VectisSaint

Last minute winner and a clean sheet. No more negative goal difference. Good day. Swindon staging a comeback against the Shots (3-7 now).

Looks like someone posted the score update wrong, given its now 2-7 (and Austin still hasn't scored)

Now 8, WTF. Charlie needs to get his scoring boots on pronto

So we might have been 1 point better off, still only puts us level with Leeds and still an inferior goal difference (even with the 6 less goals conceded - their GD is 9). Its endless conjecture and completely meaningless, we are where we are and have a keeper who has conceded 6 in 6 which is probably (pretty sure without checking) better than average. So how does that work out?

Probably we would be in exactly the same place as we are now, 3rd at best, but we would have a positive goal difference. But would an average keeper have salvaged a point with a headed equaliser against PNE?

Actually we wouldn't. If you take out those 4 games then we would have the same number of points but with 4 games in hand. Smartass.

Whereas 5 games ago we were "on pace" to concede 109, so a marked improvement. We had 3 bad games where we conceded far too many goals (including Norwich), but take those games out and we are basically conceding a little more than 1 per game. Last 5 games, 5 goals conceded, and even the 2 last night were with a scratch defence, when we have had a settled (competent) defence we have not been the sieve that everyone thinks we are (Bednarek/THB). I must admit last night I thought PNE were likely to go on and get 3 or 4 once they got back in it but it didn't happen.

Well that was a total crock of shit. Can't believe how bad we were but saved at the death by Bazunu, how the hell did that happen. We have to stop this idea that we have some world class players. Charles was awful (at least defensively), his sloppy passing is clearly why Martin has dropped him, yet we all know he is a class player, what has happened. Kamaldeen has no end product, his crosses are absolute shockers, every time, it is no good beating your man (which he does with ease) if you can't deliver the ball to a team mate. Sorry to say Charly is really not any better. Adams is a total waste of space (as he always was), the list goes on, only KWP and Stuart Armstrong look really capable (though I will give credit to Bree for being a whole lot better than Manning). Bednarek is doing a decent job as well. Apart from the goal, most of the game was ponderous passing and misplaced passes with no incisiveness, players looked nervous. Thankfully PNE were pretty hopeless as well. Yet here we are 5 unbeaten and 5th place (would have been third if we had won). Oh and please save me from that god-awful co-commentator, nothing to do with being female, but she just didn't know when to stop talking, why do these people think they have a right to talk and talk and talk, and in such a dull monotonous voice as well.

At least Bill Kenwright won't be around to see it. Strange this has come out on the day after he passed, for all of the problems with Everton he was a decent bloke, RIP.

How does that work then, Sunderland were not exactly trying to offload him? Its probably as simple as he suffered a minor setback, if he is still a bit more than a week away that still fits in pretty well with "after the international break", these things are not an exact science. Martin was talking about Stephens being back about now as well, but no signs of that happening any time soon (Wilcox said unlikely before Christmas).

I feel a little bit ill having seen the Redknapp one.

At the time one of the best (if not the best) midfield pairings around. As a pair they brought so much more to the game than as individuals, Stevie was effectively Bally's legs. Shame it didn't last too long, Williams was never half as good when he went to Arsenal.

Playing for a transfer or for a new improved contract? Allegedly he was offered a new contract, but nothing so far to indicate he has signed, assume he hasn't (otherwise he would be captain in Jack Stephen's absence). We have had players like this before I seem to recall.

Not his debut. Has played 23 times for Nigeria before.and scored 2.

So why sign him for Saints in the first place, why not sign him for the Turkish club directly or one of the other clubs? It doesn't really make any sense.

Why did it take 8 months to bring the charge?

It doesn't mean that at all. It means he concedes a higher percentage of shots on target than other keepers. Viktor Johansson has let in more goals than Bazunu.

More to the point, Viktor Johansson has let in more than Bazunu this season in the Championship.

And the worst in the Championship, the Rotherham keeper, Johansson, who people on here have been touting as a good replacement. You implied that there were a lot of goals going in recently, which is demonstrably untrue. Yes there were a lot in the first few games, but since Leicester, more than one (2) has been conceded once, 5 goals conceded in 5 games. Strangely this coincides with the defence being more settled and using proper CBs (Bednarek/THB). I'm not defending Bazunu particularly, he is not showing signs of being a top class keeper, but some of the hysteria on here and elsewhere is hugely misplaced, especially of late. Conceding a goal a game is not a disaster, and wouldn't be a problem if our forwards could score regularly, scoring just once against the worst keeper in the league (by goals conceded) was ridiculous.

2 in our last 3 games, blurring into one 🤔

Fraser and Charles as well.

He was reportedly back in training before he joined us, indeed Sunderland had a friendly lined up for him to play in the week following our match against them, so it is a bit of a surprise that it has taken so long for him to be ready, RM had previously said after the break, so this is no real news, if anything it sounds like his return has slipped a bit.

The Alcaraz one doesn't make any sense. Surely his first priority is to his employers, not Argentina. Of course no one wants to hurt his chance of joining up with his national side, but you can't hold a player back from a League game simply to give him a better chance for his national call up. Would imagine Downes, Kamaldeen and Fraser are the most likely to be rested, given they have only recently come back from illness/injury/long lay off (though Fraser hasn't been a starter of course). Personally would prefer Charles to start over Downes anyway.

Not sure Gaston flew economy, whether he goes cattle class or something else is not really the issue. But sure things may have improved, we'll see, just hope Charley doesn't end up with a dead leg.

Remember Gaston Ramirez and the problems caused by his flights home to South America. Good for him, but not necessarily good for Saints.