unit and creating a change of attitude.

He revealed that manager Mauricio Pellegrino focused on pulling the squad together in the run up to the Everton game.

“It was easy to fix. We just needed a refresher and start really putting the work in. Small adjustments paid dividends.”

"We got back to basics. It was nothing drastic and the manager really got hold of us and got us into shape and we gave him that performance”

“We put that all to bed during the week. We got together as a group and analysed what we needed to do and do more and we came together and put a good performance on for everyone.”

“It wasn’t a serious one, there is no danger but we’ve done well the last few years and we’ve got big expectations now, so we weren’t happy with a lot of things."

“Everyone thought we should have more and deserve more, so we needed to get back to that.”

“There’s that expectation there now. We’ve had so many solid seasons since I’ve got to the club. We’ve experienced fantastic seasons, consistently finishing comfortably within the top ten. I’m not just talking top ten, but right up there.”

It is good to hear that Pellegrino has been pro active over the past week, the perfromance at Liverpool was unacceptable and the first one in a long time where you felt that the squad had lost it's spirit, I said myself it would be hard to get that back, but it appears that mauricio Pellegrino has taken a big step forward and certainly the team that ran out against Everton had something in it that was lacking the previous week at Anfield.

The big question now is whether the manager has learned from is undoubted mistakes, the first thing has been gelling the squad together mentally as well as physically, now Pellegrino needs to win back the Saints supporters by showing them that performances like this will become the norm rather than the poor showings of recent weeks.

Photo: Action Images

underweststand added 14:19 - Nov 27 Every manager has his favourite formation and Pellergrino is no exception. Older fans may recall Gordon Sttrachans insistance of setting up his style of play. Maybe in this clear the air meeting, players convinced MP to let them try it -their way. Whatever the outcome, it seemed to have worked. Sunday's game was the best I've seen in a long while. OK it was Everton, but even if we play the same style - and lose, I think fans may forgive (whoever) because it was exciting to watch, and the sight of an "old-fashioned CF" brought back memories of Lambert, Beattie, and Ron Davies. With Steven Davis in his current form; JWP may have to wait a while longer before he becomes a "permanent fixture" but to drop Hojbjerg after his performance on Sunday would be a crime.. IMHO he was quite outstanding. More of the same please...

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Hugh_Jarce added 16:27 - Nov 27 Hojbjerg has to be given some game time. He was outstanding yesterday. Committed, hungry and very effective throughout
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saintnige added 16:53 - Nov 27 I have watched Hojbjerg a number of times in the development squad game highlights. Win lose or draw, he has been prominent tidying up and driving on. This must be why he was bought, and perhaps we see a longer period of adjustment now for incomers to the Premier League.I really rate him and can see him as a mainstay of the side for a long time.
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lemmsy added 16:57 - Nov 27 Hoijberg certainly had a very good game but let’s not get carried away. He gave the ball away in dangerous areas on three occasions and against better opponents would have been punished. Don’t get me wrong it was a good performance and peh was decent but Everton were dreadful. Sometimes you need a game and result like this to kickstart our season and hopefully this happens. For me the support was good even when they equalised and as a team our response to the equaliser the character were looking for. L

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SaintJez added 17:00 - Nov 27 For Man City... win the midfield by force. That's priority 1. make man city beat us rather than give them spaces to play in. Then, if they over commit or we get a set piece in a good area, try to make it count. Forster Cedric VVD Hoedt Bertrand Romeu Hojberg Lemina JWP Boufal Austin
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SaintBrock added 18:58 - Nov 28 Dusan Tadic & Steven Davis seem always to be the whipping boys on here but they are palyers who make a difference however unnoticed. JWP can do some good things but he is not a complete enough player to justify selection against the league leaders. As for Pierre Hojberg he is a young player with a bright future if he keeps playing as he did on Sunday but it might have been a flash in the pan and we can't take that risk on Wednesday evening. So for me is has to be; Forster Cedric VVD Hoedt Bertrand Romeu Lemina Davis Tadic Austin Boufal This is a game we need to win. Of course City are beatable we've seen all this hype about super clubs so many times in the past. Huddersfield gave them a damn good run for their money on Sunday so why not us as well. Prick their balloon and it will soon deflate. Saints for 3-1

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