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Brum vs Saints Match Reaction


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MOTM Vs Brum  

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  1. 1. MOTM Vs Brum



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Fox poor display - worse player today at that's before his sending off. Sending off however was a poor decision from the ref. Lamberts free kick at the end was criminally wasted as were at least two of our corners taken short and promptly ended in lost possession. Kelvin made a couple of great saves. Martin continues to impress alongside Fonte - it's going to be tough to drop him in favour of Jos now. Could hardly pick out Sharp on the TV - not sure whether he actually got a touch atall?! Overall, lucky point really because although we passed well, we just don't look like scoring and that's a big worry.

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Fox poor display - worse player today at that's before his sending off. Sending off however was a poor decision from the ref. Lamberts free kick at the end was criminally wasted as were at least two of our corners taken short and promptly ended in lost possession. Kelvin made a couple of great saves. Martin continues to impress alongside Fonte - it's going to be tough to drop him in favour of Jos now. Could hardly pick out Sharp on the TV - not sure whether he actually got a touch atall?! Overall, lucky point really because although we passed well, we just don't look like scoring and that's a big worry.

 

Wasn't a lucky point, was a fair result.

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Didn't get to watch the game earlier, so only just seen highlights on the football league show. Fox sending off was a total joke - he shouldn't have had a yellow card even!! First one was a completely fair tackle which he won and the second one was possibly a foul but was nothing and the sort of challenge that referees usually let go! Complete joke!

 

As to the game overall, I think it should have been called off - conditions were atrocious.

 

Also, Chris Hughton's comments were fairly laughable - to suggest they were well on top when Saints had 54% of the possession (at one stage, before the sending off it was almost 70%) is ridiculous, let alone to suggest that they would have been the better team if the conditions had been better!!

 

Shame Billy Sharp couldn't have done better with his chance (did you lose concentration for that bit Saints Fan CaM?!!) but I think the pitch largely accounted for that. I was a little surprised that Connolly started rather than Sharp and that Puncheon is getting so many starts suddenly!

 

On another note I think Wham were pretty lucky with their win. Their second goal was clearly a foul on a keeper. I couldn't believe Fat Sam's comments at the end of the match either! West Ham should have actually had a second player sent off imo. Taylor was late on Lowry and should at least have been booked. Bizarrely on The Football League Show they said that Lowry was the one fouling Taylor because Lowry caught him with the follow through of his kick. Next thing they will be saying that kicking a ball hard should be a bookable offence because of the risk of your follow through catching a player who arrives late with a tackle!! I think Rosenior was just a 'little' biased there somehow! :)

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Watched a decent stream from First Row Sports. Only time it kicked me off was at HT so well happy with that.

 

Mind you could hardly see anything!

 

Thought we started slowly, Cameras then picked up NA making a triangle with his hands, Punch appeared in the centre of midfield and from then on we seemed to have acres of space and time.

 

Very hard to play short passes with confidence on that surface but the lads did it very well. Great save at the feet of the forward by KD and a good stretch before that. Again thought Martin looked very good alongside Fonte.

 

Seemed Fox tried a couple of times to get beyong AL but never got the ball, don't think he had as bad a game as everyone makes out, neither FB really got into many good attacking positions (keeping a more solid defence I guess).

 

Can understand the two bookings, at first glance and probably from 15 yards away they would not have looked good, but the replays showed otherwise. The first originally looked as if Fox had gone straight through the Brum player and I thought he might be gone then. Replay showed a brilliant timed tackle. Still poor decisions by the ref though.

 

While DC was on the pitch we had much better control and movement when we did get into their final third, trouble with DC is that he is becoming a fine cog in build ups but any sniff near the box and he seems to turn to jelly. Can see why NA did not start with Sharp, he still has to learn the drills, hopefully another week in training he will be closer to a start.

 

Punch for me was MOTM, until he ran out of steam. Fair shout, I argued against his return but he looks like he has brought a missing element to our game again. I was wrong.

When he went off for Guly we lost some of the control and possession, Guly just vanished into the snow until that break in the last minutes (which should have seen a red for Caldwell)

 

Awful commentator, only told us Fox had a red after we had seen him running to the tunnel, and we had no idea Deano had come on or who for, how we had lined up at the back after the red etc.

 

Anyway a good point, something to build on, away to team with an awesome run going and TBH we did not look in any real trouble, even IF we didn't threaten.

 

Will the weather clear up by Tuesday??!

 

Keep warm everyone, and respect to the 1555 who made that trip.

Edited by dubai_phil
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Apparently he also misses the Burnley game as the suspension doesn't kick in until 7 days from the event. what a load of ****.

I'm not sure that's right. Think back to Leicester away. Didn't Schmeichel get sent off on Saturday, serve his suspension in a midweek League Cup game and then play against us on Saturday?

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Can't agree with that. Morgan is only sideways and backwards.

 

That's just not true. Morgan is one of the few players who spreads play and can hit a forty yard ball onto someone's foot.

His problem in the last few games has been having no one in space to hit!

Teams are pressuring us high up the pitch having worked out how we move the ball from and through midfield.

Yesterday, in the conditions, our control was superb but our final ball (Cork most guilty, then both full backs) was very, very poor.

 

It was minus 2, the ball was bouncing and rolling/not rolling and not bouncing, but for all our posession no shots on goal - mental!

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That's just not true. Morgan is one of the few players who spreads play and can hit a forty yard ball onto someone's foot.

His problem in the last few games has been having no one in space to hit!

Teams are pressuring us high up the pitch having worked out how we move the ball from and through midfield.

Yesterday, in the conditions, our control was superb but our final ball (Cork most guilty, then both full backs) was very, very poor.

 

It was minus 2, the ball was bouncing and rolling/not rolling and not bouncing, but for all our posession no shots on goal - mental!

 

Agree - most of our good play against Cardiff came from Morgan hitting Richardson with the diagonal ball - shame the crosses were ****

 

I can't think of many players in our team who can lob deft through balls a la Ipswich away either.

 

My problem with Morgan is not that he can't pick a forward pass but that he reverts too quickly to auto-pilot - that wouldn't happen if he had a higher-tempo, box to box midfielder alongside him. Giving him greater responsibility would also up his game - he was fantastic away at Palace when he had to basically carry Ward Prowse.

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Agree - most of our good play against Cardiff came from Morgan hitting Richardson with the diagonal ball - shame the crosses were ****

 

I can't think of many players in our team who can lob deft through balls a la Ipswich away either.

 

My problem with Morgan is not that he can't pick a forward pass but that he reverts too quickly to auto-pilot - that wouldn't happen if he had a higher-tempo, box to box midfielder alongside him. Giving him greater responsibility would also up his game - he was fantastic away at Palace when he had to basically carry Ward Prowse.

 

I think often the reason we see sideways and backwards balls is because there is simply nothing on going foward. With Fonte back I hope we'll see the ball carried forward more and this should help Morgan because it will create the space that's been lacking in recent games. Against Cardiff I thought (apart from the odd telegprahed ball) Morgan played well, we (through him and Cork) got the ball out wide but currently our fullbacks wouldn't be safe to cross a pelican crossing... And as for their corners. Argghh!!!

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The good news for me from the game was our confidence. It seems to be back and in horrific conditions our control and passing were top drawer. Give us a back a green playing surface and I#m sure we'll be back to our best.
agree fully with this. We looked first class and totally bossed the game. Take away the snow and we'll create a few chances and Sharp will take them. I think we've turned the corner and the promotion race is back on. Oh and we'll stuff Millwall on Tuesday beat Bolton and then the season is going to become one of the best ever...
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Another thanks from me to to FirstRowSports and to the players on both sides. If it were snowing like that I wouldn't go skiing much as I like the fresh stuff, but to play football... we coped well and at times the possession and pasing was excellent. I hadn't missed Puncheon, but his performance was a revelation and he's making selection hard for NA. Morgan played well after after one or two awkward incidents, but then adapted to the conditions. He needs the movement of Lee and Sharp and a few more options wide. I'll let the full-backs off their awful crossing this time, as having trained on snow I know how difficult it is to cross in those conditions. To be honest satisfied with a point away against a form team: I was dreading a big boot and one of their big forwards doing a toe-poke.

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agree fully with this. We looked first class and totally bossed the game. Take away the snow and we'll create a few chances and Sharp will take them. I think we've turned the corner and the promotion race is back on. Oh and we'll stuff Millwall on Tuesday beat Bolton and then the season is going to become one of the best ever...

 

Are you more optimistic about Sharp? If I remember, you weren't overly impressed when we were linked with him during the summer.

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Thought we played some good stuff until we got to their end of the pitch and then we got scared.

 

Nige needs to coach them to have a go a bit more often, can't tippy tappy it into the net all the time. Last night cried out for more speculative long range shots + a few mazy runs into the box. No shots all game is poor.

 

Punch + KD were my standouts. Maybe a new and improved Punch will be like a new signing?

 

Great to get a point off Brum. They will be there or thereabouts, esp impressed with their defence which looked v.solid.

 

Pleased with a point but can't help feeling we could have grabbed 3.

 

Definite reasons to be cheerful though.

 

We've been through the toughest run of fixtures that we'll have this season + we've been hit with injuries\suspensions yet we are still 2nd.

 

With the exception of W.Ham(a), B'Pool(a) and Boro(a) all our remaining games are against teams outside the top 6 and the squad is coming together.

 

I think we'll really start to kick on from here.

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Are people seriously whining about this one?

 

It was a very hard game in paper, in atrocious conditions, we had no rub of the green from the ref and we were the better team.

 

Good performance, good result, good weekend.

Agreed. A million miles away from our performance against Leicester. Looked like a different team entirely. Perhaps the dicey conditions made us concentrate on passing more.

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Would have taken a point if offered before the game. Thought we controlled the game but without any threat up top. I seriously believed we'd lose our place in the automatic promotion spots this weekend so I'm chuffed we've actually managed to extend our lead.

 

Yep, that for me is an enormous positive. Cardiff are away at Leicester next weekend too.

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Game should never have gone ahead due to the weather, but thats playing on sky for you. Thought Brum looked there for the taking. We still don't test opposition keepers enough. How many shots did we have on goal? Why the f**k didn't we shoot with that freekick right at the end, surely you have to make sure the keeper is tested then, particularly in those conditions.

 

All told, not a bad point to earn on the road. Got home at 2am :lol:

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On and on it goes, played (last) 12 - points 13. How can anybody be happy with this? Saints could never survive in the PL even if they get there, which now seems increasingly doubtful. Yes, Brum are an in-form team but if we can't take on and beat the main opposition in the NPC how on earth are we supposed to compete against PL sides even Bolton & Blackburn and their boring long-ball ilk?

 

Maybe we do have a good balanced team for mid-table in this division but we'd better get serious about team building if we really do want to be playing in a better league any time soon.

 

I wonder what Cortese is thinking right now as his 5-year dream slips ever further out of sight. I guess if we don't make it, he'll start again with a fresh approach in the summer, after all he'll still have two years left in which to do it with Martin Jol or Roy Hodgson....

 

Whoa.... Incomimg missiles!

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Are you more optimistic about Sharp? If I remember, you weren't overly impressed when we were linked with him during the summer.
I'm not a huge fan of Sharp as I don't like goal hangers per cay, and I like forwards to have genuine pace (and Premiership managers obviously agree and none of them looked at him) or at least an outstanding attribute on top of being able to score, but the way we dominate possession and the number of crosses into the box means chances will come and he is possibly the right man for the job. The squad just looks strong once again. The key will be whether Adkins can settle on a side. Sometimes you can have too much choice.
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On and on it goes, played (last) 12 - points 13. How can anybody be happy with this? Saints could never survive in the PL even if they get there, which now seems increasingly doubtful. Yes, Brum are an in-form team but if we can't take on and beat the main opposition in the NPC how on earth are we supposed to compete against PL sides even Bolton & Blackburn and their boring long-ball ilk?

 

Maybe we do have a good balanced team for mid-table in this division but we'd better get serious about team building if we really do want to be playing in a better league any time soon.

 

I wonder what Cortese is thinking right now as his 5-year dream slips ever further out of sight. I guess if we don't make it, he'll start again with a fresh approach in the summer, after all he'll still have two years left in which to do it with Martin Jol or Roy Hodgson....

 

Whoa.... Incomimg missiles!

we've gone through a bad spell, but to me it feels like we have found our form again in the last two games and we'll start winning again starting on Tuesday.

 

Don't worry about next season. If we go up then we'll do just fine.

 

If we don't the team will evolve, slowly and surely.

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On and on it goes, played (last) 12 - points 13. How can anybody be happy with this? Saints could never survive in the PL even if they get there, which now seems increasingly doubtful. Yes, Brum are an in-form team but if we can't take on and beat the main opposition in the NPC how on earth are we supposed to compete against PL sides even Bolton & Blackburn and their boring long-ball ilk?

 

Maybe we do have a good balanced team for mid-table in this division but we'd better get serious about team building if we really do want to be playing in a better league any time soon.

 

I wonder what Cortese is thinking right now as his 5-year dream slips ever further out of sight. I guess if we don't make it, he'll start again with a fresh approach in the summer, after all he'll still have two years left in which to do it with Martin Jol or Roy Hodgson....

 

Whoa.... Incomimg missiles!

 

In general our form in the last 6 weeks has been bottom half mid-table without a doubt, some of the performances have been awful in the last 6 weeks too. But what I am starting to see, and I'm sure a few others will agree, is a slow return to our form. When teams go on slumps it can take a while to get out of the 'rot' as such, and I think we found ourselves in one. It's always a slow process to get out of those, but going on little unbeaten runs help towards that.

 

Performance wise we're on the up too. Bar Leicester which was a really odd display (hampered by a lack of options to be fair) we have been steadily improving, especially away from home. A good win against Forest, a good performance but frustrating draw at Milwall and two hard fought draws (which could, and probably should have been more) against 2 of our promotion rivals.

 

We're getting back into the grove and I don't think it's any surprise when you see the players we've been able to welcome back into the fold. The fact that we're still in the top2 after our 6 week blip gives me enormous hope for the rest of the season.

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On and on it goes, played (last) 12 - points 13. How can anybody be happy with this? Saints could never survive in the PL even if they get there, which now seems increasingly doubtful. Yes, Brum are an in-form team but if we can't take on and beat the main opposition in the NPC how on earth are we supposed to compete against PL sides even Bolton & Blackburn and their boring long-ball ilk?

 

Maybe we do have a good balanced team for mid-table in this division but we'd better get serious about team building if we really do want to be playing in a better league any time soon.

 

I wonder what Cortese is thinking right now as his 5-year dream slips ever further out of sight. I guess if we don't make it, he'll start again with a fresh approach in the summer, after all he'll still have two years left in which to do it with Martin Jol or Roy Hodgson....

 

Whoa.... Incomimg missiles!

 

I'm preparing a nice side salad for lunch and the colander I'm using to drip dry my iceberg lettuce has fewer holes than your argument...

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Watch us get on a good run now and pick up at least 7 points from the next 3 games. On paper, 2 points from 2 games isn't that great, but I think there's plenty to take out of the performances. We were unlucky not to beat Cardiff and were all over them, and to pick up a point away from home against the league's form side, in awful conditions, is not a bad result. We didn't get enough shots off, but controlled big parts of the game.

 

I think we're about to get on a tidy run of wins, can see no reason for us not to beat Burnley and Derby, and go to Upton Park full of confidence and give West Ham a lesson in how to play football.

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That was a good point (which could yet prove to be key come the end of the season) in tough conditions (which certainly didn't suit our passing style of play) against an in-form side who have a good home record. Superb performance from Martin - he is getting better every game - and Punch is looking really sharp and keen to impress. Why, however, did Rickie not take a shot at goal with that late free-kick? Bizarre! Oh well, onwards and upwards....

 

It certainly was a good point against the form side and one of the best defences. If only we could show this resolve and determination to be first to the ball in every match we would still easily be top.

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Was proud of the players first half. Got the ball down and had brum chasing shadows in the worst conditions for playing it on the deck. Thought we started to look a bit leggy second half and started to drop deep but had no outlet on the counter as ball wouldn't run.

 

Good point and on another day we would have created more.

 

Still can't believe Lambert lofted in the that free kick, it was a really strange decision, WTF?!

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As to the game overall, I think it should have been called off - conditions were atrocious.

 

Shame Billy Sharp couldn't have done better with his chance (did you lose concentration for that bit Saints Fan CaM?!!) but I think the pitch largely accounted for that. I was a little surprised that Connolly started rather than Sharp and that Puncheon is getting so many starts suddenly!

 

I enjoyed watching the match (from the comfort of a pub's telly). Glad it went on since so many of our supporters travelled. Hats off to them and the players. Football like it used to be, gritty and determined. And Saints played some very skillful footie despite the conditions.

 

Puncheon was my man of the match and was also mom according to the forum's poll. He has earned his starts, and I hope he starts against Millwall. But Sharp deffo should begin instead of Connolly.

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I think a draw was a fair result. We controlled a lot of the play but lacked enterprise. Not a bad result though especially given the conditions made it a lottery.

 

Home support was dreadful (both numbers and vocal), absolutely puts into perspective any issues with our own home support.

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