When a side is doing badly thats when a manager starts to earn his corn, Saints success or failure in the coming weeks will be down to the manager getting things right.

Forget all the stories of who is buying the players and who is telling who about team selections and substitutions, the manager is the man in the dressing room and ultimately he can be subject to a lot of influences but it is still him who is making the decisions come kick off time on a matchday, a manager will live or die on his results so Nigel Adkins now has to work overtime to make sure he gets his job right.

Saints are not a bad team, yes they are deficient in several departments, but they still have enough about them to make do in some games and dig in and grind out results in others, the fans can accept defeat when they know it has come after a hard fought battle, to be blunt though, what supporters will not accept is performances where they see the same players making the same mistakes week in week out and surrendering tamely and again to be blunt we have  done that on too many occasions, even close defeats as in the two games against the Manchester clubs, were close for long periods and indeed at the result in the end of the game, but both sides could easily have scored at least two even three more if certain things had happened and they got the breaks.

So now more than ever its time for Nigel Adkins to get team selection right, he has to accept that Adam Lallana is not a wing back, he cannot defend and as long as we continue to play him there we are going to get murdered, that being the case with the injury to Ramirex the manager now has the ideal time to re shuffle, get it better in a few key positions and start to pick up points.

The trip to West Ham is a perfect example to guage how we have progressed, last season we went there at a difficult time and came away with a point, of course West Ham have bought, but so have we, we will now see what side has bought well.

Good sides are built on good foundations and that means strength from the back and down the spine, at times like these we need experience and sadly at this level we lack it, that being the case we have to go with the experince we have, a back four of Clyne, Fonte, Yoshida & Fox isnt that experienced in Premier league terms but it knows what it is doing in the main.

That being the case we have to protect our full backs and stop them being run at down the flanks and being overun, so the real key is who plays wide in midfield, in the Championship we got away with players like Guly who were essentially attackers because we could dominate sides and keep them on the back foot, its prudent to note though, that when we played the better sides, they saw our weaknesses and unlike the likes of Barnsley, Coventry etc had the players to exploit it, that reflected in results against those sides.

Make no bones the opposition have been watching our games, they have seen our weakness and they have all exploited it , even Everton a team that dont play down the flanks as much as some apart from getting the full backs down the line, tore our left side to pieces constantly, Fox haters would do well to note that he wasnt playing and Clyne was shredded as well as Lallana, OK Clyne is right footed, but he wasnt getting near the ball so that didnt come into the equation. 

So Nigel Adkins has to do something different than last year, he has to concentrate on getting the defensive side of the flanks right primarily and put players in those positions that can not only protect the full backs but complement them, think of the partnership between Chris Marsden and Wayne Bridge, putting those too together changed both their careers.

On the left i think we have to play Ben Reeves, his cameo at Everton showed that essentially being a full back who can play in midfield, he can protect Fox and being a ball player he can keep the ball and use it in midfield.

On the right its more difficult, no player shines out as an obvious choice to play there, Puncheon has perhaps been the best of a bad bunch, his problem though is he is, like Guly, not the greatest defending and although if we shore up the left we can perhaps get away with it, its not ideal, personally if available I would play Richardson in front of Clyne, again essentially being a right back who can attack he will not only be dfensive minded but can get down the line. 

What Nigel Adkins has to stop doing is using the likes of Jay Rodrigues as a winger or even trying Mayuka or Tadanari Lee come to that, all that achieves is getting the crowd on their backs in the case of J Rod and unfairly at that, he should be judged on what he does in his rightful position which is as a forward not as an auxillary winger, fine in the home games like Villa, but away from home a disaster waiting to happen, Saints fans should judge J Rod on his performances up front not on the wing.  

If we make these changes then I believe that we have plugged a gap, then we can push Adam Lallana into that central role that he originally played at the start of the season with some success, I believe that this is the way forward.

Nigel Adkins is not a stupid man, if other managers are seeing our weaknesses then Im sure he is as well, he now has to prove he can counter them and deal with the problem, if he doesnt do then the rumours will start to fly about again about certain players having to play, whether they are true or not only a few people know for sure, what Nigel Adkins has to know though is that its his reputation on the line and that being the case then he should at least be able to live or die by his own decisions in terms of selections and tactics.     

Photo: Action Images

slynch added 10:56 - Oct 19 Richardson is injured. Perhaps prop up the weakest area LB with Yosh and Fox gazza clyne font hoo yosh fox punch davis guly lambo mayuka
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Delboy1983 added 11:05 - Oct 19 I think your being a bit harsh on Adam Lallana, this is taken from a article a couple of weeks back. Seems the stats say he is 3rd best in Prem. Can we ask anymore than that? Lallana is an intelligent player and as a result, reads the game very well; often spotting something before everybody else. This is reflected in his defensive contribution as he makes 3.7 interceptions per game; the third highest in the league. Testament to how well he reads the game; he matches this with an impressive work rate as he always shows a willingness to track midfielders running from deep. Here is the link if your interested: http://thinkfootball.co.uk/a-tactical-look-at-adam-lallana-not-your-typical-engl

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SonicBoom added 11:44 - Oct 19 Hmm NA is not stupid? But if he plays certain players then it will be assumed that he is being told to play them - and not because he believes they asre the right players. Nice position for him to be in if you ask me. If he does something different it s his idea, but if he does the same then its someone else's fault.
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ExiledSupporter added 12:16 - Oct 19 Pretty much agree with your comments here , Nick. This seems the best way to shore up the defence, so I am assuming that you would be playing a 4-4-1-1 formation with Schneiderlein and Davis patrolling in front of the soft centre defence. Reducing the number of crosses aimed at Carroll will be vital, so I imagine four full backs will help that cause; on the other hand I am not convinced that either Yoshida or Fonte will cope with Carroll in the air. Even though he has been unacceptably error prone this season Hoiveld in the air is much stronger than either of the other two. However if Richardson is injured as another correspondent suggests should we play Butterfield or perhaps Chaplow. Roll on the day that we can consider Cork for selection again - I think his capability and value as a utility player is becoming more apparent as each game passes. Would you continue with Gazzaniga or get Boruc involved, beyond sitting on the bench? Attackers seem likely to be only Lallana and Lambert (or Rodriguez since he seems to have more endurance and runs the channels better than SRL, with Lambert coming, or if we are losing, at about the 60min mark) Finally, centre midfield is undoubtedly Lallana's best role now, given Ramirez injury, but when the latter returns I suspect you and I will disagree about where Ramirez should play. I fear that AL will have to be relegated to the bench in away games, but probably start on the left in home matches. My prediction is that we will sell AL in January with a view to obtaining a couple of less 'delicate' players who can make a substantial contribution to attack and defence when necessary. Needless to say I will greatly regret Adam's departure, but I can't see how it can be avoided in the best interests of the team!

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stmichael added 12:17 - Oct 19 BORAC or KD CLYNE YOSHIDA FONTE FOX SCHNEIDERLIN CHAPLOW DAVIS JWP LALLANA SRL
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Toussaint added 14:27 - Oct 19 NC selecting players and tactics ?? .... cods-wallop
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slynch added 15:27 - Oct 19 StMichael, That's pretty much the same back line that continually fails. What about shoring it up with 5 at the back?
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SaintNick added 16:40 - Oct 19 The problem is that most premier teams play only one or two up front, we would get swamped in midfield, the key is to keep it tight at the back and getting the wide players tracking back with their wide players
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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 20:18 - Oct 19 I don't think that playing 5-3-2 or 3-5-2 is the answer. Its too much of a radical system change, it would take weeks for the side to get it working effectively and with the 'winnable' games coming up its too much of a risk. I suppose at least Clyne and Fox would be able to get forward more as wing backs and we wouldn't have to play any other wide players, so it might suit our squad in terms of what players we have, but I'm not convinced it would help our vulnerability down the flanks. The only way to sort out the defence away from home is to take a defensive approach where you get men behind the ball and concentrate on not conceeding, but from what Adkins has said I don't think we'll be taking that approach any time soon. These attacking principles of SFC are all very well if you've got good defenders who you can rely on, but we haven't. Mark Lawrenson summed it up today when he said 'Southampton have got average defenders at best'. By focusing on attacking all the time the defence is left exposed, especially down the flanks, and they can't cope. At least by getting players behind the ball, in two banks of 4, you can reduce the space for the opposition and make it harder for them to create chances. Let's face it, most teams do this away from home and play on the counter attack so why don't we? I think its how we should play tomorrow but I can't see Adkins taking this approach. I expect more of the same tomorrow from Adkins, we'll probably have the lions share of the possession and probably play well for the majority, but if the defence are left exposed by the midfield then we'll continue to conceed, because the defenders aren't Premiership quality.

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thingummy added 00:02 - Oct 20 chappers should play IMO - when he is fit he works hard defensively and is ok going forward + can retain the ball, esp away from home. he also takes pressure off MS and SD, leaving them only the central defenders and left fullback to protect when we are getting bullied ...... Puch cannot beat his man at this level and defending not his natural game.
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slynch added 00:37 - Oct 20 SaintNick. They can't keep it tight at the back!! They gotta have more defenders to do it at this level. The oppo MF might win more but they will run into a wall which will then spread the ball out back to the forwards who seem to be just about okay at this level. Ben Reeves looked ok for 5 mins I saw him but I have a feeling he'll just be brushed aside by West Ham, could be wrong but you're pining a lot of hope on a 5 min performance.

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SingaporeSaint added 06:15 - Oct 20 Good article. Quite simply tactics, formations and substitutions need to be right as even if they are, we are not going to get results every week as are playing good teams. Some managerial decisions appear to have directly cost us points this season and we are not in a position to be able to give away points. I'd like us playing a tighter 4-4-2 (or 4-4-1-1) with the midfield 4 in a fixed position protecting the back 4 as a priority, pressing the ball as a unit etc.. Too often this season we seem to have a loose 3 or even 4 forwards, in apparently floating roles and the midfield is overrun and the defence, which is our weakspot exposed. I wouldnt go 5 at the back as I think this will bring teams onto us and we end up having to defend more - I'd rather we defended better in midfield and kept the ball out of our box as much as poss.. Not sure on Reeves - I dont know enough about him. I do know that Fox will struggle against most teams as will Hooiveld. I'd minimise the key weaknesses and not play these 2, so would be happy with giving Reeves a run or even Chaplow playing fullback. A more solid midfield foundation will help the back 4. Uptop Lambert needs to be the target man - he's the best we have at that. I'd like to see Mayuka play off him as he seems to have some pace and scored goals previously. We've seen a lot of Rodriguez and he doesnt look ready for this standard of football to me. W Ham are a team who are going to put the ball in our box as much as poss so pressing up the pitch is critical to minimise this threat. Massive day for Gazza too to dominate his area and organise the defence. COYR.

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spenny added 08:54 - Oct 20 think we really have to play hooiveld in this game. west ham are so direct i fear yoshida wudnt be able to handle it as he does look a bit on the small side for a centre half. gazza clyne fonte hooiveld fox puncheon davis spider chaplow lallana lambert i feel chaplow is worthy of a start and who knows maybe he can form a partnership with fox and help him out. come on saints

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tiptop added 14:05 - Oct 20 At teh beginning of the season NA was saying how important it is to be able to adapt to different systems in different situations although lately it appears that 4-3-3 is the only system. I thought NA might play Hooiveld against Everton with Falaini to contend with and he didn't. I think NA will still go: Clyne/Fonte/Yosh/Fox Midfield is the key as you say Nick to help defence as we really havn't got any better than that line up bar maybe Frazier who is out. Agree with Reeves as option for protection. He looks good defensively..and moving forward. Also Chappers is in with a shout with his energy to help protect the back 4. Reeves/Davis/Morgan/Chappers Lallana RL

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