doddisalegend Posted 27 August, 2010 Share Posted 27 August, 2010 Its a difficult one though, is it right to panic this early on given that we've only played two league games? Normally, no. But having seen both league games and the cup games its things like not being able to put the ball in the net when in front of goal and some of the poor passing that has surprised me the most and its that that makes we worry about the rest of the season, despite the number of games played. Dont get me wrong, Ive been really impressed with some of the football but I dont think its league winning stuff yet. As Plymouth proved at St Mary's winning and being able to play good football aren't mutal exclusive;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70's Mike Posted 27 August, 2010 Share Posted 27 August, 2010 All to deep for me, i often wonder how we managed to survive 30 years ago without the internet to discuss the Saints. We had lives Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liquidshokk Posted 27 August, 2010 Share Posted 27 August, 2010 As Plymouth proved at St Mary's winning and being able to play good football aren't mutal exclusive;) Is scraping through with scrappy wins what you would really expect or accept from a team worth so much though? On a side note, I'd say a few of the players seem to be half the players they were last season, has barnard for example really just been "unlucky" not to get on the score sheet?.... again all imo after only two games, admittedly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 27 August, 2010 Share Posted 27 August, 2010 As Plymouth proved at St Mary's winning and being able to play good football aren't mutal exclusive;) Neither are they mutally inclusive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OttawaSaint Posted 27 August, 2010 Share Posted 27 August, 2010 the only thing that has remained the same is the city and the fans. Maybe that is the reason. Maybe the fans anxiety (at the game and in general) feeds back to the players and affects their performance. Picture the scene, Saints winning comfortably a splendid 2-0 lead and around the 65th minute the opposition take advantage of a miscue and suddenly it is 2-1, what is the general behaviour of the fans in the ground? Nervous? Muttering, "uh oh, here we go again.."? It is not inconcievable that the anxiety of the fans affects the players, fans of other more successful teams probably don't get as anxious as they have seen their team bounce back so often, but with Saints, a 1 goal lead and 5 minutes to play, i've lost buckets of sweat and bit my nails until they were bleeding at Saints matches... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liquidshokk Posted 27 August, 2010 Share Posted 27 August, 2010 All to deep for me, i often wonder how we managed to survive 30 years ago without the internet to discuss the Saints. We had lives Oh I have a life.... outside of sitting in a crummy council building waiting for their crummy network to fall over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 27 August, 2010 Share Posted 27 August, 2010 Maybe that is the reason. Maybe the fans anxiety (at the game and in general) feeds back to the players and affects their performance. Picture the scene, Saints winning comfortably a splendid 2-0 lead and around the 65th minute the opposition take advantage of a miscue and suddenly it is 2-1, what is the general behaviour of the fans in the ground? Nervous? Muttering, "uh oh, here we go again.."? It is not inconcievable that the anxiety of the fans affects the players, fans of other more successful teams probably don't get as anxious as they have seen their team bounce back so often, but with Saints, a 1 goal lead and 5 minutes to play, i've lost buckets of sweat and bit my nails until they were bleeding at Saints matches... What do you suggest then ? Surely professional players have to learn to take the rough and the smooth of support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OttawaSaint Posted 27 August, 2010 Share Posted 27 August, 2010 What do you suggest then ? Surely professional players have to learn to take the rough and the smooth of support. FANS OUT FFS! Maybe we could borrow some fans from a more successful team, or have "coping with stress for fans" night classes. I don't know, I was just having a laugh, but somehow it seems like players can be golden for a team and as soon as we get them they turn into absolue mush... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doddisalegend Posted 27 August, 2010 Share Posted 27 August, 2010 Is scraping through with scrappy wins what you would really expect or accept from a team worth so much though? On a side note, I'd say a few of the players seem to be half the players they were last season, has barnard for example really just been "unlucky" not to get on the score sheet?.... again all imo after only two games, admittedly. Blimey thats like wanting your cake and eating it. You want us to win and play like Barca while doing it? While we have spent a lot of money at this level it's really peanuts in footballing terms probably wouldn't buy us Peter Crouch's left testicle in todays market. I love our team but they're still really legaue one players can't expect to much from them. I suppose the question is if people have to choose do they want good football and lose or bad football and the win. Both would be great but at this level probably unlikely. Did you see how happy the plymouth fans were when they won it couldn't have been becuase of their teams great football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liquidshokk Posted 27 August, 2010 Share Posted 27 August, 2010 (edited) Blimey thats like wanting your cake and eating it. You want us to win and play like Barca while doing it? While we have spent a lot of money at this level it's really peanuts in footballing terms probably wouldn't buy us Peter Crouch's left testicle in todays market. I love our team but they're still really legaue one players can't expect to much from them. I suppose the question is if people have to choose do they want good football and lose or bad football and the win. Both would be great but at this level probably unlikely. Did you see how happy the plymouth fans were when they won it couldn't have been becuase of their teams great football. I know what youre saying, and Im probably just guilty of expecting too much too early in this season (has been exciting though in the build up) but I guess Im just disappointed that with the squad we have (which I actually love too) that we cant do the simple things like we did last season. Maybe we should just come back to these, possibly premature, anxieties if we are in the same position half way through the season. My overall point was just that I didnt expect to have not won either of the first two games after all the hype and restructuring of the team/club I suppose the question is if people have to choose do they want good football and lose or bad football and the win. I'd say overall we are actually playing good football and losing so far... Believe me I'd settle for poor overall play but able to score when we get it in front of goal. Edited 27 August, 2010 by Liquidshokk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 27 August, 2010 Share Posted 27 August, 2010 A tired Lambert still seems to be our main hope of snatching a goal. Poor excuse. As SaintRichmond says, why not just tell the team to stop it ? A tired Lambert (from about 2 minutes in) wasn't anywhere near the goal at the vast majority of times on Tuesday, irritatingly enough. Presumably he's already tried that, probably numerous times and all throughout training. If the players don't retain the information or ar making fatigued decisions, the manager has to do what he has to to get the message across. I'm pretty sure Bolton's Reserve Defenders of ALL footballers will have had plenty of practice at clearing long hoofs down the pitch to a physical striker given their time under Allardyce and Megson, so adopting that tactical approach consciously would have been pretty silly, and unlikely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 27 August, 2010 Share Posted 27 August, 2010 You are choosing to quote those that you perceive to be correct to fit your argument Yes there has been 'hoofball' but as someone mentioned, seems to come with panic when team are chasing a result I have not seen Saints play hoofball from first minute of game, i have seen them play a lot of passing football, creating a lot of chances and they have been unlucky in front of goal. When things haven't gone their way panic seems to set in and the we see a bit of 'hoofball'. I wouldn't say this is the team reverting to type. But we can rightly ask why this happens. Is it Pardews instruction ? Is it a sign of a league one statndard player just not good enough to do anything better when pressure on ? If its not Pardews instruction then why is he not resolving this ? BUT to say Saints are just a hoofball team is definitely wrong. This is not pardew luvvie talk, this is not a rose tinted/everything at Saints is great view, I am trying to be balanced, unfortunately too many want to take the extreme view whether it be good or bad. Alps you have not seen them play (and I stress this is not an ex-pat cheap dig etc..) various people have posted the same sort of view that I have but you choose to side with the opposite view. How do you make a reasoned opinion ? How can you clearly state stop the hoofball when you are not even seeing them play ? Did you see the Plymouth game on Sky - did you think we played hoofball all game there ? Nicely put. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaSaint Posted 27 August, 2010 Share Posted 27 August, 2010 I'm very disappointed in Pardew because I think we are still exhibiting serious failings we showed last year, including the inability to break down defensive teams and the tendency to be out-coached at half time. That – to me - makes the “it’s early days” argument invalid, and most ‘explanations’ for these problems are just an excuse. Good manager address problems by making changes in the tactics and/or the squad, and in my view AP has yet to prove that he can do that. On the other hand there are two factors that IMO are valid reasons. I think Ottawa makes a good point – that fan anxiety can transmit itself to the players. It’s easy to say “They’re professionals and shouldn’t be affected”, but I can see that it’s bound to have a negative impact. Pardew mentioned this after the Plymouth game and I don’t think it’s just an excuse. Compounding it, in my view, is the fact that many teams “lift their game” when they come to SMS – the stadium, the large crowd, and our status as the bookies’ favourite to run away with the division. For these reasons I think the Bristol Rovers game is a key one because we get away from SMS and the two valid reasons don’t apply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Bad Bob Posted 27 August, 2010 Share Posted 27 August, 2010 apparently Puncheon was both excellent and sh*t in the Orient game. He was against Bournemouth too. 75% oif the time ****e, 25% of the time excellent..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalek2003 Posted 27 August, 2010 Share Posted 27 August, 2010 I agree we start playing football and look good I think as frustrations creep in we have tended to go direct with a long ball in the hope we get a chance. Pards took Lambo off against Bolton so we didnt rely on a long ball and kept the ball on the deck so he is obviously aware of the problem. I have to say it isn't easy playing footbal through or round a team that have 10 men behind the ball. Maybe away we will be able to keep playing it on the deck for longer with teams that have to come out for more than just a bore draw and at home when we start taking the early chances we create it will be a more open game and we will have the chance to keep playing. I know I and others have been banging on about it but if we can get a Antonio type player with pace power and a direct goal threat we wont have to rely on long hopefull balls to break teams down when it hasn't happened for us. I can't agree that our team or Pards are just hoofball merchants we are a good footballing side. In a way, continuosly attacking and pinging the ball into the opposition make their job easier. They just have to stoutly defend and frustrate us. We do all the running, get tired and lose our shape then the opposition have a sudden surge of energy and snatch a win. We need to be patient and play clever football. We need to draw the opposition out and try and create a more open game. In these conditions we can begin to use our superior skills and we will have the time and space to create chances. In essence, we are trying too hard ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ottery st mary Posted 27 August, 2010 Share Posted 27 August, 2010 (edited) How many Pompey idiots in disguise on this forum? If only we could convince the Football league to start the season as from September, we would never have a bad August start to the season again.....Something to do with the position of the sun over Southampton at this time of the year... I watched the Orient game and saw a mixture of various football tactics..Not a great deal of hoofball as alluded to.. Shooting boots required for Brizzle...And make the goals bigger just for us.. Go home you Pompey WUM and you naughty Axe Grinders who have their own agenda.....FFS Sorry ..forgot you long lost Rupes Babes..still crying..... WIFM Edited 27 August, 2010 by ottery st mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captainchris Posted 27 August, 2010 Share Posted 27 August, 2010 We do have a tendency to hoof it upfield after a while. I think it is something which Pardew has identified though and is looking to discourage. He better get on with it though! Look it happens dozens of times every game and you think it's nothing to do with Pardew????? Or IF he has just recognised it he so slow and inept at realising how his team is operating that he needs to go right now. Either scenario is scary! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadoldgit Posted 28 August, 2010 Share Posted 28 August, 2010 Reasons/excuses. It is a bit like one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. So far we have only played 2 league games yet the season by some has been written off. To me a slow start means lack of success in a lot more games. If we win the next two does that mean we have had a slow start? Lets wait until we have got a few more league games under our belt before we throw a collective dummy out of the pram shall we? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 28 August, 2010 Share Posted 28 August, 2010 Reasons/excuses. It is a bit like one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. So far we have only played 2 league games yet the season by some has been written off. To me a slow start means lack of success in a lot more games. If we win the next two does that mean we have had a slow start? Lets wait until we have got a few more league games under our belt before we throw a collective dummy out of the pram shall we? fair doos....6 games is enough to see where we are heading....or 8 league games...no more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadoldgit Posted 28 August, 2010 Share Posted 28 August, 2010 Agreed, if we haven't won in 6 games then that is very poor and changes need to be made. Hopefully the new guy will make a difference and we will get another wide player in soon. Hopefully also the chances we are making will turn into goals. Let's see. Pardew won't be happy with the start either but at least he is not panicking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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