Saints Vs Oldham - Post Match Reaction

[SNSUN]

Backi from the game. Weird seeing the skies clear of Flybe planes.

 

First half was rubbish. The referee was ******* shyte, we could and perhaps should have had three penalties - the handball by their player in the second half looked a dead cert and nothing. Loving the cheers we gave the ref when he eventually gave something our way - livened the first half up.

 

We were better second half when we put the attacking players on, but Oldham were defending resolutely - and I wouldn't have minded them but they were a bunch of timewasters - their keeper was atrocious - although I'm glad the ref noticed the subbed player that took an age getting off the pitch and booked him.

 

Too many "misses" performance wise. Thought Davis made a couple of good saves, Fonte was immense again and Barnard was superb - some quality touches to build attacks, and he is such a willing runner. I think he was subbed because he had nothing left to give.

 

Fonte MOTM by a long way.

[Blind Dog]

We played 4 4 2 thats what you all want isn't it? Love it

[saints triumph]

Anyone else think oldhams no.6 at centre back had a great game. Don't know how old he was but if he was young enough could be a good replacement for jaidi

[SNSUN]

People booing? seriously? booing? I don't know. hope it was at the ref

 

It was at the ref. Not giving one certain penalty is a pain in the butt. Not giving 3 certain penalties is scandalous.

[SNSUN]

We played 4 4 2 thats what you all want isn't it? Love it

 

I like the 4-5-1, but the big problem with that formation is simply that it doesn't accomodate Barnard. And IMO he's one of our better players.

[Kingsbridge Saint]

Not giving up until it's over. IF Huddersfield get turned over at Stockport (and they were sh1te against sorry Millwall) and we win Saturday it's only 4 points with 2 games to go - they will need to win one of their last two and they are both tricky. I hate the way Oldham and the officials stitched us up tonight though. We missed Schneiderlin.

[Saint_clark]

Just got back, f*cking gutted. Referee was shocking but we still didn't really make their keeper work.

Their right back had a fantastic game up against Lallana and Harding.

For once I actually thought we didn't pump the ball long enough, we seemed to be passing it along the back four for f*cking ages at times, and then with 10 minutes to go seemed to realise we weren't winning.

Puncheon looked knackered, and should have gone off at HT.

[S-Clarke]

Not giving up until it's over. IF Huddersfield get turned over at Stockport (and they were sh1te against sorry Millwall) and we win Saturday it's only 4 points with 2 games to go - they will need to win one of their last two and they are both tricky. I hate the way Oldham and the officials stitched us up tonight though. We missed Schneiderlin.

 

tbf it's over, if stockport do win on Saturday i will cry and so will the players, because they know what an opportunity they have missed.

 

Hudd's need 3 more pts, they will do that with ease even if they lose on sat. the fact we didn't win tonight also means Colchester are still above us, so we're relying on 2 teams to screw up.

 

it really is time to forget the playoffs now.

Edited 20 April, 2010 by S-Clarke

[Tac-tics]

How did Chris Taylor get on?

[Saint_clark]

Who?

[S-Clarke]

How did Chris Taylor get on?

 

he's injured and out for the season i think

[Tac-tics]

Fair enough, he usually is their best player.

[Xchurch_Saint]

I thought the ref was supposed to be impartial. My bad...

 

You werent there ( I assume as i believe you live in foreign parts?) The refereeing display was the worst i have seen in 40 years and completely one sided! I saw four stone wall hand ball penalty appeals for a start-so dont start with your dross alps!

[Arizona]

Anyone else think oldhams no.6 at centre back had a great game. Don't know how old he was but if he was young enough could be a good replacement for jaidi

 

Reuben Hazell. 31 on Saturday according to Wiki. Their defence had a decent game, but I'll pass on that one thanks.

[Ruffo]

well hats off to an exciting season and even better a stable future.

[SFKA South Woodford]

Anyone else think oldhams no.6 at centre back had a great game. Don't know how old he was but if he was young enough could be a good replacement for jaidi

 

That would be the same guy who fouled Lambert at every opportunity only for the officials to let him get away with it every time. Every time he challenged Lambert his arm went across Lamberts face or chest, any half decent ref would of given Lambert at least 20 Free kicks tonight and carded Hazell at least once for persistant fouling. So many fouls and handballs missed, we should of had at least three penalties and probably more. Those officals were so bad that calling them cr*p would be doing cr*p an injustice.

 

As for the player, no thanks all he can do is foul his opponent.

[Saint Fan CaM]

Some key observations - most stuff has been covered already....

 

a. Oldham got what they came for - a bore draw.

 

b. The ref was shocking - at least 2 blatant handballs, 1 being a definate pen - ignored....then there was a push and fall (on Wotton I think) just inside their box in 1st half - ignored and should have been a pen...then there's issue with Lambert being continually fouled...almost GBH on a couple of occasions - ignored. They picked up their first yellow in the game from a subbed player walking too slowly off the pitch!!!

 

c. Wotton and James are not the answer for CM...just not good enough if you want to win a game with creative play. We urgently need a quality CM to partner Hammond - I wonder whether Schneiderlin will stay in the summer? Cannot understand why Gillett is missing a game like this, but he's not good enough then get rid and sort out some new signings.

 

Lastly d. Why don't some of you tear up your ST's now then?! The season still has some good football in it. Huddersfield COULD still muck up big time and we could still do it....OK, it's unlikely, but stranger things as they say.

[70's Mike]

We have struggled all season against sides who put 11 behind the ball and drop back to their 18yard box.

[Legod Third Coming]

We have struggled all season against sides who put 11 behind the ball and drop back to their 18yard box.

 

Who doesn't? It's something even the best clubs can't always overcome. It's something we struggle with when our best midfielder is

missing and when our shooting boots aren't on properly...

[richardc]

it would be interesting to see the stats of the games that we have played when spiderman and hammond havent played together - the dodgy run we had after xmas corresponded when Hammond was injured - we are just not creative or strong enough when either of those are missing

[yorkie]

Nothing positive to say this morning - still feeling very dispondent. Really it should be a celebration of how far we have come in 12-months - but somehow it's hard to see it that way.

Morgan missing (self inflicted like Prutton's) is an obvious place to start, and the poor officials who appeared to be less than even handed.

Not one for clutching at straws this morning, but the fat lady has started her chorus of "You're not going up this year" and her voice fades away with a big baratone singing "Champions".

Next season will be one of extreme expectation - everyone in the division will be out to frustrate us, and if we do not manage to start with a couple of wins the pressure will be on from week 3.

Why do we get so emotional about such things? I guess that's why football and your club is something more than just a game. I emerged from the computer room last night, made my way downstairs and sat next to the wife. She said absolutely nothing, then my 20-year old daughter pipes up "Oh bless, look he's really upset - they didn't win then!" I'm still hurting this morning!

[alpine_saint]

You werent there ( I assume as i believe you live in foreign parts?) The refereeing display was the worst i have seen in 40 years and completely one sided! I saw four stone wall hand ball penalty appeals for a start-so dont start with your dross alps!

 

Dross ?

 

We appear to have been unable to hit a cows arse with a banjo last night. Blaming the ref considering the amount of chances we had in the stats is pathetic.

[JibMcdo]

it would be interesting to see the stats of the games that we have played when spiderman and hammond havent played together - the dodgy run we had after xmas corresponded when Hammond was injured - we are just not creative or strong enough when either of those are missing

 

Tis a good point and Pards has done very well to make that the only position we lack quality depth in the short time he's been here. If we can sign someone like Brian Stock, who could do the enforcer role of Hammond or the creative role of Morgan, then that would be fantastic. Signing someone like Danns would be fine but what happens when Hammond is injured? Morgan and Danns? Can't see that myself. Wotton will be here next season so he will unfortunately still come into the equation whoever is signed.

[sidthesquid]

Dross ?

 

We appear to have been unable to hit a cows arse with a banjo last night. Blaming the ref considering the amount of chances we had in the stats is pathetic.

 

Spoken like someone who wasn't there. I know we can't all go to the match, but comments like that on what you didn't see are really irritating.

It is true that we struggled to break them down, but from start to finish they played 9-0-1 and even the very best teams struggle unless they get a break. You could not fault the effort - you could see that they were all shattered by the end - but it just wouldn't go in. Nobody wins every game, just unfortunately this one was one we couldn't afford not to.

The ref was a shocker, numerous pointless free-kicks, no attempt to tell them to speed things up and they time-wasted from the first minute. Also, one of the reasons we improved in the second half was we sussed the ref and just fell over at the merest contact as they had done so in the first half. At least half a dozen times we made a meal of minimal contact (which I'm pleased to say we rarely do) and he fell for it every time.

Overall I'm sad it hasn't happened, but you really couldn't fault the players or manager tonight. So, please, if you weren't there don't make comments like those - they're not big and they're not clever.

[warsash saint]

Quite a few saying ref was the worst of the season...I could not make it last night, BUT was he really more inept than the ref for the Leeds game ? If so, then that is some achievement

[Gordon Mockles]

Dross ?

 

We appear to have been unable to hit a cows arse with a banjo last night. Blaming the ref considering the amount of chances we had in the stats is pathetic.

 

Blaming one of the most terrible refs ever to be set foot on a football pitch is not pathetic. Whilst you seem to relish negativity & seem happiest moaning, commenting on stats without actually watching the match puts your argument on a weak footing.

 

It was a poor match, Oldham got all their men behind the ball & had an extremely negativie game plan. Not helped by continual time wasting, persistent fouling & officials that ignored blatant corners/fouls/handballs & really had a questionable agenda. Then towards the end they started giving Saints free kicks for challenges that weren't even fouls. Bizarre refereeing at it's worst. Oh, and Oldham scrambled about 4/5 shots off the line (from Fonte, Hammond, etc.)

 

I find you utterly bizarre for you to be arguing opinions on a match you didn't watch. The word "baseless" springs to mind. The ref was feckin' diabolical & 2 penalties (at least) would have secured the win & 3 points which we at least deserved 2nd half.

[sidthesquid]

Seaborne - 4 Wasn't trouble much, but looked uncomfortable. My main problem with him was the complete hooooooof fest.

 

I would take issue with that - he missed about the first two headers and like everyone else resorted to too many big kicks at times, but barely put a foot wrong defensively after the first five minutes and used the ball intelligently at times.

[corsacar saint]

Even the Oldham site says the blatant handball should have been a penalty.

[Shroppie]

Hudd's need 3 more pts, they will do that with ease even if they lose on sat. the fact we didn't win tonight also means Colchester are still above us, so we're relying on 2 teams to screw up.

 

it really is time to forget the playoffs now.

 

You're probably right, but if the miraculous happens and Stockport win, the pressure will be on. 3 draws no longer a way for them to get 3 points so must beat Colchester, who still have everything to play for, or Exeter away and they're no pushover.

 

Likewise, a draw at Stockport and loss to Colchester keeps hopes alive, but of course the moment they get a win, it's all over.

 

Oh, just remembered - we have to win all 3 without Spiderman.

 

Realistically, I'll be deliriously happy if there's still a mathematical chance on the last day.

 

And whatever happens, it's been a great season. There are too many with short memories who seem to have forgotten the early season ambition to avoid relegation, or at best achieve mid-table.

Edited 21 April, 2010 by Shroppie
Speeling

[West End Saint]

Gutted but as others have said what a season what a ride I have loved it.

 

Fair play to Oldham they defended really well right back was outstanding but really defended as a team. We just didnt get the drop of the ball in the box, cant fault our players for effort they gave it a go just 1 of those days.

 

Fonte what a player he is mom for me we had a few that were not at there best tonight we looked tired I guess 10 men saturday took it's toll.

 

We need to keep this team together for next season strengthen in centre mid and at right back and we should be good enough to win it.

 

Thanks to Marcus Pards & the team for a cracking season and a trophy well done UTS

[Shroppie]

 

Thanks to Marcus Pards & the team for a cracking season and a trophy well done UTS

 

That says it all. Onwards and upwards.

[fanimal]

Keep the faith!

Just because a desperate team, led by a guy who either had an amazing game or nearly killed a few of our players depending on how you saw it (he got lucky imo), had the rub of the green with a blind lino and ref, shots hitting post, Dan Harding being absolutely knackered (not one cross got past first def), (Alan, you said he was on empty so why no Mills?) and a few others clearly not having the 100% energy level our game demands, do not give up!

Come on Stockport! Draw with Colchester! Then Exeter need a win!!

Seen the picture ofthe BLATANT handball!!??

[saint_stevo]

We seem to blame the ref a lot, even when we win (Leeds @ SMS)

[OldNick]

A diificult night with lots of talking points and frustration. The ref wanted to look strong by not giving the hoime side anything and was determined not to give us a penalty. In my experience if the crowd to a man go up screaming for a penalty , it is. The one occasion in the 2nd half when they did it turns out to be a blatant example of one.

It is easy to criticise the maangers team selection when you job or decisions are not under the spotlight like AP is. I myself would not have started with Wooton but would have played a ultra attacking team, in the you score 1 we'll score 2 mentality. Taking James off was a brave decision as it was always likely to spotlight an error in hos subs. Brave management IMO he could have easily taken someone else off and left james on and that would have killed that issue.

With all our play only a save by KD stopped us losing that is how bizarre last night was!

Puncheon was disappointing but he is like AL a played who can turn a game in an instant and so you need hom on the pitch.

I thought Seabourne did well and see that he will be a very good player for us in time. He tries to play and many think heis hoofing when it is cultured hoofing to the winger or forwards.

Fonte is a MUST hold onto player, but I suspect many clubs will come calling for him. RL was fouled all night, and Barnard doesnt seem to have a natural understanding with RL. I do rate him though.

All in all a frustrating night and it does football no favours when you have a ref who does not add on time for the obvious time wasting they were doing from the first kick

[OldNick]

We seem to blame the ref a lot, even when we win (Leeds @ SMS)

I agree, but those 2 really were poor, if it was serious it would be laughable. i thought we were paying the Harlem Globetrotters last night the amount of times they handled the ball

[mikee]

Seabourne HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOF.

 

For your information there was less hoofing tonight than any game so far this season and Seaborne mostly played the ball out of defence to either Harding or Fonte.

 

In fact towards the end we were screaming for Davis to hoof it upfield rather than passing from the back:confused:

[rooney]

Disappointed we did not win, but well done to AP and all the Team for the season you have brought us. You clearly did your best and obviously wanted to win this match and that is all we, as fans can ask. Probably Huddersfield will win all their remaining games in any case, which makes the result irrelevant as far as play off positions go.

[Verbal Kint]

For your information there was less hoofing tonight than any game so far this season and Seaborne mostly played the ball out of defence to either Harding or Fonte.

 

In fact towards the end we were screaming for Davis to hoof it upfield rather than passing from the back:confused:

 

The 5live reporter (i.e. a neutral) said the following: "Oldham have come and parked the bus and Southampton just don't have the ideas. They are simply punting it long to Rickie Lambert and trying to play off the scraps".

 

Long ball football all season (with the exception of a few games).

 

Unless we drastially change our style of play we won't be challenging for the league next season. It's one thing to have title winning form over parts of the season, it's another thing entirely to be up there challenging.

[OldNick]

The 5live reporter (i.e. a neutral) said the following: "Oldham have come and parked the bus and Southampton just don't have the ideas. They are simply punting it long to Rickie Lambert and trying to play off the scraps".

 

Long ball football all season (with the exception of a few games).

 

Unless we drastially change our style of play we won't be challenging for the league next season. It's one thing to have title winning form over parts of the season, it's another thing entirely to be up there challenging.

I think if we had started the season on zero we would be now knocking on the door for auto propmotion.

[Saint_clark]

The 5live reporter (i.e. a neutral) said the following: "Oldham have come and parked the bus and Southampton just don't have the ideas. They are simply punting it long to Rickie Lambert and trying to play off the scraps".

 

Long ball football all season (with the exception of a few games).

 

Unless we drastially change our style of play we won't be challenging for the league next season. It's one thing to have title winning form over parts of the season, it's another thing entirely to be up there challenging.

 

I can only assume he wasn't actually watching, because there was a lot more short passes than we had seen previously.

[S-Clarke]

I can only assume he wasn't actually watching, because there was a lot more short passes than we had seen previously.

 

+1, suprised me actually.

 

they kept the ball at the back and played it along - also a massive suprise to see Davis just pass the ball out, or throw it to a full back.

 

there was some hoofing, but that came from CM most of the time with Wotton not really sure what else to do.

 

But you're right, the CB's tried to play the ball around the back - which actually becoame a bit frustrating at times.

[Alanh]

It was one of those games where we needed a break but didn't get one. That was partly down to Oldham's defensive commitment and partly down to the ref who failed to spot a couple of blatant handballs in their area.

 

The ball and 18 - 20 players was in the Oldham third of the field for the vast majority of the match so there wasn't much space to open them up. We tried pretty much everything - crosses of all sorts, dribbling through, long shots, but nothing came off.

 

It's all very well criticising the players and AP for decisions during the game but to me it looked like a game where we needed a spark of inspiration or a lucky break - the sort of things that typically happen at least once in every match but didn't last night.

 

Looks like play offs are not on for the season but I'll be happy if we get 7th place and are within 10 points of 6th.

 

Looking forward to the announcement of new season tickets, the new home kit for next season and spending the summer watching the World Cup and then having a 3 week break before 2010 / 2011 kicks off.

[Super_Uwe]

It will take a bloody miracle now, but we ARE still in it!

 

I don't believe for one second that Huddersfield will slip...but they still might. Stranger things have happened in football.

 

The worst they can do is draw twice and we win the last three; with our superior goal difference we would sneak 6th (assuming Colchester don't do anything which seems unlikely given their form at the moment).

 

I'm sure AP won't be telling the players to think about next season just yet...

[Red]

We have struggled all season against sides who put 11 behind the ball and drop back to their 18yard box.

 

This !

 

Play Off's were always a long shot, and we have done very well this season, considering where we were - so once the pain of last night has eased, I will be happy!

 

What does really conern me is the almost blind belief that we will win the title next year! Not if we don't sort out how to beat (mainly bottom half) teams who only want a point home or away. We are fine (even excellent) against the better teams who want to play the ball, but lost otherwise. It seems obvious to everyone (mentioned on sky several times), even AP admits it - SO WHY can't we sort it? This is the main concern I have about AP (I don't want him sacked - far from it, but think because of this point alone he would get 6 out of 10 from me for this season). When you think of the squad we have, and the excellent support team AP has (some of them were top managers and coaches in their own right) - why can we not sort it???

 

I don't think it's bad pitches, ref's, players etc. etc. - it's a mindset, tactics (and how to change them quickly when they don't work - we saw a master display of that last night by the choosen one!), and most of all constant practice - go over and over that in training - including playing one or two full matches with reserve players.

 

If we have a poor start and lose 3 or 4 matches at the start of next season (and we are certain to have a poor spell at some stage - Norwich, Leeds have had them this year), it's the same as a minus 10 point start, and then the pressure will really mount (much much more than this season), and teams will just adopt the above tactic against us all the time.

 

Let's hope AP has a plan to sort this out prior to next season's start ?? May be we need a change or two in AP's support / coaching team, as well a player or two?

[ottery st mary]

Reuben Hazell. 31 on Saturday according to Wiki. Their defence had a decent game, but I'll pass on that one thanks.

 

 

Apparently very good at Basketball..Would have been a cert for the old Solent Stars side.

[Whitey Grandad]

Even the Oldham site says the blatant handball should have been a penalty.

It was more like volleyball than football. Apart from the two or three times that the ball glanced of someone's arm I'm sure I saw at least two instances of someone punching the ball out of the box. The ref was not at this best last night but how three players missed that cross across the goal deep into injury time I shall never know.

 

Oh well, at least next season should be good.

[derry]

Oldham came to SMS with the fourth best away goals against in the division. It means that it was totally predictable that they would defend rather than attack.

 

So what do we do, play a one paced totally defensive minded, non passer, as one of two central midfielders and as expected he contributed little or nothing.

 

At half time we replaced him with Lloyd James, whose lack of pace gave us practically no improvement and as a result was replaced after 25 minutes.

 

The midfield selection was the real cause of our problems as it effectively wasted 70 minutes of the game with an inneffective team. It wasn't until the last twenty minutes that we played penetrative football, albeit unsuccessfully, against a last ditch massed defence.

 

Puncheon had plenty of possession, but in the main was pretty poor, however once he moved into centre midfield with Waigo and Lallana on the flanks, we looked quite good. With the fact that Oldham were known to be defensive, the last thing we needed was a defensive midfielder and Puncheon should have been paired with Hammond. This was a pragmatic safety first team selection, when what was needed was a positive attacking team.

 

This is one of those occasions that cause some people to question Alan Pardew's ability as a manager. After giving it a go at Yeovil and succeeding despite 10 men, I had hoped he would ditch his pragmatism against the negative Oldham, but he unnecessarily reverted to type and sadly we failed to win because of it.

[Ken Tone]

It was at the ref. Not giving one certain penalty is a pain in the butt. Not giving 3 certain penalties is scandalous.

 

Boos were absolutely definitely at the ref, not at the team.

 

Not sure there were 3 certain penalites .. more like 1 and 2 halves, but I was genuinely shocked at the second, very clear, handball in the second half that wasn't given.

 

Have never seen a side come to play such a negative game. Their keeper was time-wasting from the kick off. The ref actually spoke to their captain about it after only the first 15 minutes.

 

a shame to have our dreams die with a whimper, but it's been a cracking season. If we can keep the momentum over the summer, next year wil be great.

 

K.

[Verbal Kint]

I think if we had started the season on zero we would be now knocking on the door for auto propmotion.

 

Asi said, showing title winning form is very different to winning a title. Next season we will be face even more so than this season with the vast majority of teams coming to st marys in a similar style as oldham did last night. We'll even face it when we go away to some teams.

 

Will we be able to break them down playing long balls to rickie?

[OldNick]

Asi said, showing title winning form is very different to winning a title. Next season we will be face even more so than this season with the vast majority of teams coming to st marys in a similar style as oldham did last night. We'll even face it when we go away to some teams.

 

Will we be able to break them down playing long balls to rickie?

I think it is doubtful that a 29year old RL will score as many goals again next season.

The summer yet again will be important. For me we need a couple of good central midfielders as Morgan has to be let go for his career. Fonte is irreplaceable and would be a major loss.Antonio will not be staying and so whoever is in charge has a building job ..again.