Moyes frustrated with another draw

That aside, we would have been a damn sight more effective from the beginning if Neville had been placed a right back, Coleman on the right side, and Fellaini in the middle to add a presence and pick the passes. Osman had one of his worst games for a very long time, and all we tended to do was try and by-pass the midfield, which has become increasingly familiar in the last few games.

Jelavic has not had a lot to feed on and is constantly being pulled out wide, which is blunting our attacking options. Everyone should weigh in with goals, but the positional selections and style of football it creates are not allowing us to play the attacking football we know we can play. Anichebe looked very lively when he come on and it changed our style to allow more passes to feed the strikers. A concern that Jelavic then missed another gilt edged opportunity.

So, Mr Moyes, that's the biggest frustration.... where you are deploying the men available to you.

On a positive note, I thought Victor put in one of his best ever performances. He actual looked as though he could control the ball and always looked dangerous.

Victor was great again last night, and although he didnt get into the game much it was also a huge boost to see Mirallas back.

Vic up front and Mirallas on the right against Bolton? I certainly wouldn't complain.

For a lesson on how a centre forward should play Moyes and Jelavic should look no further than Ricky Lambert

If they (the board) do not intend to provide a budget each season to improve what we have then we may as well band with all the other 'no money' clubs into a separate league.
Im watching the top clubs buying up virtually anyone who can control a football and sit them on their benches to stop other clubs from having a sniff.

I think the premier league is becoming devalued as money bags teams are the only ones who can win it.
No other club has a cat in hells chance of winning any trophy that the so called big clubs covet.
What is the point in getting into europe if there is a squad that is looking tired and jaded just playing the amount of games we have to domestically.
I forsaw this situation at the beginning of the season.
Osman was slower than he has been and dwelt on the ball losing it in dangerous situations at least twice...
Pienaar looks like he still is hampered by injury.
Jelavic has lost confidence and needs a rest.
Neville is showing his years although he had a reasonable first half when we were struggling.
Naismith is just making up the numbers.
The team is once again being carried by our defence and Southampton missing decent chances.

Other teams can rotate and ALL our first team have to play every game otherwise we are exposed by the likes of Leeds Utd.
We cannot even rotate against Bolton because that trophy is all we can play for.

I honestly believe that DM has taken the club as far as he can.
If the board do not support him now I can see him leaving and I would not blame him.
If he go's I see an exodus.

Suppose a long journey and being a bit chilly with only Southampton the opposition excuses it then.

This is why top 4 and winning stuff is off the agenda - fuck all to do with money.

Motivation eh! who needs it?

Super Kev coming back could be a blessing as Jela can drop to the bench and have a rest for the Bolton match, but even he isn't 100%...

Of course money is not the only factor but look around and you will clearly see it is the main one.

I only managed to watch the last ten minutes, after following it on the BBC site, but I couldn't believe how out of sorts most of the team looked. Why did Coleman come off? Was it tactical or an injury? Was that really Baines at left back or a total imposter who had forgotten how to pass. Vic looked lively, to be fair, although experience tells us that he performs better as a sub.

Personally, I would rest Jelavic for a couple of games. Give Velios a go.

I'm slowly warming to Vic's potential, he's looked decent this season. With his pace and power he can cause trouble for defences and has earned a start for me. And what could Vellios do worse than Jelavic right now?

Hurry, scurry, huff-puff, ran my plums off and had the (very) occasional half-decent game.

In the main though, I was just not good enough and our (sheepied-up) manager could see it.

My substitutions became more regular ("No you played' well lad, I just want to try something a bit different"...he lied)

The reality was, my first touch was not good enough, my passing was often wayward and I never had much pace.

I simply didn't have...'it'.

(I wish we'd had someone like Moyes as our manager... I'd still be getting a fucking game!)

Neville, Osman, Pienaar and Jelavic seem to be cut a lot more slack than the likes of Velios, Barkley and Anichebe.

There are a few senior players or call them favourites if you like that are not performing up to standard, but in Moyes eyes can do no wrong.

Jelavic is a good player.........BUT......he needs to be dropped. What do ANichebe and Velios need to do before they get a start ahead of Jelavic. There is always a case of leave Jelavic on as he may nick one but after southampton last night not even Jelavic himself would believe that.

What does Barkley need to do to get a start, Osman, Pienaar and Neville passed to a Southampton player over 20 times between them in the1st half, yet do they get dropped or made a scapegoat of? NO.............Moyes saves that for the younger people.

No pace
No passing range
No shot
No footballing brain

A blue wheelybin on the pitch would be of better use.

Sure, Moyes claims it's fitness and he's still playing his way in. Well, fuck me, Mirallas has more skill in his fucking toenail than Naismith does in his whole body!

I guess I was like a cross between Mirallas and Alexandersson (remember him?). Played wide right or through the middle. Unlike Eugene, I think I did have "it" to an extent - that is, a little bit of speed, skill, vision, etc (like Mirallas) - but I didn't have (a) the consistency or (b) the engine or (c) do-or-die spirit required to be a proper player. I didn't play badly exactly, it's just that sometimes I was totally ineffective, just couldn't get into the game. Was I even on the field? Er, I think I was, yeah.

Actually, if you crossed me and Eugene you might have got a decent player.

Sorry, no, that's too freaky...

Lets say we get European football of some sort. With the size of squad we run, what's the point?

We wouldn't be able to handle playing twice a week, then there's the domestic cups thrown in.

We wouldn't be playing european football long in my opinion. I know the players buzz off it. I know Moyes wants to get it back badly, especially Champions League.

But aside from the payday of the Champions League, really, what is the point?

The gap is enormous.

The players did not look up for it in the first half and Moyes should bear responsibility for that. Second half was much better and their keeper made some good saves.

For me the biggest problem is...not enough good players. Neville and Naismith are a long way off Gibson and Mirallas. The reason are bench are depth is so weak? Money.

Best of all: he is Scottish... so Moyes might give him the loyalty vote that he currently give to Naismith.

I'm rapidly becoming disenchanted by continually watching TV pundits creaming over players belonging to the top clubs and showing their goals and games whilst our games are hardly mentioned. When we beat Cheltenham it was hardly reported and scant highlights shown.

I don't personally shop at Poundland or charity shops and it sickens me to see our once great club who generally holds its own in the Premier League unable to compete with even Sunderland and Newcastle in the transfer stakes.

Every business MUST buy whatever they sell and in football we buy entertainment from the players. If our club cannot improve the squad at the same level as the other clubs in the league then we must go under one day soon.

As mentioned before, what is the point of gaining a Euro spot if we do not have the squad available to fulfill the fixtures at a competitive level?

Am sure its academic now as Mirallas will (fitness allowing) take up that spot but I think there is more to come from Naismith, there certainly could be not be less.

Last night he wasn't the worst, but performed one of his best ever..erm...well that thing he does when he receives the ball (wide-ish) looks up, then chip-hits the ball forward to.......absofuckinglutely no idea.

It's REALLY odd.

I mean it's not like it's a LITTLE off - it's not within 20 yards of anything.

And it's not a one-off where everyone laughs coz it's an obvious mistake because nobody made the run - he does it most games.

Mind you to be fair, last night he wasn't the only one, there was a cracker from Osman too.

Don't care what any one else thinks, I have had enough off watching that useless excuse of a footballer. Please, Moyes — send him back to Scotland.

Howard--Excellent. He gets a lot of gruff here when he makes mistakes, but he wins us a good number of points each year, and this game his shot stopping was flawless. Made a few errors in distribution when put under pressure and misread one ball into the box, but he was our MoTM. 8.5/10

Distin--Good as usual. Made a great play to keep out a pass that would have sprung a one-on-one opportunity. 8/10

Baines--Nearly invisible. Has had a lot of trouble getting his crosses up the past several games, resulting in several deflections or give aways. I wonder if he is nursing a foot injury? Saved a goal off the line though, and was overall decent in defense. 5.5/10

Neville--Very poor. Did little to close down attackers. Distribution long was horrid. 4/10

Osman--Just didn't click. Sloppy passing broke up any build up we managed to achieve. Would have had a goal though, but for a lucky deflection. 4/10

Jelavic--Very poor. His miss was, unfortunately, what I am coming to expect from him, and is generally what I expect from Osman most games--gets through but can't put a ball on net. 3/10

Pienaar--Did not have it. Did alter his game when he saw that the left was being targeted by defense, brought ball to center. Ref was not calling the usual fouls he draws. 5/10

Anichebe--Very good in holding the ball up and creating chances. Drew an excellent save on one shot and his cross to Jelavic was a beaut. 8/10

Mirallas--A welcome addition back, but he still needs a little bit of time to get his gameday touch back. Gave the ball away a little too easily here and there, but worked hard and created a few chances. Neither he, nor Pienaar, nor Baines (I think Coleman had a few direct runs before he came off) took a direct run at the defense all night, preferring instead to work it around the 18 yard box. We need that kind of direct attack to keep opponents on their back foot. 7/10

Fellaini--Slightly better than average. Stronger on the ball than against Swansea, did well in tackling and okay in distribution. Does not have a great first touch on the ball nor a nose for the goal like a pure striker does, or would have had a goal. 7/10

Naismith--Not the worst player out there. Hustled and made a few nice plays, but got out-muscled for the ball a little too often. 6/10

Jagielka--Perhaps the worst player out there today, alongside Jelavic. Allowed multiple chances. Poor distribution out of the back. 3/10

Overall, this is a game we needed to win, and we just didn't play as if this were the case. Southampton was first to the ball, and applied immediate pressure, which unsettled us and disrupted our passing game. Late in the game strung together a few nice passes on the left and centered above the box to Osman and I thought we had a legit shot at a chance; by the time Osman received the ball three Southampton players had closed. They moved their defense well and gave no player more than a second or two with the ball; we backed off and allowed them to pick out passes. We play best when we also attack the ball, which we do when we play the bigger teams.

What can he do? How about hit the fucking ball towards the goal instead of blazing it over or even worse missing it altogether. The last three games he has had a glorious chance to score from about 5 yards out and twice he has missed the ball completely, the other time blazed over. That's three goals in the last three games, which could have been the difference of 5 points, 1 for Chelski and 2 further points against Swansea and Southampton.

"What can he do? How about hit the fucking ball towards the goal instead of blazing it over or even worse missing it altogether. The last three games he has had a glorious chance to score from about 5 yards out and twice he has missed the ball completely, the other time blazed over"

Agree.

It's funny, years back, when a ('star') player lost form, he went into the reserves until it was thought his form had returned.

It was probably seen as doing them a favour, letting them get a few none-pressure games under their belt.

These days I don't really know what goes on.

Managers (it seems) are maybe scared of upsetting them so continue with them hoping (and no doubt praying) all will come good.

I personally think it would be doing him a favour to leave him out for three games or so and try something/someone else.

He showed absolutely no signs last night of finding anything approaching form and when that ball from Anichibe came to him, I have a feeling I wasn't the only one thinking "He's going to fuck this up")

How he continues with Jelavic — as much as we'd all love to see him banging them in again — just baffles me. The lad looks punch drunk and you get the feeling the crowd will turn on him soon. Yes, you could argue the service is poor but my mother would have tucked that away last night. Bench him and give Anichebe or Vellios a run... both limited, I may add, but they couldn't do no worse at the minute.

Pienaar's another one: he had a terrible spell before Xmas. Looked to have got a bit of confidence back... but has gone backwards last couple of games. Neville and Osman just aren't doing it either, giving the ball away and getting caught in possession with alarming regularity... and Naismith — what is Moyes's fucking agenda with this cabbage?!?!

As someone posted earlier if hes not playing, you can bet he's the first off the bench. He offers nothing whatsoever and wouldn't even if he was playing behind the main striker he's gone from ordinary to just bad. Fucking Finch Farm mafią. Ironic, isn't just, as we've stopped leaking goals, we've stopped scoring them. Story of Moyes's reign, I'm afraid.

Jagielka is fast becoming an embarrassment every time I watch him play. I hope the rest of our first team were watching, they can't pass water at the moment.

After a quick look they are 4th in the net spend league over the last 5 years - they have spunked £51m !!

£24m on Bent alone.

On another note, am delighted for Bradford City.

I couldn't believe it when they were both picked to start at Southampton. Unbelievable. Moyes can't be watching the same game as the rest of us.

The season is rapidly going sour. I've no confidence that we'll beat Bolton with Moyes's team selection and favoritism.