Our correspondent from thevcolonies brings us his view on the events in this pre season of more turmoil for Saints.
Another season is up and running after an even shorter off season, due to the Euros. Congratulations to Fonte and Cedric, and their Portuguese teammates for bringing home the trophy. After Leicester's Premier League exploits and Portugal's at the Euros provided another upset, wouldn't it be incredible if it was Saints that proved great things happen in threes!
A typical pre- season on the south coast with Saints not only losing their manager, but even more importantly, Mane, Pelle and Wanyama. I am hopeful that Redmond can attempt to fill the boots of Mane and am equally hopeful that Saints midfield addition from Bayern Munich can more than adequately replace Wanyama. Wanyama, in my view, was a liability as much as an asset. He always seemed to be on the verge of making a rash tackle that would result in a yellow or red card. I'm happy letting him making those lunges for Spurs, rather than us.
I was fortunate enough to watch Saints training session in Baltimore and to welcome the new players to the club. I saw dead ball situations being practiced by Tadic and Ward- Prowse and hopefully goals will ensue during the season from those combinations. As a side note, all the Saints players on show in the USA were very friendly and obliging of their fans. Around 50 Saints fans from Stateside went to Baltimore for hopefully the first of many incursions this side of the Atlantic.
Yet again, Saints fail to deliver three points from their season opener. This was a gilt edged opportunity to start the season with a win as Watford looked very average and rarely threatened to break free from their very defensive approach. Saints will need much more guile than they showed on Saturday to break down other visiting teams intent on parking the bus and nicking a winner on the break.
The negatives: Yoshida once again gifted the opposition a golden chance to score from his unforced error. When needed, lets see what Gardos can do in the same position. Puel's belated decision to change things up with his substitutions. We needed to see Austin much earlier and why not give Rodriguez a run out as well? The crowd rarely found their voices in a game where the players were in dire need of their twelfth man.
The positives: Saints looked relatively solid at the back, though in truth though they were rarely under much pressure. All three new signings showed their worth, especially Redmond, who will surely only develop further under the tutelage of Puel. Saints did improve their display in the second half and it would be interesting to know if that was as a result of Puel's half time team talk, or not?
So next up its a daunting trip to Old Trafford to face Jose's new charges. Let's hope that under the scrutiny of the live cameras Saints can raise their game and provide an early season upset. Personally, I would take a point and run, but three points would be a huge fillip to Saints two points dropped against the Hornets. It will be interesting to see if Puel feels the need to fine tune his starting eleven as a result of his analysis of the game against Watford. I hope yo see Fonte back and possibly another change, or two.
Onwards and upwards.....