saintstowin

And that was next level JS shoe horning by RM in the last 15 minutes. He means business.

Being there was some lovely euphoria at the end but we made such hard work of it. I think Watford played well especially in the 2nd half but were beaten at 2 nil and again our play led directly to the opposition coming back. From the 20th minute until HT our approach was ridiculous but actually pretty standard for us. It was clear that for various reasons our passing, especially out from the back, was not at its best. Even at the start. Lots of heavy touches etc. And increasing Watford pressure. Why then did we play any dead ball (GKs, FKs) within 1 second of them being awarded? And then the shortest pass possible. It's like game management is banned. It wasn't that it was quick because someone saw a great out ball. Most times the receiver didn't know who to pass to next. If we take time to take a FK in an attacking position I think it's not the worst plan to take a breath and have at least a cursory glance/thought towards what might happen next when we're 6 yards from our own goal. I've thought many times this season our lack of thought and/or risk taking near our own goal versus the other end of the pitch is weirdly skewed. But what a win!

Phew. Without the benefit of replays all 3 goals weren't exactly slick and theirs certainly looked avoidable. We were much better than them. It's just that cushion that escapes us, tonight from 2 to 3 nil or to 3-1 after they scored. First 20 minutes of the 2nd half we had so much of the ball in their final third. Got to score in those periods of a match. Arma for his anagram is not a good plan.

Just saw that the pen wouldn't have counted anyway, two touches.

Beeb thinks he dived.

B

I'm not seeing Saints at fault here. The offer from Leeds was basically, make a loss and give us really cheap tickets, or we might charge you loads. Even without the agreement they could have charged us the same as we charged them (30), but instead they are making a choice not to. Dirty Leeds.

From what he says RM is hearing the criticism and I assume that means reading it too, so I'm sure he takes everything on here into planning meetings. 😇 He's duty bound to defend his players so I don't get annoyed by that. I hope he is considering what helped us go on that run and seeing the things that have changed which have contributed to poorer form. He may say 'we changed line ups and still won, so we should be able to do it now' but he needs to recognise what a positive change is versus disrupting changes. A big issue now will also be lower confidence levels since the magic of that run ended. Talking up the players is one tried and trusted way to help. I hope we get a reaction, and maybe the luck we may also need, tonight.

I'm a bit torn. I can see RM's deficiencies as most can. Although the slow, nothing to show for 70% possession matches have been bad from an attacking perspective, I believe it's defensively where he struggles most. And that was evident from goals conceded at previous clubs. The players appear not coached to be aggressive and to have the correct/normal degree of urgency in defence, it's like the coolness on the ball permeates into coolness off it. This seems like a philosophy of RM's but it clearly does not work under pressure. I assume our opposition's possession averages at about 35%. The fact we've conceded the amount we have must break records given how little of the ball teams have against us. It doesn't matter having a +GD overall when key games are drawn or lost regularly. The torn is he has got us playing lovely football I often enjoy when it mixes possession with attacking intent. He seems a nice man and has some positive player management qualities and speaks about caring for the whole club. I don't dismiss these things. But something needs to change about that philosophy including when to do normal football things during a game based on what is happening, he seems to be quicker to alter it when things are going well than when they're not. And often the subs are questionable.

The comment about dropping KWP (which I admit I haven't heard, just read) isn't great. And feels like a bit narky after being asked about it and wanting to snap back, although RM too will have felt gutted straight after the game. The bigger issue is, however, KWP was a sub. And when JB got that knock, the simple and effective thing to do was bring on KWP and tell JS he's now a CB for the rest of the game, not a roving whatever. After all JB didn't play on Friday presumably due to fitness so taking him off is hardly weird at that stage.

Oh dear. Can't convince myself this isn't gutting even if it probably won't affect our finishing position. Should never have lost. Clearly there's something wrong (much discussed!) to concede so many having had so much of the ball. It's not as if we're bombing forward all the time. Tonight in isolation.... not a red, if they hadn't got that lucky block from Arma it's 3-2 to us late on. Ipswich got away with lots of fouls that should have been yellows. We have to make dominance count.

KWP probably our best player but like others I expect he's been assessed as needing a break. He looked a little off his high standards on Friday, not as dynamic. If he was close to missing a game then Boro would have been better but who knows if we had the knowledge to make that call, I doubt it. Not been dropped. We're putting out a strong team today and should give them a game.

At the game today. I wish we'd tried a few over the top passes out wide or centrally, because these caused a few issues for Boro at times. But we hesitated to get it forward like that most of the game. Yes if we had a bit more luck we'd have scored again. Notwithstanding Che's misses. Leeds 2nd today a case in point, we didn't get a lucky break like that sadly. Comments about the noise and distraction. I was in the Chapel and it was ridiculous that just when we could have got the whole ground roaring (like when someone gets played into acres of space down the wing and the team charges forward), instead a vocal section cared more about someone being kicked out and abusing stewards. Whatever the injustice it definitely detracted from the atmosphere. Not why we didn't hold on, but unhelpful.

Yes odd. Played less than half an hour. Manager seemed to be apologising.

Quite enjoying the Welsh commentary, listening out for an occasional English language word like in a Scandinavian drama. Quarterback and Southampton so far.

No sign of Brooks in the 11. Really silly of them to cup tie him after picking him against Finland.

Good start for him!

It's no laughing matter, who's going to play on the wing for Saints when we're in the world cup, Jack Stephens?

Was it at the shoe horn factory?

Having seen the highlights a few times now, we had so many opportunities and there were multiple lovely (and relatively fast for us) movements of the ball and players making great runs. I wonder if that left us a bit more exposed, seeing as we may have left an above average amount of space for them to exploit. But I didn't see the whole game. Their first goal, yes Manning is too far across (he's behind you!). And then one angle of the finish shows he deflected it enough to make the save improbable. Bad play and unlucky. Goal 2. What a mess. Just terrible communication, and then decision making to head a ball you can't get a good contact on. But the forward play was pretty special at times I thought. I honestly think we may as well go for it now, try to score more than the others even if they get two or three. We've got the players to do it. And it seems defensively we may be going through a bad patch so clean sheets might be few and far between.

I think in the away Millwall game. And possibly in that run he had in the side at that time of year he may have been LB in other games too. Seemed fine.

No mention of shoe horns in the presser.

I was really happy with the first half, and surprised. It was fun, and frustrating. From 55 mins we lost shape and any form of possession. I thought Sulemana could have played 75/80 today. Not perfect but effective. Should not have been first sub. Did we play out from the back tonight more often than the last few months? It reminded me of earlier Champ games, but since then we've mixed it up which has worked well. There was so much space just across the half way line that we exploited when we did get it forward more quickly. It was a shame it petered out. I'm guessing we ended up with less than 50% possession and this will have been odd for the players as we rarely encounter that.

Annoying because we have far less chance of giving a good account. I can see the reasons why without agreeing. And those front 3 are so unpredictable (and young - and I'm sure we'll get equal mention of that topic), Not a lot of composure up top tonight. Let's see!

Very sad to hear this and of his struggles in later life. I didn't see him play however as a child I was lucky enough to be at the 4-1 Liverpool game and I still think that's my favourite ever match. That season had some incredible attacking football.