SNSUN Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 We score a poo result, and thankfully West Ham also pull out a poo result. We must keep up the home form though. Lambert and Chaplow being out, arguably our two best players this season, show the fragility of the squad attacking-wise, but we should still hope the players fielded do their bit too. I'm not too disheartened, surprisingly as we lost to the bottom side at the start of the day, but it does highlight the need to sign a striker in the January window. Guly is a good player, but is better playing off a striker, something we lacked in the starting XI. De Ridder will come good, but needs time. Get December over with as many points as we can achieve, and let's see what we can conjure up in the window. We'll relinquish top eventually, but I hope we can keep an auto spot for ourselves for as long as possible. (I thought Bristol City were going to do us a favour today, but hey ho.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickG Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 sorry for speeling prablems! ranting and typing quickly on tiny keyboard doesn't work! suggest some have quick look at league table, take a few minutes to relax! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forever a red and white Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 Jesus christ. Yes our away form is not perfect but this is only our FORTH loss of the season in the league. I understand expectations have gone up a bit but lets be realistic. The squad, even though has been together, still needs time to develop and learn. To a degree we need to find a way to play without Lambert. We were lucky with the WHU result. A bad patch is inevitable, but its hardly a crisis is it, we won on Tuesday and are still top of the league. Quite franly I will still be more than happy with play-offs this season. Having said that, if needs be, we may need to bring in a one or two players max to provide a bit more support. Also give Barny some more time, he needs to work his way back to fitness. Adkins may have made some odd decisions today but no manager is infalable. And i;m sure there have been matches in the past who have questioned his decisions, only for Adkins to have have been vindicated in the end. Today was crap no gettig awy from it but STAY POSITIVE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WATERSIDEIFASAINT Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 Very very poor result. Anyone else think we will buy 2 strikers in Jan because I have a sneaky feeling we will look for a pacy forward and a back up for Rickie.Maynard and Lukas would be ideal.I also think we need another cb and a pacy winger like Adomah. These poor results and form make it far more likely that we will seriously strengthen our squad in January with Oxo's money as we won't want to blow our excellent chance of going up this season. We are definately struggling with a number of injuries and other players struggling for form and fitness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legod Third Coming Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 I think what you mean is how does a non tactical astute manager, manage to take a newly promoted team to the top of the championship. Yes sure we are top and have up to now have done more than most of us have dared hope. However warning signs have been ignored in particular lack of cover up front ( a non fully fit Barnard being the ONLY striker to feature in todays game ). Adkins / the team went about todays game in exactly the same way as the Bristol game, from which NOTHING appears to have been learnt. It is obvious that De Ridder is a far better impact player than he is when starting and that certain combinations of midfielders also do not work ( as cited by others on here ). Our build up play which at home is effective is not working well in away games, where we need to move the ball forward quicker and may also help in not getting caught on the counter attack which we now seem prone.I would have been more than happy to finish mid table before the season started but considering our present position I think that the club feels its mission completed and nothing more needs to be done both on or off the pitch. We all know that it doesn,t quite work that way. That line is utterly ridiculous. YOUR Chairman has pointed out he is targeting winning the league and has just sanctioned the spending of over £1m on a central defender OUTSIDE of the transfer window. You don't even mean that sentiment, so why post it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legod Third Coming Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 sorry for speeling prablems! ranting and typing quickly on tiny keyboard doesn't work! suggest some have quick look at league table, take a few minutes to relax! You can be delighted with our overall position and still seek to improve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THEVMAN Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 God help this forum if we ever drop into the playoff places,mass hysteria awaits i think.Can we not be happy with the position we`re in enjoy a few bumps on the way,so many people have such short memories of where we`ve been the last couple of years.Please join the happy clappy bus and chill out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
View From The Top Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 God help this forum if we ever drop into the playoff places,mass hysteria awaits i think.Can we not be happy with the position we`re in enjoy a few bumps on the way,so many people have such short memories of where we`ve been the last couple of years.Please join the happy clappy bus and chill out. We are all chuffed where we are but that doesn't alter the fact the last weekend and today were were s h it. Totally and utterly gash and I would defy any one who actually saw both performances to say otherwise. If we want to go we must improve our away form a 0pts from 2 teams in the bottom 3 speaks volumes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Chalet Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 Today is a depressing result, more for the fact it is a return to the Saints of 'old', that said some of the other traits have disappeared such as losing late goals, letting leads slip and one poor performance leading to another. ANY of the posters on here would have taken two points clear + GD after 20 games at the start of the season. I think the general anger and frustration is that this season presents such an amazing opportunity to go up and nobody wants to screw it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legod Third Coming Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 Today is a depressing result, more for the fact it is a return to the Saints of 'old', that said some of the other traits have disappeared such as losing late goals, letting leads slip and one poor performance leading to another. ANY of the posters on here would have taken two points clear + GD after 20 games at the start of the season. I think the general anger and frustration is that this season presents such an amazing opportunity to go up and nobody wants to screw it up. I'm not sure it is a return to Saints of old, more that the manager has clearly mastered how to win at home, but not yet away. Thankfully, because of our home form he has the opportunity to put the latter right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatlesaint Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 God help this forum if we ever drop into the playoff places,mass hysteria awaits i think.Can we not be happy with the position we`re in enjoy a few bumps on the way,so many people have such short memories of where we`ve been the last couple of years.Please join the happy clappy bus and chill out. I think we have been victims of our own success this season. The bar of expectation has been raised far higher than most of us ever dared hope and with it goes harsher criticism and a bigger feeling of let down when things dont go as good as they have most of the season. You are right in what you say but I bet if we were sat in no mans land mid-table world people would of just shrugged this defeat off a bit more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micky Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 End of the world our lead is only SEVEN POINTS now, yes 7. We will not hold that lead - it will be squandered. The lead should be double figures now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micky Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 hearing text on solent and moans on hear we have some really fuc king thick fans ffs Why, who's thick Nick? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micky Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 sorry for speeling prablems! ranting and typing quickly on tiny keyboard doesn't work! suggest some have quick look at league table, take a few minutes to relax! The league table says we are top Nick - therefore we can realistically expect to win, or at least draw against teams at the bottom. We have failed twice in 7 days - hence the wingeing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micky Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 Today is a depressing result, more for the fact it is a return to the Saints of 'old', that said some of the other traits have disappeared such as losing late goals, letting leads slip and one poor performance leading to another. ANY of the posters on here would have taken two points clear + GD after 20 games at the start of the season. I think the general anger and frustration is that this season presents such an amazing opportunity to go up and nobody wants to screw it up. This. If we had stayed top for 4 or 5 games at the start and then fell away then the last couple of away results would probably have been easier to take. We now have a great chance - but we appear to want to blow it by virtue of our away form. We had a great chance both last week and today - both went begging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corky morris Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 For the record I was at Brizzle, Hull & Donny today & we were rubbish in both the away games & not great against Hull. For the happy clappers, Adkins is not perfect. Nobody is. Today playing Morgan up front with Guly was a mistake. The other 2 games playing him (morgan) wide was a mistake. We never looked like scoring today or at Brizzle. Have laughed at the posts on the forum saying 'get off Guly's back' qouting how many goals he has scored comparing him to other players from team in the bottom 3 who get a third of the opportunities he gets. He was f'ing crap today. He has many qualities, but a striker who leads the line he absolutely aint. Fox's distribution today was shocking. Mistake to drop Harding IMHO & I said that in the pre-match chat. He over hit 3 corners, kept giving the ball away & guess which side of the park the goal came from??? Oh yea, our left................. Teams have sussed us. Sit deep, let us have the ball - then hit us on the break......................We need a plan C & D............. Nil points from 2 games away against 2 of the bottom 3 is crap!! Simple. We really missed Lambert & Chaplow today & if they are out for long periods we will slide down the table. I knew he was gonna take DeRidder off.......not that he was much better than many others to be fair, but he does not have confidence in him. Bottom line is - we have not played well since the last international break. We have won 1 & lost 2 & that my friends is not good enough for promotion. Yep - I would have taken this position, but that does not stop us trying to achieve more & Adkins has to think & learn about the last 2 weeks & make sure we beat Blackpool next week. Thank **** Shelvey has gone back to LIverpool!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doddisalegend Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 I think we have been victims of our own success this season. The bar of expectation has been raised far higher than most of us ever dared hope and with it goes harsher criticism and a bigger feeling of let down when things dont go as good as they have most of the season. You are right in what you say but I bet if we were sat in no mans land mid-table world people would of just shrugged this defeat off a bit more. ^^^ this. I think some people already had us down as having one foot in the PL with half a season to go....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bailey Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 Do not get too elated after a Saints win. Similarly, do not get too disheartened when we lose. Top of the league, 20 games in. Who'd have thought it? Blue line, move on, together as one. In Nigel we trust! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
View From The Top Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 Do not get too elated after a Saints win. Similarly, do not get too disheartened when we lose. Top of the league, 20 games in. Who'd have thought it? Blue line, move on, together as one. In Nigel we trust! He got it wrong at Brizzle and left it too late to change it and he got it very, very wrong today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Marco Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 You can be delighted with our overall position and still seek to improve. Agreed, i think the whole "because we are top" thing is pretty sad to use as an excuse. By that logic if we are say 4 points clear and we need to travel up to Hull why bother sending the lads up for the game, or at least tell the fans not to bother going. I couldn't care less where we are in the league, bottom, middle or top. What i care about is that the team goes out there and plays to the best of it's ability. That the manager and the players put their all into it. If we lose after doing that and are bottom of the league then fair play at least they tried. The reality is that the players and manager are not doing that in a fair few games recently. They are top of the league so should be playing with the confidence that goes with that. Some of the players look like they can't be arsed. We no longer play silk passing football and seem to have gone to a hit it up the field and hope attitude. The way we are playing needs to be looked at. Just because we are top of the league does not mean we should ignore those things. By doing so would mean we wouldn't be at the top for much longer for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doddisalegend Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 (edited) He got it wrong at Brizzle and left it too late to change it and he got it very, very wrong today. And what? turns out Nigel is human shocker sometimes he will get it wrong. So far he has got it right far far more than getting it wrong you can't really ask for more from a manager. Edited 3 December, 2011 by doddisalegend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david in sweden Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 YES it was a poor result, like the one two weeks ago. We are still top of the division, and may still win it ... BUT after losing to the two bottom teams in this league (games in which we should have massacred the opposition) - there must be serious doubts about the suitability of some of the squad to play a role when we are up in the Premiership. Adkins is a good manager and I am quite happy for him, but I wonder if he realises the standard of player(s) we will need to STAY up in the Prem.? Few of today's team seem to have covered themselves with glory. Is this going to happen every time we are missing just one star player - (Ricky Lambert)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bailey Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 He got it wrong at Brizzle and left it too late to change it and he got it very, very wrong today. Unfair for me to make too much comment as I didn't witness either game but from what I heard on the radio, I'm inclined to agree. Still, surely you can't be doubting his ability on the basis of two defeats? I'm not trying to gloss over these results. Losing away to Bristol City was one thing, but to go down to the division's bottom side is verging on embarrassing. However, look where we are! It's not all doom and gloom. Expectations have risen massively after our start. I'm just saying, sleep on it, look at the league table in the Sunday and Monday papers and you'll realise it's not all bad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 Unfair for me to make too much comment as I didn't witness either game but from what I heard on the radio, I'm inclined to agree. Still, surely you can't be doubting his ability on the basis of two defeats? I'm not trying to gloss over these results. Losing away to Bristol City was one thing, but to go down to the division's bottom side is verging on embarrassing. However, look where we are! It's not all doom and gloom. Expectations have risen massively after our start. I'm just saying, sleep on it, look at the league table in the Sunday and Monday papers and you'll realise it's not all bad! Agree with your post, although I don't think losing to Doncaster is verging on embarrassing! A little harsh on them I think. Still as others have said, you can still strive to improve and as Adkins even alluded to, our away results need to improve if we are to do anything this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
View From The Top Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 And what? turns out Nigel is human shocker sometimes he will get it wrong. So far he has got it right far far more than getting it wrong you can't really ask for more from a manager. Well if the rest of us worked out that Hammond, Cork and Morgan together didn't work I'd rather hoped that he had! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patred44 Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 Today is a depressing result, more for the fact it is a return to the Saints of 'old', that said some of the other traits have disappeared such as losing late goals, letting leads slip and one poor performance leading to another. ANY of the posters on here would have taken two points clear + GD after 20 games at the start of the season. I think the general anger and frustration is that this season presents such an amazing opportunity to go up and nobody wants to screw it up. Totally true... I am from a generation that remembers how we dipped out of certain promotion after Charlie Wayman got injured and our goals dried up... I wish that feeling on no one. We are now in a different era and decent clubs have replacements in every position, so have we, but not for the most important player it seems. We scorned that opportunity in the last transfer and loan window.. I consider that complacent by several people in important positions in our club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dune Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 To be perfectlty honest today wasn't much different from every away game i've seen this season (Cardiff, Derby, Reading, Doncaster). I know we're having a good season, but whenever I got it's poor stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 To be perfectlty honest today wasn't much different from every away game i've seen this season (Cardiff, Derby, Reading, Doncaster). I know we're having a good season, but whenever I got it's poor stuff. A good home season, but not really much fun away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doddisalegend Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 To be perfectlty honest today wasn't much different from every away game i've seen this season (Cardiff, Derby, Reading, Doncaster). I know we're having a good season, but whenever I got it's poor stuff. Don't worry I'll cancel that out by the fact I only go to home games and have seen pretty much nothing but class football for months.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dune Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 Don't worry I'll cancel that out by the fact I only go to home games and have seen pretty much nothing but class football for months.......... It's ****ing me right off. I've never had such a poor return from games i've attended even during our bad times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalek2003 Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 Perhaps in- house should get over themselves if a prospective target gets leaked,do the deal ,announce it as done, asap. Too many people ,involved in todays game to keep everything under wraps, I suspect this is why we are light and it is not clever, as we all know what we need and have done for some time,unless we have moved our own goal posts and are happy to stay here another year after the initial buzz that we were really going for it . I am certain that the main objective was consolidation. the good start took everyone by surprise. Had we in any way envisaged our tremendous start we would have invested a bit more. I'm afraid my assumptions were pretty close to the truth despite the abuse i have been getting 17th or mid table would be about right in terms of our ambitions this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalek2003 Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 Very very poor result. Anyone else think we will buy 2 strikers in Jan because I have a sneaky feeling we will look for a pacy forward and a back up for Rickie.Maynard and Lukas would be ideal.I also think we need another cb and a pacy winger like Adomah. These poor results and form make it far more likely that we will seriously strengthen our squad in January with Oxo's money as we won't want to blow our excellent chance of going up this season. We are definately struggling with a number of injuries and other players struggling for form and fitness. What makes me laugh is all those now pressing the panic button were the ones who told me I was wrong when I asserted the need to act decisively in the summer transfer window ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalek2003 Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 Totally true... I am from a generation that remembers how we dipped out of certain promotion after Charlie Wayman got injured and our goals dried up... I wish that feeling on no one. We are now in a different era and decent clubs have replacements in every position, so have we, but not for the most important player it seems. We scorned that opportunity in the last transfer and loan window.. I consider that complacent by several people in important positions in our club. We screwed up over the summer, I told you so and recieved a load of abuse for speaking the truth. Like the Hoddle debacle, people can bury thier heads in the sand but it wont do them much good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dune Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 We screwed up over the summer, I told you so and recieved a load of abuse for speaking the truth. Like the Hoddle debacle, people can bury thier heads in the sand but it wont do them much good. Who? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miserableoldgit Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 We screwed up over the summer, I told you so and recieved a load of abuse for speaking the truth. Like the Hoddle debacle, people can bury thier heads in the sand but it wont do them much good. I wouldn`t expect it to end any time soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fanimal Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 I will take two crap away defeats in a week to poor teams at the bottom for a late minute 1 -0 win in two weeks time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 (edited) (posted on the other thread) Back from the game. Knew we would struggle without Lambert but didn't realise how bad it would be. For all the talk about us being Brazil, people underestimate how reliant we are on the direct ball and today exposed this reliance. Without Chaplow or pace, we don't have the movement or dynamism in the team to cut through teams with the short-stuff - instead, its ponderous sideways passing orchestrated by Hammond; and without Lambert, we don't have a player who can bring the likes of Lallana and Guly into play further up the pitch or a player who can capitalise on the delivery and threat coming from our fullbacks (arguably we had more crosses/corners than any other game this season). After today, a target man is a no-brainer greater priority than a pacy forward - hopefully we square the circle by also bringing in a winger -an Adomah rather than a Maynard. But cover for Lambert is a must. On that note, Sharp was OK but we generally marshaled him well. Lukas caused our defence more problems. Guly had a hit-and-miss game - he was simultaneously responsible for our best openings but was error-prone. As the most advanced player, his runs weren't intelligent enough -understandable as he's much better picking out runners e.g. his lovely flick for Morgan. Still I generally felt sorry for him as he was thrown into the deep end and given the thankless brief of competing in the air -and which became more and more one-dimensional as we panicked and went pardewesque. He also had f**K all assistance from the officials having been manhandled all afternoon. The question is why Barney didn't start or come on earlier. IMO NA's decision to rest/leave him out was vindicated. There's alot of goodwill for Barney but again he offered very little. Agree it wasn't easy for him to enter the fray when we were chasing the game, especially when he's been out for so long. But we don't have the luxury of bedding him in and even then its not a given he will cut it at this level. I like him but I find it odd how many of our supporters see him as some kind of talisman. The difference between him and, say, Connolly is night and day. Today was the first time in a while that I missed what Connolly brings to the team. One theory is that Lallana's dip in form is not just attributable to his injury but also Connolly's absence. He is the one player who clearly thinks on the same wavelength as our playmakers who end up trying to do everything -and usually coming out second-best. As such, dont blame NA's team selection - he picked the best 11 players we have at the moment -and obviously thinks this is more important than formations or positions. I can't argue with that -and to anyone who says he got it wrong, I would just ask who would you have played? Holmes (not everyone's cuppa and crossing to who)? Barnard (see above?). The real issue is a very thin squad rather than poor selection by NA. Its a more fundamental problem but also outside NA's control till January. TBH, didnt think Schneiderlin made a bad go at playing CF (he was more than an advanced midfielder today!). It wasn't ideal, though I thought he struck his one real chance well -and if there's one positive today, its that he's got much more in his locker than just being a competent holding player, a flashback to when he first arrived in 2008. The one negative is that he wasn't in midfield to ping balls out SDR who was wasted on the flanks in the first half. Wonder if this will be SDR's last start for a while? The frustrating thing is that Donny made it easier than other teams - they didn't press us with a high line which would highlighted other weaknesses in the team. All in all, it was a woeful Donny team lacking confidence and cohesion -apart from their shot that hit the post and the goal they created nothing and relied on kick and rush, often from our corners. We should have taken them to the cleaners (I stuck a few quid on them being relegated after the game). Still, I think with a fit Lambert, we can just about hobble to the transfer window with our run in tact; but beyond that, we have no chance IMO without reinforcements and being more aggressive in the transfer market. Its not 'lapses of concentration' or whatever ******* euphemism Nige wants to use that will count against us when we have to travel to WHU, Boro, Leeds, Hull, Brum, Blackpool etc in the new year. Edited 3 December, 2011 by shurlock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 He didn't get it wrong, certain players just let him down again. You know who I mean. F*****g behave. He got it wrong. As he did againt Bristol city and Hull. Adkins is finally having to earn his money and he's struggling. Good job we don't need back up for Lambert eh? Who else thought we looked like the south Barca today? No negativity now........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 We are all chuffed where we are but that doesn't alter the fact the last weekend and today were were s h it. Totally and utterly gash and I would defy any one who actually saw both performances to say otherwise. If we want to go we must improve our away form a 0pts from 2 teams in the bottom 3 speaks volumes. Ban his poster now. Don't people realise we're the south coast Barcelona? Don't need this sort of negativity around the club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 Who? Forget all the Hoddle wind up rubbish, I make him right. At least the Chamerlain money will be earning us a few quid in interest? Oh what's that? ****. Well, we'll smash the skates, that's going to be a great laugh. What's that? They've got a much better starting XI than Donny? Something about toast zzzzzzzzzzzzz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 3 December, 2011 Share Posted 3 December, 2011 F*****g behave. He got it wrong. As he did againt Bristol city and Hull. Adkins is finally having to earn his money and he's struggling. Good job we don't need back up for Lambert eh? Who else thought we looked like the south Barca today? No negativity now........ Not sure he got it wrong. Everyone was calling for SDR to start after Brizzle and Hull; they got their wish yet he hardly covered himself in glory today (defensively, some of his play at the end of the 1st half on the right touchline scared the sh*t out of me). NA played him wide and up top (a better option IMO); but to no avail. What was the alternative - to start Barney? Whether through lack of match fitness or performance at this level, he hardly impressed. I dont see what alternatives NA had - why that is is another discussion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandwichsaint Posted 4 December, 2011 Share Posted 4 December, 2011 Two things from watching the championship: I'm pretty sure I heard the commentator say 'Southampton, with the most wins and most goals scored in the league', and I've read 300-400 posts on today's game and not seen Fonte's name anywhere, could he have done more with the first goal? Hoovey certainly seemed to think so. We seem to be in a bit of a pickle for the next couple of weeks and the squad looks very threadbare, I'm not convinced with SDR starting or that Barnard looks anywhere near. Here's a left field suggestion: ...................................DAVIS......................... BUTTER ........... JF ...................JOS.....................FOX FRAZER .............CORK....................MORG...............HOLMES ...............................................AL ......................................... ......................................GULLY........................................... Keep SDR on the bench Move Lallana infield (take away the defensive side and let him loose on the ball) Gully up front (not great, but better than LB at the moment) Utilise FR and DB who are both good enough to play at this level Stop picking all our three centre mids and cramming them into round holes, bite the bullet and play MS and JC (harsh on Dean but 3 into 2 don't go!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 4 December, 2011 Share Posted 4 December, 2011 (edited) Two things from watching the championship: I'm pretty sure I heard the commentator say 'Southampton, with the most wins and most goals scored in the league', and I've read 300-400 posts on today's game and not seen Fonte's name anywhere, could he have done more with the first goal? Hoovey certainly seemed to think so. We seem to be in a bit of a pickle for the next couple of weeks and the squad looks very threadbare, I'm not convinced with SDR starting or that Barnard looks anywhere near. Here's a left field suggestion: ...................................DAVIS......................... BUTTER ........... JF ...................JOS.....................FOX FRAZER .............CORK....................MORG...............HOLMES ...............................................AL ......................................... ......................................GULLY........................................... Keep SDR on the bench Move Lallana infield (take away the defensive side and let him loose on the ball) Gully up front (not great, but better than LB at the moment) Utilise FR and DB who are both good enough to play at this level Stop picking all our three centre mids and cramming them into round holes, bite the bullet and play MS and JC (harsh on Dean but 3 into 2 don't go!) Lambert will be back and he's only target man we have. I actually prefer Guly on the right coming in which involves him more in play. He's been getting too isolated up top, especially as the midfield insists on playing in front of defences. And I would stick SDR up top with Lambert. Just think he provides more movement than Guly there. Best I've seen De Ridder was at Cardiff when he was buzzing off Lamberts flicks and layoffs. Edited 4 December, 2011 by shurlock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted 4 December, 2011 Share Posted 4 December, 2011 Not sure he got it wrong. Everyone was calling for SDR to start after Brizzle and Hull; they got their wish yet he hardly covered himself in glory today (defensively, some of his play at the end of the 1st half on the right touchline scared the sh*t out of me). NA played him wide and up top (a better option IMO); but to no avail. What was the alternative - to start Barney? Whether through lack of match fitness or performance at this level, he hardly impressed. I dont see what alternatives NA had - why that is is another discussion. Agree about SDR, jurys been out my end the whole time, but the rest of it today? And last week? You're one of the more clued up bods on here. Impressed? Genuine question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandwichsaint Posted 4 December, 2011 Share Posted 4 December, 2011 Seen SDR a few times but my jury's definitely out! Derby away, he produced a tidy 20 minutes without really changing the game. Reading away, he came on. did well and scored a cracker. Palace away he was bright for 20 mins then faded badly. Hull came on, changed the game, decent 45 mins. Started at home v Watford, not very good by all accounts. Same today, got two different starts but not convincing in either role and taken off. Can we afford to play Lallana, Guly and SDR in the same starting X1? (with Lambert playing then possibly yes, without RL almost certainly not), My bigger concerns would be the form of Lallana, Cork, MS, Fonte .... we just haven't got the depth to rotate players and provide the competition for places and the recovery time needed. Don't get me wrong, we are doing well to be where we are, and if you look at the strength of WHU, Leicester, Hull, Leeds we are doing REALLY well to be where we are. Looks like NC has some big decisions to make in January .... spend the farm on one shot at promotion (will we ever be in a better position?) or let Nige have another of the 5 years to consolidate and go again next year? Interesting times and some big decisions coming up in the next month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingsbridge Saint Posted 4 December, 2011 Share Posted 4 December, 2011 Two defeats in a week against sides in the bottom three aint play off form. And the Sky cameras on hand next week to witness the end of our home run. This is the beginning of the end of our flirt with promotion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 4 December, 2011 Share Posted 4 December, 2011 (edited) Agree about SDR, jurys been out my end the whole time, but the rest of it today? And last week? You're one of the more clued up bods on here. Impressed? Genuine question. Today was gash - and its the third game in a row we've barely worked the keeper (and you know that even many of wins people cream themselves over were probably a bit flattering i.e.Watford, even Brum). Still we're not the leagues top scorers for nothing -and in all honesty, Kelvin hasn't had alot to do of late. We've gone wrong for different reasons. At Bristol, we didn't use and protect the flanks enough; today, we could have had all the width in the world, we would have done f**k all with it. While we've brought in or revitalised players who are composed on the ball (Cork, Connolly, Fox, Jos), we're still a direct team -and we struggle when we cant play to our strengths like yesterday or the opposition neutralises them like Brizzle (just look at the job they did on West Ham) Our squad's thin but IMO the problem isn't a lack of quality; just a lack of quality in depth. Some of the hyperbole about our players is ridiculous. As much as I like Chaplow and he's been in a rich vein of form, he's ultimately a championship journeyman. Still mediocrity is relative - pick apart most championship squads and you'll struggle find much out-and-out quality. That's why I still think we have a cracking chance to get promoted provided NC now puts his money where his mouth is. Edited 4 December, 2011 by shurlock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cestrian Saint Posted 4 December, 2011 Share Posted 4 December, 2011 I will take two crap away defeats in a week to poor teams at the bottom for a late minute 1 -0 win in two weeks time. What? You honestly expect us to win at P*mpey? No chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cestrian Saint Posted 4 December, 2011 Share Posted 4 December, 2011 Two defeats in a week against sides in the bottom three aint play off form. And the Sky cameras on hand next week to witness the end of our home run. This is the beginning of the end of our flirt with promotion. Have to agree. I predict a gentle slide down the table over the next 6 weeks and a defeat at P*mpey in a couple of weeks. It's been nice but it was never going to last. Away form is simply not good enough. Too many defeats against crap teams and still got to go away to places like 'Boro, WHU, Blackpool & Leeds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alain Perrin Posted 4 December, 2011 Share Posted 4 December, 2011 Doubtless we've got to improve iur away form. Doubtless we miss Lambert and Chaplow. But, Saints have always struggled against sides in the bottom 3 (look at last season) whilst winning against more rated opposition. Fix it, but keep the faith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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