Saints vs Blackpool - Post Match Reaction

[Topcat]

The biggest concern before the season started was that our team was too light wieght and lacked height. That remains our biggest concern.

 

Where is the hard man in midfield who can break up attacks and impose himself?

 

I pray that Jan can inspire Wayne Thomas to be the dominating CB he used to be.

[Micky]

Just back, can't believe that poor imitation of officiating the bloke in the middle (I think he was supposed to be the ref) was doing. I thought we played well in the first half and with a little more luck would have been 2 or 3 up at the break. As it was we conceded the penalty, looked very harsh from right in front of me where I was sat. 2nd half we didn't play as well. Partly because they were picking up bookings and you could see them getting more and more annoyed with the ref. Even so, we were creating chances and I was convinced the goal would come for us, wasn't to be though.

 

Really can't believe we've just lost that, we didn't deserve to.

 

I can't beleive that people want to blame the officials...!!

 

That poor imitation of officiating the bloke in the middle is the same bloke (along with his fellow officials) who stopped us getting trounced 4 nil - by making the right decisions.

 

As for the penalty, I accept that you were there and I was not, however - the first time I saw it I thought it was a 'stone waller', Sky replayed it and it was still a 'stone waller', they then replayed it again - and strangly it was still a 'stone waller'. If that happened in our box and he didn't give it - I would love to see your argument then.

 

We had an off day, the lads tried hard, but go look at the MOTM thread - you only have to see the 'by a mile' leader to see that we never turned up at the races today.

 

Let's take it in good grace eh - put your hands up to Blackpool - but lets not blame the officials.

[Legod Second Coming]

Let's dismiss all bad games in such a manner and respond to victories with "we will walk this league", eh ?

 

Jesus.

 

We were poor.

 

Of course, I knew you would revel in that...

[the scud]

Davis - 8 Some great saves especially in second half, tipping it on the post, great save! Well done Kev.

 

James - 4 I've said from the beginning that i have never rated this kid and today my point was yet again proven. Struggled against Hammill gave him all the room in the world to wip in a cross and he often got very confused when he had the ball with a Blackpool player behind him and he even fancied having a shot against Kev in first half! We need to sign a right back!

 

Svensson - 7 Had a ok game made some good tackles as usual, however he did collide with Perry a few times when going for the same ball

 

Perry - 7 Same as Svensson done well but collided with Svensson when going for the same ball leaving James or Surman (mainly James) to deal with the ball if the header didn't have any height or power.

 

Surman - 6 All i can say he is not a left back. This kid loves to create an attacking move and to do that he must get foward, but once that move breaks down and Blackpoool were on the attack, Svensson had to deal with the left back postion while Surman was slowly but surley making his way to left back. Maybe in furture put Cork at left back, Surman left mid and Holmes right mid.

 

Holmes - 8.5 My man of the match. Ran at defenders constantly, full of pace put in some lovley crosses from the left and right, shame that their was no one with real height waiting in the box

 

Lallana - 8 Another lad just like Holmes who put in 100% effort all the way through the match very unlucky with the two clearances of line in first half that would of killed Blackpool off. Well done Lallana will be a great player in furture.

 

Gillett - 4 Very very poor! Jan done the right thing taking him off for John maybe should of made the switch little bit earlier. The passing was terrible usally Gillett is a passing expert and i personally think he was our player of the month but now i think he has to go to Lallana. However, as stated on Radio Hampshire, Gillett was probably tired but that was really below par for Gillett.

 

Schneiderlin - 5 I expected this lad to have a good game today, I was wrong! Where was he today? Very quiet game, however did like his bit of skill in second half just before he was subbed.

 

White - 3.5 Well, first of all what a silly penalty to give away, we had four men behind that ball and the crossing from Blackpool in first half was poor and it wouldn't of lead to any thing, from what i saw, White was very quiet not experienced enough to play first team yet maybe another season in reserves?

 

McGoldrick - 6 Full as energy as usual and wants to play for club and not for the wages, however, i felt that he was very selfish at times and tried to take every player on before trying to walk the ball in the net. Maybe we should see what he is like if we partner him up with Perkhart.

 

Subs:

 

Dyer - 6 This lad added some excitement into the game dashing down the right wing but he drags the ball to far all the way down to the line and then struggled to whip in a cross.

 

John - 6.5 Looked good when he came on had some chances, mainly headers in the space of 15 minutes. Just imagine if he started from kick off?

 

Wotton - 4 Didnt realise he was on the pitch.

[The Godfather]

Same old problems playing against a side who play one up front and five in midfield, struggled to break them down and they always looked dangerous going forward. But the younger players will have learn quickly from this game.

[Minty]

Lol... sorry but yet again we have some people making comments as though today was the only game we've played and that it's how we're going to play for the next ten.

 

Criticism is most definately valid for today's performance, but to think that we cannot improve on it or that we've reached our 'peak' is silly IMO. Plus, I think there is a certain irony in that we were berating some quarters of the press for not recognising how well we played vs Derby and Brum, with so much focus on how poor they played, and here we are IMO, doing Blackpool a disservice because I thought they played very well and deserve a lot of the credit.

 

A few players had poor games, which contributes massively to the team effort given that our game is based around keeping the ball moving around. We still tried to play the right way but wasted possession too much and we need to learn from that. I agree that subs should've been made earlier but, as usual, some of the sweeping comments and criticisms lose sight of the bigger picture IMO.

 

Today was a harsh lesson and has raised numerous learning points. It does not mean we're going to be relegated, it does not mean 'we're sh*te', it does not make Gillett and Schneiderlin 'lightweight'... it is just one poor game that needs to be judged as such alongside all others.

 

The team have set higher standards for themselves and I have no doubt that they realise they did not meet them today. They put the effort in and so I feel it would be churlish to criticise them too much as they tried to do the right things, but today it didn't work. I still found it entertaining and much prefer what I'm seeing to last season. Lets use the break wisely, get a rest, regroup and then get back on it at QPR.

[Legod Second Coming]

Lol... sorry but yet again we have some people making comments as though today was the only game we've played and that it's how we're going to play for the next ten.

 

Criticism is most definately valid for today's performance, but to think that we cannot improve on it or that we've reached our 'peak' is silly IMO. Plus, I think there is a certain irony in that we were berating some quarters of the press for not recognising how well we played vs Derby and Brum, with so much focus on how poor they played, and here we are IMO, doing Blackpool a disservice because I thought they played very well and deserve a lot of the credit.

 

A few players had poor games, which contributes massively to the team effort given that our game is based around keeping the ball moving around. We still tried to play the right way but wasted possession too much and we need to learn from that. I agree that subs should've been made earlier but, as usual, some of the sweeping comments and criticisms lose sight of the bigger picture IMO.

 

Today was a harsh lesson and has raised numerous learning points. It does not mean we're going to be relegated, it does not mean 'we're sh*te', it does not make Gillett and Schneiderlin 'lightweight'... it is just one poor game that needs to be judged as such alongside all others.

 

The team have set higher standards for themselves and I have no doubt that they realise they did not meet them today. They put the effort in and so I feel it would be churlish to criticise them too much as they tried to do the right things, but today it didn't work. I still found it entertaining and much prefer what I'm seeing to last season. Lets use the break wisely, get a rest, regroup and then get back on it at QPR.

 

Good grief. You're on the wrong messageboard. No room for consideration, sensibility and contemplation on here. Off with you man...

[alpine_saint]

Lol... sorry but yet again we have some people making comments as though today was the only game we've played and that it's how we're going to play for the next ten.

 

Criticism is most definately valid for today's performance, but to think that we cannot improve on it or that we've reached our 'peak' is silly IMO. Plus, I think there is a certain irony in that we were berating some quarters of the press for not recognising how well we played vs Derby and Brum, with so much focus on how poor they played, and here we are IMO, doing Blackpool a disservice because I thought they played very well and deserve a lot of the credit.

 

A few players had poor games, which contributes massively to the team effort given that our game is based around keeping the ball moving around. We still tried to play the right way but wasted possession too much and we need to learn from that. I agree that subs should've been made earlier but, as usual, some of the sweeping comments and criticisms lose sight of the bigger picture IMO.

 

Today was a harsh lesson and has raised numerous learning points. It does not mean we're going to be relegated, it does not mean 'we're sh*te', it does not make Gillett and Schneiderlin 'lightweight'... it is just one poor game that needs to be judged as such alongside all others.

 

The team have set higher standards for themselves and I have no doubt that they realise they did not meet them today. They put the effort in and so I feel it would be churlish to criticise them too much as they tried to do the right things, but today it didn't work. I still found it entertaining and much prefer what I'm seeing to last season. Lets use the break wisely, get a rest, regroup and then get back on it at QPR.

 

How about the way we lost against Cardiff and Brum after starting brightly and then being bullied out of the game ?

 

It is NOT a one-off. It is a developing trend.

[ALWAYS_SFC]

Actually, we didn't need a Plan B.

 

We simply needed to play better.

 

We were poor.

 

What was your Plan B - rolling out Ronaldo??

 

We were poor. What part of that is not to get??

 

There's no need to start disecting it to discover the problems. No need to start yet another monotonous and ill-conceived witch-hunt. And certainly NO need to change the passing game which until today was working well. We simply didn't employ it today!

 

Blackpool played exactly as Birmingham did.

 

On Tuesday we were good. Today we were not.

 

That's how it goes some times. I hate it. You hate it. No-one is to blame because eveyone is to blame.

 

The manager said: We will lose and we have to LEARN from losing.

 

Well today we learned that we cannot enter the arena and expect to be GIFTED a win. We have to work harder, train harder and keep doing what we do well, and simply get better at it. IMHO

 

What we needed to do today once our passing game was becoming ineffective and had been sussed by Blackpool was to be able to switch our methods a little by perhaps employing two up top as we were losing, not just shuffle a few around into the same set up that was clearly not working, and why put a defensive midfielder(Wotton) on for an attacking one when we needed a goal?

 

I just seems we will play pretty football all the time, don`t get me wrong i like it but we have nothing else to change to if it does not work...that is what i mean by needing a PLAN B

Edited 30 August, 2008 by ALWAYS_SFC

[alpine_saint]

We were poor.

 

Of course, I knew you would revel in that...

 

Here we go. Anyone daring to point out the bloody obvious is delighted we lost.

 

Can you simply not handle other people having different opinions ?

[Legod Second Coming]

How about the way we lost against Cardiff and Brum after starting brightly and then being bullied out of the game ?

 

It is NOT a one-off. It is a developing trend.

 

Says a man who has seen NONE of it... yawn...

[alpine_saint]

What we needed to do today once our passing game was becoming ineffective and had been sussed by Blackpool was to be able to switch our methods a little by perhaps employing two up top as we were losing not just shuffle a few around into the same set up that was clearly not working, and why put a defensive midfielder(Wotton) on for an attacking one when we needed a goal?

 

I just seems we will play pretty football all the time don`t get me wrong i like it but have nothing else to change to if it does not work...that is what i mean by needindg a PLAN B

 

F**king A.

 

Spot On.

[alpine_saint]

Says a man who has seen NONE of it... yawn...

 

Ah yes.

 

Standard Dismissive Retort #2.

 

Still, let's hear more about how you refuse to see the bleeding obvious.

[OldNick]

How about the way we lost against Cardiff and Brum after starting brightly and then being bullied out of the game ?

 

It is NOT a one-off. It is a developing trend.

yeah a last minute goal at Cardiff is being bullied out of the game.

Alpine you were nowhere last week, you do yourself no favours coming on to Whine when we lose but disappear aftre a good result.

[View From The Top]

How about the way we lost against Cardiff and Brum after starting brightly and then being bullied out of the game ?

 

It is NOT a one-off. It is a developing trend.

 

Whilst Thrush is an appropriate name for you, on this occasion, you are correct.

[Legod Second Coming]

Here we go. Anyone daring to point out the bloody obvious is delighted we lost.

 

Can you simply not handle other people having different opinions ?

 

 

If a man wandered up to me in the street and told me that the moon was made of 'I Can't Believe it's not Butter' I would give him EXACTLY the same credence as I'm giving you...

 

Satisfied?

[Rebel]

Firstly Blackpool gave us a right old 1-0 thrashing - 4 times they got the ball across our goal line and we didn't do it even once

 

saying that both McGoldrick and Lallana should have scored today - and on top of that I counted 4 occassions when a Saints players should have taken a shot but passed instead. Lallana should have scored in the first half - but he was far too casual with the goal at his mercy

 

Gillett had a bad game today - but lets not forget he was our best player against Brum City on Tuesday

 

Killer had a terrible game - both on the floor and in the air - there's no way he's is going to be our defensive kingpin this season

 

Where were Cork and Pekhart? They would have made all the difference today - some pace at the back and a centre forward leading the line

 

Also have to say Thomas and Cork probably would have made a better centre back pairing than Killer and Perry today

 

and when and where are we going two get a right back and a left back to allow Surman and James to play in midfield where they belong?!?!

 

I think Saints thought they'd walk this game and paid the price for that attitude

 

I hope Jamie White's confidence hasn't been destroyed by giving away the penalty and getting substituted

 

Jan made his first big mistakes today - in the team selection and in his substitutions

[alpine_saint]

If a man wandered up to me in the street and told me that the moon was made of 'I Can't Believe it's not Butter' I would give him EXACTLY the same credence as I'm giving you...

 

Satisfied?

 

Fortunately, you are not the judge of valid opinion on this site, self-appointed or not.

[derry]

And Blackpool had 3 goals disallowed, and came close about 3 other times, I've read.

 

Jesus, some fans need to wake up and tune into Reality FM.

 

Offsides/ handball/ foul on the goalkeeper. The Linesman had his flag up before the ball hit the net.

 

Maybe going to the match and watching again recorded match beats sitting in Austria.

 

Getting sarcastic with people that have seen the matches shows a consistent level of stupidity. All you know is devided opinion on here much of it from people who, like you, never see a live match. Ok it was on Tv today and it was a pretty entertaining match. Sky commentators sounded impressed. They havent seen us playing well.

 

In fact for the last half hour Blackpool played on the break, packing their defence, with even Svennson up front for the last 10 mins.

[Minty]

How about the way we lost against Cardiff and Brum after starting brightly and then being bullied out of the game ?

 

It is NOT a one-off. It is a developing trend.

 

I did not say it was a one-off, I said it is one game in many... including the poor ones AND the good ones. You seem to forget the two games in the middle where we clearly improved on those things and won. So any trend that was developing, was quite clearly worked on and put right at that point. Today we lost for different reasons... we had too many players playing poorly, individuals not reaching their previously high standards AND opposition who played well to take advantage of our shortcomings.

 

My point however, was more about not using this one game to judge everything on, just as I fully agreed we should not judge ourselves on our wins.

[Legod Second Coming]

Ah yes.

 

Standard Dismissive Retort #2.

 

Still, let's hear more about how you refuse to see the bleeding obvious.

 

You sir, cannot comment on HOW we played and what we NEED to do if you do not SEE what happens??

 

We have had this argument before.

 

People who were in Camden High Street last night will not be called as witnesses to a crime committed in Worthing because they 'heard about it'.

 

FWIW, a PLAN B would have been as much use today as a jellyfish in a tennis match because of one simple fact.

 

We played CRAP.

 

So go and open a nice chilled Chablis and give yourself a round of applause. Today for once you are right. We were poor.

 

Congratufeckinglations.

[alpine_saint]

Offsides/ handball/ foul on the goalkeeper. The Linesman had his flag up before the ball hit the net.

 

Maybe going to the match and watching again recorded match beats sitting in Austria.

 

Getting sarcastic with people that have seen the matches shows a consistent level of stupidity. All you know is devided opinion on here much of it from people who, like you, never see a live match. Ok it was on Tv today and it was a pretty entertaining match. Sky commentators sounded impressed. They havent seen us playing well.

 

In fact for the last half hour Blackpool played on the break, packing their defence, with even Svennson up front for the last 10 mins.

 

Keep those excuses going. Someone has to..

[Whitey Grandad]

Firstly Blackpool gave us a right old 1-0 thrashing - 4 times they got the ball across our goal line and we didn't do it even once

 

saying that both McGoldrick and Lallana should have scored today - and on top of that I counted 4 occassions when a Saints players should have taken a shot but passed instead. Lallana should have scored in the first half - but he was far too casual with the goal at his mercy

 

Gillett had a bad game today - but lets not forget he was our best player against Brum City on Tuesday

 

Killer had a terrible game - both on the floor and in the air - there's no way he's is going to be our defensive kingpin this season

 

Where were Cork and Pekhart? They would have made all the difference today - some pace at the back and a centre forward leading the line

 

Also have to say Thomas and Cork probably would have made a better centre back pairing than Killer and Perry today

 

and when and where are we going two get a right back and a left back to allow Surman and James to play in midfield where they belong?!?!

 

I think Saints thought they'd walk this game and paid the price for that attitude

 

I hope Jamie White's confidence hasn't been destroyed by giving away the penalty and getting substituted

 

Jan made his first big mistakes today - in the team selection and in his substitutions

A fair summary IMO.

[Minty]

Jan made his first big mistakes today - in the team selection and in his substitutions

 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing... the exact same starting line-up played very well at Derby and won, and earned their starting places IMO.

[alpine_saint]

You sir, cannot comment on HOW we played and what we NEED to do if you do not SEE what happens??

 

We have had this argument before.

 

People who were in Camden High Street last night will not be called as witnesses to a crime committed in Worthing because they 'heard about it'.

 

FWIW, a PLAN B would have been as much use today as a jellyfish in a tennis match because of one simple fact.

 

We played CRAP.

 

So go and open a nice chilled Chablis and give yourself a round of applause. Today for once you are right. We were poor.

 

Congratufeckinglations.

 

Wow, you really need to grow up a bit.....

[Legod Second Coming]

Firstly Blackpool gave us a right old 1-0 thrashing - 4 times they got the ball across our goal line and we didn't do it even once

 

saying that both McGoldrick and Lallana should have scored today - and on top of that I counted 4 occassions when a Saints players should have taken a shot but passed instead. Lallana should have scored in the first half - but he was far too casual with the goal at his mercy

 

Gillett had a bad game today - but lets not forget he was our best player against Brum City on Tuesday

 

Killer had a terrible game - both on the floor and in the air - there's no way he's is going to be our defensive kingpin this season

 

Where were Cork and Pekhart? They would have made all the difference today - some pace at the back and a centre forward leading the line

 

Also have to say Thomas and Cork probably would have made a better centre back pairing than Killer and Perry today

 

and when and where are we going two get a right back and a left back to allow Surman and James to play in midfield where they belong?!?!

 

I think Saints thought they'd walk this game and paid the price for that attitude

 

I hope Jamie White's confidence hasn't been destroyed by giving away the penalty and getting substituted

 

Jan made his first big mistakes today - in the team selection and in his substitutions

 

 

That's exactly what it looked like from the off. We didn't press the way we did against Birmingham in both games. We looked to 'at ease with ourselves'.

 

Like I said earlier, today was the first game we were actually expected to win.

 

And that might be what found them out.

[Guest Hacienda]

Wow, you really need to grow up a bit.....

 

Said Mr Pot to Mr Kettle.

[Legod Second Coming]

Wow, you really need to grow up a bit.....

 

 

I'll chalk that up as a win and move onto someone with something constructive to offer...

[derry]

I can't beleive that people want to blame the officials...!!

 

That poor imitation of officiating the bloke in the middle is the same bloke (along with his fellow officials) who stopped us getting trounced 4 nil - by making the right decisions.

 

As for the penalty, I accept that you were there and I was not, however - the first time I saw it I thought it was a 'stone waller', Sky replayed it and it was still a 'stone waller', they then replayed it again - and strangly it was still a 'stone waller'. If that happened in our box and he didn't give it - I would love to see your argument then.

 

We had an off day, the lads tried hard, but go look at the MOTM thread - you only have to see the 'by a mile' leader to see that we never turned up at the races today.

 

Let's take it in good grace eh - put your hands up to Blackpool - but lets not blame the officials.

 

As you saw the Tv you will have seen the push on Mc Goldrick which made him collide with the keeper and the ball then cleared off the line. I've since seen it on the box and it was a definite penalty. The Tv showed that their penalty was absolutely correct.

[alpine_saint]

yeah a last minute goal at Cardiff is being bullied out of the game.

Alpine you were nowhere last week, you do yourself no favours coming on to Whine when we lose but disappear aftre a good result.

 

After a period of rising pressure.....

 

As for this issue of me not being present after a win, I've been on holiday this week for the first time in 9 months after a f**king awful emigration and house sale, and stressful job start so needed to spend some time with my family.

 

I cannot be held responsible for when Saints teams decide to turn up and play football or not. Nevertheless, I came on here as soon as I could to compliment the team on their victories, which you would be able to verify if you got off your arse long enough to check the posts on the post-match reaction threads.

 

I am sick to f**king death of this baiting about my attendance and posting, and have complained about this deliberate provocation this time.

[ALWAYS_SFC]

You sir, cannot comment on HOW we played and what we NEED to do if you do not SEE what happens??

 

We have had this argument before.

 

People who were in Camden High Street last night will not be called as witnesses to a crime committed in Worthing because they 'heard about it'.

 

FWIW, a PLAN B would have been as much use today as a jellyfish in a tennis match because of one simple fact.

 

[U]We played CRAP.[/u]

So go and open a nice chilled Chablis and give yourself a round of applause. Today for once you are right. We were poor.

 

Congratufeckinglations.

 

We were crap because plan a was not working but to say we would have still been crap reverting to plan b is crazy, how do you know we would have remained crap?

 

Many teams change things because the current manner of play is not working and do on some occasions go on to win after doing so,but as we seem to not have a alternative strategy i doubt we will ever know.

[Minty]

I thought the officials got most things spot on today and I think the referee was generally very good. I had the benefit of tv replays at the time but he did not and I believe all three officials got the clear majority of decisions correct.

[Minty]

We were crap because plan a was not working but to say we would have still been crap reverting to plan b is crazy, how do you know we would have remained crap?

 

Many teams change things because the current manner of play is not working and do on some occasions go on to win after doing so,but as we seem to not have a alternative strategy i doubt we will ever know.

 

IMO it was individual players, especially Gillett and Schneiderlin, whose below-par performance were main contributors to our poor performances today. They are pivotal to our game in both defence and prompting our attacking play, and conceded possession too much today. Hence, I agree with many that substitutions should've been made earlier, but do not think that it was the tactics that were at fault. As LGSC intimates, it matters not what plan you play to, if individuals are misplacing passes and not on their game, chances are you will still lose.

 

That said, I accept that changing things a bit more may have improved things, but I find it unlikely when key players are not on their game, but it is a possibility. We'll never know though.

[Micky]

As you saw the Tv you will have seen the push on Mc Goldrick which made him collide with the keeper and the ball then cleared off the line. I've since seen it on the box and it was a definite penalty. The Tv showed that their penalty was absolutely correct.

 

Sorry derry - I never saw it - missed the first 30 minutes (damn kids birthday parties...!!) - so I will bow to your better judgement.

 

What I saw of the officiating, I thought was pretty much ok, I certainly don't see how people are blaming the officials for a game which we lost one nil when most are agreeing that Kelvin was MOTM.

[Legod Second Coming]

We were crap because plan a was not working but to say we would have still been crap reverting to plan b is crazy, how do you know we would have remained crap?

 

Many teams change things because the current manner of play is not working and do on some occasions go on to win after doing so,but as we seem to not have a alternative strategy i doubt we will ever know.

 

 

Because the players were not 'AT IT' playing to their strengths.

 

So to suggest that we could have reverted to an alternative plan and seen them 'raise their game' is at best optimistic.

 

Think seriously about this. There are two types of football. Passing and direct.

 

Our style is to retain the ball and aim to find a colleague in a position to receive it, good, neat play aimed at opening up teams.

 

The Plan B you postulate must be to hit the ball long and hope it runs for you?

 

Since the former is a much higher percentage game, it stands to reason it's most likely to work, surely??

 

And, as we saw, when we did try to go direct we simply lost our way.

 

If there was an error today it was in the personnel, not the plan (in my view) as Gillet had a poor game by recent standards and gave the ball away too often, with a result that we simply lost the midfield.

 

So if you're view is Plan B is substitutions, then yes I guess I would agree with you.

 

But people bandy PLAN B around as though it's a different type of football. Well, you can't have a passing team suddenly lump it - which is what half the people around me wanted.

 

Just as Arsenal will LOSE some games playing really good football. And people will moan, because they think what? That Walcott is more likely to score if the ball is blasted at him from 70 yards through the air?????

 

It's madness I tell you.

 

If we're going to work with a style of play, for once in several decades let's REALLY work at it and make it happen for us, even if that means losing and LEARNING along the way.

[buctootim]

Here we go. Anyone daring to point out the bloody obvious is delighted we lost.

 

Can you simply not handle other people having different opinions ?

 

Trouble is Alpine you don't' really have different opinions. You pretty consistently have the same one and wait for the chance to express it.

[monosaint]

Some may say we were outplayed but I believe we were outsmarted. We did look exposed at the back and that seemed to me becuaes the fullbacks kept going walkabouts and the holding midfielders were not covering.. Having said that we showed some good touches and I did not feel as down as I would have been last season after a 1-0 home defeat.. We had 19 shots on Goal (10 on Target) but I felt we were tring to do an Arsenal and walk it in at times.

[derry]

Keep those excuses going. Someone has to..

 

You really are pathetic. After we won the last two games you hardly posted. Now we lose, you have absolutely no clue how, all you know is the result, yet you are multiple posting trying to stir up reaction. Criticising people who are at the matches makes you look stupid.

 

As far as I'm concerned your opinion is meaningless. I really find your negative match posts, bearing in mind you haven't seen one minute of Saints this season, arrogant in the extreme. Have you ever thought of getting physchiatric help? It must be really awful to be so sad.

[alpine_saint]

You really are pathetic. After we won the last two games you hardly posted. Now we lose, you have absolutely no clue how, all you know is the result, yet you are multiple posting trying to stir up reaction. Criticising people who are at the matches makes you look stupid.

 

As far as I'm concerned your opinion is meaningless. I really find your negative match posts, bearing in mind you haven't seen one minute of Saints this season, arrogant in the extreme. Have you ever thought of getting physchiatric help? It must be really awful to be so sad.

 

Utter, utter crap.

 

Think I will complain about the abuse in this one too.

[Whitey Grandad]

I don't think that Plan A didn't work. It was more a case of not playing it as well as we have been recently. To be fair to him, Gillett never tried to hide and was always looking for the ball. Somehw the zip and verve was missing today.

[ALWAYS_SFC]

Because the players were not 'AT IT' playing to their strengths.

 

So to suggest that we could have reverted to an alternative plan and seen them 'raise their game' is at best optimistic.

 

Think seriously about this. There are two types of football. Passing and direct.

 

Our style is to retain the ball and aim to find a colleague in a position to receive it, good, neat play aimed at opening up teams.

 

The Plan B you postulate must be to hit the ball long and hope it runs for you?

 

Since the former is a much higher percentage game, it stands to reason it's most likely to work, surely??

 

And, as we saw, when we did try to go direct we simply lost our way.

 

If there was an error today it was in the personnel, not the plan (in my view) as Gillet had a poor game by recent standards and gave the ball away too often, with a result that we simply lost the midfield.

 

So if you're view is Plan B is substitutions, then yes I guess I would agree with you.

 

But people bandy PLAN B around as though it's a different type of football. Well, you can't have a passing team suddenly lump it - which is what half the people around me wanted.

 

Just as Arsenal will LOSE some games playing really good football. And people will moan, because they think what? That Walcott is more likely to score if the ball is blasted at him from 70 yards through the air?????

 

It's madness I tell you.

 

If we're going to work with a style of play, for once in several decades let's REALLY work at it and make it happen for us, even if that means losing and LEARNING along the way.

 

Never suggested we lump it as you put it but if the "pretty" football we all love does not work we have to look at alternatives in the way we hold the ball,the way we deliver to the front perhaps but playing "our way" at all costs is not always going to work,we need to be able to mix it up a bit and fwiw i would liked us to go two up front today when i became clear our one up strategy was not working,as to whether it would have worked we will never know but to carry on today in the way we did was dissappointing as the longer the game went on the less effective we became.

[aintforever]

Am I the only person who thinks Kelvin Davis should come out and catch the odd cross?

 

He made some good saves but the rest of his game was non existent as usual IMO.

[derry]

Sorry derry - I never saw it - missed the first 30 minutes (damn kids birthday parties...!!) - so I will bow to your better judgement.

 

What I saw of the officiating, I thought was pretty much ok, I certainly don't see how people are blaming the officials for a game which we lost one nil when most are agreeing that Kelvin was MOTM.

 

The commentators highlighted it and agreed that it was a definite push from behind, and it did stop him getting to the ball. A definite penalty. That's the beauty of Sky Plus. The officials were ok.

[ALWAYS_SFC]

Am I the only person who thinks Kelvin Davis should come out and catch the odd cross?

 

He made some good saves but the rest of his game was non existent as usual IMO.

 

TBH, i remember him coming out and catching at least three

[Weston Saint]

Alpine Saint. Look inside please and you may see yourself as others see you. You have been a bit negative for a while. Some of it may be justified but not all the time.

 

You and I have got on ok in the past and hopefully still will but you need to look at the number of posts criticising your posting views against those supporting them.

 

Ease down on the aggression. If others come back at you with aggression just ingore the post.

 

;)

[derry]

Utter, utter crap.

 

Think I will complain about the abuse in this one too.

 

Fill your boots sunshine, getting pathetic doesn't work either. If you can't take it don't start it.

[Arizona]

derry, alpine, give it a rest.

[derry]

derry, alpine, give it a rest.

 

No problem, I'm finished with him, nothing else to add.

[Michelle]

Gillett, Schneiderlin and Dyer for me were particularly noticable in their lack of involvement. Doesn't make them bad players though, as has been proven in other games this season.

 

We were unlucky not to score in the first half, and bloody lucky that Blackpool were kind enough to illegally put the ball in the back of the net three times!

 

Disappointing, but certainly not disastrous. I won't be losing sleep over today, that's for sure.

[Saintandy666]

Hmmmmm, not too good. Thought we did alright in the first half, and going in at the break, I thought we could come out and win it. However, Blackpool are one of those ****e teams that are good for the championship and lower leagues because they will just muscle teams like us out of it. Our players simply wern't strong enough. Look at Dyers size compared the guy he had to try and beat on the wing. Nearly every time just ran straight into him. Dissapointing.