Saints vs Colchester - Post Match Reaction

[aintforever]

Same old predicatable Saints. Whenever we have a man sent off we go on to lose, When the opposing team have a man sent off, we don't win. Mentality is all wrong at the club, and this needs to be addressed asap otherwise we will be in a relegation battle again.

 

I think this is the sort of attitude which sums up Saints at the moment, we are 11 points adrift of safety, only Tranmere have worse form than us, yet this idiot says "otherwise we will be in a relegation battle again".

 

It's time to wake up - WE ARE IN A RELEGATION BATTLE. The team today was awful, couldn't even beat a 10 man Colchester.

[aintforever]

From what, exactly? They weren't in admin.

 

Bournemeouth are not doing too badley, they've been in admin and havn't been able to spend a penny.

 

Why can Eddie Howe produce a winning team yet Pardew can spend millions but cannot?

[Whitey Grandad]

Never argue with a clean sheet. At least the defence seems to be getting there. If only we had a strike force.....

 

Patterson: go away and learn how to stay onside.

Lallana: go away and find someone else to take the corners.

James: go away and learn that you must never cross the ball from 25 yards deep.

Thomson: go away and don't come back.

[Fitzhugh Fella]

From what, exactly? They weren't in admin.

 

No but they finished below us last season which proves they must have been pretty bad. What happened over their summer? You got to admit it is a fair question.

 

If going into admin is still affecting some of our players then perhaps they need to find a job in civvy street or consult a shrink.

[Saint_clark]

WG, very harsh on Lallana. He was fantastic today, although I agree that someone else MUST take the corners.

[InvictaSaint]

Charlton seemed to have turned things around overnight?

 

Duncan, Parkinson had 20 games in the CCC in which they did not, if memory serves, win a single game. They were preparing for relegation well before the end of last season and have thus hit the ground running this season. Their situation and ours are incomparable. I am not saying that I am overjoyed with what the results - not the performances - have been like to date, but for goodness sake we are trying to build from the bottom up after the shell of a club Liebherr inherited post-Lowe and post-admin. You more than anybody must be aware of this, so I can only assume that your statement / question is you playing devil's advocate.

[Nexstar]

Poland: Boruc, Golanski, Dudka, Roger, Murawski, Krzynowek, Zewlakow, Obraniak, Blaszczykowski, Mariusz Lewandowski, Brozek.

Subs: Zaluska, Bosacki, Gancarczyk, Smolarek, Tralka, Lobodzinski, Robert Lewandowski.

 

Worth Saga missing the game then...

[um pahars]

Poland: Boruc, Golanski, Dudka, Roger, Murawski, Krzynowek, Zewlakow, Obraniak, Blaszczykowski, Mariusz Lewandowski, Brozek.

Subs: Zaluska, Bosacki, Gancarczyk, Smolarek, Tralka, Lobodzinski, Robert Lewandowski.

 

Worth Saga missing the game then...

 

Would I be right in thinking that the Polish version of Scrabble has a different scoring system to the English version?

[Clifford Nelson]

I think we know some of the problems: Paterson is not a foil for Lambert, he'd be a sub for him, because they are playing the same game. We need pace and aggression to pick up the balls around Lambert.

 

Mellis underperformed again. I don't think he's got it in him. Thompson had another below par performance and also showed that he's got no pace and was out run by their left back even though JT had three yards head start. Oh dear.

 

Fish wasn't ready today. He's played much better than this for us in the past.

 

On the plus side the defense did very well and gave away little. Thomas did well both as RB and CB. Perry and Trotman handled enormus Colin Platt and difficult Kevin Lisbie as well as can be expected.

 

There was lots of hard work but little edge to the performance and players are moving around the pitch for every sub. Lallana from left to right to centre. James from CM to RB. Thomas from RB to CB. Difficult to get consistency like that.

 

AP will improve this squad and will find the right formulas. I can wait, because we were miles better than U's.

 

Big plus: We saw Papa Waigo's dance. Hey, hey, hey, hey......but can he score?

[Block 5]

Never argue with a clean sheet. At least the defence seems to be getting there. If only we had a strike force.....

 

Patterson: go away and learn how to stay onside.

Lallana: go away and find someone else to take the corners.

James: go away and learn that you must never cross the ball from 25 yards deep.

Thomson: go away and don't come back.

 

 

Click the link, fast forward to 3'55" and then come back on here and tell me you want Jake Thomson to go away and not come back!!

 

[RedWillie]

i will keep this short. Today we were sh1te. It MUST improve and soon. I wasted 22 quid.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

My ratings for Saints v Colchester Utd (0-0)

 

K Davis 6 - Like his opposite number not called upon for anything even remotely special today .

W Thomas 6.5 - A stand in RB only , did his best but not quick enough to do this job really .

N Trotman 6 - A more than useful defender but suspect distribution and clueless in the opposition box .

C Perry 7 MOTM - Had his hands full dealing with that big lump Platt today , the forward got very little change out of CP .

D Harding 7 - Dan the man again , such a good player at this level - I really rate him highly .

J Mellis 3 - So ineffectual he might almost be a product of our academy . Subbed at half time again .

D Hammond 5 - Steady enough but nothing special , does his best to organise the midfield (should be captain ?)

L James 4 - Painfully average - if he was a car he'd be a beige Cortina 1.3L .

A Lallana 6 - You can't doubt his natural ability or effort - but he's neither strong nor quick enough to really do the business for us yet .

M Paterson 3.5 - I don't want to be too hard on him but can we really afford to let him learn on the job ? - a weak link sadly .

R Lambert 6.5 - No decent service = no goals . I wonder if he regrets coming here already .

 

Substitutes :

J Mills 6.5 - A noticeable improvement on Mellis 'Fish' is destined to become a quality player - would have been MOTM if he looked up before crossing every now and again !

J Thomson 2 - Can this boy actually play football ? So lightweight you fear the wind may blow him away . A good pub player maybe .

M Schneiderlin 6.5 - By no means a bad player but not the big hard midfield bruiser we really need . Worth keeping now he's here .

 

Summary :

The statistics our quite simple - a mere 4 points out of a possible 18 won , tonight we lay at least 11 points from safety .

 

Until we get to grips with big strong but not very talented teams such as Colchester we going nowhere in this league or any other , except down again maybe . Against 10 men we did not more than match Colchester for all our 'huff & puff' - I find that unacceptable .

The only bright spot I can provide to lighten the gloom is that Harding and Mills could well make an exciting partnership down the left wing , but don't ask me why Alan Pardew thinks the combative qualities of Simon Gillet are not needed in this midfield - it's just one of those little mysteries the Gods of football send to bewilder us .

 

The weakness of our bench was terribly apparent again today as we had no one to replace the ineffective Paterson with , lets hope Papa Waigo or the return of Saganowski give Lambert something to work off because as it is this team will continue to struggle for goals .

I think most of us realise why the team is not performing - its principly because the preseason was so disrupted by the prolonged takover saga , but to be brutaly honest the time for excuses is fast drawing to a close now .

Edited 5 September, 2009 by CHAPEL END CHARLIE

[Clifford Nelson]

No but they finished below us last season which proves they must have been pretty bad. What happened over their summer? You got to admit it is a fair question.

 

If going into admin is still affecting some of our players then perhaps they need to find a job in civvy street or consult a shrink.

 

I don't know about Charlton, but I know that for years the most terribly attitudes have been prevalent at SMS which have undermined the players confidence. Dubai Phil suggested a Truth and Reconciliation process to try to get to grips with what has been going on. It sounds a bit extreme, but it has clearly infected everything about the club. You don't turn that around in a few weeks.

 

I think AP will turn it around, but it is still worrying that some of the old stagers who were part of the old regime and part responsible for what has been going on are still there, especially around the Academy.

 

We supporters have been infected as well with very little resiliance to poor results. If we can't change suddenly, and face it, we're only turning up once a week, think about the difficulties the players will have. There certainly has been something rotten in the club of Southampton and all the rot has not yet been cured. But it will be.

[aintforever]

I don't know about Charlton, but I know that for years the most terribly attitudes have been prevalent at SMS which have undermined the players confidence. Dubai Phil suggested a Truth and Reconciliation process to try to get to grips with what has been going on. It sounds a bit extreme, but it has clearly infected everything about the club. You don't turn that around in a few weeks.

 

I think AP will turn it around, but it is still worrying that some of the old stagers who were part of the old regime and part responsible for what has been going on are still there, especially around the Academy.

 

We supporters have been infected as well with very little resiliance to poor results. If we can't change suddenly, and face it, we're only turning up once a week, think about the difficulties the players will have. There certainly has been something rotten in the club of Southampton and all the rot has not yet been cured. But it will be.

 

It's all just excuses, at the start of the season most people on here expected us to be challenging for the play-offs.

[egreog]

It was pretty poor stuff today........didn't really give their keeper much to do.......however it was another clean sheet and thats a positive........these things do take time and I'm sure things will improve............just more patience required........I feel one victory will spur things forward............I said Saints would still be bottom and just out of "negative" points by mid November and I do believe that, but I also believe that things will pick up........

[Whitey Grandad]

Click the link, fast forward to 3'55" and then come back on here and tell me you want Jake Thomson to go away and not come back!!

 

I think that the conference may be his level. Too slow, too lightweight. Offered us nothing. Even James had a go at him.

[J Bizzle]

Davis - 6 (had **** all to do)

Thomas- 7 (Solid and played very vell going forward always giving an option)

Trotman - 7(Delt with everything well at the back and looked comfortable on the ball)

Perry - (didn't win anything in the air and always allowed them to get the ball)

Harding - 7 (Solid as ever, got forward well)

James - 7 (Very good player in CM, won a lot of ball and got the ball down on the deck)

Hammond - 6 (didn't really do much, needed to stamp his foot on the game. HArdly drove towards the box)

Mellis - 5 ( **** off do you play for Chelsea)

Lallana -6 (Meh, played average, not a winger, but not good enough to play in the starting 11 with who we have int eh squad now.

Lambert - 6 (didn't play brilliant, but didn't have support up top)

Paterson - 1 (**** off back to B'mouth. No touch and so much else wrong with his game)

 

Why the hell Morgan didn't start is beyond me. He is our best player FFS!!!!!

 

 

We should line up

 

 

---------------------------Davis

 

Thomas--------------Trotman---Perry----------------Harding

 

--------------------------James

------------------Hammond----Schneiderlin

 

Waigo--------------------------------------------------Mills

 

--------------------------Lambert

 

4-3-3 which would give us plenty of width.

[Block 5]

I think that the conference may be his level. Too slow, too lightweight. Offered us nothing. Even James had a go at him.

 

I think I'm right in saying he scored from the halfway line TWICE in a week.

He clearly has the potential to do well.

Give the kid a chance FFS.

[Legod Third Coming]

Charlton seemed to have turned things around overnight?

 

 

How many more people are going to rewrite history.

 

Look NOW at how many games Parkinson was in charge at Charlton before his first win.

[sidthesquid]

My thoughts on today:

Same old same old - it is becoming so predictable. Can't hold a lead, let goals in in stoppage time, can't beat 10 men, can't win at home.... How many chairmen, managers and players have we been through yet nothing changes.

Anyway, the players

Davis - 7 - a day off, really

Thomas - 8 - seemed to enjoy playing right-back

Harding - 7 - a real mixed bag of good and bad

Trotman - 7 - did okay, but one or two careless moments

Perry - 7.5 excellent again

Mellis - 6 - no real impact

Hammond - 8 - worked his socks off

James - 7 -neat and tidy in cm without making a real impact. At fb he at least got some crosses in (some excellent, some not so) which was more than our wingers managed

Lallana - 7.5 - worked hard, but not sure playing wide is his best role (I wish someone knew what it was)

Lambert - 7 - worked hard for little reward

Paterson - 7 - Is he Rasiak's lovechild? Like his 'dad' at times looked careless and uninterested at others like the most likely to score

subs

Mills - 7.5 - kept them busy down the left with the best cross of the day

Thompson - 5 - never looked like getting anywhere against their fb. He's not progressing at the moment

Schneiderlin - 6.5 - okay, but his arrival hardly changed the game

Pardew - couldn't really fault the line-up or the substitutions. Just needs to break the curse

[Clifford Nelson]

It's all just excuses, at the start of the season most people on here expected us to be challenging for the play-offs.

 

Which was unrealistic, and most people haven't realised even now in what terrible state the club had been brought to. Excuses will eventually have to cease, but I doubt the purging has ended yet.

[aintforever]

How many more people are going to rewrite history.

 

Look NOW at how many games Parkinson was in charge at Charlton before his first win.

 

I swear you said we had a chance of promotion at the start of the season - what's changed?

[Whitey Grandad]

I think I'm right in saying he scored from the halfway line TWICE in a week.

He clearly has the potential to do well.

Give the kid a chance FFS.

I've had enough of giving kids a chance. We had Blackstock trotting around in a daze with his mouth hanging open. Then it was Leon Best, then it was McGoldrick. We cannot afford to train youngsters in the first team. Bring them in as substitutes at the end of the season when we're safe. Until then, we need proper professional footballers who know their trade.

 

Today, Thomson and Patterson were worse than useless. We would have been better off without them - and I am serious.

[Legod Third Coming]

Well, all I can say is what a miserable bunch if short-sighted w a n k ers we seem to have on here tonight.

 

I saw plenty of effort today. Only one bloke had a bad game - Mellis - who appears a bit weak yet, but even that might come he's only a kid yet.

 

The back four were totally solid and the Us had one chance when they got lucky with the bounce. Other than that they created feck all - and they are a far better prepared outfit than we are.

 

We were in control of the midfield where Hammond and James ran the game. Mills came on looked rusty but still got the ball into the box a few times. We do seem to go diagonal too much but then the manager has admitted that's why he bought some pace and our best wide player is still out injured.

 

I suppose nobody else noticed them throwing everyone behind the ball when they went down to ten men? No we could not break them down and yes we lacked width but screaming abuse at Jake Thomson ain't gonna give him much confidence to take a man on down the line now is it??

 

Thank God most of the people in the stadium have more sense than most of our lamentable doom mongers!

Edited 5 September, 2009 by Legod Third Coming

[Legod Third Coming]

I swear you said we had a chance of promotion at the start of the season - what's changed?

 

We still have. But I ain't slitting my wrists yet over rebuilding five fecking years of mismanagement six games into a FIVE YEAR VISION.

 

What is wrong with people??

 

Are we all premature ejaculators or something?

[Window Cleaner]

Still we're only 17 points behind the play-off places!!

 

Isn't that what you're supposed to post on here nowadays?

 

New management have got it all wrong, should have kept Wotte and given him the wherewithal to take this league by storm, a sort of shock and awe.

Still they're content grubbing about in the bargain basement, Lowe must be giving them lessons.

[kpturner]

We are in one already!!! I hope they are all back in for extra training tomorrow at 07.00hrs!!! They need a right kick up the arsehole...

 

no urgency

no effort

no vision

no cohesion

no idea

no leadership

 

and most importantly NO ****ING WIDTH!

 

 

it needs sorting asap!

We had width, we just didn't do anything with it.

 

Talking of width, you squashed me in my seat today.

[LostBoys]

I thought we could have won very easily but the chances kept falling to players who are just not good enough at the moment. I thought that Paterson James and Thomson were dire - I will give Mills the benefit of the doubt as it was his first game back from injury. I am still going to Charlton next weekend and hope for better things.

[Red&White]

Lallana was fantastic ? did you have your beer goggles on ? FFS !

Edited 5 September, 2009 by Red&White
wrong comment

[teamsaint]

No but they finished below us last season which proves they must have been pretty bad. What happened over their summer? You got to admit it is a fair question.

 

If going into admin is still affecting some of our players then perhaps they need to find a job in civvy street or consult a shrink.

 

Charlton took us to the cleaners last season at SMS.Certainly didn't look a relegation side then.

 

We on the other hand finished last season badly, lost several key players , and have failed to "gel" the new players quickly.

 

We really do have to be patient, I think.

[gjphilsaint]

I've had enough of giving kids a chance. We had Blackstock trotting around in a daze with his mouth hanging open. Then it was Leon Best, then it was McGoldrick. We cannot afford to train youngsters in the first team. Bring them in as substitutes at the end of the season when we're safe. Until then, we need proper professional footballers who know their trade.

 

Today, Thomson and Patterson were worse than useless. We would have been better off without them - and I am serious.

 

Yes a very sensible post. For too long we have insisted that our Academy players are good enough to run a 2nd saints XI in a lower league. How many of us remember threads in the predecesser to this forum that were adamant that our youngsters could get us back into the Prem alone.... too many on this site STILL believe in the myth that our academy is producing Prem/CCC/ ready players. I like the above poster has realised (the hard way it seems) what Liverpool/Man U sussed out years ago. Our youth should have plied thier trade in the "ressies". That is seems is the issue with Lallana and probably a lot more of our youngsters (Bale and Walcott may be exceptions to this rule for obvious reasons, but not the rest of them). Of course with the state the club is in we had not had the luxury to blood our young carefully (RL relied far too heavily in the faith that this awesome academy was that good. In producing players with potential it was, but we now all know (with the benfit of hindsight it wasnt that easy).

[Legod Third Coming]

Yes a very sensible post. For too long we have insisted that our Academy players are good enough to run a 2nd saints XI in a lower league. How many of us remember threads in the predecesser to this forum that were adamant that our youngsters could get us back into the Prem alone.... too many on this site STILL believe in the myth that our academy is producing Prem/CCC/ ready players. I like the above poster has realised (the hard way it seems) what Liverpool/Man U sussed out years ago. Our youth should have plied thier trade in the "ressies". That is seems is the issue with Lallana and probably a lot more of our youngsters (Bale and Walcott may be exceptions to this rule for obvious reasons, but not the rest of them). Of course with the state the club is in we had not had the luxury to blood our young carefully (RL relied far too heavily in the faith that this awesome academy was that good. In producing players with potential it was, but we now all know (with the benfit of hindsight it wasnt that easy).

 

I don't think the manager disagrees. He's even said it. I suspect he is trying to replace the entire first team from last season apart from James who seems to have cut it, Kelvin for obvious reasons and Thomas (who was out). But you can't just clear out a whole squad and start again...

[shurlock]

My ratings for Saints v Colchester Utd (0-0)

 

K Davis 6 - Like his opposite number not called upon for anything even remotely special today .

W Thomas 6.5 - A stand in RB only , did his best but not quick enough to do this job really .

N Trotman 6 - A more than useful defender but suspect distribution and clueless in the opposition box .

C Perry 7 MOTM - Had his hands full dealing with that big lump Platt today , the forward got very little change out of CP .

D Harding 7 - Dan the man again , such a good player at this level - I really rate him highly .

J Mellis 3 - So ineffectual he might almost be a product of our academy . Subbed at half time again .

D Hammond 5 - Steady enough but nothing special , does his best to organise the midfield (should be captain ?)

L James 4 - Painfully average - if he was a car he'd be a beige Cortina 1.3L .

A Lallana 6 - You can't doubt his natural ability or effort - but he's neither strong nor quick enough to really do the business for us yet .

M Paterson 3.5 - I don't want to be too hard on him but can we really afford to let him learn on the job ? - a weak link sadly .

R Lambert 6.5 - No decent service = no goals . I wonder if he regrets coming here already .

 

Substitutes :

J Mills 6.5 - A noticeable improvement on Mellis 'Fish' is destined to become a quality player - would have been MOTM if he looked up before crossing every now and again !

J Thomson 2 - Can this boy actually play football ? So lightweight you fear the wind may blow him away . A good pub player maybe .

M Schneiderlin 6.5 - By no means a bad player but not the big hard midfield bruiser we really need . Worth keeping now he's here .

 

Summary :

The statistics our quite simple - a mere 4 points out of a possible 18 won , tonight we lay at least 11 points from safety .

 

Until we get to grips with big strong but not very talented teams such as Colchester we going nowhere in this league or any other , except down again maybe . Against 10 men we did not more than match Colchester for all our 'huff & puff' - I find that unacceptable .

The only bright spot I can provide to lighten the gloom is that Harding and Mills could well make an exciting partnership down the left wing , but don't ask me why Alan Pardew thinks the combative qualities of Simon Gillet are not needed in this midfield - it's just one of those little mysteries the Gods of football send to bewilder us .

 

The weakness of our bench was terribly apparent again today as we had no one to replace the ineffective Paterson with , lets hope Papa Waigo or the return of Saganowski give Lambert something to work off because as it is this team will continue to struggle for goals .

I think most of us realise why the team is not performing - its principly because the preseason was so disrupted by the prolonged takover saga , but to be brutaly honest the time for excuses is fast drawing to a close now .

 

Was very encouraged by Mills return - he can get forward, track back and good with the ball in tight spaces. Hopefully, he starts atCharlton.

 

I don't think its a question of getting to grips with big, strong teams - with Thomas, Trotman, Hammond, Harding and Jaidi (I thought Perry was OK today but no way MOTD), we have more than enough in that department.In the last three/four games we've tightened up and KD has had little or nothing to do. The problem, as AP made clear, is the lack of athleticism and pace upfront combined with the quality to open teams up (Lambert is hardly mr mobile). I think Lallana is adapting quickly, and has been pretty impressive since Birmingham, so is part of the solution not the problem.

The three positions that need most attention are a partner for Lambert, right midfield and central midfield.

 

I don't think Lallana should play on the right -exacerbating our lack of width. THat suggests he plays down the middle (Pards switched him there towards the end). At the moment, it seems he would partner Lambert but I don't think Lambert should be accorded any special treatment or become a sacred cow not least because in the two games Lambert and Saga have played together -Birmingham and Stockport- Saga has actually offered more. Lambert and Lallana would be my first choice, but there's no reason why Saga and Lallana couldn't play together.

 

Papa Waigoo seems an obvious candidate for the right while providing support for the front two. The last position CM is a tough one: I think James was meant to offer more cover (especially after Swindon and Huddersfield) but doesn't offer much going forward (except to chip balls into the box from the middle of the park). Does somebody like James offer the right balance and mentality for home games? Indeed, with the additions of Trotman, Jaidi, Hammond and the return of hardworkers like Mills, do we need that cover fullstop? Could Schneiderlin be given another go?

[Window Cleaner]

... too many on this site STILL believe in the myth that our academy is producing Prem/CCC/ ready players.

 

I have just been reading on the BBC that some women believe that kebabs and chicken skin are effective contraceptives as well, that's what happens when education becomes second to making money .

[saint_stevo]

someone needs to throw there season ticket at the gaffer IMO

[Legod Third Coming]

Was very encouraged by Mills return - he can get forward, track back and good with the ball in tight spaces. Hopefully, he starts atCharlton.

 

I don't think its a question of getting to grips with big, strong teams - with Thomas, Trotman, Hammond, Harding and Jaidi (I thought Perry was OK today but no way MOTD), we have more than enough in that department.In the last three/four games we've tightened up and KD has had little or nothing to do. The problem, as AP made clear, is the lack of athleticism and pace upfront combined with the quality to open teams up (Lambert is hardly mr mobile). I think Lallana is adapting quickly, and has been pretty impressive since Birmingham, so is part of the solution not the problem.

The three positions that need most attention are a partner for Lambert, right midfield and central midfield.

 

I don't think Lallana should play on the right -exacerbating our lack of width. THat suggests he plays down the middle (Pards switched him there towards the end). At the moment, it seems he would partner Lambert but I don't think Lambert should be accorded any special treatment or become a sacred cow not least because in the two games Lambert and Saga have played together -Birmingham and Stockport- Saga has actually offered more. Lambert and Lallana would be my first choice, but there's no reason why Saga and Lallana couldn't play together.

 

Papa Waigoo seems an obvious candidate for the right while providing support for the front two. The last position CM is a tough one: I think James was meant to offer more cover (especially after Swindon and Huddersfield) but doesn't offer much going forward (except to chip balls into the box from the middle of the park). Does somebody like James offer the right balance and mentality for home games? Indeed, with the additions of Trotman, Jaidi, Hammond and the return of hardworkers like Mills, do we need that cover fullstop? Could Schneiderlin be given another go?

 

I thought Schneiderlin looked good when he came on. Sitting in that holding role he hit two or three superb passes - one was immense and sadly Mills didn't use it. He also came forward at will, but then Colchester had vacated the middle of the park by then! The problem for James was that every time he looked up the pitch, there was noone wide to hit.

 

His own delivery into the box is very good and nearly created a goal towards the end. But we lack movement rather than pure width.

[harvey]

Lloyd james...........awful waste of space.

[once_bitterne]

 

 

Paterson - 1 (ONE as the videprinter would say) - I'm sure I'll have to eat my words when he goes on to play for England

 

He'll do well to, he's Scottish.....

[Window Cleaner]

Lloyd james...........awful waste of space.

 

but he probably runs around a lot and hustles and bustles which is what a lot of our coforumists think makes a good player. A good player reads the game, is where he needs to be at the right time with a minimum of effort.

 

Beckenbauer looked one of the laziest bastards ever to wear a pair of football boots.So did Gerd Muller, the list is endless, Jimmy Greaves scored shedloads because he was always where he needed to be at the right moment.

[niceandfriendly]

someone needs to throw there season ticket at the gaffer IMO

 

Haha, I have to admit, 99% of the things you say are moronic but that made me laugh. You can sleep well tonight with that knowledge.

[derry]

Lallana did well, stayed wide and had more of the ball than usual and caused problems. So what happened then, we bloody well changed it, poor wide right, anonymous as a striker.

 

The central midfielders are playing in a comfort zone, 10 men and our central midfielders are sitting in front of the back four FFS.

 

The two central midfielders have to get up in support of the strikers and get to the edge of the penalty are at the same time as the wide men are getting down the wing.

 

Mellis needed to be wider, so he wasn't really effective and was taken off. Joe Mills has talent but looks like an overlapping full back not a winger.

 

It appears to me that if Lallana plays wide he could be effective on the left with Waigo wide right. Lambert needs Saganowski to play off up front. We have to be more positive in midfield, I prefer Schneiderlin to James and he should be asked to get forward at every opportunity.

 

I thought taking Perry off and altering the back four dumb. James should have been taken off for Schneiderlin and Thomson swopped for Mellis without switching Lallana around.

 

If they really wanted to make an impact maybe pushing Trotman up alongside Lambert for the last fifteen minutes might have caused them problems.

[SoccerMom]

My thoughts on today:

 

Harding - 7 - a real mixed bag of good and bad

 

Finally. Someone who can see this guy blows hot and cold.

There is a reason he looks good in L1. He is inconsistent, and was repeatedly getting skinned by their pacey RM (and he wasn't really that pacey). That being said, he has whole stretches of the game when he is absolutely on the money. Looks to me that he has had to settle for LB, and fundamentally would much rather be at LM. An intelligent player who knows what his job is, but who sometimes just can't help himself getting up into the action.

 

What a frustrating day.

[wimbornesaint]

Well, all I can say is what a miserable bunch if short-sighted w a n k ers we seem to have on here tonight.

 

I saw plenty of effort today. Only one bloke had a bad game - Mellis - who appears a bit weak yet, but even that might come he's only a kid yet.

 

The back four were totally solid and the Us had one chance when they got lucky with the bounce. Other than that they created feck all - and they are a far better prepared outfit than we are.

 

We were in control of the midfield where Hammond and James ran the game. Mills came on looked rusty but still got the ball into the box a few times. We do seem to go diagonal too much but then the manager has admitted that's why he bought some pace and our best wide player is still out injured.

 

I suppose nobody else noticed them throwing everyone behind the ball when they went down to ten men? No we could not break them down and yes we lacked width but screaming abuse at Jake Thomson ain't gonna give him much confidence to take a man on down the line now is it??

 

Thank God most of the people in the stadium have more sense than most of our lamentable doom mongers!

 

+1

 

I thought the team today were much better than last season, and things will get better!

[THEVMAN]

I just hope this Waigo guy is as good as everyone is expecting him to be,we start bigging players up before they`ve even set foot on the pitch for us.

[shurlock]

 

I thought taking Perry off and altering the back four dumb. James should have been taken off for Schneiderlin and Thomson swopped for Mellis without switching Lallana around.

 

Why was the Perry sub dumb? Thought it was quite astute. They had a couple of free-kicks/throw-ins in dangerous positions and only pushed two men forward while we had 8 men in the box - said everything about their attacking ambitions (of lack of). Having the extra defender was a waste - when Schneiderlin came on, we went to 3-5-2 with James staying in midfield rather than dropping back to RB and Thomas going more central. Taking a defender off and putting another in the middle, in the absence of any strikers, was the most positive thing we could do.

 

Admittedly, Lallana has been playing with greater discipline; but he is better suited 'in the hole' and with his current good form, playing him down the middle would both provide the team better balance and play to his strengths.

[kpturner]

Haha, I have to admit, 99% of the things you say are moronic but that made me laugh. You can sleep well tonight with that knowledge.

 

How rude!

[kpturner]

I just hope this Waigo guy is as good as everyone is expecting him to be,we start bigging players up before they`ve even set foot on the pitch for us.

 

I must say it worries the **** out of me.

[Leicestersaint]

dreadful.

[Professor]

When you look at the comments on here, what seems to come over is that the new signings are mostly doing OK, and the players left over from last year, especially the younger ones, are still really just reserve team status. This was a truly poor performance. It was Colchester who came closest to scoring by hitting the bar after going down to 10 men, whilst Sainst were hopeless, even when having most of the play towards the end. They struggled to set up real chances, and when they did, they failed miserably to take them. At least we have two more signings to come in, but is it enough to replace the 4 or 5 weak players out there today?

[Rasiak-9-]

Funny thing is I think we're only 2 or 3 players away from having a decent promotion-chasing team but we do need to sort things out pretty sharpish.

 

Namely

 

1) Corners

 

Lallana's corners are not professional-standard. They're the sort of quality that any amateur could casually chip in. Hanging the ball up in the air is exactly what a defender wants and what an attacking player can't deal with, as you can't put any power or direction on 'em. Notice that when we do make contact with a corner the header is inevitably too weak as theres no pace on the ball.

 

2) Width from the strikers

 

The wingers I thought today did alright to be fair, The lack of width was from the strikers who were both far too central. Lamberts a target-man so thats fine but Paterson is as well, so inevitably they don't work well together. N'Diaye hopefully will solve this problem.

 

3) Beating players

 

We just can't seem to dribble past players for ****. Lallana's got a quick turn on him but when was the last time he ran at players and successfully went past them like they're not there AND not get caught up by the defender?

 

4) Movement

 

I lost count of the number of times Hammond, Schneiderlin and even Thomas when going forward either played a square pass or had a hopeful bash at goal because none of our attacking 4 players (wingers and strikers) made a run that gave them a chance to play a through-ball. When was the last time we played a quick one-two as well? There needs to be far better movement off the ball.

 

5) Shooting

 

Hammond's shots looked dangerous but ultimately if you don't hit the target they're completely harmless. Thomas and Schneiderlin could only tickle it at goal and Lallana never finds the confidence to shoot either. Shooting practice has got to be in order. You need to have the ability to hit the top corner from within 20-25 yards if your an attacking player.

 

Sort these things out and I think we'll be very much on our way, as the defence and keeper is pretty much fine. Whilst the results are terrible, I think we'll be ok, but as I say I think promotions not really possible not out of lack of ability, but because the damage is done from the -10 and **** start. Still, we're not far off being a decent side, we just need to sort those points out and I think we'll be fine