kyle04

Nice to see some good passing combinations in our midfield when we broke up their play, we looked like a proper football team yesterday. Chelsea are work in progress for sure, but to win well away against a top 4 side is a fantastic achievement. I had my doubts with two virtual rookies up front but they did us proud, I'd like to see Adams start with Ings v Palace and hopefully get his 1st goal. Two great goals, and for all Chelsea's possession McCarthy only had a couple of routine saves to make. Palace will be a different test, we need to play with tempo and keep Mr Zaha quiet....

Diplomacy at its finest, but ordinary people have the right to speak out. The biggest superpower ever was called out over Guantanamo for instance, even in the face of Islamic terrorism spreading across the world, but the US is a democracy, generally. But these days money talks the loudest. Africa plundered, cheap replica shirts made in Asian sweatshops, military hardware sold to facist dictators, gas and oil bought from Russian gangsters, the list goes on. Its easy to make a stand when theres little or nothing to lose ( Aparthied in South Africa for instance), but since the western world virtually handed over it's manufacturing base to China over the past 20 years very few governments will want to step on their toes.

Another toothless display at home, against a very poor WHU team I have to say. PEH was woeful in particular, the rest little better, Ings aside who was the only player who looked like he wanted to win the game. It was difficult for the crowd to get behind the team at all yesterday given what was on display. The team clearly is not improving at all and now seem unable to do the basics. There was no movement anywhere, no-one making themselves space to receive a pass, virtually no wing play and crosses. We had a few mini breaks with JWP advancing with the ball, only to check back on the half way line, and yes, a sideways or backward pass losing all momentum. It's not ideal but we need Romeau and Armstrong in the midfield. I've admired Redmond over the years but he needs to be benched for a while. Cedric need to be told he's not a right winger as he was caught miles up the field on a few occasions. And with but 2 mins of normal time left on comes Adams FFS. What a mess. But for VAR the margin would have been more, Antonio bullied us all game but he is a handful. The season is approaching the half way point and we look like genuine relegation candidates. The only game we looked comfortable in was Newcastle, and we still managed to lose that. The past 3 years have been a shambles, our best talent allowed to leave and the replacements not good enough to get a game, and the money has now run out. We have a manager who consistently picks under-performing players and who has little tactical ability at this level (which isn't that great really, a handful of teams aside the PL is pretty average at the moment). As has been said, if we can't splash out on new players we need 2 dedicated coaches and a reliable No.2 for RH at least, to give him and the team a chance.

Oh yeah, forgot. My bad. The game I just watched must have been a dream. Cedric is the bad apple amongst the golden orchard of the current SFC squad. I thought he tried hard today, supporting well in attack and a good effort on goal. Our potential replacements are little better, apparently...

Unlucky to lose today IMO, two cr*p teams , one got the breaks the other one didn't. Cedric again getting stick, thought he did OK today overall. Gave away free kick that led (indirectly) to their equalier, but Carrolls speculative hoof cross could have gone anywhere, just happened to land on the onrushing Shelvys bonce, difficult to defend when the attacker has the momentum, McCarthy no chance. Don't think any of the lads played badly, Redders seems to have gone into his blind alley mode lately though. Long did his job as usual, particularly first half, won many headers from our long ball tactic, shame we couldn't build more effectively in their final 3rd. JWP good with dead ball delivery, becoming more reliable in that department. Ings clinical, a class act. A frustrating defeat yes, but playing quite well lately given our limitations. West Ham massive now.

Ideally the lad needs a run of games, but we don't have the luxury of fielding a player who RH thinks isn't up to it (this goes for what he sees in training also). Ings is a nailed on starter and Long at the moment is a reliable , if limited, partner up front. Having said that I would like to see Adams start a few games, with the option of Long later in the game. We have bigger problems elsewhere on the pitch for sure, and may end up with another Carillo scenario and yet more money wasted. I say give him half a dozen games in front of Ings, raise his confidence and match fitness and see what happens. We may yet nurture a player we can sell to Liverpool in a couple of seasons....

For me the biggest disappointment regarding JWP is the lack of progress. He hasn't really improved much over the last 3 years. He does offer something to the team, many seem to think it's not enough, but in reality you could say that of most of our players. It's rare these days to have a local lad in the starting line up on a regular basis. He has won us games with free kicks which we have to be grateful for. We forget how to play football at SMS it seems, until we are losing and make hopeful subs. TBH we have a very average squad, with a few PL quality players mingled in. Boufal was excellent yesterday, some of his footwork was breathtaking and he is one of the few players who can create chances when the team seems to be floundering, as they were yesterday. Yes Watford weren't as open as Arsenal and seem doomed, but our midfield was static and devoid of ideas. I think Norwich will be a similar game and we will do well to win that based on yesterdays showing. Still, 3 scrappy points is most welcome, it may be the platform for our assault on the top 4 ??

Should be interesting, the 2 poorest teams in the PL battling to avoid the wooden spoon. We may score, they certainly will going on current (3 years) home form. 1-2 defeat. RH sacked, Mourinho appointed after shock sacking from Spurs. Forced to buy new players from his own bulging pockets after Goa belatedly tells him the cupboard is bare. The rest is history... in 3 years Kane appears on the Saintsweb forum header just after he lifts the PL trophy. I have a dream....

Regardless of reputation, our last 2 games have been against teams totally out of form. This is the season we go down I believe, its been coming for the last 3 years or more. The players in this SFC side just cant do their jobs for 90 minutes, and RH's decisions continue to backfire. Another game we "should have got more from" sure, but we never do lately and that's not coincidence. Romeau was interviewed in the press this week and one comment he made sums it up, in a nutshell ".. if I was a better player I would be elsewhere..." . On paper a good result today, but we all know the f*** ups are coming against watford and norwich, just like the post Citeh capitulation against Everton. We are going down, we deserve to. The club is a shambles from top to bottom.

....... the board meetings would have to be held in the stadium ....

As we can all see, despite a promising start to RH's SFC career, the team has decended into a complete shambles. Our last 2 home games we have conceded well over 40 goal attempts by the opposition. Leicester are a good side for sure, very good and top 4/6 candidates, but to be outplayed by a struggling Everton side at home shows what a mess we are in. I bet every manager under pressure in the PL must relish a trip to SMS at the moment. I have supported RH but lately I have to question everything about his management - player selection/positioning, tactics, man management and general demeaner. The players must take some blame for sure but I believe we have a squad good enough to stay up - just. There's no consistency whatsoever, a PL match is an intense unforgiving environment where every player needs to focused, organised and confident in his team mates. This can't happen when players are chopped and changed week in week out. I fear the worst this season...

Maybe nothing in it but Wenger spotted at a Southampton hotel today.....

..... highlighted by the goal attempts column, 25 I believe. Thats one every 4 minutes for the entire game. You would expect that playing Man City away maybe, which we now face twice. Despite our poor start to the season nobody saw this coming however, I expected a meek defeat yes. Compare that display to some other games this weekend - Palace 2 down at Arsenal and getting battered, fought back to 2-2. Burnley 4 down, kept going got 2 back and kept the fans onside. The mental scars of this defeat will last a very long time for the fans,far less so for the players who have demonstrated beyond all doubt that they have no pride in the club, the shirt or themselves as professional sportsman. To be simply not good enough at this level is somewhat forgivable, in which case blame would lie elsewhere in them being on the pitch, but a nine goal hammering which could have been more shows a complete breakdown which could take a very long time to rectify.

Well unlike the previous 2 managers, despite a similar stuttering start to the season, I do believe in Ralph. He has tried a few different options, some have failed and cost us points, thats football, I think if a tactic or selection isn't working he will alter it, not always successfully but at least we have someone willing to try different options until it gels. We may still not yet have the personel to achieve what we all want, time will tell. Djanepo has been a revelation, Adams has not so far despite a fair run in the team. We've had good wins so far, gave the European champions and the runners up a run for their money, and gave the Skates a bloody nose on their own turf. Chin up chaps, we will be OK.

The lack of a prawn sandwich option swung it for me....

This would in theory be a reasonable idea if there was a genuine and persistent problem, which there isn't and never has been in my 40 years of watching SFC. The emphasis seems to be on racist behaviour (what-do-ya-know), which I haven't personally witnessed in a long time at a game. The days of pre and post match mass brawls and throwing bananas onto the pitch are generally long gone in this country. This may well extend to abusing referees, in which case SMS should be half empty next game after Mariners performance yesterday....

We could have scored 2 or 3 but 1-2 flattered us a little overall I thought. LFC didn't start playing until an hour in, and you could see the moral draining from the players as the half went on. The Adrian glft pepped us up (and the crowd) and should have nicked a point at the end. Liverpool looked jaded for much of the game, but the gulf in class showed. Defensive errors for both their goals, Mane's less so it was a superb strike but should have been closed down better. Positives : Good attitude, subs made a difference, Armstrong and Djanepo looked lively and caused them problems. Didn't receive the spanking many were fearing. Negatives : Usual defensive errors, midfield sluggish, not clinical enough with the chances we created.

I would say no one on this forum enjoys a post match rant at yet another SFC f*** up. The sense of anger and frustration is part of being a "fan" as well as the COYS optimism. In general SFC fans are loyal but realistic, we expect better than the last 3 years but know the limitations of our club. To demand a top 10+ finish every season is unrealistic as recent history has proved. Leicester will never win the PL again. However to see attractive competative football and character from our lads is not an unreasonable expectation.

To be fair Gunn faced effectively 3 one-on-ones with our defense nowhere, the shots were well struck and accurate. How many times has a striker shot through the keepers legs?

I'd be surprised if LFC don't score at least 2, anything more than a defeat is a dream given what they achieved last season and the enormous gulf in class. The days when we could upset a big club at home (I mean the Dell) are a distant memory. The team clearly aren't up to speed yet to play a pressing game which may disrupt their flow, and with BHA and UTD to follow moral could fall off quite rapidly if we end up with nothing from 4 games. Our error prone defense needs addressing ASAP, else it's gonna be another long depressing season.

Both teams looked S**t to be fair, typical 1st game rustiness, difficult conditions etc etc. Burnley took advantage of our ingrained inability to defend properly, but all over the pitch we were very poor. Our passing was woeful and no ideas up front front. I would say a few difficult games coming up, but on this showing every game is gonna be hard. There was nothing whatsoever to give any optimism for this season.

I think one aspect that seems to have faded from our game is ball possession, not for the sake of it but if you're leading with 5 minutes to go it helps. Free kicks and throw ins can be won and eat up the time. We just seem to sit back generally and invite the pressure, although there is little choice against the likes of Man City etc. We cannot seem to keep the ball for long, give it away at virtually every throw in (another trait which needs addressing), or make misplaced passes in dangerous areas. In short we panic when in sight of a tight win.

Was at the match, good game of football despite both sides defensive frailties. Thought Ings looked slightly either unfit or tired, particularly 2nd half. Redmond scared the life out of their defenders but finishing poor, but you cant always hit the top corner from 20+ yards. JWP, Hoj solid, Valery did well again, improving with every game. Centre backs shaky when they attacked. Good switch by Ralph for 2nd half with Bertie in the middle. Targett got his goal but isn't PL standard yet. Armstrong error led to their 3rd, but it was still a 2 v 4 situation. Bournemouth played well in patches to be fair, and their finishing was clinical. Considering where we were with Hughes we can't complain too much, anyone would have taken safe with 2 games to spare. We've picked up points against 4 of the top 6 and picked up 29pts in 20 games (not counting Cardiff away), versus 12 pts in 16 games under Hughes. If we continue in that vein next season we'll finish top 10 easily. Don't think we need a mass clear out, but I think around 6 players need improvement or replacing, say Austin, Stephens, Moi, Long, Targett, and Forster needs to go outright. Another look at Boufal may be useful as well.

cheers !

Anyone found a stream yet ...?