Y Yes I do but he has had the best part of two seasons now and have seen no change in his play Admittedly we all have criticised his last two coaches but he hasn't developed at all and adds very little to our "functional" team Can Hughes and his management team coach him into making better decisions? I think his petulant behaviour has answered that question as I expect that this hissy fit is as a result of the tougher regime that Hughes has brought into the squad For me, get him out of the club and free up a spot for someone new
time for a poll me thinks. I think Sparky will sort him out and I don't want him going to West Ham and scoring 20 goals. Same with Carillo, his first 2 games people on here were really happy with his performance. Got uncoached by MP2 and then apparently he was crap. Mark had him on the bench against Swansea so he can't be that bad.
Oops. I must have misread the site I was looking at. Looking again I think 5 of 6, 5 of 7 and 6 of 8 all apply. But yeah, the point is he had a decent run of starts at one point. We don't know how Boufal has been coached or what's been said to him but if none of his coaches or managers have made that point to him I'd be very surprised. I'd be a little surprised if they haven't all said it to him. Ultimately it's down to him though - coaches can say and do what they want and it's obviously in their interests to improve his play but he really has to take responsibility for his own game. My real frustration isn't even so much that he tries too many tricks. It's more the way he frequently switches off and fluffs simple passes through carelessness. This is a difficult one to judge because it's about mentality and it's a lot easier for coaches and team-mates to get a feeling for that than it is for us. Having said that it was obvious Ronaldo could improve and it was likely he would - he was an 18 year old with a handful of games under his belt. Boufal is not too far off 25 now, has close to 200 club games plus a few international appearances under his belt and has been at Saints 18 months so he's also had time to adapt to the English game. I don't think it's a given that he can improve. He'll be 25 in September. That's not that young for a footballer.
One of those coaches was Pellegrino. The year before to me was a right off as I said at the time. Bad knee injury in the May before he signed and wasn’t fit until October so no pre-season. I hope the damage is repaired and we use him next season and get better from him. Look back at the Wigan game, he got hooked early, just as he was ripping the FB apart.
One thing about Boufal, I do think that if we see anything good from him, ever, he will be out the door as soon as another team come knocking. I don’t feel he is the type to show loyalty.
Boufal is still young enough to change, but I have to say I am losing faith it will happen. Refusing to come into the game or warm up properly in a crucial match is a pretty big strike on your record. It seems that he has stayed quiet after the incident and apologized to his coach and teammates so that helps but still...he’s going to have to do a lot to work that out and it may be best for everyone involved if he can find a new club. I won’t be mad if we keep him, but I suppose I would prefer he go. We are going to have to bring in another player at his position which will only bury him further and/or cause more strife. I think people are being unreasonably harsh on Carrillo as he hardly played, and was not given much opportunity to strut his stuff when he did. I suppose it is a bit damning that he did not play. But Austin got healthy and Austin is head-and-shoulders above everyone else at the position. Long and Redmond gave us speed, which Carrillo does not. Carrillo could indeed be a monumental bust, but he could be good, too. I don’t have a strong opinion either way.
He's a professional player, presumably with an agent. So absolutely not the type to show loyalty, no.
Boufal was described by a few players as the most skilful in training, but you don't get points for training sadly. Perhaps he isn't that good at reading a game and playing his part...perhaps he is always looking to shine personally. Who knows? What we do know is that if you do a brilliant goal....you can think 'that showed him', but you don't go and yell in the manager's face. And if your team is struggling, you should be ready and willing to take your part....however small. JWP has been there for years, but you don't get attitude from him. However....is he worth a second chance? Of course he is....next season is a new start for everyone.
Ooooh You're going soft, Fran. I agree with you but I'm renowned as a bleeding heart liberal who tries to see the good in everyone (even FLT,FFS) but I thought you were made of sterner stuff.
Me? Sterner stuff? I try and understand people and am particularly forgiving as soon as they sign for Saints. Leave us and you're easy meat.
Fran is quite correct about the positive comments Boufal received from his Saints colleagues in training but, for me, I think his downfall stems from his ability to gel within a team set up. Fat LeTiss is quite correct about Boufal's first season being a right-off due to injury but when the chips have been down this season, quite clearly Boufal is not a playing Hughes feels he can rely upon. He would be a luxury in a squad which requires everyone to fight tooth and nail. It is quite interesting to see how team dynamics work in these situations as teams can coalesce in some instances where one individual becomes a scapegoat. I have seen this in a number of work places where I have been employed when someone who doesn't want to become part of the team is effectively ostracised with the consequence that the team works better. I can really understand this if the story about Boufal is true and I know from projects I have worked on, if a team member is seen as not working for the common good of the others or even to their detriment, there is often no way back. The situation with Boufal saddens me. He has so much potential but I just don't see him being capable of regularly contributing decent performances week in, week out. I would acknowledge that he has not been given a chance and that I suspect we have not seen a fraction of what he is capable of. However, I cannot see him really being capable of digging in with performances which benefit the team on a regular basis. In my opinion, there is no way he will be retained next season and fully expect hi to go back to France. The Carillo situation is more delicate as he is a younger player trying to make an impression in a foreign country. He was unfortunate insofar that a large proportion of money was spent on him when he was not the kind of player we needed at that time. I do feel that he seems quite slow and think we have paid over the odds for him but my opinion of him as a whole is more circumspect. I feel more certain that both Cedric and Bertrand will be sought after by other clubs and fully expect Forster to be sold. Along with Boufal, I think these players are certain to leave. Elsewhere, there are others like Hoedt and Redman who I am not convinced about and can see other, more fringe players being moved on. The squad next season will look a lot different but I would like to see McCarthy, Tadic, Romeu, Lemina, Ward-Prowse and Long retained at the very least. It would sadden me to see Davis and Yoshida leave and I feel indifferent about the likes of Austin and Gabbiadini. I just feel we need to refresh the squad next season as the team is starting to be a bit tired in some aspects.
yikes - whether it's a young footballer with talent or an engineer fresh out of university who thinks he's the bees knees and all his colleges are fuddy duddys because they don't know the latest software 9 times out of 10 they realise after a while that maybe the old ones know a bit more about the job than they do and go on to become great footballers / engineers. you don't cast talent away
Carillo only worked under Pellegrino for a short period, I don’t think he could uncoach a player that quickly. I see nothing in carillo. Hughes had him on the bench due to lack of options. Get rid soon, take a loss and re-invest in someone half decent.
Not what I am saying. Boufal's comments alienated his teammates and probably his subsequent exclusion provoked a response. If you have someone pulling in the opposite direction to the others, you sometimes find that the team will become more positive as they rail against the individual is isn't playing ball. I have seen this happen recently with a colleague I have worked with.
But often it’s hard to change a persons attitude. It can be a character trait that will follow you for life.
Carillo looks slow admittedly and I think it is fair to say that the academy have produced better players. As I said above, he was the wrong man for the time when we needed a proven goalscorer and not "one for the future. " Too early for me to write him off but in the circumstances he was a poor acquisition and not really what we needed.
Carillo...I'm not sure about........The scouts must have seen something in him. The little I did know about him before his arrival never suggested he was the type of forward needed with us playing a one up top type of game. Him and Gabbi or Austin maybe but not on his own he doesn't strike me as being able to hold the ball up and wait. Surely a wrong buy at the wrong time....what you get sometimes when you panic buy!!
Exactly....we all knew we needed a striker. MP2 knew him and he was available. Hard to judge if he will get future chances at the club. Hughes was selecting the team he needed for the job at hand...may be different when he has a whole season (+ cups) to play.
