Premier League Thread

I'm not sure that it's the team's 'form' exactly. We're still defending well (you can't legislate for screamers going in against you), we're still dominating possession, we're still getting crosses into the box.

We've just become impotent in front of goal, and at the same time opposition managers appear to be giving us much more respect than they were earlier in the season. We don't have an Hazard or a Coutinho to help us overcome that.

That said, no-one can say that Pelle and Tadic are the same players they were at the start of the season. But then they weren't those players during December and January either, and we were still winning matches then.

 

Fair points.

In regards form I was referring to the striker more than the overall team - I mean you didn't exactly play badly last weekend.

Its obvious the strikers are the problem - but what can you do?

Give a youngster a chance or hope Pelle gets a goal off his shin which gets him going again?

 

Between now and May, I would say that it's just a case of make do and mend. Just struggle and scrape through until the end, unless Pelle rediscovers his form from somewhere. I and many others would like to see Pelle dropped Long. But at the same time, we shouldn't kid ourselves. It is not as if Long's goalscoring record can be compared favourably to a Shearer or a Suarez.

Our number one task in the transfer window this summer will be to again replace the players who inevitably, in my view, will leave (bloody football, bloody big football clubs). Our number two task though will have to be to try - really, really try - and sign someone who can score 20+ PL goals. Are we too small a club to attract a Dzeko or a Hernandez, should they become available? Probably. But if we want to be a serious top four challenger next season (and let's be fair, it's not like we're miles off being one already), then we need to find someone. Just like last season I was hoping that we'd take a real step up from Rickie in the summer transfer window (with Rickie warming the bench as our back up - before he left for you of course), this time around it's Pelle that I'm hoping gets moved aside to the bench for someone better.

I'm not stupid enough to dream that we can sign ourselves an Hazard to slot in behind the striker, but I can dream of someone who knows where the back of the net is over and over again.

 

You should be able to find someone - I mean Swansea have done twice.

Problem next year is you will likely get Europey League which nearly always damaged the league form.

God I dislike that tournament.

 

Europa League would be great on one hand as we have only been in Europe once in my 25 years of supporting Saints and we went out in the first round. On the other hand though you only have to look at Fulham, Newcastle, Everton and probably others I have forgotten to see how clubs with a similar size squad as us fare in the league when doing decently in the Europa. If we decide to take the Europa League seriously (if we qualify for it) I think we will have a season like Everton next year.

 

And up until 8 - 12 months ago, I always wanted to avoid the EL for that exact reason.

But actually, what would I rather: 7th, 8th or 9th every single season, never any Europe, until I am bored out of my brain? Or potentially 6th or 7th with no Europe one season, followed by 10th - 16th with Europe the following season, on a pretty much alternating basis?

It's probably the latter.

This season more than ever has highlighted to me that these days you can't just jump from 8th to 4th, no matter how well you start, no matter how well you play as a team, no matter how well you defend, no matter how good your manager is. You need big squads, and you need someone (at least) with genius in their feet. Not that we're mathematically out of it yet though of course.

 

Not a massive fan European football since they changed it from the knock-out format and free-draw, that was great but of course the huge clubs didn't like the sporting gamble of going out in the first round so they tilted it in their favour, but hey that's life, if you're big and powerful you get the make the rules

I am a big fan of Saints finishing as high in the league as they can, season after season, which if it is very high obviously mean European football.

It's disappointing that opposition supporters and a few 'pundits' are looking to be absolutely spot-on with their predictions as we look to be very much fading away but you have to take it on the chin and say well-done to Liverpool for putting a fantastic run together and well done to Manchester United to keep on winning despite looking distinctly average in the majority of their games. A lot of supporters of both of these clubs crowed and said they would easily finish above us and to be honest it does look very much like that is going happen.

It's disappointing because I really don't see Saints ever getting in such a good position again in many, many years and when we lose about for or five players next season I cannot see the luck holding out for us to bring in players that hit the ground running and make as positive an impact as this season.

I can seriously see us being mediocre next season and possible settling in for mid-table shenanigans for a few years or more.

You have take what I type with a pinch of salt as I have supported and followed Saints for a very long-time and 'mediocre' is usually a 'bloomin' good season'.

It is so disappointing to see us fade away with hardly a whimper or shot-on-goal.

Ho-hum....

 

And yet it's on such fine margins. We could easily have (probably should have) come away from Swansea and West Ham with wins, and drawn with Liverpool and West Brom. That would have given us an extra 7 points which would see us sitting in 3rd. Though indeed every team in the league could be talking about games that so nearly had a different outcome. Fine margins.
This season we're close, but the teams that are up there season after season more often than not come away on the right side of the fine margin games. They have the players that win games out of nothing. It's difficult to find those players as a smaller club and it's even more difficult to keep hold of them. We're close this season, but challenging season after season is a different ball game.

 

I'm just a little bit aggrieved that this has turned into a "Saints are finished" thread. There is a long way to go.

We'll go and do Chelsea at the bridge next and everyone will love us again.

 

Dreadful weekend for us. A gap has opened and no midweek game looks a dead cert to go for us, so we have to win to stay the same.

 

Remember the slump around christmas time 5 defeats out of 5??? nothing to say we cant recover like we did last time. Palace is massive as if we lose/draw that with Chelsea away next we'd of lost too much ground on the top 4.

Theres no reason why we cant challenge spurs for atleast 6th, and whose to say liverpools run will continue , they are unbeaten this year and have only just overtaken us

 

ps://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/world-of-sport/sickening-photo-of-stephen-ireland-s-leg-after-horror-tackle-130405370.html

Ghastly picture of Ireland's leg wound. That must smart

 

The pundits and armchair experts have been looking for any excuse to write off saints all season as they feel stupid after the moronic " they are definitely getting relegated no question" comments despite the fact that even at our squad's lightest points we were stronger than 8-10 PL sides. Koeman put the problems straight in December and I have every confidence he will put it right again and we will finish strongly.

 

No link and copy and pasting that didn't work either

 

DO NOT VIEW IF SQUEAMISH

https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blog...land-s-leg-after-horror-tackle-130405370.html

 

Can't have happened too many times before that three of the (eight) contenders for goal of the month have all been scored against the same team.

Or for that matter that such goal of month contenders (regardless of how many) represent all bar one of the goals conceded by a team for that month.

 

I hear the Mirror are linking Ronald with the Newcastle job...on twitter, even Toon fans are saying why would he leave Southampton for Newcastle.

 

I would say the slump we had around December was different than the current slump.

In our current one we just can't seem to score - everyone has been fluffing their lines, at Christmas time we were having some real bad luck with great saves and the post and bar being hit. At the moment anyone in the back rows behind the goals in in real danger. To my mind, and therefore it is only an opinion, we are playing poorly at the moment, at least up front, although errors at the back seem to have increased, whereas before we just had to keep playing the way we were and it would come right. Not so sure at the moment that this will work.

I cannot see anyone being calm, considered and composed to score even a simple tap-in. I think Tuesday might bring even more heartache because Palace are buzzing and will really fancy their chances to get two or even three, whilst they must think all they have to do is defend competently and it's a clean-sheet.

I'm old enough to know football isn't as simple as that and we will probably win 5-3 but this is the most under-confident I have felt all season. I was fine during the last bad run...

 

QPR post a loss of £9.8 million to May 2014. Not surprised as they were virtually a PL club in the Championship. In fact, I think it is surprisingly low.

Haven't their accountants done well...apparently loss was £69.4 million only the season before. 60 Million loan debt has been written off!

 

We can't call anyone for having a loan debt written off or "re-distributed"