Graffito

Point of note; three central midfielders on the pitch as well as three centre backs coincided with our best spell in the game.

3 weeks to go. No need to shit the bed.

Big match coming up. Safe from relegation. No injuries. Job done. Was that it? Was that why Bertrand agreed prematch that it was difficult not to have one eye on the semi final? As fans we want the players to die for the shirt. Unrealistic. But at least put in a bit of fucking effort...against apparent no hopers, who thoroughly deserved to win by a greater margin than three goals. Contrast the character of this bunch with the nucleus of the teams that came up from League 1. This is a group of players that’s very difficult to like. Without Romeu it’s powder puff. Finally Ralph. What’s with the late substitutions? Unfair on the players who want to stake a claim for the semi and puts no pressure on the “first team” which knows it’s the “first team”. Put a bit of backbone into them for Sunday. Your job.

Agree. During the close season I took a look at a compilation of Saints’ best goals of last season and was struck by how instrumental Redmond was in those goals.

Read this. I see parallels with Saints. He thinks they’ve got problems? Try doing it with our squad. https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/brexit-news/europe-news/have-jurgen-klopps-gegenpresse-tactics-broken-liverpool-7828452

That was a very very worrying performance. Not one single positive. Same old failings. Utter tripe.

To those saying Saints can’t defend deep, we did it against Man City last season and against Liverpool this season. Saints have also shown they can keep possession of the ball successfully, something else that wasn’t evident last night. The common denominator in the two 9 nil defeats seems to be an early sending off. Ralph talks all the time about synchronisation, high press and above all, automatism. Ralph might argue that the team can play different formations but they look like tweaks to a highly structured and synchronised system. Take a player out and the whole approach seems to fail. No team can keep up a high energy press for 90 minutes. With 10 players, you can barely do it at all and Saints didn’t attempt it last night. The triggers are there but the players can’t respond. The highly organised system ends in disarray. It’s almost like the players have become automatons and can’t think of themselves when circumstances change and they need to be pragmatic.

Me too.

No. In 2009 a young Saints player called Paterson was thrown in against Man Utd and got sent off in the first half for a dangerous tackle on Vidic. Man Utd went on to win 3 nil. Two of the goals were contentious, a penalty for handball that replays showed wasn’t handball and an offside that wasn’t given. The referee was another Mike, Mike Riley. Paterson’s sending off was a rush of blood to the head of a young player out of his depth. Same with Jankewitz. More so with Jankewitz. The transfer request, which probably went down badly with the club, put him under pressure even before he stepped out at OT. He had to step up and prove he was worth a place. He couldn’t because he isn’t ready. I think RH knew that which is why he put others in ahead of him. Paterson slipped down the leagues and now plays non league football. I just hope Jankewitz has the talent and temperament to turn this around.

Very good read and thanks for posting. Highlights factors that have been clear in recent matches. Playing out from the back with accurate distribution, especially vestergaard, with short straight passes through the middle. It’s risky. Stephens tried a couple and lost possession but the two centre backs are doing it well. Also variation in tempo. I’d add how much Walcott has helped with varying the tempo higher up the pitch. Playing on the half turn and accelerating between the lines and into the so called red zone.

Best performance in a very long time. I note how much better Saints play when RH has time to prepare the team. JWP and Romeu ran the game. Everyone was good, with perhaps Redmond and Armstrong a bit below par. Maybe the media will stfu about Everton for 5 minutes now.....probably not.

Skates. The 0 - 4 in September was the best match I’ve been to in years, even though I missed the first 20 minutes of it.

Dreadful inevitability about that performance once they went down to 10. Saints just don’t have the quality to break down defences that sit back. Moved the ball far too slowly. It’s times like this afternoon when we do miss a taller striker to give us another option. It’s a fine stadium inside but I didn’t enjoy being in it. Kind of souless. Chalk and cheese with Tuesday night.

Train from London is my preference but we’ve decided the risk is too great of being herded onto the Southampton train or otherwise missing the train back to London so we’re driving to Southampton and getting the train from there.

They may think so but they’re deluded.

I don’t care how we win as long as we win. The result is the only thing that counts in this match.

The club didn’t deliver the players Hughes wanted to sign, so maybe not complacency.

Just about sums up them up. Yet again, normal rules don’t apply. They ought to be embarrassed.

Stuck in the middle of a field? It’s on the edge of the South Downs, an area of outstanding natural beauty. Didn’t you notice? This accounts for the design of the stadium. As said above, free public transport is no hardship. Brighton’s a really good away day.

The mugs got mugged. Again.

Selling almost the last of our quality does not seem like a sensible thing to do. It would be consistent with the approach that’s got us into this mess. Better we change to a manager who knows how to get our wing backs forward to provide early low crosses, the kind that Bertrand has the ability to provide.

The concourse is busy and largely open to the elements. This one’s a very well known pub but have to say I haven’t been there for many years. https://www.dovehammersmith.co.uk

If still available Wellington saint please email sssaints121@gmail.com

Good pub but gets rammed on match days. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bricklayer%27s_Arms,_Putney

Good on you Sydney Saint. Sadly, I fear you are wasting your time with some of these people.