Saints gained a good win at Boro, but did this game highlight just why Claude Puel is under fire from a growing section of Saints support.

The problem with this season has been one of consistency, initially it was due to Claude Puel's rotation policy which saw him always seemingly having to make a change for changes sake and with no regard to the form of the players going out or coming in.

Of late it has been the total opposite with Puel sticking rigidly to a core of 9 players with few changes despite some poor results.

So it was a total shock before this game when the starting line up was announced, Puel made seven changes to the side that started against Arsenal, this appeared to be total madness, in came players that Puel has virtually ignored over the past few months for a game where Saints needed to win if they wanted to ensure a top ten finish.

Martin Caceres came in for his debut after sitting on the bench for the past three months without even a single minute of match action, it was hard to see Puel's logic behind this selection and it appeared to be that of someone who has lost the plot.

The starting line had only four players who would be considered first choice and one of them in Yoshida is only in that category due to the central defensive issues at present.

But perversely it worked, it was a solid formation which suited the players coming in and they seemed to want to show the manager how wrong he had been in his treatment of them.

Ironically the only player who did not seem comfortable was Puel's own signing Sofiane Boufal who came off at half time for Nathan Redmond who himself showed why those apart from a small section of Saints support consider him a real talent.

The game was predictable from the home side, they don't score many goals but don't let in many either and the first half saw Saints keep it tight and be patient, but on 42 minutes they took the lead and it was a goal that last year would have been considered trademark, but this year has been all too rare.

It saw three players who Puel has given little time to despite decent performances combine to show the manager how to do things simply and clinically.

It started with Jordy Clasie playing a lovely ball into the right channel for Shane Long to get on the end of, Long raced on to it and then pulled it back for Jay Rodriguez who dropped off his man and stroked it home making it look easy in the process.

This was a great well worked goal, too often this season we seem to have to pass the ball 10 times before we can start getting direct and get the ball into danger areas, too often we faff around with it in the centre of midfield or out wide, but this concentrated on using the players we have to their strengths rather than asking them to play in a way they are not comfortable with.

The second half saw an even better goal, Nathan Redmond on for Boufal, cut inside and curled a sublime shot into the far corner, at this time it looked like Saints would now go on and score a couple more that would take them above West Brom on goal difference.

Seven minutes later it should have been three when Shane Long missed a penalty the ball scraping the crossbar and going high into the stands.

This seemed to take the wind out of Saints sails a little, and then on 72 minutes Boro pulled a goal back, Bamford allowed a header from close range.

Saints battened down the hatches for the final period although Fraser Forster had to make a smart save in injury time to make sure that Saints did not throw away a game they dominated.

Saints are now set up for a grandstand finish and if they can win the final two games, both at home, there is a very good chance we can finish in 8th place, a great achievement given our issues this season.

But this game highlighted why Puel is under fire, he was willing to risk this game by resting some key players, but all it did was emphasise just where he is going wrong, he has a good squad at his disposal but he has not used it to its potential, instead trying to shoehorn in his own style despite not having the personnel to play it and wholesale changes far too often.

It also showed that the likes of Clasie, Hojbjerg, Redmond, Long and Rodriguez are decent Premier League quality players, and asks the question why Puel has ignored them so often.

Photo: Action Images

warrens76 added 09:53 - May 14 The squad of players is good, however few VVD aside are world class, left to their strengths though and you have a team of players that should be at least 15 points better and a Europa QF....even players a million miles out of our price range have problems adapting to different coaching and playing demands.... Puel is trying, very, to change players natural game for me this is madness, worse I think the players are furious with it as well, imagine MOM then dropped! scoring then dropped! JRod looked totally pi55ed off after he scored, a sort of I could do that all the time if you played to our strengths attitude. This team is better than it's points total, league position this season is totally misleading because half a dozen teams for want of an extra win/loss could be top or bottom half, our dire performances, player unrest real and imagined is understandable... Unless we bring in another whole raft of signings totally suited to the European style of play (in the PL?) Puel cannot take us forward. This group are better than the results but the team must be set up to it's strngths not Puel's ego.

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NigD added 10:12 - May 14 Damned if you do, damned if you don't? Usually enjoy reading these reports. Hog wash!
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NigD added 10:12 - May 14 Damned if you do, damned if you don't? Usually enjoy reading these reports. Hog wash!
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SaintPaulVW added 10:19 - May 14 I agree with this report. We had a patient first half then looked like we would run away with it, then the missed penalty and a tense finish. At first sight, it was a very strange team sheet. Possibly to shake out the end of season feeling that seems to infect teams with nothing to play for this time of year. Caceres looked very poised but it wasn't an error free performance as some people seem to believe all CB's except Yoshi and Stephens produce week in week out. Think one of our problems next season may come in that two of our new players Boufal and Hjobjerg still look fairly erratic. Boufal amazing skill until the final ball. Clasie now seems to be ready to push on though, hope it's with us next season. Pied looked like he was keen to make up for lost time. Shame he missed so much through injury. Honestly can't see board parting company with a manager who finishes top half and took us to a Wembley final. For 20 odd minutes we were eighth in the table. Puel's strength was supposed to be bringing young players on. I think he's probably achieved that in the round this season. If he hasn't settled though then perhaps we will part ways in the summer. Overall a good performance with some tense bits. Puel may have made a rod for his own back by changing a few things and then it working out fairly well. So club still in crisis in the top half of the table but then that's Saints and why I love them!

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steve73 added 10:23 - May 14 Pied was the standout player for me. Surprised Hassan wasn't given a game. Weirdest thing of all was how up for the game Puel seemed to be; why pick this one to start leaping around? Boro were garbage, understandably rubbish atmosphere. Still not a fan of Redmond but that was my goal of the season. And Long...well people love that he runs a lot. Maybe he's paid by the km. He's no prem striker tho.

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TimSaint added 10:45 - May 14 The massive lapse in concentration from Long, when putting his penalty over very nearly cost us. 3-0 up and we canter to victory and maybe even grab another as the home team capitulate, but no, they get a bit of wind in their sails, score and we are unnecessarily under the cosh and could have conceded an equaliser. Oh well, it wouldn't Saints if we didn't play this way I suppose. This just continues to worsen our goals to shots conversion rate.

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saintpp added 11:25 - May 14 Really he plays players that fans have been asking him too,was within a whisker of winning 3-0 and UI gets on his back.This site has really gone down hill with its seemingly anti Puel agenda.You seem to think you know more than the manager we will finish 8th only one team above us who shouldnt be. Yes it hasnt been great but he deserves another year where he will surely improve in all areas .this kind of report is just stirring things up when we dont need it.

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saintpp added 11:28 - May 14 And id like to add he freshened to side up with players hes treid already and could rely on .maybe it wasnt our best 11 but he got the result and have players rested for the utd game.
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davepid added 11:45 - May 14 I disagree that long and JRod are quality premier players. I've had a lot of time for Long. He runs fast , harries defences ,occasionally does something right ( like his centre yesterday) but predominantly he is someone who suggests he doesn't know quite what to do when he gets the ball. So he falls over. I wish I wasn't writing this paragraph. JRod hasn't recaptured his previous form and its little wonder Austin and Gabbi are preferred. His was a good goal yesterday but he had awful misses at Inter and Stoke , the Inter one possibly having a season - changing impact. I read that Austin is our leading goal scorer. Oh dear.

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highfield49 added 11:45 - May 14 Difficult to make any comment of value, having only seen half hour slot on Sky, but I'm now even more confused as to why Caceres hasn't played previously. From the little I could see of his contribution he appeared to be well worth at least another game before the end of the season. He certainly has the experience to read the game well and has the pace to get in tackles and blocks that have cost us several goals against in the last few weeks. I can't say that I agree with warrens76 that JayRod celebrated his goal with any more or less enthusiasm than he has in the past, I've never thought of him as the sort who feels the need to knee slide fifteen yards to the corner flag kissing the club crest on his shirt. Every one to their own but I'm in favour of the less demonstrative celebration and absolutely hate the Tottenham stupid handshake cult. Yup, I'm getting old.

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Number_58 added 12:16 - May 14 The subdued celebration may have been down to the fact that the team had forgotten what to do in the event of a goal.
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petedoors1 added 13:52 - May 14 With Crystal Palace winning 4-0 now we can get rid of Clown Puel and get a Good Manager in Marco Silva.
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allsaint54 added 14:35 - May 14 Great to see JRod start & score a cracking goal, no doubt he'll be dropped for the next game as will Classie who also impressed.
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helpineedsomebody added 14:44 - May 14 saints away record very impresive would redmond played for england if he had stayed at norwich would jwp played for england under koeman the money they recieved for mr koeman is paying mr puel wages for this & next season for me he has improved a lot of players this season plus its his 1st season in charge now he has proved himself the club has to give him a bit more help lets see what he does over the next 2 seasons

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aceofthebase added 16:03 - May 14 Pied was very impressive as was Caceras. I'm still hopeful that Boufal will become a team player. Excellent finish by JayR. Good to see Austin back but can't really see a future for him. As for the article well no matter what team Puel selected or how they played or the result the knife was ready to be inserted beteween the shoulder blades. Pathetic report.
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saintmark1976 added 18:55 - May 14 Nick, do you have some sort of hidden agenda? I only ask because your reports are becoming more and more negative and bizarre as each week progresses. We went to Anfield and got a point yet according to your report you would think that the sky fell in. Yesterday the manager made seven changes (some of which you have been crying out for) and we won but you still give the impression that the world ended. If Man City beat W B A by two goals on Tuesday we will be up to eighth. We were narrowly beaten at Wembley in one of the best final for years.Yet you still appear to be continually leading the charge to get the manager sacked. Why? As for your never ending negative comments in regard to Yoshida. Truly you give the impression that if he helped keep a clean sheet and he scored a hat trick at the other end you would still be disappointed. With respect, for your own wellbeing please try and be a little more happy.Tonight you could be a Sunderland, Middlesbrough or Hull fan and no I don't want the laters manager to replace ours.

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redandwhitedee added 22:04 - May 14 NIck.. your personal agenda against Puel has just shone through again. You have bitched all year about why caceres doesn't play then you complain when he does play. You are truly bizarre. The manager knows a hell of a lot more about his players than the likes of you and the reason he rested those players was quite clearly that he knew he couldn't do it against Liverpool arsenal or Man Utd, but did know that Middlesbrough was an easy option to try out a few things and give people game time. Try to understand the game a bit before next season and your articles will make a more interesting read. Generally I only read this site for the views of the others on here. Yours are generally tosh. Well done puel for a clever rotation of the squad and for the 3 points away from home.

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