I still think Adam has a point - Fryatt was dropped for two games, including a 3-0 win over Cardiff, where McLean scored. As far as I tell, Fryatt wasn't particularly impressive from the bench, and McLean certainly hadn't performed badly enough to be dropped back to the bench last night. If anything I think he still is pretty much guaranteed to start - it's just that he was given a bit of a rest what with the fixture congestion.
My opinion of Southampton after last night is no different to what it was before the game: they aren't some kind of amazing super-team, they just finishe their chances and are very clinical when they get an opening. The complete opposite of us. They also completely disprove NB's theory that having a big striker means you must be an ugly side. I can't understand people saying they were so much better than us. They did exactly what I expected: not plays us off the park but finish what chances they get. The hard thing is to get into the positions and create openings, we do that often enough but it's the simple final pass or the finish every time. Southampton (from what I've seen) get that bit spot on every time so they can win a game by only making 3 openings all game. It's clear we can make spaces behind the defence as often as we like but hardly ever score a goal from it because the final pass is a ****up or the finish goes into the stand.
Disagree we matched Southampton for large parts of the game but our finishing let us down yet again. I think now Deano is out of rehab we should employ him to show our present team what a goal looks like and how to put the ball in it
Maybe McLean has made the spot his own but was rested against Southampton after 2 games close together where he's been up front on his own knowing we've got another week and a bit of it to go.
