macca155

So basically we are playing 2 FBs against Saka. Fair enough I guess

Taylor was one of a few that came out of the Bournemouth game with some dignity left. So he is dropped for a player who struggled in the Championship. He's trolling us isn't he

Stop it .... that is a seriously depressing team.

The club is being badly run, that much is clear. No shortage of money being spent but so much wasted. As Turkish said, same old, rinse and repeat. Saints came up with a weak squad, and an unconvincing Championship season behind them. They needed experienced grunt players to support the talent we do have. I was unconvinced about Taylor and Lallana, but actually both have shown some backbone. Frazer, Stewart, Cornett, Archer, Ugochuckwu, Diaz, Wood, and Edwards were pointless transfers. Cast offs or inexperienced. Add Armstrong, Smallbone, Stephens, Charles, Manning and Bree to that list as Championship players who can at best support the team it's no wonder we are stuffed. Even then a pragmatic, do or die, fight them on the beaches style, would at least make us difficult to beat. He has to go and a few others as well.

What a ridiculous and unnecessarily tragic first half Dibling in a position he is easier to mark out of the game. Les clearly not up to EPL standard ATM. Cornett utter waste of space, what were they thinking loaning him On the bench KWP and five strikers. In the stands an international CH. Utter madness, 2nd half will be a difficult watch

Another schoolboy error, this time Downes of all people. Never turn your back on a free kick. JWP would never have done that. Now they've got fire in their belly

It is hard to defend Martin sometimes. No issues with the team although I'm disappointed to not see Lallana, he was a proper leader on the pitch last week. However 5 strikers on the bench is madness. The only defensive cover is KWP. Defenders can easily be sent off and are equally at risk of injury. Pleased to see Onauchu on the bench, but either Armstrong, Archer, or Stewart has to give way for him. Oh well always good to moan before the game. Ensures one's words will be pushed back down one's throat. 2 - 1 to Saints 😀

Tall Paul on the bench

Boooooo

Oh that's terrible, ours died at 4 (in my avatar) desperately sad. We immediately said that's our last dog, not going through that again. 4 months later ........ woof Give yourself time though

Nice one gives the squad players another game. Bit more exposure.

Good post, couple of additional observations. The left hand side remains a bit weird. Totally exposed last week. Yesterday Taylor, who did well, would slot into a back three, with Frazer as left back, whenever Ipswich attacked. RM had no choice with the Aribo sub but Smallbone would have been a better sub for Fernandes. He may have some shortcomings, but he is a disciplined professional footballer. He would have followed instructions and tightened up the midfield to help see out the game. Hope he's fit soon. Diaz was the wrong call. I'd have brought on KWP to support Taylor. Having watched the highlights I'd say we've been a bit harsh on Archer. He was causing them more trouble than I realised. Just need to play the balls through he needs more often. Do we dare hope things will improve.

Some improvement I guess we got a point but the striker situation is desperate. BBD, Archer, Armstrong, and Ross are bog standard Championship strikers. They will never score goals in this league regularly. Maybe Stewart when he is fitter but nobody knows that ATM Dibling, Downes, and Fernandes set up some excellent chances, all wasted. Bringing on BBD was madness. Bring on KWP to support Taylor. I'm not sure Aribo added a great deal either. Point is a point, Saints are still in the game. Just have to keep chipping away. Oh yes and play ABK, KWP, and Onauchu.

My God this is desperate

Wood is not only way off the standard required at the moment but he is also cruising for multiple yellows

There are some positives from tonight so far. Saints scored a goal, a rarity these days THB and Frazer playing well Big Les looking a lot more confident. Now let's take this game to Everton.

On top of everything else Saints are giving their closest relegation rivals, a morale boosting win.

Well that was entirely predictable. Wood instead of ABK, great decision Russell

2 points split 6 teams, obviously all is not lost. Manager needs to up his game quickly or we are in trouble. The recruitment defies belief. Cornett and Frazer add absolutely nothing we haven't already got. Just blocks SAA in my opinion. He has to play his best centre half (ABK) and sort out the left hand side. Stewart barely has Championship experience, bit unfair to shove him in the Prem straight off. He needs to fight with Onuachu for that position up front. Even with all that it's going to be tough but at least give it a go.

I noticed that too, Bendarek was loitering at times as well. As a unit the defence have definitely lost their shape, and that's on top of all the other frailties.

Well that was desperate, a lunchtime game and they run out of pies.... scandalous. No surprises in the game. Played well for 30 mins, Dibling looked excellent and obviously worried them. In future I suggest he takes his own penalties. However the problems were all down the left. KWP had zero cover from that wet fart Diaz, and Utd exploited that. Recruitment has been very poor. Archer, Diaz, Frazer, Edwards, Woods, Taylor, and Lallana add zero to the squad that we don't already have. Stephens and Bendarek are adequate cover to THB and ABK. Then they buy Cornett, why? The one position Saints have depth in with Sully and SAA. No way should Onuachu be frozen out either. Add pretty woeful tactics and there are no surprises in these defeats.

Now I like Jack and I fear fans fail to see his overall contribution. However I agree with this. ABK is a quality player and if he is with us then he needs to played. Just hope he can stay fit.

Oh come on that is straightforward bigotry towards a player. At the moment Saints are better with him on the pitch. That doesn't say a great deal about the other defenders but that's where we are at the moment.

You can have an opinion but it is fundamentally wrong. Jack at the moment is our most consistent defender (I am aware the bar is low). He is the one blocking, covering and doing the basics of defending. His passing and runs forward have at least created some chances, all of whom wasted. Is he Van Dyke, no of course not, has he made some errors .... a few yes, but the other defenders have made just as many and they don't bring anywhere near as much to the game in comparison. THB has had a rough time in the opening games, he'll survive and I'm sure will be a star for us, but he needs the consistency of Stephens and Bendarek alongside him at the moment. He probably isn't our future if the team beds in as a Premier League team, but he certainly isn't the main problem at the moment, frankly we need his experience as one of the few who has Premier League experience. The same goes for Ryan Frazer, he may not be as dynamic as Edosie and is really a solid Championship player but equally brings the sort of experience the team needs.

Nuno totally owned Martin at St Marys. Different level of manager from an in play strategy point of view. Russell has many attributes, I like him and really want him to do well. I'm sure he doesn't coach the players to give away goals. Probably as seething as we are at our start. Guess we'll see a response of some sort.