Jump to content

Rovers (2) Vs Saints (3) Post match chat


saint lard

Recommended Posts

Went to the game Connolly is quality and a real fox in the box! (I'm a bloke and mean that in the striker way bot the perverted way!), He will surely end up with as many goals as Lambert.

 

Thought Harding was superb and Antonio looked like a typical winger, one minute **** poor and the next absolute class, he made the second goal with his direct run and the third goal was superb. He is so much better than Papa who I really don't rate!

 

Thought Thomas played well in the place of Trotman. 3-2 definitely flattered them, we took of Antonio at 3-0 and should have carried on hitting them with the pace by bringing on Papa, then we could have won by 4 or 5 but we went really negative although I could understand that but if backfired a bit.

 

Overall really impressed with the second half, first half was terrible! We have a great team for our league and should fear no one!

 

Great turn out by the fans again, which shows we turely don't belong in the third tier!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the middle of the ecstasy of winning we should focus on one point.We were playing 4-4-2 which according many posters on here is the answer to life, the universe and everything. I have only the Solent commentary to go by but it sounds that for the whole of the first half and good portion of the second half we were sh!te so the format that we start up with is next to irrelevant to how well we play. It could be argued that we create more first half chances with 4-5-1. My point is that perhaps the "experts" on here just leave it to Pardew to decide what is appropriate for any given game.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A good win against decent opposition.

 

We should have seen the game out and gone on to win 3-0, but a couple of lapses in concentration gave Rovers a sniff and they almost took their chance. Full credit to Paul Trollope's side, they never gave up and pressed us right until the full-time whistle.

 

Special mention to Connolly and Antonio too! They were both first-class and looked very lively, despite the fact the latter was at fault for their first goal. I'm very much looking forward to seeing who we face in the 2nd round now, and a home tie really wouldn't go a miss!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

lets be honest...it was not really quick thinking..it was a low cross

 

Not the cross, but to peel off out wide when their defenders were expecting a free-kick into the box.

 

If it's that easy, why isn't it happening all the time. Most times that gets lumped into the box and cleared. You have to applaud the fact that they caught them cold and took advantage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not the cross, but to peel off out wide when their defenders were expecting a free-kick into the box.

to peel off wide..you mean the player playing left wing was on the left..

 

look, it wasa good move but lets not get carried away over a pretty normal goal

 

not throwing it in the box is something called variation

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Connoly was class so was Lallana Lambert worked his socks off unlucky with the free kick

Antonio is a threat showed great composurer for his goal.

 

1st half was dire we didnt play well would be happy if we play 4 5 1 then change to 4 4 2 when required but Connoly has posed a problem for AP now deserves a start my only concern is if you start 4 4 2 what do you change it to when chasing a game.

 

Enjoyed the game great second half performance from fans & team Were the dry side were the dry side were the dry side over here

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Really good win. First time I've watched Saints this season - on TV in Australia. Bit of a war of attrition first half but second half we looked very good. lots of pace and good passing and three excellent goals. Then on trots one of last seasons ponies and it all goes pear shaped. We simply have to ship out losers like Gobern. They have a losing mentality and it infects the whole side. We were hanging on at the end and needn't have been.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

to peel off wide..you mean the player playing left wing was on the left..

 

look, it wasa good move but lets not get carried away over a pretty normal goal

 

not throwing it in the box is something called variation

 

Apologies.

 

In future I will save my applause for 40 yard overhead kicks and 60 yard volleys.

 

You could say a lot of the goals we scored this season are "normal goals", but just trying to give a bit of credit, was hardly getting carried away.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

lol..it was good but it was hardly quick thinking or anything like that....lol..it was the sort of thing a decent pro set up would do..

 

lol

No us though!! For the last, god knows how many years, we've been clueless in situations like that. Catching practice for the keeper or attempted direct shot but always when the opposing defence have retreated and got into position.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Apologies.

 

In future I will save my applause for 40 yard overhead kicks and 60 yard volleys.

 

You could say a lot of the goals we scored this season are "normal goals", but just trying to give a bit of credit, was hardly getting carried away.

no..you said it was great quick thinking..just watched it again..and it was not really quick...just a ball to lallana and he put in a low cross to the near post...pretty bog standard goal that came off

Link to comment
Share on other sites

no..you said it was great quick thinking..just watched it again..and it was not really quick...just a ball to lallana and he put in a low cross to the near post...pretty bog standard goal that came off

 

I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one, but how many other times have we done that this season?

 

I could argue that both of Connolly's finishes were pretty run of the mill, you see players tucking those chances away in the Wessex League, but people are giving him credit for it and rightly so.

 

For years when we've had a team that could barely do even the most simple of things on a football pitch, let's not get the arse when people try to show some positivity eh?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one, but how many other times have we done that this season?

 

I could argue that both of Connolly's finishes were pretty run of the mill, you see players tucking those chances away in the Wessex League, but people are giving him credit for it and rightly so.

 

For years when we've had a team that could barely do even the most simple of things on a football pitch, let's not get the arse when people try to show some positivity eh?

no we have not..we got into the bloody CCC play offs 2 and a half years ago ffs

Link to comment
Share on other sites

no we have not..we got into the bloody CCC play offs 2 and a half years ago ffs

 

But the two seasons either side of it were bloody depressing!

 

You're clearly itching for an argument this morning, so like I said, let's agree to disagree, you're usually someone who I considered to post a bit of sense on here, but you're getting on your high-horse because I applauded a player for a decent assist, let it go..........

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But the two seasons either side of it were bloody depressing!

 

You're clearly itching for an argument this morning, so like I said, let's agree to disagree, you're usually someone who I considered to post a bit of sense on here, but you're getting on your high-horse because I applauded a player for a decent assist, let it go..........

im not itching for an arguemant at all...just alot of OTTness going on..

 

like

 

"we have been starved for years of this"...erm we were in the CCC playoffs 2 and a half years ago

 

"that was a great quick thinking goal"...erm, well, it was two normal passes that connolly got on the end of..good move that any pro set up worth their salt would do....if we had conceeded that I would have been right peed off at the defending...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was at the game last night ...but had to sit with some Gas mates in a Rovers Stand!!! ...after Connolly's second goal went in I just thought "what the fc*uk" and went mental .....and fortunately lived long enough to go even more mental when Antonio scored the third :-)

 

Great result but strange game ...in the first half we certainly didn't play as well as we have been playing recently ..but in the second half our quality showed through

 

Also stange in that I wasn't suprised we conceeded a stupid goal and a penalty (it was raining by then and we don't like the rain much) .....but I honestly never thought we are in danger of not winning the game ... A feeling I haven't had for years.

 

Connolly is a living God ...FACT. He will score bucket fulls if he stays fit

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"we have been starved for years of this"...erm we were in the CCC playoffs 2 and a half years ago

 

So 1 decent-ish season in the last 5 means that we've been lavished with brilliant football does it?

 

If you hadn't noticed, the last 5 seasons also included 2 relegations, one last-day escape and a season where the team had only just been relegated from the Prem and then had less than £100k spent on it.

 

I really should be grateful for paying my money to sit through all that shouldn't I?

 

In the grand scheme of things, I'm not getting carried away. I simply applauded an assist, I'm not claiming us to be world beaters, I'm not claiming we'll win the cup, I'm not claiming we'll get promoted and I'm not claiming Lallana should win the Ballon D'Or.

 

Have you had a go at anyone who's fawning over Antonio and Connolly, because the goals aside they were both a bit average? But you have to accept that goals win games and therefore the goalscorers will be applauded, no matter how average they may have been, they stuck the ball in the back of the net. Is it really so wrong to give a bit of credit for an assist?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great win ..no matter what..Through to the next round.

We have some class players with some very good hard working team players.

To me Adam Lallana is class and if watched with other than a Pompey eye..you see clearly that this footballer is truly the business...With the other ingredients you have

the rise..once again of the mighty Saints.....Connolly and Lambert up front.....You could not have dreamed this a few months ago.

 

 

COYRs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great win and agree with most posts on here about our class players. For one player that is not quite up to rest is James. He is struggling if you watch him closely and must share some of the blame for Rovers first goal. He had every opportunity to be there before their scorer but didn't make it. Lacks pace and is a bit lightweight.........

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All credit to Pardew for going to 4-4-2 from the start. Not before time after the evidence of the last few games. But I wonder if Pardew panicked when Rovers pulled one goal back so he reverted to 4-5-1 and went defensive. Although it worked, because the penalty did not come until too late in the game for Rovers to save it, but its more evidence that 4-5-1 is very risky. What is going for us is that Pardew has assembled a great squad, and all credit to him for that. This team is better than last year's by quite a measure and could hold its own in the CCC but Pardew needs to shake off his attachment to defensive play when he has so many quality players who are delivering the goods.

 

How do you work all that out then? We played the formation which you prefer last night, but still took over an hour to actually score. Various posters who were at the game have stated that we didn't play as well in the first half as we've generally been playing recently.

 

Perhaps, just perhaps, the flexible formation Pardew uses (4-5-1 or 4-3-3, whichever way you see it) is not quite the defensively-minded anathema you see it as. The last match I saw (MK Dons) we were all over them for pretty much the entire first half, playing just that formation. True, we didn't score in that time, but we created enough to have a comfortable lead.

 

I think the simple truth is that formation has relatively little to do with, and quality is far more important. We're better than most other sides in this league; we just need to ensure that we make that quality tell.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Obviously the focus will be on Connolly and Antonio, but I thought Lallana was superb in the second half too. Great quick thinking to set up the opener.

 

I was just going to write the exact same thing. His turn for the first goal was brilliant, really done the defender. Always good to see a move like that work out, they must have been working on it in training.

 

What really gets me is how much Lallana runs about, last season it was in the wrong areas but now he seems to get his head down and really puts in a shift. We haven't had a player with his workrate for a long time.

 

I don't think Waigo will start for a while now we've got Antonio for a couple of months, we really need to sign him up. He was as bad as anyone in the first half but after the break for 25 minutes he was the best player on the pitch, tired towards the end and gave the ball away a couple of times.

 

Connolly is one of the most natural finishers I've seen in a Saints shirt in a long time, he makes it look effortless and links up well with Lambert who seemed to drop off a lot more with Connolly on the last shoulder.

 

Nice to see we can attract players like Connolly, really hope he can keep himself fit. Would start him again on Wednesday, the only change I'd make would be Trottman in for Jaidi to give him a bit of a rest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What a peculiar set of circumstances and I don't know whether Pardew deserves credit for masterly strategy or not. Having read an article stating that he was going to field a 4-5-1 formation, (presumably to wrong-foot BRs), we started with a 4-4-2. BRs started with a 4-5-1, although they were the home team, but their exra man in midfield stifled the game in the first half. In the second half though, the quality of our team showed through and what a striker Connolly is, when BRs thought that Lambert was the main threat. And what a contribution from young Antonio, responsible for a great assist and a solo effort starting from the halfway line, showing a maturity and a growing confidence that almost makes his signing in January an imperative.

 

But what was Pardew doing when we were 3-0 up? BRs could easily have evened it up and be pressing for the winner by the end of the game. I can understand putting Wotton on in his role in front of the back four, but we still needed to keep Rovers on the back foot instead of inviting them on to us. And why couldn't Waigo have come on when Antonio went off, to keep some pace and width? Presumably Harding went off to prevent two yellows, but Gobern at LB seems to be a mistake, especially as he immediately gained a yellow himself and then gave away the penalty. Mills at LB might have been better and perhaps Holmes in front of him.

 

But still, as somebody else said, perhaps it was beneficial to learn something from it, whereas we would not have learned lessons had it remained 3-0. We gained our revenge by reversing the last scoreline when we played them comparitively recently. We also learned a little about closing out a match in the final few minutes.

 

Progress continues with the graph still showing an upward trend. Long may it continue, especially given the extra confidence boost that the team will have received.

 

Agree with that. BR's negative tactics did not make for great viewing and Lambo was basically man-marked out of the game - it looked like he had two defenders marking him all match (which backfired a bit as we have a fair number of goalscorers now).

 

Definitely need to keep hold of Antonio and pleased for Thomas - he had a good game by all accounts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How do you work all that out then? We played the formation which you prefer last night, but still took over an hour to actually score. Various posters who were at the game have stated that we didn't play as well in the first half as we've generally been playing recently.

 

Perhaps, just perhaps, the flexible formation Pardew uses (4-5-1 or 4-3-3, whichever way you see it) is not quite the defensively-minded anathema you see it as. The last match I saw (MK Dons) we were all over them for pretty much the entire first half, playing just that formation. True, we didn't score in that time, but we created enough to have a comfortable lead.

 

I think the simple truth is that formation has relatively little to do with, and quality is far more important. We're better than most other sides in this league; we just need to ensure that we make that quality tell.

 

Can't argue with that assesment, in my opinion. I thought we'd looked below par playing 442 last night, but in all honesty I think the system is a secondary issue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just spotted this on a BRFC forum:

I totally agree about the 4-5-1. Southampton aren't very good and made us look above average in the first half but Anthony especially only won one header all night and it is no coincidence that the majority of southampton play was aimed through him. Apart from Lambert hitting the post (which somehow our intrepid match reporter for the OS missed), I thought he looked his lazy self yet again.

 

I honestly believe that we would be in a far bigger mess than we are now if RL had stayed with us. Anyone else notice that nearly every saint throw in went through him.

 

Great business selling him and can you really blame the board for not giving PT any of the RL money when he has proved consistently that he is useless in the transfer market.

 

http://www.brfcforum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=87238&view=findpost&p=1154863

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"that was a great quick thinking goal"...erm, well, it was two normal passes that connolly got on the end of..good move that any pro set up worth their salt would do....if we had conceeded that I would have been right peed off at the defending...

 

Well, there's an oxymoron if ever I saw one!

 

They were normal, run of the mill goals..... yet if we'd conceded them you'd have been pee'd off!

 

It was quick thinking to catch them cold, we don't (haven't) done that much lately and to me it shows AP has got them thinking more about ways in which get the breakthrough against teams who play relatively negatively.

 

For some time now, we have struggled to break down teams who look to contain and counter..... AP has introduced a few things that seek to give us that edge and you say "it's what any pro set-up should do".... yes, it is, but Saints haven't delivered those simple things for ages.....

 

Claiming (and then claiming again, and again) that we got to the CCC Play-offs is a red herring as we had the same problems then too.

 

Lets be happy that AP tries new things on the training ground and the players obviously listen and respond. The AP tries a few new things when we are 3-0 up and learns some more. How long has it been since we've had a manager prepared to recognize our weaknesses and look to address them.

 

Good times!

 

:-D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"that was a great quick thinking goal"...erm, well, it was two normal passes that connolly got on the end of..good move that any pro set up worth their salt would do....if we had conceeded that I would have been right peed off at the defending...

 

Not many players in this league that could have turned the defender like Lallana before he crossed the ball, with his weaker foot btw.

 

Lets give some credit where it's due, was a well worked and well executed goal. If it was so easily done everyone would be banging in goals like that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was quick thinking to catch them cold, we don't (haven't) done that much lately and to me it shows AP has got them thinking more about ways in which get the breakthrough against teams who play relatively negatively.:-D

 

Came from the same box of set play tricks that got us the second goal against MK Dons.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i read another ignorant comment on another forum (Brighton fan i think) ''we should be beating teams like southampton, they're in the bottom 4 for a reason''

 

err yes, 10 points. Idiot fans....they'll realise soon that they're the best team at this level.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the middle of the ecstasy of winning we should focus on one point.We were playing 4-4-2 which according many posters on here is the answer to life, the universe and everything. I have only the Solent commentary to go by but it sounds that for the whole of the first half and good portion of the second half we were sh!te so the format that we start up with is next to irrelevant to how well we play. It could be argued that we create more first half chances with 4-5-1. My point is that perhaps the "experts" on here just leave it to Pardew to decide what is appropriate for any given game.

 

I can only assume that those against 451 blame the system for missing sitters, because it has definitely created the chances. That said one games start of 442 is hardly conclusive, though it did give us a lot of problems early in the season.

 

We are in the position now where we will have to vary things with what the opposition put in front of us. It would be ludicrous to start with 451 when they put 10 men behind the ball, happy to play out for the point. But even with games we expect to win, keeping it tight in the first half is not a bad thing as long as we are creating the chances. MK Dons was the classic example where they were left chasing shadows in midfield and had little left in the tank following.

 

One worrying aspect is that we are leaking a lot of goals for all the dominance we have, so it's not difficult to see the odd game go awry. I just wish Wooton was 6 years younger, such we could change out other players when the need arises and take some of the load from Hammond. Things are not that bad though and things may well develop that even these small issues are ironed out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not many players in this league that could have turned the defender like Lallana before he crossed the ball, with his weaker foot btw.

 

Lets give some credit where it's due, was a well worked and well executed goal. If it was so easily done everyone would be banging in goals like that.

 

Just had a look at the lallana goal and when i first saw his turn i thought it was showboating and no more a simple two pass move, albeit sharply executed. But that turn was critical to the goal: had he gone immediately goal side, he would have showed too much of the ball and been pickpocketed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We probably won't have to pay much if anything for Antonio as he is out of contract at the end of the season.

 

After Jan 1st he can sign a pre contract agreement with us. I suspect he will be loaned for the rest of the season and sign on a free at the end of the season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

more insight from Rovers fans

 

''The annoying thing is we keep getting beaten by p*sspoor teams.Southampton are in that category but we cannot keep giving goals away like we are at the moment.

 

last night you were p*sspoor.One thing I will say though is,its a bloody good job you've got Rickie because you sure as hell haven't got anything else.''

 

bloody bitter fans.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"that was a great quick thinking goal"...erm, well, it was two normal passes that connolly got on the end of..good move that any pro set up worth their salt would do....if we had conceeded that I would have been right peed off at the defending...

It was a well-executed routine. The only thing that matters is that BR were caught flat-footed and it gave us the breakthrough that we needed. How could anybody see anything negative in that???

Link to comment
Share on other sites

more insight from Rovers fans

 

''The annoying thing is we keep getting beaten by p*sspoor teams.Southampton are in that category but we cannot keep giving goals away like we are at the moment.

 

last night you were p*sspoor.One thing I will say though is,its a bloody good job you've got Rickie because you sure as hell haven't got anything else.''

 

bloody bitter fans.

 

Pricelss. how many goals did Lambert score last night?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

more insight from Rovers fans

 

''The annoying thing is we keep getting beaten by p*sspoor teams.Southampton are in that category but we cannot keep giving goals away like we are at the moment.

 

last night you were p*sspoor.One thing I will say though is,its a bloody good job you've got Rickie because you sure as hell haven't got anything else.''

 

bloody bitter fans.

 

:lol:

 

TBH, Bristol as a city knows nothing about football. 9th biggest city in Britain and can only produce two dreadful clubs.

 

We will stuff them at SMS in the League and finish higher than them. Anyone who knows anything about football knows that. I suspect they're bitter because they need the money from a cup run or something and were hoping for a plum away draw against a big club like us instead of a home humiliation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:lol:

 

TBH, Bristol as a city knows nothing about football. 9th biggest city in Britain and can only produce two dreadful clubs.

 

We will stuff them at SMS in the League and finish higher than them. Anyone who knows anything about football knows that. I suspect they're bitter because they need the money from a cup run or something and were hoping for a plum away draw against a big club like us instead of a home humiliation.

they beat us mate

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brizzle City in the 3rd round would be pretty good for me, I live 5 mins from Ashton Gate. It must be a bit of a bummer for both clubs having 2 cities stealing fans off each other. If there was one "Bristol Utd" they'd probably be a midtable Prem sized club.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brizzle City in the 3rd round would be pretty good for me, I live 5 mins from Ashton Gate. It must be a bit of a bummer for both clubs having 2 cities stealing fans off each other. If there was one "Bristol Utd" they'd probably be a midtable Prem sized club.

 

LOL ..... that would be as popular as a "Solent Utd" team with us and Skatesmuff morphed into one team. Mind you it would help increase our home attendences by about a 1000 :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...