Saints 0-0 Barnsley - Reaction/Doughnuts/Lucy Pinder Thread

[70's Mike]

Do I feel a little tension in the 70s household.

 

none just make excuses why i cannot go to family do's.

 

i just get fed up when people tell me things have been worse , because i cannot remember any time where i felt more worried about this clubs future

[Wes Tender]

Well, as we are simply not good enough to beat two of the teams deemed to be amongst the candidates for the drop, then logically we must be one of them too. For all the entertaining play, the honest endeavour of the youngsters, there was no end product to show for it.

 

For large parts of the first half, the entire left third of the field was one of the least populated areas per square yard in the City of Southampton. I was half expecting to see gypsy caravans parked there the second half, but seemingly JP had also noticed it and during the second half we went to the opposite extreme and played a lot of our football down the left. Presumably B-WP got a deserved rollicking for wandering inside, thinking that he was a striker, instead of giving us the much needed width to stretch the midfield. As a punishment, he was replaced with Thompson who did a much better job. Credit where it was due in midfield, Gillett was good IMO, playing with energy and commitment. Wotton and Perry did well at CB, but weren't that troubled by a team who were here for the draw and didn't over pressure our goal. I think Mills did alright and would like to see him adopt LB as his position, allowing Surman to move up into midfield. I don't think that we were far adrift of getting something positive from the game apart from the lack of width and ability of the wide men to go for the byeline instead of cutting too early into midfield.

 

But overall I think that we could easily slip into a trough of despondency if we don't get a win soon. Rotherham would do; but if we lose against them, I worry about next Saturday.

[OldNick]

Well, as we are simply not good enough to beat two of the teams deemed to be amongst the candidates for the drop, then logically we must be one of them too. For all the entertaining play, the honest endeavour of the youngsters, there was no end product to show for it.

 

For large parts of the first half, the entire left third of the field was one of the least populated areas per square yard in the City of Southampton. I was half expecting to see gypsy caravans parked there the second half, but seemingly JP had also noticed it and during the second half we went to the opposite extreme and played a lot of our football down the left. Presumably B-WP got a deserved rollicking for wandering inside, thinking that he was a striker, instead of giving us the much needed width to stretch the midfield. As a punishment, he was replaced with Thompson who did a much better job. Credit where it was due in midfield, Gillett was good IMO, playing with energy and commitment. Wotton and Perry did well at CB, but weren't that troubled by a team who were here for the draw and didn't over pressure our goal. I think Mills did alright and would like to see him adopt LB as his position, allowing Surman to move up into midfield. I don't think that we were far adrift of getting something positive from the game apart from the lack of width and ability of the wide men to go for the byeline instead of cutting too early into midfield.

 

But overall I think that we could easily slip into a trough of despondency if we don't get a win soon. Rotherham would do; but if we lose against them, I worry about next Saturday.

do you really believe Ipswich are one of the relegation teams Wes?

[Whitey Grandad]

My personal ratings for Saints v Barnsley :

 

K Davis 5 - Difficult to rate because he had very little to do , although his kicking did seem a little 'off' today FWIW .

J Cork 6 - Guarded the RB position effectively enough , not really an attacking full back yet for my money .

P Wotton 5 - Useful honest squad player , but no more than that .

C Perry 7 MOTM - Textbook example of how the Centre Back position should be played . I wish we'd kept Lucketti to with hindsight .

M Mills 6 - A few difficult moments early on but soon adjusted to the pace of 1st team football , going to be a good player I reckon .

S Gillett 5 - Keen as mustard but lacks the strength or ability needed to dominate the midfield at this stage .

D Surman 6.5 - Clearly much happier & a better player back in his natural position , he should remain there IMO .

BWP 3.5 - It will come as no surprise to experienced BWP watchers to learn that he was gash . A 20 minute sub player at best .

A Lallana 7 - Technically the best player on the pitch by a country mile , his size & inexperience the only things holding him back .

DMG 6.5 - Intermittently bright & sunny but with long dull periods the outlook for this player remains problematic to forecast .

T Peckhart 4.5 - A blunt instrument his touch was way off today , on this evidence he's miles off Premier league standard for now .

 

Substitutes :

S John 6 - Brought on far too late we looked a more dangerous team for his presence .

J Thomson 4.5 - Looked pretty lightweight to be honest , managed to be little better than BWP (which is quite a achievement) .

 

Summary :

Watching the Saints this week has been a pretty depressing experience in all honesty , if we're looking for positives we defended quite well today but that might just as well be because Barnsley were awful rather than any real improvement by our team . After a bright start we faded away (stop me if you've heard this before) and the game descended into a dull scrap which big brutes such as Darren Moore found easy enough to cope with .

A brave and correct decision to start with young Mills and move Surman back to midfield was undermined by the coach's refusal to bring on Stern John earlier when it was perfectly obvious that Peckhart was struggling . For my money we need to revert to 4-4-2 before it's too late .

You have to ask yourself if we can't beat a poor team like Barnsley at home then where exactly are the next points coming from ?

I agree with all of that. It saved me having to write an essay. I think you've been very generous with DMG. He's lucky to get 0 in the poll. It just shows what happens when you sign a new contract.

[ottery st mary]

nickh

As regards Lowey and the team talk before each game he takes his blackboard and chalk with him for tactics and the like.

He did have a magnetic board but with the cut backs and all that.

When he is not available he does his team talk by remote like video conference but he is the only one allowed to speak. Hope that helps.

He also does a bit of scouting for new players.

[70's Mike]

nickh

As regards Lowey and the team talk before each game he takes his blackboard and chalk with him for tactics and the like.

He did have a magnetic board but with the cut backs and all that.

When he is not available he does his team talk by remote like video conference but he is the only one allowed to speak. Hope that helps.

He also does a bit of scouting for new players.

 

i thought i saw him watching an under 13 game last week at Warsash rec

[davec]

So many doom and gloom merchants on here! OK , we weren't great but last year under Burley we lost 1-0 at home to Barnsley.

Also,thought defence looked solid with Wotton and Perry in the middle.

However, how does BWP ever get a place? Thought Jake Thomson was far more effective when he came on and deserves a proper run in the team.

We could have won it if Lallana had scored towards the end.

We have to accept we have no money and we are stuck with the nippers until January at least - so stop whinging and get behind the lads!

It is going to be a difficult season but at least these players are trying (unlike the overpaid primadonnas of Burley's era!).

I'm off to Donny next week and will not be surprised to see us win!

[OldNick]

nickh

As regards Lowey and the team talk before each game he takes his blackboard and chalk with him for tactics and the like.

He did have a magnetic board but with the cut backs and all that.

When he is not available he does his team talk by remote like video conference but he is the only one allowed to speak. Hope that helps.

He also does a bit of scouting for new players.

perhaps he does in your bizarre world OSM

[ottery st mary]

i thought i saw him watching an under 13 game last week at Warsash rec

 

Any talent whatsoever and they will be in the side next game for sure.

[70's Mike]

Any talent whatsoever and they will be in the side next game for sure.

 

he was out bid by Pace who offered a PS3 ,we then withdrew because he are short of money

[OldNick]

Any talent whatsoever and they will be in the side next game for sure.

the youngsters have a lot more talent than you give them credit for.

[ottery st mary]

the youngsters have a lot more talent than you give them credit for.

 

Personally Warsash Wasps were always a talented bunch but for the present crop I am not in a position to give them credit as I have not seen them play.

 

Have you lost your sense of humour or you narked because Lowey does the team talk?

[OldNick]

Personally Warsash Wasps were always a talented bunch but for the present crop I am not in a position to give them credit as I have not seen them play.

 

Have you lost your sense of humour or you narked because Lowey does the team talk?

I havent lost my sense of humour but it helps if you put something funny.

[saintjay77]

You are joking, right? That was the worst Saints game that I have ever witnessed, although there was one Wednesday night at the Dell against West Ham that came close.

 

No Im not joking but you missed out the 1st bit of the sentance,

 

but the positive things that we are doing is still much better than some of the tripe we were served last year.

 

I didnt say there were many positive things from todays game

 

some of the posts from those at the game today are a bit mixed. most of them say it was really bad while a few are saying we missed some of the injured players and a couple of the others need to be dropped or put in positions that suit them better.

 

Personally i think Morgan is a must in the team as everytime he has gone off we have been half the team we are with him on. Missing him completly today was like cutting out the brain of the team that can attack and cut through the deffence of pretty much any team in this division (on occasions)

 

I agree with what someone said previously in that playing 442 at home would suit us much more. 1 up front with the right players in the middle will work away from home as a counter attacking team but inviting the opo onto us at home is asking for disaster

[egreog]

So many negative people.....surely a clean sheet with most of the defence injured is the major positive of the day!!

 

Other than that, does anyone feel they had value for money?........entertained?......on the edge of their seats?........probably not........ thats why there will be 13,000 at the next game.......

 

......less and less people are prepared to spend hard, very hard earned money at the present time watching this type of stuff

[St Marco]

the youngsters have a lot more talent than you give them credit for.

 

Adam and Morgan have bags of talent. The rest i can't see really developing into anything other then league 1 or 2 material. I look back over previous teams we have had both first and reserve and there is just nothing there. Lallana will go on to be a class player if handled right. They are sort of like Dyer in the sense so much hope was placed on them but when it got to time to deliver he was found out to be pretty poor. I wish we had kept Hammill to be honest.

[sidthesquid]

My thoughts on the game

Players

Davis 6 - nothing to do

Cork 6 - OK

Mills 7 - a pretty good debut after a nervous start

Wotton & Perry 7 - admittedly the opposition were poor, but looked the best pairing yet

Gillett - 6 Did okay when he keeps it simple. Like a long history of midfield terriers going back through Marsden, Case, Ball & Hughie Fisher, he should never be allowed to pass the ball more than ten yards

McGoldrick - about 3 on the left, 7 on the right. At least he stayed where he was meant to when put out wide left, unlike...

BWP 4 - seemed to try quite hard but obviously decided he could play wherever he felt like. Why is it he looks borderline OK as a sub, yet effing useless whenever he starts?

Surman & Lallana 7 - the two most creative, imaginative players we possess by a mile. Sadly Lallana's shooting boots were havinng a wonky day.

Peckart 6 - his touch was not great, but a couple of time showed what he could do

Thomson 6 - better than BWP & stuck to his task on his wrong foot

John 5 - He just looks lost with our style of play

Overall, a frustrating afternoon, but nothing we haven't witnessed many times before in the Championship against big, unambitious teams. But we did stick at it, we did create chances & our lack of players meant we played an unbalanced team. Not great, but not awful, and still infinitely preferable to last season's dross

[Whitey Grandad]

I didnt say there were many positive things from todays game

I thought the defence had a much better shape, allbeit against a very poor Barnsley side, and they say that you should never argue with a clean sheet, but the passing in the rest of the pitch was unbelievably poor. Before the game I was trying to decide which would be the better result, 0-0 or 2-2? Now I'm too depressed to care.

[70's Mike]

So many negative people.....surely a clean sheet with most of the defence injured is the major positive of the day!!

 

Other than that, does anyone feel they had value for money?........entertained?......on the edge of their seats?........probably not........ thats why there will be 13,000 at the next game.......

 

......less and less people are prepared to spend hard, very hard earned money at the present time watching this type of stuff

 

not sure what side of the fence

[SoccerMom]

I thought the defence had a much better shape, allbeit against a very poor Barnsley side, and they say that you should never argue with a clean sheet, but the passing in the rest of the pitch was unbelievably poor. Before the game I was trying to decide which would be the better result, 0-0 or 2-2? Now I'm too depressed to care.

 

The defense did have a better shape, and it was nice to see Perry marshalling Fish into getting Barnsley offside a few times.

 

Fish's successful debut was a real positive from the game.

 

I have seen worse games, even in the last year. Crystal Palace at home, anyone? Watford at home? Which was the one when Wright was made captain and he threw the armband down in disgust when taking a corner up the Chapel end? That, for me, was Saints nadir, and the only way was up from that point on.

 

Christ, it really wasn't that bad, all things considered. When I heard the team at the beginning, I really did think we were going to get slaughtered.

[saintjay77]

do you really believe that

 

Yeah I do....... I just didnt say how much sooner

[ladysaint]

I have really enjoyed all the games so far this season, though we have only won one league game you could see that they were playing good football and it was entertaining. Not sure what happened today, was just totally bored and when Barnsely were through I was hoping they would score as it could of have kick started the game. Not sure where we go from here, we have no one else left to bring in other than Skacel and think we need to play him.

[paris]

I thought the Itchen North was closed?

Absolutely no sign of the passing game that the team employed earlier in the season. No pattern to the play and no shape to the team. No saves for either keeper (virtually all of Saints shots/chances were straight at their keeper. He didn`t have to move). Too much "hit and hope" from Saints. A Barnsley team that were physical but no better than us. ONLY positive to come from game - didn`t lose. Total Football? Total Shambles IMHO. Well done Northam/Itchen North for keeping going and creating some atmosphere.:mad:

[OldNick]

I have really enjoyed all the games so far this season, though we have only won one league game you could see that they were playing good football and it was entertaining. Not sure what happened today, was just totally bored and when Barnsely were through I was hoping they would score as it could of have kick started the game. Not sure where we go from here, we have no one else left to bring in other than Skacel and think we need to play him.

but I did get MB to introduce himself to you at the Ipswich game (sorry about that LS), that must have made your season so far.

Hume should have scored and if he had there was no getting back from that.

[ladysaint]

Yes he did - nice young man :-)

[saintjay77]

I thought the defence had a much better shape, allbeit against a very poor Barnsley side, and they say that you should never argue with a clean sheet, but the passing in the rest of the pitch was unbelievably poor. Before the game I was trying to decide which would be the better result, 0-0 or 2-2? Now I'm too depressed to care.

 

I think its difficult to look at the positives when everything else seems to have gone backwards.

 

But I think that is due to a few key players being missing which worries me in the sence of relying on the few talented youngsters is fine, but when they are missing we really do have nothing left in the tank. Last year's squad although underperformed could have been replaced by a fair amount of our current 1st team when needed and done a pretty good job in the process. Now we are missing last years squad and we are playing the replacements we are banking on them staying fit for the whole season in order to hope for anything good to happen.

[St_Tel49]

Administration - there is no way that these attendance levels will allow SFC to fulfill its side of the deal with Barclays, especially as we cannot flog anyone until January...

What do you propose that we do Alps?

[OldNick]

What do you propose that we do Alps?

Do you notice the triumphalism in the tone of that post you question? It galls that some get what seems pleasure from the fall.

[SP Saint]

What do you mean by "part of" ?

 

I am spending a large amount of my time following every step of the demise of SFC, and will do the same if a recovery starts in earnest too.

 

If I havent moved back by then, I wont exactly be attending, will I ?

 

You've got about as much relevence to, or knowledge of Saints as Robert Mugabwe IMO.

 

You don't go to matches and you appear to delight in every point dropped by the team.

[St_Tel49]

My personal ratings for Saints v Barnsley :

 

K Davis 5 - Difficult to rate because he had very little to do , although his kicking did seem a little 'off' today FWIW .

J Cork 6 - Guarded the RB position effectively enough , not really an attacking full back yet for my money .

P Wotton 5 - Useful honest squad player , but no more than that .

C Perry 7 MOTM - Textbook example of how the Centre Back position should be played . I wish we'd kept Lucketti to with hindsight .

M Mills 6 - A few difficult moments early on but soon adjusted to the pace of 1st team football , going to be a good player I reckon .

S Gillett 5 - Keen as mustard but lacks the strength or ability needed to dominate the midfield at this stage .

D Surman 6.5 - Clearly much happier & a better player back in his natural position , he should remain there IMO .

BWP 3.5 - It will come as no surprise to experienced BWP watchers to learn that he was gash . A 20 minute sub player at best .

A Lallana 7 - Technically the best player on the pitch by a country mile , his size & inexperience the only things holding him back .

DMG 6.5 - Intermittently bright & sunny but with long dull periods the outlook for this player remains problematic to forecast .

T Peckhart 4.5 - A blunt instrument his touch was way off today , on this evidence he's miles off Premier league standard for now .

 

Substitutes :

S John 6 - Brought on far too late we looked a more dangerous team for his presence .

J Thomson 4.5 - Looked pretty lightweight to be honest , managed to be little better than BWP (which is quite a achievement) .

 

Summary :

Watching the Saints this week has been a pretty depressing experience in all honesty , if we're looking for positives we defended quite well today but that might just as well be because Barnsley were awful rather than any real improvement by our team . After a bright start we faded away (stop me if you've heard this before) and the game descended into a dull scrap which big brutes such as Darren Moore found easy enough to cope with .

A brave and correct decision to start with young Mills and move Surman back to midfield was undermined by the coach's refusal to bring on Stern John earlier when it was perfectly obvious that Peckhart was struggling . For my money we need to revert to 4-4-2 before it's too late .

You have to ask yourself if we can't beat a poor team like Barnsley at home then where exactly are the next points coming from ?

 

I would mark Wotton, Gillett and Lallana a bit higher than that but broadly agree. I felt that we played well until we got into the last quarter of the pitch where the final pass or decision let us down. I too would like to have seen Stern John brought on earlier if only to rough up their big lumps a bit more.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

I have really enjoyed all the games so far this season, though we have only won one league game you could see that they were playing good football and it was entertaining. Not sure what happened today, was just totally bored and when Barnsely were through I was hoping they would score as it could of have kick started the game. Not sure where we go from here, we have no one else left to bring in other than Skacel and think we need to play him.

 

It's not entirely true that we have no one else to bring in , there's a young French player called Romain Gasmi whom some rate as a good prospect and Anthony Pulis - who lets just say has a lot to prove . Both are out injured at the moment but should become available within the next month or two with a bit of luck .

Edited 20 September, 2008 by CHAPEL END CHARLIE

[Ivan Katalinic's 'tache]

You've got about as much relevence to, or knowledge of Saints as Robert Mugabwe IMO.

 

You don't go to matches and you appear to delight in every point dropped by the team.

 

Robert Mugabe, you say? He must have a few quid. Needs must and all that! No way I can sit through much more of today's tripe.

[badgerx16]

It's not entirely true that we have no else to bring in , there's a young French player called Romain Gasmi whom some rate as a good prospect and Anthony Pulis - who lets just say has a lot to prove . Both are out injured at the moment but should become available within the next month or two with a bit of luck .

Therefore we are, in fact, stuck with no-one else to bring in, at least for the next 5 or 6 games. At this rate we might just have got to 10 points by that time, be firmly entrenched in the bottom three, and those two better be something special if they are to make a difference to the season's prospects, ( which a Stoke fan I spoke to on Thursday assures me Pulis most definitely is not )

[SP Saint]

Robert Mugabe' date=' you say? He must have a few quid. Needs must and all that! No way I can sit through much more of today's tripe.[/quote']

 

I seem to be in the minority here. I quite enjoyed the game although I can't understand why we don't play with 2 up front. We were getting the crosses in, particularly in the first half - we just need to convert them into goals.

[saintwarwick]

Not even close. For the one in the second half he tried to force himself between two defenders and then fell over.

 

Afraid you are wrong, definate penalty shout in the second half as the defenders bundled him off the ball as he charged towards the goal ready to shoot. The defenders never made any attempt to play the ball.

[saintwarwick]

Agree with Long Shot. F**king good post. I've been saying for ages the happy-clappies are doing more damage than those of us accused of being "negative"

 

Please explain how the "happy clappies" are damaging the club more than the negative fans.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

Therefore we are, in fact, stuck with no-one else to bring in, at least for the next 5 or 6 games. At this rate we might just have got to 10 points by that time, be firmly entrenched in the bottom three, and those two better be something special if they are to make a difference to the season's prospects, ( which a Stoke fan I spoke to on Thursday assures me Pulis most definitely is not )

 

Antony Pulis certainly comes with a unimpressive record but as a matter of principle I don't pass judgment on any player until I've personally seen them play . Fans from his previous clubs also cast serious doubt on Lee Holmes ability , but from what I've seen he looks like a pretty decent player to me and we can only hope Pulis can achieve a similar career turnaround .

[alpine_saint]

Please explain how the "happy clappies" are damaging the club more than the negative fans.

 

Did you actually bother reading the post that inspired me posting that response ?

 

Thought not...

[alpine_saint]

Do you notice the triumphalism in the tone of that post you question? It galls that some get what seems pleasure from the fall.

 

Do grow up............

[Amesbury Saint]

Disappointing match but seen many worse.

 

Saddest bit was all the empty seats.

 

Please can we have a smaller ground.

[saintwarwick]

Tell you what, if administration does not happen by Xmas, with these levels of attendance persisting until then, I think that will be clear evidence we have been LIED to about the depth of the financial plight...

 

Administration will not happen at christmas. It appears the bank have backed us till the end of the season based on cost cutting measures which have been implimented and not based on future gates which cannot be guaranteed except season ticket sales.

[alpine_saint]

Administration will not happen at christmas. It appears the bank have backed us till the end of the season based on cost cutting measures which have been implimented and not based on future gates which cannot be guaranteed except season ticket sales.

 

So you are basically saying that they will allow our overdraft to increase again then ?

 

That is bolllocks.

[Micky]

Disappointing match but seen many worse.

 

Saddest bit was all the empty seats.

 

Please can we have a smaller ground.[/]

 

Perhaps what we should of done instead of closing the corners is only opened the first 10 tiers all the way around the ground - then at least you would have fans all the way around the pitch. Ummmm am I talking b*llsh*t.... Taxiiiiii......

[saintwarwick]

Did you actually bother reading the post that inspired me posting that response ?

 

Thought not...

 

I did and I await your reply to my question.

[offix]

Well thank God that we are at least playing pretty football that people enjoy watching, even if we don't win.

[Micky]

Administration will not happen at christmas. It appears the bank have backed us till the end of the season based on cost cutting measures which have been implimented and not based on future gates which cannot be guaranteed except season ticket sales.

 

Are you summising or do you know this for a fact? If the latter it would indeed be good news but I fear any such agreement would probably carry some 'heavy' caveats.

[alpine_saint]

I did and I await your reply to my question.

 

Got a long wait then. All the information you require is there. As usual, you are asking a question you know the answer to simply for the wind-up.

[saintwarwick]

So you are basically saying that they will allow our overdraft to increase again then ?

 

That is bolllocks.

 

Who said it's going to increase or needs to increase? Perhaps that's why we are playing 8 kids in the first team.

[alpine_saint]

Who said it's going to increase or needs to increase? Perhaps that's why we are playing 8 kids in the first team.

 

So the whole budget agreement with Barclays is based on zero gate revenue over-and-above the ST revenue, is it ?

 

Utter, utter codswallop.

[Whitey Grandad]

Afraid you are wrong, definate penalty shout in the second half as the defenders bundled him off the ball as he charged towards the goal ready to shoot. The defenders never made any attempt to play the ball.

I sit in the mid-Kingsland and I could see clear daylight between both defenders and Pekhart, no trips or pushes, and if it had been one of their fellows we would all have been p!ssed off if a penalty had been given.