Saints V Orient Post Match Reaction Thread

[alpine_saint]

No I dont think so

 

I dont think there is much chance of conceeding a very early goal ie within 5 mins which may affect confidence.

 

You think conceeding a goal at 15-20mins is less of an issue to confidence than within 5 mins ?

 

I would have argued the opposite, actually. Less of the game remaining to fight back and the propspect of witnessing the first 20mins hard work wasted, especially if it came against the run of play.

[Toomer]

Only one stand out moment in the match, Adams first goal, never been so glad to hear the final whistle for some time. It will go down in the record books as a home win and three points thats all that matters at the end of the day.

[LostBoys]

Poor performance but a win. I was disappointed with the size of the crowd even taking into account it was a bank holiday and judging by the traffic the Ikea saddos.

[Chez]

I didn't think we were quite as bad as people make out. A few wayward passes and the crowd seemed to show its frustration almost immediatley.

 

An almost complete lack of patience from supporters when patience was exactly what was required both on and off the pitch. After a woeful start where we could have conceded three times, we dominated the game, without really creating too much. Orient were solid and got men behind the ball and that made it very difficult. It will come as no surprise that the four centre backs all had very good games and should explain why chances were at a premium. Yes the game wasn't a great spectacle, but once again we came from behind and scored the goals we needed. We all expected to win and that's probably why most of us left feeeling slightly deflated despite winning. Next week we don't expect to win, so if we do you can bet your bottom dollar that we are all smiling.

 

Davis - 6 dropped one catch, solid kicking, but one or two poor throw outs. Not much to do.

Otsemibor 5 His tremendous pace got us out of jail when we were caught on the break. But ten seconds later he shows minimal effort to stop a cross. Summed him up in a nutshell. Fast but that's about it. Oh I almost forgot he doesn't tackle.

Jardi 1 Scowcroft beat him for the goal and twice more before getting injured

Fonte 8 Another very good display. Very strong.

Seaborne 7 given a very tough game by Scowcroft, who has taken us apart before. Just about held his own, although there appeared to be a lot of fouls against Scowcroft that went unpunished. Needs games and he will get them now. Let's see if he can improve. Good pace I might add.

Harding 8 solid as ever and overlapped well in the first half.

Lallana 7 Tremendous first goal and some nice touches here and there. I seem to recall a lot of people moaning in the summer about his lack of end product, well they got that today, but in actual fact it wasn't one of his best games. Absolute golden first touch for those that perhaps take it for granted.

Hammond 8 Best game for ages despite there being a lot of long ball missing him out.

Morgan 5 some wayward passes and not as good as before the injury. He usually needs a game or two to get back to his best after injury.

Puncheon 4 woeful set pieces and overall he did very little excpet a lovely bit of skill right under APs nose - which probably kept him on the pitch. The second goal came from his cross but don't let that fool you, he didn't hurt them offensively. Should have been subbed IMO. New teachers pet?

Barnard 6 first touch was top notch all day when collecting from throw ins etc and as always he worked hard. Should have done better with a close range header. Bit harsh to sub him.

Lambert 6 some lovely passing, set up the goal with a back post header, but overall didn't win that much in the air and crowded out a fair bit. Wasn't impressed a couple of times when defending corners as he let his man go completely.

 

Antonio 5 didn't seem quite as fast as normal. Not sure why he didn't come on for Puncheon as he was what we needed out wide.

Wotton 6 as usual played very deep but this time it was a plan to stifle Scowcroft. Sort of worked.

Edited 6 April, 2010 by Chez

[jasoneuelllfanclub]

I didn't think we were quite as bad as people make out. A few wayward passes and the crowd seemed to show its frustration almost immediatley.

 

An almost complete lack of patience from supporters when patience was exactly what was required both on and off the pitch. After a woeful start where we could have conceded three times, we dominated the game, without really creating too much. Orient were solid and got men behind the ball and that made it very difficult. It will come as no surprise that the four centre backs all had very good games and should explain why chances were at a premium. Yes the game wasn't a great spectacle, but once again we came from behind and scored the goals we needed. We all expected to win and that's probably why most of us left feeeling slightly deflated despite winning. Next week we don't expect to win, so if we do you can bet your bottom dollar that we are all smiling.

 

Davis - 6 dropped one catch, solid kicking, but one or two poor throw outs. Not much to do.

Otsemibor 5 His tremendous pace got us out of jail when we were caught on the break. But ten seconds later he shows minimal effort to stop a cross. Summed him up in a nutshell. Fast but that's about it. Oh I almost forgot he doesn't tackle.

Jardi 1 Scowcroft beat him for the goal and twice more before getting injured

Fonte 8 Another very good display. Very strong.

Seaborne 7 given a very tough game by Scowcroft, who has taken us apart before. Just about held his own, although there appeared to be a lot of fouls against Scowcroft that went unpunished. Needs games and he will get them now. Let's see if he can improve. Good pace I might add.

Harding 8 solid as ever and overlapped well in the first half.

Lallana 7 Tremendous first goal and some nice touches here and there. I seem to recall a lot of people moaning in the summer about his lack of end product, well they got that today, but in actual fact it wasn't one of his best games. Absolute golden first touch for those that perhaps take it for granted.

Hammond 8 Best game for ages despite there being a lot of long ball missing him out.

Morgan 5 some wayward passes and not as good as before the injury. He usually needs a game or two to get back to his best after injury.

Puncheon 4 woeful set pieces and overall he did very little excpet a lovely bit of skill right under APs nose - which probably kept him on the pitch. The second goal came from his cross but don't let that fool you, he didn't hurt them offensively. Should have been subbed IMO. New teachers pet?

Barnard 6 first touch was top notch all day when collecting from throw ins etc and as always he worked hard. Should have done better with a close range header. Bit harsh to sub him.

Lambert 6 some lovely passing, set up the goal with a back post header, but overall didn't win that much in the air and crowded out a fair bit. Wasn't impressed a couple of times when defending corners as he let his man go completely.

 

Antonio 5 didn't seem quite as fast as normal. Not sure why he didn't come on for Puncheon as he was what we needed out wide.

Wotton 6 as usual played very deep but this time it was a plan to stifle Scowcroft. Sort of worked.

 

Thats why we bought Puncheon, to bring creativity. He may have had a poor game but made assist for second goal which was turned out to be the winning goal so his contribution on that basis was valuable. I rather have him start than Antonio any day of the week. Antonio much better coming of the bench as his pace normally exploits tired defences.

[Redbul]

Not the best game I've ever watched (and that's being kind) but if we can win ugly then I for one don't mind. Lallana's first goal was worth the ticket price on its own.

[Wes Tender]

No I dont think so

 

I dont think there is much chance of conceeding a very early goal ie within 5 mins which may affect confidence.

 

Did that early goal affect confidence? How was it that after about 10 minutes we played some of our best football and I was predicting that we would soon get level and go on to win by three or four goals?

 

In the event, being generous to the team, the match was constantly broken up by a niggly referee who blew for the most minor incidents and the substitutions made by both teams also disrupted play somewhat.

 

Being unkind to the team, some were obviously not up to it, either because they couldn't be bothered, or else they had been out partying until late in the morning.

 

The Saints of old might have suffered a loss of confidence from letting in an early goal, but thankfully this team is made of sterner stuff and they got away with it.

 

Pardew contradicted himself in his post match interview. He excused the result by stating that having gained the early lead, LO clammed up tight to protect the points and were hard to break down. Needless to say, when we had drawn level, or gone ahead, that excuse was no longer valid. Instead, it us left hanging on from LO's efforts to gain one or more points, so he ought to admit that the team was below par after we equalised.

[Ken Tone]

Poor performance but a win. I was disappointed with the size of the crowd even taking into account it was a bank holiday and judging by the traffic the Ikea saddos.

 

Personally I was pleasantly surprised by the size of the crowd. c 21,500 is one of our better 'ordinary' league game gates, as opposed to games against big name opposition.

 

What's more, it appears that many people have apparently given up on this season already ... as in that damn silly thread aftyer thursday of last week about what else people might be doing instead of watching saints on monday. In that light, without the part-time supporters, 21.5 k was a good gate IMO.

 

Pity about the game. There was some poor sod of a Celtic fan sitting near me that was down for an interview today. Can't see him coming to watch us regularly even if he does get the job!

 

K.

[Chez]

Thats why we bought Puncheon, to bring creativity. He may have had a poor game but made assist for second goal which was turned out to be the winning goal so his contribution on that basis was valuable. I rather have him start than Antonio any day of the week. Antonio much better coming of the bench as his pace normally exploits tired defences.

 

one half decent cross and some very poor marking don't add up to much of a performance in my book. He may have made the last touch thereby getting a fantasy football assist, but he didn't create the goal or anything else for that matter.

[up and away]

We played far better at Brighton on Thursday but there the loan striker meant that possession didn't turn into goals. Today, Saints seemed to have trouble keeping the ball, maybe the presence of Scowcroft in the Os midfield made a difference, but at least the two strikers gave the midfield something to aim at, and kept some of the game up field. I just hope this display doesn't make Pardew go back into his defensive shell.

 

Three comments about Brighton losing today - (1) they were missing about 3 players who played against Saints last week; (2) If football was that predictable would any of us be as interested! (3) I wish we had the two points dropped at Brighton by playing 4-5-1 for 75 minutes.

 

Absolutely dumb post. Quickly forgetting your other blinding suggestion that we turn away from a successful 451 and play 442, when we played Brighton at home. Want to try and get those 3 points back as well and all the other subsequents?

 

So what happened against Wycombe and Tranmere, all 442 and after thumping defeats of Norwich and Huddersfield. We had our 2 best strikers up front against Wycombe and never even managed to win a corner!

 

It is patently evident that we cannot continually play 442 with the players we have twice a week. Either change the players or the system and as other players in a 442 have failed to deliver previously, 451 seems a sensible option. The problem is that there are so many permutations, but playing someone out of position is very rarely going to get a better result. Go for the best set up, whether it be with 451 or 442 with the players you have available in their natural positions.

[saint1977]

I like Seaborne in defence. He gets about and provides very wide cover. Jaidi is a rock, but rocks don't move a lot, and he risks giving away free kicks with his pushing and shoving, whereas Seaborne usually gets to the ball first.

As for Pardew's tactics, taking off a creative midfielder, even if he wasn't playing at hsi best, and replacing him with a DM was a backwards step, compounded by taking off a striker and replacing with another midfielder. In effect he replaced Barnard with Wotton so its hardly suprising the 3rd goal didn't come and the Os had opportunities to pile on the pressure towards the end.

 

Accurate of my view as well. Seabourne is developing nicely, can see why there was a lot of interest in him. He has still some way to go but genuine left-footed centre-halves who can also play LB are quite rare and the distribution will improve.

 

Semi was disappointing but has only recently returned from injury, I think he needs a run of games. Morgan S clearly wasn't fit either, really need to reinforce CM in the summer with at least 2 players - Hammond was very average and needs competition and Wotton ain't up to it. Puncheon was a mixed bag but does have that extra quality. Hope Jaidi isn't out for long.

 

Barnard worked very hard, just needs that extra awareness but a snip at only £175k. Bet Grayson wishes he'd signed for Leeds! Lambert had little service as with Barnard.

 

Star man - Lallana, brilliant first goal and switched on for the second. Tracking back has improved out of sight too.

 

Notable mention to Davis for that key save second half. Not sure why Pardew brought Wotton on but hey ho, got the 3 points.

[benjii]

I agree largely with Chez's lengthy post above, apart from the bit about not expecting to win this weekend

[Charlie Wayman]

Not even NC and ML bothered to turn up for this one! What do they know that we don't? It looks like your on tour own Pards until the end of this campaign.

 

The bollocking that you gave the lads at half-time would have paled into insignificance after the bollicking you will get from the great leaders after this abysmal excuse for football.

 

Hey! We need to be entertained for our money, results aren't everything especially now there leading nowhere.

 

I'll send you a link to a P45 so you can print your own before your meeting.

[Window Cleaner]

Not even NC and ML bothered to turn up for this one! What do they know that we don't? It looks like your on tour own Pards until the end of this campaign.

 

The bollocking that you gave the lads at half-time would have paled into insignificance after the bollicking you will get from the great leaders after this abysmal excuse for football.

 

Hey! We need to be entertained for our money, results aren't everything especially now there leading nowhere.

 

I'll send you a link to a P45 so you can print your own before your meeting.

 

 

NC said he wanted better results, better football wasn't specified.

[Legod Third Coming]

Not even NC and ML bothered to turn up for this one! What do they know that we don't? It looks like your on tour own Pards until the end of this campaign.

 

The bollocking that you gave the lads at half-time would have paled into insignificance after the bollicking you will get from the great leaders after this abysmal excuse for football.

 

Hey! We need to be entertained for our money, results aren't everything especially now there leading nowhere.

 

I'll send you a link to a P45 so you can print your own before your meeting.

 

With your attitude I suspect you have plenty of P45s to hand...

[ottery st mary]

Not even NC and ML bothered to turn up for this one! What do they know that we don't? It looks like your on tour own Pards until the end of this campaign.

 

The bollocking that you gave the lads at half-time would have paled into insignificance after the bollicking you will get from the great leaders after this abysmal excuse for football.

 

Hey! We need to be entertained for our money, results aren't everything especially now there leading nowhere.

 

I'll send you a link to a P45 so you can print your own before your meeting.

 

Back to the Emirates for you old boy...:smt071:smt071:smt071

[krissyboy31]

Back to the Emirates for you old boy...:smt071:smt071:smt071

 

And back to one's ignore list!

[Wes Tender]

Not even NC and ML bothered to turn up for this one! What do they know that we don't? It looks like your on tour own Pards until the end of this campaign.

 

The bollocking that you gave the lads at half-time would have paled into insignificance after the bollicking you will get from the great leaders after this abysmal excuse for football.

 

Hey! We need to be entertained for our money, results aren't everything especially now there leading nowhere.

 

I'll send you a link to a P45 so you can print your own before your meeting.

So it didn't cross your mind that being Easter Monday they might have had family commitments that kept them away?

 

No, that would be too reasonable a reason and was so obvious that it went right over your head.

[ALWAYS_SFC]

Not even NC and ML bothered to turn up for this one! What do they know that we don't? It looks like your on tour own Pards until the end of this campaign.

 

The bollocking that you gave the lads at half-time would have paled into insignificance after the bollicking you will get from the great leaders after this abysmal excuse for football.

 

Hey! We need to be entertained for our money, results aren't everything especially now there leading nowhere.

 

I'll send you a link to a P45 so you can print your own before your meeting.

 

Is this loser for real?

 

He sounds barkin` mad,

Mind you he probably is after his looney rant about Lambert being a

"lumbering oaf":D

 

Good luck at the Nou Camp..

[Charlie Wayman]

Hey! Don't you just love being popular?

 

Come on lads, admit it, this was one dire football match was it not? hardly the stuff of legend.

 

Don't worry about false loyalties my blood's been dyed Red & White since I first set foot in the place as a tiny tot - Dell that is - in 1948. So that's 62 season's and counting; all bar three or four have ended in abject disappointment so these days one tends to take it as it comes and see the funny side.

 

As for my odd trips to The Emirates, why not? Surely, even if you love fish 'n chips, the odd curry or Chinese takeaway makes a refreshing change... Anyway, I don't have to pay for tickets up there

[Window Cleaner]

Hey! Don't you just love being popular?

 

Come on lads, admit it, this was one dire football match was it not? hardly the stuff of legend.

 

Don't worry about false loyalties my blood's been dyed Red & White since I first set foot in the place as a tiny tot - Dell that is - in 1948. So that's 62 season's and counting; all bar three or four have ended in abject disappointment so these days one tends to take it as it comes and see the funny side.

 

As for my odd trips to The Emirates, why not? Surely, even if you love fish 'n chips, the odd curry or Chinese takeaway makes a refreshing change... Anyway, I don't have to pay for tickets up there

 

The trouble is Charlie, crap like Wycombe and Orient just try to drag you down to their level,it's their unique game plan.We have players who just don't know how to play that way so grinding out an ugly 2-1 win was a good result for us.Until we're out of this crappers league there will be many more awful matches and some of our players want out of it.

[brett24]

Is Connelly injured, not been in the squad the past few games.

[ottery st mary]

Connelly out with family issues?

[brett24]

Hope is back on Saturday, like to see him start with Lambert

[rpb]

Hey! Don't you just love being popular?

 

Come on lads, admit it, this was one dire football match was it not? hardly the stuff of legend.

 

It was a terrible match (the two goals apart) but sometimes football matches are dull and uninspiring - most people realise that and don't go attacking the manager and/or players when there isn't champagne football to celebrate.

[Professor]

Absolutely dumb post. Quickly forgetting your other blinding suggestion that we turn away from a successful 451 and play 442, when we played Brighton at home. Want to try and get those 3 points back as well and all the other subsequents?

 

So what happened against Wycombe and Tranmere, all 442 and after thumping defeats of Norwich and Huddersfield. We had our 2 best strikers up front against Wycombe and never even managed to win a corner!

 

It is patently evident that we cannot continually play 442 with the players we have twice a week. Either change the players or the system and as other players in a 442 have failed to deliver previously, 451 seems a sensible option. The problem is that there are so many permutations, but playing someone out of position is very rarely going to get a better result. Go for the best set up, whether it be with 451 or 442 with the players you have available in their natural positions.

 

What a dumb post, maybe made by someone not at the games. Pardew has sometimes got good results when starting out 4-5-1 but usually when he's changed the formation during the game. Hes also got some bad ones where crucial points have been dropped because the team is having to play in its own half too much. With this squad we should be much closer to 6th place, or is that a dumb comment as well? Cortese certainly thinks so.

[Appy]

Hope is back on Saturday, like to see him start with Lambert

 

What has Barnard done wrong?

[SNSUN]

The worst I've seen Saints play this season, but we won, and that's the most important statistic of all.

 

Orient's early goal was from poor defending, and after that they just tried to stick men behind the ball. They were better than us, and we will have to improve a shed load if we want to beat Charlton and Brizzle and finish the season off undefeated. We looked woeful at times, but it's times like these that you want your best players to step up, and thankfully, we have Adam Lallana. A MOTM performance for us, easier to nominate after some (as Pardew puts it) "quiet" performances from others.

 

It was a shame to lose Jaidi but thought Seaborne was ok when he came on - though he doesn't seem to challenge for headers as much as Jaidi. Harding was, I am loathe to say it as he's my fave player, poor. I though Fonte, Hammond and Lallana all had good games, I expect more from Morgan (although not fully fit), Puncheon, Harding and Semi. Barnard was a hard worker before he came off, but Lambert was quiet, assist aside, and hardly won a header all day.

 

Credit to the Orient lads, but we won, and at the end of the day, I would take seven more shyte performances and win, that seven amazing performances and lose.

[captainchris]

Much rather have Antonio on the pitch HTH

 

Wasn't he there too?

[Viking Warrior]

Is Charlie wayman a bitter leon Crouch or is it Life long saints in disguise.

who ever it is has been infected by Alpines negativity or has Alpine been infected by charlie wayman?

[doddisalegend]

Wasn't he there too?

 

Only as a second half sub and playing up front instead of the wing. I'd rather have him playing in the place of Puncheon not as well as Puncheon. If Barnard comes off I'd rather he was replaced with Papa. Still we won and got the three points so AP got it right.

[Clifford Nelson]

I think that most people agree that it was a poor performance. If it was only a matter of the quality of players this should have been easy. But as Brentford, Exeter, Tranmere, Brighton show, having the better players isn't the one and only anwer. If it was, then this game would have shown that the team isn't good enough for the CCC.

 

Puncheon had his second very poor home game on the trot. And then Antonio comes on for Barnard?! Surely AP doesn't think that he is a budding striker, or that he would beef up centre midfield. Whatever the thought was it didn't work out, but it was hardly a surprise. This is the kind of thing which makes me doubt AP's expertise at times.

 

There was a striker on the bench who has scored 11 goals and umpteen assists in 11 starts and a number of subs. If Barnard needed replacing he should have been the choice, surely.

 

Personally I don't think that 4-4-2 or 4-5-1/4-3-3 should be tactical decisions. They show intent on how the team should be playing it's football. I suspect it is mainly confusing for the players to swap from one to the other. We were fantastically successful in 4-5-1 earlier in the season, and have intermittently been successful with 4-4-2 since. Personally I think it makes us predictable, and when it doesn't work for us then we are struggling to assert ourselves.

 

4-5-1 is a more flexible system. The three midfielders can be deployed as 1-2 with a defensive anchor, or 2-1 with an offensive point making it 4-4-1-1, or the all out offensive 4-3-3.

 

On tuesday night I was waiting for us to start taking the game to the O's and dictate it. It never happened. Against a team like them I think we should do better. It couldn't be a surprise that they would put players behind the ball, could it?

[up and away]

What a dumb post, maybe made by someone not at the games. Pardew has sometimes got good results when starting out 4-5-1 but usually when he's changed the formation during the game. Hes also got some bad ones where crucial points have been dropped because the team is having to play in its own half too much. With this squad we should be much closer to 6th place, or is that a dumb comment as well? Cortese certainly thinks so.

 

The reason we got to within 7 points of the play off's was because we switched to 451, that is indisputable. I don't argue that there were times when we switched to 442 in the second half and made it look easy. But this in no way implies 451 did not give us control, more so than anything else.

 

So 442 in the second half looked so good we now start with it and cannot do a fecking thing, losing easily to Brighton and continually suffering because of it, gradually putting distance between us and the play off's. Unlike you I can actually remember what happened in these games playing 451 and changing to 442. Having far superior control we could let in a goal against the run of play, switch to 442 and easily remedy the situation. We then switch to starting 442, no control, all at sea and unable to change the pattern of the game. I still can't believe you are coming out with the same sheite, posting to go away from 451 just before the Brighton game, which worked spectacularly that we never had another peep of that crap from you.

 

I fully accept it should not be a case of 442 or 451 irrespective, but to throw away something that was working well for something that did not was dumb. I certainly was not daft enough to suggest we should only play one system. When we play poorly the main issue we have is not being able to gain control of the midfield. After January we can play stupendous football against top teams one week with 442, then fail to take advantage against a weak team the next with the same formation and players. You either accept that we cannot maintain energy levels and switch players out, to then find those substitute players cannot fill the boots, it's totally dumb not to consider changing the formation. But throughout all of this you have to put players into the right position so they have a chance of doing the job.