Charlie Austin looks set to have surgery on his shoulder and could be out for several months, but could this be the catalyst for a change in our attacking style.

When Claude Puel arrived at St Mary's he was appointed because the Saints board liked what he had achieved in France and knew he had the tactical nous to succeed in the Premier League, but what they really liked was that Puel was a progressive coach who was not afraid of evolving th style of play of his sides.

On the continent the successful teams of late have stopped playing with a big central striker, they play with an attacking three which relys on speed guile and skill rather than lumping the ball into the box and trying to get the big man on the end of it.

The style uses wide attacking players, but not wingers as such, it s the job of the full backs to get into the space created behind the attacking three with the central trio covering behind them.

However Puel's hopes of doing this have been hampered by not only injury but on the players he has inherited.

Austin is not the type of player Puel would normally have in his side and Nathan Redmond was signed before the Frenchman arrived and was bought to play in Ronald Koeman's side, a line up that played in a different way to Puel's. Having signed him they have tried to convert him to Puel's style, it has had it's moments and may yet still work.

Charlie Austin is a proven goalscorer and has not let down Saints this season, but he had to be played initially as others who Puel would normally consider more suited to the role where injured, with Austin scoring it was hard for Puel to drop him, especially as when he did in the Europa League games, the team failed to deliver.

But with Austin now being touted as being out till February at least Puel may be able to utilise others and get his attacking trio playing more in a way he would ultimately like to see and less on being dependent on Charlie Austin's goals.

Puel wants attackers with mobility and now without Austin he has five options for the three positions, Boufal, Tadic, Redmond and then Rodriguez and Long.

It is the latter two who could be crucial in Puel being able to play in the style he wants all of the former three are more creative than finishers in terms of in front of goal, but Long and Rodriguez have proven track records and unlike Austin they are mobile and able to offer outlets.

The game against Middlesbrough saw Jay Rodriguez complete 90 minutes for the first time in almost three years and that was no coincidence, Puel knows he has to utilise J Rod at least until January when he can review the situation and consider whether he has to buy.

What the player needs is game time and goals, strikers thrive on confidence and although there are some who thrive from coming off the bench and making things happen, most need to be playing regularly to keep their form, the odd ten minutes here and there was not helping Rodriguez and nor for that matter was the fact that when he played he was playing in a team that was still trying to find its feet as essentially two separate teams are having to adapt to the style.

Now Rodriguez will get that game time and more importantly that match sharpness that will hopefully see him find the form that earned hi an England cap three years ago.

We know he can score goals it is just a case of him getting that confidence back in his game and if he does then it could be a very good end to the year for both him and Saints.

Shane Long has been out with injury, but he too is more suited to the way that Puel wants to play than Austin, we know what the Irishman can do and now with more opportunity he can hopefully get back to the form that saw him score as many goals as either Sadio Mane or Graziano Pelle last season, people forget that when they bemoan our lack of goalscorers at the club.

So I expect to see a subtle change in the way we play over the coming weeks, it will be more tailored to the way that Claude Puel wants to set out his side and less towards accommodating Charlie Austin, don't get me wrong this isn't a criticism of Austin, I like him and his style, but the situation is that ultimately he doesn't fit the way that Puel is steering the direction of our playing style.

Photo: Action Images

SanMarco added 12:16 - Dec 12 Yes - I think the "Puel Out" faction need to read this article - he needs two windows to get the personnel that suit him. If we are still so dull and slow come October then I will join the faction. I am with those who are not convinced by Puel but he does need a chance to convince us and that means time.
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SaintBrock added 12:19 - Dec 12 Nick, you are probably right. Austin's injury although a terrible blow for the player may be the catalyst needed to get us scoring again and moving forward once more. In fact he may find it difficult to get his place back if Rodrigues starts to show the form we saw glimpses of yesterday. If in his absence we develop and refine a fast paced interchanging style of forward play more on the Arsenal and Chelsea mode rather than rely on wing back crosses to a static centre forward where will he fit?

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aceofthebase added 12:27 - Dec 12 I seem to remember mid last season when Pelle was injured and suddenly the team bucked up,started winning and most thought we can play without Pelle.
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SaintBrock added 12:38 - Dec 12 SanMarco; Raneiri made himself hugely unpopular at Chelsea by using a rotation system and not playing a settled team for a run of matches, a process that did not lead to success and cost him his job. There is no evidence that rotation achieves anything other than frustration amongst the senior players who are easily capable physically and mentally of playing two games per week without sweat. Puel seems to be going down that same track and I cannot have been the only one who was horrified yesterday when neither Cedric nor Bertie appeared on the start sheet. The cracks are appearing in the visible displays of obvious frustration from Fonte, Bertie and VVD in particular and in players when they are subbed off even when playing brilliantly like Jorde Classie yesterday. OK I can accept that Puel may want to use Jorde on Wednesday and was saving him some energy... but I'll believe that when I see it. If pre-season rumours were to be believed Puel was our third choice for manager behind Emery & de Boor and most fans had never heard of him so he has a lot to prove to get everyone on-side and so far the jury is still out and burning the midnight oil. So far, we have seen too little substance and an absence of style from his style of play which is not the best way to prove yourself or endear yourself to fans.

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SaintPaulVW added 12:55 - Dec 12 He'll definitely change the style. He's a clever enough manager to be able to see early season where the goals were going to come from and juggle his style to fit Austin, drop the diamond idea, change Redmond's position, rotate the players, rehabilitate the injured, and avoid EL 2 games a week burnout. Yes there have been some duff games and yes it's a shame our EL journey is over. Koeman didn't even manage to get us that far - albeit we had loads of injuries at the start of last season. I think he's a good manager, but of course a disastrous run of form can kill off any tenure. We're there or thereabouts where we were last season and we had another duff period last season before our final fantastic run in. I'm hoping we can be challenging for the EL places again this season, which will be a great start and the chance for him to build his own squad.

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SanMarco added 13:04 - Dec 12 SaintBrock - I wasn't thinking about rotation (most managers in Euro competitions seem to go over the top with that, MoPo this year for instance) but that he needs time to bring players in that suit the way he would like to play. Always assuming he has a say of course........
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SaintNick added 13:16 - Dec 12 People forget that Pochettino showed scant regard for cup competitions and put out virtual reserve sides, that wasnt even rotation, he just wasnt interested in cups. Even Adkins rotated his side for the cups, I remember when our reserves beat Blackpool reserves in our Championship promotion season
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law101 added 13:16 - Dec 12 It's testament to how dreadful our attacking play has been thus far, that an injury to Austin gets this much hype. In my opinion he is an overweight championship goal scorer who was never going to go longer than 3 months without an injury.
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BoondockSaint added 16:06 - Dec 12 More spin from the board. Translation below: "what they really liked was that Puel was a progressive coach" He was not the first choice, but would work on the cheap just to get into the Prem. "not afraid of evolving the style of play of his sides." If he has the players to do so. But he hasn't and has had to stick to Play For a Draw an Hope We Get Lucky style. "successful teams of late have stopped playing with a big central striker, they play with an attacking three which relies on speed guile and skill rather than lumping the ball into the box and trying to get the big man on the end of it." We never loved Pelle anyway, and prefer the way Clyne, Lallana and Mane played on Sunday-OOPS! Forget we brought that up! "Shane Long.. saw him score as many goals as either Sadio Mane or Graziano Pelle last season" Wikipedia lies when it says Long 13, Pelle 14 and Mane15! And just never you mind how many of Long's goals were set up by Pelle and Mane. "Puel may be able to utilise others and get his attacking trio playing more in a way he would ultimately like to see and less on being dependent on Charlie Austin's goals." We're not buying in the next window.

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SaintBrock added 18:29 - Dec 12 Very few clubs buy in January partly one suspects because most other clubs won't let half decent players leave mid-season when many are battling with long injury lists to key players and need all their hands on deck for the big push towards titles or to avoid relegation. Then there is the problem of successful integration of a new arrival into the squad a process which probably cannot happen fast enough for a new player to make much of an impact on the run in. Despite all the recent shenanigans at St Mary's it is extremely unlikely Jose Fonte will be allowed out and there are few if any serious rumours around of Big Clubs having any real interest. No doubt we'll all be filing into St Mary's in May 2019 for his well deserved testimonial.

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Saintcole7 added 22:26 - Dec 12 Sorry Nick I can't agree, our football is awful and boring, it must be last gasp efforts to say our most prolific scorer is injured so we will happily change our style, sounds very strange to my simple perspective? Our rotation "experiment" is ridiculous again in my simple opinion, yes maybe 3 or 4 changes to freshen up the team or change tactics but 8 EVERY game is ridiculous, the Tinker Man never was so drastic, we have no Consistency??? Sorry after 45 years of giving money to this cause I am now so far adrift from what I want to see (some ambition, not winning every game BUT having a dream we will try) from the what the Board does (sell our best players and spend as little as possible) I will no longer renew my ticket, I sat on Sunday and was completly board, happy to see us win but I could of got that from reading about it, sat in the cold was hard work and I sat thinking was it worth it for "live" football. I have always considered myself proud that I put my money where my mouth was but now I'm reconsidering as the riches of the premier league are far removed from my humble lifestyle and SFC show me no hope anymore???

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Saintcole7 added 22:26 - Dec 12 Sorry Nick I can't agree, our football is awful and boring, it must be last gasp efforts to say our most prolific scorer is injured so we will happily change our style, sounds very strange to my simple perspective? Our rotation "experiment" is ridiculous again in my simple opinion, yes maybe 3 or 4 changes to freshen up the team or change tactics but 8 EVERY game is ridiculous, the Tinker Man never was so drastic, we have no Consistency??? Sorry after 45 years of giving money to this cause I am now so far adrift from what I want to see (some ambition, not winning every game BUT having a dream we will try) from the what the Board does (sell our best players and spend as little as possible) I will no longer renew my ticket, I sat on Sunday and was completly board, happy to see us win but I could of got that from reading about it, sat in the cold was hard work and I sat thinking was it worth it for "live" football. I have always considered myself proud that I put my money where my mouth was but now I'm reconsidering as the riches of the premier league are far removed from my humble lifestyle and SFC show me no hope anymore???

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zonehead added 23:19 - Dec 12 Charlie is a six yard predator play to his strengths I'm amazed he's our leading scorer we're so rarely in that area
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aceofthebase added 10:15 - Dec 13 I inwardly cheered when I saw that Martina was playing and not Cedric (no more easy goals from that side) McQueen is now rivalling Bertrand as our no1 left back and so happy with that too. Hugely disappointed to see Clasie being selected again, so difficult to play with just ten and a half men. Ok Clasie had a good game by his standard but really just average. Puel has changed the formation again, can't understand fans wanting even more changes but when you have such different players in the team then one style doesn't suit all. Many say we need a new striker but I bet there is complete disagreement on what sort of striker we need. Is it an Aguero, A Pelle, A Vardy, A cheeky little Michael Owen type A peter Crouch giant, an unknown from somewhere unknown . I just wish we had Derek Reeves, but don't suppose many remember him

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highfield49 added 15:02 - Dec 13 Certainly remember Derek Reeves not the tallest or quickest but he certainly could find the net. Brought back memories of George O'Brien as well another player who could put in a shift. However, now I've started, anyone else remember the fearsome George Kirby? In his day George would put the ball, keeper, referee or anything else in his way through the back of the net. I fear that George might pick up the odd red card these days!

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