Kingsbridge Saint

In possession behaves like he's trying to manage a shopping trolley with a wobbly wheel. Last night was about as effective as an empty crisp packet blowing around Goodison. If we're a bit short on players, give a traffic cone a chance.

Think its the end of the shirt arm for offside now. In which case its unprofessional for Saints to allow Che out with long sleeves.

In the end McCarthy faced 8 shots. 7 of them hit the back of the net. Two were disallowed, 1 save. Thats absolutely abysmal.

5 shots, 5 times in the back of the net. 2 disallowed for offside. Gifting them chances with the high line and a keeper that can’t save shots. Horrific.

4 shots. 4 times in the back of the net. We’d be better off playing with a cone in goal and an extra midfielder.

McCarthy. 3 shots. Ball in the back of the net 3 times. Does he do saves?

That's going to look like 3 points dropped later in the season. Never any joy opening day with Saints. It's like a disease.

Everyone was on it today. All showed they belong at this level. Ings a proper 9.5 performance. Vesty a revelation, Smallbone looks a gem. What a hit by JWP. Players deserve all the plaudits after that one. Superb.

Fair comments by the OP I feel, lots of us have had experiences like this that influence our emotional response, me included. However, we all have a duty to think about the oppression the black community feel and what we can do about it from the perspective of our own unconscious bias, but this is very definitely a two way street (unconscious bias is rooted in perceptions on both sides) and the way the media are ramming the BLM agenda down everyone's throats is just creating more division. George Floyd might have been a lowlife bum, part-time criminal and a nasty piece of work but didn't deserve to die the way he did. Taking a knee disrespects the approach your country is taking towards improving the lives of black people. It's two fingers to Society effectively saying sod the flag, sod the country, we are taking things into our own hands. It's unnecessarily aggressive, particularly with the fist in the air, and just encourages the more unhinged elements on both sides to stick the boot in. Time it stopped and the focus went back onto actions that are going to fix things - more opportunities across the board for BAME and for Gods sake, something needs to be done about the epidemic of single parent families (black and white) as that is the root cause of so much poverty and crime. The knee has to stop, as does the violence, to be replaced by actions that will actually make a difference.

I'd be hooking McCarthy for that shocking performance. No reason not to - Gunn lost his place for a similarly crap performance. When you are borderline good enough for the Prem you can''t throw complacency in the mix and get away with it. Same reason Hoj gets dropped. Bring in Romeu, or Smallbone if we think he can handle a physical game. Ings and Long up top obviously. A run for Adams against Man City. Scoring against them will do wonders for his confidence. KWP in for Valery is a no brainer, as is Vest for the suspended Stephens. Tight one, we are the better side (when we don't dick around) Watford 1-2 Saints if the right side gets picked and they get at it.

Time to give Hoj a rest. Playing the game at walking pace because you think you are KDB isnt what we need right now. Give Smallbone a run. Give Gunn another run and bench McCarthy for the howler. Gunn stays in if he performs. KWP starts next game.

Much better second half. Made it hard by shooting ourselves in the foot and having to chase the game. Lost point(s) squarely down to Hoj and McCarthy. Sooner they go the better.

No Boufal no party. Hook Hoj.

No idea what we are doing out there. No plan. Making Ralph look like a muppet. Maybe he has got it wrong tactically?

How easy did Hoj and JWP concede possession to Sako there? Powderpuff. Absolute dogshit.

Hoj takes as much blame as McCarthy there. Played it back when he could have played it forward, gave McCarthy the ‘take your time signal’, then called for the ball when Nketia was between him and McCarthy. Idiot. Why go back when you can go forward? Seen enough of that shit at SMS.

Looking forward to this one. All the pressure on Arsenal. And they are in full victim mode at the moment. Can see a feisty encounter like March '88 as they lose their shit again. Hopefully with a different result.

Nice job Steve.

Time to drag Hoj. No interest in going forward. Shit at defensive midfield. Passing woeful. Needs to raise his game two or three levels.

Looking the better side. Kevin Friend looking dangerous when Norwich go forward.

Have Armstrong and Valery ever been introduced to each other?

Two basic errors from players being not good enough for this level cost us the game. Djenepo's second touch send the ball 5 yards ahead of himself when dribbling leading to his lunge - see that all the time from players with poor control. And Valery's first touch - everything about it put him in trouble, his speed to the ball and the fact he needed a second touch to get it under control, and then his strength and spatial awareness following on from the poor first touch. It's not silly errors, some players lack the ability to play at this level, which requires the reasonably consistent execution of basic skills.

Never looked like we believed we could win, or even equalise towards the end. Some weren't even trying to in my opinion. Ralph needs to kick some arse again.

Good reaction after the throwback second half at the weekend. Wasn't expecting that at all. If you were to say a Premier League side threw away a 2 goal lead in the last minute of stoppage time this evening it would surely have been us. Got to feel sorry for Everton. Maybe not.

That's about mentality, and in the heat of battle you expect the captain to manage this. We have a very weak captain.