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Saints At Bournemouth The Verdict

It really should have been a win, but again the team showed great spirit to come back from a goal down.

It many respects this was almost a perfect performance and it harked back to the Ronald Koeman days when we would base our game on keeping it tight at the back and going on the break, but it was ruined by an error from Wesley Hoedt who was caught in possession.

This was the only blip on the game for Saints although it took a few smart saves from Fraser Forster to keep the Cherries at bay otherwise.

The most pleasing aspect though was the way that the team now play with more urgency and pattern, Mauricio Pellegrino changed things again to suit the game and made the right substitutionsand again the players look like they are now motivated and playing for the manager.

Again it was pleasing for the under fire players to do well, Fraser Frster as mentioned made several decent saves and Nathan Redmond came on and created the goal for Charlie Austin.

Pellegrino seems to have learnt his lesson that if he plays his wide men then he has to give them something to aim for and Austin is showing he is that man.

Sadly though was the fact that despite all the plus points it was only one point when it really should have been three, we outplayed Bournemouth for long periods but could not take our chances and that was ultimately what cost us the win.

But we are now looking more like the Saints of old, it was a pleasure to watch and if we keep improving as we have done in the past week then we can aim for another top ten finish.

The confidence is returning and although we have a tough period ahead we can go into it with relish.

A few Saints supporters are still moaning about the fact that we gave a goal away etc, they have to realice that Rome wasn't built in a day, we are starting to move forward again, we are only 7 points off of Burnley who are seen as this years surprise package, we put together a good run and we can be up there with them and challenging for 7th place.

But the Saints support needs to have a little patience, get behind their team and realice that we can keep moving forward a Little each season, but it can't be smooth every year, we just need to keep ourselves in sight of that top 10 and then 7th place and chip away at it.

Man of the match was again hard to pick, Charlie Austin probably shaved it not only for the way that he took his goal, but the way he lead the line in general, if he stays fit then he can hit 15 goals this season.

But honourable mentions to Nathan Redmond for the way he ran at the home defence and created the goal, Fraser Forster for again showing that on his day there arent that many better keepers than him in the Premier League and Ryan Bertrand whose overlapping play was a constant threat.

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