Just Back From The Game Thread

[M271]

How many Saints were there? The one picture on the OS appeared to show our support mostly sat down. Why do people travel that way to be boring arseholes?

 

People support their team in different ways, any fan who took the trouble to be there yesterday should be congratulated not criticised for how they support their team.

[Saint_Mabes]

Reading all these reviews of the game I am so annoyed that we seem to be punting the ball rather than keeping it on the ground. No matter how bad the pitch is surely we will have the advantage if we play a passing game. As a hoofball team we are poor. Can anyone tell me was Richardson one of teh main offenders? At the Notts county game he infuriated me with his diagonal long floating crosses.

[Scudamore]

As for Adkins why doesnt he change things earlier not just bringing on LB which did make a differnence but he could have taken a chance and put Doble on for Lambert.

 

Doble?

[ladysaint]

Doble?

 

Yes he couldnt have been less ineffective than RL yesterday.

[shurlock]

Reading all these reviews of the game I am so annoyed that we seem to be punting the ball rather than keeping it on the ground. No matter how bad the pitch is surely we will have the advantage if we play a passing game. As a hoofball team we are poor. Can anyone tell me was Richardson one of teh main offenders? At the Notts county game he infuriated me with his diagonal long floating crosses.

 

I thought Richardson was our poorest player yesterday but its a question of chickens and eggs. In his and the defense's defense, they had few options to pass the ball into the midfield where we were outnumbered and being hassled. The rational thing was to clear our lines (though richardson's problem was less the hoofing than the hoofs not clearing midfield and going straight to an opposing player). We missed Lallana yesterday not because of his creativity and vision but his ball retention - the only other player who seems to have extra time on the ball is schneiderlin, though it was not until the 2nd half that he started to play. Of course, you can also make your life easier: if the opposing team packs the midfield and plays just the one striker, you either go narrow or push your full-backs slightly up.

[View From The Top]

Stonewall penalty in my eyes, he was through on goal so no need to go down. The tranmere player had his arms right across his chest. If he'd stayed on his feet he would have scored, simple as that.

 

I agree, a nailed on penalty, however, he did make sure the ref "saw it" and that over egging of the pudding did for him IMHO.

 

On another note, I too though Lambert played well. He won almost everything in the air but the rest of the of the team seem incapable of reading his clicks or joining in up top.

[Saints67]

Nearly 24 hours on and I'm a bit calmer. One word for the game. Disappointing. However I did think that tranmere rode their luck and with a blatant 'home' referee it all lead to a 2 nil home win. Their hopeful punts forward always seemed to drop to one of their own players. All their mis-kicked clearances dropped to their own players. Their second goal came from a goal kick which was signalled as a corner by the lino then he changed his mind when the ref (about 40 yards away) gave a goal kick. The penalty shout was a good one and Lee Barnard had wriggled himself into a shooting position. The ref decided he'd dived. Mental decision. Tranmere were time wasting from the kick-off and only 5 minutes were added! They are a hoof ball team and we happily dropped to their level although didn't match them in its effectiveness. Main offenders for me yesterday were Richardson, Harding (probably the worst free kick I've ever seen) Chaplow and Jaidi. All poor. davis little to do but what he did he badly. A bad day for us and after watching us massacre Oldham 10 days ago I am now worried about humilation on TV on Saturday. Do I feel better after that? Not really.

[benjii]

Yes he couldnt have been less ineffective than RL yesterday.

 

I don't think that's quite what you mean!

[Sour Mash]

Third trip to Tranmere and every single one has been complete and utter s***e! Dump of a place, no decent pubs around the ground, locals not exactly the most welcoming, yet another very poor performance up there, quiet support from us, disgraceful policing yet again, an all round great day out. I've promised myself I will never go to tranmere again.

[Papa Shango]

Yes he couldnt have been less ineffective than RL yesterday.

 

Not really that fair on Rickie, the service to both strikers was poor. I seriously doubt Doble or anyone else would have made any sort of difference.

[Window Cleaner]

My player summary, for what it's worth:

 

Davis (3): confidence appears shot to bits, communication is appalling. Jointly at fault for the first goal.

Richardson (1, for turning up): how the **** he got in the League One team of the season last season is a mystery to me. Get Butterfield back in there, he may not get forward too much, but at least he won't put 80% of his passes straight to the feet of the opposition.

Harding (3): offered very little support by Dickson, but like Richardson seemed to be brilliant at finding a white shirt all afternoon.

Fonte (4): like Davis, at fault for the first goal, didn't seem comfortable at all during the game. No idea what's going on there.

Jaidi (6): won plenty in the air against Showunmi, but when he did get the ball at his feet, just lumped it long every time.

Chamberlain (4): comfortably his worst game for us, barely got a kick and was drifting all over the pitch in the first half, which then left Richardson exposed against Jennings.

Dickson (4): on the rare occasions he got on the ball, he looked alright, but failed to track back which then left Harding in trouble.

Chaplow (0, didn't turn up): utterly anonymous. We effectively played with 10 men for the entire 90 minutes as he contributed nothing at all.

Schneiderlin (5): at least tried to get the ball down and play it on the deck, but gave it away more often than not.

Guly (5): not really the game for little flicks, and he and Lambert were often playing 50-60 yards apart, so when one of them won something in the air, it fell straight to the feet of a Tranmere defender.

Lambert (6): worked hard but had no service. Always crowded out by at least two defenders, and wasn't close enough to Guly when he had the ball to link up.

 

Re the penalty appeal, Barnard had a free shot at goal, 12 yards out, with no defenders close enough to block it after a great turn - why would he go down unless he was tripped?

 

Pretty hard on Chaplow there, however if he was as bad as you seem to say then it's no wonder that we weren't all that good. No doubt he was supposed to be carrying the ball forward.He does seem to blow hot and cold from time to time. Must be some sort of reason why Preston's fans hated him so much,other than having played for Burnley that is.Maybe not fully fit,awful condamnation on Puncheon and Gobern (and everybody else really) if that is the case.

[shurlock]

My player summary, for what it's worth:

 

Davis (3): confidence appears shot to bits, communication is appalling. Jointly at fault for the first goal.

Richardson (1, for turning up): how the **** he got in the League One team of the season last season is a mystery to me. Get Butterfield back in there, he may not get forward too much, but at least he won't put 80% of his passes straight to the feet of the opposition.

Harding (3): offered very little support by Dickson, but like Richardson seemed to be brilliant at finding a white shirt all afternoon.

Fonte (4): like Davis, at fault for the first goal, didn't seem comfortable at all during the game. No idea what's going on there.

Jaidi (6): won plenty in the air against Showunmi, but when he did get the ball at his feet, just lumped it long every time.

Chamberlain (4): comfortably his worst game for us, barely got a kick and was drifting all over the pitch in the first half, which then left Richardson exposed against Jennings.

Dickson (4): on the rare occasions he got on the ball, he looked alright, but failed to track back which then left Harding in trouble.

Chaplow (0, didn't turn up): utterly anonymous. We effectively played with 10 men for the entire 90 minutes as he contributed nothing at all.

Schneiderlin (5): at least tried to get the ball down and play it on the deck, but gave it away more often than not.

Guly (5): not really the game for little flicks, and he and Lambert were often playing 50-60 yards apart, so when one of them won something in the air, it fell straight to the feet of a Tranmere defender.

Lambert (6): worked hard but had no service. Always crowded out by at least two defenders, and wasn't close enough to Guly when he had the ball to link up.

 

Re the penalty appeal, Barnard had a free shot at goal, 12 yards out, with no defenders close enough to block it after a great turn - why would he go down unless he was tripped?

 

Agree with this, esp your assessments of chaplow/richardson and the point about guly/lambo being miles about.

 

Re. the pen - thought it was one but i) don't why lambo didnt shoot just before as he was in acres of space (though at an angle) ii) barny's turn totally did the first defender but the ball wasn't quite under control and iii) he was pulled back, so I don't why he threw himself foward as dramtically as he did.

[rallyboy]

my immediate reaction was penalty, I was astonished when the ref booked Barnard, I thought perhaps I missed something but I didn't, the ref did.

 

We were awful, the ref was awful, the chips were nice.

 

Just had a better view of the first goal on tv, VERY poor defending - not the first time we have conceded through hesitation.

 

Football defending lesson one - If in doubt in your own box frickin hoof it.

[Village Saint]

Why does sitting on a seat make you a boring arsehole ?

 

It doesn't. You pay a lot of money for a seat. It makes sense to use it. for some of us too stading up for one and a half hours is damn near impossible. The boring arseholes are the selfish ones who insist on standing and obstructing the views of genuine supporters who have come a long way but need to sit. I guess Griffo is one of them.

[Window Cleaner]

my immediate reaction was penalty, I was astonished when the ref booked Barnard, I thought perhaps I missed something but I didn't, the ref did.

 

We were awful, the ref was awful, the chips were nice.

 

Just had a better view of the first goal on tv, VERY poor defending - not the first time we have conceded through hesitation.

 

Football defending lesson one - If in doubt in your own box frickin hoof it.

 

I think barney must have gotten a reputation as a diver, can't see any other reason for the booking at least.

[eelpie]

This is the second match running when the ball has seemingly not dropped kindly for Saints. Rubbish. It is up to the players to make sure that they - each individually - are first to the tackle and dominate proceedings. A successful run of good results and they think they have done it. Too complacent by half at present.

[Cestrian Saint]

We always lose at Tranmere. Hadly suprising with a performance like that. Utter rubbish.

I'm off down the bookies to see what odds I can get on Man U scoring more than 6 next weekend.

[Liquidshokk]

I think barney must have gotten a reputation as a diver, can't see any other reason for the booking at least.

 

I've surprisingly never heard anyone on here pointing out that barney dives but I've on many occasions thought barney has gone down far too easy or overplayed the action of someone pushing him in the back. Quite amusingly dramatic at times

[Alan56]

Well third visit and three defeats at Prenton Park

 

Kelvin what f'ing planet you were on all day? I know not. A season too far and Bialkowski must now be given a chance. A good performance on Sat and he'll surely be in. Davis just boots the ball up field, rearly bowls it out yet B v Blackpool always looked to play it to feet.

 

However the most awful part of the day for me was standing in front of a foul mouthed **** just about old enough to be sprouting his first whiskers who had just realised that female reproductive organs had a naughty word to describe them beginning with a C.Oddly enough stood with what I guess was his girlfriend too.

 

All the time hurling abuse at anyone, including a few Saints' fans for vocalising disapproval of calamity Kelvin. Then the non awarded penalty.

Cue the opportunity for this arsehole to smash up two plastic seats and proceed to kick them about.

 

Hopefully photo evidence available and justice will be done.

[John Boy Saint]

However the most awful part of the day for me was standing in front of a foul mouthed **** just about old enough to be sprouting his first whiskers who had just realised that female reproductive organs had a naughty word to describe them beginning with a C.Oddly enough stood with what I guess was his girlfriend too.

 

All the time hurling abuse at anyone, including a few Saints' fans for vocalising disapproval of calamity Kelvin. Then the non awarded penalty.

Cue the opportunity for this arsehole to smash up two plastic seats and proceed to kick them about.

 

Hopefully photo evidence available and justice will be done.

 

Amazing the effect a couple of cans of Top Deck Shandy and fresh air can have on young uns these days!!

[simonsaints1]

Therer is an exactly, almost word for word account describing the behaviour of a teenage brighton, "foul mouthed fan" on northstandchat-(following their game at brighton)

[Thedelldays]

Well third visit and three defeats at Prenton Park

 

Kelvin what f'ing planet you were on all day? I know not. A season too far and Bialkowski must now be given a chance. A good performance on Sat and he'll surely be in. Davis just boots the ball up field, rearly bowls it out yet B v Blackpool always looked to play it to feet.

 

However the most awful part of the day for me was standing in front of a foul mouthed **** just about old enough to be sprouting his first whiskers who had just realised that female reproductive organs had a naughty word to describe them beginning with a C.Oddly enough stood with what I guess was his girlfriend too.

 

All the time hurling abuse at anyone, including a few Saints' fans for vocalising disapproval of calamity Kelvin. Then the non awarded penalty.

Cue the opportunity for this arsehole to smash up two plastic seats and proceed to kick them about.

 

Hopefully photo evidence available and justice will be done.

Lads like you mention make me laugh..

I remember plymouth away a few years ago...one lad just like you mention was behaving...Just like you described...giving it the big one across the netting to the home fans...

 

I saw said lad almost in tears afterwards when he was confronted by a bunch of home fans by the brittania inn down the RD from home park....

[DT]

Barmard would have got a penalty if his dive was slightly more subtle. That's the ludicrous nature of the 'no penalty without bloke falling over' game we watch these days. There was contact, it was a pen in my view, but because he made just slightly a meal of it, no pen. Plus that ref was an absolute homer, with almost every decision going their way.

First time I've seen Saints in the flesh this season, I admit, but what a load of rubbish. Was expecting a lot of Chappers in the middle to run the game. He looked disinterested. Was expecting a lot of Chamberlain. But he just looked like he was avoiding injury (proved correct). Was expecting Davis to do another horrible cock-up because he is scared of coming off his line ever. Got that one right.

But the worst thing was how disinterested everyone looked - and how abysmal our number 2, Richardson is. Can't run. Can't tackle. Can't pass. Can't head. Not a good combo. Why is he a professional footballer? Please get rid.

Jaidi couldn't pass to anyone, Schneiderlin didn't get involved. Lambert looks too fat and slow. The only player who looked half decent was Fonte, head and shoulders above everyone else. Barnard was alright when he came on.

Best to sell Chamberlain and spend on new keeper, right back, and central midfielder. We're way off promotion on this display.

[JRM]

I don't know about the incident that Alan 56 is referring to, but the policing was the most over zealous I've ever seen at football. If anyone witnessed the unprovoked arrest after tranmere's first goal in the block furthest to the right please pm me. An associate of mine may need assistance of witnesses in contesting it.

[Saint_clark]

Yes he couldnt have been less ineffective than RL yesterday.

 

So he wouldn't have made an improvement?

[Saint_clark]

Well third visit and three defeats at Prenton Park

 

Kelvin what f'ing planet you were on all day? I know not. A season too far and Bialkowski must now be given a chance. A good performance on Sat and he'll surely be in. Davis just boots the ball up field, rearly bowls it out yet B v Blackpool always looked to play it to feet.

 

However the most awful part of the day for me was standing in front of a foul mouthed **** just about old enough to be sprouting his first whiskers who had just realised that female reproductive organs had a naughty word to describe them beginning with a C.Oddly enough stood with what I guess was his girlfriend too.

 

All the time hurling abuse at anyone, including a few Saints' fans for vocalising disapproval of calamity Kelvin. Then the non awarded penalty.

Cue the opportunity for this arsehole to smash up two plastic seats and proceed to kick them about.

 

Hopefully photo evidence available and justice will be done.

 

I think I was sat next to them at Charlton last season, this lad next to me with his missus was calling everyone in range a c*nt, and then when Charlton equalised he smashed up the seat in front.

[Cabrone]

The most disappointing thing is that Tranmere won because they wanted it more than us.

 

If we'd have had their hunger then we would have walked away with 3 points.

 

You'd have thought that with our position in the league we'd be raring to go out and give it everything but we didn't.

 

If Saints have pretensions of top 2 then that was not good enough.

[AndyNorthernSaints]

No ratings for any of the players as they simply did not turn up. Worse performance i've seen this season. You could tell from the opening minutes that Tranmere wanted it more and were winning all the 50/50 tackles etc. Dale Jennings looked alot better prospect that Chamberlain on todays showwing. Hopefully Saints will now strengthen the team and not have to return to his ****e away trip.

[natty_noodles]

Some of our supporters who travel long distances to watch matches offer such crap support! If I could have been bothered to go to Tranmere I would've done so much better!

 

I was sat down because it was bloody freezing & an awful game! Normally I would stand up the whole game in the Northam...I had enough on Saturday!

[redder freak]

From the OS photos, the Barney penalty booking decision looks hilarious. You can see the frustration on Barney's face, as he clearly is desperate to escape from the grasp of the Tranmere defender, run forward and kick the ball. I think he just gave up trying to escape from the guy's clutches and dived. I guess this random fairness element is why we all love football, it's a bit like life. But maybe be it will be Saints turn next time for the luck of the dodgy refereeing decisons to go our way.

 

Onwards and upwards. Bring on Exeter (I think there's a practice session on Saturday).

[View From The Top]

I don't know about the incident that Alan 56 is referring to, but the policing was the most over zealous I've ever seen at football. If anyone witnessed the unprovoked arrest after tranmere's first goal in the block furthest to the right please pm me. An associate of mine may need assistance of witnesses in contesting it.

 

If you mean Joe then yes, I saw it but from a block away. I'm guessing the old girl that Tom was talking to who was sat behind them would be the best witness.