Window Cleaner Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Agreed, he looked like a certainty for a red card. Hes a great player for us and we miss him when hes not playing, so I suppose NA decided on balance to sub him, plus it gave AL a run out. btw, what the hell went on with Fonte and Davis? When Jose headed that ball out for a corner, did KD give him a shout or has Jose gone deaf? Chaplow has become a real liability in the defensive sense of his role. He cannot tackle cleanly.I'm really surprised that he didn't get a red for his tackle on Fabio, last week's yellow at Posh was a carbon copy and I guess today's effort wasn't much better. He needs to play just the forward part of his role.Hammond isn't good enough in ball recovery for him to do just that though.
S-Clarke Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Wasn't great to watch and not much really happened of note. Not going to bother writing much up as I might end up falling to sleep! At the end of the day - we won, 3pts and a clean sheet. That's all we can take from this game.
Window Cleaner Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Bored for first half hour, got a little exciting when matey got sent off (justified as he was squaring up to linesman giving him loads of mouth) nguessen did look poor but to give credit to him there were LOADS of chances to get the ball to him in space down the wing but the players looked like they just didn't want him to have the ball at all. Contrary to comment above I do think lallana coming on made an impact and he looked great at times yet again. It seemed to kick oxo into gear too. Adkins looked like he knew full well it was a poor performance at the end. Games like this come about and I don't think it will have any bearing on the next game as in normal saints fashion we will look completely different again. Rather we were inconsistent in our quality but still win most games that consistently poor as we could be.... Adkins said it was a poor performance to all effects. Said that the players know what's expected of them and today wasn't anywhere near that...or words to that effect anyway.
Turkish Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Chaplow has become a real liability in the defensive sense of his role. He cannot tackle cleanly.I'm really surprised that he didn't get a red for his tackle on Fabio, last week's yellow at Posh was a carbon copy and I guess today's effort wasn't much better. He needs to play just the forward part of his role.Hammond isn't good enough in ball recovery for him to do just that though. Hammond was superb today doing just that, our best player IMO. He was excellent second half playing just in front of the back four and won a lot in midfield. Fans get on his back but i think he is as good a player as there is in this league at playing that role and he did it to great effect today.
Redbul Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Not the best game of footy I've ever seen and in the second half I had to keep reminding myself that Carlisle were a man light. But it's 3 points and grinding out maximum points against stubborn opposition has to be done. Very happy with the 3 points but the performance was certainly lacking.
70's Mike Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Winning when you played cr*p is a good habit at all levels of football, united are proving that this season
SuperMikey Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Good Guly - Always chasing down and wanting the ball when he was moved to midfield. Chambo - A massive threat down the right, he was turning their defenders inside out with his running. A few dives from him today though... Jaidi - Very tidy defensively, never let anything run and was always there to make a good header. If his legs weren't going on him then he'd be my first choice partner for Fonte. Hammond - Dropped deep in the second half to let Lallana push up and did his job very well. He's not very vocal for a captain though. Bad N'Guessan - Had an off day, his touch just wasn't there and none of his runs came off for him. He was sh!te today but that might spurr him on towards an improved performance against Rochdale. The cheering was not on though. Forte - Couple of silly digs at the heels of players that got past him - if I was reffing I would have carded him. Chaplow - Horror tackle in the first half, Adkins was right to take him off at HT. De Jong-esque. Fonte - Not a bad performance, but i'd like to pull him up on his theatrics when he went down. Ok, it was a bad tackle, but he went down, looked up to see the reaction and then went down again. I hate that. Ugly The bloke serving in the Northam concourse.
CitySaint Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 3 points, boring, played average ... no more to be said. We move on and we have gained 2 points on Huddersfield. Get 4 points of Charlton and beat Bournemouth and we will go up.
alpine_saint Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Did Lallana get a run-out ? We miss him.
70's Mike Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Did Lallana get a run-out ? We miss him. Second Half Got better as the game went on
Saint Fan CaM Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Poor game, poor Saints, even poorer Carlisle. Game best forgotton. 3 points though and very welcome. This.
Papa Shango Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Deano MOTM today, excellent performance. So good to have such great options in midfield with him Chappy and Schneiderlin. Poor game but we aren't going to win 6-0 every week so 3 points is all that matters really at this stage.
LostBoys Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 A very poor performance in front of a big crowd. We are not playing in general as well as the teams around us and I am still seething over the abject defending last week but I will take the three points and we move on. When you have to make your debut it is hard when the team as a whole are dire but N'Guessan was awful with no first touch at all and only achieved one good cross. However he can only improve.
Give it to Ron Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Hammond was my MOM, I disagree with the other poster about Guly as I thought he worked really hard - he made one misjudgement and never went for the ball and got a rocket from the crowd. After that he chased and chased and won loads in the air and kept the ball moving. Jaidi is my type of defender - he wins all those horrible lump forward balls that we used to be shocking against. I keep reading on here about his legs going but he was still throwing himself about in extra time! He reads the game well and very rarely get in a position where a forward can run by him. The main problem second half to me was Adkins tactics - why go 4-5-1 against ten men? Guly dropped deeper and deeper and we only had Lambert up front that allowed them to push on a player into midfield and dangerous areas. Just as well Carlisle were abysmal. Several time N'Guessan got the ball wide and we only had Lambert in the box. 3 points and a clean sheet.
Norm Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Poor game, poor Saints, even poorer Carlisle. Game best forgotton. 3 points though and very welcome. Thanks, saves me trying to find the words to describe today.
jampot Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 1+ I thought Harding had one of his better games today.... I also thought the link up play between Chambo and Lalana clicked straight away.
The9 Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 I thought we were very professional from the point they were down to ten men. Scored quickly, then kept the ball. Utterly professional and I'm so very sorry all the rest of you think that's playing poorly. Carlisle didn't get a kick and we didn't trouble ourselves trying to over-commit or blow the game open, choosing to contain and mop up possession - and then not give it back for a good while. They played 4-4-1 so there was no difference in terms of breaking them down, but they didn't look close to scoring except when Fonte headed behind from an enormous hoof and one shot. N'Guessan's touch was poor, but he probably needs games.
Sheaf Saint Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 I didn't go to the game nor did I follow the match thread or listen to the radio commentary, but from what I can gather from the comments on this thread, we played very badly but still ground out a win and a clean sheet. When did we ever do that before? I literally can't remember. The best teams in the world are where they are because they have the ability to do that: have an off-day yet still collect the three points. It's no coincidence that we haven't been firing on all cylinders since Lallana got injured IMO. Of course it would be great to be able to lose a player of his quality and replace him with someone just as good. But the reality is that we are in L1 so it's just not possible, and there seem to be one or two people who frequent this forum that can't quite get their heads round that. We may be loaded by L1 standards but we're not Chelsea or Barcelona and can't just go out and buy any player we like. I just hope AL is now fit enough to start and can get us back to our form prior to his injury.
yorkie Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Agree with double heqader against Charlton and games at other 2-south coast teams - but on todays result a win and a clean sheet - got to be happy! Huddersfield could only draw at home - Rochdale next week is as big as any game this season. One game at a time - Rochdale next and hope Huddersfield & Bournemouth slip up and we take advantage. Not even looking at Brighton until they start to get over confident and implode. Teams will up their game once they think Brighton are home and dry - and I can see them losing a few towards the end of the season.
stockbridge_saint Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 important result, shame about Bournemouth continuing their good form. I don't think we'll catch Brighton now but I reckon to make sure of automatic promotion we'll need to win 12 of the remaining 19 games... pick up a few draws as well and we'll finish in the high 80s points wise which should do it.
revolution saint Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 I didn't think we were great but thought we deserved the win and at this stage of the season will take that over a performance. The game was spoiled for me by the muppets sat behind me though. Not only chronically stupid but loud and chronically stupid - apparently Lambert is crap, can only jump and needs to be shipped out. Another gem was "that Butterfield is a good young player - what is he 18 or 19?". If you were in North Kingsland and heard them slagging people off for leaving early (apparently only season ticket holders leave early) then you'll know who they are - just be thankful you didn't have to listen to them all game. I've heard a lot of morons before but they really won gold medal today.
AndyD Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 rubbish Lighten up Drain 76 - we can still do this! Going to be one hell of a ride!
Wes Tender Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 It was a boring game and we really should have pressed on and made it safe after the first goal with them being down to 10 men. As it was, we were letting them gradually back into the game by playing deeper and there were certainly opportunities where they could have sneaked a goal at around the 80 minute mark. What would we have done then, facing the loss of two vital points? Thankfully Carlisle weren't capable of punishing us because their finishing wasn't up to it. The last game was also one that we won ugly, so it is a bit disconcerting after the 6-0 hammering against Oldham and the magnificent performance against the Glory hunters that we seemed on the surface to be so lacklustre these past two games. But ultimately, the main thing is the 3 points. And the bonus is that we have Lallana back and another goal from open play from Lambert. There were some bright spots too. Good performances from Hammond and Chamberlain from midfield and Lallana when he came on. Also a very solid back four, all of them turning in good performances. However, I remain unconvinced about Forte and N'Guessen and only half convinced about Gully. He had a couple of gilt-edged chances to score but fluffed his lines through hesitation. The two new boys might yet prove to be assets and give us something extra, but we are now at the stage where we have cover for most positions and my preferred midfield would have Schneiderlin and Chaplow/Hammond with Lallana and Chamberlain out wide. So where do you accommodate Forte/N'Guessen? Late match subs for fresh legs with pace? Replacements when Chamberlain is rested or for when he or Lallana might be carrying knocks? I certainly hope that these two new players do develop to slot in nicely, as we pretty well have options for every position. The hope is that none of our promotion rivals has such depth and that they suffer injuries and suspensions in the run in,that allows us to overtake them on the final straight.
doddisalegend Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 **** poor game embarrassed by our performance against a poor side who were a man down HTBH. To add injury to insult I missed the goal while taking my five year old to the loo (Doh) Pros we won Lambert scored again (5 in 3 now) Adam is back Cons The new signings looked shocking both of them looked quick but their first touch and general ball control was shocking More yellow cards (chaplow and guly in particular seem to lack discipline when it comes to tackling) I'm upset we didn't rip Carlilse apart in the second half we showed a real lack of killer instinct. The best bit of the whole game was getting to the stadium early to hear the team sheet read out wrongly. My son and I spent a fun ten miniutes trying to workout how Nigel was going to play with both Dickson and Harding on the pitch and only one CD in Jose we settled on 3-5-2 turned out they'd got Dickson and Jiadi mixed up.
Wes Tender Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 =doddisalegend;965310 The best bit of the whole game was getting to the stadium early to hear the team sheet read out wrongly. My son and I spent a fun ten miniutes trying to workout how Nigel was going to play with both Dickson and Harding on the pitch and only one CD in Jose we settled on 3-5-2 turned out they'd got Dickson and Jiadi mixed up. Easy mistake to make.
doddisalegend Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Easy mistake to make. even more so when Dickson wasn't even on the bench..........
Turkish Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Did Lallana get a run-out ? We miss him. He came on at half time, looked a little rusty but still a class above most of the players on the pitch today.
doddisalegend Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 He came on at half time, looked a little rusty but still a class above most of the players on the pitch today. Yeah a few times his touch was a little heavy and his runnnig looked laboured give him a couple of games and he'll be back to his best, great pass to put Oxo through on goal.
positivepete Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Hammond was superb today doing just that, our best player IMO. He was excellent second half playing just in front of the back four and won a lot in midfield. Fans get on his back but i think he is as good a player as there is in this league at playing that role and he did it to great effect today. I am a founder member of the group that is not a fan of Hammond but I have to admit he was my MoM today, the best performance I have seen from him in a Saints shirt. Today he found the space to receive the ball and actually wanted to receive the ball, and his pass completion was 100% better than normal. Hats off, let us hope he keeps it up.
Mr Saints Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Just got back, we were very average. Adkins got it wrong with the second half formation. At times there was nobody within 25 yards of Lambo (Guly playing holding midfield??) and against 10 men that isn't good enough. Then Barnard comes on and its a straight swap for Lambert, should of kept 2 up top. Hopefully Nige and Saints learn from this as improvement is needed going into 2 tough away games.
Turkish Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 I am a founder member of the group that is not a fan of Hammond but I have to admit he was my MoM today, the best performance I have seen from him in a Saints shirt. Today he found the space to receive the ball and actually wanted to receive the ball, and his pass completion was 100% better than normal. Hats off, let us hope he keeps it up. He was good against Peterborough and Exeter as well. He is at his best sittting in front of the back four breaking up play and then giving the ball to players who can play, when he does this he looks a much better player than trying to be a box to box midfielder.
Hopkins Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Think the 451 was in reaction to us being so poor in the first half. An extra midfielder meant we could out number them in there and hopefully getting Hammond and Guly dropping deeper in an attempt to start passing it. First half, the CB's and Keeper were getting on the ball and having to go long because nobody was picking up the ball off them. The idea I think was right, but in reality it didn't work.
SaintBobby Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 I'm usually a bit of an apologist, but f*ck me that was poor. Happy with the three points, of course, but we made very heavy weather of it. Downsides of today: Brighton and Bournemouth are still motoring; we have been pretty mediocre in our last three games; about the worst I've ever seen us play and win. Upsides: Hammond (I'm not a big fan of his) was tireless; Harding and Fonte both good too I thought; Lallana getting 45 minutes was a big plus (he understandably lacked some sharpness) it's fair to say our dip in form correlates closely to his injury; at least we did actually win. I'm still v confident of promotion, but we look as if we're ambling or stumbling towards it just at the moment.
doddisalegend Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 I'm usually a bit of an apologist, but f*ck me that was poor. Happy with the three points, of course, but we made very heavy weather of it. Downsides of today: Brighton and Bournemouth are still motoring; we have been pretty mediocre in our last three games; about the worst I've ever seen us play and win. Upsides: Hammond (I'm not a big fan of his) was tireless; Harding and Fonte both good too I thought; Lallana getting 45 minutes was a big plus (he understandably lacked some sharpness) it's fair to say our dip in form correlates closely to his injury; at least we did actually win. I'm still v confident of promotion, but we look as if we're ambling or stumbling towards it just at the moment. I have to wonder what Bournemouths secret is? they have a team put together on a shoestring, lose their top two goal scorers this season (without replacement) then they lose they're highly rated manager and yet still they're still going strong. Puts our postion to shame really considering the cost of our team and the resources we have.
Turkish Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 I have to wonder what Bournemouths secret is? they have a team put together on a shoestring, lose their top two goal scorers this season (without replacement) then they lose they're highly rated manager and yet still they're still going strong. Puts our postion to shame really considering the cost of our team and the resources we have. We said exactly this in the pub after the game. Bournemouth have lost their two best players and thier manager and are second and keeping winning, in the transfer window fans were moaning about the depth in the squad, signings etc but it just goes to prove if you are solid, fit and organised as a team and a squad you can go places in this league.
eelpie Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 1-0 win is better than 4-4 draw. With half the effort
John Boy Saint Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Felt like we played most of the second half in third gear, but a mediocre performance and a win is better than a balls out draw. Guly playing a midfield role in the second half showed what a good player he is and for me MOTM. Jaidhi might not be the most cultured of players, but years of experience showed with the subtlety of some of his headers, which is a joy to watch. Watching the subs training at half time showed a good spirit, so players like N'Guessan and Forte are going to get a hard time off some of the crowd until they adapt to the pace and culture of the side. Finally Danny Butterfield's cross field Hollywood passes are a pleasure to watch as so often they change the passage of play.
alpine_saint Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 I have to wonder what Bournemouths secret is? they have a team put together on a shoestring, lose their top two goal scorers this season (without replacement) then they lose they're highly rated manager and yet still they're still going strong. Puts our postion to shame really considering the cost of our team and the resources we have. Indeed.
eelpie Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Last 10 games: LWWWWDLWDW OK, the last 5 games weren't as good as the first five but still, that's averaging 2 points per game. Not too shabby. Perhaps you meant the level of performances were dropping off? 8 points from 5 games is 1.6 points per game. Not good enough.
Jimmy Gabriel's Halo Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 I have to wonder what Bournemouths secret is? they have a team put together on a shoestring, lose their top two goal scorers this season (without replacement) then they lose they're highly rated manager and yet still they're still going strong. Puts our postion to shame really considering the cost of our team and the resources we have. My thoughts entirely. Cannot believe they are still doing it. It could well be a straight fight between us and them for second place as I am also now beginning to accept that BHA actually are a very good side who probably will end up as champions. The 8 point gap is not closing.
saint1977 Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 I'm usually a bit of an apologist, but f*ck me that was poor. Happy with the three points, of course, but we made very heavy weather of it. Downsides of today: Brighton and Bournemouth are still motoring; we have been pretty mediocre in our last three games; about the worst I've ever seen us play and win. Upsides: Hammond (I'm not a big fan of his) was tireless; Harding and Fonte both good too I thought; Lallana getting 45 minutes was a big plus (he understandably lacked some sharpness) it's fair to say our dip in form correlates closely to his injury; at least we did actually win. I'm still v confident of promotion, but we look as if we're ambling or stumbling towards it just at the moment. Agree with this summary, the movement and co-ordination was lacking today and a big thank you to Alan Irvine for signing Gary Madine as his last act at Sheff Wed. Hammond has improved a lot since Adkins came in. Chamberlain played better, Lambert okay but 5 goals in 3 games. Great to see Adam Lallana back. N'Guessan poor but was a real threat at Exeter and like Forte, needs to given a chance. Wednesday lost at Rochdale today and Rochdale will want to do the double over us so we need to be 150% better. All said, 3 points and Hudds only drew at home to Oldham which was a distinct bonus. Need 6 points and 2 good wins next and then those Charlton games look like they will be key.
aintforever Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 I have to wonder what Bournemouths secret is? they have a team put together on a shoestring, lose their top two goal scorers this season (without replacement) then they lose they're highly rated manager and yet still they're still going strong. Puts our postion to shame really considering the cost of our team and the resources we have. They've got some decent players (Pearce, Pugh, Feeney) plus a bit of a crazy gang spirit being a small squad with their mates as manager & assistant. Plus there is no pressure from their fans or chairman which helps. There is no reason why they cannot keep going until the end of the season but a few injuries would hit them hard. I'm more worried about Charlton, if they win their games in hand they go 2nd.
Professor Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Not impressed with Forte and N'Guessen as signings in January should be to strengthen the team and I can't see that either of these has done that. Overall, if the team can't get a goal in 45 minutes against ten men, its hard to think they are good enough for automatic promotion.
benjii Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Carlisle were so poor in terms of quality that it was almost too easy. Would've been nice to score more but result never in doubt. Hammond, Butterfied and Fonte were excellent. Chambo also had a good game.
benjii Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 Not impressed with Forte and N'Guessen as signings in January should be to strengthen the team and I can't see that either of these has done that. Overall, if the team can't get a goal in 45 minutes against ten men, its hard to think they are good enough for automatic promotion. Simplistic twaddle.
crouchi Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 90 points if we beat Bournemouth and keep winning away
WATERSIDEIFASAINT Posted 12 February, 2011 Posted 12 February, 2011 We'll see how Bournemouth do in their next 4 home games:- Huddersfield,Sheff Wed,Oldham and us.Still think the wheels will come off their promotion wagon due to their small squad.They could easily have a bad run not winning in 5/6 games where you would think that unlikely for us Charlton and Huddersfield who I still think are our 2 main rivals for 2nd spot unless Bournemouth prove us all wrong!?
Saint_clark Posted 13 February, 2011 Posted 13 February, 2011 What's happening here then? Looks like Forte is going down, but no-one is anywhere near him.
jampot Posted 13 February, 2011 Posted 13 February, 2011 Though ball from Cambo which was slightly overweighted..
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