West End Saint Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 What a fantastic 3 points not a good performance however we toughed it out & won the game what more can you ask the whole team were slightly off colour but we still had enough to beat a decent Hull side job done get in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFC Forever Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Agreed. A win when not playing well can be more important as it shows we can scrap. Great for morale as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saint-crinny Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Interesting views on Barnard - clear to see that he is far from sharp, understandably since he is coming back from a lengthy injury. His touch when fully fit is pretty decent. The problem for me is that we can't afford to give him the run of games he needs to get sharp and match fit - we can't afford to carry anyone in this league while they get up to speed, as every point is so crucial. Ideally he goes out on loan for a month, but we can't really do that either as we would need him if we picked ip an injury. Difficult problem to have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corky morris Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Hull played in a similar way to Brizzle, but without the pace. I think teams have sussed we lack pace & are happy to play a high line against us, hence the amount of offsides. Morgan is not a winger. He was a million times better in the middle of the park. Guly did not look interested, but both full backs played really really well. After how poor Fox was on Saturday, Harding would start for me at Donny. How many times did he go past Adz?? Lots more than Fox. Frazer was once again excellent. I think Adkins knows we need pace & will do something about it in January. Last night would have been perfect for AOC!! Just a pity he did not stay for another season. Excellent result, average to poor first half, great 10 minutes just after half time, average to poor remainder. Well done Saints - winning when not at our best is what ittakes to get promoted!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simondo Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 funny old game init? i thought Morgan was extremely average - can't see what some people see in him.... thought Kelvin had no choice but to go for the ball and could eaisly been sent off - fonte really shouldn't have left him in the position - saying that Fonte was EXCELLENT last nite. Guly didn't look interested and i thought Steeeeve changed the game - brought energy and directness Lallana was quite first half, but then no one passed to him... second half much more effective b'cos..? people passed to him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikee Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 I think it shows how spoilt we have been when most see last night as an average to poor performance! How quickly we adjust our expectations. I know that it is relatively poor compared to the majority of this season but even as recent ago as the last 2 seasons that would have been a good performance. I hope that don't become a bunch of spoilt brats and can appreciate that we are a record breaking (or at least equalling) Saints side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooney Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 I think it shows how spoilt we have been when most see last night as an average to poor performance! How quickly we adjust our expectations. I know that it is relatively poor compared to the majority of this season but even as recent ago as the last 2 seasons that would have been a good performance. I hope that don't become a bunch of spoilt brats and can appreciate that we are a record breaking (or at least equalling) Saints side. How True. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmel Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Couldn't go last night because of work and just had a look on here and at the stats. Has us down as 70% possesion and we had more shots on and off target than them,(13 to 5) and more corners (5 -2). If I hadn't read the reports on here or from my kids (Who both thought we were average) I would have had that down as....easy. Stats....phah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Warrior Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Some good constructive comments being made. We have set our stall out . we play very attractive high octain football but you now know that opposition managers will prepare their sides to play against us. negative defensive and getting their players to stifle our creative player type tactics We will see a lot more of that style of oppossition . Donny will be the same . Nigel knows this and will prepare the players accordingly. we will have some unconfortable rides but we do have the quality and patience to ground out results. Interesting to hear Nigels comments last night about the Bristol game he will be watching the video of last nights game today and will make the necessary tweaks So a good win for me last night. hether we were good bad or indifferent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Garrett Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 We looked so much better second half with the 4-4-2. Much more attacking down both flanks. I didn't like our shape in the first half. De Ridder did well, as did Richardson (again) and Fonte. The way Hull knocked the ball around in the attacking third was very similar to how we play. We really miss Chaplow, hope he's not out for long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ_TOAST Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 anybody else sat around this drunk n0bhead last night constantly going "da da da da fckin useless" and shouting/singing other stupid ****e out of time (he was sat seat 1080, row W, block 42) ?...he was annoying the fck out of alot of people and close to geting a smack from someone. apart from that Saints were pretty bad I thought same as Bristol which was made worse by this ***** stood near us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Hull played in a similar way to Brizzle, but without the pace. I think teams have sussed we lack pace & are happy to play a high line against us, hence the amount of offsides. Morgan is not a winger. He was a million times better in the middle of the park. Guly did not look interested, but both full backs played really really well. After how poor Fox was on Saturday, Harding would start for me at Donny. How many times did he go past Adz?? Lots more than Fox. Frazer was once again excellent. I think Adkins knows we need pace & will do something about it in January. Last night would have been perfect for AOC!! Just a pity he did not stay for another season. Excellent result, average to poor first half, great 10 minutes just after half time, average to poor remainder. Well done Saints - winning when not at our best is what ittakes to get promoted!! I'd agree with all that. Surprised that NA hadn't learn from Bristol City game. Schneiderlin, Hammond and Cork in midfield is never going to work - you could argue with having two of them play is a bit too similar, let alone all 3. Poor choice. No pace going forward makes life easy for a decent defence - they can play a high line and squeeze the middle of the pitch. Also agree about Harding. He's not the best player in the world, but offers far more than Fox. Barnard struggled when he came on, I don't believe he's up to this level. We need Lallana back firing on all cylinders. Without pace going forward we need a bit of genius to unlock well organised defences. Disappointing crowd in and very quiet, poor atmosphere first half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Couldn't go last night because of work and just had a look on here and at the stats. Has us down as 70% possesion and we had more shots on and off target than them,(13 to 5) and more corners (5 -2). If I hadn't read the reports on here or from my kids (Who both thought we were average) I would have had that down as....easy. Stats....phah Find it hard to believe that 70% figure is correct. If it is, then it asks its own questions - that much possession turned into how many chances? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Wayman Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 "You're so southern, you're practically French!" just love that from Hull's fans... Class! We must beat Doncaster on Saturday... we must! No excuses this time or Hammers will be above us and we still have to play them at Upton Park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Wayman Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Find it hard to believe that 70% figure is correct. If it is, then it asks its own questions - that much possession turned into how many chances? Me too. It was nowhere near that. Hull must have had about 65/35 in first half alone and we certainly did not have anywhere near 100% in the second Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_Ash Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 From coming a goal behind this is an excellent win. I felt we dominated possession throughout the game but there were a couple of sloppy passes that gave the ball away and when Hull had the ball I felt they were useful, they liked to pass the ball about and could do it nicely. Our defence had to throw themselves into some juicy tackles and I thought Fonte and Jos did well. Richardson was very good at getting down the wings and I felt in the first half our players seemed a bit slow to get into the box for him. Guly had a poor first half but Adkins obviously thought he was going to get his chance and kept him on, and it worked. Pleased that Lallana got a goal after a bit of a drought, he looked like he left his shooting boots at home but he still managed to do some nice touches and turns. Our possession football was great, the 70% stats do prove that but with only a minute to go I wish they wouldn't muck about with the ball so much near our own goal, I would've been happy with an ugly boot up the wing and use De Ridder to hold it by the flag, BUT it's good that they have the confidence to try and tap it around our area to keep possession. All in all an excellent result that leaves us 8 points clear of 3rd place which is amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derry Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 I think Adkins is a terrific manager but he got it wrong at Bristol on Saturday by replacing Chaplow with Schneiderlin and compounded that by starting him wide midfield with Cork,Hammond and the not fully fit Lallana last night. The result was entirely predictable. Chaplow gave us effort and energy, Schneiderlin gives us safety and keep ball passing so the normal early high tempo was missing together with a lack of penetration. Fair play to him he changed it at half time although it really needed changing earlier. De Ridder was a breath of fresh air. He gave us the pace and dynamism that upped the whole tempo and importantly restored the natural balance allowing more room for Lallana to play and allow him to steal in and score unmarked. De Ridder is suffering at the moment through not being a starter and so being a natural part of the team play. Part of his problem is Richardson continuing to play the way he always does. De Ridder needs a slightly different pattern to get the best out of his pace, Richardson plays very close to the line and overlaps the orthodox midfielder coming inside and creates the width and crosses that sometimes lead to goals. De Ridder is a different kettle of fish altogether he has the pace to take teams apart down the right and the last thing he needs is Richardson or anyone else running into the space he needs to get to the byeline or behind the defence. Equally with Richardson tight to the line and De Ridder taking up a wide position in front of him it is almost impossible to play him down the line. When De Ridder is playing, Richardson needs change his play to be slightly infield to make the angle to allow the pass in front of De Ridder to allow him to run at the defenders, then support him either inside or outside if De Ridder cuts in or if blocked off has to check out. De Ridder was the fundamental difference yesterday and was instrumental in raising the tempo that created the environment that manufactured the win. We need to adapt to his ability which would give us a potent threat down the right. The other problem for him is the bias we have in playing a high percentage of passes to the left leaving him in superb positions alone wide right but ignored and the ball played down the congested left side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA77 Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Me too. It was nowhere near that. Hull must have had about 65/35 in first half alone and we certainly did not have anywhere near 100% in the second Hull had a lot of the ball. Sky sports score centre on my phone had the possession Saints 47 - 53 Hull Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papa Shango Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Thought it was a really good game actually. Credit to Hull, best side we've played at St Marys without a doubt. Came to attack and played football which made for an even game. Have written my review/player ratings if anyone is interested, have a read: http://www.thesaintshub.com/saints2-1hull.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingsbridge Saint Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Another great win. Fantastic to do a come from behind win too - will be good for confidence. Boro losing is good for us too. Look at that home record - simply magnificent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank's cousin Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 I think Adkins is a terrific manager but he got it wrong at Bristol on Saturday by replacing Chaplow with Schneiderlin and compounded that by starting him wide midfield with Cork,Hammond and the not fully fit Lallana last night. The result was entirely predictable. Chaplow gave us effort and energy, Schneiderlin gives us safety and keep ball passing so the normal early high tempo was missing together with a lack of penetration. Fair play to him he changed it at half time although it really needed changing earlier. De Ridder was a breath of fresh air. He gave us the pace and dynamism that upped the whole tempo and importantly restored the natural balance allowing more room for Lallana to play and allow him to steal in and score unmarked. De Ridder is suffering at the moment through not being a starter and so being a natural part of the team play. Part of his problem is Richardson continuing to play the way he always does. De Ridder needs a slightly different pattern to get the best out of his pace, Richardson plays very close to the line and overlaps the orthodox midfielder coming inside and creates the width and crosses that sometimes lead to goals. De Ridder is a different kettle of fish altogether he has the pace to take teams apart down the right and the last thing he needs is Richardson or anyone else running into the space he needs to get to the byeline or behind the defence. Equally with Richardson tight to the line and De Ridder taking up a wide position in front of him it is almost impossible to play him down the line. When De Ridder is playing, Richardson needs change his play to be slightly infield to make the angle to allow the pass in front of De Ridder to allow him to run at the defenders, then support him either inside or outside if De Ridder cuts in or if blocked off has to check out. De Ridder was the fundamental difference yesterday and was instrumental in raising the tempo that created the environment that manufactured the win. We need to adapt to his ability which would give us a potent threat down the right. The other problem for him is the bias we have in playing a high percentage of passes to the left leaving him in superb positions alone wide right but ignored and the ball played down the congested left side. Thansk Derry, insightful as always - have not seen the side play for ages since moving to Scotland. Also believe De Ridder would benefit from a few starts as it would probably calm him down a little... getting 20 mins or so means he tends to let his enthusiasm get the better of him, hencse his card tally (4 I believe) so it would probably help all round? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derry Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 (edited) Thansk Derry' date=' insightful as always - have not seen the side play for ages since moving to Scotland. Also believe De Ridder would benefit from a few starts as it would probably calm him down a little... getting 20 mins or so means he tends to let his enthusiasm get the better of him, hencse his card tally (4 I believe) so it would probably help all round?[/quote'] Thanks Frank, you know where we are if you manage to get down sometime. I personally think he should start as apart from Chaplow he is the only really energetic forward. A run in the side would get them to adapt to his play and probably improve his impact even more. Edited 30 November, 2011 by derry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmel Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15831923.stm BBC stats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
um pahars Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Couldn't go last night because of work and just had a look on here and at the stats. Has us down as 70% possesion and we had more shots on and off target than them,(13 to 5) and more corners (5 -2). If I hadn't read the reports on here or from my kids (Who both thought we were average) I would have had that down as....easy. Stats....phah Have to say I saw that and scratched my head as it certainly didn't feel that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_Ash Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Me too. It was nowhere near that. Hull must have had about 65/35 in first half alone and we certainly did not have anywhere near 100% in the second Disagree, thought we had the ball easily far more than them in the first half but we didn't do as much as them when we had it. We passed the ball around looking for an opening and held onto it for a while, then a sloppy pass would give it away. Hull then strung some quick slick passes together and looked dangerous but they didn't have the ball for long, just seemed it because they were good with it when they had it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jones91 Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Echo says Saints had 47% possession Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
up and away Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Just got in and have to say not the best performance I've seen, but the points are in the bag and bouncing back after Saturday is a real positive. Too many players off the boil tonight and a bit of a worry for me over our fringe players. Credit to Hull, they're not a bad team at all and had us under the cosh for long periods. A draw would probably have been fair, but maybe tonight was a trade off against games we should have got something out of. Players not on form tonight included Lallana (is he still struggling with the injury?), Guly (didn't look interested at times and not sharp, but then gets us back in the game), Hammond (game was passing him by at times). We just didn't seem to get the ball moving as we have in recent matches. Think Hull did a bit of a number on us and could also pass it about themselves. My other worry was the subs. De Ridder gave us width and an outlet, but I'm still to be convinced he is up to it. Barnard threw himself about a bit, but I can't help but feel he's not the quality we need and Holmes contributed zero. Sending off looked a but harsh. Definitely a rash challenge, but not sure it was worthy of a red. Overjoyed to have bounced back, but certainly need to step our game up I think. That just about sums it up perfectly for me. From that performance I can easily see what went wrong at Bristol City and if Richardson had not stepped up to the plate, this one could have gone the same way. De Ridder coming on did make some difference with the attacking options increasing, bringing others into the game such the opposition struggled at times. Away from home I am not sure it would have worked and the loss in midfield could have turned things the other way. After Adkins comments last week that this was the best he had seen from the team in training, I get the feeling we left these performances on that training ground. Would not surprise me if we over did things slightly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 I think our best win of the season so far was against West Ham. That was a good win no doubt. But for me this was our best because of the situation we found ourselves in at HT, and the massive hole we had to dig oursevles out of. Hull turned up and played good stuff, unlike West ham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ_TOAST Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Just spoken to a mate at work who went to the game last night and he said after the game they were walking up St Andrews Rd towards Jurys Inn and 2 minibuses full of Hull fans were stuck in traffic driving slowly towards the round about giving Saints fans sh*t. Some Saints fans had enough and started giving it back to them and then the minibuses parked up on the Jurys Inn roundabout and all inside piled out and started attacking Saints fans. Anyone else see this ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 (edited) I think Adkins is a terrific manager but he got it wrong at Bristol on Saturday by replacing Chaplow with Schneiderlin and compounded that by starting him wide midfield with Cork,Hammond and the not fully fit Lallana last night. The result was entirely predictable. Chaplow gave us effort and energy, Schneiderlin gives us safety and keep ball passing so the normal early high tempo was missing together with a lack of penetration. Fair play to him he changed it at half time although it really needed changing earlier. De Ridder was a breath of fresh air. He gave us the pace and dynamism that upped the whole tempo and importantly restored the natural balance allowing more room for Lallana to play and allow him to steal in and score unmarked. De Ridder is suffering at the moment through not being a starter and so being a natural part of the team play. Part of his problem is Richardson continuing to play the way he always does. De Ridder needs a slightly different pattern to get the best out of his pace, Richardson plays very close to the line and overlaps the orthodox midfielder coming inside and creates the width and crosses that sometimes lead to goals. De Ridder is a different kettle of fish altogether he has the pace to take teams apart down the right and the last thing he needs is Richardson or anyone else running into the space he needs to get to the byeline or behind the defence. Equally with Richardson tight to the line and De Ridder taking up a wide position in front of him it is almost impossible to play him down the line. When De Ridder is playing, Richardson needs change his play to be slightly infield to make the angle to allow the pass in front of De Ridder to allow him to run at the defenders, then support him either inside or outside if De Ridder cuts in or if blocked off has to check out. De Ridder was the fundamental difference yesterday and was instrumental in raising the tempo that created the environment that manufactured the win. We need to adapt to his ability which would give us a potent threat down the right. The other problem for him is the bias we have in playing a high percentage of passes to the left leaving him in superb positions alone wide right but ignored and the ball played down the congested left side. Disagree - don't know how much you've seen of SDR but he cuts in all the time (both widemen -if you can call them that- are encouraged to do so). Richardson and De Ridder work very well together, giving us options on the line and just inside -and in both cases and more importantly- an energy and willingness to drive at defences. Our problem isn't the incompatibility of Richardson and SDR bur that we don't switch the ball quickly enough from side to another, and it appears we favour the left side (would be good to see the numbers). Remember when De Ridder started against Watford, he was virtually isolated on the right for large parts of the first half. Its also no coincidence that Schneiderlin wasn't starting that day and is the one player in the team who can move the ball first time and hit decent cross-field passes. Morgan is critical to getting the best out of SDR's game. Everybody was surprised that Morgan, Cork and Hammond started last night; but bringing Schneiderlin on for Chaplow after only 10 mins at Brizzle was still probably the right thing to do, even after taking into account the wonders of hindsight. Edited 30 November, 2011 by shurlock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Warrior Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 A good post as usual Derry .Your description of the game puts it into perspective for me having listened to it of Saints Player Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintant Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Have to agree 100% with Derry - I believe it was a fundamental mistake to begin the game with Hammond, Cork and Morgan all in midfield. They are far too similar and just do not have the ability to raise the tempo of a game and generate the momentum needed to play crisp, pasing football. We discussed our concerns about this prior to the match and those fears were realised. Still rate Adkins and the coaches as a superb team in terms of tactics but, for me, they got the starting line-up wrong last night and it was fairly obvious that they'd have to make a change at half-time by introducing De Ridder. Thankfully they were astute and bold enough to make the change and it brought immediate dividends. Still a good win against a decent Hull side so onwards and upwards but hope our midfield on Saturday does not contain all three of Hammond, Cork and Morgan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Tone Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 To be fair to KD he didn't actually touch. The guy and the ball was heading out anyway. For me it was either no foul at all, or it was a red card for Kelvin. We'll all have our totally unbiased views on which! Giving a yellow card was a moral cowardice middle ground decsion by the ref that made no sense at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derry Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Disagree - don't know how much you've seen of SDR but he cuts in all the time (both widemen -if you can call them that- are encouraged to do so). Richardson and De Ridder work very well together, giving us options on the line and just inside -and in both cases and more importantly- an energy and willingness to drive at defences. Our problem isn't the incompatibility of Richardson and SDR bur that we don't switch the ball quickly enough from side to another, and it appears we favour the left side (would be good to see the numbers). Remember when De Ridder started against Watford, he was virtually isolated on the right for large parts of the first half. Its also no coincidence that Schneiderlin wasn't starting that day and is the one player in the team who can move the ball first time and hit decent cross-field passes. Morgan is critical to getting the best out of SDR's game. Every home game he has featured in. You have missed the point I was making. He can and has gone wide to the byeline. He can come inside as a preferred option but is forced to come inside most of the time because he doesn't get ball in front of him but either square or behind him. Richardson needs to make the angle for the through ball or pass in front to be played otherwise it reduces De Ridder's options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Thought it was a really good game actually. Credit to Hull, best side we've played at St Marys without a doubt. Came to attack and played football which made for an even game. Have written my review/player ratings if anyone is interested, have a read: http://www.thesaintshub.com/saints2-1hull.html 9 for Lallana? He's a quality player, make no mistake about it, but it was obvious that he is carrying a knock because he laboured around the pitch, was not sharp or penetrative at all. He was caught in possession several times and Rosenior had him largely in his pocket. I thought it was a well below par showing to add to a very poor showing on Saturday. The lack of pressing and tracking back was unbelievable for a player with such a high work rate normally. Again I put this down to a lack of fitness, but to give him a 9 means you are totally ignoring the fact he failed to perform his full left midfield duties. Don't get me wrong I think the lad is top draw, but not last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Tone Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 The first half the atmosphere in the stadium was as flat as I've ever known it. It wasn't helped by Hull having only a small fairly quiet contingent and block 43 being our fans next to them. It was almost as if most of our fans were somehow nervous that our home record was going to tumble, accepting that Hull are a decent side and we came into this match on the back of a poor defeat by Bristol City. It wasn't helped either by a slow and seemingly languid start by the players. As others have said, Chaplow with his gutsy effort would have given a lift both to the fans and to the players around him. He's becoming a talisman, producing the spark that lifts us above ourselves. . Yet another example of fans' being at different games'. from where I was in the kingsland the, yes relatively small, Hull contingent sang their little hearts out, whilst the Northam was seemed almost silent for the first half. Our fans only seemed to wake up at the start of the second half. I thought Hull looked one of the best teams we've seen at St Mary's this season, so at least we saw the same match on the pitch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 I believe it was a fundamental mistake to begin the game with Hammond, Cork and Morgan all in midfield. I moaned about Adkins bringing on Morgan for Chaplow on Saturday. It letf us flat and lacking any penitration. Only when de Ridder came on did we pose any real threat. I was therefore amazed Adkins started with the same formation Hammond, Cork and Morgan and again it left us flat (although I thought Morgan played much better out wide than he did on Saturday). De Ridder or Guly should have started out there. Adkins quite clearly does not trust de Ridder. He needs to overcome this as he was outstanding when he came on and changed the game completely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Yet another example of fans' being at different games'. from where I was in the kingsland the, yes relatively small, Hull contingent sang their little hearts out, whilst the Northam was seemed almost silent for the first half. Our fans only seemed to wake up at the start of the second half. I'd agree with that. Our poor first half showing left the fans with little to sing about and 'ull fans were superb. second half was a different story of course as we got behind the side from the off and backed them well throughout the second half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derry Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 I moaned about Adkins bringing on Morgan for Chaplow on Saturday. It letf us flat and lacking any penitration. Only when de Ridder came on did we pose any real threat. I was therefore amazed Adkins started with the same formation Hammond, Cork and Morgan and again it left us flat (although I thought Morgan played much better out wide than he did on Saturday). De Ridder or Guly should have started out there. Adkins quite clearly does not trust de Ridder. He needs to overcome this as he was outstanding when he came on and changed the game completely. In my personal view with regular starting and the team adjusting to his pace naturally due to familiarity he would be even better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 (edited) Every home game he has featured in. You have missed the point I was making. He can and has gone wide to the byeline. He can come inside as a preferred option but is forced to come inside most of the time because he doesn't get ball in front of him but either square or behind him. Richardson needs to make the angle for the through ball or pass in front to be played otherwise it reduces De Ridder's options. If he gets the ball square or behind him, its not Richardson's problem, its usually because we're so laboured in the middle of the park and play in front of defences instead of hitting the earlier ball; alternatively, it might be because our front men are not be winning enough flicks on for SDR to run onto or are winning the ball but playing it back into midfield rather than around the corner for runners (an exception was reading away). And arguably both those balls are harder to defend against than the fullback ball down the line. IF Richardson is bombing on (and lets not kid ourselves that he does it all the time, esp away from home), I'm more than happy he hits the byline -rather than SDR- because his delivery is excellent and arguably better than SDR; and dont underestimate the damage that can be caused by stretching defences and then slipping the ball behind and inside. Like you, I think these problems will be ironed out as the team adjusts to playing with pace in the side and learning that some things that might not have worked before will now o.e the early diagonal ball or flicks for runners. But for me that's more to do with how the forwards and midfield sets up than anything. Edited 30 November, 2011 by shurlock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st alex Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Saw a guy on the floor on the way back from the game, anyone know what happened to him? Was lying on the curb by the traffic lights near the old ambulance station by Jurys Inn. There were Police there with an ambulance on its way. I was assuming that he got hit by a vehicle although I didn't see any stopped there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 I moaned about Adkins bringing on Morgan for Chaplow on Saturday. It letf us flat and lacking any penitration. Only when de Ridder came on did we pose any real threat. I was therefore amazed Adkins started with the same formation Hammond, Cork and Morgan and again it left us flat (although I thought Morgan played much better out wide than he did on Saturday). De Ridder or Guly should have started out there. Adkins quite clearly does not trust de Ridder. He needs to overcome this as he was outstanding when he came on and changed the game completely. Still maintain Schneiderlin for Chaplow was the right call given Brizzle's overloading of the midfield and the timing of the injury- and if anything, our first half chances on Saturday were better than the second half (though neither were great). Yesterday, I agree, was an odd one. As well as driving at defences, SDR closed down well (at least those players in front of him)-and if that's what NA is really worried about, surely that helped his cause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cabrone Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Great win against a decent team. Especially pleasing as we had to come back from behind, shows a bit of grit and character. Come the start of December we'll still be top of the table with a healthy cushion and a fantastic chance of an auto place. Wow - still can't quite believe it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMikey Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 First half was the worst i've seen Saints play at home in a long, long time. No imagination, no movement, no penetration and no energy. That wasn't helped by Hull pressing us and actually attacking as well. Nige bringing on SDR was a great move (arguably he should have started, but maybe he will on Saturday vs Donny), as Morgan didn't look very comfortable out wide. He gave us that bit of zip, making runs behind the defence and running at his marker with the ball as opposed to the sideways and backwards passes we had been making all game when confronted with a Hull player. We improved in the second half but still weren't at our best, which makes a comeback and 3pts against a good side very pleasing. I'm just hoping and praying that we play well against Donny on saturday, because a game that I wasn't worried about at all a few months ago has now become a tricky one for us - our bad away form and their good run of form recently should make it an interesting one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capel Saint Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Have to say that some of the Saints players looked a little fatigued last night. Guly especially was lethargic and did little running off the ball. Thought the back four did well and nice to see Harding back at left back, putting in some tackles. Not sure about Hammond and Schneiderlin in the middle of the park. They didn't seem to get that stuck in and were guilty on a number of occasions of backing off just in front of our back four so giving space for Hull to mount an attack. Hull seemed to have so much more energy than Saints and it was a blessing when De Ridder came on at half time as it gave the team more natural balance. One thing does annoy me though is that since Connelly was dropped, every Saints player feels the need to go back into the penalty area when the opposition has a corner. Arggh!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
up and away Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Still maintain Schneiderlin for Chaplow was the right call given Brizzle's overloading of the midfield and the timing of the injury- and if anything, our first half chances on Saturday were better than the second half (though neither were great). Yesterday, I agree, was an odd one. As well as driving at defences, SDR closed down well (at least those players in front of him)-and if that's what NA is really worried about, surely that helped his cause. I have always believed the first priority was to ensure control of midfield. Often whan we have played with two attack minded wingers (midfielders) we have had a problem with that midfield control. Normally having Lallana on one wing is more than enough attcking threat and I would go for either Butterfield or Harding / Fox to compliment the other flank . The problem is at the present is that we don't have attacking players up front who are currently on top form and it is noticeable. De Ridder does add that attacking threat so it's a question of balance as to how to set up to give us the best chance. I don't know what is right for away to Donny and will look with interest as to how it pans out. I do strongly believe that just pick two from Cork, Hammond and Schniederlin for the central midfield, with Lallana + whoever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 I have always believed the first priority was to ensure control of midfield. Often whan we have played with two attack minded wingers (midfielders) we have had a problem with that midfield control. Normally having Lallana on one wing is more than enough attcking threat and I would go for either Butterfield or Harding / Fox to compliment the other flank . The problem is at the present is that we don't have attacking players up front who are currently on top form and it is noticeable. De Ridder does add that attacking threat so it's a question of balance as to how to set up to give us the best chance. I don't know what is right for away to Donny and will look with interest as to how it pans out. I do strongly believe that just pick two from Cork, Hammond and Schniederlin for the central midfield, with Lallana + whoever. The thing is that NA was more than happy to play Oxo, Lallana, Lambert, Guly together last season, so I don't think NA is instinctively opposed to playing four attacking players; he just has doubts over SDR's defensive qualities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dune Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Extended highlights (complete with Daves dulcet tones) added to saintsplayer NOW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upton72 Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Hull were arguably the best footballing side we've had at SMS. To think what WHU were noted for and then to see just what Big Sam does to his teams doesn't bear thinking about for anyone who appreciated football played at ground level. Still he'll get them promoted and that'll be enough for a time, but not forever with the WHU fans. I can't say that Hull were really threatening and neither were we which was why the first half was devoid of atmosphere. There's absolutely no doubt that Nigel has Plan B should it be necessary and last night it was. Interesting to see the comments about Guly. As some one said, the beauty is that he's so unpredictable. Equally, talking about first touch, for a big man Rickie controls the ball beautifully. We showed character to come back and that's about team spirit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suewhistle Posted 30 November, 2011 Share Posted 30 November, 2011 Extended highlights (complete with Daves dulcet tones) added to saintsplayer NOW. Ta, just watched them. You can see what people mean when they talk about Guly's body language. Something's not quite right there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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