Saints 0 Bristol City 1 - Post Match Reactions

[alpine_saint]

Also think St. Marcos post was good.

 

Maybe we are missing AOCs contribution this season more than we thought. Perhaps he gave us more options.

 

In which case Adkins should really re-evaluate his relationship with Puncheon.

[Norm]

Hi everyone. Female half of Sugarbabe here. Went to game. Would've been satisfied with 0-0 tbh. They did good job on Rickie. I'm sorry but I just don't rate Guly. He can run, his ball control is rubbish, he don't keep his eye on the ball, he can run, when he has the ball he don't know what to do with it.......but he's better now at being caught offside. I have been told there is already a signing that just needs dotting and signing, but we've heard that before!!! Thing that worried me was Nigel must've been watching the same game as I was but took so long to make changes. Midfield was the missing link last night. God do we miss Chaplow but will he still be the same player he was when he comes back?

I don't want to go up next season cos coming home from the game last night reminded me of the feeling I was having nearly every game in the Premiership. I love Saints and I love winning. Not sure we will see so much of that in the Premiership. This is just my own opinion but at the end of the day, footballs a mans game x x

 

 

 

You should post more often! Hate to admit it but I also fear us going up in 2012 (unless we spend vast sums) as I have enjoyed the football at SMS over the past couple of seasons and don't want to feel like I did in the season we went down, sorry.

[70's Mike]

just one of those things, appears the internet warriors are wringing hands and moaning, mentioning AOC and Puncheon who we have not missed for 4 months etc.Yes the last month has been tough but did anyone really expect that teams were not going to adapt to counter our game.

All i can say is that i have enjoyed 2011 completely and trust NA to get it right in 2012.

[Give it to Ron]

You should post more often! Hate to admit it but I also fear us going up in 2012 (unless we spend vast sums) as I have enjoyed the football at SMS over the past couple of seasons and don't want to feel like I did in the season we went down, sorry.

 

You can add +2 in our house with that.

Trouble is I don't want us to throw away our start but the warning signs have been there for weeks now. Some strange tactics at Doncaster and Pompey haven't helped.

[Mowgli]

Thought I would sleep on it befire posting. Bristol deserved their win and we were not as fluid as against Palace. We did not pass the ball quick enough and allowed Brizzle to get in our faces and we found it harder to get rid of the ball effectively. Unusually for Saints we tried to take one touch too many in front of goal and some great moves fizzled out as a result. As for saying the players were not up for it (as someone suggested) I cannot agree. They all worked hard but went too often for the fancy flick rather than simple pass. Guly and Lambert both worked hard but to no real effect as Guly dropped far too deep and Lambert to wide. WE seem then to rely on midfielders to score and they did not have their shooting boots on tonight. When we did get good shots on goal, James made some pretty impressive saves. MOTM for me though was DE Ridder who ran their left back ragged. Good crossing, effective tracking back. Has learnt to release the ball at the right time but sadly this was of those nights where bearing down on goal alone might have been better.

[alpine_saint]

just one of those things, appears the internet warriors are wringing hands and moaning, mentioning AOC and Puncheon who we have not missed for 4 months etc.Yes the last month has been tough but did anyone really expect that teams were not going to adapt to counter our game.

All i can say is that i have enjoyed 2011 completely and trust NA to get it right in 2012.

 

Well I dont, currently. NA has done a fantastic job until recently, but maybe, just maybe he has reached the limit of his ability. Let's see.

 

This is all feeling a bit too Burley-ish for me at the moment. I am suffering very bad deja vu.

[70's Mike]

Well I dont, currently. NA has done a fantastic job until recently, but maybe, just maybe he has reached the limit of his ability. Let's see.

 

This is all feeling a bit too Burley-ish for me at the moment. I am suffering very bad deja vu.

 

no doubt you will enjoy it with your right

[adrian lord]

Well I dont, currently. NA has done a fantastic job until recently, but maybe, just maybe he has reached the limit of his ability. Let's see.

 

This is all feeling a bit too Burley-ish for me at the moment. I am suffering very bad deja vu.

 

Bloody hell, I didn't know NA liked a tipple too!

[Shroppie]

Looking at it in the cold light of day after a fairly miserable 200 mile drive home and trying to see the positives.

 

1. Definitely in a bad patch, but we had an awful patch at the start of last season and went up.

 

2. We have the right manager to see the team through this psychologically.

 

3. Last season Rochdale did the double over us playing a similar strong defensive style with dangerous breaks. We put that behind us with a long winning run and can do the same again.

 

4. Many of the team had decent games last night. It wasn't the train wreck some are suggesting. But we do need to strengthen, not just as backup but with players who will get regular starts.

 

5. Lallana's form has dipped - indecision at the critical moment - but will come again. Class is permanent. But Davis was mixed last night, spilling shots (which James didn't) and blocking into the danger area rather than to safety. And we missed Fonte's speed of reaction. I think he anticipates Davis pushing a shot back out better than Martin (but thought AM had a good game overall).

 

Panic not.

 

But Lord won't you buy me a new striker with pace and strength, a winger with ditto, a keeper and a CB.

 

That is all.

[Legod Third Coming]

Can't believe anyone who thinks that we were poor last night. It was a poor result but Bristol City were the best team at SMS I've seen this season - organised, drilled, unbelievably fit and very confident on the ball.

 

Their defence was first rate and their goalkeeper is too bloody good for this league - even if he does handle outside the box!!

 

How are they in the bottom half of the table??

 

We were unlucky, de Ridder was unfortunate with a few of his balls in. Fox and Richardson a little wayward with their crossing. We were a touch outmuscled in midfield and our finishing lacked the bite of normal.

 

On another night we could have won that game 1-0.

 

The good news is the Chairman has seen his first defeat of the season just as the transfer window opens!!

[Legod Third Coming]

Looking at it in the cold light of day after a fairly miserable 200 mile drive home and trying to see the positives.

 

1. Definitely in a bad patch, but we had an awful patch at the start of last season and went up.

 

2. We have the right manager to see the team through this psychologically.

 

3. Last season Rochdale did the double over us playing a similar strong defensive style with dangerous breaks. We put that behind us with a long winning run and can do the same again.

 

4. Many of the team had decent games last night. It wasn't the train wreck some are suggesting. But we do need to strengthen, not just as backup but with players who will get regular starts.

 

5. Lallana's form has dipped - indecision at the critical moment - but will come again. Class is permanent. But Davis was mixed last night, spilling shots (which James didn't) and blocking into the danger area rather than to safety. And we missed Fonte's speed of reaction. I think he anticipates Davis pushing a shot back out better than Martin (but thought AM had a good game overall).

 

Panic not.

 

But Lord won't you buy me a new striker with pace and strength, a winger with ditto, a keeper and a CB.

 

That is all.

 

Cold light of day is a good time to make assessments and I couldn't disagree with any of yours. Point 5 especially.

[rallyboy]

it always amazes me how so many people see a different game to the person sat next to them and I guess we are all guilty on occasions.

 

I think some have been harsh on Davis for the goal - I haven't seen it on tv but at the time it looked a nasty shot to deal with on a slippery pitch, there isn't a keeper in the world who would have held it, it was a desperate effort just to keep it out let alone know where it was going next.

Calling that a spill is a bit harsh, we've seen a keeping error, and that wasn't.

 

But my favourite comedy gem from this whole thread is the bloke who said Guly had a good game.

Yeah.

[Stubby]

Very disappointing night. Once again struggled to beat a team from near the bottom of the league. But:

 

- Bristol are better than their league position suggests

- SDR is becoming a very good player

- From the way he's playing, Adam must be carrying an injury. Maybe NA will have learned from this game that Adam needs to rest and get himself right

- Aaron Martin looked solid

- On another night, some of the many crosses we put in would have resulted in a goal

- NA/NC should now have sufficient incentive to spend some money in January

 

I think I'll keep the faith for a while yet.

 

On the other hand, Davis should have done better with the first shot (from distance) that led to the goal, and DC did nothing when he came on. But these two have not suddenly become bad players.

[Legod Third Coming]

Hi everyone. Female half of Sugarbabe here. Went to game. Would've been satisfied with 0-0 tbh. They did good job on Rickie. I'm sorry but I just don't rate Guly. He can run, his ball control is rubbish, he don't keep his eye on the ball, he can run, when he has the ball he don't know what to do with it.......but he's better now at being caught offside. I have been told there is already a signing that just needs dotting and signing, but we've heard that before!!! Thing that worried me was Nigel must've been watching the same game as I was but took so long to make changes. Midfield was the missing link last night. God do we miss Chaplow but will he still be the same player he was when he comes back?

I don't want to go up next season cos coming home from the game last night reminded me of the feeling I was having nearly every game in the Premiership. I love Saints and I love winning. Not sure we will see so much of that in the Premiership. This is just my own opinion but at the end of the day, footballs a mans game x x

 

Do not fear.

I have watched plenty of Swansea, QPR, Blackburn, Bolton, Wast Brom, Nowrich, Villa and Wolves this season - on our days (and we've had plenty) we have the ability to match any of the above.

Yes, we may well get tonked by a Spurs or Arsenal once in a while, but we'll also manage to beat a Chelsea and United, draw with Fulham and should have enough in the locker even with the current squad not to be disgraced.

 

And do you know what, who cares if we go up and lose every game - which we won't, it just doesn't happen like that???

 

We'll come back down with £50m in the bank. Safe. Secure. Solid. And with a future to look forward to.

 

You can't say that of many clubs these days.

[sammysaint]

Alot of NA comments on here, only thing that lets him down is his love fpr guly both pompey and yday he should of been subbed, but were missing depth so he hasnt got too much options.

 

We need RC LB back and JP another chance.

[View From The Top]

From before the 1st kick of the season I've said we'd go up. As of now, I don't think we will.

 

We've run out of steam IMHO.

[Legod Third Coming]

From before the 1st kick of the season I've said we'd go up. As of now, I don't think we will.

 

We've run out of steam IMHO.

 

Explain steam?? Fitness? Motivation? What??

Genuinely - because I thought we looked a bit jaded last night, but we had two games in four days to be fair.

[Wes Tender]

Thought I would sleep on it befire posting. Bristol deserved their win and we were not as fluid as against Palace. We did not pass the ball quick enough and allowed Brizzle to get in our faces and we found it harder to get rid of the ball effectively. Unusually for Saints we tried to take one touch too many in front of goal and some great moves fizzled out as a result. As for saying the players were not up for it (as someone suggested) I cannot agree. They all worked hard but went too often for the fancy flick rather than simple pass. Guly and Lambert both worked hard but to no real effect as Guly dropped far too deep and Lambert to wide. WE seem then to rely on midfielders to score and they did not have their shooting boots on tonight. When we did get good shots on goal, James made some pretty impressive saves. MOTM for me though was DE Ridder who ran their left back ragged. Good crossing, effective tracking back. Has learnt to release the ball at the right time but sadly this was of those nights where bearing down on goal alone might have been better.

 

Exactly how I saw it. I also thought I'd sleep on it too and perhaps that might have been beneficial for some of the wrist-slashers who couldn't wait to wail and gnash their teeth as soon as they got back to their keyboards.

 

Let's try and get some perspective to this; it has been a fabulous season so far and very few people would have been confident enough at the start of the season to have predicted that we would have reached the end of the year in first position. And then they would have been dismissed as happy-clappy lunatics for daring to do so. And because of circumstances beyond his control, like Chaplow being out, Lallana not firing on all cylinders for example, Adkins has suddenly lost the plot according to some simpletons, who ignore the feat he has achieved in getting us to the top.

 

Some also appear to have forgotten that the January transfer window is about to open. Do they not have confidence in the club to bring in the players that might make a real difference? Obviously not, as some idiots are already predicting that it will be a difficult second half of the season, that we might not make the play-offs, that we are headed to mid-table and all that before the transfer window has even opened.

 

I feel pretty confident that if some internet warriors on here can tell us where we are coming up short in the team and where cover is needed, then the professionals employed by the club can see it too. It wouldn't surprise me at all if we signed a player or two who hadn't appeared on the radar. One benefit of the game last night was helpful though. It seems clear to me that Maynard is not up to the standard that we require.

[saint lard]

Well I dont, currently. NA has done a fantastic job until recently, but maybe, just maybe he has reached the limit of his ability. Let's see.

 

This is all feeling a bit too Burley-ish for me at the moment. I am suffering very bad deja vu.

This has been my fear,all very well what he did at scunny...took them far then hit a brick wall,and became almost uneffectual.....hence my slight reservations on occasion with him.

 

Here's hoping i am sincerely wrong.

[S-Clarke]

This has been my fear,all very well what he did at scunny...took them far then hit a brick wall,and became almost uneffectual.....hence my slight reservations on occasion with him.

 

Here's hoping i am sincerely wrong.

 

Really odd statement. He did great for sunthorpe, he didn't hit the brick wall, the club hit the brick wall because they could sustain it.

 

Look at where they are now? a poor L1 side....he did a marvelous job for them, and to say Adkins hit a brick wall is silly - it was the club which wasn't geared to go any further than they did.

[eurosaint]

Can't believe anyone who thinks that we were poor last night. It was a poor result but Bristol City were the best team at SMS I've seen this season - organised, drilled, unbelievably fit and very confident on the ball.

 

Their defence was first rate and their goalkeeper is too bloody good for this league - even if he does handle outside the box!!

 

How are they in the bottom half of the table??

 

We were unlucky, de Ridder was unfortunate with a few of his balls in. Fox and Richardson a little wayward with their crossing. We were a touch outmuscled in midfield and our finishing lacked the bite of normal.

 

On another night we could have won that game 1-0.

 

The good news is the Chairman has seen his first defeat of the season just as the transfer window opens!!

 

I agree with all of this, it's just too easy to be critical on a blustery, wet night in a match which could have gone either way !

Ps. Happy New Year, Steve !

[SaintRobbie]

Oh dear - but still top!

 

Hey Cortese - lets get some striking reinforcements and walk this league in the 2nd half of it!

[View From The Top]

Really odd statement. He did great for sunthorpe, he didn't hit the brick wall, the club hit the brick wall because they could sustain it.

 

Look at where they are now? a poor L1 side....he did a marvelous job for them, and to say Adkins hit a brick wall is silly - it was the club which wasn't geared to go any further than they did.

 

Don't forget that Lard is desperate for Adkins to fail.

[Thedelldays]

This has been my fear,all very well what he did at scunny...took them far then hit a brick wall,and became almost uneffectual.....hence my slight reservations on occasion with him.

 

Here's hoping i am sincerely wrong.

you have been wrong for about a year...so no drama there

[Jonnyboy]

My poor buddy was feeling rough at half time so went off to be sick. Ended up in Southampton general passing out from pain.

Turns out he's got appendicitis and they are operating this afternoon. Happy New Year for him :-(

 

On the plus side he didnt get to see us concede and lose our unbeaten run.

[derry]

Bristol City played with very high tempo, they worked so hard that unless we matched that tempo we weren't going to break them down. Even when DeRidder got down the right we were light on numbers and late into the box. On numerous occasions the ball broke in the six yd box but nobody had made the effort and gambled to get in there.

 

For me apart from Lallana's infuriating self indulgent below par performance the problem was our slow pace of play up the whole spine. The three other flank players put in a good shift and competed. The slow motion started with the goalkeeper. Everybody in the country knows that Davis won't release the ball early, that he will eventually pass short to somebody so they set up with just enough space to entice him then close the ball down. He never ever passes in front of the receiver and often ends up with the ball launched by somebody under pressure or gets it back and lumps it himself. If we want to play from back we need a goalkeeper that is slick at releasing the ball so as to catch the opponents on the break not already compact and formed up.

 

Hoiveldt was solid and constructive but Martin who defended well is extremely limited in possession meaning that our possession didn't work at the back. Cork worked his socks off in closing down but gave nothing in a forward sense. Schneiderlin for me struggled to adapt to the high tempo consequently we never got a proper grip on midfield and failed to support attacks from the midfield. In front of them Lambert was frustrated all night by a referee that gave no protection from the pushing that went on. Guly did some good things but his control was poor and far too many passes were given away.

 

All in all we needed to match Bristol all over the park and fight for the right to play our football but we were off the pace and DeRidder was our only real threat. In hindsight although I thought the change might have been made at halftime Hammond and Cork would have been a more combative central midfield. Lallana needs either a wake up call or to be taken out of the firing line. With Guly from a football sense misfiring there is no room for sentiment. Now Connolly is back and DeRidder playing a part there is a little bit of scope for change.

[corky morris]

Waited until this morning to post after getting in at 1am. I thought a draw was fair, but last night was never going to be our night. We could have still been there and would not have scored.

Brizzle played well, no doubt, but the ball never dropped for us.

Why is it that James keeps playing well against us then drops a clanger the next week? He carried the ball out of the box at the end and managed to convince a shocking ref that he hadn't. Their centre half (6) got his head or body to everything, but the ref let him get away with murder. He hit Lambert in the first half then booked him because we moaned so much. I think Rickie looked a bit sluggish after that. At a corner he had 2 hands on Rickie on at least 3 occasions. Why is it that he gets so little protection?

I am starting to worry now about our ability to get up. We are so reliant on Rickie that if he has a ref that lets the opposition get away with murder we really struggle. That's why I would get Jutkevic rather than any of the other strikers mentioned. I have seen Sharp, Jutkevic, Rodrigues and Maynard twice and Jutkevic has caused us more problems than all the others IMHO.

Don't think Maynard is all that. Certainly not worth anywhere near £6m!

We need a striker and a winger.

Our pace of play has slowed markedly since the first few months of the season and we need to speed up ASAP.

By the way we conceded when Joss hoofed to the channel and neither Rickie or Guly were competing for the ball. It came back into our box and they scored.

Edited 31 December, 2011 by corky morris

[Ziggy]

The team was not up for the game at all.

 

 

Absolute rubbish. From where I was sat they put in plenty of effort.

[Cabrone]

Well we lost at home, was going to happen some day and yesterday was the day.

 

It's been an amazing 2011 and one that every Saints fan needs to lock away in the memory as it's unlikely that we'll have as good a year as this for a long time.

 

We are now at the half way mark with an amazing opportunity to get out of this league at the first time of asking, if we don't grasp it now who knows when the chance will come again?

 

However the fact that teams are starting to suss us out now means we face a pivotal moment in the season.

 

We need to up our game - our creative players like AL, RL, SDR, Guly and DC need to find a new dimension to overcome the closing pack and the whole team has to go into every game like its a cup final.

 

We need some new pace up front and a good GK (no disrespect to Kelvin but he isn't getting any younger). We also need Chaplow back ASAP, he's a real beating heart in the centre of the park and has been sorely missed.

 

Despite the knee jerk doom mongers on here it's all very much still to play for, top 2 is realistically up for grabs but I think we need to step up now.

 

I hope that Brizzle last night was the shock to the system, the kick in the nether regions that we needed to push on.

 

Come on Saints - it's still in your hands but you need to react fast if you want that top 2.

[trousers]

Can't believe anyone who thinks that we were poor last night. It was a poor result but Bristol City were the best team at SMS I've seen this season - organised, drilled, unbelievably fit and very confident on the ball.

 

Their defence was first rate and their goalkeeper is too bloody good for this league - even if he does handle outside the box!!

 

How are they in the bottom half of the table??

 

We were unlucky, de Ridder was unfortunate with a few of his balls in. Fox and Richardson a little wayward with their crossing. We were a touch outmuscled in midfield and our finishing lacked the bite of normal.

 

On another night we could have won that game 1-0.

 

The good news is the Chairman has seen his first defeat of the season just as the transfer window opens!!

 

Agree 100% with this post.

 

We weren't at our best but we weren't as bad as some people are interpreting.

 

As you rightly say, we were as likely to sneak a 1-0 victory as they ended up doing.

 

And, in the second half I had a close range view of the challenges on Ricky Lambert and how the ref hardly gave any free-kicks for the blatent pushes on Lambert I'll never know. Someone must have changed the rules of the game without me noticing as I'm convinced it used to be against the rules to push a player whn chellenging for the ball....

Edited 31 December, 2011 by trousers

[trousers]

Absolute rubbish. From where I was sat they put in plenty of effort.

 

Yes, but be fair to Alpine. He wasn't actually there to be able to judge the level of effort the players were putting in so hardly fair to criticise innocent guesswork..... ;-)

[Papa Shango]

My report/player ratings for the game, give it a read: http://www.thesaintshub.com/saints0-1bristolcity.html

[Graffito]

Bristol City played with very high tempo, they worked so hard that unless we matched that tempo we weren't going to break them down. Even when DeRidder got down the right we were light on numbers and late into the box. On numerous occasions the ball broke in the six yd box but nobody had made the effort and gambled to get in there.

 

For me apart from Lallana's infuriating self indulgent below par performance the problem was our slow pace of play up the whole spine. The three other flank players put in a good shift and competed. The slow motion started with the goalkeeper. Everybody in the country knows that Davis won't release the ball early, that he will eventually pass short to somebody so they set up with just enough space to entice him then close the ball down. He never ever passes in front of the receiver and often ends up with the ball launched by somebody under pressure or gets it back and lumps it himself. If we want to play from back we need a goalkeeper that is slick at releasing the ball so as to catch the opponents on the break not already compact and formed up.

 

Hoiveldt was solid and constructive but Martin who defended well is extremely limited in possession meaning that our possession didn't work at the back. Cork worked his socks off in closing down but gave nothing in a forward sense. Schneiderlin for me struggled to adapt to the high tempo consequently we never got a proper grip on midfield and failed to support attacks from the midfield. In front of them Lambert was frustrated all night by a referee that gave no protection from the pushing that went on. Guly did some good things but his control was poor and far too many passes were given away.

 

All in all we needed to match Bristol all over the park and fight for the right to play our football but we were off the pace and DeRidder was our only real threat. In hindsight although I thought the change might have been made at halftime Hammond and Cork would have been a more combative central midfield. Lallana needs either a wake up call or to be taken out of the firing line. With Guly from a football sense misfiring there is no room for sentiment. Now Connolly is back and DeRidder playing a part there is a little bit of scope for change.

 

Insightful summary but I disagree with the final paragraph. Cork and Hammond may have made a more combative midfield but it would't have moved the ball any quicker to address the problem you identified of needing to match bristol's tempo. De ridder created his own opportunities but his final ball is too often poor.

[Ziggy]

De ridder created his own opportunities but his final ball is too often poor.

 

I sit in the Kingsland/Chapel corner and so saw lots of De Ridder in the second half. He created plenty of chances, most when he had no right to do so. I was disappointed that nobody was challenging for the ball in the box following his crosses. WE just didn't cause their defenders any problems from the crosses.

[derry]

Insightful summary but I disagree with the final paragraph. Cork and Hammond may have made a more combative midfield but it would't have moved the ball any quicker to address the problem you identified of needing to match bristol's tempo. De ridder created his own opportunities but his final ball is too often poor.

 

That wasn't the reason, we needed a more physical presence to win more ball and close them down quicker. De Ridder's unfortunately tagged with this but it is the job of the other players to get on the end of them which we didn't do. He gave a perfect pass to Lallana to dither on and after James saved from him really should have blasted it low at the massed bodies coming in rather than trying to pick out Guly. Other than that he was our only hope of creating something because Richardson put some very poor overhit crosses in last night.

[shurlock]

With Rickie getting no protection from the ref, we never looked liked getting behind them with incisive passing - best opportunities came from route one balls down the line for SDR to chase. We never got enough players in the box to challenge or make it easier for SDR. We know that Lambert's likely to wander to pick up the ball, so he isn't always going to be in the middle. The central midfielders are never going to get up to support - contrast this with Bristol who created one or two chances through running from deep. At times, we only had Guly to aim for - and he's a converted striker. Best example was first half when SDR broke clear and had time to look up and wait but could only see Guly surrounded by yellow.

Edited 31 December, 2011 by shurlock

[Jimmy Gabriel's Halo]

Right my turn. I sat in Itchen North. Forget about league position this is MATCH REACTION post.

 

Firstly i thought thet Brizzle fans were excellent, never stopped singing and were really creating noise tonight, credit to them.

 

The team put out tonight really surpised me. I thought that there could and probably should have been more changes to keep things fresh , we didnt. Concidering we have game on Monday.

 

Brizzle came out on us and didnt let up at all. they closed down, they hassled, they hussled us. and when they regained the ball, they pased it around, in my opinion with ease and we let them. We never matched their work rate from start to finish. I thought that they wouldnd be able to keep it all game, but they did and credit to them for it. This isnt the first time this has happened.

 

Our players couldnt string passes together and therefore deserve low scores for their performance. Our defence is propbably theonly positive that I can take out of the game. KD excellent saves shame the rebound went to their player. But they made that happen because of the above. Their midfeild won them the game today wirthout a doubt and if they could score more they would be nowhere near the bottom.

 

Lambert - I really felt for him. No protecrion what so ever from the ref I cant remember such in inept performance from a ref. credit goes to RL for not getting wound up enough to get himself booked or ven worse sent off.

 

James - a couple of very good saves kept them in it - again!

 

Guly - If I had had a Sniper rifle -nuff said.

 

Subs - Way too late and why bring off AL and put on Connolly. Surely it would have made more sence ton put Holmes on as a direct replacement. Connoly i get but not for AL. And when we do bring Holmes he goes to Left Back!! Surely Harding would have been the better option!!

 

Any way like I said at the beginningthis is not about where we are in the league this is about being outplayed and reffed tonight. Five positves NA. Not sure.

 

Absolutely spot on as are all the other posts saying Brizzle were the better side on the night and probably deserved it although we might have got a draw out of it with a bit more luck. SDR terrified their left back, the albino one, BUT the final ball in from him was mostly atrocious. If only he could get that right, what a player he could be.

[shurlock]

That wasn't the reason, we needed a more physical presence to win more ball and close them down quicker. De Ridder's unfortunately tagged with this but it is the job of the other players to get on the end of them which we didn't do. He gave a perfect pass to Lallana to dither on and after James saved from him really should have blasted it low at the massed bodies coming in rather than trying to pick out Guly. Other than that he was our only hope of creating something because Richardson put some very poor overhit crosses in last night.

 

I dont think that was the problem - we huffed and puffed and had enough possession but didnt have the quality or nous to do anything with it.

[derry]

I dont think that was the problem - we huffed and puffed and had enough possession but didnt have the quality or nous to do anything with it.

 

Most of the possession we had was rushed and closed down but when we didn't have the ball we weren't working hard enough to get it back. They were in our faces but we didn't do the same. Schneiderlin is a purist and aggression was needed in the midfield last night.

[Elmore]

I thought we were the better team, particularly in the first half, but lost the game in centre mid. Where Cork and Schneirderlin ran the game against Palace, they could barely get a couple of passes going 2nd half yesterday. Also, we struggle to convert good positions round the 18 yard box into clear cut chances, been a bit of a problem all season, but came home to roost yesterday.

 

Agree with this. City were very effective in how they played - they get stuck in, close down and break quickly. Saints struggled to cope for a while and City had more possession than any other team at St Mary's this season, but for all their hard work they only created a few clear chances. Saints had numerous chances to score, but either missed the target or fannied about trying to find the killer pass instead of just shooting.

[um pahars]

For me the centre of the park always has a big say on games and last night we were outfought and outfought in that dept. Cork who I really rate was anonymous and just couldn't get going, whilst Morgan was nowhere near as dominant as against Palace.

 

Don't know what that stats say, but thought City had more of the ball (particularly in the first half). Maybe they are the type of team who are our nemesis and will always dictate the game, but have to say December has not been kind to us.

 

Over the moon to be where we are (initially I would have been happy with top ten), but as VFTT has said above I do fear we have run out of steam somewhat. A January shake up and a few new faces please.

[up and away]

Agree 100% with this post.

 

We weren't at our best but we weren't as bad as some people are interpreting.

 

As you rightly say, we were as likely to sneak a 1-0 victory as they ended up doing.

 

And, in the second half I had a close range view of the challenges on Ricky Lambert and how the ref hardly gave any free-kicks for the blatent pushes on Lambert I'll never know. Someone must have changed the rules of the game without me noticing as I'm convinced it used to be against the rules to push a player whn chellenging for the ball....

 

This has always been the case and you have to adapt because it's very rare the officials will flag it, unless they are 100% sure it's denied a scoring opportunity. Even then I am not sure they will give it. I have seen Fonte do this so many times it should come as no shock to you? As with shirt pulling, that was allowed to continue until the authorities thought it was becoming too blatant on TV, then the refs cracked down under instructions from above. I don't believe anything will be done about this as it's so hard for the officials when they are looking for other things at the time and when you get the forward backing in, the ref seems to just let them get on with it. Unlike shirt pulling, it is less visible to TV without the benefit of replays, but they may get round to it one day.

 

This has always happened to Ricky and his only way of dealing with it is to drop further back or out on to the wing to avoid the battle, leaving us with no one leading the line. Crouch's international career ended because he could not deal with it without getting pinged, it's something you have to get around. Someone mentioned to putting one of the centre halves up front and let them battle it out, which would of bypassed what Bristol had set up. Bristol have been losing to sides relatively easily and it would not surprise me if that was their weakness, because they looked to have the more decisive attack over us.

 

This is the sort of occasion where someone like Lukas J could be an asset with the long ball and everyone piling in behind to pick up the pieces. Looking at the sides that have beaten Bristol I would guess that to be the case, because our style of play did not seem a big issue for them. McInnes has got them playing and maybe that's not the case any more, but I still can't get over how they lost to Coventry then come and turn us over. I have seen James get really flustered when the penalty box is packed with plenty of argy bargy or the long shot that bounces in front of him, but we did neither.

[sadoldgit]

I don't post much anymore as my internet connection is rubbish but was intrigued to read this thread today and see that nothing has changed despite the fact that we have had a brilliant season overall. Even Apline is still stuck in a time warp and dargs up George Burely (still third in the list of best points per game ratio Alps).

 

And people spend £5 to read this rubbish? Jeez, most of us would have been well happy with a middle table position this season and despite last night and some not so great performances Southampton FC are top of the CCC at the half way point. But hey, let's slag a former manager and slit our wrists shall we.

[Charlie Wayman]

Oh dear, the **** has hit the fan big time. After the way we've been playing in December who can be surprised. It looks like our basic way of playing has been rumbled and Adkins seemingly incapable of working out another strategy. Many other teams in the Division have evolved and developed as the season has progressed and quite a few it seems have now caught up with us; indeed on this showing clearly some have passed us. Leaders for the first half of the season but over the last 8 matches almost relegation strugglers.

 

Can 'he' stop the decline must be the BIG question on many minds this morning including that of Il Italiano?

[EastleighSoulBoy]

Just my view.

 

Martin was superb in deputising for Fonte.

 

For the first time I was really disappointed in Guly. The guy is an enigma, frustrating and seemingly not wanting the ball at times and yet showing the odd flash of brilliance. All in all I felt Connolly replaced the wrong player, Lallana seemed more productive than Guly and even Lallana was not fully on his game.

 

I'm also starting to have worries about De Ridder, good though he is he doesn't seem to go for the jugular.

 

Sometimes we need to shoot on sight rather than attempt to walk the ball into the net.

 

City came to stop us and seemed well up for it. Their winning was a bonus for them, make no mistake they played well and their energy levels didn't seem to diminish as the game wore on. They deserved it.

 

Disappointed to lose but not lacking in the confidence that NA and the players will pull this round, certainly some movement needed in the Xfer Window. I'd go for someone to support and play alongside RL although, on last night's showing, Maynard doesn't appear that special to me. A GK is needed also.

[alpine_saint]

Oh dear, the **** has hit the fan big time. After the way we've been playing in December who can be surprised. It looks like our basic way of playing has been rumbled and Adkins seemingly incapable of working out another strategy. Many other teams in the Division have evolved and developed as the season has progressed and quite a few it seems have now caught up with us; indeed on this showing clearly some have passed us. Leaders for the first half of the season but over the last 8 matches almost relegation strugglers.

 

Can 'he' stop the decline must be the BIG question on many minds this morning including that of Il Italiano?

 

Indeed; a fair post.

[CWD]

It was my first trip to SMS last night since September and one thing I noticed was the unacceptable reaction whenever Guly did something wrong. Lallana was absolute **** last night, but every time he gave the ball away there was a quiet groan and a polite clap, applauding the effort. Same with Lambert, same with every other player. However, if Guly ever had the nerve to try something a bit different and lost the ball, the reaction was vitriolic, screams of 'you're **** Guly' and such like. It's pathetic and has no place in football. He is one of our players and should be supported as such. I also thought he did OK last night.

 

Oh and if you're one of the mongs who booed at the final whistle, hang your head in shame.

 

Rant over, Happy New Year everyone!

[Chez]

It was my first trip to SMS last night since September and one thing I noticed was the unacceptable reaction whenever Guly did something wrong. Lallana was absolute **** last night, but every time he gave the ball away there was a quiet groan and a polite clap, applauding the effort. Same with Lambert, same with every other player. However, if Guly ever had the nerve to try something a bit different and lost the ball, the reaction was vitriolic, screams of 'you're **** Guly' and such like. It's pathetic and has no place in football. He is one of our players and should be supported as such. I also thought he did OK last night.

 

Oh and if you're one of the mongs who booed at the final whistle, hang your head in shame.

 

Rant over, Happy New Year everyone!

very good rant. Guly is the new Puncheon, who was the new BWP...

[JackFrost]

Problem is with Guly for every good thing he does he'll do two bad. He's a tricky one, as soon as you think he's useless and shouldn't be in the team he'll pop up with a goal or do something wonderful.

 

He never has an average game, he's either very poor or excellent

[waterlooville saint]

I'll take some of the blame for last night, as it was my first match since we beat Huddersfield 4-1 at home last season. I'll stay away until we win promotion

 

Have to agree with the people saying lay off Guly, there were a couple of people behind me in the Chapel stand last night moaning at him for everything - including a clearance he didn't get that went at least 15 yards away from him - Superman would have struggled to get to it. There were a number of players who were off form last night but only Guly got moaned at. For one it looked to me that Rickie Lambert was off song last night and wasn't making a lot of effort to jump for clearances in his direction - OK the defender was always tight to him, but I thought he could have drawn a few more fouls if he'd wanted to. Haveto say though that he did produce a great chest control, swivel and volley in the second half that James did well to beat out.

 

A disappointing end to 2011 as a result, but if somebody had told me at the start of 2011 that we'd be top of hte Championship for a good part of 2011 (and hopefully still there tonight at the end of 2011) I'd not have believed them.