suewhistle

Ah well, I see Man City are respecting us by playing Haaland, Mahrez, De Bruyne from the start. How reassuring.. I've had a few cheap pints in a 'spoons today. Probably not enough though to numb the pain sufficiently..

Yes, a bit older apparently, which was commented on, and from what I saw of the game was reflected in both physique and experience. Saint's only goal was made by our only player who seemed to match their size and physicality.

If we paid on the basis of that happy feeling when you leave the ground after a win they'd be paying us..

Perhaps that's why he doesn't start Alcaraz and Sulemana, due to their lack of PL experience as he thinks they'll have more impact against a tiring defence. I'd far rather have a lead to defend than to claw back though, and when we go for it as against Spurs there is a very faint possibility of more than one goal.. Sounds like we were very negative against West Ham: we'll probably attack agaisnt City and constantly get done on the break!

I was lucky on Sunday due to my 2pm local league K.O. and beyond hearing we'd lost (quelle surprise) I haven't read or watched anything on the game and haven't even seen what the line up was. For some reason I thought the Man City game was away and could I steel myself to watch the game at my local (mainly Pompey) pub.. So it's at home I realised late yesterday, which doesn't fill me with enthusiasm.. The only saving grace is that there do appear to be trains running, so I'll no doubt gird my loins and take advantage of not driving and the ability to have a few drinks before hand. Might have to be a cheap 'spoons I'm going to need so much anaesthesia. At least the hope won't kill me any more.

Seems to be doing OK. From The Guardian MbM: " Bazunu makes his second full-length save of the match. Fine strike with goalkeeping to match."

Moyes next?

He did play well today: my stand neighbours and I agreed he was having a good game and it was recognised by the crowd. Any issues were the usual one of having no pace, and although that makes me despair that he doesn't have it, I'm not going to use it as a stick to criticise when he has just played well. Anyway, losing two centre backs impacted us in defending a couple of those goals, but there was no lack of fight, and bringing on the fresh legs was obviously planned and worked well. Having seen their front three and ours in the pre-match line-ups rather underlined our lack of an instinctive scorer but two of our forwards scored for a very pleasant change. Given Mara's and Sulemana's lack of experience in this league I can see why they didn't start.

Does e) include the time they take to come to their decisions? If it's not immediately apparent the original decsion should stand IMO. Football is still a great game though. My sister sent me a video of my great nephew going to his first game (at Brighton, I'm afraid). As he got to the top of the steps and saw the pitch and stands he turned round and said 'wow'! At the other end of the scale I'm really looking forward to Sunday afternoon and playing in one of the lower divisions of the Hampshire Women's League. I've never been much good (and now very slow) but I'm enthusiastically not good, and that's what it's all about. When people talk about money in football I point them in the direction of our local council and what they rush us for a dodgy park pitch.

I'd never boo anybody but I was muttering a bit to myself yesterday about this and Elyounoussi. As I observed to my neighbour I understood the intention to extend the opposition and make space but all we seemed to achieve was giving opportunites to Leicester and then booting long anyway. I think Lavia got a ground pass on one occasion but the situations didn't do anything for my nerves. As for Mo, I'm sure he tries hard but so much breaks down with him, he doesn't seem to ever move in anticipation and to those who say he doesn't sprint, I think he does but that's his top speed..

He was very decent and although not the tallest had an excellent jump on him: wasn't he a member of the 92 club, having played all the clubs in the FL at the time? I think we agree on Tommy Fourpast as well...

I'm not sure the latest on Leed's managerial situation. Will they have new manager bounce, thank christ he's left bounce or no manager bounce?

Well, I was doing some pretty heavy spiroing in that last 12 minutes of injury time! Desperate defending somebody said, but they were _all_ putting the effort in, and at the end defending from the front. If only Moi had more than one pace, and no tendency to misplace passes when it mattered. AMN looked a bit better too, although careless at times. The substitutions were all unsurprising given the levels of fitness of the players substituted but it was good to see Lavia getting more of the game this time. Some of his turns and bursts of acceleration in the first half were luscious. I don't think there was any doubt about the players playing for the manager, and that will be half the battle in the games to come.

Given that CC and Salisu are not even on the bench I'm assuming injuries..

Yes, he had a bout of covid and has never seemed the same since. When he's come on as sub since he's never quite met my expectations based on past form. A shame really.

You mean the Liz Truss approach? Everybody our of step except me JWP does, he is always covering and making himself available, he never hides like some players: what he doesn't have is acceleration or pace and there's not much you can do about that. Sometimes I get the feeling that he is trying to do too much to cover, but the first half display against Wolves with Lavia and Alcaraz showed promise for our midfield.

When I was at Southampton we were banned from UC nfor a few years due to misbehaviour, possibly being ale house brawlers - it was around about that time!

I wasn't too concerned when he came back. Not until they actually played him..

To my mind I think there are two issues with the "pathway": bringing them in to the team at the moment and how it is all presented. There haven't really been any safe opportunities to get them on the pitch with our current dire situation and I suspect the general consensus is that they aren't physically ready for the grind we find ourselves in. But we could certainly be more positive about their prospects down the line: "yes, not ready but not far away" type of presentation. As the example of Kane shows, there is nothing wrong with loans for development either. Perhaps get a few goals up against Grimsby (yeah well..) and bring one on. The buzz for the whole B team would be great and I'm sure all the team mates would help him celebrate his match day bonus!

Hurrah! The trains appear to be running normally. This means no driving and the ability to have a decent level of pre-match anaesthesia to numb the pain.. Like Convict Colony my default and preferred attitude is optimism: some on here surprise me by still not having topped themselves, but for once they have some justification. I'm old enough to remember Branfoot and this feels as bad. At least I've got a dose of football on Sunday afternoon as well to sweat all the angst out of my system..

I also noted that Big Paul didn't seem a great jumper, but in his defence from memory I thought the balls played towards him were all a bit hit and hope, and not ones you'd attack such as free kicks or decent crosses into a danger area. Let's hope he gets better service when he plays.

I've waited until Wednesday evening..

Interesting. I know not many of us are impressed with the formation or team selection, but to what degree do you think the lack of success is due to that or the players just not playing that formation very effectively at the moment, and perhaps not carrying out instructions? Let's face it, tracking back and marking are pretty basic things at any level. I didn't see too much of the first half but Bree didn't look too out of place in the second considering he'd been thrown in to such a match so quickly after arriving. He seems to be able to do the basics and he didn't give me Lee Todd vibes (one for the older ones amongst you..). As to Che, he finally puts his laces through the ball and finds the corner from distance: let's hope it gives him the confidence he needs.

I'm normally very polite, but having rushed back from training tonight to see our generous three at the back being nice to you, all I can say is "do go and do one, my dear".. Enjoy your blood money, and when you see Shearer in the stands with his big black and white scarf remember I saw him score his debut hattrick from under the West stand.