The last few games have been disappointing but they have not been a disaster and Saints supporters have to trust the man who has guided them to heights of the top four of the Premier League.

There have been rumblings in the last week or so that Saints should have bought a striker in the transfer window and that the failure to do so cost us dearly against both West Ham and Swansea City where despite the lions share of possession in both games we failed to score.

Some supporters have started to get on the back of Pelle a little but they would be wrong to do so and those same fans are the ones that think that signing a striker would have solved all our problems.

I like Ronald Koeman believe that we have the personal needed already at the club, of course we could have better players, but bringing in those of a better quality than what we already have in situ is a lot more complicated than just waiving a checkbook, as the signings of both Ramirez and Osvaldo proved, just because you spend £12-15 million on a player it doesnt mean he is worth that money.

But at this stage in our development it is still hard to bring in true quality, take the case of Rickie Lambert formerly of this parish, he is a bit part player at Anfield and Brendan Rodgers made it quite clear that he had no future at the club by trying to sell him to Aston Villa, a move that would have given him first team football and t least a chance of scoring regularly and holding on to his England place, the fact that he chose to stay at Anfield and effectively end his England career tells you a lot about the transfer market these days.

Perhaps Im harsh on Rickie here, perhaps it is all about boyhood teams and perhaps he feels that at Anfield he genuinely has a chance of playing in a final of note, but fact is he preferred the bench to playing regularly and at 33 he hasnt got that much time left at this level.

That is the dilemma for Saints, there are plenty of players you can spend big money on, but most of them are no better than the ones we already have unless we truly break the bank and persuade a genuine big name to join us.

It is only now we are seeing the value of Shane Long, Ronald Koeman built a squad with variety and options in it and we have missed the option of Long that is for sure.

Hopefully in the next few weeks we will have the returning injured available, Shane Long would be a real help that is for sure and so would Jay Rodriguez who likewise would offer an attacking option, but for now we have to trust the manager to use what he has to the best of its ability.

So we need to keep our faith in Ronald Koeman, what he has done so far has been nothing short of a miracle, but we should remember that although Koeman has produced results so quickly, the real situation is that of change and transition and from that respect, Koeman is building long term rather than short, we find ourselves in a position we did not expect, however we should not rip up our long term plans just to look short term.

Ronald Koeman has earned our trust, he has given us a lot and we now need to give him our respect and loyalty in return, if we are to finish in the top four or even the top six then we need to keep behind the manager and the team, unlike say Liverpool who arrive on Sunday, we are truly a squad rather than a collection of expensive individuals, that being the case we win as a squad and we lose as one, so there is no need to pick scapegoats.

Look at how many players who he signed this season have initially been villified yet have not let us down and come good, Pelle, Mane, Long & Gardos have all at some time come under fire from a certain section of the crowd, but all have proved their worth.

Trust Ronald Koeman, he has got it right so far

Photo: Action Images

saintsnutcase added 11:39 - Feb 16 You are right about Long -- he is a fantastic, versatile forward who makes things happen. Anyone know if Alderweirald will be back on Sunday?
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SonicBoom added 11:48 - Feb 16 Of course we support Koeman and are aware of his fine performance this season Nick. That doesn't mean we cannot question things. Pelle plays up front and when things go well he's the star as he was earlier in the season. When he doesn't score for extended periods then he is going to be questioned. The fans wanted another striker for perfectly good reasons. Long injured at a crucial time, J Rod seemingly nowhere near a return and goals having dried up. Look at our goals over the last 16 games or so. It's not pretty. Yes teams defend deep, and yes Pelle still makes a good contribution to the team, but this is where RK needs to earn his corn. If we are to be a big team then we need to find a way to deal with this. In the Swansea and West Ham games we seemed to have little clue how to break them down. Lots of possession, no shots on target. Sound familiar? Pelle hasn't scored a league goal for a long time now and overall we aren't scoring at precisely the wrong time of the season. The defence is still excellent but RK needs to find a way to re-energise Pelle, or we will slowly slip away from the top four, not dramatically, but just a goal at a time and that would be so frustrating.

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A1079 added 13:04 - Feb 16 Completely agree with SonicBoom. Koeman is great, he has been great and I hope he remains with us for a very long time. The team have done well, generally, we have battled through an awful list of injuries and we have stuck 2 fingers up at the pundits who wrote us off at the beginning of the season and have continued to patronise or ignore us through the rest of it. But, this does not mean that as fans we cannot highlight or comment on where our weaknesses are, as well as accentuate our strengths. In front of goal for sometime now, our performance has been woeful at times and especially of late. We did not have a real answer to Swansea and West Ham (yet WBA managed to put 4 past the latter, and it is not that we did not know how West Ham were likely to set themselves up when they came to St Marys) and there will be more games like that, and whether Pelle is just knackered or what, his goal return since before Christmas is poor (accepting that his overall play remains good). If we hope to stay where we are, we have to turn it around not just Sunday but after that match. But, if we don't and we fade, yes it will be disappointing but I won't think any less of Koeman and in him I do trust.

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