John Boy Saint Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 Close knit group of players?!: bunch of strangers out there tonight. Also played with 10 men for most of the game, Falique first half ignored when asking for the ball, second half De Ridder watching the grass grow while standing in space the size of the New Forest while the rest of the team played playground football on the other side of the pitch. Our forte this season and last has been spreading the ball from side to side to open up space tonight we passed the ball up Cul-de-Sac's emphasised by Leicester closing down for the full 96 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 I don't think it's fair to make a judgment about any new player after a game and an all-round team performance like that. If he'd arrived in the middle of our good run he'd likely be hailed as a budding superstar.you are right of course, but some of our problems were as a result of his display. Don't underestimate the damage caused by one underperforming cog in the machine. He was woeful and it effected us. I think I am more unhappy at Adkins for bringing him in and playing him out of position. As I have said we didn't need a in the hole attacking midfielder. we have our own nippers to do that, we needed a left winger with pace and tricks and a cross and a goal every now and then... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor_Saint Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 @jackcork1 Just got home. Can take the criticism after games like that. Good thing about football is the next game is round the corner to set it right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGTL Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 No matter how awful we were, and my god we were awful, it should have been 2-2 at half time. How Hammond has missed that header I'll never know, and Cork's chance, although difficult, should have been buried at this level. One to forget, serious reinforcements needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA77 Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 Good effort!! How much you put on?? people that bet against the saints are ***** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor_Saint Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 people that bet against the saints are ***** Really? Come into the real world where sometimes saints will lose a game. If you don't see that then I'd suggest that you look closer to who's the ***** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 No matter how awful we were, and my god we were awful, it should have been 2-2 at half time. How Hammond has missed that header I'll never know, and Cork's chance, although difficult, should have been buried at this level. One to forget, serious reinforcements needed. Hammonds chance was massive....and you forgot Connolly too... through on goal and passed it to the keeper. A bit of conviction there and it was 1-0 and a totally different game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA77 Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 Really? Come into the real world where sometimes saints will lose a game. If you don't see that then I'd suggest that you look closer to who's the ***** what has coming in to the real world got to do with it ? Have I said "saints won't ever lose". I could never back against my team. Fair play to you though. gloat on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor_Saint Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 what has coming in to the real world got to do with it ? Have I said "saints won't ever lose". I could never back against my team. Fair play to you though. gloat on Thanks for your permission - accepted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obelisk Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 No matter how awful we were, and my god we were awful, it should have been 2-2 at half time. How Hammond has missed that header I'll never know, and Cork's chance, although difficult, should have been buried at this level. One to forget, serious reinforcements needed.Despite the performance Saints had enough pretty reasonable chances to get something from the game. It's often said that the sign of a good side is when points are gained when playing woefully. I've been worried about the poor finishing for a while now and we're now only winning when playing against 10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jampot Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 Hooiveld has a scan tomorrow dosent think its too bad.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypochondriac Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 Despite the performance Saints had enough pretty reasonable chances to get something from the game. It's often said that the sign of a good side is when points are gained when playing woefully. I've been worried about the poor finishing for a while now and we're now only winning when playing against 10. We didn't deserve anything other than a loss. Totally outclassed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 23 January, 2012 Share Posted 23 January, 2012 We didn't deserve anything other than a loss. Totally outclassed. Can't really disagree with that. We had a couple of chances, but it would have been harsh on Lecister if we'd have got anything. But again, that's what will happen when the spine is ripped out of any team. Fonte, Lallana, Chaplow, Lambert.... Rip out Giggs, Vidic and Rooney out of the Man Utd team.......they will struggle. TBH though I'd not have been too bothered if we'd have shown a bit more effort, but we were dead out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Did the general inability to threaten and obvious fact that we were clearly going to lose make anyone else nostalgic for the Poortvliet days?! It just had that slightly depressed feel to it, where hope seems an ambitious prospect at best. We just needed Ryan Smith to come on and do fck all in the last 10 minutes. It was the worst I've seen us since those days, for sure. We've been pretty spoilt for the last 3 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitey Grandad Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 For me the pivotal problem was Harding, and it spawned a number of other problems. He was unforgivably beaten on the inside (his "good" side) for the first goal. He was still trying to get back for the second goal, which caused Martin to head out to cover for him, leaving us that crucial man short in the middle. From that point (0-2) we were chasing the game, which just made many of the same problems worse. Harding got caught time and time again, which sucked our midfield (especially Cork) back on covering missions, so no quick counter-attacks. It was not a good tactical decision to pit a left-footed full back against a fast, left-footed, line-hugging winger. I think that Nigel was badly out-managed today but I'm not heading for Alpine territory because we'll get a hell of a lot better with our returning players. Yup, there was a big gaping hole at right back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CityRanger Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Our support was poor tonight. Didn't get on the ref enough and let the lino at the Chapel/Kingsland end get away with murder 1st half. Too much apathy. I had people all round me shouting at Kelvin from the start about his short goal kicks when he's clearly under instruction from the management to use this tactic. At least these people say something tho I suppose as most of the others round me just sit...and sit...and say nothing...That's the Chapel for you! Embarrassing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Our support was poor tonight. Didn't get on the ref enough and let the lino at the Chapel/Kingsland end get away with murder 1st half. Too much apathy. I had people all round me shouting at Kelvin from the start about his short goal kicks when he's clearly under instruction from the management to use this tactic. At least these people say something tho I suppose as most of the others round me just sit...and sit...and say nothing...That's the Chapel for you! Embarrassing. The booing at half time was a complete joke - disgraceful really, after the treats we've been served up at SMS this season the players surely deserve a bit of slack during this rough patch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiggles31 Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Booing the team at half time is not on given the season we've had so far. It does absolutely nothing to help the team and is completely pointless. It does my nut in when people boo. Get behind the team FFS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lighthouse Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 I know I'm 3 hours late for this but I have just driven up to Bristol, so here goes... We were sh*te (has anyone touched upon this yet, can't be arsed trawling through the whole thread to find out). I can't think of one decent performance from any of them really. Jos and Martin I think achieved mediocrity, but that's about it. We just never looked up for it. Chasing long balls over the top was a complete none starter. Hitting it high at Guly and Connolly was never going to work either, but we compounded the problem by never fighting for the second ball. We got bypassed in midfield, did nothing up front and fell asleep at the back. We had a couple of decent chances. Cork... f**king hell it's easy to see why he's never scored for us. Holmes put one effort wide. That's about the "highlights" of it as far as Saints are concerned. Can't be arsed giving all the players marks out of 10, but for me Harding and Connolly were the worst. We got away with Harding at RB against sh*t teams, but tonight he looked like a fish up a tree. A full back who can't turn his man outside is an accident waiting to happen. He was hardly an improvement at LB if I'm being honnest. Connolly did nothing. I maintain what I said after the Forest game. When Saints are brilliant, Connolly is a decent player. If we are anything less than brilliant he goes missing. I'd give them both 1/10 and they only get 1 for not being Darren Powell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 (edited) A few things to put the performance in context (apart from the bleedingly obvious that the entire f**king spine of the team has been ripped out). We were outfought in midfield - if there's a problem with the midfield, its going forward, not defensively. So it came as a surprise that 3 DMs couldn't get hold of the ball and control the middle - whether we would have done anything with it given the poverty of options upfront is a side issue. I've seen quite a bit of Leicester this season (note their recent form is worse than ours), and the one area where they are weak is in the middle. Richie Wellens, their club captain, is on reduced training regime because they worry about his match day intensity FFS. It is a very narrow and flat midfield yet we made it look good. Indeed, it is the one area where we can't really complain about injuries - as we had most of our midfield available minus obviously Chaplow. That's a worry. The new lad looked a passenger tonight. What seemed clear is that he was uncomfortable playing as a wideman. Looks like he could combine well with Richardson but that assumes a fit and ready Lallana. No doubt, he'll improve, especially in a more confident team but the difference between him and SDR who is an impact player was night and day. Will say it again, we are not a tippy-tappy team that will cut opponents apart on the ground but we are quite direct and reliant on a powerful target man who can come deep, hold players off and link up play. Guly tried tonight but his touch made a rapist look suave and silky. Lambert will be back; but its not an area where we can afford to be light. For me, Jayrod would give us the most in that area; Luckas J would have given us a cheaper variant of the same option and we arguably missed a trick if as reports suggest he was available on loan in December. Finally, there are lot of silly presumptions about our transfer activity - who the f**k knows whether we have put all our eggs in the Hooper basket - one that that was always a long shot. The only reason that news broke is because Celtic couldn't keep things private. It says nothing about our other targets and the extent of our activity and I have no doubt those clubs have shown greater discretion and professionalism in their dealings. None of you clowns will be any the wiser until something happens, so stop assuming that we've been going up blind alleys. Edited 24 January, 2012 by shurlock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Nail on head. Leicester had a poor first half of the season but are shaping up to have a cracking second half. Possibly the complete opposite of our season (if the SWF doomsayers are correct). We could well end up with a similar points tally as Leicester, yet, merely because of the patttern of results (ours front loaded, Leicester's backloaded), our season will be deemed to have been a failure and Leicester will be chuffed to have put things right. Funny old game Saint. Before tonight, Leicester's league form was as bad as ours - this was hardly an upwardly mobile team oozing bags of confidence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 That's exactly what it was. They've been improving in performances and found their rhythm against forest in some style, then came into this game buzzing. Saints had a long old wait since their game at forest, and lost Lallana, which clearly didn't help confidence. Add maybe the pressure and crowd, something clearly wasn't right mentally. They beat a poor Forest side. Prior to that they had lost to Barnsley at home and had only won one game in over a month and a half (like us against Palace), with some really poor performances thrown in (as i say, I've got to see them quite a bit). Fans actually daring to question their saviour Pearson after Barnsley. Maybe Forest provided a kickstart but it would have taken very little to dent their confidence. This was a very brittle team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMikey Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Everything about tonight was f*cking dire. Our game plan was wrong, and Leicester executed theirs perfectly. Without Rickie on the pitch, we had nobody to hold up the ball from the long passes we kept pumping up there. Guly's touch completely deserted him tonight, although tbf he always had 3 men on him as soon as he got the ball so he didn't have much of a chance. Pretty dreadful all over the pitch tbh, the only player who can really say he did well tonight was Hooiveld. Hope we've got him back before Cardiff, otherwise we're screwed. Aside from the rubbish on the pitch, what really f*cking infuriated me was fans leaving in their hundreds on 75 minutes and those who booed at half time and full time. Call yourselves Saints fans? Absolutely disgraceful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingsbridge Saint Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Yet another shocking TV performance for the Australian public to judge us on. Seriously - we are terrible so often on the TV. Second all over the pitch. And probably in the showers as well. Man up you Pussies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Hooiveld has a scan tomorrow dosent think its too bad.. Perhaps he had the common sense to go off at the slightest twinge. We didnt concede any more goals anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazlo78 Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65PMSGL9mpw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazlo78 Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Disappointing for me but this didn't feel like any other performance I've seen this season - this really wasn't us. We played like a team that didn't know each other for the first half and I agree that Harding should not have been continued with at RB...good enough against a Forest but that was a motivated team out there tonight with skill and commitment and they were too good for our, lacking in key players, side. Couple of positives...Jos - what a buy he's turned out to be...just hope he's not out for long. I thought Cork tried to make up for the lack of support around him and I don't think anyone could be called out for not givving their all...it just didn't come off with the players available tonight. Kudos too to the loud bloke in Block 37 about Row X or Y...you did your best mate...loved the shout of 'Did you leave your vocal chords at the ticket office?' The whole evening just never got going. The negatives other than a below our standards performance...those that booed! Exactly what were you booing you sad f*cking twa*s? I've been supporting Saints since 1959 and have yet to boo our own players and none deserved it tonight...in my opinion those that did are spoilt and pig f*cking ignorant. Other negatives..Nugent and his gesturing...skate c*nt...I'd love to see him fined for it! But overall I'm not alpining, daleking or any other words for portending doom of the direst kind...tonight we lacked our influential players, too many missing, but they'll be back. We may strengthen too but the team out there wasn't really us of this season and sadly, for whatever reason, the crowd weren't right there where we've been this season either. Sky? Maybe - we're a long way from being out of the automatic race...others will have nights like this when we're winning again. There are shed loads of points to play for. I agree with all of your points: this performance was way below quality, Harding got away against poorer teams, players actually tried but couldn't make it right. One thing though: as for who scored the goals I don't care where they played before. If we were to buy any of them, they'd kiss badges on shirts here as at any other club... they're just football players... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasoneuelllfanclub Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Everything about tonight was f*cking dire. Our game plan was wrong, and Leicester executed theirs perfectly. Without Rickie on the pitch, we had nobody to hold up the ball from the long passes we kept pumping up there. Guly's touch completely deserted him tonight, although tbf he always had 3 men on him as soon as he got the ball so he didn't have much of a chance. Pretty dreadful all over the pitch tbh, the only player who can really say he did well tonight was Hooiveld. Hope we've got him back before Cardiff, otherwise we're screwed. Aside from the rubbish on the pitch, what really f*cking infuriated me was fans leaving in their hundreds on 75 minutes and those who booed at half time and full time. Call yourselves Saints fans? Absolutely disgraceful. Fans pay good money to go and watch and if team shows lack of desire and passion then that is unacceptable and fans have every right to voice their disapproval. Fans can accept losing but to not at least give it a go is inexcusable. I can guarantee had the players showed some mettle and tried taking game to leicester there would have been no booing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slickmick Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Two teams with City in their names have done the double over us this season. Next up is Cardiff City and unless we show more fight and desire to win every battle on the pitch then we are going to have an unwanted hat-trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brizzie Saints Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Premier League............Were avin a laugh. Performances like that wont even justify being in the NPC, totally embarased. Cant be a coincidence that our perfomances have been pretty sh*t since chappers got injured, even the games weve got a point from have been either lucky or against even worse sides than us. We need a shot in the arm from somewhere, returning players, new blood wotever, we need something and quick. It does amaze me tho, just last week people were talking about champions and being a force in the PL, now one defeat and were definately not going up this year, come on. Weve had an amazing run till Dec, weve got a load of injuries and the team need our support, not booed off the pitch. The fans were crap tonight, could hardly hear anyone but leicester singing. If we want promotion, everyone including the players , supporters need to give it 150%. Come on. This is the best chance were gonna get, lets not let it slip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai_phil Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 OK keyboard plugged back in and slept on it. Still woeful. When we get pressed like that, we REALLY need to have the ability to hold the ball up front. Guly really is not a bad nPc striker but what he shows is how good RL & AL's first touch is. DC went missing completely - his scuffed shot when put in by a horrid pass by Danns showed a total lack of self confidence, his body langague after the miss showed a lack of intensity. Falque showed promise - he had a good touch and did the simple stuff on the few occassions early in the first half when he got the ball. (Which was like what 3 times?). But that was the point - it was promise - he wasn't ready for a start Guly had 3 players around him whenever the ball came to him - showed that the midfield were slow and predictable with their passing - in fact my thoughts in the first half were that the pitch seemed very "bobbly" - it wasn't it was again first touches were poor. Was Harding really that bad? Or was he made to look that bad. In the first 20 minutes or so Leicester had 2 or 3 men attacking him. Didn't listen to DM so I guess he was moaning again about us not blocking off the wings. I don't blame him for their first goal - we lost possession easily again in the centre and Mills played a quick ball, Harding was trying to break forward in support and we just killed ourselves. Yes he should have done better against Nugent but he started 2 yards behind him and tbere was cover. Jos again two stunning block/tackles but he was just trying to plug the many gaps. Second half Guly was getting the ball further up the field, even though they both seemed to stand around or run into alleys SDR & Holmes changed the way that Leicester were tearing us down the flanks and we looked less awful. Look. ALL teams have injuries, all teams have to make do with what they can find to get 11 out on the pitch. That excuse is blinding us to the key problem here. Teams have learnt how to stop us playing. Our "complex" "confidence based" movement of the ball is a thing of beauty when it works or we are given time to play. The THING is that we aren't acknowledging reality - which is sometimes you have to FIGHT for the right to play OR sometimes you won't have the players in the side who are good enough or match fit enough. There has been no Plan B. We have not developed a style or system to play ugly football. If you bring in a 3rd choice squad player they will never be as good as your first choice. We should play to the strengths of what we put on the pitch NOT what we want to play when everything is going well. There is always more to football than systems, shapes and styles. Sometimes you need to roll your sleeves up and battle. Last night it became clear very quickly we did not have anyone on the pitch apart from Jos & to an extent Fox who were prepared to do that. We were all too nice. The crowd booed the display, the lack of energy and the lack of fight. they have every right to do that in the same way they have the right to applaud and cheer when they create Champagne football. The lack of fight is going to be a real problem thee next 3 or 4 games and THOSE results will affect our confidence on the ball. IMHO I am a little concerned after watching that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Durman Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Reasons to be cheerful: We will have Lambert back next month Fonte and Chappers to come back in soonish Leicester will take points off our challengers We are 2nd We can make the gap 4 points again by beating Cardiff We have Lee to come in Jos' injury is a blow, hope it is tweak not a pull. Good post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Durman Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 (edited) Ha, Nigel was badly out-managed? That was likely to be the case, glut of Nigels that it was. Harding was certainly gash. I know several have praised his right back performances (maybe rightly, I haven't seen enough of them), but I'm not a fan of out of position full backs. Saw Arsenal punished for it yesterday and they improved when they played a kid who at least is a right back. I know it's a risk, but I'd rather see Stephens play. Always best to play your best natural for the position I think, and if FR wasn't fit, that leaves Stephens. To exacerbate that, we didn't have a recognised right midfielder either, which only makes life harder for the right back. Maybe that's why he didn't want to play Stephens? But regardless, it backfired. Despite that, it is still harsh to criticise individuals on such a poor team performance. But if I'm being pushed, I'd say Connolly was worse than Harding. Sorry, but what a load of rubbish. NA was not out managed. Look at the team sheets and ask yourself how many our our team who have got into Leicesters team. NA was not outmanaged he didn't have the resources Edited 24 January, 2012 by Andy Durman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaSaint Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Sorry, but a load of rubbish. NA was not out managed. Look at the team sheets and ask yourself how many our our team who have got into Leicesters team. NA was not outmanaged he didn't have the resources He had the resources to play a right back at right back, and it was on that flank that we dug ourselves the hole from which we never escaped. Yes, we were lacking some vital pieces but IMO Adkins made some poor choices last night and the winner of the tactical battle was Pearson. That certainly doesn't mean I'm anti-Adkins, far from it, but that I think he came up short last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirleysfc Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Kingsland? There was a guy near me that blamed Guly for everything. yep, block 32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirleysfc Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Can we stop playing Guly now please? If we lose to Cardiff, we'll be looking over our shoulder at 7th before we know it, Blues are flying and our away form is sketchy to say the least. Seriously? He wasn't the worst player last night... in fact he wasn't even the worst forward!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidthesquid Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 I think I know what it feels like to be Alp today. A night of reflection and I still can't find a positive. Everything that has been wrong or a problem this season came to a head. Collectively we got outfought from the off- I don't think we won a challenge until we were two down. We were too slow moving forward, we managed one genuine effort on target and badly missed half a dozen clear chances, and we never controlled the game at any time. Individually, Guly was worse than even some of his recent displays, off the pace mentally & physically, Connolly got bullied out of it, as did Schneiderlin, the young lad Falque just looked lost, Cork is not a right winger nor Harding a right back. And Adkins got it tactically wrong from the off by keeping the team from the Forest game. The lack of attacking options needs to be addressed because without Lambert & Lallana we look a very ordinary side. Very disappointing from start to finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lethallee Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 When teams really press us and take control in midfield area we really do struggle. For me the lack of drive and intensity from central midfield is a problem which has gradually dogged us as the season has worn on. We don't have that element of the unknown about us like we did at the start of the season with opponents now more clued up on our tactics. Morgan, hammond and Cork too similar for my liking. We do miss Chaplow as he is the one midfielder who has drive and intensity in his locker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 When teams really press us and take control in midfield area we really do struggle. For me the lack of drive and intensity from central midfield is a problem which has gradually dogged us as the season has worn on. We don't have that element of the unknown about us like we did at the start of the season with opponents now more clued up on our tactics. Morgan, hammond and Cork too similar for my liking. We do miss Chaplow as he is the one midfielder who has drive and intensity in his locker. The 3 of them, Cork, Hammond and Morgan are way too similar to play in the same team IMO. We seem to be trying to accomodate all 3, which in a way I think is hindering us. I thought Cork looked decent on the right against forest and I thought we had the answer....but he was poor today and gave us no energy down the right, which is exactly what we need. I think Chaplow will come back soon, but will take some time to get back to the level he was playing at. The midfield were simply not at the races yesterdays, lost all the 50/50's, gave the ball away and were pushed off it far too often. When the midfield is as disjointed as that, the front 2 aren't keeping hold of the ball, then you're on a one way trip to a nasty defeat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 When teams really press us and take control in midfield area we really do struggle. For me the lack of drive and intensity from central midfield is a problem which has gradually dogged us as the season has worn on. We don't have that element of the unknown about us like we did at the start of the season with opponents now more clued up on our tactics. Morgan, hammond and Cork too similar for my liking. We do miss Chaplow as he is the one midfielder who has drive and intensity in his locker. Agree with this - the stodgy Schneiderlin/Hammond partnership has dogged us since L1 days and two years and a half years on, its still the same. Cork brought some movement in but he's still defensively minded and it was unlikely he could do it alone, especially as NA likes to rotate things. Chaplow's been a miss; but he was playing out of his skin -and who knows he'll hit the same form again. I thought we've need another CM for a while- someone who can drive forward and up the tempo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trousers Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 @RadhijaidiOff: In my way I don't know how it's gonna look like in the changing room but I will try to bring a good atmosphere if we needs!!! :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 @RadhijaidiOff: In my way I don't know how it's gonna look like in the changing room but I will try to bring a good atmosphere if we needs!!! :/ Top lad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Give it to Ron Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Have cooled down now...having read some of the threads I am amazed at some of the comments. Danns was probably the best midfielder I have seen this season. How anyone say Pearson didnt outhink Adkins? He knew we had a left back playing at right back and had him shut down as soon as he had the ball. Harding had nowhere to go ever and we didnt have a player on the right hand side for 40 yards! Falque looked no better than De Ridder or Holmes but that was his first game in a poor side. Ok we were without 4 first teamers but Adkins has to take some of the blame - how can you leave something that is so wrong for so long and not even change it at half time. Harding and the awful Hammond should have been off after the second goal and Richardson and De Ridder on and then we would at least of had some balance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seaford Saint Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Not sure what to say....we will get displays like this but its the trend that worries me. Our first team lacked 4 key players....the spine of our team in effect was missing. So for me Adkins should have seen this and maybe played a more disciplined 2 lines of 4 with bodies behind the ball. I think you have to credit Leicester, they are an excellent side but that team has cost a lot of money to assemble Not sure of the wisdom of looking at a Japanese striker however its important that we balance our books first and foremost. Do we want to be cannon fodder in the Premiership? Konchesky was excellent last night but had previously failed to impress at Liverpool. its contraversial fpr me to say this, but I that Guly was excellent last night in comparison to some of the dross in the Saints team....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Window Cleaner Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Would have settled for a draw anyway because to me Nugent and Beckford were always going to be too good for our central defence because I just do not rate Martin as being of sufficient quality as of yet to deal with such a pairing. Always made it known that I believe that we need a new CB of quality,one who can double for either Fonte or Jos in construction play as well as defence. Didn't see the game because I don't do streams but I'm not overly despondent,mainly because I always believed that Leicester's attack would be too good for us and that their defence would not have too many problems with Connolly who I really don't rate either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disconnect Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Pretty depressing reading! Harding and Connolly were absolutely hopeless. Passing back to the keeper only puts more pressure on us, and Davis didnt look comfortable with that tactic either. Guly was under too much pressure too often, we needed more width desperately, which we didnt get at all. Thought Fox actually played pretty well, and Hooiveld until he went off (hope he's not out for long)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearsy Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 its contraversial fpr me to say this, but I that Guly was excellent last night in comparison to some of the dross in the Saints team....... I agree with you, although I wouldn't go as far as 'excellent' Guly to me looked like the only one who might make something happen. The crowd don't half get on his back quickly though! It'd be the easiest thing in the world for a player of his quality to just lay it off backwards or sideways like Hammond or Cork and maybe he'd get less stick if he did but that's not his role in the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldNick Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 The folly of not getting players in at the start of Jan will haunt us. Surely it is not beyond the whit of our club to get things worked out in november/december. It is not wristslitting but a case of planning ahead. it is obvious that there is a weakness in our squad. Relying on Dc to be a backup for our forwards is a nonsense. As for the game last night, the best team won, they pressed our back four who crumbled ad lost possession. We had no forward who could hold the ball up and so we had to keep playing to the back, and so Leicesters plan and pressing them kept working. The midfield is so slow and predictable that we couldnt get any pressure on them. Teams up their game when they come to SMS and Leicesters team of B celebrity footballers loved the exposure the TV brought them nad gave it all. Matt Oakley must be one of the dullest match summarizers I have seen on TV, no wonder Redknapp said our dressing room was quiet when he first took over, if he is anything to go by. The whole programme was biased to Leicester. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Would have settled for a draw anyway because to me Nugent and Beckford were always going to be too good for our central defence because I just do not rate Martin as being of sufficient quality as of yet to deal with such a pairing. Always made it known that I believe that we need a new CB of quality,one who can double for either Fonte or Jos in construction play as well as defence. Didn't see the game because I don't do streams but I'm not overly despondent,mainly because I always believed that Leicester's attack would be too good for us and that their defence would not have too many problems with Connolly who I really don't rate either. Beckford was anonymous and we conceded two very sloppy goals. They won it in midfield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beancounter saint Posted 24 January, 2012 Share Posted 24 January, 2012 Sorry, but what a load of rubbish. NA was not out managed. Look at the team sheets and ask yourself how many our our team who have got into Leicesters team. NA was not outmanaged he didn't have the resources This is the point. With the money they have spent on transfer fees and wages, Leicester should be right at the top of this league - looking at their squad it's like a bunch of Galacticos in the Championship. Saints have overperformed and Leicester have underperformed so far. Having said that it was obviously a pretty limp performance, even allowing for injuries, but had some of the finishing been more up to the expected standard - yes, I'm especially talking about you, Connolly! - things may still have been different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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