Claude Puel gambled by making multiple changes again and he would have gotten away with it too if it hadn't been for those meddling kids.

The initial thought of many Saints fans when they saw the starting line up for the trip to Norwich City was that Claude Puel was metaphorically committing footballing suicide, in terms of his job he seemed willing to stand on a stool with a noose around his neck and wait for someone to kick it away.

However although he gambled, he did at least keep a strong back four in place although with no Fonte even on the bench he had no back up central defender.

Strangest decision was to give a debut to 19 year old keeper Harry Lewis, I can see why he did it, but you have to ask the question who will be on the bench on Wednesday night, will it be Lewis or Stuart Taylor, I would imagine that Puel would go for the experienced Taylor for that one and if so surely it would have been better to give him a game to sharpen his reflexes.

But Puel was confident that his virtual second string would be good enough to beat Norwich's side, itself weakened by a few changes.

The first half was textbook for Saints, they got on top of the game, dominated possession, created chances and took a deserved lead before half time when Virgil Van Dijk ghosted in at the far post to crash home a half volley.

At this stage you thought there would be only one winner, but shortly after the break we conceded a soft goal, Lewis who apart from this error had a good game, tried to take a touch from a VVD back pass and i was too heavy, as Jerome nicked the ball Lewis panicked and brought him down when there was really no need with the player heading away from the goal and out of the area, penalty and 1-1.

But Saints kept their composure and Yoshida headed home from a Hojbjerg cross, a goal that surely won't be bettered this season for a header.

From this point Saints should have won it and for the remaining 23 minutes of normal time and 2 of the 3 minutes of injury time you would not have bet against it, but then all the good work was undone in that final minute of injury time, Saints lost concentration and left Naismith with a free header to equalise.

In many respects Puel's gamble has paid off, we got the team spirit and confidence back up again , we have come through this game without injury or a sending off and will now hopefully have a virtually full squad to pick from against Liverpool.

Puel has been able to get down off his stool and take off the noose at least for the time being, but this was not a total success and indeed although it has silenced his critics a little, the real test is on Wednesday night when he needs to show the supporters that he knows what his strongest side is and puts it out to get a result against Liverpool.

What the fans know is that we have a strong starting XI and some experienced back up, what we also know is that we have some promising youngsters, but some are not as promising as others and that in most instances, slotting them in en masse is a recipe for disaster.

Against Championship Norwich you can get away with a bit of rotation, against Liverpool we need to be going all guns blazing and we need a team of experienced players who know what the job is all about, ask 30,000 Saints fans what the team against Liverpool should be and you would not get much deviation, for perhaps the first time this season Puel needs to stop being too clever and go with proven experience.

The game against Norwich has been a small step forward, we are still in the cup and the season is still alive, on Wednesday the manager needs to show the fans he knows what he is doing and has what it takes.

Photo: Action Images

the_saint added 21:55 - Jan 8 We all have our good and bad day one day puel out the next give him time, What we are together in is we want what's best for the club and our devotion to saints. Keep on sharing the love and it's a goodnight from me
1

StRipper added 22:02 - Jan 8 @ SaintPaulVW you are right in the comparison with some of the shocking football of the past compared to now. However, that was also a different time, when football was generally played on a Saturday, we had more available time and tickets to matches weren't sometimes over £50
0

abingdonsaint added 22:44 - Jan 8 Saintcole, don't get me wrong, I hate it as much as anyone when we sell, but what I'm saying is that it's not down to ambition. I've banged on about this before, so won't bore everyone again, but there is rule within FFP which limits the amount each club is allowed to increase its total salaries season to season. We suffered initially by rising rapidly from League 1, so we had a low base figure. We also have superior recruitment to other clubs, so we have a combination of quality players on relatively low wages. The financial resources of the 'top 6' dwarf the rest, so how do we get Mane for instance, to sign a new deal when his agent tells him Liverpool will double, or triple, his salary? We are then left with the option of selling for top dollar, or letting him go on a free in 18 months. We are no more a 'selling club' than any other, in that if anyone else had someone the big clubs wanted, they would sell too. Sunderland are an example of the opposite problem in that their recruitment has been so poor that they are paying huge salaries to players with no resale value, and have no money left to spend. I know which I prefer! I also think that the recent spate of putting players like VVD on long contracts is an attempt by the club to gain more control over sales. Ultimately though, in this day and age if a player wants to go he will. I'm not convinced though that we are as keen to sell as many think, and many sales have been very reluctant. The club has also spent a lot of money on infrastructure, and is constantly improving commercial deals etc to try to bridge the gap. The hope long term must be that as the salaries we are able to pay increase, and we are succeeding on the pitch, then the inclination to leave will decrease. Until then, there will be frustration I'm sure, but I still say that ambition is not the issue.....

3

SaintBrock added 09:09 - Jan 9 There are two myths surrounding our football club that need far more critical appraisal than hearsay, that we have the best academy in the country - not true - and that we have superior recruitment to other clubs - not true. Our academy is not top of either the U18 or U23 leagues and there are far more young players breaking through into the PL at other clubs and into England squads. Spurs do it particularly well. Apart from VVD who in our present team of recent recruits has attracted any serious interest from a top 6 side. If we start believing the club's hype without question we are really on a very slippery slope indeed.

0

REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 10:27 - Jan 9 Saintcole7 you say - 'Ambition is us building a team, not constantly selling, VVD has signed for a further 5 years from end of this season, see him in a Saints shirt on 01.09.17, no chance? That's why I say we lack ambition, we'll buy a few 10m players in the hope we stay up and can sell them at a profit, to me that's what's wrong?' So many Saints fans miss the point. The days of a top player like Le Tissier staying at a club are well and truly over. We can't possibly hope to hold onto our outstanding players, they will always leave for a top six team. The lure of money, trophies, Champions League, the prestige of playing for one of the biggest teams in Europe, agents persuading players they should move etc etc is all too much. We can't compete with that and I don't think there's one of our players who wouldn't leave if the chance of a big move came up. Fonte, our club captain and cornerstone of our rise through the leagues, as soon as Man Utd started sniffing about that was it, he appointed Mendez as his agent and said ‘get me my dream move’. If Fonte was happy and content to see out his career as a club hero then he wouldn’t have appointed Mourinho’s mate, the most ruthless agent in the business. I can’t name a player we’ve got who wouldn’t leave, that’s what we are up against. All the club can do is hold onto them for as long as possible and then sell them for as much as they can. The club have actually done really well in this regard. Schneiderlin and Wanyama were kept an extra season after expressing their desire to leave, Fonte six months so far. Most players were sold for more than what they were worth. In terms of spending, the club don’t want to spend over the top for a player, and will only buy players who will go up in value. They don’t seem willing to pay over £20m for a player, even though the money is there. This is the frustrating thing, put the right £30m striker in this team and it will change everything. A top class striker, a goal scorer, strong in the air like Pelle and Lambert who can hold up the ball, would make a huge difference. Suddenly we’d have more attacking threat, someone to get on the end of all the crosses we put in, we’d be scoring goals, and be pushing for top 6 again. A top quality number 9 would have this kind of impact, we’re solid everywhere else throughout the team. To get the right player is easier said than done though and in the January window the club would prob have to pay £40m for the £30m striker they need so I can’t see it happening and they’ll probably wait until the summer to sign someone with potential for £20m. This is the only way the club can realistically be criticised for lack of ambition.

2

SanMarco added 10:29 - Jan 9 I think the slippery slope SaintBrock is when the club itself believes its own hype - hence the errors in the summer. There were no real surprises in Les' address to his adoring public the other day but I would have liked to have seem some humility over those errors. To be fair we can't keep churning Bales, Walcotts and Shaws out - there will be fallow periods. It is also an interesting paradox that you are using the lack of interest from top six clubs as a yardstick, they are bad recruits because no one wants them!! It is creating a situation where we recruit good players who do attract top 6 interest but who stay anyway that is the enormous challenge. Les asked us to have faith in the 'Southampton Way' which in large part means buy cheap and sell dear to the top 6. Perhaps we need to buy only players who are good enough for a team JUST out of the top 6.......

4

REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 11:06 - Jan 9 SaintBrock - Name an English team that has produced more top quality talent than we have in the last 10-12 years. How can you say our recruitment isn't better than other teams? Name an English team that has bought better than us over the last 5 or 6 years?
3

garethhartwell added 12:31 - Jan 9 I agree completely with abingdonsaint. Yes, I'm a bit disappointed with the season and very frustrated that we haven't played well in several games and as a result have dropped out of the Europa league and are unlikely to get back next year. But to suggest we get rid of Les Reed (who has been the main reason why we are now regularly in the top half of the Premier League rather than stuck in the Championship) is ludicrous. Do the people suggesting this not have any memory of being a Saints supporter prior to the last few years?! I am a little concerned about the recent form of the U18 and U23 teams though, I think we need to keep up the investment in the Academy - it's done very well in the past and the youngsters on Saturday all looked good despite the result but we can't be complacent.

-1

bstokesaint added 12:51 - Jan 9 Brock I agree with you totally that we don't seem to be as successful at a youth level at the moment, but I guess it's possible (as others have stated) to have a bit of a barren spell in terms of promoting youngsters straight into the first team and seeing them set the PL alight. I think it's probably fair to say though that that drop-off happens at all clubs. Man U don't seem to be able to produce youngsters like they used to after their glory days with Beckham, Giggs, et al. But, and this is a big but, they can go out and throw £50m down on a "promising" teenager. I guess that's "ambition" in some people's eyes, but I personally would consider it insanity, especially for a club like Saints and also because Saints need prove themselves a bit better at the higher price tag end of player recruitment. You could argue we had to sell Lallana or Schneiderlin to cover the cost of Osvaldo and Ramirez to the club!

0

abingdonsaint added 18:36 - Jan 9 Reedy is spot on. Our recruitment is demonstrably better both from a point of view of results and league position, alomg with the sheer amount at money brought in from sales. I would guess that it is more than the rest of the PL clubs combined! As regards buying, I think the salary issue holds us back though, at least for now. I'm sure we could spend £30m on a player, but that level also brings a certain wage bracket, which is probably why we had to sell in the first place.

2

Blogs 31 bloggers

Southampton Polls