Leeds v Saints - Post Match Reaction

[shurlock]

It's time to release James. At the end of the day only spiderman and lallana could truly be said to have made it from the youth experiment. James is one of the last failures in my opinion. We need a replacement in this transfer window.

 

From what I've seen, Fish Mills is a better prospect than James.

[shurlock]

Disagree, play him wide right and he does the job well.

 

You must be kiddling - only works at certain places under certain circumstances.

[Block 5]

Another good awayday.

We got what we deserved from the game.

 

Andy Porter has covered pretty much all of what I wanted to say.

 

The main thing I want to highlight is the lack of options.

After Leeds scored we needed to change things and take the initiative but AP had very little on the bench.

Mellis and Antonio are two loan players that may or may not be here in January.

Gobern just isn't ready, and proved it yesterday by completely bottling a shooting opportunity that could have given us the equaliser.

We need to strengthen in January, I want to see players on the bench that will strike fear into the opposition.

[shurlock]

Gobern just isn't ready, and proved it yesterday by completely bottling a shooting opportunity that could have given us the equaliser.

We need to strengthen in January, I want to see players on the bench that will strike fear into the opposition.

 

Bottling a shooting opportunity??? What the header which went narrowly wide??? Thought he did well to get to it given he was under pressure and their two CBs had given us nothing in the air all afternoon. Youre right though - take away the loanees -not only Mellis and Antonio but also Trotman and we don't have much on the bench. And Jaidi, Murty, Connolly and Perry could pick up injuries anytime....

[Block 5]

Bottling a shooting opportunity??? What the header which went narrowly wide??? Thought he did well to get to it given he was under pressure and their two CBs had given us nothing in the air all afternoon.

 

Didn't he get the ball on the edge of the box and lay it off instead of shooting?

[Block 5]

Bottling a shooting opportunity??? What the header which went narrowly wide??? Thought he did well to get to it given he was under pressure and their two CBs had given us nothing in the air all afternoon. Youre right though - take away the loanees -not only Mellis and Antonio but also Trotman and we don't have much on the bench. And Jaidi, Murty, Connolly and Perry could pick up injuries anytime....

 

Couldn't agree more.

Imagine Conno and Rickie pick up a couple of knocks........ we will start dropping back down the table.

[View From The Top]

You must be kiddling - only works at certain places under certain circumstances.

 

Prehaps it's because I don't feel the need to have a scapegoat, as some do, that I can see it working.

[Andy_Porter]

Lallana layed it off to Gobern and rather than hitting it on his right he took a touch and tried to hit it with his left and lost the oppurtunity.

[eelpie]

From what I've seen, Fish Mills is a better prospect than James.

 

AP has used Lloyd in all sorts of rolls. He was one of the first to respond to Pardew's tactics and team building early season. Playing him out of position hasn't helped him develop though. He's become a useful Jack of all Trades while Murty has been injured and we have had few alternatives. Spiderman has made midfield his own, and Lloyd is not a stopper in the Wotton mould. It could be that we are now approaching the time when AP can find and sign a better player in the January window that fulfills Lloyd's roll. Meanwhile he is a useful utility player who should at least be on the bench, so let's se how well Fish does instead. 2010 could be Mills' year.

[Block 5]

Lallana layed it off to Gobern and rather than hitting it on his right he took a touch and tried to hit it with his left and lost the oppurtunity.

 

Thanks for clearing that up Andy.

I was willing him to hit it first time......

[shurlock]

Didn't he get the ball on the edge of the box and lay it off instead of shooting?

 

I only count the header as a scoring opportunity - as to other half-chances, it was so frantic with Leeds putting bodies in front of everything - hence James had a goal-bound volley blocked on the edge of the six yard. Leeds jumped on everything - at times illegally - thus, Antonio was mowed down which should have been a pen. I only count 3/4 chances at the end: the Gobern header, Harding's volley and Lamberts shot at the left-side hand side of the six yard box and maybe James volley. Out of all of them Lambert's chance was the probably the best but none were clearcut.

[Junior Mullet]

still 9 points off playoffs...

 

not such a bad day.

 

My thoughts exactly. That 6th spot is still very much up for grabs and I don't reckon there is anyone nearly as good as us fighting for it. We have enough games left and the talent - we just need to keep winning.

 

COYRAWM

[shurlock]

AP has used Lloyd in all sorts of rolls. He was one of the first to respond to Pardew's tactics and team building early season. Playing him out of position hasn't helped him develop though. He's become a useful Jack of all Trades while Murty has been injured and we have had few alternatives. Spiderman has made midfield his own, and Lloyd is not a stopper in the Wotton mould. It could be that we are now approaching the time when AP can find and sign a better player in the January window that fulfills Lloyd's roll. Meanwhile he is a useful utility player who should at least be on the bench, so let's se how well Fish does instead. 2010 could be Mills' year.

 

Absolutely - Lloyd has been there since day 1 when we were down to the kitchen sink and to his credit has filled in lots of different roles. He's certainly closer to the first team than some AP inherited and started, notably, Paterson. But that doesnt mean we should settle with that. Unlike Schneiderlin, Lallana, he hasnt made any position -RB, RM or CM- truly his own. And in varying degrees of priority they are all areas which could be strengthened in Jan. Feel sorry for Mills who has had Lallana and Harding ahead of him - two of our best players this season. If he had been a right sided player, he doubtless would have had more starts.

[ericofarabia]

Thanks for clearing that up Andy.

I was willing him to hit it first time......

 

I was screaming my nuts off for him to hit it

 

To be fair to him it was probably his first touch, but he really should have wellied it :cool:

[up and away]

Get over this defeat. It means little - its not exactly a loss to Exeter at home. Anyone who has followed Saints this season knows about the start we had, how we were something like 20 points off the play offs before the Yeovil game, and how we have become one of the strongest teams in the league since that game.

 

On an overnight and most of Sunday reflection, I think missing Schniederlin was crucial. Need him back next week, and need to keep him in January. If anything happens in January, we need a CB.

 

Agree with a few posters who have mentioned resting players for the FA Cup. I particularly worry about the period in January where we have Millwall, MK Dons, Swindon*, Brentford and Stockport within 15 days of each other. We need our players to be as fresh as possible so that we can achieve our so called "less than 7 points behind the play offs" target set by Pardew come Feb 1st.

 

Could not agree more, good post. Getting players in and early enough in the January window is vital, will take a short while for them to get up and running. That little congested period could well be what decides our chances of the play off's. The Leeds result is not really significant apart from reality has to be looked in the face and Pardew has to go and find a new party frock.

[dubai_phil]

Absolutely - Lloyd has been there since day 1 when we were down to the kitchen sink and to his credit has filled in lots of different roles. He's certainly closer to the first team than some AP inherited and started, notably, Paterson. But that doesnt mean we should settle with that. Unlike Schneiderlin, Lallana, he hasnt made any position -RB, RM or CM- truly his own. And in varying degrees of priority they are all areas which could be strengthened in Jan. Feel sorry for Mills who has had Lallana and Harding ahead of him - two of our best players this season. If he had been a right sided player, he doubtless would have had more starts.

 

Every team needs a Delap or a Telfer. We'd all prefer NOT to need one, but in every squad they are vital.

 

IMHO I think we need a good DM with distribution skills.

 

Cover for Lambert (ie a CF type who can hold the ball up and bring others into play, not just the scoring skill) as I think we would miss that part of his game more than anything else if he was injured or suspended.

 

A young but not raw CB (Trottman before he had some sort of brain fart)

 

And, depending on the prognosis on Murty a Right Back.

 

We'll probably lose one or two that we don't want to and that will no doubt mess things around a bit

[Andy_Porter]

I was screaming my nuts off for him to hit it

 

To be fair to him it was probably his first touch, but he really should have wellied it :cool:

 

Yeah, even on his wrong foot he should have hit it first time, could have been a hero.

[shurlock]

Every team needs a Delap or a Telfer. We'd all prefer NOT to need one, but in every squad they are vital.

 

IMHO I think we need a good DM with distribution skills.

 

Cover for Lambert (ie a CF type who can hold the ball up and bring others into play, not just the scoring skill) as I think we would miss that part of his game more than anything else if he was injured or suspended.

 

A young but not raw CB (Trottman before he had some sort of brain fart)

 

And, depending on the prognosis on Murty a Right Back.

 

We'll probably lose one or two that we don't want to and that will no doubt mess things around a bit

 

Don't we already have a good DM with distribution skills in the shape of Schneiderlin (though he's no Safri yet)?

 

I think we need another player with good distribution skills who has an engine and can play a little bit further forward - a Therry Racon/Richie Wellens type figure, a fleshed out Mellis. If we could get a decent left-sided player, a Jeff Hughes, even Lallana could come inside where we could really link up play.

 

As long as we play direct, wouldn't mind seeing another ball-holding CF play alongside Lambert - christ even Saga could do a job, though the 'politics' are probably no longer right. We've been seriously wasting Connolly by hitting long balls to him.

 

A CB is a good call what with Trotman's lobotomy. Our CBs played well yesterday but it was always reactive, second-ball stuff. Far less composed than Leeds defense who had the pace to follow our Lambert/Connolly into midfield, knowing that they could still get the ball that went over the top.

[martel]

+1

 

That was the benchmark game, it's remarkable what stage Pards has got the team to in a short space of time. It's all good

 

 

That statement really puts things in perspecitive, it has taken Leeds three seasons to get to where they are today. Pards came in with very little time left in the transfer window and turned things around very quickly, my heart said a draw against Leeds, but my head said we would lose by one goal; like most have said nothing to be ashamed of and a lot to look forward too.

[SNSUN]

Doesn't matter to much.

 

Leeds are in a class of their own, and to keep them to a one-goal loss and the substitution of their best player wasn't too bad a result. I think people had generally written this game off as "anything we get out of it as a bonus", a win against Exeter on Boxing Day is imperative for us to forget yesterday.

 

Definitely a couple of signings needed in January, just to freshen things up and maintain the push. Play-offs still not beyond us, we just have to keep up the will to win.

[for_heaven's_Saint]

It's time to release James. At the end of the day only spiderman and lallana could truly be said to have made it from the youth experiment. James is one of the last failures in my opinion. We need a replacement in this transfer window.

 

I think he may have some prospect playing right mid, but anyone who still thinks his better role is in the middle, which I hear people on here say quite often, is deluded and clearly haven't seen him play there.

[shurlock]

I think he may have some prospect playing right mid' date=' but anyone who still thinks his better role is in the middle, which I hear people on here say quite often, is deluded and clearly haven't seen him play there.[/quote']

 

Would you play him week-in, week-out at RM over Antonio or Waigo?

[for_heaven's_Saint]

Would you play him week-in, week-out at RM over Antonio or Waigo?

 

Definitely Waigo or Antonio, but good to have another option.

[martel]

Definitely Waigo or Antonio' date=' but good to have another option.[/quote']

 

Funny enough, the Saints this side of the pond just ended an unbeaten run, that was against the Cowboys; just thought I would share that useless bit of information with you all.

[RedAndWhite91]

Positive points: Leeds are top of the League and haven't lost at Elland Road since January, we went there and didn't embarrass ourselves at all. Our support was once again terrific.

 

Negative points: James really disappointed. The majority of his passing went horrifically astray and he hardly looked interested when he had to get stuck into a tackle. Jaidi is great in the air and in his tackling, but his distribution was very bad. Wayne Thomas at right back kept getting sucked towards the centre and early on Waigo was doing a lot of covering for him (he did well, I might add). I didn't find Elland Road very nice at all.

[70's Mike]

reading this thread it appears we lost because Lloyd James played badly and should never play for saints again

strange thing is those saying it also then spout on about AP being a good manager so why not trust his judgement.

we lost by one to a side walking this league on their patch, a place where many saints sides have got thumped in the past

still apparently replace James and we will win the league

[Window Cleaner]

Funny enough, the Saints this side of the pond just ended an unbeaten run, that was against the Cowboys; just thought I would share that useless bit of information with you all.

 

Still Saints and Colts will probably both finish 18 and 1 this season. I'm counting on the Saints to beat those bastards in the Super Bowl. Just how many get out of jail cards can the Colts get from the officials in one season.

[Thedelldays]

reading this thread it appears we lost because Lloyd James played badly and should never play for saints again

strange thing is those saying it also then spout on about AP being a good manager so why not trust his judgement.

we lost by one to a side walking this league on their patch, a place where many saints sides have got thumped in the past

still apparently replace James and we will win the league

and remember who is saying this stuff...

 

not me or alpine

[benjii]

Some people really are quite feeble in the head.

 

I couldn't give a toss about this result.

 

We are either the third or fourth best side in this division. I would have thought that was patently obvious to anyone. Leeds are the run-away best side.

 

They beat us by a single goal at their place. Probably the sort of result one would expect.

 

We need some more options in January. Everyone knew that already.

 

There is plenty of time left. If we go back on the sort of run we were on before and continue to only lose to Leeds away or Norwich away and the odd slip up elsewhere we have a good chance of being in the play-offs.

 

Who knows, after January we might be the best team in the division.

 

Merry Christmas all.

[adethorne]

It's probably worth pointing out that Simon Grayson has said that Leeds' performance today was one of their best this season.

 

Really, made we're not that bad then and i stand corrected

[jam]

I think he may have some prospect playing right mid' date=' but anyone who still thinks his better role is in the middle, which I hear people on here say quite often, is deluded and clearly haven't seen him play there.[/quote']

 

Pardew seems to fancy him there.

[adethorne]

It's probably worth pointing out that Simon Grayson has said that Leeds' performance today was one of their best this season.

 

Really, maybe we're not that bad then and i stand corrected

[Saint_clark]

I think he may have some prospect playing right mid' date=' but anyone who still thinks his better role is in the middle, which I hear people on here say quite often, is deluded and clearly haven't seen him play there.[/quote']

 

Really? His best performance for us V Brum in the cup came from CM.

He was picked at youth international level as a CM, and earned rave reviews from our management when he was in the youth team - at CM.

[St_Tel49]

From what I've seen, Fish Mills is a better prospect than James.

Nothing that I have seen of Mills suggests for a single second that he should be in the team ahead of James. I think that James is probably one of the first names on the team sheet for Pardew and, with respect, I would back his judgement against yours any day.

[beavis17]

Same old saints fans, defeat and automatically there has to be a scapegoat.

 

I think if these people cast their minds back they'd realise James is a valuable member of the team and has come up with a number of quality assists this season including that superb pass to Connolly at Walsall as well as many other free kicks and corners

 

Just because he has one bad game is his 'preferred' position he is slated, you only have to look at Scholes' uncharacteristic poor performance for Man U yesterday..does that make him a bad player?

 

The slaters need to accept we're not the finished article yet and it will take more time and I hope James continues to prove a lot of people on here wrong

[Block 5]

Nothing that I have seen of Mills suggests for a single second that he should be in the team ahead of James. I think that James is probably one of the first names on the team sheet for Pardew and, with respect,

 

Agreed.

[for_heaven's_Saint]

Really? His best performance for us V Brum in the cup came from CM.

He was picked at youth international level as a CM, and earned rave reviews from our management when he was in the youth team - at CM.

 

Did you go yesterday?

 

He was like a headless chicken, and gave away possession more times than any other player. Every attempted clearance he made was sliced straight up in the air, putting pressure right back on us. By far the worse player on the pitch, and IMO not the first time this season, when playing at CM.

 

If he truly is as talented there as you seem to think then maybe the team around him needs to be changed, as it certainly isn't working at the moment.

Edited 20 December, 2009 by for_heaven's_Saint

[RedAndWhite91]

Same old saints fans, defeat and automatically there has to be a scapegoat.

 

I think if these people cast their minds back they'd realise James is a valuable member of the team and has come up with a number of quality assists this season including that superb pass to Connolly at Walsall as well as many other free kicks and corners

 

Just because he has one bad game is his 'preferred' position he is slated, you only have to look at Scholes' uncharacteristic poor performance for Man U yesterday..does that make him a bad player?

 

The slaters need to accept we're not the finished article yet and it will take more time and I hope James continues to prove a lot of people on here wrong

 

Did you go yesterday?

[SaintRobbie]

Disagree, play him wide right and he does the job well.

 

I agree he can cross a ball, but the rest of his play puts him (and us) at a disadvantage.

[shurlock]

Nothing that I have seen of Mills suggests for a single second that he should be in the team ahead of James. I think that James is probably one of the first names on the team sheet for Pardew and, with respect, I would back his judgement against yours any day.

 

Relax - not saying Mills should be in the team but he has more to his game than James. More important, we have Lallana and Harding on the left who are better than Mills (and James). James is a versatile player and must have been a great option for AP in the short-term given the amount of rebuilding he has had to do while ensuring continuity but if you seriously think he is a decent medium-term let alone long-term prospect for any of the positions he plays, you're dreaming.

Edited 20 December, 2009 by shurlock

[beavis17]

Did you go yesterday?

 

No actually I didn't, but i'm a season ticket holder, and i've been to a few away games, and yes he may have a had a bad game in central midfield yesterday but can you give me any examples from other games in central midfield where he has played poorly..?

 

You can't judge a player on one game in a position, if we did we'd be saying Scholes is carp after yesterday

 

He's 21, and will improve and prove a lot of people on here wrong

[View From The Top]

I agree he can cross a ball, but the rest of his play puts him (and us) at a disadvantage.

 

He's has more to his game than the current two preferred choices in that position.

 

You need to remove you bias and look afresh.

[View From The Top]

No actually I didn't, but i'm a season ticket holder, and i've been to a few away games, and yes he may have a had a bad game in central midfield yesterday but can you give me any examples from other games in central midfield where he has played poorly..?

 

You can't judge a player on one game in a position, if we did we'd be saying Scholes is carp after yesterday

 

He's 21, and will improve and prove a lot of people on here wrong

 

Trust us, those of us that went yesterday will tell you he was poor in CM.

 

He was too lightweight up against the Leeds midfield.

 

He should have been pushed wide right and PW brought into the middle.

[RedAndWhite91]

No actually I didn't, but i'm a season ticket holder, and i've been to a few away games, and yes he may have a had a bad game in central midfield yesterday but can you give me any examples from other games in central midfield where he has played poorly..?

 

You can't judge a player on one game in a position, if we did we'd be saying Scholes is carp after yesterday

 

He's 21, and will improve and prove a lot of people on here wrong

 

Alright well I went yesterday and he had a bad game. Like you, I am a season ticket holder and I have been to many away games so I've seen James play a lot this season.

 

It's the way you said "Same old saints fans, defeat and automatically there has to be a scapegoat.". What's the point in an analysis of a game if you miss out parts about a player having a bad game as to just avoid being negative. No-one is making a scapegoat.

 

Yesterday James had a bad game. I'm not judging him, he just had a bad game. I've seen him have good games this season, I've seen him play well, but unfortunately yesterday he was a liability.

[The Flying Finn]

I think a lot of these opinions are harsh on James. Granted he had a poor game yesterday but to consider getting rid of him is stupidity.

 

You can't chop and change his positions and expect him to be consistently excellent.

 

Playing in the centre of midfield against the best side in the division is a hell of a lot different to playing right-back against Tranmere.

 

His passing usually is excellent – an example being the through ball to Papa for the first goal last Tuesday. It was indeed slack yesterday but the conditions were not conducive to slick passing.

 

Criticising just him papers over the real problem yesterday. We did not have enough outlets going forward.

 

AP promised we’d have a right go at it and we didn’t. Playing Lallana on the left meant we needed a right winger that would hug the touchline, particularly as Thomas was playing right-back, and he didn’t do it.

 

Defensively he made a number of timely interceptions and challenges, but he offered bugger all going forward.

 

All that plus the fact we haven’t much pace up front with Rickie and Connolly, and we were always going to struggle to retain possession.

 

It also shows that we are nowhere near the finished article and have a real lack of quality beyond 13 or 14 players.

 

The two benches yesterday showed this; Johnson, Gradel, Ephraim, Grella and Kandol, as attacking options, while we only really had Antonio, and we had to bring Trotman on as another striker!

 

In January we need another centre-forward of real quality, an attacking right back, a direct wide player with pace, and a cultured box-to-box midfielder, for a start.

 

Admittedly that is asking a lot, but we do have the resources.

 

However, I still don’t think Leeds are as strong as Norwich and yesterday was a missed opportunity.

 

Before the game I said to my mate that win, lose or draw I hoped we just gave them a real game and got at them, but we didn’t.

 

At no point were we destroyed, in fact for large parts we were very comfortable. And that was without playing any real football.

 

Had we played as we have been playing over the last 3 months we really could have got something from the game.

 

Leeds are a consistent team, but they are not brilliant. Their reputation beat us as much as anything.

 

But at least we are still only 9 point from the play-offs. I just hope Pards and the players learn from yesterday ahead of the make or break month to come.

[beavis17]

Alright well I went yesterday and he had a bad game. Like you, I am a season ticket holder and I have been to many away games so I've seen James play a lot this season.

 

It's the way you said "Same old saints fans, defeat and automatically there has to be a scapegoat.". What's the point in an analysis of a game if you miss out parts about a player having a bad game as to just avoid being negative. No-one is making a scapegoat.

 

Yesterday James had a bad game. I'm not judging him, he just had a bad game. I've seen him have good games this season, I've seen him play well, but unfortunately yesterday he was a liability.

 

You make a good point for yesterday's performance but what I really find annoying is that if he plays against Exeter on boxing day, he should be starting on a new leaf however people are just waiting for him to make a mistake so they can criticise him

[Chez]

just back after a long weekend in snowy Harrogate. I have to say we got entirely what we deserved. Totally outplayed in the first half and we didn't improve much in the second. Leeds were decent and on another day they could have taken us apart in the first half. As for us, well our problems stemmed from central midfield where we were very poor indeed.

 

For a long time now I've thought that we have looked a poor side when Schneiderlin was subbed in games and without him starting I think it is obvious to all that we struggle. Often players reputations grow when they are out of the side, but in Schneiderlin's case it is deserved. His replacement James was appauling and that is where we won and lost the game on Saturday. Leeds totally dominated the centre of midfield and that left us with little choice but to whack it down the channels. Why Pardew didn't take James off earlier I will never know. When Gobern came on we got hold of the game and looked like a decent side. I've always thought Gobern would make a central midfielder and on those 8 or 9 minutes he certainly will.

 

Bart 7 one decent save, overall solid, one appauling kick out at the end that had fans tearing their hair out.

Thomas 6 Had his hands full. Showed good strength to cover his lack of pace.

Jardi 8 Held thigs together

Perry 6 Slow and very average in the air. Get Trottman back in the middle.

Harding 7 Another solid display.

Lallana 6 some great stuff, especially ball retention and trickery, but not enough of it and now and then was too easily robbed. Held his position out wide.

James 1 woeful, gave the ball away continuously

Hammond 4 just never got hold of the game

Waigo 2 nothing going forward and didn't track his runner leaving Thomas short.

Lambert 4 largely annonimous.

Connelly 8 Worked his socks off, brilliant first touch, and held the ball up well.

 

Gobern 8 kept the ball and passed it well

Antonio 6 did pretty well

Trottman 7 caused them problems when we went long

[Charlie Wayman]

Alan Pardew thinks this result suggests "we are getting there". OK I accept it's a face saver for him on Monday morning when the boss sends for him but honesty is what's needed right now not wishful thinking. We have not beaten any team from the top 6 so far this season; the reality is that we'll struggle to get into the play-offs unless we improve our side in January. We need at least a good right back and a decent creative midfielder or frankly mid-table see-sawing will be as good as it gets.

[S-Clarke]

Alan Pardew thinks this result suggests "we are getting there". OK I accept it's a face saver for him on Monday morning when the boss sends for him but honesty is what's needed right now not wishful thinking. We have not beaten any team from the top 6 so far this season; the reality is that we'll struggle to get into the play-offs unless we improve our side in January. We need at least a good right back and a decent creative midfielder or frankly mid-table see-sawing will be as good as it gets.

 

but we will improve our team in January, that's quite frankly already a fact - just a matter of who.

 

We've beaten MK Dons and Charlton btw.....they were both in the top6 when we played them.

 

I think his view was spot on personally, we've come along way in such a short space of time. If we played leeds 4 months ago they would have tonked us - now we can push them right to the end....and we will keep on improving from here too.

[Hodgey]

Strangely there seems to be a consensus amongst fans who went and for me they have it spot on. James was poor (aside from previous comments he also played a particularly sloppy sideways pass which set Leeds off on a clear breakaway chance) , as was Waigo and Leeds dominated in midfield whilst we kept giving it away. They also did their homework and knew our right side was week hence why Papa played most of the game as a right back. Unfortunately for us that just happens to be where Snodgrass plays

Their back 4 was excellent Connolly, Lambert and Papa were all in the defenders pockets with Lallana limited to only a couple of runs.

Surprised nobody else pointed out that Harding was heavily at fault for their goal (he was other than that excellent). The defense was out of position after some last gasp tackles on the Leeds striker and Harding failed to make touch with an unpressured clearance - giving it straight to their full back who promptly gave it to Snodgrass who had plenty of space due to our defense still recovering.

We need to sort out our right side (wing and full back), get another ball playing midfielder, pacy covering centre half and striker if we want to be assured a play off place.

Quality moment for me was 5 mins before kick off in the gents with a saints fan loudly announcing to everyone that he needed a 'pony' and negotiating his way to the front such was his need.

It was also absolutely freezing