Saints V Stockport County - Post Match Reaction

[Tractor_Saint]

how was Banard?

 

Missed a sitter really

 

 

But 'We've got Antonio'

 

 

And their keeper really wasn't very good at goal kicks ... think the Northam put him off each time (NSFW)

 

 

Can you tell that both goals were scored down the other end? Come on Saints, score them down this end at the Poopey match

[70's Mike]

Clearly you are.

Lambert did what he could with what he was given, and Wotton did nothing right all game long. Whenever he got the ball everything lost momentum.

 

To be fair you need to watch what Wotton does when he does not have ball, we allows us to have luxury players like Morgan, Papa and Antionio

[Chez]

But I was there and all theguys with me had the same opinion. We can't all be wrong?

 

I agree with you that Lambert was poor. He has been very average for a while. The service has been **** to him which makes him look bad, but he hasn't been sharp enough. He will still score goals though, but he misses Connelly. Waigo starting might help him.

 

As for Wotton. Blimey. A terrible player that played badly today.

[St Landrew]

I suppose the worrisome issue is still that without captain Hammond in the team, Saints lack an immediate get-up-and-go spark. It's very difficult to have a player on standby who'll perform as vital a function as Hammond does, and who'll only get a game when the skipper is either injured or being rested. Wotton does as well as he can, but I often wonder why we signed him in the first place. Clearly he wasn't going to improve a, then championship, side as he wouldn't regularly feature in this L1 team, if given the choice.

[Matthew Le God]

When Hammond replaces Wotton it will make a huge difference!

 

All of Wotton's determination(which is good to see of course) doesn't take away that nearly every touch of the ball he has is poor, negative and quite often an aimless hoof that losses possession and breaks up Saints attacks.

[nickfinks]

3 points... enough said

[St Landrew]

3 points... enough said

 

Err... as, by popular demand, we have a Post Match Reaction thread, quite clearly 3 points... enough said, isn't.

[Ruffo]

Great to get the win. Keep it going lads. We need to stay focused on getting that 6th spot.

[Crab Lungs]

Glad to hear Holmes is proving his worth to a few people. He'll get better and better - definitely a player IMO who can play at a much higher level.

[Legod Third Coming]

how was Banard?

 

Spent most of the game on his arse...

 

Will give him the benefit until he finds his feet but that was not a great performance. Two clear headers straight at the keeper and no link up play with lambo.

 

Mind you they were all crap first 60 minutes.

[brmbrm]

M Schneiderlin 8 MOTM - Midfield dynamo . Mobile , creative & the hard tackling midfielder every team needs . Magnifique !.

 

Wow. Certianly a game of opinions. I thougnt first half he was 4 - zero creativity, misplaced passes, but at least a shot on goal. Second half he was only any good once waigo came on and it was his running that created the space the MS could use.

 

In summary: plays well in a team playing well en ough to give space, but NOT the creative genius/dynamo/midfield general by any means.

 

MOM? Antotnio robably, maybe Waigo (but only on for 30 minutus), Fonte or Seaborne.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

Wow. Certianly a game of opinions. I thougnt first half he was 4 - zero creativity, misplaced passes, but at least a shot on goal. Second half he was only any good once waigo came on and it was his running that created the space the MS could use.

 

In summary: plays well in a team playing well en ough to give space, but NOT the creative genius/dynamo/midfield general by any means.

 

MOM? Antotnio robably, maybe Waigo (but only on for 30 minutus), Fonte or Seaborne.

 

 

Well we'll have to agree to disagree - I thought he was excellent (in a poor team performance) and easily our best player for most of the match .

[Saint Malc]

It is always very, very difficult to break down a team with absolutely no ambition whatsoever. *It wasn't pretty but there was only one team in it from start to finish and that was us by a very long way.

 

Otsemobor, Seabourne and Fonte didn't have much to do but what they had to do they looked very comfortable doing it. *Great signs for the long term.

 

Morgan had his best game for a while which pleased my daughter although I had to suffer in the car on the way home with Morgan this and Morgan that all the way :-)

 

Anyway, job well done and I can't think of a better outcome under the circumstances.

[NickG]

think Schneiderlin needs someone to actually move and want the ball - once they did he was excellent at finding them. Very comfortable on the ball.

 

Our best midfielder for last few months without a doubt.

[View From The Top]

Just got back and, TBH, wish I hadn't bothered with the 340mile round trip.

 

It was sh*t and better watched on teletext.

[bender]

13 points off with 19 games to go. Have a game in hand over some but then again some teams have a game in hand over us. Tricky but not impossible.

[SuperMikey]

think Schneiderlin needs someone to actually move and want the ball - once they did he was excellent at finding them. Very comfortable on the ball.

 

Our best midfielder for last few months without a doubt.

 

We missed him against Ipswich, because we didn't really have any mobility in the team. I think we should play Schneiderlin alongside Lallana. Adz is always moving off the ball and making runs, and potentially those two could be very good together in the middle of the park. Play Wotton behind them if you must to break up the play a bit, but for god's sake don't give him the ball.

[Red&White]

That was probably the worst 1st half at home this season for me........papa turned it round.

But it was a win so onwards and upwards.

[SFC Forever]

Today we scored 2 of the really stupid goals that we normally let in. Poor game but good enough result.

[barney]

Terrible first half as stated.

They all upped it second half, Holmes and Mills got more into the game.

Waigo was superb and offered another outlet instead of just Antonio.

Fonte looks very cultured at the back.

Reserve judgement on barnard too early to tell.

[Fitzhugh Fella]

think Schneiderlin needs someone to actually move and want the ball - once they did he was excellent at finding them. Very comfortable on the ball.

 

Our best midfielder for last few months without a doubt.

 

Nick you know I disagree with you on this but I accept your point about no movement around him.

I am still watching him closely and despite his elegance I remain convinced he catches the eye but actually produces little. It would help if he could shoot as well.

 

He is starting to fascinate me because in the pub after there were some praising him and as many saying he was crap. Enigma.

[Fitzhugh Fella]

Terrible first half as stated.

They all upped it second half, Holmes and Mills got more into the game.

Waigo was superb and offered another outlet instead of just Antonio.

Fonte looks very cultured at the back.

Reserve judgement on barnard too early to tell.

 

I'm not too worried about Barnard - yes he has missed two sitters now, but he works hard and he has got into the positions to miss the 2 goals in the first place.

 

He will come into his own next year.

[View From The Top]

Nick you know I disagree with you on this but I accept your point about no movement around him.

I am still watching him closely and despite his elegance I remain convinced he catches the eye but actually produces little. It would help if he could shoot as well.

 

He is starting to fascinate me because in the pub after there were some praising him and as many saying he was crap. Enigma.

 

He was the best player on the park today IMHO.

[Legod Third Coming]

I'm not too worried about Barnard - yes he has missed two sitters now, but he works hard and he has got into the positions to miss the 2 goals in the first place.

 

He will come into his own next year.

 

Just as long as someone buys him some studs, maybe.

 

And on that note, let's dispense with the red, yellow and white boots until we are playing Real Madrid, or like them.

 

Right now, anyone not wearing black boots in this league just looks a total tool.

[Singeon Sears]

I'm not too worried about Barnard - yes he has missed two sitters now, but he works hard and he has got into the positions to miss the 2 goals in the first place.

 

He will come into his own next year.

 

Agreed. The guy has already proven he can score goals at this level, just give him time and it should happen.

 

In the meantime I do believe Papa should be spending more time on the pitch, in league one terms he is a quality forward, and should be up front scoring, not sat on the bench.

[Toadhall Saint]

Lets face it a ****e first half followed by a ****e second half - just about managed to put them way (touch and go mind) on to next week with 3 points in the bag. Played badly but won - is that the sign of a good side?;-)

[exit2]

For me first 60 mins was ****e. Would have taken off Lambert at half time. He looked knackered and his body langauge was showing that. Would have left LB on and let him play up front with PW, who in my opinion changed the game, but hey 3 points!

[Dr Who?]

Played badly and won.... I will take that, as long as the form returns!

[rooney]

Good to see both wingers runing at defences with pace and crossing the ball. Waigo was excellent when he came on. Our defence had an easy day today although Mills looked a little shaky early on and Wotton was dodgy too.First half poor but seconed half we came to light after the Waigo subsitution. Antonio MOM for me.

[Clifford Nelson]

When we play like the opposition we are likely to be brought down to their level. Today was another example. Bringing Waigo on turned the game, even though I don't know what he did to energize Holmes and Schneiderlin to make them look really good. Class player he is and he created three good chances when earlier we collectively couldn't create any.

 

Wotton did his best as usual, however we categorize his best. Let's get off his back. AP picks him and is responsible for not replacing him with a younger and better version, but who's just signed a left winger instead. Who would have done the job better today? Gillett?

 

Must also own up that I enjoyed Antonio's antics today. If he could learn to cross the ball it would be even better.

 

Any chance we may see more of one of our most talented players from now on? I fear that Waigo will be back on the bench next week. In spite of everything he has now scored 8, which is not back for somebody who hardly ever plays.

[Stubby]

I thought Wotton did a good job today. I understand that he's not the most elegant of players, but he got through a lot of work.

[SNSUN]

A win's a win. I'd like to see Papa get more chances, think he'd be a quality permanent signing if we can get him. Needs more opportunities.

 

Happy, hopefully the start of a winning run!

[CityRanger]

We had a totally new back 4 from a month ago and out of the 6 players in midfield and up front only 1 with any genuine pace, Antonio.

Not surprisingly the 1st half was very dissapointing and only the 2nd half introduction of Waigo saw us play some half decent football, ie more than 3 consecutive passes.

Waigo brought the highly tanned Holmes into the game but I still don't think he's all that.

Other disappointments for me were Barnard, Ormerod without pace. Odsemoawhatever, lazy. Wotton, still and always will be limited. And Mills didn't have the best game either.

Antonio plugged away, Lambert looks knackered lately.

I think we missed Hammond, James and Lallana. They dictate the pace of our passing and without them we were very lacking in ideas.

3 points tho.

[InvictaSaint]

Let's just say the first 60 minutes of the game was the worse I have seen this season. We weren't just poor we were bloody diabolical

 

When Waigo came on everything changed. He was by far MOM. Pace, skill, visionary, cross runs totally confusing the opposition.

 

This was not an inspired substitution by Pardew, it was a major mistake he did not start

 

When he came on Schneiderlin started playing because he had an outlet. Holmes started playing because he was inspired by Waigo's movement and space.

 

As for Wotton, he was the poorest player on the pitch and actually caused our midfield to be non existant and provide no service, movement or skill.

 

Fonte and Seaborne were excellent. Looks like we have a great buy in Seaborne. Fonte is of course class.

 

Worried about our midfield but with Puncheon soon to play it can only improve.

 

As for Lallana, injured his hip in training yesterday and failed a medical today. Rested ntil Wednesday and they will look at him. Hopes to be fit for Exeter.

 

Best analysis of the game by far WS; absolutely how I saw it, and succinctly and concisely put - spot on!

[InvictaSaint]

Just back

 

Bit of a meh game to be honest.

 

Stockport came for a draw and didn't really make any real threat. They had a lot of corners from nothing but if i counted right had about 3 or 4 shots the entire game, Kelvin had nothing to do.

 

1st half was just boring as hell, by far the worst half i have seen this season. Both sides were just passing it about and creating next to nothing. The players seemed nervey and made a lot of mistakes. I felt that Wotten and Morgan was not working, Wotten made the most mistakes and really have to say their chances came from feck up's by him.

The only player who seemed to be creative was Antonio who tried to lift the players by trying to create something but it would just not happen.

 

2nd half seemed to start the same way and really the only way either team was going to score was by a big mistake.

 

I think Pardew got it spot on in bring Waigo on for Barnard. No offence to barnard but he had a clear chance and wasted it, it didn't looklik it was going to be his day.

Bringing Papa on changed the game and gave us the attacking option we had badly lacked. The guy was class and should of had at least 1 other goal from a 1 on 1 situation.

 

Me and some people at the game were talking about how in previous seasons we would probably end up losing the game. It is a huge difference to see the manager actually make decisions that change it for the better.

 

So all in all a very good win against a team who just wanted a draw imo, we struggled to create the clear chances due to some players having a severe off day. But we grinded out the result and move places up the league. I think someone said if we win our game in hand we will be something like 9 points behind the last playoff spot?

 

We will need to play a lot better then that but i think teams like Stockport bring the worst out of us. We missed Hammond and Lallana i think. Hopefully Puncheon can add a bit more to the creative side. So a lot of positives and it is great to see our defence being so solid.

 

Actually St Marco, you may have just trumped Weston! :-)

[InvictaSaint]

I think we forget who was missing today...however 3-points is enough.

 

Still 13 off the palyoffs with a game in hand and many games against the teams above us home and away. Take 3-points in those and 10-points will soon dwindle away.

 

Noticed Danns scored 2 today - I wonder if the announcement saying "No more signings" is a way of getting Danns or Stock this window? fter all Palace and Donnie may be playing hard ball knowing our financial strength. This is a clear signal nothing more to offer - may be mack in close season. If they need money now there's still Sunday and Monday morning until noon to do medicals and finalise terms!

 

Quite honestly with Hammond back, Holmes providing on the left, Waigo on the right and a combination of Rickie, Barnard and Connolly up front - we should do alright. Can assume we will hit the play offs but you know what they say about teams that win when they ply badly. We will be playing much better teams in the weeks to come and not teams intent on sitting 5/6 across the middle to stifle our open passing football.

 

Can't remember who is next...but first win under our belt. Only three more on the trot and they can give Markus & Nicola the freedom of the City as far as I am concerned. No pressure lads - play off chasing win, JPT second leg Wembley, and then the auld enemy and the glories of the 6th round. Pinch me someone I think I'm dreaming...

 

I would have taken this in July if someone had offered it...let's just be thankful and less critical.

 

I think many should heed your final words Yorkie; again, spot on. It's not about accepting mediocrity or not wanting more - it's about living for the day and appreciating what you have.

[torsaint]

I was there today and found nothing to excite me for 60 minutes. I concentrated on Schneiderlin but found he trotted into position at snail pace once he had lost the ball. The French manager needs to look at him critically if he hopes to use him in the future. In summary we found the bottom team hard to beat until Papa Waigo came on. On the plus side Fonte looked the best central defender we have had for ages.

[The Cat]

Seaborne looked solid, but his distribution needs some work. Fonte and Jaidi together will allow us to play a lot more football.

 

Encouraged by the fact we started with 2 wingers, and would like to see this more.

 

Enjoyed watching Antonio try his hardest while everyone else was too predictable until Papa came on and transformed the game.

 

Stockport were beyond poor although they worked hard and stuck to their game plan well. They were wasting time within the first minute.

 

Missed Lallana loads. You often don't notice just how much impact a player has on the team until they don't play.

[Colinjb]

It was ugly, it was scrappy, it was one of the worst games of football I had ever seen until Papa Waigo came on.

 

BUT WE GOT THE JOB DONE.

 

That, frankly, is enough for me.

[musesaint]

Poor game but good result

 

AP - PLEASE "unleash the Waigo" more often - PLEASE!

 

...his touch and passing is a league above Antonio IMHO

[Legod Third Coming]

Poor game but good result

 

AP - PLEASE "unleash the Waigo" more often - PLEASE!

 

...his touch and passing is a league above Antonio IMHO

 

I thought they both played well. Antonio was a real threat second half - less said about the first the better!

 

Teams do not like pacy players with the ball at their feet running at them and but for some sloppy final balls and finishing, that game should have been 4-0.

[Saint_lambden]

Good- Schneiderlin second half , Seaborne , Waigo when he came on and Fonte was pretty solid as well.

 

Bad- Wotton (When's Hammond back?) , Mills (harding back in next week please).

 

At the end of the day- not a good game at all but a win which is all that matters.

 

Most of the players will benefit from no game midweek- especially Lambert who's look knackered for ages.

[explorer saint]

Mills awful god know why Thomas was dropped plus Jaidi and Perry realy think Pardew has the wrong back four playing but who aam I just a supporter!

[Gordon Mockles]

Awful game. Good result. Bloody cold...& won a small bet (although so near to getting a better win with 2nd bet - Lambert to score 1st & Saints to win 3-0. 18/1). Thought Stockport would try & nulify us but poor performance once again. We're really not convincing.

 

Fair play to Pardew & Papa though. Key, early (ish) substitution that changed the game. Papa got in their faces, chased loose balls, hassled defenders, scored & generally made a nuisance of himself. He looked eager & sharp. AP clearly wanted him to come on & prove a point & that he did. I thought his mental attitude was brilliant.

 

Papa Waigo's won us a good few games with vital goals/assists. I must say, despite his sometimes hot/cold performance nature & my overall opinion being 60/40 (in his favour) before the game, I like him & he did brilliantly well in his attacking forward role & I think he'd be a valuable asset to hold onto. Much more so that what I have currently seen of Barnard, although too early to judge. Usual pace & graft from Antonio. Just needs to notch th power on his crosses down a few notches as he always clears the whole goal mouth, often the 18yrd box. Morgan had good spells 2nd half. Otsemebor (???) I didn't see make a single challenge until 60/70 mins. Not impressed so far but too early to judge on 1 poor match.

 

I thought Mills was good against Ipswich but he let himself down today, just not his day. Terrible day at the office for him (along with Wotton who was also better against Ipswich, sloppy today bar 1 decent pass)

Edited 31 January, 2010 by Gordon Mockles

[SNSUN]

Mills awful god know why Thomas was dropped plus Jaidi and Perry realy think Pardew has the wrong back four playing but who aam I just a supporter!

They kept a clean sheet, what more are you looking for from defenders?

[Kingsbridge Saint]

3 points is 3 points. Still only 7 points clear of the drop zone though - and Oldham have 2 games in hand. Still plenty of work to do on that first half showing. Forget the play offs.

[dubai_phil]

Listening was grim.

 

But we've won ugly, ground out a 2-0 with a really poor performance. Not good for the fans who had to watch it, but as others have said, how many times have we played superb football and drawn or lost.

 

We need to win. we haven't been of late and if this game is the turning point when we start winning while playing badly, that'll do me. We still have the heart of our midfield to come back from injury.

 

Although I still think Lambert would benefit from being given a week off on a beach somewhere, but for that I guess we need Connelly fit again

[ericofarabia]

As mentioned earlier in the fred, in days gone by, this is the sort of game that once things didn't start going our way, we'd lose confidence and end up conceding a last minute goal with the oppositions only attack of the game.

 

In a way I'm glad we didn't steamroller them with goals aplenty once we got our noses in front. That may have papered over the fact that we were poor. We got the 3 points and hopefully a bit of a wake up call that that standard of performance against the majority of teams in our league would have resulted in 0 points at all.

 

On a personal front, another 10 points in Teh Prediction League leaves me sitting in 2nd place, with only The Northam Girls on top of me .... now there's a mental image to conjure with on a Sunday morning, and being the perfect gentleman i'm quite happy to come 2nd

 

Next week away to Exeter, a game we all expect to win but it won't be easy. Their home record is pretty similar to Brentford's and they did beat Leeds 2-0 2 weeks ago :cool:

[saint-luco]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00qm4yv/The_Football_League_Show_2009_2010_30_01_2010/

56.03 for the saints

[Toomer]

That was a poor first half, second half much better pleased with the win in the past we could have lost games like that. Not sure if the Lambert - Barnard is going to work, early days, Papa added a spark to the game.

 

I know we are playing the Skates in two weeks but IMO there were far to many anti Skate songs yesterday also I fear for us if we perform like we did in the first half.

Edited 31 January, 2010 by Toomer