Brighton 3 Saints 0 Post match chat!

[Window Cleaner]

Another rebound from Davis for the first goal, It wasn't even a well hit shot FFS. It's happening far too often.

 

Haven't seen it yet of course but I wouldn't mind betting it was a bobbling daisy cutter,he has a definite weakness against that sort of effort.

[derry]

Haven't seen it yet of course but I wouldn't mind betting it was a bobbling daisy cutter,he has a definite weakness against that sort of effort.

 

Yes straight at him.

[Gingeletiss]

Im normally very positive about this season and Nigel but he failed today - even after RL was sent off it was down to him to make the right changes to keep it at 0-0. Instead it all went to dogsh*t (based off merro's commentary).

 

Not the players then!

[maysie]

From the OS report of the game:- A hugely decisive decision arrived on 51 when astonishingly, Rickie Lambert was sent off as he vented his frustration at another missed foul on the striker. The frontman punched the ground to show his disappointment and in doing so caught Adam El-Abd who went to the floor easily.

 

Not sure if this is what happened, but does it still count as violent conduct if it's done by mistake? TBH sounds like the OS clutching at straws.

[Window Cleaner]

TBH sounds like the OS clutching at straws.

 

no, it sounds like the OS in normal chauvinistic mode.

[Thedelldays]

It's not just about League position though is it?I should think both West Ham and Cardiff fans are feeling quite happy tonight.

right... you would rather be 4th than 1st...?

[Royce2uk]

I blame the drinking culture

[hypochondriac]

right... you would rather be 4th than 1st...?

 

That isn't the whole story. Would I rather be 1st on a terrible run with a difficult load of games coming up or a couple of points off 1st on a great run? Difficult choice.

[Thedelldays]

That isn't the whole story. Would I rather be 1st on a terrible run with a difficult load of games coming up or a couple of points off 1st on a great run? Difficult choice.

not really...? who is to say cardiff will keep this up..? who is to say boro wont wobble like us...? who is to say fat sam wont get hounded out by west ham fans...? rather have points on the board, hold 1st place and go into a 2 week break (from the league) and have another bash...better to start again from the top than from 17th...?

[Ruffo]

Let's not jump on the panic buying of players to get us out of the current dip in performance. Yes we need a few extra players but this will not fix the issue if the whole team is not performing.

 

Other teams are stepping up there effort when playing us. Nigel needs to earn his coin and come up with better game plans.

[the colonel]

Did we score in the 1st half? Over heard a group of Brighton fans talking amongst themselves in the bus queue thought the ball was over the line.

[Crazy Diamond]

I've got a Brighton fan on Twitter giving me some grief, but he's not happy his team won today, he's happy that it's upset Adkins.

 

Sad really, but their manager is a racist, disrespectful and cheating ****, so there we go, they have to find happiness elsewhere.

[Jonnyboy]

Want to explain to me exactly what changes he could have made with Bart,Forte,Reeves and Holmes left on the bench??

no defenders there, no CMs.We need to stop getting on at NA, he had no other choices available today apart from the development squad and the academy, what you saw is what we had available today apart from Butterfield and I just couldn't say where we are with him just now,the other day on the build up video he seemed to have donned the role of club jester.

 

Like I say I only listened to the commentary but by the sounds of it our formation was wrong, its commonsense to play for a draw when you go down to 10 men, away and with half an hour to play.

[SuperMikey]

What a load of sh!te...

 

Disappointing not only to lose against Brighton (who will now undoubtedly lord that over us for the rest of the season), but to lose against a Brighton side with so many suspensions and injuries. Very disappointing to see our lack of squad depth as well with Forte and Reeves on the bench, looking at that bench I think almost every side in this division could put out a better one than that. Extremely disappointing to see Rickie lash out and now to get a 3 match ban, which will really hinder us on our tough run-in of fixtures. I think without making some signings over the next week or so, we'll start slipping up and West Ham will overtake us, as they seem to be getting back on their feet after a poor run of form themselves. I'll be happy if we're still in the automatic promotion places at the end of the month, which seems a bit of a knee-jerk reaction but looking at our upcoming fixtures we'll struggle to pick up points if we play like we have done for the last few weeks (Palace excluded - which was one of the best performances i've seen from us this season).

 

So with Chaplow, Fonte and Barnard out for the next few weeks and Lambert suspended for 3 games, our squad is really looking thin.

 

---------------------DAVIS----------------------

FRAZER-----MARTIN-----HOOIVELD-------FOX

STEEEVE------CORK-----MORGAN----LALLANA

----------------GULY-----CONNOLLY------------

 

Subs: Bart, Harding, Hammond, Holmes, Forte

 

We've got to pick up 3 points against Notts Forest on the 14th, because the next 2 games after that are Leicester and Cardiff, then with Birmingham, Burnley and West Ham afterwards.

 

I hate to go all Alpine, but we need to make some serious signings in the next two weeks, otherwise I do worry that we'll squander our fantastic position in the league.

[Chez]

the red card (looked like Lambert lashed out and he had to go although D'Urso totally ignored El-Abd dragging Lambert to the ground right in front of him that led to the wrestling and the eventual kick/push or whatever it was that git him sent off) changed the game completely, until that point we totally dominated, had complete control of the game and carved them open at will. Connelly should have taken his chance but he fluffed it. Was Lallanas effort over the line? How we weren't two up at half time I will never know. I thought the formation worked a treat and we looked back to our best. Shame.

 

Once down to ten we lost the plot. Connelly found himself in no mans land in midfield and we lost our shape and they took control. Adkins failed completely to set us up appropriately to cope with being a man down, although Guly going off (if he was injured) did not help. If he took him for tactical reasons then Adkins ****ed us. I thought Connelly should have gone off and Reeves on. We needed more mobility in midfield when down to ten, but DC offered less.

 

Davis 4 at complete fault for the first goal, spilling another long shot that he should have held. A man down, you can't make that kind of mistake. Gave us no chance. When down to ten he kicked long too often. He needs options, but I thought he had them but took too long.

Richardson 5 decent first half but got run ragged in the second half by Lua Lua who outpaced him a lot. Tried his best, but hard to cope with raw pace

Martin 7 solid and didn't give Smith an inch

Jos 7 likewise, very good first half display, they didn't have a sniff, hard to say if he could do more to prevent the third goal

Harding 6 very unlucky. The yellow was a great tackle in my book and the shoulder barge did not deserve a talking to at all. This forced Adkins' hand. He was playing well until then, pushing forward and decent distribution.

Guly 7 thought he was having a good game in midfield, he was at the heart if a lot our good stuff, but then seemed to get injured (a hamstring pull perhaps). He carried on then was subbed, we went backwards quickly after that

Cork 8 worked his socks off and did everything possible, but once down to ten there just wasn't enough options or threat. Missed an open goal that would have got us back into it

Hammond 6 another that was having a good game until the red card, but dissappeared as the game got stretched

Lallana 7 miles better. Was involved in everything and got between the lines well and caused lots of problems. Faded a little though after the red. Not sure I would have subbed him though

Connelly 6 excellent link up play and we were running the game through him, but as soon as we went down to 10 he was of no use whatsoever and should have been subbed. Away from home you have to take your chances. He didn't take his. It cost us badly.

Lambert 2 he was having a poor game anyway, but lost his head and that cost us the match

 

Fox 4 defensively he just runs backwards until another Saint can help him. He never gets tight enough. Perhaps he doesn't have the pace so is worried about being done so he drops so deep. If we spent £1.7m on him then it was wasted as he doesnlt appear to have the defensive attributes you need (pace, pace and just enough pace to cope with any wideman). Going forward he never busts a gut to overlap. When you are down to ten you need to do more than normal. He didn't.

Forte 7 ran the channels, worked hard, offered himself. Did well on his own

Reeves not on long enough, should have replaced Connelly ages before. Missed trick by Adkins

Edited 2 January, 2012 by Chez

[shurlock]

Posted this on the other thread

 

Not one to paper over cracks or sugar-coat a sh*te performance but I think we can take positives from today. Until the sending off, we bossed the game, creating 2-3 excellent chances and winning numerous corners.

 

With Connolly starting, we reverted back to our early season set up. Guly looked liberated playing in a narrow midfield and AL took advantage of the options around him to play give and gos and collect the ball at pace (something which he hasn't been able to do). Harding got forward well and Hammond played at a high temp. Connolly did what he does best, finding space and pulling players out of position (in a way Guly hasn't been doing upfront), though he also looked rusty at times. Most pleasing was the movement and speed of our passing.

 

Our narrow midfield did OK against their two wide players who are anything but reserve players. A combination of Guly, Connolly and Richardson closed down LuaLua on the right, though Buckley had a better time down the other side. CMS didn't get a sniff against Jos. Apart from one glorious chance, a cutback which theur oncoming player should have buried, Brighton offered very little.

 

IMO Harding was very unlucky for his yellow; but it got the crowd going and he was promptly targeted by balls down the channel. The substitution was inevitable, a shame because Harding had got into some good forward positions and wasn't afraid to get close to his man.

 

The beginning of the 2nd half had a similar feel as the 1st. We had an early shout for a pen which looked dubious; but Guly's injury seemed to upset our shape and tempo. However, Lambert's sending off really changed things. The ref didn't see El Abd's gamesmanship and wrestling that provoked Lambert; nor the actual incident - other than Lambert's follow through and El-Abd making the most of things. But you raise your hands, you're skating on thin ice and praying on the ref's discretion. The sending off was utterly needless and on another day and under the control of a better ref, the outcome might been different. But Rickie can have no complaints.

 

Notwithstanding the extra man, Brighton huffed and puffed and its not surprising that their goal came from an unforced error. Rather than trying to collect the ball first time, KD should be playing the percentages and turning the ball around the post. KD's flaws are well-known -his poor distribution and shaky command of the box- but I always assumed he was a decent shot stopper. But 3 fumbles in 2 games? He pulled off a great save before the goal and could do nothing about the second which was a worldie; but with ten men and without Lambert and Forte/Reeves your back-ups (Forte wasn't bad TBH), the first goal was always going to settle things.

 

Upset we got done by such a sh*t outfit and unsure whether we were good or their weakened side made us look good (though we did hold our own against and carved open a 5 man midfield). When the dust has settled, the implications of Lambert's dismissal will be more important than the quality of performance which is perhaps refreshing change after the last month or so and hopefully transfer activity over the next 12 days helps lessen the blow on that front.

[Give it to Ron]

the red card (looked like Lambert lashed out and he had to go although D'Urso totally ignored El-Abd dragging Lambert to the ground right in front of him that led to the wrestling and the eventual kick/push or whatever it was that git him sent off) changed the game completely, until that point we totally dominated, had complete control of the game and carved them open at will. Connelly should have taken his chance but he fluffed it. Was Lallanas effort over the line? How we weren't two up at half time I will never know. I thought the formation worked a treat and we looked back to our best. Shame.

 

Once down to ten we lost the plot. Connelly found himself in no mans land in midfield and we lost our shape and they took control. Adkins failed completely to set us up appropriately to cope with being a man down, although Guly going off (if he was injured) did not help. If he took him for tactical reasons then Adkins ****ed us. I thought Connelly should have gone off and Reeves on. We needed more mobility in midfield when down to ten, but DC offered less.

 

Davis 4 at complete fault for the first goal, spilling another long shot that he should have held. A man down, you can't make that kind of mistake. Gave us no chance. When down to ten he kicked long too often. He needs options, but I thought he had them but took too long.

Richardson 5 decent first half but got run ragged in the second half by Lua Lua who outpaced him a lot. Tried his best, but hard to cope with raw pace

Martin 7 solid and didn't give Smith an inch

Jos 7 likewise, very good first half display, they didn't have a sniff, hard to say if he could do more to prevent the third goal

Harding 6 very unlucky. The yellow was a great tackle in my book and the shoulder barge did not deserve a talking to at all. This forced Adkins' hand. He was playing well until then, pushing forward and decent distribution.

Guly 7 thought he was having a good game in midfield, he was at the heart if a lot our good stuff, but then seemed to get injured (a hamstring pull perhaps). He carried on then was subbed, we went backwards quickly after that

Cork 8 worked his socks off and did everything possible, but once down to ten there just wasn't enough options or threat. Missed an open goal that would have got us back into it

Hammond 6 another that was having a good game until the red card, but dissappeared as the game got stretched

Lallana 7 miles better. Was involved in everything and got between the lines well and caused lots of problems. Faded a little though after the red. Not sure I would have subbed him though

Connelly 6 excellent link up play and we were running the game through him, but as soon as we went down to 10 he was of no use whatsoever and should have been subbed. Away from home you have to take your chances. He didn't take his. It cost us badly.

Lambert 2 he was having a poor game anyway, but lost his head and that cost us the match

 

Fox 4 defensively he just runs backwards until another Saint can help him. He never gets tight enough. Perhaps he doesn't have the pace so is worried about being done so he drops so deep. If we spent £1.7m on him then it was wasted as he doesnlt appear to have the defensive attributes you need (pace, pace and just enough pace to cope with any wideman). Going forward he never busts a gut to overlap. When you are down to ten you need to do more than normal. He didn't.

Forte 7 ran the channels, worked hard, offered himself. Did well on his own

Reeves not on long enough, should have replaced Connelly ages before. Missed trick by Adkins

 

Absolutely spot on - deffo sending off for retaliation - gut instinct straight away said you **** your off.

It started 5 mins earlier when that incompetant buffoon missed the clearest pen you will see when Lambert got taken out by El Habd.

Lambert was shocking all game. We looked back to our best up to that point.

[bender]

Fact is we should have been knocked off the top by now. God knows how we havent. When we do, we wont be the team to beat anymore.

[sammysaint]

Forte is he are saviour ?

[SaintRobbie]

Have to say I'm not surprised. There are now x4 contenders for the top 2 automatic promotion slots. I can't help but feel the bubble is bursting without reinforcements and an on-form Chaplow returning uninjured.

 

Brighton so wanted that. We need some pretty nifty management now…. lets see what NA is truly made of and the true extent of NCs ambition...

[S-Clarke]

Forte is he are saviour ?

 

Nope.

[Clifford Nelson]

This is the situation we were bound to find ourself in at some time or another, NA acknowledged that as well a couple of months ago. I also remember Dave Jones mentioning injuries as the killer in a long season. The measure of NA and the team is how they are getting us out of it.

 

My small observation, which doesn't take in today's game, which I didn't see, is that players like Lallana and Guly has started to take a third and even a fourth touch, at which time they usually lose the ball. Extra touches usually mean a loss of confidence, but I can't see where that loss off confidence has come from. You're not going to get a quick passing game with more than two touches.

 

Some of NA's teamsheets suggests that he is trying to keep a number of players happy, which led to the ditherings on the RW. Since Morgan is all but incapable of scoring goals and playing killer passes, what is he doing in the hole and on the right wing? Chaplow was a lucky choice since he came into topform and created chaos with his runs, but with him injured the only reasonable choice ought to be SDR, who is our only offensive RM as far as I can see.

 

This current situation is a big test for both NA and NC.

[redder freak]

Fortunately the rest of the teams in the Championship are as bad as we are.

 

But NA and NC have got their work cut out in January to get us back on track.

[bender]

We lost because we didnt score in the first half when clearly we should have. I was in the home end and below are fine examples.

 

 

I am still interested to see the footage of the sendings off.

[shurlock]

We lost because we didnt score in the first half when clearly we should have. I was in the home end and below are fine examples.

 

 

I am still interested to see the footage of the sendings off.

 

Did you get footage of our goal?

[Chez]

We lost because we didnt score in the first half when clearly we should have.

very good point. Connelly should have buried that chance.

[beatlesaint]

Fox defensively he just runs backwards until another Saint can help him. He never gets tight enough. Perhaps he doesn't have the pace so is worried about being done so he drops so deep. If we spent £1.7m on him then it was wasted as he doesnlt appear to have the defensive attributes you need (pace, pace and just enough pace to cope with any wideman). Going forward he never busts a gut to overlap.

 

At last ! Someone else can see it !! Its not just this game its virtually every game that this description will apply to Fox.

If I was an opposing manager I would tell my right winger/midfielder that Fox will give you plenty of space and time to do whatever you like going forward and that defensively you wont have to venture far over the halfway line cos as soon as Fox gets 10 yards over it he stops and plays a ball in field rather than getting to the penalty area or better still bye line (a la Harding).

 

He will venture that far forward maybe 2 or 3 times a game but nothing like Richardson and Harding do.

Oh yeah, he has a great left foot and can deliver a free kick or corner but he aint no £1.7 mill full back.

[shurlock]

very good point. Connelly should have buried that chance.

 

Which one - the flick and follow up shot from the corner? I thought he was flagged for offside?

Edited 2 January, 2012 by shurlock

[bender]

Did you get footage of our goal?

 

Nah camera was in my pocket.

[Chez]

Which one? I thought he was flagged for offside?

in the clip above. The flick was god, but when it came back to him it should have been tucked away. If it was offside then it wouldn't have mattered, but he still should have buried it. His link up play was good, but he wasn't striking the ball well before his injury. We need him scoring goals if he is to start games.

[Sambib]

Thought you guys looked good knocking it about but didn't feel that worried after the first half. I was expecting to get battered but despite being the better team in the first half you didn't score which was down to a good save from Brez, an unfortunate miss from Guly and either a poor refereeing call/good clearance off the line.

 

Second half I thought we came into it a bit more even before the sending off, and it was a definite red for Lambert, no doubt. Thought Forster-Caskey was awesome and deserved his goal, especially after that amazing save from Davis to deny him beforehand. Spadge's first was unstoppable but got a tad lucky with the deflection for #3.

 

I thought Greer's red was a tad harsh, maybe blue-and-white-tinted specs, but to me it looked like he was moving his arm to give instructions to midfield and elbowed your guy in the face - I thought it was accidental as he was calling the ref over to tell him Forte was hurt - oh well, I'm happy with the 3 points, good luck with the rest of the season - still top and that

[Sour Mash]

Ha ha, hark at all the threads, posts and panic on here tonight. Anyone who's been going away from home all season could see this happening, we've struggled away from home, everyone is just getting excited, as now the home form aint there to back us up.

 

Contrary to general opinion, I don't think we were great before Lambert got sent off. Obviously that massively didn't help, same goes for an awful ref and lino, plus a goal was disallowed, but we struggled to get going against a weak Brighton side. Hard to pinpoint today what went wrong, but some of the same old themes;

 

No decent back up for Lambert.

No goal threat from midfield without Chaplow.

Shoot AT Davis and he's in a world of trouble (he seems to find it easier to tip over when stretching etc).

Lallana struggling, as he has for a fair old while now.

 

Look at what we had to bring off the bench.

 

Few other questions. What can be done about Lambert getting battered every game by Centre backs? Yes, he gives some back and it is part of the game, but he gets pushed and pulled all over at times and gets nowt from the ref and its that overall frustration that led to the sending off.

 

Davis - Is he really the answer long-term? Ain't like he's got an immediate threat at the moment for his position?

 

Positives - Perfect time for a good long break from league games, couldn't have worked better in that regard really.

 

What is all the hype about the Amex? S**t to get to. No pubs around it. Looks cr@p from the outside. Just a regular concourse inside. Apart from the stand on our left, looked and sounded like being at Colchester away. Cheeky c**ts had been taking the p**s out of St marys, I'd been expecting a lot more from their new place.

 

Our away support the usual quiet, half hearted effort from middle aged blokes, women and kids. I know that offends, but its the truth and its frustrating.

[Chez]

Thought you guys looked good knocking it about but didn't feel that worried after the first half. I was expecting to get battered but despite being the better team in the first half you didn't score which was down to a good save from Brez, an unfortunate miss from Guly and either a poor refereeing call/good clearance off the line.

 

Second half I thought we came into it a bit more even before the sending off, and it was a definite red for Lambert, no doubt. Thought Forster-Caskey was awesome and deserved his goal, especially after that amazing save from Davis to deny him beforehand. Spadge's first was unstoppable but got a tad lucky with the deflection for #3.

 

I thought Greer's red was a tad harsh, maybe blue-and-white-tinted specs, but to me it looked like he was moving his arm to give instructions to midfield and elbowed your guy in the face - I thought it was accidental as he was calling the ref over to tell him Forte was hurt - oh well, I'm happy with the 3 points, good luck with the rest of the season - still top and that

I thought Forte might have made a meal of it and IMO neither the linesman nor ref saw it. D'Urso guessed, so Greer may have been very unlucky.

[Sour Mash]

the red card (looked like Lambert lashed out and he had to go although D'Urso totally ignored El-Abd dragging Lambert to the ground right in front of him that led to the wrestling and the eventual kick/push or whatever it was that git him sent off) changed the game completely, until that point we totally dominated, had complete control of the game and carved them open at will. Connelly should have taken his chance but he fluffed it. Was Lallanas effort over the line? How we weren't two up at half time I will never know. I thought the formation worked a treat and we looked back to our best. Shame.

 

Once down to ten we lost the plot. Connelly found himself in no mans land in midfield and we lost our shape and they took control. Adkins failed completely to set us up appropriately to cope with being a man down, although Guly going off (if he was injured) did not help. If he took him for tactical reasons then Adkins ****ed us. I thought Connelly should have gone off and Reeves on. We needed more mobility in midfield when down to ten, but DC offered less.

 

Davis 4 at complete fault for the first goal, spilling another long shot that he should have held. A man down, you can't make that kind of mistake. Gave us no chance. When down to ten he kicked long too often. He needs options, but I thought he had them but took too long.

Richardson 5 decent first half but got run ragged in the second half by Lua Lua who outpaced him a lot. Tried his best, but hard to cope with raw pace

Martin 7 solid and didn't give Smith an inch

Jos 7 likewise, very good first half display, they didn't have a sniff, hard to say if he could do more to prevent the third goal

Harding 6 very unlucky. The yellow was a great tackle in my book and the shoulder barge did not deserve a talking to at all. This forced Adkins' hand. He was playing well until then, pushing forward and decent distribution.

Guly 7 thought he was having a good game in midfield, he was at the heart if a lot our good stuff, but then seemed to get injured (a hamstring pull perhaps). He carried on then was subbed, we went backwards quickly after that

Cork 8 worked his socks off and did everything possible, but once down to ten there just wasn't enough options or threat. Missed an open goal that would have got us back into it

Hammond 6 another that was having a good game until the red card, but dissappeared as the game got stretched

Lallana 7 miles better. Was involved in everything and got between the lines well and caused lots of problems. Faded a little though after the red. Not sure I would have subbed him though

Connelly 6 excellent link up play and we were running the game through him, but as soon as we went down to 10 he was of no use whatsoever and should have been subbed. Away from home you have to take your chances. He didn't take his. It cost us badly.

Lambert 2 he was having a poor game anyway, but lost his head and that cost us the match

 

Fox 4 defensively he just runs backwards until another Saint can help him. He never gets tight enough. Perhaps he doesn't have the pace so is worried about being done so he drops so deep. If we spent £1.7m on him then it was wasted as he doesnlt appear to have the defensive attributes you need (pace, pace and just enough pace to cope with any wideman). Going forward he never busts a gut to overlap. When you are down to ten you need to do more than normal. He didn't.

Forte 7 ran the channels, worked hard, offered himself. Did well on his own

Reeves not on long enough, should have replaced Connelly ages before. Missed trick by Adkins

Been banging on for ages what a waste of money Fox is. Think it was something like £1.85m, few hollywood type cross field balls catch the eye of some, but he aint up to much otherwise. Puts in as many bad crossed as good ones as well.

[Sour Mash]

Want to explain to me exactly what changes he could have made with Bart,Forte,Reeves and Holmes left on the bench??

no defenders there, no CMs.We need to stop getting on at NA, he had no other choices available today apart from the development squad and the academy, what you saw is what we had available today apart from Butterfield and I just couldn't say where we are with him just now,the other day on the build up video he seemed to have donned the role of club jester.

Question; Given the "strength" of our squad, should we not be seeing more of a push from our development and maybe even youth players to be getting involved and making a name for themeselves? Most player that go on to really make it are pushing into the first team squad by the age of 17 or 18.

[rick1976.4.38]

Our away support the usual quiet, half hearted effort from middle aged blokes, women and kids. I know that offends, but its the truth and its frustrating.

i have to agree with you.heres a clip from just before ko.

[SaintNeil90]

Been banging on for ages what a waste of money Fox is. Think it was something like £1.85m, few hollywood type cross field balls catch the eye of some, but he aint up to much otherwise. Puts in as many bad crossed as good ones as well.

 

Majority of there attacks came down our left and looked dangerous until Fox came on. Miles better than Harding who is slow and gives away too many free kicks

[Sour Mash]

Majority of there attacks came down our left and looked dangerous until Fox came on. Miles better than Harding who is slow and gives away too many free kicks

Er, that's sort of my point. I don't particularly rate Harding. We've spent a fair it on a new left-back by Championship standards and he my eyes he hasn't provided enough of an improvement, relative to the money spent on him.

[Sour Mash]

Majority of there attacks came down our left and looked dangerous until Fox came on. Miles better than Harding who is slow and gives away too many free kicks

Oh and relative to Harding being "slow", Fox isn't exactly "quick". Don't see him bombing to the bye-line and back like Richardson do you? And, you're right, he doesn't give away free-kicks like Harding (who is f*****g clumsy), because he stands off all the time and doesn't make a challenge!

[Chez]

Majority of there attacks came down our left and looked dangerous until Fox came on. Miles better than Harding who is slow and gives away too many free kicks

I thought Harding had Buckley pretty much in his pocket. D'Urso screwed him by booking him for an excellent tackle and then having words for what was a strong shoulder. When Fox came on we didn't tighten up. In the second half Buckley did as he pleased. That said he didn't get much cover. Bit that's my point. He doesn't seem capable of handling one on ones.

 

Fox is classy on the ball. He's great at getting out of trouble. But he needs to stretch his legs a bit more when we go forward.

Edited 2 January, 2012 by Chez

[Sambib]

I thought Harding had Buckley pretty much in his pocket. D'Urso screwed him by booking him for an excellent tackle and then having words for what was a strong shoulder. When Fox came on we didn't tighten up. In the second half Buckley did as he pleased.

 

Buckley was dominating Harding whenever he got the ball, and the 'shoulder' was a two arm push in the back - had a side on view - Probably could have got a yellow for that if he hadn't been booked already - hilarious to see him get taken off mind

[Papa Shango]

My report/ratings on the game, give it a read please: http://www.thesaintshub.com/brighton3-0saints.html

[Cestrian Saint]

After my thread about facing facts (which has been removed due to the idiotic behaviour of some forum members) I wondered if anybody has actually grasped what I was trying to say following todays result? This is exactly what we can expect when we go to places like Blackpool, WHU, Brum & Boro. Our away form is simply not good enough to get us out of this league. I've been saying this since October and had nothing but grief for it. We'll get 78pts max this season. Play offs is our best shot. Face facts!

[shurlock]

Ha ha, hark at all the threads, posts and panic on here tonight. Anyone who's been going away from home all season could see this happening, we've struggled away from home, everyone is just getting excited, as now the home form aint there to back us up.

 

Contrary to general opinion, I don't think we were great before Lambert got sent off. Obviously that massively didn't help, same goes for an awful ref and lino, plus a goal was disallowed, but we struggled to get going against a weak Brighton side. Hard to pinpoint today what went wrong, but some of the same old themes;

 

No decent back up for Lambert.

No goal threat from midfield without Chaplow.

Shoot AT Davis and he's in a world of trouble (he seems to find it easier to tip over when stretching etc).

Lallana struggling, as he has for a fair old while now.

 

Look at what we had to bring off the bench.

 

Few other questions. What can be done about Lambert getting battered every game by Centre backs? Yes, he gives some back and it is part of the game, but he gets pushed and pulled all over at times and gets nowt from the ref and its that overall frustration that led to the sending off.

 

Davis - Is he really the answer long-term? Ain't like he's got an immediate threat at the moment for his position?

 

Positives - Perfect time for a good long break from league games, couldn't have worked better in that regard really.

 

What is all the hype about the Amex? S**t to get to. No pubs around it. Looks cr@p from the outside. Just a regular concourse inside. Apart from the stand on our left, looked and sounded like being at Colchester away. Cheeky c**ts had been taking the p**s out of St marys, I'd been expecting a lot more from their new place.

 

Our away support the usual quiet, half hearted effort from middle aged blokes, women and kids. I know that offends, but its the truth and its frustrating.

 

Poor result but not sure if today was just a repeat of everything's wrong with the team.

 

Agree there are problems and they predate this current dip. Those who don't watch us week-in, week-out have been the most likely to get ahead of themselves - at least until recent results slapped their complacency in the face. Still we played better and different today: it was slightly less one-dimensional, helped by the change in formation and the return of a number of players. Not saying that it means anything -a poor opposition might just have made look better than we were; but it would be wrong to say that there were no positives to take from today's game which possibly augur well for the future.

[Leicestersaint]

My report/ratings on the game, give it a read please: http://www.thesaintshub.com/brighton3-0saints.html

 

Good report and ratings except perhaps a bit harsh on Reeves who was only on for a short time.

[teamsaint]

there was always a danger that the first penalty at SMS would come back to haunt us. So much made of it in the media, that it just had to.

[Sour Mash]

Poor result but not sure if today was just a repeat of everything's wrong with the team.

 

Agree there are problems and they predate this current dip. Those who don't watch us week-in, week-out have been the most likely to get ahead of themselves - at least until recent results slapped their complacency in the face. Still we played better and different today: it was slightly less one-dimensional, helped by the change in formation and the return of a number of players. Not saying that it means anything -a poor opposition might just have made look better than we were; but it would be wrong to say that there were no positives to take from today's game which possibly augur well for the future.

Depends which level you look at it from. Yes, we had a bit more cutting edge first half. Still not enough in my eyes, against what was a poor Brighton team. Still the same problems in my eyes of lacking pace, back-up for Lambert, yes lallana looked a bit better in the first half, but in my eyes, he's still not doing enough. And forgetting the back up for Lambert question, just how weak is our bench? One point from a run of away fixtures of Bristol City, Donny, Skates and today really ain't great.

[Saint Fan CaM]

Surprise, surprise. Other Managers are starting to understand how to beat us and Adkins at this point either does not know how to change to win games and/or we haven't got the players to allow him to change tactics. Guly should not have played central midfield away from home - if he was to play atall he should have been out on the right. What is the point of squad players if you're not going to utilise them when your first 11 are not producing the goods? I reckon Holmes should be played in place of a pretty ineffective Lallana as a start, then bring Adam on later when legs are tiring. Adam needs a rest - the 1st team needs a shake up. Adkins and Cortese need to bring in some new talent with pace as soon as possible. It's no good just being able to pass the ball well - we need to attack much faster and before the opposition get 11 men behind the ball.

[the saint in winchester]

Ok, we're mid-wobble and we've some really, really difficult games coming up. We've got players out and we're running low on confidence. We could either blame everyone around us or suck it up and have a go again. We've got 21 games left - that's 63 points to play for.

 

It's pretty obvious we're going to need strengthening and I think that's what NA and NC will set about doing within the next week or so. We're on the precipice and we could go either of two ways. We'll never get a better chance than what we've got now to get promoted. Let's hope we pull ourselves together soon.

 

Just listened to NA's post match interview and he states we are working hard to get players in either as perm or loan signings. Expects/hopes to have players in place by next league game (14th?)

[Saint Fan CaM]

Point 1. Get behind the Manager and the team. We have over-performed so far to expectations and we're still top of the league (amazingly). There is still plenty of time and opportunity to arrest the 'blip' and come back even stronger.

 

Point 2. I am a little concerned about some of Adkins tactical decisions. He seems more intent on playing certain players and in a certain manner than on sending out a team with a game plan that will actually win a game. Two examples? Guly - sacrifricing width in midfield by playing him central was a disaster. Harding - in the last game, both the Brighton team and fans blamed Harding for the sending off of at least one of their players and it is clear that he was targetted by some cycnical challenges today.

 

Point 3. Lambert needs to show why he is worthy of a place in the Premiership beyond his goal scoring. If he is the talisman the team relies on, then he really needs to be more disciplined regardless of the cheating methods employed by the opposition. Adkins was right about one thing - Lamberts dismissal lost us the game - however it was just the straw that broke the donkeys back.

 

Point 4. We may have a large squad, but there are too many reservists who are not of Championship standard, let alone Premiership quality. Now is the time for NC to spend the money that will give NA the ammunition to cross the winning line. Fail to do this and automatic promotion will slip us by I fear.