Colinjb Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 Not that I was there, but really looking forward to what everyone at Selhurst park thought of it tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the wedge Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 Just heading home now. In a game lacking a result, there were one or two positives. Ward Prowse, despite one or two nervous stray passes, was very composed and assured in CM. Delighted he got 90 minutes.* Morgan ran the midfield, he's a brilliant player and has evidently come on leaps and bounds over the summer. Bart has found his kicking boots, very pleasing. He seems much more confident these days. Always like to see Holmes get a good run out. Despite his lack of pace, he always looks a threat. But Forte is an awful footballer. Infuriating display and deserved to be subbed sooner than he was. Poor Reeves was fishing on his own, coming deep to collect everything as Forte was no hope. De Ridder flatters at times, but often loses control of the ball and needs to run at his man more. Gave possession away far too cheaply far too often. Seemed to play better on the left. Palace were nothing great, just two lucky goals capitalising on our lack of killer instinct in the 1st half. We could as should have been one or two up at half time. Disappointed, but there were positives today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Charlie Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 Sounded like NA was ****ed off with Forte and a couple of others for not making the most of their opportunities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the wedge Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 Reeves showed the determination, guts and desire to get goals and get the ball to his feet. He worked his socks off whereas Forte just watched everything go by him. Should have scored the guilt edged chance he had. Didn't and then instantly faded again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandwichsaint Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 A game of two halves. First half we were very good and looked well on top without really carrying a goal threat. Second half Palace raised their game and we didn't really have an answer. Bart 7, looked confident on what little he had to do, no chance with the goals. Butter 5, looked understandably rusty, crossing was very hit and hope. Martin7, solid Cork 7, wasted here, would rather have seen hoov and play Cork in mf Harding 8 in the first half and 4 in the second. Needless penalty, Holmes 6, put over a couple of really good crosses but didn't do enough to force his way into the Saturday team. Morgan 8, outstanding in the first half, over run in the second. Needs to start on a Saturday. WP 6, decent effort and understandably nervous. De rudder 4 massive disappointment and showed why he doesn't start on a Saturday. Great for first 15 mins but went rapidly downhill after that, palace defenders played him very easily. Forte 1, shocking display. Didn't look interested at all, v weak for a big bloke too. No where near food buff for the standard we are aspiring to. Reeves 7, worked hard throughout and always looking to do the right thing. Subs 4 too little, too late. Overall it went much as expected, first half we made a really good go of it, second half was like stepping back in a Saints time machine. Blue line- move on, we need a big performance on Saturday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu0x Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 The balti pie was excellent. I found our approach a little disappointing. Palace set out to defend very deep and then counter. Given that it was obvious from the first 5 minutes they were doing this, it was odd that we persevered with what was essentially 4-4-1-1. It left Forte stranded alone surrounded by 3 or 4 Palace players, and his first touch is simply not good enough to play that role. It left us with very little penetration in the final third, especially in the middle. Given it was one of the very rare occasions that we actually played with two actual wingers (not wide midfielders), I'd have liked to have seen De Ridder and Holmes pushed up into a more orthodox 4-3-3 to put some real pressure onto Palace's very defensive setup. As it was we had all the possession up to a certain point, they just dropped deep and crowded out the final ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyinthesky Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 Forte was also poor v Preston. take away his two tap in v MK Dons and down in the Pulis/Forecast mould Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mulletsaint Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 Never really seen why these threads run counter to the post match reaction thread, but seeing as I am indeed 'just back from the game', I'll make a couple of points. I would agree with most of what The Wedge says. Fonte really was that bad. One good run but took the option to shoot straight at the keeper when he had two teammates unmarked in the middle. Ward-Prowse was composed on the ball, but after a couple of Hollywood passes that didnt come off, he began to play it rather too safe, always keeping possession but too many sideways and backwards balls. In fact this was pretty true of the team as a whole. SDR started well but seemed to get ****ed at the amount of buffeting he was receiving without protection from the ref. He Baganda to lose possession far too cheaply. I thought Reeves was class. He looked very sharp, good movement. Unfortunately Fonte wasn't pulling his weight. Butterfield was sloppy in possession, almost letting palace in with a dreadful pass in the second half. His crossing was also below par, mostly straight into the keeper's arms. On the whole, we controlled much of the match without really creating a great deal, in fact Palace probably created the better chances on top of their goals. Adkins made a mistake in leaving the substitutions until it was too late. Fonte should have been off after about ten mins of the second half. Finally, a special mention has to go to tonight's ref, who was so one sided it beggared belief (and no, that ain't sour grapes). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st.sj Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 Not brilliant.. We had good possession in the first half, started well. Kept the ball but no real penetration. De Ridder started well but ended up quite ineffective. Schniederlin was our stand out player, hes definately a premiership player. Just knew as the game went on we would have a problem. Second half Crystal Palace seemed to get their confidence. More direct than us and for all our possession they had more chances. Forte not good enough unfortunately, dont see him playing again. Changes made too late to effect the game. Understand all the changes and if it enables us to win on Saturday then fair enough. We are definately a quality striker light but I think we all know that. Good to see Barnard back, wish he had started. Raoll on Saturday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucks Saint Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 A game of two halves. First half we were very good and looked well on top without really carrying a goal threat. Second half Palace raised their game and we didn't really have an answer. Bart 7, looked confident on what little he had to do, no chance with the goals. Butter 5, looked understandably rusty, crossing was very hit and hope. Martin7, solid Cork 7, wasted here, would rather have seen hoov and play Cork in mf Harding 8 in the first half and 4 in the second. Needless penalty, Holmes 6, put over a couple of really good crosses but didn't do enough to force his way into the Saturday team. Morgan 8, outstanding in the first half, over run in the second. Needs to start on a Saturday. WP 6, decent effort and understandably nervous. De rudder 4 massive disappointment and showed why he doesn't start on a Saturday. Great for first 15 mins but went rapidly downhill after that, palace defenders played him very easily. Forte 1, shocking display. Didn't look interested at all, v weak for a big bloke too. No where near food buff for the standard we are aspiring to. Reeves 7, worked hard throughout and always looking to do the right thing. Subs 4 too little, too late. Overall it went much as expected, first half we made a really good go of it, second half was like stepping back in a Saints time machine. Blue line- move on, we need a big performance on Saturday. Agree with most of this, except: SDR did better IMO. Most of the time we threatened, or looked like we would, he was involved. Will give him some slack because he was supported mostly by Forte (must never play again), Holmes (poor, see below) and Reeves (worked hard but inexperienced) Holmes is tidy in possession, calm when surrounded and did deliver a few crosses. But others were poor and the most frustrating thing was watching Holmes stand still as Harding ran towards him with the ball. Not once did he run past the Palace winger and stretch the game by offering a different pass option. Another chance for Holmes and he did not do enough. WP was very positive, always looking for the ball, a neat turn on him under pressure. Yes a few errors but very promising Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfc4prem Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 Ref was sh*te. Butterfield was sh*te Forte was Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttteeeee. Reeves was very lively and intelligent. Really like the look of him, looks to be a great talent. Ward Prowse was very composed, quick-thinking and tenacious, like the look of him (though he did try to do a couple of Morgan cross-field pings which weren't as good as what Morgan has in his locker. Holmes was good again. Hopefully he toughens up a bit and stops getting injured as he has obvious talent. De Ridder was pretty poor too, lost the ball alot and didn't attack their fullback. Perhaps that will shut those up who are clamouring for him to start. MOTM today were the fans. Great turnout for a reserve game, and great noise made too. Palace's home support was F*cking diabolical, much like the referee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_Jimbo83 Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 Morgan was the best player on the picture today by a mile. Forte was absolutely ****, I've never rated him anyway. De Ridder gave the ball away far too much, maybe he is more of an impact player at the moment. I don't think Holmes is good enough. Ward-Prowse had a good game, very composed and kept the ball well. Definitely one for the future and plays the way Adkins likes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vince Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 I thought it was fairly even until the scuff that gave them the chance for the first. Forte was useless, nothing stuck off him and he didn't seem to get involved, and Reeves looked isolated as a result. I spent a bit of time watching Ward-Prowse in midfield, rather than follow the ball, just to see how he played and read the game. I thought he was very assured, making simple passes early on, keeping possession. It will be interesting to see his stats on completed passes as he didn't give the ball away that often (there was one hollywood pass as mentioned above in the first half that went completely wrong, leave those to Morgan, lad). His movement off the ball was good, generally finding space and not afraid to shout or try to direct play when off the ball too. There was one bit of play where Cork won the ball in the center, found himself carrying it forward, where WP slotted back into the vacant center half gap. I think he will become a very good player. And our support was fantastic - don't think they will need that many stewards next Tuesday, when the blue few visit, tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorpe-le-Saint Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 Forte was awful and so was De Ridder to an extent. Reeves and JWP looked very assured which is encouraging. 2-0 doesn't reflect the match at all but i would much rather lose in the cup than lose at Selhurst come April or whenever it is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorpe-le-Saint Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 Oh and the ref was ****ing diabolical Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 (edited) Disappointed in that a poor side (us) came up against an even poorer side (them) and a game that was there for the taking slipped out of our grasp. Quite a surreal evening- has to be one of the lowest intensity cup ties I've ever attended - I've been to preseason games with more energy and desire to boss proceedings. We were tidy if unimaginative for large spells of the game, especially in the first half but should have exploited the space in the middle more and used both sides of the pitch - too much went down our right. Morgan was heads and shoulders the best player on the pitch - nice to see him impose himself on the game and not wait to take cues from others. An honourable mention also goes to Holmes who got good some crosses in against Clyne (really solid if a bit one-footed). Expected a bit more from Ward-Prowse who struggled a bit, playing with his back to the game and sending too many passes backwards when there was space and time. Reeves looked sharper and more confident and was the better of the two young'uns though without really threatening. Cork looked better, though he didn't really get his foot on the ball and ultimately must take some responsibility for the opener. De Ridder didn't do himself any favours. Kept running into traffic on the inside (though others will tell me those were NA's instructions and was let down by the lack of movement in front of him). Thought Forte started brightly enough -and it was refreshing to see some pace- but he faded badly after that. All in all, tonight underlined how quickly the quality drops after you get beyond the first team and subs - the players you expected to do well gave a good account of themselves; the rest struggled. Lets just hope the team stays fit and free from injury. Lastly, the ref was an absolute c*ck - moronic the number of times the lino had to bail him out. Edited 25 October, 2011 by shurlock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 Just back and I wish I had stayed home! Dear Nige, what the f*&% was that? We were dire, the game was dire, Butterfield was dire, Forte was DIRE, the Ref was dire, my burger was dire, Croydon was dire! The only thing that disturbed the Palace keeper all night, was the sight of the legs on the Pom Pom girls! I go to games to be entertained and tonight, I was short changed. The only positive from my wasted journey and wasted 8 hours out of my life, was the Saints support. Roll on Saturday, because if Saints/NA have no respect for the cup game played tonight, the team selection on Sat wil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorpe-le-Saint Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 These people moaning - if you expected a full strength side in a League Cup match with Middlesborough at home on Saturday you are deluded, moronic or both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirleysfc Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 Just back and I wish I had stayed home! Dear Nige, what the f*&% was that? We were dire, the game was dire, Butterfield was dire, Forte was DIRE, the Ref was dire, my burger was dire, Croydon was dire! The only thing that disturbed the Palace keeper all night, was the sight of the legs on the Pom Pom girls! I go to games to be entertained and tonight, I was short changed. The only positive from my wasted journey and wasted 8 hours out of my life, was the Saints support. Roll on Saturday, because if Saints/NA have no respect for the cup game played tonight, the team selection on Sat wil. Take a happy pill and try and get some sleep! It really wasn't that bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRM Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 It would have been nice to have made more of an effort to win it having got to the 4th round and a winnerable tie against a palace side who were there for the taking. We've really not looked convincing away from home recently. Harding seemed to make a real effort to put himself out of first team contention in the 2nd half , had a dreadful last 15mins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffo Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 Really dull evening. Bit disappointed we didn't put out a slightly stronger team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bourno Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 With Hoovield and Barnard starting I reckon we would have won this one. Forte was not good and wasted the best chance by not passing. SDR has proved himself an an impact sub but not a starter. For most of the game we were comfortable just couldn't score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draino76 Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 Back from the game. Odd result; but could not care less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan The Flames Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 Bart, assured positive performance. Butterfield, linked up well with those around him and has confidence on the ball, playing the first time ball from a long pass was a problem. Martin, looked good, when he got himself into trouble he took care of it himself. Cork, very good, looked to direct defensive headers to our players rather than just clearing the ball. Harding, link up play was good as you would expect, would like him to drive forward past a few players a bit more. Holmes, strange one this, he looks comfortable on the ball, but it looked like he had different instructions to the others, he seemed in himself and looks a bit out of condition. Morgan, very good, let the ball roll past him a few times and lost possession. WP and Reeves, some poor passes early on, did the simple things well, looked to get involved and developed well over the game De Rudder, great first 15, seemed to be the man in charge, but switched wing and it all went down hill. Couldn't take the ball with and got frustrated. Forte, poor first touch and poor energy We had great possession but went across the pitch too often as there was no outlet in front and when the subs came on we resorted to playing it long which was easily cut out. An early SFC goal would have seen a different outcome. And the ref was very poor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted 25 October, 2011 Share Posted 25 October, 2011 It would have been nice to have made more of an effort to win it having got to the 4th round and a winnerable tie against a palace side who were there for the taking. We've really not looked convincing away from home recently. Harding seemed to make a real effort to put himself out of first team contention in the 2nd half , had a dreadful last 15mins. Agree awful for penalty too. He isnt great away from home and fox is much better imo. Morgan was the best player by miles should start sat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nexstar Posted 26 October, 2011 Share Posted 26 October, 2011 Just back now, Palace is annoying to get to by train. Pretty dull game and I'm surprised anybody managed to score within the 90 minutes! Reeves looked bright, with some Lallana-esque touches. JWP had a confident game in midfield and should be proud at just 16. Forte didn't really seem bothered and I though De Ridder had easily his worst game in a Saints shirt. Morgan absolutely ran the show from defense to attack and was superb all night. Despite people's criticisms I actually thought Butterfield did very well down the right, considering it was his first game this season, and Richardson now certainly has competition. It was the tipping point of the tournament for it to become important, we've gone out, time to move on. Oh and the fans were excellent tonight, made some great noise and to have 2,571 for a Tuesday night Carling Cup game is fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lighthouse Posted 26 October, 2011 Share Posted 26 October, 2011 Just back. 12 hours of my life I'll never get back. Never had high hopes going into that but I would at least like to have seen us make a decent fist of it. As it was I saw two seems cruising along in 1st gear until a defensive cock up handed them the tie with 15 mins left. Forte was absolute garbage. He shouldn't be made scapegoat for this result, but he really was poor. Looked no better when I saw him at Swindon earlier in the competition either. One to get rid of IMO. The ref I am sure didn't give us a single free kick until the 85th minute. The linos gave us a couple, but the ref was just like, "oh is it? okay, if you like...". Not even a simple free kick in our own half. One time a Saints player got fouled right on the edge of their area, about 3 yards left of centre. De Ridder, marked by 2 men, chased the loose ball down towards the corner flag and the muppet let us play on for advantage. The kids had reasonable enough debuts. I'd love to come on here and say they were shining beacons of talent, but I can't really on that performance. Steady enough though and JWP seemed to grow in confidence after a shaky start. Reeves would benefit immensely playing with Rickie up front instead of Forte, who was pretty much useless as a partner. Bart was fine, kicking much improved. Nothing he could do for either goal. Morgan and Martin I thought were worthy of a mention too. Morgan played the ball around midfield very well. Martin looked very composed in defence, along side Cork who also did well. Holmes and De Ridder both a bit hit and miss, although in fairness they didn't have much to aim for going forward. For me the biggest positive of the evening... BARNARD. Didn't do much in his brief cameo, but he is fit again. With him in the side in place of DC I think we will look much better up front. With Lallana fit and DC and De Ridder on the bench, we will be a seriously good team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintpat Posted 26 October, 2011 Share Posted 26 October, 2011 Not'just back' but first opportunity. Ashamed to admit that due to work this was my first game of the season. Firstly thought the fans were great, particularly the group who kept 'Nigel Adkins red and white army' going for so long. Asfor the team, as people have said, Morgan was excellent, a different class to everyone else on the pitch. At the opposite end Forte was very poor. Looked lazy, he might be quick but when he lost the ball, my mother with her walker would have beaten him back to get involved with the game. Thought W-P looked composed but became rather negative as the game progressed. I would have lucked to see Reeves play with a forward who actually moved and created space, he looked ok. I was worried about Cork and Martin together but they were fine, although Cork is rather wasted there. Thought Martin was Saints 2nd best player of the night. Richardson and Fox can both sleep easy, knowing their places arent under any immediate threat! And you can see why De Ridder is only used for 20 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyb1 Posted 26 October, 2011 Share Posted 26 October, 2011 Take a happy pill and try and get some sleep! It really wasn't that bad. It pretty much was. We had pretty much 2 shots on target in 90 minutes against a VERY average side. We passed it quite nicely but never looked dangerous. De Ridder is an impact player if last night is anything to go by as he was poor. Lets see how saturday goes as I was bored last night... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david in sweden Posted 26 October, 2011 Share Posted 26 October, 2011 Expected a bit more from Ward-Prowse who struggled a bit, playing with his back to the game and sending too many passes backwards when there was space and time. (sounds a bit tough) ..maybe he'll improve... after he turns...17 ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Window Cleaner Posted 26 October, 2011 Share Posted 26 October, 2011 (sounds a bit tough) ..maybe he'll improve... after he turns...17 ? Next Tuesday then, look forward to him running the show against Posh whilst our other 4 CMs have a night off in the stands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 26 October, 2011 Share Posted 26 October, 2011 (edited) (sounds a bit tough) ..maybe he'll improve... after he turns...17 ? Perhaps it's a bit harsh. No doubt he'll improve and get stronger but he's in the team to do a job in the here and now. Edited 26 October, 2011 by shurlock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFCDan Posted 26 October, 2011 Share Posted 26 October, 2011 I thought JWP played really well - became a bit backwards pass-y but nobody was doing anything for him - De Ridder was the only one making forward runs and he was (by his own admission) garbage. Very impressed by him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vince Posted 26 October, 2011 Share Posted 26 October, 2011 I thought JWP played really well - became a bit backwards pass-y but nobody was doing anything for him - De Ridder was the only one making forward runs and he was (by his own admission) garbage. Very impressed by him. Quite a few people have mentioned the first part of the bit I've put in bold, but the second part probably explains it. If he had slotted passes into empty space for no one to run onto, he'd have been slated for giving away possession, so to my mind, doing what he did was exactly the right thing to do. If, with the likes of Adam, Chaplow, Connolly, Rickie, LB all running into those spaces and he still turns round and does that, I'll change my opinion. It'll be interesting the next time he plays to see how he does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericofarabia Posted 26 October, 2011 Share Posted 26 October, 2011 I thought JWP played really well - became a bit backwards pass-y but nobody was doing anything for him - De Ridder was the only one making forward runs and he was (by his own admission) garbage. Very impressed by him. I mentioned else where that it was a shame for Ben Reeves not to be playing alongside an established striker to learn from and the same could be said for JWP in having players around him not making space/runs to capitalise on. This is why I don't understand blooding youngsters in a 2nd stream team - put them in with mainly 1st teamers to help them out and give advice etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astrasri Posted 26 October, 2011 Share Posted 26 October, 2011 Despite people's criticisms I actually thought Butterfield did very well down the right, considering it was his first game this season, and Richardson now certainly has competition. Thank goodness you saw what I saw - I thought maybe I had been in a parallel universe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyLove Posted 26 October, 2011 Share Posted 26 October, 2011 I have to agree Butters was excellent. Think we have been missing his deep crosses into the box Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyLove Posted 26 October, 2011 Share Posted 26 October, 2011 I think SDR was trying to hard to make something happen rather than just relaxing into his role and playing his game. He did alright but could of been better. Think if he starts a few more he will really become the play he wants to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericofarabia Posted 26 October, 2011 Share Posted 26 October, 2011 I have to agree Butters was excellent. Think we have been missing his deep crosses into the box Unfortunately their keeper didn't!! From the commentary seemed most of them were too deep - but there again no target men to aim at doesn't help!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyLove Posted 26 October, 2011 Share Posted 26 October, 2011 Unfortunately their keeper didn't!! From the commentary seemed most of them were too deep - but there again no target men to aim at doesn't help!! Nope just no striker who could actually head the ball was in the box. If Gully, Rickie or Barny were in there we would had a few Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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